Time for my weekly update. This week I discovered that I love getting up at 5:30 and hitting the gym before work. It gives me an overall sense of peace during the day for example: My stress is lower, I do not think about when I am going to work out after a long day at work, and I can just go home and enjoy time with my family once my day is over. For those of you that know me understand that I have forever worked the later shift because I am not a morning person. I seriously can not believe how I am accomplishing this! So this week I worked out EVERY DAY before work except Friday (my rest day) and I felt great! Hungry, but great. I know it sounds silly, but I swear I can see a difference in my body after only one week. Some exciting stuff people.Plus I have found a new favorite machine I may become addicted to. The Stair Climber! OMG, feel the burn, your butt hurts, your legs hurt, your heart is pumping a million beats a minute and the sweat pours off you. You can’t get any better than that. I believe if I don’t have a ring of sweat around my neck on my shirt than I didn’t do enough, 15 minutes and I was there. Who needs a Treadmill…boring!

However, the eating part, has not been so easy. I started off perfect Monday, then Tuesday and Wednesday I found myself eating an extra stick of cheese, protein bar, crackers or popcorn. I am telling you detox that first week is killer, (and I am a Carboholic)! Thursday I just blew it, Kelso’s Bronx Bomber pizza was calling my name for dinner. How about this pizza y’all! It is a super thin crust with White Sauce, Chicken Spedini, Cheese and Buffalo Sauce drizzled over the top, garnished with Basil Leaves! I mean this thing is AH-MAZE-ING! After eating half and my small salad I realized that stress has a funny effect on my hunger. I was so crazy stressed out that I was not going to be happy unless I ate this pizza. Friday was perfect, Saturday I would normally blame my husband for my eating, but that is just an excuse not even gonna go through those calories. So I going into this week  detoxed and ready to fight those urges for the greater good and my goals (plus the big bosses are in town, STRESS!).

I can report that we have started on the Kitchen project! YAY! Really all we did was put a new all steel faucet in the kitchen, the kind with a sprayer . Tore out the old rotten floor under the sink and replaced it with new fibro-something floor. These were the only things we could afford this month, but hey it is progress towards a new kitchen, right?

So, all in all I had a pretty successful week. I am glad that I have finally found some kind of balance between my career, family and health goals. Feels really fantastic to have a plan that will actually work for me. Stay tuned for next weeks adventures!

Savings Account: $0 (still), Weight: 166 lbs (still), Dreams: On the way to being fulfilled

First of all, for those that follow (know me) I am constantly working on my weight and physical fitness. Obviously those goals are not going anywhere any time soon. I am very aware that consistency over time will always work best in this area of my life. So we will come back to this one in a bit.

Now let’s get to the new goals for 2012.

• I would like to redo the kitchen and finally have a space that I can cook and create wonderful dishes for my family and friends.
•  I want to go on a fantastic vacation with my husband. I would love to go Glamping (Glamorous Camping), Hawaii, Australia or New Zealand. Not really sure where, but I want to do something adventurous, fun and out of the box. So I guess I need to start researching. YAY!

Both of these are going to be quite the hit on the paycheck I will be “paying myself first” going forward. If you do not know what this means, it is really easy – you take 10% of your paycheck, before taxes, and you put it a savings account. You must always pay yourself first otherwise you just pay bills and buy crap you don’t really need .

Now back to the subject of my weight loss and workout goals. Okay, so this last year was one of the hardest since I started my journey in 2007. First I started the year off in a severe depression from being let go from my dream job and allowed myself to fall so far into self-pity that all the weight I lost in 2010 I gained back in the first 3 months of 2011. After I was back in the workforce I found it challenging to find my true passion again and pick myself up. Then I had some relationship challenges and needed to put some things on the back burner to figure out what I wanted in my personal life. Once, I was finally starting to get my footing again I was promoted! So for the last 2 months of 2011 I had a hard time with balance. I work about 50 hours a week and have constant stress and pressure (which I put on myself) that seems to take all my energy and I don’t exercise and eat right because of it. In whole I want to finally find the balance. I do think that there can be a true balance between my Career, Fitness and Family, there has to be!!!!

My plan is to update weekly on how my progress is. New Career Position, New Gym and New Outlook on Love. Time to Rock this Year!!

Savings Account: $0, Weight: 166 lbs, Dreams: On the way to being fulfilled

So, now I only have to wait a day to get back to where I was instead of a week! I couldn’t be happier! I just want to hit that 100#s by the end of this year. I can not let the food win, I have to win, I will win. I can do this! With the loving help of my friends and family I will get there! I am really finally growing and becoming a real true clean eater! I can feel the success!

Here is my positive change plan:

• Eat on my program at 90%
• Run 4 times a week (or an intense cacrdio workout)
• Weight training at least 2 times a week (YMCA Interval Class)
• Allow myself to feel and not suppress anthing

Everyday we have choices to make and today I make the choice to be the best that I can be! 

Have you ever thought of a life changing possibility and were very interested in following it through, but just could never find the drive to complete it? Well, I have been quite interested in hitting 100 pounds lost and at times have been successful at getting closer and closer to that goal. The thing about being just interested is that the plans only stay with you for as long as something better doesn’t show up on your door step. For example, I plan to stay on my program 100% through the weekend then a girlfriend calls and we go out dancing and end up having a few drinks that leads to late night eating, and I am quickly on the pattern of binging again for the whole weekend.

When I am just interested in my goals I find that I have to see results everyday! As long as the scale motivates me in the morning I am good to stay on my program the rest of the day. But if I hit a plateau or gain I pretty much just quit for a whole week. BOO! When this happens I have the tendency to blame everything around me for my failure instead of myself, you know the drill: The husband just had to eat out or order pizza, the friends begged me to go out, my job is so stressful right now I just couldn’t focus on myself, and etc.

WELL I AM NOW COMMITTED! I mean really truly 100% dedicated to me and my goals and I have found that my outlook on life, love and happiness have completely changed. I am no longer concerned what the scale says everyday, it does not rule my life. I DO! So yes I do weigh every morning on my aka “Naked Scale” (I coined this term at work and people just love it), and no matter what it says to me I will stay the course of my program. No husband, friend, job, plans or daily challenges will sway me from my 100# mark!

For those of you that have read ’100 Days of Weight Loss’ by Linda Spangle I am referring to Day 2 and have fully adopted the “No Matter What” attitude.

I will always be committed to my weight-loss plan no longer just interested.

I am going to take the time out to exercise 6 days a week and do my 3 P’s (Yes another term I came up with):

• PLAN (plan your meals in advance and write it out)
• PREPARE (cook all your meals in advance)
• PRE-PACKAGE (package all your meals for quick grab and go)

Nothing can stop me now! Watch out world here I come!

]]> http://angelaclayton.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/interested-vs-committed/feed/ 4 angelamarieclayton fall_flower_arrangements_for_weddings http://angelaclayton.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/finding-the-balance/ http://angelaclayton.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/finding-the-balance/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:24:47 +0000 Angela http://angelaclayton.wordpress.com/?p=250 ]]> Those of you that follow my  blogs I am constantly trying to find my drive and what meal plan is going to be the best for me and my weight loss success. So far I have lost 14 pounds since April and for some reason I just can not get past 160! So frustrating! I know that people say the last little bit of weight to lose is the hardest, seriously 3 pounds a month average is not cutting it. I want to lose another 26 pounds to hit exactly 100 pounds lost, that would take me another year at this rate! Right now I feel like this will always be my dream and I will never reach it. Talk about depressing, who wants to diet the rest of their life. The only thing that got me the closest was HCG last year I was within 11lbs and I couldn’t have been happier. Tried to do it again this year and totally cheated the whole time, so obviously not for me.

My game plan is to continue trying to eat clean and exercise daily for at least 30 minutes. With the help of my company and my friends I will conquer this and finally fit into my size 4s!

• Here I go again! Starting 161.5

In case you didn’t know I love love love working out and feeling challenged. I always use to take the classes for the friendships and competition, but I found that sometimes I felt like I wasn’t working at my optimum. So I am skipping the weight classes and doing my own thing and so far I am really enjoying it. I can go anytime I am free no class schedule neccessary, go as heavy as I personally can, take my time with each exercise and make sure my form is perfection and leave feeling like I gave 110%.

Here is what I am doing:

• Eat Super Clean…NO SIMPLE CARBS (bread, pasta, crackers, etc.)
• Protein with every thing I eat including snacks (mostly egg whites).
• Exercise: http://www.probodybuilding.com/bodybuilding-female-beginner.php

Good Luck on your Journey!

I did exercise yesterday and boy is my behind sore. I took a spin class and found that I hardly had any energy and the slightest amount of resistance was quite hard to push through No matter how hard it will be going forward, still feeling great about getting back into the gym!

• Weight 154, Total 21.5 Pounds Down! Muscle building time!

I am on the last week of my current weight loss program and extremely hopeful that I will reach my goal! I am already fitting back into most of my size 4s with a tad bit of a roll still. I am really just ready to feel confident and happy about my body and my clothes. I find that when I can go into my closet and have trouble picking out an outfit because they all look great, instead of chosing which one hides my rolls the best , makes me feel like wonder woman. I can conquer anything in the world when I feel that good! So I might continue on my journey for 2 weeks…but we’ll just have to see how this week goes.

I was told by a dear friend rececntly that I need to just take my days 15mins at a time. Each 15 minutes I can avoid temptation is a marked success! I have found that the truth to my success is no longer giving myself orders daily about my eating. Instead I am starting to choose my path. Once you start telling yourself I have to, I need to, I ought to, I should have; seems to set up an internal rebellion and you end up eating everything in sight. I have started to make this a real choice for me, so I am replacing those internal orders with “I choose to” allowing me to be in a true position of power.

I choose to wear my size 4s.

I choose to eat clean.

I choose to exercise daily.

• Weight 154.5, Total 21 Pounds Down!

 Make the right Choice.

I went into my office, the only room with carpet and has the worst air conditioning vent in the whole house. Sat on the floor in the position I am assuming I should be in, Indian style, Thumbs and middle fingers touching, placed on my knees. I set the alarm on my phone for 20 minutes and closed my eyes. The book suggested several mantras and I chose Embama, meaning Thin in Swahili. Here I am sitting with my eyes closed on my office floor slowly breathing in and out and internally repeating Embama, Embama, Emmmmbaaaaamaaaaa. During this time I find myself having an internal conversation about how ridiculous I must look. “Why do I have weight issues? Am I truly a food addict? Where exactly will I end up on this Journey? Don’t open your eyes until the alarm has gone off….EMMMBAAAMAAA. Why is my back hurting? Should I see a therapist? Go back to the book- Why do I have weight issues? Where did this all begin? AHHHH Embama. Is it me or is it hot in here? I feel like I am in the book “Eat, Pray, Love” and how hard it was for her too. Embama. That’s it! I’m done.” All of this happened in just 5 minutes of silence, this internal struggle has taught me that I really need to do this more and figure out how to have peace.

Even though I didn’t get in the full 15 to 20 minutes that the book suggests I still feel a sense of calmness and positive energy around me. I think that this might actually help me! I am so very excited to actually find something that can bring me peace and internal clarity. I have never in my life so far taken the time to look inside and figure out what really is causing my food addiction and how I can overcome any obstacles that may come in my life.

•             Here’s to Good Health – Mental and Physical!!!

1. What are the advantages of being overweight?

Less male attention when out and about on the town, I feel uncomfortable at times with the attention I get. Allows others to like me for my personality and what I bring to the table instead of how I look. I feel that sometimes being overweight gives me a flaw that allows others to not feel inferior or threatened. I have found that sometimes it hurts more than helps when meeting new people, this happens especially with women. I know that I instantly feel badly towards a woman I personally find more fit or attractive than I am. In an effort to not have others feel that way about me I keep a few extra pounds on my frame.

2. How did you acquire your current shape?

In an effort to conform to my new life with my husband I allowed the athlete in me to take a backseat to my new relationship. I know that it’s a terrible thing to blame someone else, so I am not. I am blaming myself for not making my goals and personality a priority. Now, after losing some weight I am stuck at this current weight because I found myself being rebellious and ended up hurting myself more than the bad guy.

3. What are the negative consequences of not changing your weight?

If I do not get down to my previous goal of 140 I will not be able to fit into all the beautiful clothing that I purchased a year ago. My self-esteem will continue to falter and depression is right around the corner. I am also at a higher risk of heart disease, cancer and continuing to gain.

4. What are you doing about your weight?

I am not eating carbs! Also I am using daily affirmations, keeping a food diary, continuing to exercise at least 5 days a week and surrounding myself with others that have the same weight agenda.

5. What rewards will you gain if you change?

Be able to fit into the clothing I purchased last year. Have the confidence in my career help me to become more successful and worthy of promotion. Allow myself to finally feel good about all my hard work and myself in general.

• You are the only person that decides if you are worthy or not, take the first step to believing