Zumba?

So...
any of you ladies do Zumba?
My bestest started it about a month ago and she is loving it. She's been urging me to try it because she knows that I love dancing as much as she does. Problem is, my confidence with dancing is zilch nowadays.
But, as I've mentioned before.
I have already bought 2 dance DVD's.
Well more than that, one of them is the Step Up Revolution DVD & the other is the Hip Hop Abs set.
Anywho...I have being thinking about Zumba.
I think I'm going to get a DVD and check into it more.

But the main reason I'm even talking about it is because I stumbled across a Facebook page that is a girl that posts video of her routines. They look like a lot of fun and a good workout & I just wanted to share it with all of y'all.
Go check out & "Like" her page HERE!
Her name is Jessica and she looks amazing! You can tell she put a lot into working out & she likes what she does. She's apparently been teaching Zumba for like 3 years. I kind of want to learn some of her dances/routines!
I like her "Timber" dance & her "Go Buck" dance.

I haven't weighed in on here in a bit,...
let's see where I am...
Last week & the week before I was at 154.1
Today I am at 152.6

Didn't expect that. At all. I won't even lie.

I feel like my endurance it pretty good, about time to challenge myself a little further, as far as cardio and how long I can do it.
I don't feel smaller or much better in terms of being in shape. I still have quite a few days of feeling bloated. Then every so often I have a "small day". I'm ready for those to be more frequent. I'm not pushing myself enough right now, other than on the treadmill. I really need to dive into more strength and toning.
Doug & I went to Dick's to checkout workout equipment like dumb bells and such & I need to go buy some more.  He's also back on the workout train again. & he's feelin' it. He's starting slow as well, I think that's key. Now I just have to help him get a handle on his portions again. Boy can eat, which, honestly...if I weren't watchin portions, I could too. Love food. lol

I haven't posted a playlist in a couple of weeks. Here is the first one I posted.
So here's another...
Let's go for POP this time...
(in no particular order)

1. Pitbull & Kesha- Timber
2. Ellie Goulding- Burn
3. Aloe Blacc- The Man (loooove this song!)
4. Ed Sheeran- You Need Me, I Don't Need You
5. Jessie J- Do It Like A Dude
6. Cher Lloyd- Swagger Jagger
7. Britney Spears- Work Bitch
8. Avicii- Wake Me Up
9. Little Mix- Move
10. Alex Clare- Too Close
11. Little Mix- Wings
12. Zendaya- Replay
13. Ollie Murs- Troublemaker
14. Demi Lovato- Neon Lights
15. Kesha- Blow


If you would like to suggests any songs, I'm always open to them. Any and all genres welcome here.

Welp, off to sit around and wait to go play in the snow.
Snowpocalypse for us in North GA. I'm gonna try to not snack my way throw the next couple of days. That's all I want to do. haha.
Lovins!
♥♥♥
Brandy

Is it time for bed yet?

Is it bad that I want to be done with today already?
Not that it's necessarily bad.
I'm just in the mood to be warm and cozy in my room.
And let's be honest, if I'm in my room, I'll more than likely be in my bed.

I'm also trying not to worry about myself with these stupid ass headaches.
I hate talking about what's wrong with me because I feel like here lately there is always something.
I'm more so annoyed that I'll probably end up having to go to the Dr because I'm not down with random headache/neckaches reoccurring.

I have been a terrible blogger lately. No doubt about it.
I honestly haven't had much to talk about, or so I feel.
So,...ya know...
I've just been reading others and commenting here and there.

I asked 3 times last week for song suggestions for a workout playlist.
I got a few people who answered, to them, Thank You.
So, I also decided to go through my 1200+ songs on my mp3 player to pick some.
I'm going to break them up into multiple lists.

Today's is rock. More of a "harder" rock selection, so if this isn't up your alley, it's okay. Feel free to still throw out suggestions.

So, in no specific order...

1. Trapt- Headstrong
2. Three Days Grace- Pain
3. Chevelle- The Red
4. Bullet for My Valentine- Your Betrayal
5. In This Moment- Adrenalize
6. Avenged Sevenfold- Nightmare
7. Marilyn Manson- The Nobodies
8. Linkin Park- Papercut
9. Breaking Benjamin- I Will Not Bow
10. Limp Bizkit- Break Stuff
11. Staind- Mudshovel
12. The Used- Take It Away
13. My Chemical Romance- I'm Not Okay
14. Taproot- Poem
15. Korn- Coming Undone

Thanks to Jordan for her suggestions.

Now, I need to motivate myself to get back on the treadmill tonight. I have made excuse after excuse the last couple of days and I can tell the consequences. That & I had a tiny gain this week instead of a loss or a repeat weight. No good for me. But, no ones fault but my own.
Once I get that treadmill time in THEN I can call it a day. Right?
;-)

Happy Humpday everyone.

♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW. What's on your playlist?!

Cranking out realllly quick a post while I have the time before finishing up supper.
Shredded chicken tacos, YUM!
It smells sooo good, by the way.

So, it's WIW.

I'm really just posting to ask the same question I asked at the end of my post on Monday, & on IG.

What do you listen to when working out? What song or songs motivate you?
I'm wanting to make a playlist (if I get enough people to answer), so please feel free to give me as many songs as you love! Country, rock, rap, I don't care,...it's ALL welcomed!

I'll post on here once I get it. I'm gonna wait til either tomorrow or Friday to see how many, if any, more songs I can get.

If you answer I'll also include a link to you blog in my post, or if you go to my IG and answer I'll leave your IG handle! :-)
I've had a few people answer, so I owe a thank you to them.
And thanks to any of you in advance.
:-)

Working out is going okay.
I almost ended up with shin splints last night, but didn't. Thank God.
Jordan posted the other day about being fitted for a proper shoe and I'm now convinced I need to do this.
I just have to ask where to do it around here.

I'm down a little. Less than a pound, but I'll freakin take it!
I want to be out of the 150's...but more importantly I want to feel like I'm out of the 150's.
Know what I'm sayin'?
:-)

Sorry so short today.
And sorry it's only a WIW.

Talk to ya laterrr!
♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW 12.4.13

Oh hey there!
Totally didn't do a WIW Wed. post last week because, well, quite frankly I was lazy. lol
BUT I did weigh in.

So, for a short and sweet post.
I basically took a week off from everything.
Blogging.
Working out.
Tracking food.
And I really didn't watch what I ate too much (and still didn't eat too bad -or in my opinion anyway-)

Got back on the wagon Monday night.
Got a 16 minute mile out & that's all I could muster up energy for.
Gotta work back up (not that I was doing amazingly before) but still.
What I was doing was better than nothing. Anyway, I digress.
I also did some arms stuff & a attempted squats again. (hurt my knees again)
I'm a stubborn ass & will again try them a few more times.
I swear they were starting to not hurt before my week off.
So we'll see.

Last night, I opted for sleep over working out.
I don't know what it was, but I was so tired.
I was in bed and asleep before 10:30 I think.
Crazy for this night owl.
But it was GLORIOUS!

So, yea...that's where I'm at right now.

Now to the nitty gritty...
The Weigh In:

Week before last (11.20.13-last WIW): 160.5
Last week: 159.4
Today: 158.5

Down 0.9 lb since last week.

Heyyy, going down! (Let's hope I don't jinx myself!)

Happy Wednesday!
I'm trying to score concert tickets so I gots ta go!
Rant about that later maybe..

Lovins & stuff!
♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW 11.20.13

Guess what? No change in weight. I'd prefer at least a small loss but, I'll take it.

Working out...
Last week, I did Mon-Thurs didn't do Fri.,Sat or Sunday. I didn't do Monday because I've messed my sleep schedule up. SO, I did yesterday & plan on doing tonight, tom. & Fri...mayyybe Saturday and Sunday depending on what's going on.

I'm gonna see how I do this week with staying on this workout train, so far I'm doing cardio, arms and legs (or what my freakin knees can handle). Buttttt, I need to get some ab workout squeezed back in. Some crunches at least.
I'm still only doing 2 miles on the treadmill. Takes me about 38 or so minutes and that's walking most of the time. I still can't handle too much jogging or running just yet. Shit's a struggle for me but I'm chalking it upto being so out of shape right now. If it doesn't get easier then I'll chalk it up to maybe running just isn't my thang! lol

And I tried squats again last night and could still only do about 20. I did 10 regular and 10 goblet squats (which are basically just sumo squats while holding a kettlebell).
I'm going to so a little reading to see if there are some things I can do for my knees.
Also, I think I responded to everyone last week, if not, know that I appreciate all the advice.
The overall consensus looks to be that I need new shoes, and to maybe be properly fitted.
Which is true, my shoes are old & ready to be retired. There were lots of other suggestions & I'm gonna keep note of all of them, but I'm gonna start out with new shoes because like I said, I've been needing them anyway. ;-)

But, we'll see.
I feel alright, or I'll say good. I won't say great yet. Ask me again in a week. I KNOW I won't see instant results, but I also know that I should start feeling better soon, and that's what I'm waiting on. Even though I'm not pushing myself too hard, I kind of am mentally and that's making it more miserable than it already is. haha.
Anywhooo..

weight:
Last week: 160.5
Today 160.5
Like I said, nooo change.
:-)

Aaaand I'm gonna leave you all with a picture of Sugar from last night (if you follow my IG, you've seen it already.)

Excuse the blur, I was actually walking on the treadmill... She's silly and love to have attention.

Oh & HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GIRL STEPHANIE! (Again! ;-) )

♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW-11.13.13. I have a few questions...

Well. I worked out for the first time in MONTHS on Monday. It was a lot, but not a lot. Or maybe it was a lot & I'm just down playing it, I don't know.
Here's what I did:
-2 miles on the treadmill (in about 36 minutes- I feel like that's good for someone who is out of shape!)
- 40 triceps extensions (behind the head) w/ 3lb dumbbell
- 30 arm raises -to the side- 3lb dumbbell each side (6lbs)
- 10 Elbow squeezes
- 20 Squats
- 16 lunges
- 40 calf raises
- 50 second wall sit
- 20 kettle bell swings (7lb)
- 30 second plank
baby steps, folks, baby step. It sounds like a lot (hell it looks like a lot) but I'm start with small weights to build my strength back up & I'm sure there are a couple of things that I don't do in correct form, but again, baby steps.
And mind you I did this all while cramping (I'm sure you wanted to know that), but working out does help with it.

A couple of issues & questions.
1.  My boobs just don't like to stay down. I was wearing a sports bra, cami, and a l/s shirt & anytime I got to a light job I couldn't do it for very long. When you have big boobs if f'kin hurts to run for too long, REALLY! My solution so far is that I bought another bra & am going to double bra it (plus the cami & shirt). My question here is, any of you other well blessed ladies have any suggestion for keeping your girls under control? I didn't jumping jacks and jump roping back when I was working out last (about 5 months ago) and I don't remember if they were this crazy. Or maybe I was just hyper aware Monday.

2. My knees we hurting. I don't have knee problems or bad knees really & so I don't think I've ever had this issue. My knees were lined up with my shoulders and my feet here straight ahead. Still, is it possible that I was somehow standing wrong while doing my squats? I know it's been a good 5 or so months since I last worked out, BUT, it had been years before that & I don't remember my knees having that issue 5 months ago, so I don't think it was that. I don't know.

3. Shin splints. I've had them before. Multiple times. They hurt, thankfully the pain didn't last though. Is there anything I can do to lessen the chance of getting them so quickly?

I shocked my body just a bit, haha. Not in a bad way. I didn't get sick or anything & I stayed hydrated throughout. I was just shakey afterward. Pretty sure my body was like, "WHAT. THE. FUCK are you doing? and why?" lol But it felt great & I still don't know where it came from. But I have an idea. I had a bit of a breakdown the other day & needed somewhere to channel my thoughts.

I didn't workout on yesterday because those cramps from Monday were about 20x's worse. But I did do a little bit of shopping so I could get out of the house, so walking counts for something!

Speaking of shopping, I treated myself just a little & while doing so I bought a journal and am going to use it as a eating/exercise journal. Even though I have MFP & this, I wanted to be able to write it all down, what I won't being doing in my written journal is calorie counting (I'll let MFP take care of that).

I do plan on working out today, cramps or not. Even if it's just some time on the treadmill. :-)

Also, want to Thank Jordan, Karla, & KellyAnne , and my bestest Manda for encouragement & routing me on, on IG the other day! It all made me smile.

Now to the weight..I don't really expect a loss, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if there is a bit of a gain + right now the bloating I have is unreal (mother nature is seriously torturing me right now) so...here we go...

Last week: 161.4 (even though I didn't do a WIW on here, I still weighed in & logged it on paper)
This week: 160.5
Down 0.9
..Okay so better than I thought, it's a loss & I'll take it. I'm actually surprised it's lower. lol

Last little tidbit, the songs I listened to while on the treadmill:
1. Fall Out Boy- My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark
2. My Chemical Romance- Helena
3. Seether & Amy Lee- Broken
4. Secondhand Serenade- Fall For You
5. Paramore- Emergency
6. Jessie J- Do It Like A Dude
7. Alterbridge- Rise Today
8. Paramore- Fences
9. Framing Hanley- Photographs & Gasoline

(I just left my MP3 on shuffle & skipped songs that just didn't fit my mood at the moment)

Well, that's that!

Lovins!
♥♥♥
Brandy

160.5..wiw

 

It's that time again...

even if this is happening at 10 pm.

Good thing I've never been a blog-at-a-certain-time kinda girl!

 

I'm getting back into using My Fitness Pal.

And complaining almost everyday about it.

It's soooo tedious. Especially when almost everything you eat at home is homemade, so you have to "Create A Recipe" then log in every. damn. ingredient, and then figure out how much of each is used and blah, blah, blah. (In a southern household, sometimes we don't measure, we just pour to taste...and so that make MFP a PIMA (pain in my ass) Laaazy me gets annoyed with that.

Also...while the scanner is a life saver so you're not typing it out and search through their database for what you need, I hate scanning everything before (or after) I make/eat my food. Mainly because when I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I don't want to wait to log it all in. Sometimes I just jot everything down and log it in later. But, another thing is questions. I don't like people getting all up in my business...not that I have too much business to even get into. Say I'm scanning my dinner & someone walks in the kitchen...

Them, "What are you doing?"

Me, "Scanning everything..."

Them, "...Why?"

Me, "To enter into an app that counts calories."

Them, "Why?"

Me, "TO SEE HOW MUCH OF A FATTY I AM To see how many calories I eat/day. To help me not be a pig and lose weight..."

Them, *snicker* (not to be confused with the candy bar)

 

See how annoying that seems? When you live in a house full of folks like I do.

 

Also,...what about things that can't really be too easily scanned...like birthday cake? Or the restaurant I went to on Saturday night, it's not a big chain...so you can't look up the nutrition info. So, EFF!

 

But..then I realize, of what the fuck ever. I already said I wasn't going to obsess about it, and by God I'm not. I don't think I logged anything in over the weekend.. And that's fine. I also pretty much ALWAYS go over my intake allowance, and that's fine too. I'll have to get into the swing of things and I think I can naturally lower it just a wee bit.

That's what it for, for me, accountability.

But, I'm honest with it. lol I'm a snacker, and a mountain dew drinking. I log everything with approximately how much I eat, because I am NOT gonna measure every single thing I eat. Sorry, nope, no way.

My solutions for things I couldn't figure out a couple of times is to put it in the food notes. It obviously doesn't count the calories, but I'll know what I ate.

So...

That's my damn rant about My Fitness Pal.

 

Weighing in....

Remember last weeks was "invalid", so I'll go from 2 weeks ago....

 

Two weeks ago: 161.2

Today: 160.5

Down 0.7

More importantly I'm right on the verge of being out of the 160's. If I would move my lazy ass, I could do it faster & easier!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

In other news... I'm starting to feel better.

I decided not to go to that concert I was supposed to go to last night.

I feel bad for waiting until the day of but, when I came down to it I wasn't as excited as I normally get for a concert. I told her I didn't want to be the wet blanket and that she should probably find someone else to go. And she did.

She texted me a couple of times pretty much telling me that I didn't miss much and she wasn't sure she was even satisfied with it.

So, I really hope there are no hard feelings.

 

I'm really looking forward to this weekend.

I MAY be getting tickets to another concert on Friday. More on that later. (In other words, if I get them, you'll know...)

And this weekend is Gold Rush. Weekend long festival in my town. It's kind of a big deal. I look forward to it every. year. And Doug said we could get pumpkins to carve also, so hopefully that will happen. Whether we go to Burt's or just get some WalMart pumpkin, I don't care, I just wanna carve come punkins!

He's skipping opening weekend to spend the weekend with me since he knows I love Gold Rush. :-)

So, I have my fingers crossed for a great weekend!

 

That's all I got for ya.

Two posts today...yay.

Now it's time for Duck Dynasty.

LATAAA!

♥♥♥

Brandy

It's WIW again already?

UGH.
I don't even want to talk about it.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I can't really weigh-in today.
I'm at my mother-in-laws and her scale isn't digital, which is no biggie but, I stepped on it after I woke up and it said 156.
That cannot be right.
I'd like for it to be, very much so, but it can't be.
As much junk as I ate over the weekend, and drinking almost a 12pk of beer alone.
Not to mention stress and feeling bloated and snacking my nights away.
Naw.
There is no way, with all of that, that I lost 5lbs.
I call bullshit.

So...I'll just mark it as invalid this week.
Although, in the spirit of being totally honest about this.
I'm pretty sure I gained a pound or two at least.
Maybe not but, I just feel like I did.

Last Week: 161.2
Today: who knows? My guess would be, if it's not the same as last week then, maybe 162.

I know I sound like a broken record here, but MFP has popped into my brain again and I really would like to start using it again.
I think if I could take a day and log in the meals that I eat often (for ease) I'd probably start using it again. Cause let's face it, it's daunting having to log it all in when you are about to eat.

Le sigh...

Update on my MIL's dog is that there is no update. :( He is still missing. We are still trying to remain hopeful that maybe he will be found and returned, or find his way back home. Since we are at her house tonight (and we last night) I just kept looking at the door and waiting to see his face letting me know he's ready to come in. :( We have flyers printed I've contacted vets and shelters. Filled out a lost dog thing so that he's in the computer. My MIL put up a few signs the other day and we'll do more of those. And there are several neighbors who are keeping their eyes open. I miss him, even though she also has another dog and the neighbors dog is here all the time, it's still lonely without him here.

The happy nugget of today is that it's My Girl's Birthday! (That's my niece, in case you're new around here.)
She's the best surprise to happen to our family & I can't wait to see her Saturday!! I cannot believe she is already six!

Well, I'm off for now, it's almost time for hubs to get home and me to cook!

♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW

Ahh, hello, hello.
Not much to say today. I really don't need to spend too much time online (of course, I say that every day).
So, I'll just jump into it.

This past week I've felt kind of blah, but kind of not.
I feel like I've made okay choices in food. I mean, there is always -and will always be- room for improvement.

Oh, and that dance dvd..lets just say after 2 second I realized exactly how much rhythm I've lost & plopped back down on the couch.
Ew.
I'm not giving up though. Just got discouraged. It happens.

I tried a new rice recipe out Friday. I was cooking my MIL birthday supper & she wanted enchiladas, which gave me a great opportunity to try the rice recipe that I found on Pinterest just the night before. Haha. It called Mexican Brown Rice & Pinto Beans. It's a clean eating recipe.

Anyway, instead of posting it myself, I'll just let you go to the site that Pinterest took me to. So go here and read it. My verdict of it: it was good. I did a few things different, like no onions (Doug doesn't like them), so I used minced onion. And I didn't do the pinto beans, which I will do next time I cook it. The biggest flub was that, because I was rushing so much, I cooked it for the time it says and called it done instead of tasting of how tender the rice was...in other words, it should have cooked a little longer. I'll definitely make it again though, I'll try it at least one more time before I boot it. It wasn't bad, just rushed cooking. I also didn't take a picture..again..rushing.
But it's a "clean" recipe, so I figured some of you health nuggets would also like it.
;)

Now onto the nitty gritty [dirt band]... The ever so fun weigh in...
Last week: 161.4
Today: 161. 2
haha... Down 0.2.
Still down...still take it. lol

C-ya, buh-bye!
♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW. I beat that bastard scale...kind of...

Even if only by a pound and a half.
I don't know what did it, but a pound less than being at the exact same weight for the last THREE WEEKS STRAIGHT is enough to make me say halle-freakin-lujar!
I can't really take credit for it because I'll be honest with you, pretty much the only thing I have done since last Wednesday is take one walk with my parents.
I'll tell you what takes the credit. Being sick as a dog Thursday and my body basically cleaning itself out.
Whatever, it's a pound, I'm gonna take it.
It rainy and dreary here today, hello Fall -lol-, and I have lots of cleaning to do..so assuming I actually DO it, that'll have to count as exercise!

Last week: 162.9
Today: 161.4
Down 1.5
I am sooo ready to be back out of the 160's!

 

That's all I got in my bag today, folks! 

Happy Humpday!

♥♥♥

Brandy

WIW & happy trails, ew.

GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS!
GUESS WHAT DAY. IT. IS!
;-)

First of all, I have a question. Do any of your have, or know anyone who has, that Hip Hop Abs set?!
I've really been thinking about getting it. I mean, I said I wanted to get back into dancing.
Whats a better workout that learning dance moves? If you have it, or know someone who has, let me know what you/they think about it, pretty please.
One person on my facebook said she has it and that some of the moves are tough. Which is typical, I'm sure, and I'm okay with that I suppose. lol It's one of the first workout DVD sets that really looked appealing to me in a while.

I was reading something last night about hair growth, particularly male patterned hair growth on women -face, chest, abdomen, back-, that kinda of gave me a mental boost to lose weight. Embarrassingly I have hair on my belly, think a mans happy trail. You see a happy trail on a man and it's attractive, see a bit of one on a woman it's a little off putting. lol I know many woman have it a little bit, like maybe peach fuzz, but mine is darker hair, it's not "feminine and cute" or anything like that at all. So I HATE it.
I've been thinking of laser hair removal. Have any of you ever had laser hair removal? How good did it work? How painful was it?
Anyway, back to my point. I was reading and searching about it and I was lead to an article about Hirsutism, which is excessive hair growth in women where they normally don't have it. First of all, I'm not Chewbacca or the bearded lady or anything like that, but it sort of fits my little issue. I read the article & it kind of clicked. Maybe I have a mild case. And it pretty much touched on what I have been suspicious of being the issue, that my testosterone levels may be a bit high, which can be caused by many things, including PCOS & being over weigh/ obesity. In turn, being overweight/obese and having higher t-levels (aka hormone imbalance) can also affect getting pregnant, which I already knew. So, if -IF- that is my issue, losing weight might help fix both of those problems. I already knew that losing weight MAY help my ovulation get back on track & up my chances of pregnancy, but this was the first time I even read about the hair thing. You can ead more about Hirsutism here. So, this kind of counts as a bit of a baby update also. Although I have not talked to my doctor about it or anything, I have a gut feeling that this is my issue, the whole hormonal imbalance thing, which I've had that gut feeling for a while. I can't remember what my hormone levels were though, or if we checked them (I'm sure we did). It's be about 8 or 9 months since I've been to the Dr. so I don't remember 100%. I'm not fully trying to self-diagnose or anything, alls I'm saying is it makes sense, for now. haha. Either way, cross your fingers for me.

And now to weigh in...
Today: 163.8
Last week: 163.8
No change. It's not a gain, so I'll take it.

So, now that I've talked about my embarrassing issue, that's all I've got for you today.
I need to get a little cleaning done.

Happy Humpday!
Lovins & stuff!
♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW, and I'm back...again.

Well, hello there!
Jumping right in...
Part of my 30 before 30 was to reach a goal weight.
So, hubs & myself have set a goal.
We kind of want to lose 10 lbs in a month.
So, we'll see how we do.
Honestly I would be happy if I could lost over 5.

I've been eating SO much lately, so this past weekend & beginning of this week I've had to really be mindful of what I'm eat, or really more so how much & how often I'm eating. I don't quite know why, but it's just like all I can think about is food. There were literally a couple of days last week where that's almost ALL I thought about.

We slacked a lot on our walking, so we're hoping to pick that back up this week.
As far as other working out. It's pretty nonexistent right now.
My target areas, other than my belly, is my arms, thighs, and back. My question for anyone is do you have any good suggestion for arm exercises. I know there are TONS on Pinterest, I have a quite a few pinned that seems like they'd be good. But if you have one that you have actually tried and saw results, let me know. :) Puhhh-lease!

Last week: 165.1
Today: 163.8
Down 1.3 lbs


In other news...that's now really news...
We're housesitting, so I'm back at my computer. And then we now have internet again at home. So my point in this is that I can get back to blogging!
I am a week and a half behind on reading.
So, that's what I'm about to do while I wait on Doug to get home from work.

Oh & can we talk about how excited I am for Bad Grandpa! What is that you ask? Well, yours truly here is a huge Jackass fan, I L-O-V-E Jackass probably more than I should. There is a new movie coming out called Bad Grandpa & the trailer was just released today & I am so ready for October 25!

Y'all, I spent almost $200 on food for just the two of us for only 4 days. -_-
Then I came home & saw this, made my day.


And I'm out.
I don't really know what else to talk about at the moment, I'm kind of blank. So I'ma go do some blog reading. Hopefully I'll have something better to talk about tomorrow.

Lovins.
♥♥♥
Brandy

Plus two.

Two point four to be exact. We'll get to that later.
First I'm gonna recap the weekend...what I can't do that on a Wednesday?
Well then it's a good thing I'm a rebel.

Friday we didn't do anything.
Saturday was great. Even though we really need to be tight budgeted, we always have a date night for our birthdays. So, since Chili's decided to be a dick & take what I eat off the menu, we picked Applebees. We stopped by the mall to go into Rue 21 where I was actually able to find a pair of pants! So thanks to this sweet girl, I got a new pair of pants & actually a new tank top, an entire outfit, for my birthday. Thank youuu, Jess!!♥

I really need a full length mirror...

After that we went to Applebees for an early supper & then off to to the movies. We saw Grown Ups 2, & it was actually good. I have a broad sense of humor though. Not sure if that's the right word. Brain fart. My sense of humor spans over a wide range of things & I'm pretty easily amused most of the time, so I definitely laughed., If you liked the first one, see this one. I won't tell too much about it. Except that Taylor Lautner is in it. & Stone Cold Steve Austin is in it (which almost prompted a loud squeal from me, because I did not know he was in it.) I got a bit too excited.
I'm a huge SCSA fan. (Random fact about me.)
Anyway we were out of the movies by 9. We stopped at the store, got some tickets & beer & went home and sat on the porch for a couple of hours, just drinkin' and talkin'.
So, it was the perfect date night.

Sunday was okay. Woke up and just kind of hung around for a few minutes. Met another new turtle friend and released it. I was finally getting my veggie soup that I requested. (In our house, when it's your birthday YOU get to pick what's for supper. I picked veggie soup, but we had some chicken that needed to be cooked, SO I agreed on BBQ chicken on my actual birthday & then Sunday would be a good day for the soup.) And then I had talked to my cousin who informed me of some bad news about my great aunt. I posted on Sunday but avoided this subject and instead stuck to doing a Sunday Social. And I think for right now at least, I'll continue to avoid it. I have been trying to not think about it too much right now, I don't quite want a breakdown. Maybe in a day or so, I'll talk about it.

But that's why I've been MIA for a couple of days on here, & sporadic on the bird & IG. I've just kind of been keeping to myself & spending some time with family.
But, like I said, I'll get into that in a couple of days maybe.
I've also done a lot of thinking...about my 30 before 30. I'm still having things pop up in my mind that should have been on the list. So anytime something pops into my head I'm trying to jot it down or make a mental note or something.
There are a few places I'd like to start. So, we'll see. :-)

For today..I suppose I will weigh-in. I didn't do it last week (via the blog) because it was my birthday week & that's a valid enough excuse. I did, however, weigh-in for myself. There was no change, which I'm okay with.
This week there was.
But that is probably due to the fact that (1) I had not one, but TWO, birthday cakes, & (2)I've eaten a lot of yummylicious food in the past week.
So, that brings us to the 2.4 thing.

Last week: 162.3
Today: 164.7
Up: 2.4

So not cool seeing that number. (So not cool seeing the any of the 160's again, at all) But, oh well.
The only thing I can do, is do better.
It's no secret that I love food, THAT won't change.
However, I've been feeling funny lately. My arm has been hurting.
I know that the food+lack of doing,..well...anything, is the cause.
Or maybe I'm sleeping funny. I'm a paranoid person.
Whatever the reason, it's enough of a jolt for me, I'm kicking myself in the ass.
That along with some serious talking that my hubs & I did the other night (about himself) gave me a small boost.
I'm still so glad that he's on board with me. We both have various reasons for this, but they are pretty much the same for both of us.

So, there you have it. Now I'm gonna catch up on a few blogs & try to find something else to occupy my mind.

Lovins!
♥♥♥
Brandy

*I also haven't really responded to many emails in the past couple of days. Please don't take it personal if I happen to not get back to you right away.♥

HumpDAY

Welp, tis that time again. I haven't weighed in (on here) since June 12th..ooopsie.

I feel like as soon as I get to this here space any words I may have had just scatter & I'm just staring at the screen and maybe drooling a bit like, "durrrr...."
What kind of mental picture did you get?
So, anywho...
I have gained it all back...pretty much.

Start weight (4-10-13): 163
Last weigh in (6-12-13): 160.5
Today: 162.3
Up 1.8

The lowest weight I hit in the matter of the almost 3 months I've done this link up is 156.7.
So, I've lost 6.3 lbs & then gained back 5.6lbs...in 13 weeks.
Boo.

That's okay. Every day is a fresh slate to start from.
I'll get there....I think.

I'm feeling a bit run down. You know how you can feel yourself trying to get sick? Yea, that's what's goin on.
It doesn't help that it's been gloomy and raining the past couple of days & the rest of the week looks to be the same way.
Our town has already decided to post pone fireworks til Saturday.

What are you doing for the 4th?

♥♥♥
Brandy

From one year to beyond, pt. 2! & Eating. I'm doing it wrong.

Well, not completely.
Not according to me.

Click on to link up.

The only reason I say this is because you know on some days there are certain difficulties that you may have. What you've eaten for the day can greatly attribute to it.
I just need to reassess what I'm doing. It's not so much of what I'm eating, but making sure that what I'm eating is giving me enough of what my body needs, (fiber, protein, etc.)
This is the part about healthy living that kind of sucks, I don't like having to pick apart everything I eat just to make sure it's enough. But it's whatever. I really don't think many adjustments will need to be made. I'm just having an uncomfortable stint right now, just feeling uncomfy. I also gained weight. But that probably has something to do with eating at 2 diff. restaurants twice in one weekend. So I'm okay with it...slightly.
I saw a pin on Pinterest with a bunch of suggestions and one said have a meatless night. We rarely do this. We're meat eaters, for sho. But I may see if everyone would be willing to do it. Have a night where we just have a big salad and maybe some side veggies, whether they be raw or cooked. Or something like that. Hell I don't know. Speaking of veggies, you ever feel like the fruit and veggie drawer in your fridge just is not big enough. I do. Pack it to the top & then things get lost & forgotten. 
Oh well.
This week: 160.5
Last week: 159.2
Up: 1.3
It's whatever, no ones fault but my own. I'm not happy about seeing 160 again, but it wont change until I kick myself in the ass real hard.
Moving on...

Click on pic. to link up.

From One Year To Beyond, Part 2.

The hardest moments from your first year of marriage.

Well. This one can be a little tricky. Doug & I have been together for 10 years (I know I sound like a broken record) and we've only been married for 2 of those. Which means we had been together for 8 years before marriage, and we've lived together all of those 8 years, (now 10 yrs, obviously).

So, the two main challenges the I'll combine into one is that: 1-I don't have a job & 2- we still live at home (at my parents). 

While this has been hard on us before our first year of marriage, I'm still goin' to talk about it. The main issues that these present are very obvious. We have to live off of one income & little privacy. We are very blessed though that my parents are generous enough to allow us to live here, rent free. We contribute in other ways such as groceries and other household needs, and of course helping around the house with cleaning and such. We always look at the silver lining, that being, we could be out on our own, struggling with one income & barely making ends meet. So, ya know. It could be worse, so we're not really complaining. :-)

Losing friends. This affected me more than my hubs. He's easier to say fuck it & I'm the one that cares, too much. This really happened towards the end of our first year of marriage and carried over into the second. It had nothing to do with our marriage & it didn't "rock" our marriage in any negative way. There were just things that happened with some friends that basically resulted in us not talking to any of our friends-that live here-. Doug wasn't jolted by it too much, and at first, I had that same attitude; Fuck it, fuck that & fuck them. But I ended up in a slump a few months in, my depression slapped me in. the. face. HARD. But he worked with me & always been quick to reassure me of things. It actually turned out to be great. It brought the two of us closer together. It sucks to not really have the luxury of calling and hanging out with your friends, but you know...sometimes it's for the better. This was one of those cases. 

(We've all started speaking again, but it's not the way it was. And for now, I'm okay with that.)

The baby thing. You know, once you get married everyone asks "Well, when are you going to have babies?" But not many of them knew that we were basically just waiting for it to happen. I've been off of BC since I was 21 (I think). There's not much of a reason why I shouldn't have had a baby yet. Being asked all the time, is hard, especially when they don't know the struggle. I know I'm not the only one who faces it, but still, things affect people in different ways. And seeing people get knocked up left and right, is a tiny bit frustrating at times. Again this is one of those things that doesn't pertain to just the first year of marriage, but to us in general. And it's another thing that bothers me more, because of the worry of what's wrong with me. Doug's a great support system, though. He doesn't always know what to say, but to just let me get it out, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, matters. And as I've addressed in my past posts. We've pretty much figured out that I'm not ovulating. Poo. We did one round of treatment (ovulation meds), but I haven't been for a follow up or anything. I'm really hoping I can get in gear and lose some weight and that will maybe help me out. I know that being overweight can have a negative affect on trying to get pregnant. So...there's that.

Basically I'm overly emotional and my husband is my rock. lol

I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that come to mind. 

I'm still going to continue realtionship posts. The next installment is wedding stuffs. I know I said I'd pick back up on it Monday, but Aunt Flo drained my energy & now the bitch is gone. I think I'm starting to regain it, so I'll actually stop being lazy and work on it, I'll save it for next week though.

Happy Humbday!

♥♥♥

Brandy

Weighing in while eating Pizza Rolls.

 It's Link-up Wednesday.

 

I can't believe...

...Doug & I still haven't been keeping up with the crunch challenge. The shit's not gonna work if we keep taking 4 to 5 rest days. lol 

...The end of the school year is almost hear.

...I'm actually going to suck it up and miss seeing Steve O this weekend. Shhhh, can you hear that? It's my heart breaking.

...how tired I've been the last couple of days. It's like I can't fully wake up. -_- Gotta fix that.

Last week: 156.7
This week: 158.5
Up: 1.8

I called this. Being sick, having a tooth pulled and not being able to eating for a week will make for some good weight loss. And then your diet returns to normal.
I mean, I'm chowing down on Pizza Rolls at the moment. Yum.
No biggie though.
It's idiotic to beat yourself up about something to the point of worthlessness. Dieting is something I never ever beat myself up about aside from saying, "maybe I should have ate that." But it quickly goes away.
Weightloss is different. Not so much weightloss, but weight gain.
But again, it's not going to matter pouting. It would be different if I was completely obsessed with it.
And I'm not.
If you are, you shouldn't be.
Obsessed can be quite a strong word. Be passionate about a lifestyle change.
Be dedicated.
But don't do it to a fault.
Learn to love yourself now, and then you can love yourself more once you see the changes happening. Not to mention, you'll be extremely proud of yourself. Obviously.

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Happy Humpday, Beautiful Ladies.
Love yourself today, and every day!

♥♥♥
Brandy

Checking in, linking up.

I am still computerless!
But...I have someone who is going to wipe out my computer
and reinstall my windows & Microsoft crap.
You know, they basic stuff that comes on it.
So, if all goes as it should, I'll be starting "fresh".
If I can squeeze another year out of my dinosaur of a computer
we might just break down and get a new one next year...
assuming we can afford it.
So, here's to hoping that I get it working & it'll be my friend for another year!
In the meantime I have picked The Happiness Project back up (I hadn't read on it for a good week or 2) I think I'm halfway through chapter 5 now. I honestly can't believe how much I love it. It really is a good book, especially for someone who is trying to do all things possible to be as happy as possible- like me.
Anyways, it's Wednesday. So let's just get to my link ups for the day.
Linking up with my girl, Robin, for "I can't believe..."

I can't believe... the weekend came and went that fast. Seriously WAY too fast. :(
I can't believe... I balls-ed up and asked my on again, off again friend to go to a concert with me. Hoping it goes well for us if we go.
I can't believe... hubs and I haven't worked on the basement in a hot minute...like...maybe close to 2 months.
I can't believe... I went to Savannah and didn't come home with a souvenir! And I even looked at a few shirts I actually liked. Poo!
I can't believe... Fall Out Boy FINALLY announced who they were taking on tour with them AND IT'S WHO I WAS HOPING AND PRAYING IT WOULD BE!
I can't believe... I'm behind on my shows...I have too many as it is...so to be behind is nooo good!
I can't believe... Jenelle from TM2 is in trouble...again... for drugs & assault...Actually I kind of can believe it...but is this bitch not pregnant? Or was that a lie? Or did she miscarry? I'm out of the loop I guess, but still, REALLY?!

Weighing in with Erin & Alex.

Time to weigh in I suppose.
I honestly feel like I should be up or the same as I was.
I mean I spent the weekend out of town. Which means eating out the whole time.
My weekend eating consisted of white cheddar popcorn, doritos, gushers, animal crakcers, Chili's chicken club tacos with loaded mashed potatoes & mac & cheese (& a pom margarita!), Wild Wing Café bbq chicken sliders with friiieessss, a blizzard, a slice of Sbarros, mountain dew, cokes,...and barely any water. lol And I don't feel bad about it, at all. SO GOOD!
BUT, we did do lots of walking! So, it's okay.
My eating since I've gotten back home is pretty much normal.
I just haven't exercised or walked since Saturday.
So whatevs, I'll be getting back to trying to find a routine soon. Haha.

Last week: 162
Today: 161.4
Down:  .6

All things considered, I'll take it. Even though it's probably just a daily fluctuation type thing. haha.
Maybe I can find a few exercises I like and start doing them so I can see some actual changes!

Happy Humpday.
Hoping I can get back to blogging as usual soon!

♥♥♥
Brandy

Can you believe... it's time for a weigh-in?

Because I can't.

I can't believe... it's already Wednesday.
I can't believe... tomorrow will be a week since the tornado already.
I can't believe... that the Jason Aldean show has already come and gone. (I'll post about it soon.) PCD definitely kicked in.
I can't believe... that I'll be leaving on a solo trip in a few days...hellurrr anxiety, I don't like you!
I can't believe... that I slept until 10, pushes back everything I wanted to do today.
I can't believe... that I am still having damn issue with my McAfee and am now dealing with it, causes even more time to be wasted.
I can't believe... it's almost noon & I still haven't had breakfast. :-/ Thinking I might just have lunch & forget breakfast today.

I won't be surprised to see little to no change in any progress.
Not going to get anything done by barely exercising. The past week has been crazy between storms, a concert, and my car quitting on me. However, I did get some walking in. That most definitely counts. And I hit up the treadmill last night & am supposed to be walking today.
So,..yeah..
Not too much to say or update on. I still haven't picked back up on MFP.
My problem I have with it is it's so tedious to add every dang ingredient and make a meal out of that & then estimate how much you had...for every. dang. meal. I'll seriously have to spend half a day and sit at the computer & add the meals/snacks I eat most frequently to make it easier.

Last week: 163
Today: 162
Down 1 lb.
I may add measurements & pictures, but not sure if I'll post those on here.

That's all I got for today.
I'm still waking up & frustrated by this stupid computer.

Happy Humpday.
♥♥♥
Brandy

I Can't Believe...I'm about to do a Weigh-In Wednesday

2 link ups in one post today, folks! Linking up with the ever-so-lovely Robin! And then weighing in with Erin & Alex, whom I haven't met, yet!

First...

I can't believe... that I've been waking up semi-early lately. (bet I just jinxed myself by saying that.)
I can't believe... that after waking up early-ish this morning I then got up, ate & went to my mother in laws just to get dolled up a bit just to record a less-that-one-minute video. I almost recorded a vlog too...almost. Too shy.
I can't believe... that I haven't did any laundry this week. And I need something to wear for Saturday!
I can't believe... that I get to go to this concert! It's gonna be one for the books for sure! Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett & Jake Owen AT Sanford Stadium (Home of the GEORGIA BULLDOGS y'all!). I know I sound like a broken record but I don't even care! EEEK!
I can't believe... I've actually been drinking water this week. Not much, but some is better than none, right?!
I can't believe... that I actually am going to do a Weigh-In Wednesday...so..here goes nothin' I guess...

So, this is my first time doing this link up, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. Sounds stupid, but it's totally logical to me (& probably to some of you!).
I have been overweight probably since the end of high school, but I started gaining probably end of freshmen/early sophomore year--so almost 10 years ago). About 2.5 years ago, (Aug '10) I first decided I wanted to get serious about losing weight because I was engaged and about 10 months away from my wedding. So who doesn't want to lose weight? So I joined a gym! Over the course of that 10 months, I only went maybe 4 or 5 times. (the part that's even more sad is I kept the membership up until last summer..July '12 --that's almost 2 years, people--, & I still hadn't used it anymore!) So I finally canceled it. I decided I'd start a health and fitness blog with one of my friends that lives in  Cali. We were both wanting to lose weight for the same reasons; to feel & look good obviously, and to better ourselves because we both wanted to get pregnant. We started that in I think Sept. of 2011. Well, that fell through a little a few months in. Life happens, ya know. Not too long before we started that blog, I had noticed that I had reached my highest weight. Gross. That number on the scale was a driving force behind making the decision to start. I did pretty well. I feel like I eat fairly well anyway. I love fruit and veggies & I don't feel like our dinner are that bad. I was using My Fitness Pal already and I used the blog as kind of a food diary. We had also just got a treadmill & so I was able to use that, but I was going mainly off of a food diary to start with. While I haven't been on that blog is ages, I've teeter tottered with my weight ever since. I had actually lost about 10 lbs. But it crept back a little & plateaued. Well in the past couple of weeks I've noticed it's crept up more and I again hit my same highest weight that I previously mentioned & I refuse to let it go any higher. So...here I am...
Starting over, again...kind of. (Hope you guys understood that, I wanted to condense but still be a little thorough!)
My mindset through this is, and always has been portion, control & not starving/depriving myself of something I want. And that works for me. It's slower, yes, but I'm stubborn & this is my way of doing things. "Everything in moderation."
Anyway.
Weighing in today at: 163
My UGW: is at least 135, I'm 5'2" so my ideal range is 125-135 (if I'm not mistaken).
My reason: I want to feel better. I want to look better. I want to help with my chances of getting pregnant -a current struggle- and having a healthy pregnancy. To be happy!
I'm not setting a weekly target weight right now since I'm still just now getting back into the swing of things (aka incorporating working out) so I'm just gonna see how it goes for the first couple of weeks.
Glad to join this link up!
I have a MyFitnessPal that I haven't started using again, yet, but if you want to be friends just add me & I'll approve! My MFP UN is bnba03.


Hope everyone had a great Humpday!
♥♥♥
Brandy