The Flu

So, Wednesday night was not my most favourite night. Started getting the flu-like symptoms early in the afternoon, but brushed it off as an upset stomach. Then, it all went downhill. I don't think I've ever been that sick before in my life. I say that every time I'm sick, but I think it gets progressively worse each time. And, no, it's not as my friend NL says, "sperm induced." No babies here.

Being stuck on the couch for a day got me thinking about how bad it is to not be able to work out. I could barely get up to get a glass of water, let alone get up to walk or work out. That is a super crappy feeling. How weird is it that only a couple of weeks ago I couldn't even imagine walking 5 kilometers after work and now I can't stop thinking that it would be so nice to get out and go for a walk! I'm just living proof that you can do it! Changing your attitude doesn't take a whole lot!

I'm still in a lot of pain due to the throwing up and sleeping on the couch all day, but stay tuned for tomorrow's blog - see how I did with my monthly goal! I'm switching recipe Saturdays and goal Sundays this week due to the first day of May falling on Saturday. Stay tuned, y'all!

2010 is the Year of Kara

So, a few days ago I started thinking about the years past.

2004: I graduated high school, left my home town. Went to college for a semester then decided I wanted none of it.

2005: Moved back to my home town. Moved out of my home town once I realized it was a trap.

2006: Best year ever! Got in shape, but had my very first heartbreak. But, then I started seeing my honey for who he is now.

2007: Did another semester at college, met some good people, but then moved up North. Bought a house and a new truck :)

2008: Got engaged, and started planning a wedding.

2009: Got married!

2010: This will me the year of me.

It seems that in the last 3 years up here, I let go of a lot of things. I've changed so much since then it's unbelievable! My mindset about so many things has changed too! I used to be somewhat of an activist - I had my opinions on things and wasn't afraid to share them. Now I prefer to not say anything because it's too much work trying to defend what you believe. The biggest thing that has changed has been my weight and my attitude about being active. I didn't have a vehicle all that time ago, so my mode of transportation was my legs. I hated public transit, and only used it when absolutely necessary. When I was bored, I wouldn't just sit and eat, I'd go for a walk. Sometimes just to Starbucks to read outside in the sun, but at least I got out. I used to go to the gym on top of all of that walking. Now, I sit.

I'm starting to change all of that. Going for a walk after work is becoming such a habit that I'm kinda mad when we have a staff meeting after work (like yesterday), or when I have to work late (like today). It sucks! I want to get out there and get active. I need to get me a rain coat of some kind, because the skies are not looking nice for me this week. I'll deal, but the last thing I need is getting sick!

And watching what I eat is a challenge. When I start to stress, the first thing I do is think about going out and eating a whole bag of chips. I've done really well so far, but that thought is still stuck in my mind. I'm not sure how to change that in my head. Everyone is going to have cravings, it's all in what you do about them, I guess. I hope I can make it through this week and weekend OK, that way maybe I can have myself a little treat!

Have a great night everyone! Make sure you're still writing down some positives!

Fast Food

Take this quiz I came across at livestrong.com

(http://www.livestrong.com/article/93642-fast-food-quiz/?utm_source=aprnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100427)

I got 3 out of 10 correct. Basically, I knew #2, which one was lowest in fat, #5, the best dessert, and #10, the best breakfast. I can't believe how many I got wrong, or the information given in the answers. If that isn't enough to make you want to stop eating fast food, I don't know what I can do for you! Maybe put on some Jack Johnson and think about it. Then make some Banana Pancakes. Something.

*Yawn*

I don't know what's up with me, but I am so freaking tired today! WTF?!? Last night I fell asleep around 8:30 and slept right through until 4:50 this morning. Absolutely amazing for me, I'd say. I mean, I am a sleeper. If I have the chance to go to bed early, I take it! But I always wake up early. I'm usually awake at 4:30, waiting for the alarm to go off. Even this weekend I was super duper tired! John tried to make Saturday night a romantic night - he made me dress up, bought me roses (first time ever!), cooked dinner and planned to take me to a movie. I made it through dinner, and then passed out on the couch at 6 when we were watching hockey. He woke me up around 8 I think, and I went right to bed. I still woke up early (around 5:30 both weekend days) but I just don't know. The only thing I can think of is that I'm doing so much and not eating enough. Take today. I had some cereal for breakfast, a Babybell cheese and an apple sauce for a snack, Booster Juice and an egg scrambler for lunch, weird popcorn healthy thing for a snack, half a granola bar, and now we're having soup and grilled cheese for dinner. It seems like a lot, but maybe it's not enough of the things I need for energy. Or, maybe I'm just sleeping too much and my body is weirded out. Either way, I'm up until 10 tonight to watch the Biggest Loser, and there isn't anything that is going to stop me. Maybe I'll be doing jumping jacks in the commercial breaks!

Still, with being so tired, I still walked 5k after work. I put on my pedometer, and from where my mom and I park our trucks and back, it's just under 5k. Not too shabby for an hours walk. Now time to start running it (SS, I'm up for the challenge! Bring it on! We'll be running 5k together this summer!).

Have a good night everyone! Watch The Biggest Loser tonight!

Just Another Manic Monday...

...And I almost wish it was Sunday, lol! Except that I would be thinking about Monday at work, and well, boo to Mondays. Today was no exception to the rule of Monday suckiness. It seems that on Mondays, everyone is just that much more annoying. ML and AB flirting at the end of the counter and playing "Team Smoker" is much more annoying, TG telling the same story over 18 times is more frustrating. Ah, oh well, it's over. Until next week anyways.

I had a great day workout-wise. JM's 30 Day Shred first thing today, then walked for over an hour an a half in new shoes after work. I totally rocked out to Bon Jovi and Billy Idol on my iPod while I walked. If you ever are in need of good workout music, download Billy Idol! I promise you will not be disappointed! When we drove home, we figured that I walked somewhere between 6 and 8 kilometers after work today! I need to find my pedometer and figure out how far I'm going. If I am going that far in an hour and a half - GO ME!!

I would type more, but my left hand it hurting like a bitch. I hope tendonitis is not on it's way back into my life!

Sunday Night is Goal Night!

Time for some goals again. But how did I do this week?

Well, first goal of cooking at home didn't work so well. I forgot that I had Oil Wives Thursday night, so clearly I didn't cook then, but at least the food we did eat seemed pretty healthy. Technically, that also means I ate out. Boo to this last week!

Good news is that when I weighed Thursday morning, I had lost 3 pounds. Due to lack of sleep and Oil Wives, I missed 2 walks and one workout, so I gained back a pound when I had weighed this morning. Not a huge deal. It is what it is. That does mean that I'm only half a pound away from my monthly goal! And if I can't manage to lose half a pound by Saturday morning, we've got some bigger issues!

So, goals for this week. Let's do 'er the same, but try to make it this time. Cook every night. I have to go through the food in our freezer and figure out my week. No fast food, or food pre-made from a store of any kind. And, drink more water! I need to get back into the drinking of water again! I'm dehydrating and I know it!

Pretty easy goals, hopefully this week I can achieve it. We do have a lunch and learn tomorrow, so we'll be eating pizza, but maybe this time I'll only eat 2 pieces, which is around 400 calories, and leave it at that. Hopefully.

Make some goals! Do it! It's good for you!

Healthy Recipe Saturdays! (#2)

Last week, I gave you all a recipe that I love - chicken chili. I made it for Monday night's dinner and it was fabulous! I forgot all about the kidney beans, but oh well. Next time. I'm one of those people who can never remember everything, so next time I decide to make it, I'm making a shopping list!

Today I'm going to refer to my Easy Organic Cooking book. There are some really awesome recipes in it that are low in fat and because they encourage you to use all organics. We, as a society eat way too many over processed foods. I know shopping organically is much more expensive, but keep your eyes out for farmers markets. We have a great one here, and the vegetables and fruits that are grown are completely organic. And inexpensive. Gotta love it.

Here's this week's recipe:

Fruit- Filled Puff Pancakes
(makes 4 servings)

1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup organic white flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 organic eggs
1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sliced fresh organic strawberries
1 tsp sugar substitute*
2 tsp powdered sugar
*This recipe was tested with sucralose-based sugar substitute

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Place butter in 9-inch glass pie plate. Place pie plate in oven 2 minutes or until butter is bubble. Swirl pan to coat bottom and sides.
3. Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Whisk eggs in medium bowl until frothy. Add milk and vanilla to eggs; whisk until blended. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; whisk until blended. (Batter will be slightly lumpy.)
4. Remove pie plate from oven. Add melted butter to batter; mix well. Pour batter into hot pie plate; bake 20 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned.
5. Meanwhile, combine strawberries and sugar substitute in medium bowl.
6. Cut puff into 4 wedges to serve. Spoon fruit over hot pancake wedges. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Nutrients per serving: (1/4 of pancake) 169 calories, 6g total fat, 7g protein 22g carbohydrate, 114mg cholesterol, 202mg sodium, 2g dietary fibre, 3g saturated fat


I hope you try this one out - it looks delicious! I think I'm going to make it for breakfast tomorrow!

Have a great Saturday!

A Night With The Oil Wives

So, as I alluded to yesterday, we had quite the interesting night at Oil Wives last night. We tried out a new restaurant and they closed down the whole place for us. Pretty cool right? Wrong.

They are so new that they do not have a liquor license. No problem, if you get the right permits. I think we all just assumed that everything was good, and started our normal eating and drinking. Then, around the time the wait staff was serving dessert, one of the ladies stands up and tells us the news. The RCMP showed up and confiscated all of the booze. Apparently the owners of the restaurant dropped the ball (which doesn't surprise me since the guys were higher than kites and reeked like weed) and didn't get the right permit.

Now, if you want to see a bunch of ladies freak out, take away their booze on Oil Wives night. There were 3 especially that made me laugh so badly. They were calling lawyers, freaking out so hard. Too funny. Just deal with it ladies! I mean, come on! It's only booze.

So, we get on with our meeting. Half way through, 2 of them leave and go to the liquor store and buy over $300 worth of wine. They poured it into pop bottles and stuff to hide it. Yeah, like you can hide it if the cops decide to do a check later.

What a night. I left before the RCMP showed up again. What a mess. I am so glad that I am not a boozer like that. I had 3 glasses of wine (2 showed up unexpectedly at my table, I swear!) and that was more than enough for me! Way more than enough! I planned on one, but I should know better when I sit with the President of the club and another woman who you can just tell oozes money.

Ah, oh well. I knew last night was a write off. Time to get back into it. And to watch the Canucks!

Weighing In

So, I cheated today and did a mid week weigh in. I know that some people say you should weigh every day, some say once a week, some say twice a week. I like to only weigh once a week. But I cheated...

And I have lost 3 pounds since Monday! That's a pound per day!! I'm under 200 pounds! 199.5 baby! How awesome is that?!?!?! I don't think there could have been a better way to start my day!

It just goes to show what working out and not eating junk will do for a body. I need to start helping out my Oil Wife buddy Sara. She's trying to lose weight and is struggling hard. Time for some Kara therapy!

But, since it was Oil Wives tonight, I'm slightly intoxicated and need to go to bed. I'll make up for this short post with the tales from tonight. It was interesting to say the least. Stay tuned!

Confidence

So, I think one of the most important things I can say to anyone is "you look great today." Seriously. Even if you know someone is just saying it because they know it makes you feel good and you actually look like shit, it really does make you feel great. Don't you think?

I have a guy at work that tells me at least once or twice a day that I'm sexy. Do you know how great that makes a girl feel? Even if my hair is a mess, I'm covered in dust from picking orders and I have a cold, he still tells me I'm sexy. Can you say confidence boost?!?!?!

I think we all need to stop and take a look at ourselves. I know that my body is imperfect, but I know there are some totally awesome things about me. I have great eyes that change colour to my mood. How cool is that? And I love my calves. Strong and sexy is what I think. And I could care less who thinks so. I think so, and that's all that matter.

Instead of thinking of all negatives about your body while you're trying to lose weight and get in shape, maybe we should be thinking about the positives. And as we're thinking about the positives, more and more of them will start to appear. Suddenly I might find my arms are getting damn sexy. And then more and more.

Positivity. That's my thing. I think positive to keep on track. Try it. You'll like it.

Snubbed

Have any of you ever been snubbed? By a friend (or ex-friend as it may be), a co-worker, or anyone at all? I just got snubbed, and honestly, it felt pretty good.

You know that friend that you have (and we all have at least one) that bitches and compains about how other people treat them, and when they treat you like that, it doesn't matter?

Like, take this for instance. My ex-friend (the snubber) used to cancel out on me all the time. If she didn't feel like doing something, she would come up with an excuse and I would be left hanging. On the night before her birthday I got absolutely no sleep. I fell asleep the night of her birthday at 7pm. I could not keep my eyes open. No way. So, the next day, I called and apologized, and thought we were good. That was March 2, and I've seen her once other than today since then.

Basically today she snubbed me. Didn't even care to stop to say hi. And you know what? I was ok with that. I keep thinking about our relationship. It wasn't that great. We got along well, but really didn't have a lot in common. And now that I'm trying to exercise and get on with my life, I don't think our friendship would have lasted. I need friends who support me, not just to bitch to. All we did was bitch about others and jobs and stuff, and while that's important, support is more so.

I couldn't believe how good it feels to know that the relationship with her is over. So glad. Like a weight off of my shoulders. No more negativity! And the worst of it was that I didn't even realize she was so negative until we weren't friends anymore. Isn't it funny how that happens sometimes?

My advice for today is to start listening in on your conversations with friends. I mean, really listen. If they say more negative things that positive, it might be time to change it up. Not that you have to dump your friend, but maybe you need to hang with them less. Surround yourself with positivity!!

And don't forget, write down some positives from today!

A Pound Lost Is Better Than A Pound Gained

Well, I weighed in again this morning. 202.5 pounds, so down a pound. Not too bad for not working out too hard and eating out a lot. Got me to thinking about how much I could have lost if I had not done all of the bad eating and gotten out more. I guess I will see this week.

I did the 30 Day Shred this morning, followed by a quick walk at lunch and a walk after work. Lots today. My knees have never been so sore but I'm not letting it get to me. Push through the pain, right?

I think my reward for today should be a nice hot bath, but I'm not sure my knees will like that. Maybe just a foot soak :)

My tip of the day (we'll see how many of these I can get through before I run out!) is to keep up the positive reinforcement. Write down at least one thing that you did today that made you happy, or was good for you. I worked out hard today, and that makes me feel good. Try it for yourself. Make it part of your routine.

Check out Jillian Michaels on the cover of Women's Health, out tomorrow. I'm going to get my copy at lunch!

Sunday Night is Goals Night!

So, as I'm looking towards the week ahead, I keep thinking that it's the perfect time to make some goals. I believe in goals of all sizes. I have my long term goal of getting in shape and looking great. I have my monthly goal of losing 3.5 pounds to get to at least an even 200, and 5 pounds per month until December (where honestly, all bets are off). And now I have some weekly goals.

This week I am going to cook every night. I've made a dinner list for the week and know exactly what I'm going to cook. And, as a bonus, I have my chicken chili ready to go for tomorrow morning! I'm going to work out every morning this week, and walk every day after work. And not eat out at all! That's the biggest thing! (My steeped tea from Tim Horton's does not count here! I drink it black!)

These are my Monday-Friday goals. For the weekend, it's basically, work out, walk and eat properly. Pretty attainable as long as we don't spend all weekend inside watching movies and hockey like I know we both want to!

What are your goals? Take the time to think about them, and write them down.

If I achieve my weekly goals, I'm going to allow myself one indulgence. Whether that's a small bag of chips, or an ice cream, or a latte from Starbucks, it's within my power to have something that will not totally derail my progress.

I don't think that cheat days work. I think that it's better to award good behavior. Like, for instance, if I make my monthly goal, maybe I'll go and get a pedicure. And when I ultimately make my long term goal, maybe I'll treat myself to a whole spa day!!

Take some time to write down some goals. Maybe yours aren't about weight loss and making healthy choices. Maybe yours are more about the kind of person you want to be. It can be anything - but just do it!

Healthy Recipe Saturdays! (#1)

So, I thought it would be a good idea to put a healthy, yet yummy recipe on here every week. Just something that I really like, that is easy to make, and pretty low in calories.

This week, I'm going to make chicken chili. It's so easy, and so good. Here's how to make it.

Take a pound of lean ground chicken (or turkey - both are way lower in calories than red meat which is harder to find as lean) and use a bit of olive oil and fry with garlic and onions. Mix together tomatoes, mushrooms, kidney beans, green or red peppers, and finely chopped carrots in your slow cooker. Add in the chicken when it's cooked, along with the garlic and onions. Add in some salt, pepper and chili powder.

I make this part the night before, then before I leave for work in the morning, I put it on low, and cook it all day. When I get home I taste it to see if I need to add anything more to it.

Just serve it with some salad, and you've got yourself an awesome meal.

I love cooking with a slow cooker. Dinner's ready when you get home, and there's basically no work involved. It all takes care of itself.

Try it out! Change it up to suit your tastes and you can't go wrong!

Bon Apetite!

30 Day Shred - Day 1: TGIF

Today I woke up at 5am, and did my first day of JM's "30 Day Shred." I had forgotten how hard it is! I was sweating my butt off before I knew it! It really helped kick start my day though. I felt so great when I got to work, except that I was so hungry I wanted to eat everything. Good thing we don't sell food! I've only been eating toast for breakfast, and obviously if I'm going to be working out I need to add in some protein. It was pretty great to start my Friday off so well.

After a good day at work (well, it wasn't great, but it went off without me wanting to kill someone) Mom and I went for another walk. It feels so great to be able to get out in the sun and walk and walk and walk. I could have gone for much longer but Mom is still trying to catch up!

Big plans this weekend. Spring has finally sprung here, and it's time to get our yard cleaned up. We have a bunch of stumps that need to be taken out, and a deck to build, so it's time to get started. Time to dig up stumps so Dad can get his chain saw out and cut them down, and figure out all that we need for the deck so May long weekend we can get the biulding started. Fun fun. And, we're going to go dog walking at the SPCA on Sunday. I can't think of a better reason to go for a walk! These dogs need some love. And I have lots of puppy love to give!

DH is coming into town tonight to get her drink on. I have 2 bottles of wine chilling in the fridge for her arrival. Should be a fun night.

Have a great weekend peoples!

Stress

We all know that stress is bad. When we, and when I say we I mean women, stress, we get fat. This isn't always the case with men, but I know that it was a factor in my weight gain. When we stress, our cortisol levels go up, and weght is gained around the midsection. Guess where most of my weight is??

We all have stress. The key is figuring out how to deal with it. My first instinct is to grab food. I'm attempting really hard to avoid this and go for a walk. This week has been pretty good so far, and I really hope that I can keep it up!

I have the same stresses as all of you out there. Work, money, family, weight. It's hard to cut stress from your life. It take so much time, and believe me, it's frustrating. I would love to just snap my fingers and have all of the stress be gone. Not going to happen. Just gotta keep managing it!

Short one tonight folks, I'm beat. Fell asleep on the couch at 6. Not very cool. Time to get some laundry done so I don't have to spend my weekend inside!

Responsabilites

In life, we all have responsabilites. Responsabilites at work, with family, with your own self. But why do some people lack the drive to take responsabilities in their own life?

It's like one of my cousins. I see him as the "it wasn't my fault" guy. Drives me freaking crazy. That's why I don't care if I see him. The last time I saw him he was bitching about how getting laid off and not being able to find work was someone else's fault. No, buddy, it's all yours. Get off your ass and you'd be ok.

Just like AB at work. When you're new as a sales rep, your job is to jump on every phone call and every person who walks through the door. Basics. Your job is to help the other people who have been there longer, who have more responsability, when they need it. Take today. I get a stack of orders from DS every Wednesday morning from the coal mine he delivers to. I deal with all of the coal mines in the area. Usually I have his orders done by about 10, or at the latest before I go for lunch at 11. Today I had a couple of fires to put out with orders, and some specail quotes to do, so I didn't have time to touch them before lunch. After lunch, it got much worse. I didn't get DS's orders done until after 3. Why is that? AB decided that she didn't want to work. She ignored the phone, wandered into the back to avoid customers, and flat out refused to work. Her responsability is to take customers first so we can get work done, and clearly someone needs to explain it to her again. And if it's me it'll be personal and she won't talk to me for a month.

Thinking about this got me to really thinking about how I am responsable for my life. I'm the reason I gained over 40 piunds in a year. I'm also the reason it's going to get off of me. Somehow, it's going to happen. I have to take responsability for my life and not blame my weight gain on my job, or living in the north. It was all me. Eating bad, being lazy. Yep, it's my responsability. I'm going to take initiative and say that it's my responsability to get my ass in gear, and work out some more!! Get this fat off of me!

"Sisters"

My "sister" Ashley is now not only the best sister ever (yeah, I know I only have one) she is my support person. And I am hers.

It's great to have someone that you can just be able to go "WTF is going on??" and have them help you through it. We're both trying to lose weight. Ashley's goal is about half of mine, but I have no doubt that she will stick with me until I make it to mine. Just knowing that someone out there is struggling with the same genetic makeup is great. Great to know you're not alone, not great that other people have to go through it too.

Ashley is struggling right now with finding the time to make good choices for food and exercise. A mother of 2 young girls (my great neices, aged almost 5 and 1) who is in school does not have much time to make healthy choices every day. While I'm living s totally separate life where I work 7-4 and have no kids, I'm still struggling to figure out how the hell to make good choices. When you don't get home until after 5, and you're starving, the last thing you want to do is cook. And I am so bad at planning ahead. I never think to take meat out of the freezer to thaw during the day, and I can't ever figure out what to eat. Maybe that should be our goal for next week, my sister. Plan our dinners out on Sunday night, make sure that they are healthy, and filling, and easy to prepare. Then stick your meal plan on the fridge, and that way you see it every day and remeber to take out the things that you need for that night. That should make it easier, right?

All right, I've got a goal for Sunday night. Plan my meals! Check back with me Monday to see if I actually did it! Maybe time for a walk before "The Biggest Loser" (my BIGGEST inspiration) comes on. Get out in the sunshine while we have it! Spring looks like it might finally have come to the north!

Boo to Mondays

Today was supposed to be the re-start of JM's 30 Day Shred. Yeah, that's so not going to happen today. I have a freaking migrane, and we ate McD's for dinner. Oh yum.

This morning I weighed in at 203.5 pounds. The goal is to be out of the 200s by the end of the month. We'll see how that goes.

Work was quite a day. TG was back from vacation, and was in such a great mood. AB definitely did not take it that way. When she was told by TG that she needed to actually work (as opposed to neatly stacking our recyclling) she thought that TG was being a cranky bitch and proceeded to be a crank pot all day. What a nice way to start a week. TG was in a fantastic mood all along. Stupid.

Other than that, my day was pretty good. Busy at work, and I finished my second ever knit dishcloth! Whoop whoop! Another one is started. Very nice. I wish I could get CB's blanket finished, but I just can't seem to get it together, literally. I'm in the "sew the granny squares together" stage, and really, that's one crappy stage. Laying on the floor whipstitching is not something I really want to do after work. Maybe this weekend we'll get it done.

Time to go do something. Maybe have a nice relaxing bath.

Blisters

John and I went for that walk yesterday, and for one today. I have sore muscles and 2 blisters to show for it. My feet freaking hurt, but nothing some band-aids and Polysporin can't fix. It was chilly both days walking, but it was good nonetheless.

Yesterday we walked what I like to call the "Estate Walk." Basically there are paved trails all through town, and there is one section that is near our college, and goes along a whole bunch of new houses. It's pretty nice, except you start thinking about how awesome it would be to have one of those houses, until you see the cost. One of the new houses is upwards of about $600K, and an older one is at least $400K. Much out of our price range. Maybe if we didn't have a truck payment and planned on never going on vacation or getting out of debt ever. The path is nice, but the dreams of the estates haunt you.

Today we walked from home. It's in the negative temperature wise, and snowing a bit. Nice time to go for a walk, eh? There are a lot of gas wellsites around here, so there are lots of random roads all over the place so it's easy to find a place to go walk. We decided to go on the road closest to us to see if we could find somewhere to get to the river from this side of the river. We walked down a painfully straight road only to find that there's nothing at the end. On the way back the wind was blowing so hard that my eyes were tearing up and then freezing because of the wind. What a day.

But, it felt good to get out. Otherwise we would have just sat on our asses all day like we've been doing for the past 3 years. Hoepfully we can keep the momentum going and get the "30 Day Shred" going tomorrow and keep it going for 30 days. I want to see how much I can lose in 30 days. This week will be difficult with food. I don't have the money to go out and buy the normal diet things I eat, and we're heading into the city to go to a concert at a bar, and yes, there will be a lot of drinks that night. Oh well. You've got to live. Getting workouts in will help me not gain so much!

Tonight I'm going to get John to do my measurements and tomorrow I will weigh. Let's see how we're going to start this time.

Have a great night! Go out and go for a quick walk, why don't ya?

Introductions Come First!

Hello World!

My name is Kara, and I am a 23 year old woman living in northern British Columbia (the most beautiful place on Earth), Canada.

In the last 3 years, I have gained over 40 pounds. It's now time for me to get those pounds off! I'm tired of wearing size 33 jeans, and size 16 dresses and want to get back into size 29 jeans and size 12 dresses!

On Monday, my husband and I are starting a new lifestyle. I'm not even going to call it a diet because then we will fail. It's inevitable that if you say you're going on a diet, you're going to fail. Lifestyle change seems much better to me.

I've been reading Jillian Micahel's book, "Winning By Losing" and I am going to use this blog as my journal. She is always talking about making yourself aware of your struggles so that you can learn from them, and this is the perfect way. I can always look back on my blog, and see what happened in the week that made me slip off track.

On January 1st, my husband and I weighed in. I started out 2010 at 209 pounds. I didn't diet at all that month, but I did do a cleanse, and on February 1st, my mom and I started at the gym. I weighed 208.5 pounds. We worked our butts off, and by March 1, I weighed 203 pounds. Five and a half pounds in a month really isn't that bad, but it wasn't enough. I began Jillian Michael's "30 Day Shred" shortly after that. I made it down to 199 with the program and eating right, but I did something to my achilles tendon in one foot, and all was lost. I stopped working out because of the pain, and I think I'm back up to about 205 pounds. I haven't weighed in a while because I feel ashamed. I was doing so well, and now I'm completely off the track. The track is so far away I can't even imagine where it was.

Then earlier this week, my "sister" Ashley emailed me to ask if I was still trying to lose weight because she needs a support person. This was just what I needed! We live about a 10 hour drive apart, so we can't exactly workout together, but we can email and text back and forth and support each other on our journeys. It's just what I needed! Someone to keep me on track, and help me along. My husband is great, but when it comes down to it, he's just as lazy as I am. That's why we're in this mess to begin with! At least with my sissy behind me, I might be able to make it!

I'm thinking that maybe since it's so nice out, I should wake my hubby from his nap and make him go for a walk. It's a bit chilly out, but I think once we get moving it might not be so bad.

Talk to you all later!