Transformation Tuesday/Friday update

So apparently it's neither tuesday nor friday but because I missed those updates I figured I'd play catch-up.

Transformation Tuesday

She lost 140 pounds through weight loss surgery. I normally like to promote natural methods of weightloss but this pic is truly inspiring. I added a "natural" before and after (whatever that means) cause there's just something more inspiring about doing it on your own...

Weight update

So friday I did weigh in as planned and I didn't report it because it was newsworthy...I know, I know, I said I'd post anyway so here it is. 3 days after my start date, I was down 3 pounds. So you could imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale on weigh-in day 2 pounds heavier than what I weighed 4 days before but 1 pound less than when I started. NO, I did not cheat but I may have been guilty of undereating but that always happen when I low carb, I simply don't have an appetite. Anywho, I keep trying to do the scale thing for you guys but it seriously does more harm than good and Idk when I'mma learn my lesson smh. Just as soon as it started, my weight updates are over until I can learn not to let its numbers effect. I will instead update my week as a grading system (just thought of this). I will give myself a letter grade or even a score of 1-10 for my performance during the week. My grade will depend on whether or not my diet remained on point and the amount of times I exercised. I will also give myself different extra credit tasks throughout each week such as drinking more water, being more diligent in taking my vitamins and whatever else will help me reach my goals faster. That's about it for now...

If you're like me, this ^ message is important---XOXO Bella D.

P.S-This was me in Miami last year...I had no gurdle and I was at my lowest weight EVER. THIS pic reminds me of what I've done AND what I can do. I will continue to strive for this and then surpass it...

A Rude Awakening...

I haven't been weighing myself because my scale has been giving me problems. Even before I stepped on it, it would read 4.2lbs. It doesn't do that EVERY time, but enough to make me concerned that I wouldn't be getting the accurate weight. Since I couldn't afford a new scale, I bit the bullet and used it anyway because I needed to know my protein diet/restart weight and weight is used to formulate the number of grams of protein I'm allowed to have a day.

I've been more than a little hesitant to post my current weight for several reasons...I don't look like I'm the weight I am and I don't want people to know lol. I'm so far from my lowest weight that it's embarrassing and I HATE seeing the number on the scale so why do I want to be reminded by my blog?

Anywho, I realized that until I am completely honest with myself, I will NOT be successful and if I am, it won't last. 

So this morning I stepped on the scale (it didn't immediately jump to 4.2 which was a good sign) it read 231.2!!! Doing Insanity in august I was 208-211! Ugh, no one to blame but myself but it was just the reality check that I needed to whip my ass back into shape!

Now that I knew my weight, I was able to find my body fat percentage with a formula they have in my "Protein Power" book. I was also able to determine that I'm pear shaped (I've known that for years, they just scientifically confirmed it).

So here it is...my statistics...

Start Weight-290
Lowest Weight-203 (sigh, so close to ONEderland)
Current Weight-231 (Grrrr)
Goal Weight 1-199 (I don't ever remember seeing a 1 leading my weight...seriously)
Goal Weight 2-180 (I will be content at this weight but it isn't my DREAM weight or my HAPPY weight)
Ultimate Goal Weight- 160 (H-A-P-P-Y!)

So, there you have...I would absolutely HATE posting that I gained so I REALLY need to get my sh*t together!!!! Mind you, almost HALF my body is made of F-A-T!!!! I'm 44% body fat....no, No, NO! I won't accept that...It also has a formula that tells you how much of your weight is FAT and how much is LEAN body tissue. I've determined with the formula 101.7lbs of my weight come from FAT (ugh) and 129.5lbs come from LEAN body tissue. The book has ALSO helped me determine an ideal body weight range that is not only recommended, but ATTAINABLE which is between 161-175 pounds. (I haven't even read the whole thing but I swear I LOVE this book lol)

While looking up protein power acceptable recipes for some variety, I discovered the protein soup diet. I believe it's just something to jumpstart weightloss before you begin the real "diet". They recommend doing it for a week or two and since I'm desperate to get out of the 230's AND I'm dealing with time constraints due to school and don't have much time to cook I think I'll do it for two weeks. (I'll post the article and recipe if you guys request it)

I also downloaded an app called "Libra Pro", it's a weight tracker. It allows you to input your weight and height (obviously) but it also asks your goals. After putting my starting weight, I put my goal weight (180lbs) and then it asked my diet plan which included daily calorie goal and weight loss goal per week. After doing the math and determining that I needed to lose 3.2lbs a week to lose 50lbs by April, I plugged that number into the app. The app then suggested that I needed to eat 1600 calories a day to reach that goal and it also gave me a date which was 3/28/13! Right on schedule!

Here's a screenshot of the app

Whew, that post was a LOT of work lol. I'll do progress updates EVERY Friday, good or bad.

50 in 4...

I found I work better when I have SET goals with a deadline. With that being said, I've set my sights on fifty pounds...by April. I know, sounds a lil extreme but it's not IMPOSSIBLE. I did the math and it translates to roughly 12.5lbs a month which is 3.2lbs a week. Healthy weight loss is 1-2lbs a week but I know I'm not doing anything extreme so I'm not too concerned. When I first started low carbing, I lost 50lbs my first 4 months WITHOUT exercise. I know that it was because I was doing something different that my body wasn't used to that enabled me to lose so much so fast but to level the playing field, I plan to step up my exercise regimen. I usually focus too much on cardio and not enough on strength training but my research has lead me to learn that my focus needs to be strength training AND cardio intervals. My scale sucks at life so it's kinda hard to gage where I'm truly starting. I just spent 60 bucks at Walmart on groceries alone so my broke a*s was NOT buying a scale lol. I do plan to get one that measures water weight, bone density, body fat percentage and all that jazz in the near future. I may even request it as a Christmas gift (ha! just got that idea as I was typing). I haven't officially started my high protein way of eating as I have yet to determine the grams of protein I'm allowed per day because of my faulty scale (your weight is one of the determining factors) but I'm anxious to get started. I'm already watching my carbs so I will just use the weight my broken scale tells me I am until I get my new one.

My 20% needs more structure and focus!

Transformation Tuesdays

Sorry, I've missed a few weeks. At least this hiatis isn't nearly as long as my previous ones have been. I will post more than one pic to make up for it. Because I found these pics in random places on the net, I don't have much background info on them (luckily for me as I don't have much time to spend on this post lol). There are only 2 weeks left in the semester so I've been hella busy catching up with and completing work. You will see a lot more of me when I'm finally free from the burden of school work.

By the way, I finally received my protein power books and I have started to read them. My eating hasn't been the best but I've begun to clean it up. Im on my way to Walmart after work to pick up some groceries, Here are a few of the things on my list:

Cauliflower
Unsweetened Almond Milk
Pepperoni Chips
Beef Hamburgers
Salmon
Peaches
Berries (strawberries, blueberries)
Grapefruit
Cheese (Sticks, slices, shredded)
Light High Fiber English Muffins
Turkey sausage patties
Bagged salad
Cucumbers
Cabbage
Diced tomatoes

I'm going to be making low carb meals in my slow cooker these next two as I don't have much time with all the stuff I have going on with school. I also plan to resume P90x once the semester so I seriously can't weight until I attend my last class so I'll have more time, energy and focus to resume this journey. Before I know it, the warm weather will be here and yet again I'll have to say "next summer will be mines". Nope, NOT having it! Anywho, I'm rambling, on to the pics!

It CAN be done!!!

Protein Power!

Lol, the title makes me sound like I'm a weird nutritionist trying to influence the significance of protein.
It's actually the title of a nutrition plan (I don't want to call it a diet...that seems short term) that I plan to adopt once I receive and fully read the books associated with it.

By the end of this post, I'm sure many of you will think I'm schizophrenic. It seems like every few weeks, I'm changing my meal plan but I asure you, there's nothing schizo about trying different things to see what works for you. It's been three years and I have yet to reach my weight loss goal. Part of that is because my focus and diligence isn't where it used to be. It's also because what has worked in the beginning is no longer working yet I keep returning to it hoping for the best. I'm learning that what I did to take off the first 90 (now 70) pounds isn't going to work in getting off the next 70. That realization promted me to continue to research other ways of eating. That and the fact that its becoming harder and harder to adhere to the guidlines I had stuck to early on. In the begininng I was focused, frustrated and FED-UP! I HAD to lose weight...I just wasn't happy and it was ALL I thought about. I started and was cheat free for 4 months but three years later, I'm lucky if I can go a week before I eat something off course. Thankfully I learned that I'm human and if I don't allow myself to slip up there's no way in hell I'm going to reach my goals and if I did, I wouldn't be able to maintain them. I'd also be bored and completely miserable and I will not subject myself to that for however long it takes me to get the rest of this weight off.

I purchased these two books on www.ebay.com for about $4 each. I can't weight until they arrive so I can read them. Prior to discovering this plan, I was already in the process of revamping my way of eating by introducing calorie restriction. I put it off for so long because it felt too much like homework. I'm a fulltime supervisor as well as a fulltime student, the LAST thing I needed was an extra tedious homework assignment but now I've seen the error of my ways and I know that tracking my cals are extremely vital to reaching my goals. It's different from Atkins (as I've read from reviews on Amazon) and the allowance of more freedom carb wise influence me to give it a try. I'm hoping that this is just what I need to get me to ONEderland and beyond.

Thinspiration Thursdays

It's that time again...in short, here are some photos from my thinspiration folder...

Transformation Tuesdays

Some of you might remember this girl from MTV's "I USED to be Fat" and if you do, you'll remember that she was super ANNOYING! She did nothing but cry, complain and fight the trainer tooth and nail but her results speak for themselves. She apparently overcame her lazy/bratty nature, sucked it up and did the damn thing! Her results are nothing short of AMAZING! They also leave me to wonder if she has loose skin on her abdomen as it was pretty large in her before and also because she lost the weight fairly quickly. I wish I knew her name so I could find her on some kind of social networking. I'm curious to see if she has rebounded or if not, I'd like to see how much her life has changed...

*Edited to add*

Ok, so I found her facebook and while she looks like she's gained a BIT of the weight back, she still looks great. I'm glad she has kept it off...I hope. I wasn't paying much attention to the dates but she has modeling photos posted but the dates say 2011 so who know's where she is with her weight by now but here are some photos from her page...