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Progress–is it a dirty word?

I know progress is an odd topic since this is a food blog but I do have a new adventure in my life that isn’t going anywhere either.

I’ve loved my newly found discovery of taking regular recipes and making them healthy. I get to eat good but better :-) and y’all know how I love to eat. I also love a good workout. Maybe workout is the dirty word and not progress…….

No one wants to do workouts. I get it. They are hard. They take up time and effort that could be used enjoying that bag of oreos sitting over there that keep calling my name (Put a pipe in it brownie!). I’ve fought the struggle. I live the life. I give up more often than not.

I also regret every single time I give up. I always go back to the thought of what if I’d never quit – my abs would be so killer right now! My thighs wouldn’t jiggle right now! Those oreos wouldn’t stand a chance right now!

I’ve realized that as many times as I’ve given up, I’ve also started again. You see, I don’t think the problem is giving up, I think its in never getting back up again. Let’s be real. Life happens – sometimes more days than others but if I’m participating in my own life more times than not, it will begin to show off. It will begin to show up.

Looking and feeling great is not like instant coffee. We don’t get to pour, stir, sip, satisfy in this game of life. We have to invest our own time into what we really want. We have to let it brew. We have to let it simmer sometimes. Meaning – Let the work take its course. Let the progress reveal itself to you. Don’t give up when you get board or impatient.

Since April, I’ve had to start and stop a dozen times. But then I go to look in the mirror this past week and I see definition. I see muscle. I see progress!

We are all capable of the same progression. We are all capable of achieving the same goal. We all have that same love for ourselves within us. It just takes a little more digging for some rather than others.

I know it is a bit cliché but when you take time to work on you, others feed off of your new found energy or ora. You begin to put things in perspective, even if some of this time is spent in meditation or just a quiet place to let yourself evolve in that moment. Be present in the situation you are in. Don’t check out. Don’t give up on you. You are the most important person in the world to a lot of people. Show up, be there and be the best that you can be.

Work on living the best life you can. Learn to be complete in mind, body and soul.

If you are needing someone to help hold you accountable, count on me. Follow me on instagram. Heck follow me on facebook or find someone in your circle that will help push you to that next level of greatness, someone that gives you that source of power and commitment.

~ Live a beautiful life everyday ~

My 5 Best Tips to stay on target

 

No matter your journey, Stay positive! You will get there!

I am still on mine to get fitter, healthier, and happier!

Take each day as it comes. Somedays, it is a ~ take each hour as it comes. My life is translating into this as we speak.

Here are my 5 BEST TIPS to staying on top of the battle

1. MEAL PLAN – meal planning is two fold. It takes the guessing out of the day AND helps you save time and money in the grocery store.
2. Put your workout clothes on as SOON as you get home or get up. Depends on when you personally work out. This helps me SO much! If I put them on as soon as I get home, I ALWAYS work out. If I miss this step, it’s a struggle to get into workout mode.
3. EAT EVERY 2-3 HOURS. When you skip meals, your body goes into starvation mode. It doesn’t know when you will feed it again so it hangs on to what you just ate. Even if that meal is on the healthy side. If you aren’t feeding your body good clean food every 2-3 hours, you will have a difficult time reaching your weight loss goals permanently. Sure you can loose them temporarily but you WILL gain all that weight back and then some! Trust me. Been there! Done that!
4. BE CONSISTANT.  Life happens. We all know this. We get a curve ball and BAM, you are off track that quick. Remember that eating healthy and working out is something you should MAKE a permanent thing in your life so that the curve balls don’t disrupt anything. Sure you have a meal that doesn’t fit into your new way of eating BUT because you’ve incorporated all these new changes into your life, that ONE meal does NOT undo what you’ve worked hard for. Your metabolism is in a whole new zone. It will get burned off. You will not gain back ALL the weight you’ve fought off to loose. (Unless you continue to eat this way for weeks and weeks, well then its back to the starting line folks.)
5. MOST IMPORTANTLY ~ REMOVE THE WORD “DIET” FROM YOUR VOCABULARY! I cannot stress this enough! Once I stopped dieting – I started eating and enjoying my food!!!! I don’t diet I live! I enjoy everything I eat. I love food. I love to cook food and I’ve learned how to eat healthy, nutritious food that tastes SO GOOD! My food life before was fat, fried, processed, junk, frozen, fast, food. Now my food life is fresh, whole, natural, green, flavorful, robust, energy filled, carb loved, healthy fats filling, protein full, food! STOP DIETING AND STARTING OVER! START ENJOYING LIFE AND EATING AGAIN.   Eat what you love but with a healthy kick! Don’t deny yourself your favorite food either! If it is mac & cheese (mine is) eat it and enjoy it! Just don’t eat it everyday or find a way to make it healthier.

Here’s to hoping this helps someone! I know these things help me. As long as I stay consistent, I stay on top of the battle. Whenever, I loose sight of my goals, I tend to get a little off track. Work out with a friend or in a group helps keep me motivated and accountable for what I need to do and what I should do. Join a challenge group. Make it fun!

I am using the 21 Day fix to keep me on track with portion controls. Click here to learn more about it. I have a new group starting June 30th!

Happy Tuesday! Happy Week!

My weight loss journey – Back to the beginning but with a vision and a plan

  

Part IV - My Future looks so so Bright

My journey as a client will be ever evolving. I also purchased my first crush – Turbofire and plan on starting that soon. It is my “goal” workout so to speak. I am by no means in shape or fit but I do think I am well on my way to getting there. I really didn’t expect to love a workout plan so much. Yes, the workouts work you out but you just push through. Stopping when you need to, water breaks when you need to and eventually you get to a point when you can do the whole thing. It kinda happens without you noticing really. I will always be forever grateful to that first program I purchased and the movement of what beachbody is working on accomplishing. One pound at a time, one person at a time with the help and strength of others on the same journey. If I could just reach one person today, then my story was worth it. My journey has a purpose. You can accomplish so much more when you have a group of people on that same journey and have dealt with the same obstacles. Mine will never be the same as yours, yours might be more or less weight. Yours might be more or less motivation. Yours might be more or less determination. But whatever it is, you DO NOT have to do it alone! I thought I could. I thought I was good. Look what happened to me. I was on the path of being the victim of the bad health trend again. A team of many is stronger than a team of one.

My journey as a Coach is a visionary process. If it would not have been for my friend sharing her story all those years and then reaching out to me because she saw something I didn’t, I wouldn’t have taken that first step. I would’ve just sat on the sidelines admiring her from afar. I see myself reaching out to help so many people. I would try in the past but at a certain point, there just wasn’t enough of me. As a beachbody Coach, my team will be filled with me’s. People that have their own journey as a client and their own story to share that will inspire and motivate people I could never reach! I hope I am reaching out to you, yes you sitting there reading my story, thinking you want to do something but don’t know where to start. Start here, right now, today by emailing me and asking for help. I will do my best to point you in the right direction, set you up with your “goal” workout and start your journey. It is so important to put yourself first.

You have to live in your body all of your life ~ make sure you take care of it because it carries you around ALL day.

Beachbody has so many workout programs. There is something for everyone no matter what level of fitness you are on.

Let’s talk. I’m not going anywhere, I have time. =)

My weight loss journey - Part III (after the middle but before the beginning)

When I was originally asked about becoming a coach……. if I’d only listened then.

Part III ~ Here we go.

In comes January 2014, I signed up as a Beachbody coach remembering that she asked me to and let it just kinda hang out in the wind and catch the breeze for about 3 months. She also sent me some samples of Shakeology and told me to drink it for a week. I had six packets, one of each flavor. Around February I noticed a workout dvd called T25 and I began to wonder if I could do this one. It was only 30 minutes long and my semester of school was coming to an end and more free time was becoming available. However, during that time I also noticed TONS of people posting about the 21 Day fix. After 2 days of seeing AMAZING photo results and stories, I purchased my very first fitness program from Beachbody. Thus began my journey as a client. My longtime friend and coworker also purchased the 21 Day fix challenge pack under me and this began my journey as a COACH. A few more people purchased the program as well and we were off and running. In the first round of the fix, I lost only 4.5lbs but I was totally okay with that because I lost 12inches over my entire body. I saw my waist again. My mini muffin top was disappearing again! I fell in love with this workout plan and the nutrition plan was the easiest I’d ever seen! It’s all color coded and pretty containers to measure food in. I get to eat potatoes y’all!

  (this is what I was seeing EVERYWHERE!)

So the first week in April I decided that this was it, I’m going to do this and put me first. No matter who it bothered. I am getting older, I am gaining the weight and I am the one that has to live in this body. My first big step was trying the shakes. Let’s just make this clear if you didn’t already know. I despised those shake girls. I was almost snicker at them and think, honey why are you drinking a smoothie, Eat something for goodness sake. All the while, I’m gaining weight and doing NOTHING to improve my own health. Such the hypocrite I was. So, back to the shake experience. One day prior to April I’d tried the chocolate and HATED IT. I don’t like chocolatey chocolate so I’m not quite sure why I tried that one first but I did. I didn’t try them again for weeks. I tried to make my own to test the waters and made them with yogurt and choked them down. Not a good experience. But on that Sunday of that first week, I purchased Vanilla almond milk, bananas, frozen fruits and fresh fruits and made my very first shakeology smoothie. I felt the heavens open up and voices of angels singing in my head. I literally tapped the cup to get the rest out! I was HOOKED. Everyday I had to have one. EVERYDAY. You can read my post about that here. In that first week prior to starting the fix, I didn’t watch what I ate but I didn’t over eat and drank my smoothie everyday for breakfast, I lost 2lbs! I was over the top stoked. The next Monday along with friends we started our first round of the 21 Day fix. I followed my meal plan and grocery list, ate my food all day and worked out every night. If I missed a workout, I doubled up the next day, making sure I did everything. I had to go shopping for a wedding the last week of the first round and found a dress that I loved but it was a size 2 and I said what the heck try it on. I did! And it FIT!!! A size 2 y’all!! Now I don’t wear a size 2 in anything else but that dress ~ but I bought it for the shear principle that it was a size 2.

  (round one – firstish day)

I am now in week 2 of round 2 on the 21 day fix. I am still in love with this program. I love the variety of the different workouts everyday. I love that I get to really eat every kind of food. No food is left off of the map. Well, except for those foods we know we don’t need. I do notice that the workouts are much easier this round than round one and eating enough food for the day seems to be easier now also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a new journey beginning and I am so excited to share that part with you tomorrow!

See you then….

Weight loss journey – Part II (the middle of the after)

(both of these photos were taken in the spring of 2013)

My weight loss journey has taken me on a roller coaster ride the past two years.

I call this the middle of the after because my story is not finished.

I am a work in progress. We all are. We all are working towards that final chapter of satisfaction.

Part II

Now fast forward to 2013, I was now knocking on the door of 140lbs again. I’d been here before and swore I’d never be back. Well here I was and someone was about to open it. I am refusing to walk thru though because I AM NOT BUYING NEW CLOTHS- AGAIN! Unless they are the same or smaller size. I should also mention that I am a college student and I work full time and have kids and a husband and a dog and I live in Florida with no family support (as in pick up a kid here or there when I need it or help with errands). Depression was coming back. What did I revert too? Eating less to make up for it. I started my tracking points so many times I lost track and would give up on day 2 when I realized that I’d already eaten half of my points in two days.

Hopefully by now there are some of you that can relate.

Fast forward even more to November 2013 – My old college roommate (first time around) asked me to join a private food challenge group to help advise people on what to eat and how. It was a week long and I enjoyed the heck out of that. I noticed that during this week I watched what I ate too. I also found myself working out or trying to but it was the holiday season so not really. She had asked me to join team beachbody as a coach but I declined because I really didn’t understand what being a coach meant and because I really thought I had too much going on at the time. She left it alone and never asked again but it was always in the back of my mind, wondering and watching. Now let me insert here that I’d been watching her for about 2 years in her own fitness journey, all the while feeling a bit jealous because I didn’t have that here where I lived. She had a fun group she worked out with, her love for Turbofire had me all crushing on getting my own, and she looked amazing! Still I never asked what she was doing or how I could do it. I just watched, admired and wished her much success! I thought they were just amazing workouts with a great group of friends – I honestly had no clue!

Tomorrow is another day and another part III….

See you then.

My weight loss journey from beginning to…… well, now

 

Being brutally honest makes me nervous – because it makes me vulnerable.

It makes me feel weak and exposed.

But I’m learning that sharing my journey is important. People relate to people. People relate to emotion and a story. My story is always on my blog but I’ve never continued it or shared it on any other social media platform.

Over the next few days, I plan to share my story. It is long but I hope that there is one person (or two) that can relate to it. I am where I am today because someone believed in me. Someone said “You can do this, let me show you”.

Today this is my story – this is me.

Part I

My journey began in 2008. I was at my heaviest ever in my life. I was pushing 180lbs and squeezing into a size 18 (yep that was me). I was depressed, emotionless, unmotivated to shop ~ even for shoes! I thought that skipping meals and eating less would solve my problem over the years but really, it only got worse. I also had two things against me: 1)I’m from the south so we fry everything. 2)I was also stuck in a food rut. You know that rut – you cook the SAME THING week in and week out. You always go to the same restaurants and order the same meals. I was bored with eating, honestly. I pretended I wasn’t as large as I was. I truly believed that I still had a size 8ish body with a big ole booty. It’s funny how we view ourselves in the mirror but the pictures tell the true story. It is true that a picture is worth 1000 words. For me, when I saw myself in pictures – I thought holy crap Sara! I immediately started analyzing what wasn’t THAT BAD so that I could rationalize the photo. I wanted to do something but didn’t have a clue of what to do! I tried Atkins, Slimfast, starvation, fruit only, detoxing and NOTHING – I mean NOTHING worked. Really how could it if I was taking my butt to eat rice, beans, fries, burgers, grease, grease and more grease.

In comes a study with Weight Watchers and UCF invitation. I took on the challenge because I am a sucker for a challenge (a good one) and went full force into it. I knew with my personality that I would be very careful to follow it to a T. I learned how to eat healthier and make better choices. The biggest part of this experience though was that I learned to eat every 2 hours. I was religious with it too. 7:30am – waffle in the car on the way to work, 10:00am snack (fruit or yogurt), 12:00pm – lunch (either leftovers or sandwich and occasional lunch out but rare), 3:00pm – snack (fruit or yogurt), 6:00pm dinner. This was EVA-RE-DAY like clockwork, even on the weekends. I had to learn a point value system and tracked my weekly points associated with the food I ate. I also had to go in a few times to be measured and weighed. My very first week I lost 8lbs! I seriously had to look on the scale 3 times to make sure. Back then I still had the dial scale so it was harder to read than digital. At the end of that study in December of 2008, I’d lost 40lbs! I did this by changing what I ate and how often I ate. My metabolism was through the roof! I was almost starving at my 2 hour intervals. I never stopped eating that way for the next 4 years. By April of the following year, I hit my goal weight of 124lbs and was so stoked. I was wearing a size 4 and feeling very confident. I must share here though that I did not work out as much as I should have. I walked about 4-5 times a week for 15 minute intervals and twice a day. I was skinny but not fit. I now know there is a difference. With 40 knocking on my door now, I wish I’d thought of that then.

Each year though I seemed to gain back about 4lbs in the course of that year. Fast forward to 2012 and I found myself teetering between 130-135 so I started running and training for a 5K. I participated in 4 or so but never really indulged in anything more than 5k’s. Running hurt my knees and in the summer, it’s just to dang hot outside. So I joined a gym and went up there to run. I was able to maintain 135lbs but my eating was going back to bad habits and I created a cycle of trying to keep up with the 135lbs but the food was out racing and winning that battle. I knew how to eat right. I knew what to eat but I began slipping back into a mindset of I still look good and I’m running so I’m good right? WRONG – so wrong.

Tomorrow the story continues with Part II ……..

See you then

21 Day Fix – An update and an invite

So the group and I are on day 5 of the 21 Day fix from Beachbody.

I’m not sure when an update is appropriate but I figured what the heck – go for it.

1. This is not a diet! That word does not exist in my world. This is a lifestyle change!
2. I eat ALL the time!
3. I work out everyday!
4. I eat ALL the time! ok that’s a repeat – but its true!
5. I am loving the workout routine. Out the gate it’s a ring dinger but if you keep at it and don’t give up because you are sore, by Friday though you are feeling a-ok. Or at least I am and lets just say that Tuesday was T-O-U-G-H! I didn’t even want to look at a workout much less DO one! But you know what, I did it! When I was done I felt amazing because I pushed through!
6. The nutrients in Shakeology is keeping me feeling good!
7. This plan is an option anyone can do. Honestly. 30 minute workouts and there is a modifier person on each one. If you feel like you cannot handle the level of the trainer, just do the modified moves. Food intake levels for different weight groups.
8. As a new beachbody coach, just the response from my participants alone is overwhelming. The smile on their faces is more than enough to push me to push play.

I know I’ve slacked on the food recipes and this has kinda taken over my blog at the moment but I just can’t stop talking about it. I gave a pre-warning!

The recipes I’ve added to my meal plan are many that I’ve already posted before with a few adjustments (not many though). Maybe I will just share the meal plan with y’all next week!

If you are wanting to do something different, tired of trying the next new thing email me at skay77@beachbodycoach.com or at skinnyonadime@yahoo.com either way contact me! I am here to help, to motivate and to help you on your fitness journey. Click on any of the links in this post (except the email links) to go straight to my beach body coach page to sign up! It’s FREE!

You are not alone! There are so many inspiring people on the same journey, with a similar story. I am one of them! Yeah, your girl was slipping but I caught myself when I was introduced to the Beachbody community! They are an amazing group of individuals that are focused on the same goals as me ~ to be healthy, happy, fit and free!

Have an awesome Friday night and make it an even better weekend!

See y’all Monday with an update! (and maybe some photos??)

 

Day 1–21 Day fix

Today is the official first day of my 21 day fix challenge! Me and the girls are super surprised at the amount of food we have to eat throughout the day! I personally know the benefits of eating 5-6 times a day! I am walking, talking proof of that.

21 Day fix – I think I’m gonna like you!

Workouts will come this evening. I’m a nighty~not a morning person at all!

There is something else to this though – something more. I don’t generally promote a product unless I personally LOVE it. I have to say Shakeology – you proved me W-R-O-N-G! In just one week, one week ladies and gentlemen, I’ve gone from a non-believer to everyone in my house wanting their own bag!

I know many may make their own shakes or smoothies but honey – you gotta at least give this a try. Love it because its good, but love it even more for the benefits! It is so much more that a meal replacement – Shhhhhh don’t hurt its feelings. No no – lets call it a super meal because that’s what it is!

Please inform yourself of the benefits right here >>>

The 21 day fix is bound to produce results for everyone. If you need help let me know! I’m here!

Get your own fix today! Click here >>>>> 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack

See y’all tomorrow with a workout update!

Happy Monday

Current favorite food log/fitness apps

I am an app hoarder, I will admit it. (that's the first step right?) I see a new app, I can’t help it. I go into full download mode. Even if there is a chance that I will not open that app again, I struggle with deleting it. But when I find a good one, one that I like and does everything I need, I keep it around and it moves to my favorites page. Here is a run down of a few of my favorite fitness apps that have made it to my home page.

1.  Pts. Plus Diary

 

This is by far the one I use the most. It is very similar to the way I counted points when I originally participated in the weight loss study. Even though I know point values without needing to look them up, this is a new electronic way for me to keep up with how many points I’ve used for the week. There is an option for daily points too but since I never learned that system, I couldn’t tell you how to use it. I only use the bonus points section and the workout log section.

2.  My fitness pal

I see so many people use this app that I had to download it just to see what it could offer me. I eventually became a fan and now I use it almost daily (unless I forget) to log what I eat. My favorite part of this app is to add my own personal recipes to it so I can see the nutritional information of that recipe and calculate points for it. I also like to see how many calories I am eating daily and my percentage of certain nutrients I am getting daily.

3.  C25K free

About two years ago, I think, I wanted to try my hand in running. I would read blogs of women finding this thing called a runners “high” and it caught my attention. I signed up for our local Susan B Komen Race for the Cure, which is very dear to my heart, having cancer survivors in my family, some here and some gone. I needed a program to get me started so I came across this app and it worked beautifully. I have bad knees so it allowed me to gradually work up to running a 5k successfully. I’ve ran in several since my first one. My next challenge is a half marathon…… but lets finish school first :)

4. RockMyRun – hands down my favorite!

This is my favorite app to work out to even if I am not running. The DJ’s mixes kill any work out! It tells you bpm per mix and there are several different varieties of music, styles and times. So whatever you need to get you going, this app has it! Oh and I won a summer prize pack from them a few months ago too, so that just solidified my love for the even more!

I was not paid to give a review on any of theses apps, this is just my wonderful opinion. Whether there is anyone out there reading or not, I wanted to share what I’ve found to be affective and helpful. There are tons of fitness apps out there. Explore a few, read the reviews and find the ones that will be the most helpful for you in your fitness journey. Smart phones have taken over everything so why not use them to your advantage. You can pretty much do everything you used to do on paper, on your smart phone. Even if you don’t have a handy dandy smart phone, most of the apps have websites you can also use on your home computer.

Enjoy your day guys!

Back to the beginning

This is a repost of my original welcome message. I get so many people asking me how I lost weight and how I keep it off. Here was a glimpse of my journey that lead me to my blog. I hope you find it useful and if you have questions let me know.

Welcome to Skinny on a dime!
I am very glad you are here. You might not realize it but I need your help and support just as much as you need mine.
So here is my story in a nut shell and the reasons why I've decided to put this little blog together.
A little over a year ago, I was at my largest weight ever in my life. I was headed for a road of depression and sadness. I wasn't used to being the size I was and I wasn't sure how I'd ended up there. Every time I would grow out of a size I would just say to myself "Well when I get to a size... I will have to start working out!" and it just never stopped. I became comfortable in the size I was in. I told lies to myself to try to believe that I wasn't as large as I was. I'm not really sure what my breaking point was that made me win the battle but whatever it was I am so thankful for now.
In June of 2008, a coworker offered me an opportunity that changed my life forever. A very well known weight loss company was teaming up with a local college to do a study for a new program they wanted to launch the following year. I said to myself "What else do I have to lose!" so I join with a very close friend of mine. I qualified for the study and decided that I would set a goal to lose 50lbs during the process. I wasn't sure how it would all work out but I was willing to give it a try.

So everyone asks, "What’s the secret, what did you do different?". I am here to tell you that there are no secrets, gimmicks or tricks. My success came from changing what groceries I bought and how I prepared my food. I also had to exercise but not near as much as you would think. In my next few blogs I will lay it all out on the table. I will give you every resource that I have. I will also show you along the way how you can save money buying the things that will keep you healthy. So join me if you have the same desire to be .....

Skinny on a dime!