hm….what else….ah yes, my newest obsession/business venture is a company called “it works!”.  no, i’m not joking, that is REALLY the name.  it’s so lame, yes?  however, it is an accurate statement, because all the products i have tried really do work! :)  so much so, that i am now a distributor!   i blame this whole thing on facebook and shut the front door——they kept featuring the wraps and showing before and after photos and after a certain point they either wore me down or it just clicked that SO many photos couldn’t be photoshopped, and after such a big loss during FitTrip  I was desperate for something to help with the saggy skin—-i was using bio-oil by the gallon, and nivea skin-firming lotion,  and my scrubs, and it just wasn’t making a dent.  if you think losing weight is some kind of epic journey that is all sunshine and rainbows and beauty you are SO WRONG.  yes, it is epic—-it is downright amazing that you can lose so much weight and hate your body MORE because there might be less of you, but what is left is all saggy and dimply and just gross hanging skin that you KNOW should be able to bounce back but it just DOESN’T….at this point i start to question why i even bothered in the first place!!  

sorry, sidetracked. 

the point is, i decided to try it….i won’t lie, they aren’t cheap——but the older i get the more i realize “you get what you pay for”  is perhaps the truest of statements….and since i pay thru the nose for my clinique facial stuff, i have grown somewhat immune to the costs of this kind of stuff—-do you know how much bio-oil is? for real.   so i decided to try one box—-4 wraps.  i figured that would be enough to see if it was total crap, or my newest love.  the girl i got them from somehow managed to talk me into signing up to be a distributor—-because it’s the same price as a box of wraps, and then i get wholesale pricing!  i thought “great—-if they work then i can get more cheap, if they don’t, no harm no foul”.  

y’all—-i am not even joking when i say it’s quite possibly the most awesome thing i’ve ever tried.  my stomach was just so SAD looking——like a deflated balloon after 2 kids and gaining and losing so much each time….and now—-well, it’s not perfect, but it’s certainly on the way to being good enough that i am starting to think i may not have to get the post-baby tummy-tuck afterall!!  i feel like i’m turning into a crazy-woman talking to people about these products, and i just can’t help myself because when something works for you…..you just WANT TO SHARE IT!!! :) 

and i haven’t even gotten to the best part…..no, the best part isn’t the 3” i lost on my middle, or the quarter inch off my upperarms(while on VACATION and eating baklavah for breakfast!)….the best part is between the wraps, the gel(lighter version of what in the wraps, use 2xday), and the supplements(thermofit—-has something to boost metabolism and give you amazing energy) i have kicked my (diet) coke habit!!!!  for years i was a die-hard DC-head, i’d go thru a 12pk in a few days…..now, i don’t even really miss it!!!!  this is as amazing as when i used chantix to quit smoking. (because you should stop smoking—-now.  for real. you have NO IDEA how bad you smell.) 

so now i’m the crazy wrap-lady….and i’m ok with that.  :)  the thing is….i’m not even charging what i’m supposed to for this stuff, i’m just breaking even(when people buy directly from me, that is——the website is all automated, so i can’t change that.  just thought i should clarify), so it’s not like i’m trying to make piles of money——i just really think everyone should be able to look at themselves in the buff and be ok with what they see.  well, yes, you should be MORE than ok with what you see—-but you know where i’m going with this.  

https://saucy.myitworks.com

i have been so slack in posting—-i have no one to blame but myself. and perhaps the kiddos——now that the muffin is getting bigger she requires facetime….i miss having a newborn, but they are just so freaking FUN at this age!!!  she is currently in the jumper trying to bounce herself into the next county—-now that she’s big enough to touch the ground she’s a bouncin fool!!!  and after the vacation last weekend she is starting to show interest in crawling….i am SO not ready for that!!! :)  that means i’ll have to kid-proof everything up to about 3ft——not so fun! 

in other news, i finished FitTrip strong——i didn’t win, but i did finish in the top 10, and i am beyond thrilled with that! :)  i lost 30lbs in 12wks…..well, according to them i lost 26, 21 was fat and 5 was muscle——that’s what stopped me from winning, you lost points for losing muscle mass.  but there’s always next year! :)   and my ankle is finally healed——thank goodness!!!  honestly, going on vacation was the best thing for it because i didn’t work out while we were away, so it was a real true rest for my ankle.   i did have the chance to go to a zumba class while i was up there—-a friend of my SIL’s is a teacher, and we’ve become friends, so i wanted to go and see her class, and of course she’s an AMAZING instructor—-she has the most addictive energy, it was SO MUCH FUN!!!  and she let me do a song, so yet another teaching under my belt.  i’m getting much more comfortable with it—-it’s definitely better when it’s people i don’t know….at least for now. i find that it’s like any time i’ve done “public speaking” or something like that——i’m so nervous before i go out that i think i’ll hurl and then i just do that thing where i internally pep talk until i can walk out there and act like i’m not dying of personal humiliation inside.  and it’s not like i’m not an extremely social person, so it don’t make sense that i would get nervous to raise my voice a little to talk to a big group, but there it is. 

i’m not patient….if you have read this for any amount of time i’m pretty sure it comes across that i am NOT patient.  i’ve tried to be, but my ADHD just doesn’t allow for it. which makes losing weight a real struggle, cuz you do need a serious amount of patience to get the fat off your ass…..

at any rate, i was patient all thru the FitTrip, i had an awesome weigh-out….according to the h2o bath, i lost 26lbs, and 21 was allllllll fat!!!  i’m sad that i also lost muscle, but i was assured by the gym mgr that that is normal with such a large loss—-he called to congratulate me on my big loss!! :)  i am hoping that means that maybe possibly i won the contest, cuz lemme tell you, i would REALLY love a $1k travel voucher right now!!!  the hubs and i could use some kid-free time! :)  

but once fit trip was over i had promised i would get my ankle looked at…..and i did. 

and this is precisely why i didn’t go sooner.  technically there is nothing wrong other than “minor swelling”, but the xrays were clean, and basically she said i had been doing everything right—icing it, taking advil, wearing a brace when exercising….but that i should have kept the brace on it always instead of just exercising.  so now i’m in this immobilizer at all times(aside from sleep and shower) for the next two weeks.  and no running, so i had to miss dirty girl yesterday—-luckily they gave me credit to go towards next yr’s race, so it wasn’t a total loss.  and i’m supposed to take it easy in zumba.   this was thursday.  and i haven’t danced or exercised since then.  i cannot go two weeks…..so today, i will take it easy in zumba.  i’m hoping that she’ll let me lead a couple of the songs i’ve been practicing——i really don’t want my very first time to be at the zumbathon next weekend, if for no other reason than to have her give me some advice on cueing—-i’m not great at cueing. 

dammit, i had a point, then the kids started whining and now i’m totally lost…..*le sigh*.  anyway—-the ankle, it feels better after a couple days in the brace, i think that a big part of the problem is as simple as how i sit in my chair!!! i sit with my ankles crossed, and so my feet are at kinda an odd angle—-so now that i can’t do that with the brace(or rather, i did try and it kinda hurt), i think that is helping.  same for with driving—-my ankle was REALLY bugging me when i would drive, but now that it’s braced and can be twisted all funky i think that helps!! 

so i’m trying to be zen and patient about this…..it’s hard as hell, but the dr. did her job and scared the crap out of me with the threat of “you can take 2wks off now, or 6mos off later, you choose”…..and since i have the zumba convention in august, it’s not an option.  patttttttiennnnnnnnttttttt…….

not like the group, WW, but those of us who actively(of in my case, from time to time when i find a second to breathe) blog about weight loss……read this article and then tell me you aren’t just as fired up as i am……

http://hunter-gatherer.com/blog/government-tries-shut-down-paleo-diet-blogger

really??? the government has that much effing free time that they can worry about some dude who found his way to a healthier (medicine-free) lifestyle where he wasn’t weighted down by diabetes and the size of his ass??  please tell me our gov’t has better things to do like figure out how to fix……well, take your pick, there is so much wrong with so many things surely they could work on balancing the budget or finding a way to NOT fire an assload of teachers rather than go after this one guy and his blog…..i’m just saying, it’s fucking ridiculous.  

**if i repeat any info, terribly sorry—-blame it on the mommy brain!**

i know, i’ve been slack….but i have been busting ass!!!!  i’m working on getting my Zumba class song list together so i can start subbing…..i’ve signed up for the conference in august and i want to have started subbing by then so i don’t feel like such a moron when people ask where i teach and i have no reply….it’s been good going so far—-i’ve done choreo on a few songs on my own, and gotten a couple from youtube, and modified a few from my fave instructors in ATL….the nice thing about it is i can stay within my comfort-zone and not worry i’m going to hurt myself—-the ankle is STILL giving me grief from the zombie run!!  it’s getting better, but it still gets twingey if i do a ton of jumping, etc——so no more of lawanda’s class any time soon, she’s WAY too high impact for me!  i know, i can always tone it down, but i don’t like to do that—-i’m too competitive to do less than everyone else. 

today marks the end of my FitTrip…..the 12wk competition we had at work…..and after 12 weeks i am elated to say that i have lost…..wait for it……THIRTY pounds!!!  hurrah!!!!  today, i do the happy dance!!! tomorrow—-it’s back to work because i still have a long way to go, but this is one HELL of a good start!!!  I even dug out the picts i took that first weekend and put on the same outfit today….

and today….

Obviously still have a ways to go——but it nice to see progress!!!! :)  

Happy Thursday!!!

i know, i’ve been gone for ages, then i hop back on to start whining, right??

i asked someone if i could use a recipe they posted in my cookbook—-with credit to them and their website.   after finding out it was for breast cancer came the “oh, i’m not too crazy about SGK right now” response.  i get that people were really mad when SGK took away the grants to planned parenthood…..i do, i totally get that.  but not only did they reverse the decision, and change the rule that had taken away the money in the first place, but they fired the person responsible for the whole debacle.  so why the hell are people still so mad at SGK????  if a company makes an error, and then goes above and beyond to fix that error, is that NOT enough??

no, i’m not being snarky—-not really….i don’t understand why people are still so bad about it and what they feel would constitute “making amends”, so if you don’t mind, can you clue me in?

what do they have to do to make it a’ight again?

there is no way around it, potty training sucks.  it’s the first time in the last 3yrs that i wished i had the monster in daycare—-most folks i know say that the daycare did the hard work on that front. 

we started yesterday, and i got him to pee in the frog potty twice….each time i made a big deal about it and we flushed it and he got m&ms.  the nanny is doing the same thing, as is the hubs in the evening….we are still doing diapers overnight for the time being.  today has been about the same, got him to go a few times, he has had a couple accidents, but the good news is that he actually pooped!  from what i have read kids are scared about pooping on a potty—-i don’t know why, but that’s the word on the street, so if i can get him to poop and see that we get REALLY excited and make a big deal about it, then he’ll (hopefully) start telling us when he has to go!  this time we called the hubs at work to tell him, so that was a big deal, and he got a snack bag of whoppers.  you can judge me for rewarding with candy—-but you don’t have to clean up the poop, so you have no vested interest in getting this over as soon as possible.

and i have lost 3 more pounds…..9 total.  9 down, 66 more to go. i am looking forward to the day when it’s 66 down and 9 more to go…. :) 

i have finally figured out the freaking elliptical machines at the gym, altho to be honest, i really don’t like them.  something about the way it makes you stand makes my feet go numb.  and no, i’m not the only one who is complaining about this, so it’s not just my fat ass pinching a nerve or something. but even with numb toes i’m doing a solid 45min on the elliptical 4 days a week.  this week i have zumba saturday morning, then there is a zumba party saturday night——so i plan on burning around 3000cal on satuday total! :) 

i’m trying to make sure i eat every few hours that way i don’t get all “sweet jesus i’m putting everything i see in my mouth”….and so far it’s going ok, i just miss being able to eat something without all the measuring,etc, but that’s what got me here in the first place…

but 2 wks, 9lbs? yes, i’ll take that!! :)