These Jeans are even looser than last week.  Why did I put this horrid side view?  Honesty.  Thanks to my mommyhood, I still have a marsupial pouch…and I guess I didn’t suck in on this photo.  I weighed 192.5 giving live birth twice and that’s too much excess to neatly fold back together.  I wear this pouch as a proud reminder of the two wonderful young men in my life.

I don’t know about 300% better, but the dress definitely looks BETTER.  The funny thing is that I don’t love it,  and I may not wear it in Hollywood this week.  I have my eye on another dress at the store…what can I say, “girls are allowed to change their mind…”

Above: Although the dreaded Muffin Top is still there, it’s much smaller and the jacket now  buttons closed.  I never dreamed that it would button since it began with a “mind the gap” sign when wrapped around my fat form ripe for chiseling.  Overall, the outfit fits much leaner.

Below:  Plan A dress which has been traded in for a newer model B dress.  I’m a little disappointed, but when I bought it, I didn’t realize it was 7″ off the mark.  I assumed that it was 3″ off, and I think I would have lost that in the timeframe.   I’ll still keep this dress because “you never know” and  I’m hoping to be invited to another ball so that I can  try it again, y’all !

Life…doesn’t it sometimes just get in the way of you accomplishing any of your lofty goals?

I’ve found that having one husband, two sons, one cat and a minivan often lead me far away from the neatly written to-do list created the night before.

I guess it should teach us all to plan in pencil and to have a colossal eraser handy!

When I went to bed Tuesday night,

Wednesday’s to-do list was:

Train my awesome Barcroft clients

Figure out what RSS  (Really Simple Syndication) really does

Add RSS to this blog

Go to the Spanx store in hopes that they can chisel  3 3/4″ off my waist and not have those inches pop up above my dress line to look like an epic meeting between my leftover love handles and  double chin.

Look for Plan B Dress

Present Nutrition Seminar to my cat for practice and proficiency

Pick up old computer charger left at store last week

Bring my friend a thank you card

Workout

Eat

Etc.

How My Day Really Unfolded:

5:30 a.m. megahorn blow

Train awesome Barcroft Clients

Help my friend, Marianne Hobart, get out of her house (her house door lock was broken and she was stuck inside.  Unbelievable, I know, but you know  the  usual antics that you have with friends.  We call our special antics the Ethel and Loosey show)  Added bonus, I was able to hand her the thank you card !

Search Salvation Army, Treasure Trove, Goodwill, Antie Te’s, and Unique Thrift .  Added bonus, by helping Marianne, I was already close to three of these shops!

Pick up son #2 from school and take him to and from soccer.  Added bonus, I was able to drive to Antie Te’s and Unique Thrift while he practiced.

Pre-dinner client postponed workout.  Added bonus, I ate dinner and drove  to It’s All Good and FOUND PLAN B DRESS!

Get a manicure to make next week’s manicure more meaningful (I had bloody stumps on the end of my fingers because hang nails had gone rouge on me.)  Added bonus, see epilogue below.

Strength Training Workout (who cares that it was at 9:45 p.m.-I did it!)  Added bonus, my Bio Whey Nirvana Shake!

At the end of the day, I did feel  accomplished.  Ultimately, I achieved most of my “to dos” with a few added bonuses…including finding THE DRESS and NOT having to purchase SPANX!

Just because I didn’t move through the day in an expected pattern, I did achieve most of my goals and did the best that I could to have an awesome day.   I think there’s a lesson  in that:

Most days don’t flow in a straight line.  As card carrying members of the human race, we ALL get sidetracked by other priorities, crises and general “life circumstances”.  Do the best that you can to achieve your “to dos” by keeping your sight on your overall goal. In other words,

Make Your Goal Your Goal

and don’t stray too far from the most crucial action steps needed to achieve your overall goal. 

On the occasional days that you get kerfuffled, reset and re-aim the next day.

Epilogue:  You may be asking, why is this post called “My Sour and Sweet Pork Roll?”

Because I often have lots of illogic and chaos mixed in my day, and here’s how the overall day ended…Sour at First and Sweet at Last.

While trying on MANY Plan B  dresses, I realized very clearly and very disappointingly that I am NOT a size four or six.  Not for the first time in my life, I’ve underestimated my true size.  I guess I have become SO exuberant at my game plan, I think that I’m the smallest Russian Doll in the nest and that ain’t so (yet).

The “Perfect Dress” that I found was a size 10.  Size 10 would be great, but I’m 5 foot 2 1/2 inches tall, and size 10 seems a little too big for me to be after all of this hard work.  Since I’ve seen clients get discouraged and throw in the towel when they found out they weren’t the size they thought they were either,  I WON’T let that happen to me.  Alas, my actual clothing size Is What It Is…and my pork roll is still a little larger that I’d like. That felt a little sour.  But, what story is complete without a sweet ending?

Not mine!

Added bonus to the manicure stint?  When I walked in, the owner said, “you’ve lost a lot of weight and look really great”.  I’d seen her in the middle of the summer, and her comment made me realize size really doesn’t matter… The reality is that my new way of eating and exercising has given me purpose, has freed me from excess fat and has helped me in all things important to a healthy and content life!

Though today’s entry is very “pat myself on my back”, I’m willing to do it here so that YOU can believe in yourself too.  I believe that being proud of your accomplishments is an important part of the success cycle.

When I began this new journey two weeks ago I was hoping to achieve great things with my workout program, but I never dreamed the results would be SO DRAMATIC so quickly.

To what do I attribute my lost inches ? I mentioned last week what I thought the first week’s results were directly related to, and this week  I think it’s a winning combination of a few things I’ve continued to do right:

1)  I’ve have written down everything that I’ve eaten.  EVERYsingleTHING.  Primarily, that means that I have NOT gone off track on my food ingestion.  In addition, over the last two weeks, I’ve stayed away from peanut butter…a HUGE “can’t eat just one tablespoon” food for me.  I honestly think I was eating a third of a jar of peanut butter before I began this program two weeks ago.

2)  I have Strength Trained three times a week and done 19 minute Interval Cardio Routines twice a week.  In total, I “exercised” about 3 hours and 40 minutes a week.  Not a huge time commitment compared to the 168 hours that we are all allotted per week.  It has honestly given me a fresh new energy and pepped up my emotional well being.  I have a purpose driven goal: 1)Leading by example to help others reach their fat loss goals and 2) Fitting into some pretty small clothes by September 24th.

Purpose driven living is the only way to live and to achieve your goals.  When you have a purpose, and it’s truly important to you, you will do WHATEVER it TAKES to reach your mission.  My mission both personally and professionally is clear to me:

To Educate, Entertain and Inspire others to a

 Healthy Weight and More Content Llife.

‘Nuff said…now onto the FUN STUFF!  After all, a picture’s worth a thousand words…

Week Two Results:

Jeans:

 Black Dress:

Black Pants:

Goodness me, this is NOT the look I’m “going for”…but, they zip.  I’ll keep working on ridding myself of the dreaded (and dreadfully awful looking) Muffin Top.  After all, toppling muffins is what I’m all about at Muffin Toppled Enterprises, Inc. !

Red Dress:

Sigh. Is the right side ever to be joined in marriage to the left side of the zipper across the enormous abyss of MY back?  This one seems WAY out of reach without my undergoing a “ribectomy”…. three and three quarter inches to go… and NO elasticity. Still, lots of inches down, FOR SURE! Only time will tell, and I’m coming up with a Plan B Just in Case!

Yay!  Week two down…Week three looms!  And I look forward to hearing and watching YOUR progress…YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!  Have a fantabulous week!

September 11, 2014

As I sit here today, I reflect on what happened in New York and D.C. 13 years ago. Any anxiety I feel for my petty issues seems miniscule compared to the enormity of the loss on that day.

Today, all of us are 13 years older and we’ve been blessed with time to  gain perspective on the event. Determined terrorist tried to knock us down, and we resolutely stood back up.   Today, in D.C., the sky is not as blue and crisp and it’s far more humid.

I thank all of the people who have fought to keep our freedom over the last 13 years and beyond.  We are blessed as a nation to have opportunities that other people in other nations don’t have.

I really wanted to write today to talk about yesterday’s  “didn’t go as planned” day. I want to show that I really am  just like everybody else.  I really do have a hectic schedule, really can get off track on taking action toward achieving my goals, and really can get back on track with a little “oh well” and re-setting.  I want to show you how I do that so that you can apply the same principals if and when you get off track from achieving any of your goals.

Yesterday (Wednesday) began with the alarm blaring in my ear at 5:30 a.m.  UGGGHHHH!  Because I spent the prior evening recording my Muffin Toppled® AMUSE-ICAL™ Pre-Month One Even Day video with Elliott White of True Fitness and Nutrition, I had gone to sleep after midnight, and therefore I was exhausted all day Wednesday.  In addition, I was sidetracked all day attempting to retrieve my computer hardrive.  You see, last May my computer crashed.  Last week I realized that I had lost ALL of my videos during that crash.  The crash was so BAD it prevented the launch of www.witandfit.com cold in its tracks within days of launching.  I considered it a sign.

Getting back on my feet last week, after the kiddos went back to school, I realized that the videos that  I assumed Carbonite had backed up were not restored onto my new computer.  Unfortunately, Carbonite only backs up videos if you manually tell it to back those videos up.  Since I didn’t realize that you had to manually back them up on Carbonite, I never did the manual back up.  I’m digressing here here to save you from the same heartache.  Not only did I lose all of my business videos and testimonials, I lost four years worth of my kid’s concerts and milestone moments.  Unfortunately, I learned last night that my hardrive is unreadable and the next step will be mega recovery at mega expense.  I’ll sit on this info for a while until I decide what to do, and if you possess the magic powers to bring my hardrive back, I’d be thrilled to hear from you!

Meanwhile back to Wednesday: because of the Tuesday night’s activities, the blaring alarm, the emotional drain of losing those videos and the afterschool carting of a child from a hot soccer field, I fell asleep at 7:00 p.m.  Loyal fans, here’s how I fell asleep- propped up in a chair like an 82 year old.   Like Rip Van Winkle, my eyes stayed shut until  6:30 a.m. this morning.

That means that I didn’t get my strength training workout in on Wednesday as planned.  Oh no!

What did I do?

Even though I wanted to scream like a banshee and say a lot of naughty words, I chose to remain calm, reset and re-aim.

I changed my strength training workout to today and skip interval cardio.  By next week, I should be back on track with my M/W/F workouts.  If I had really not been able to perform the strength training workout today, I would have just done two this week and done the routine for 5 weeks, instead of four.  That’s the cool thing about the monthly workouts in the Muffin Toppled® AMUSE-ICAL Workout.  It’s adaptable to my schedule and YOUR schedule.  Each four week program is designed to be done over four weeks if performed three days a week.  However, they are adaptable to be completed over six weeks if you are on a two day a week strength training schedule.

I’ll follow tomorrow with the interval cardio routine planned for today and  finish off the week on Saturday with another strength training day.  That will still line me up for my strength training on Monday of next week (with Sunday as a rest day in between.)

Yay! I’m still undefeated because the flexibility built into my plan will still allow me to move forward toward my goal of fitting into those clothes by September 24, 2014.

Monday September 8, 2014

When it comes to following my plan, I’m still raring to go!  I consider that a good sign because if I weren’t still totally into it, that would be difficult convincing others that this is a great way to lose fat.

I mean, really.

Can you imagine me saying to you today, “Muffin Toppled® the AMUSE-ICAL™ Workout System?  Uh, well, I found it boring and it’s too difficult to follow.  Oh,  but I still recommend that YOU continue on this program because you’ll see results  After all, you’re a better person than me…good luck!”

Pah-leeze!

Fortunately, I’m NOT going to say any such thing to you.  In fact, I’m excited to share my results from week one with youI

I’ll hold you in suspense while I spew forth the Weekend Roundup: Saturday and Sunday rolled by without any real items of note…I continued to measure portions and journal my food intake.  In my ever evolving journal, I’ve included spaces to check off:

water intake _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (each short line represents 8 oz of water)

vitamin/fish oil intake

coffee intake

I included those spaces because I just plain forget if I’ve done it and/or it’s a reminder to take a pill or sip some water.  It just makes it easier to check it off of a list.

In addition, I worked out on Saturday for about a half of an  hour- I did very light powerlifting moves-Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift to work on technique.   I did very low weight and high repetitions.  I want to be honest and tell you that I plan to do this to keep my powerlifting specific technique up to speed, but will not lift any sets/repetitions that will make a difference to my AMUSE-ICAL™ Workout results.  I recommend that you DON’T do this.

I think this week’s results are not typical.  I’ve never experienced results like this before, and I don’t expect them to occur every week.   I think I had a “perfect” storm week of getting everything right…hence the great results.

Ultimately, here’s why I believe I had such stunning results:

1) I believe that I gained some serious belly issues by eating AMFAP (as much food as possible) for 4 to 5 days before I began to eat clean last Monday.

2) I believe that on Sunday, August 31^st when I captured the before photos, I was hormonally retaining fluid (did you need to know that-probably not, but it’s true).

3)  I believe that my stress level has decreased so much, the excess “weight” I’ve been trying to lose finally “let go”.

4)  I think that the change in workout routine (including the interval cardio) increased my metabolism.

5) I think that the NUMBER ONE thing I did right last week was to write EVERYTHING I ate in a journal.  I did not eat anything that wasn’t a protein, natural fat, or natural carbohydrate.

Here are this week’s photos:

Jeans UNBELIEVABLY ZIP

Black Dress is Still Tighter Than I’d Like, But Zips:

Black Pants Fit Very Differently Than Expected…They May Never Fit “Correctly”

This Dress May Never Fit…My Carriage May Never Be This Small…I Didn’t Consider That My Internal Organs and Ribs Are Part of the Equation (bygones):

Note to self-None of these clothes really fit well, and it’s possible that when I’ve lost the max fat, they may still not fit well.  That never occurred to me and in the future, buying clothes too small with the idea that I’ll eventually fit into them will only be for experimental purposes !

 August 30 and 31, 2014 Labor Day Weekend (backdated for educational purposes)

I trashed my old powerlifting shoes (that once upon a time, actually got me noticed in this video:  my competitive first deadlift  

I bought $147 worth of clothes from one of my favorite consignment stores It’s All Good in Arlington, Virginia.  I bought sizes that smaller than think I’ve ever been…we’ll see…I have a date in Hollywood in 3 and a half weeks.  It’s a goal, and a lofty one!

Outfit One-Voted most likely to fit (yes, it really is me!)

Outfit Two-Voted most likely to look 300% better

Outfit Three-Voted most bragging rights ever…I’ve never worn a size 2 pant  in my life (slight cheat in that they are boot cut. ) Doesn’t look so bad with a tight jacket…looks are decieveing…YOU KNOW THE REAL PICTURE!

Outfit Four-To boldly attempt to wedge myself into a dress that looks akin to fitting the Hindenburg into a Volkswagon. When we took this photo,  we must have been in a real hurry…I didn’t capture the whole photo.  If I were to guess, my belly fat will stop pulling on this and my back will shrink some…I believe this could fit on September 27, 2014…

Well worth the attempts!  And definitely exciting goals for me!

August 29, 2014 (backdated for educational purposes)

two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

I made a decision and it didn’t take me two weeks of grappling. That feels really good!

I’m letting go of the past (for now) and will turn and face my fears.

I’m going to use my AMUSE-ICAL™ workout program for at least the next 6 months and could go on for up to a year. I then plan to go back to powerlifting, fully restored. However, and this is IMPORTANT: THIS IS ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE at any given moment if I miss being part of Team Force too much.

Once delineated, the pros very clearly outweighed the cons on this one, and it was my emotion of fear that muddied the water.

Ultimately, by making this decision I believe everyone will win!

Me (air mask on first) and everyone purchasing my workout program.

Because I have committed fully to this pursuit, I’ve hired a master trainer to video coach me and give helpful hints to people using the AMUSE-ICAL™ Workout system. The video coaching will be day 11 and 12 for each month’s strength training days of my workout.

The trainer I’ve hand-picked for my journey is Elliott White, of True Fitness and Nutrition www.TrueFN.com . Located in McLean, Virginia, he and all of the personal trainers there  are some of the best in the D.C. area.  As I cut back on my client load to embark on this journey and to allow me more time to present wellness seminars, I whole-heartedly recommend them for those seeking the expert guidance from personal trainers.

Today:

1. I’ll go for my measurement/body fat assessment at True Fitness and Nutrition .  To see what a body composition assessment is like-shock and horror- I share my experience here:  Body Fat Assessment (not for the faint of heart)

2) I’ll begin reading my book, Wit and Fit™ and

3)  I’ll use my FOOD CON(trol)™ system from Wit and Fit™  to prepare a shopping list on page 155 and map out nutrition plan.

August 28, 2014 (backdated for educational purposes)

“Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” – Mark Twain

Today, I begin the process of facing my fears of changing my workout goals.

Here’s what I know: I’m not where I want to be and holding onto the past isn’t leading me into a dream future. 

Making a decision now about which path to take and committing to that path is the only way to achieve success.

Since I have two weeks to decide whether to change my goals I’d better get started in my quest of making the best informed decision.

My choices are as follows:

1. Becoming the leanest and strongest powerlifter that I can be at the 100% Raw World Championship Powerlifting competition on October 30, 2014.

OR

2.  Following my newly designed workout plan to achieve the most toned body ever (and prove that it really can be done successfully in the real world if you just commit to it.)

As I teach my clients, I will begin by honestly looking at the PROS and CONS of each option.  I will do this with as little emotion as possible, to flesh out the best choice.

Powerlifting Protocol

Pros

Bragging rights-it’s awesome to tell people you squat 250lbs at 132 lbs

Lifting with like-minded, high work-ethic, teammates

Action/consequence enforces my training schedule, even if I don’t “feel” like going to the gym

Keeps my weight in check

Has been my identity and beacon for four years

Cons

I’m burned out to the max, in every area of my life-family and work-and physical overtraining is burning my brain and body

Did I mention that I hurt?

Fat Loss Protocol

Pros

Prove that my workout system works

Deload my weary body

It will allow me to have time and energy to focus on Muffin Toppled® Enterprise, Inc.’s growth

Inspire others through my bravery that the only way to change is to face your fears and commit

Be able to do exactly what I have my clients do (I normally can’t do the repetition range they do)

Be more congruous with my message

Start a blog about my journey and hope to help others through documenting my journey

Cons

I might get fat

I won’t be as proficient at powerlifting

I won’t be able to eat as many calories as I do training as a powerlifter

Will need to be more internally motivated

I’ll become a B Level Athlete…”back in my day”… NOT a phrase I ever want to utter

I will have to back out of my commitment to 100% Raw Worlds, which I feel obligated to do

I will let the “team” down and seem flaky

May be too much to commit to, with the blog and staying the course for the long haul

Lots to think about…

August 27, 2014 (backdated for educational purposes)

“One of the hardest decisions you’ll ever face in life is choosing whether to walk away or try harder.” ― Ziad K. Abdelnour

Where did this all begin?

It honestly began in elementary school, when I had a MuffinTop before they were fashionable.  Sadly, this continued through High School and College and I tried every silly “diet” out there because I no longer wanted to be the “fat cheerleader”.  Too bad, so sad!

Finally, in my early 20’s, I grabbed hold of myself, found a reasonable way of eating and took the weight off successfully.  At one point I even weighed 121 and size 4 was hanging on me.  That was well and good until I hit 30 when baby #1 came along.

The day I gave birth, I weighed 192.5 and he weighed 8 lbs 10 oz.  That means that I gained 60 lbs…and the yo-yo cycle began again.

Starting from 2000, every 5 years, I’d lose the weight for my High School Reunion…and during those 4 years in between reunions, I’d slip back into old eating habits, which were exacerbated by having two boys.  A typical question I’d for them after lunch was,  “You’re not going to finish that grilled cheese sandwich?” For some reason the trashcan didn’t seem like a viable option -it was wasteful- and before I knew it I was on a mission to save the Atlantic Landfills.  Ahead of my time, once again, I became the human composter.

That all changed with another looming High School Reunion.  In June of 2008, tired of winning yo yo champion every 5 years, my goal changed to:

 Taking Off and Keeping My Excess Fat at Bay

That was my only goal and my forever goal.

In order achieve that goal in October 2008, I attended NPTI to become a personal trainer and nutrition consultant.  In 2010, to “stay in the game of lean” and to test my strength mettle, I joined the Team Force powerlifting team.  In 2012, powerlifting became a little stale for me and I found myself struggling to lift consistently and keep excess fat at bay.  To reinvigorate my life,  I changed my goal to compete at 132 lbs and to stay as strong as possible during that significant weight loss.  It was a lofty goal to lose 19 lbs in 10 weeks, but I committed to that goal and not only weighed in at 131.34, I also nailed all 4 world records at the 100% Raw Powerlifting Worlds in Las Vegas.

Now it’s 2014, and I’m struggling to find goals in line with my inner and outer dreams.

I see a pattern, and being the awesome sleuth that you are, you probably do too. That’s right, it’s TWO YEARS later and it’s time for some invigoration through re-invention .

I have two choices-

Walk Away and Try Something New

OR

Try Harder at What Once Worked.

It’s possible that I need to face my inner drama queen and conquer my fears of leaving my favorite sport and change my long term goals (6 months to a year) to fat loss.

Whatever I decide, I will FULLY COMMIT to my plan.