84 Days to Go: the past 20 or so in a nutshell (brace yourselves it's a long one)

Well hello strangers! How's it hangin? (and by it I mean all that loose skin that use to be filled with fat? Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about)

Boys and girls it has been a very eventful 24 days since we have last spoken! Can you believe it's been that long? For ease of reading lets use bullet points, shall we?

Where to start where to start... let's begin at the begining.

• I started work on my BFA this month and I think I've found a substitute for eating... oil paining. More expensive, completely absorbing, but much better for my waistline I must say. Last week I went to the studio after class and before I knew it 4 hours had gone by without so much as a trip to the nearby vending machine.

• I've also started packing my lunch, which has involved meal planning, which has lead to less hunger more and weight loss. Simple win.

• Antoine and I have discovered that our insurance covers Weight Watchers, provided we make progress and submit a monthly report. So we have joined for the second time (for him) and forth time (for me). I must say the Points Plus program is more awesome than I ever thought it would be, and 1,000 times better than the old system. It's more inline with what we were trying to adapt it to be for ourselves, but easier because there's a slew of people backing it up. I love the group support. Every time we have failed on weight watchers it was when we stopped going to the meetings, so that kind of group dynamic is really important to us.

• It's really great that our insurance (which is through Antoine) covers Weight Watchers right? Yeah we though so too. And then he got laid off. GASP. I know. On the bright side, he despised that job. So much so, that he had been actively looking for another one and had already set up an interview before he got laid off. So no worries. I frequently referred to that job as "sucking the life out of him" and these 111 days are all about getting our lives back, so little did they know, they did us a real favor. :)

• Now that my hubby is unemployed he has lots of time to work out and love on me and walk the puppy and it has made for a very lovely household. I'm going to enjoy this while we can and not go into panic stricken death mode because that's not really productive for anyone now is it?

• Babies are a funny thing. From the very day (and I do mean same day) you get married, people start asking you when you will have a baby. And you smile and nod and say "not just yet" to the first ten thousand or so people who ask you. And then you get defensive and start naming off all of the things you want to do and places you want to see before you have a baby, in the same fashion that you do when you've been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Then somewhere around three years of marriage (right when people start to think something must be wrong with you reproductively) you get to a comfortable state with each other and with your lives together and you think, "hey we could totally do this and not lose our selves in the process". Well that's where we are. So within the next year we would like to start trying to make some babies. Of course this realization hit us when we had a steady income and health insurance, but hey that's only temporary right?

• Keeping in line with my goals list, I have yet to join a group fitness class. However the other day the local Groupon (and if you don't Groupon you must) was $24 for 24 classes at a local yoga studio, a $285 value! I snapped up two and my friend Laura and I are off to our very first class tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

• In the spirit of increasing my activity level I have tried to make smarter choices since my schedule doesn't allow me to go the the gym as much as I'd like. At school, I park in a ridiculously far parking structure and (if I'm on the first 3 floors) I take the stairs. I try to take the stairs as much as possible in other buildings, I always take them down, but only take them up depending on what I'm carrying and how bitchy I am that day about my walk from the parking structure. :)

• I'm trying my best to be less connected with technology. I even ordered a new phone to ditch the Blackberry... it's been sitting on my night stand for 3 days. I'll let you know how that one plays out.

• I jogged/walked a mile in 17:42 today. I know I'm not setting any records here but considering I jogged about 14-15 minutes of that I am very proud of myself. Six months ago I couldn't jog for more than 30 seconds at a speed of 4.5 mph. So I'm patting myself on the back for that one.

That's all folks. I'm going to force my husband (through sex and dinner deprivation) to get his butt on here and tell you guys how he's doing and I will try my best to not be so distant.

Love and Skinny Jeans

xox Sandi

108 Days to Go: Won't let Starbucks slow me down!

108 left to go my lovlies! How has it been for you?! I would love some updates on your first couple of days!

I was about to type that yesrday wasn't very productive but you know what.... in the spirit of being more positive and staying motivated, it was productive!

In the morning I worked out... hard... really hard actually. I neglected to tell you guys that I accidentally had my program on the Wii Active 2 set on medium rather than easy... BIG mistake... a painful one but I made it!

Then I got my mom showered (because she is currently my little invalid, read this about half way down if you want the story) which was a workout in itself. Then I got myself showered and primped for a meeting I had. Which I drove 40 minutes for and then got cancelled. 

But all was well because my business partner and GFF Laura decided to have a girl date at Panera and chat. I didn't look up the nutritional facts, but I made what I felt were smart choices given the restaurant. I had the You Pick 2 with a cup of Tomato Soup and Half of an Asian Chicken Salad. I figured it was safer if I avoided the sandwiches with all that bread and cheese and mayo. I drank water with lemon and declined a pastry treat for jus $.99 with my meal. 

We sat and talked and ate slowly and I really enjoyed my food, which I am now convinced has got to be one of the secrets to weight loss. Because at the end of my meal I was really satisfied with my food in a way that I am not often satisfied while eating in a 5 minute binge and run.

For "dessert" we went to Starbucks where I had a tall (small) mocha frappaccino light with nonfat milk and no whipped cream. Sure no dessert would have been more in line with a "diet", but this is still my life and if I want to have Starbucks on occasion, I'm going to figure out how to do it without being riddled with guilt.

So I indulged a little, but I did it within reason and I had a great workout before. At the end of the day I felt good, not guilty,  And that my friends is a win. 

Stay Healthy, Stay Hydrated!

109 Days to Go: I am Niki's Bitch

I'm going to pat my self on the back for a fabulous use of Christmas gift cards yesterday. I was at Costco (intentionally avoiding the sample tables) and I stumbled upon this little ditty.

Not $89.99 but $59.99 with instant rebate. Pick. It. Up.

After reading the box thoroughly and getting confirmation from an employee that it was in fact returnable if my husband didn't like it (or I chickened out) I threw it in the cart.

It's unlike any other thing Wii has to offer. It really is like digital personal training. The good stuff too.

Now don't get me wrong I love my Wii Fit! But it's kind of for sissies. It's fun and games and hula hooping, but it's really not much of a hardcore workout... and if you're anything like me you figure out pretty quickly that if you flick your wrist a certain way you don't have to move the rest of your body.

Well this is not that.

Along with a fabulous heart rate monitor, there are two motion sensors, one on a thigh strap and one on a forearm strap (this one has the HR monitor positioned on your inner arm). You enter personal data like age, height and weight (if you have a wii fit board it can weight you) and it uses these things to develop a personal training program for you.

The heart rate monitor makes the calories burned super accurate and is in the upper corner of your screen throughout your workout for easy viewing. And if you're like me and aren't super aware of the target heart rate zones/ max heart rates there's a quick little cheat right below your HR to tell you if you're in the zone or not.

The work outs are intense and include warm ups and cool downs, everything from stretching, to cardio, to resistance training (with the included band). I chose to commit to a 9 week program with 3 phases. I get a calendar on which I choose my workout dates (you have to choose at least 3 off days) and track my stats. There are even little awards along the way (I got one for burning 200 calories in a workout) which really make you feel like you're earning something.

This morning I had a 24 minute workout in which I burned an astounding 266 calories! My trainer ( you choose one) is Niki and she has no mercy... which is precisely what I need. The motion sensors make it impossible to slack so beware if your lunges aren't low enough. At the end of my 24 minute workout I was covered in sweat, gulping water (102 oz yesterday!) and smiling from ear to ear.

I wish I could say that EA Sports has paid me for this review, but I could only be so lucky.

Seriously people if you have a few gift cards lying around, pool them together and buy this! It's cheaper than a live personal trainer and it's at your beckon call. They also make it for any gaming system so whether you have a Wii, PlayStation 3, or Xbox you can find it!


Stay hydrated!

110 Days to go: Antoine Post #1

Day 1: Unproductive

Day 2: Productive

I'll chalk yesterday up to college football overload and starting a new program. Besides after watching Michigan State lay a total egg against Alabama the only thing I would've been good at is breaking a table.

Fast forward to today.

One of my goals is to get a new job so I've been taking the opportunity of the long weekend to put together my resume and this morning I sent it off to a couple jobs. My wife went to Costco this morning and purchased EA Sports Active 2. It's a pretty neat game that gives you an unexpected ass kicking and in 20 minutes I was sweating uncontrollably. After the video game ass kicking I had some homemade pizza and an amazing salad. Later on for dinner I had some spaghetti, some more water.

110 Days to go

Yesterday was pretty productive. Aside from not drinking enough water I ate fabulously and well within my food plan.

The weather here yesterday was fantastically warm (and by fantastically warm I mean 50*) which got me very excited. Being the procrastinator that I am though I waited until 5:30 to do any form of physical activity and by that time it was cooling down.

Since my gym closes at 6 on Saturdays, my only option was to push though and go for a walk outside.

I finally found the cord to my iPod (which used to be my excuse for not exercising... who can feel the burn with out their jams???) So I took it as a sign from the man upstairs and bundled my butt up. It really wasn't all that awful after the first half mile. I warmed right up and although I wasn't timing myself I'm pretty sure I jogged longer than I've ever jogged before.

The non fitness part of my 111 day journey is proving to be more difficult. Especially the patience part. Ugh.

When my husband told me he was on board with this whole thing I thought be would be more gung ho. I thought wrong. But I musn't look for things to pick on him for (also a goal) because he's not ever real gung ho about anything... he's just a mellow guy and for Pete's sake it was only the first day. But still... See! These dramatics are why I make myself insane! Yeesh.

I did by a basketball at the store  yesterday and as soon as we get another warm day I'm dragging his butt to the courts around the corner. If he was such a hot shot sports guy in school let him prove it!

Today I plan to head over to the gym to do some weight training and to see how long it takes me to walk 3.1mi (5k) just for future reference. I plan on choking down as much water as possible and maybe even *gasp* a multivitamin.

What are you guys doing today to work towards your goal?

111 Days to Go: "I used to be fat"

I can't imagine using that phrase in the past tense.

This blog is inspired by an episode of MTV's "I used to be fat" on which a girl drastically changed her life, eating habits, and weight in 111 days. This is precisely what I, Sandra, and my husband, Antoine, intend to do.

These next 111 days are going to be rough because we're not just looking to lose the 200+ lbs (combined) that we need to, we're looking to change many other things about the way we have started to live. From smiling more, to building a savings account, Facebooking less, to shaving more often, this journey is a diverse one and we're asking you to come along for the ride. 

Please take a look at the top of this page to view our individual goals... and the terrifying before pictures. We look forward to the journey ahead of us and are excited to share it with you.

For any of you who haven't seen Gabriella's episode we highly recommend it and you can view it here