The First, Er, 16 - Day 2

Yesterday I completed day 2 of Slim in 6… which means I’m 1/18 of the way done! Yay! Actually, the fact that I have 17/18 to go kind of sucks, as Slim in 6 is insanely boring. The good news is it wasn’t nearly as difficult last night as it was the first day. However, the scale has not moved down. I know technically you’re not supposed to weigh yourself every day, but I can’t help it. I should probably talk to someone about that. Still, I should probably pick one day a week to “weigh in” as part of this journey. I think Monday’s will be fine enough for that. As for my clever name of The First 13, it will now be The First 16. I should have weighed myself over the weekend. Not only would I have had a more accurate number, but I may have been more inclined to curb the pumpkin spice latte intake over the weekend.

Anywho, last night I am pleased to report that I made a super meal. For the record, it did – in fact – contain meat. I made turkey burgers with diced green chiles (topped with avocado, low-fat pepper jack cheese, and onions) and sweet potato fries that were AWESOME. These recipes were from Cook Yourself Thin which has redeemed itself at our house.

Not only was my husband very happy about the meat, but he loved the sweet potato fries. This was a shock because when he originally walked into the kitchen, the excitement of meat was overshadowed by the intense hatred for sweet potatoes.

“You know I don’t like sweet potatoes,” he said.

No, I didn’t, but okay…

“They’re yummy and good for you so try it and if you don’t like it I’ll make you some frozen ones,” I said.

Guess who finished off the sweet potato fries and asked for more?

Yes. It was shocking and it made me feel good about myself. I may be a fat ass, but there are few things that bring me more satisfaction than my husband asking to have more of whatever it was that I made.

Win!

Also last night I was able to leaf through my latest issue of Savvy magazine. If you’ve never seen it, I highly suggest picking it up. It’s a fashion magazine that has a pageant twist ant it’s phenomenal. Anyway, there were some great new dress designs from Sherri Hill. And not like any serious pageant contestant would ever buy off the rack (go custom or go home), but some of them really got my pulse racing.

You see exactly what I'm talking about at www.sherrihill.com.




P.S. I really do want world peace.

The First 13 – Day 1

I actually started “the plan” today. It went well enough, but I think the first day of anything (school, work, etc.) is challenging. I actually ate pretty healthy today, and throughout the day. I also only indulged in a single cup of coffee this morning. I usually drink several cups, usually with an obscene amount of Coffee-Mate. I actually think Coffee-Mate is part of the reason as to why I’m fat, so I have recently started drinking fat-free and/or sugar free Coffee-Mate. It doesn’t taste nearly as good (which could explain why I only had one cup this morning) and I really don’t know if fat-free or sugar-free Coffee-Mate helps anything in the first place. But what the heck ever, I’m not perfect.

For dinner tonight, I picked my first recipe from Cook Yourself Thin. I made the Eggplant Stacks – which is basically a lasagna made with eggplants rather than noodles. Unfortunately, after assembling the masterpiece, it looked better than it tasted – though I do pride myself on presentation. Still, Mr. Beauty Queen was not thrilled with tonight’s entrée, and suggested that in order for this to work, dinners must include meat. The good news is menus for the rest of the week do include meat. So go meat!

Today was also the first day of Slim in 6. I made it through the whole workout, which was about 25 minutes today, but it was actually pretty challenging. I don’t know if it was because I am so out of shape, or it’s just a more difficult program (because it is, after all, supposed to reshape your body in 36 workouts), but it kicked my butt. It wasn’t nearly as bad as P90X, but it’s going to hurt tomorrow. I do think that I can stick with it though.

I think for the first day, I did better than I thought I would do, but unlike so many things in life, the first step on any “journey of healthy living,” is easier than the 2nd, 3rd, 15th and 90th. I’ve always been someone who can jump on the bandwagon easily, but I tend to fall off just as easy. Hopefully I can do this.

In other news, talk of our state’s preliminary to Mrs. America is starting up on the Voy boards. Voy boards are these insane forums where people bitch, I mean, talk, about every single pageant under the sun. It’s hard to sit back and watch other people get excited about going after your dream. I do want to compete again, very, very badly, but I’m not sure as to why. Nor am I positive that I could get ready in time - state would be next summer. I really want to make sure that I do this for the right reasons, and not just for a pageant, but it is still hard. I know that out of all the married women in my state, I could guarantee that I want the crown the most, but we’ll have to see as to when or if there will ever be a time for it.

But clearly, I have other things to focus on right now.




P.S. I really do want world peace.

The Plan

Now that I have committed myself to becoming the crown, I think the first thing I need to do is have some goals. While the overall goal is to look like a beauty queen, I am not really sure how I am going to measure that. That said, I am going to have several mini-goals which are measureable and more motivating. I think that a lot of really small “wins” is more motivating than one big one. I do not want to overwhelm myself nor do I wish to have another melt-down (as was described in my last post) any time soon.

All and all, I have about 50 lbs. that I would like to lose over the course of this “journey.” But I’ll be in decent enough shape to stand on a stage (if I was paid a million dollars) and look good naked after 35 lbs. However, the first goal, is healthy BMI range for my height, which requires losing about 13 pounds. Once I’m no longer considered “overweight,” I think I’ll be fairly happy, inspired to continue, and have developed some healthy habits.

Now to accomplish the goal of losing what I will now call “The First 13,” I will be using a few different tools:

Slim in 6
I will admit that I am addicted to infomercials. I proudly own several Snuggies, the complete Wen Hair Care System and a bunch of unused containers of Sheer Cover under my bathroom sink. So, naturally, when I saw the Slim in 6 infomercial, I was hooked. I originally ordered P90X, but I found that to be one hell of a de-motivating ass-kicking in a box, so I thought that Slim in 6 would be a better way to start this journey. Although I hear it’s quite a time commitment, you get results fast. So, I am starting tomorrow. Seriously.






Healthy Cookbooks
I love, love, LOVE cooking! I haven’t always, but I have recently become kind of a domestic culinary force. While I have a desire to attempt every dish from every single episode of “Everyday Italian,” I am going to have to trade in Giada’s cookbooks for some healthy ones for a while. Since I have no desire to spend the next few months grilling chicken breasts on the George Foreman and eating carrots, I needed some help in finding inspiration for healthy and yummy dishes. So these are what I picked up:
















Yes. In case you’re wondering, I fully intend on sharing how it all tastes.

And there is one other rule that is part of the plan: everything in moderation! This is a journey of healthy living. It’s not a crash diet. Therefore, I don’t intend on depriving myself. Especially since the holidays are around the corner. Rather, I want to focus on making healthier choices that will become habits that last the rest of my life.

Okay, so that’s the scoop. The only thing I haven’t yet figured out is what I will use to reward myself for accomplishing all this. I have a few ideas, but I need non-food suggestions. What works for you?

Let me know!




P.S. I really do want world peace.

What the hell?

Have you ever got up in the morning, looked in the mirror and thought to yourself, “what the hell happened to my life?”

I recently had such a come-to-Jesus moment.

It took place on a Wednesday evening, in the dressing room of a department store – the scene of crime for many nervous breakdowns nationwide – the night before a rather large and important event that warranted something stellar. I had seen a rather cute dress on the store’s Web site, and insisted on adding it to my collection. So I found it on the rack, and grabbed a few sizes, including one that looked like a burlap tent, and headed into the dressing room confident that one of them would work – or, if it came down to it, the damn tent.

After trying all of them, I finally arrived at the “tent,” and couldn’t zip it up.

I consider it a blessing that my patient husband – waiting outside the dressing room – had driven that night and was the one with the keys. At that moment, I can honestly say that had a sharp object been in reach, I probably would have sawed it into my wrists and bled to death right there inside Dillard’s.

A few short years ago, I was a size 2 at Cache (which, by all other standards, is itty-bitty) and a Miss Teen state titleholder for a rather large pageant system. So how did I go from representing my state in a national pageant to a suicidal moment in a dressing room?

Like so many other people, I got married, graduated college where I walked 4 miles a day around campus, and started a career where I sit at a desk for hours and hours a day only to go home exhausted and burnt out. Said burnout, along with some domestic skills in desperate need of sharpening, is usually the reason for take-out every night. Over the past 3 years this series of unhealthy habits has led to a ridiculous lifestyle. So not only am I not insanely hot any more, I’m not in shape, fit or remotely healthy either. And it’s depressing when you think about who you were and the person you want to be. It seems so overwhelming and out of reach.

So I have decided that I am going to transform myself back into a beauty queen over the coming months, and I am going to chronicle this transformation here. Whether I ever compete in a pageant again remains to be seen, but I do know that I will personally benefit from a healthier lifestyle and condition.

While I don’t intend to be too specific about my weight in terms of pounds at this stage, you are probably wondering what size the “tent” was. Since sizes are pretty arbitrary from designer to designer, I will share that the dress that caused the meltdown was a size 14. I realize to a lot of people out there, that may be laughable, but I think that every woman, regardless of size, struggles with her appearance, and whether you have 5 pounds to lose or 100, each step is a challenge.

To be clear, I really don’t have a desire to be a size 2 again. But I do want to be healthy and feel good about myself. So I hope you follow me on this journey. I hope you can inspire me and I can inspire you as I find a way to once again “be the crown.”




P.S. I really do want world peace.