Weigh in Wednesday and a Giveaway!

Hello ladies and gents... It's that time again, and this week, we're also wrapping up my 30 day challenge with Adie. Here's today's number...

Here are also my measurement's from beginning to end

I know... Awesome editing here.

And my before and after photos

Of course, you know I had a bad week in there and gained... significantly. But thanks to Alicia (Brew Mama) and Candra (Camo & Lipstick) I got right back on track and had a 2# loss as of last Saturday! THANK YOU LADIES! I didn't do all that I had hoped for with the challenge, but sometimes it just doesn't go as planned.

Speaking of Brew Mama... She has an awesome giveaway going on!

She's contacted some amazing blogger ladies and we've all chipped in a little here and there for a fantastic giveaway! If you don't follow Alicia already, DO IT NOW! She's such an inspiring lady and she's done an amazing job eating right and losing weight! She even dropped two pant sizes recently (that's right, TWO) and is rocking some awesome new clothes! If I hadn't been contacted about helping out on the giveaway, I'd be the first person signed up! ;-) Make sure you head over and read all about her, and about the other wonderful women that are making this giveaway possible!

Alicia from Brew Mama

Nicki from Beautifully Awkward

Candra from Camo and Lipstick

Darci from Strongly Feminine

Trista from Life According to Trista

Aubrey Leigh from ALG Uninterrupted

Tia from Hands on. Pants off.

Adie from Four Fit Sisters

Desiree from Macke Monologues

Crystal from Crystal Michelle's Mess

Jasmine from Fleurty and Fit

Niki from Heavy Cupcake (HEY! THAT'S ME!)

Ang from Mean Ang

Sami from Simply Sami

Val from Fab Chick Gets Fit

Stacie from Stacie Rogers Training

Erin from Homemade Happenings

Analisa from Sunset 79

Get to ENTERING!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And as always, I'm linking up with Ashlee over here for Weigh in Wednesday!


Remember! There won't be one next week as I'll be in Vegas... and hopefully staying off of the scale! There will be lots of walking involved... but also lots of food and drinking.  Don't judge.  We all need a vacation every once and a while!

That's all for today folks... How did your weekly weigh in go?! Link up and let us know!

Hi there, hey there, ho there... Lots of links in this post!

I'm (obviously) a little behind on this weeks posts. Please forgive me.  I'm sure most of you will if you know whats been going on, but still, please.

So lets get down to it!
Monday started my 30 day challenge with Adie of Four Fit Sisters. So far, so good.  I'm loving the daily "homework" she posts to our facebook group, although, I'm not as impressed that I'm in a group of mostly repeaters... I feel like I'm asking stupid questions pretty often, and don't feel like other people are "participating" as much since they've already asked most of the questions they're going to.  Oh well.

Our first assignment was to figure out our average RMR (mines 1844). You can do that here... This number tells you how many calories your body should burn just sitting around. Not doing anything additional.  You should try to eat at or just under that number of calories per day.  Uh... hello! That's about 400 MORE calories than I've been eating for the past two months! So, I've adjusted my calorie intake on my LoseIt App around 1725. I just couldn't make the dive to over 1800... Just couldn't.

Our second assignment was to take pics and measurments of ourselves. Now, I had just done that on the fourth for the month, but I went ahead and did it on Sunday as well. Here they are:

 

 

Hey Look! I got new clothes to take pics in! Not really, I was just tired of those grey pants... they made my ass look terrible.  And that cheapo bra was driving me crazy!

Anyway, I posted mine on the facebook group page.  I'm pretty sure she said we were supposed to... but I'm the only one that did it. :-/ It's there... No take backs now!  Anyway, we're supposed to cut out wheat and dairy for the first two weeks.  So far, so good I think. I'll know more in two weeks! I don't feel any different as of yet, but I tried not to consume wheat anyway just because its usually in bread and so high in calories/carbs.  And the only dairy I really eat was shredded cheese on my eggs and salads... I do kinda miss that.

So... after two days of being in the group, this was my weight for weigh in Wednesday... I'm not sure if it's actually due to the group or he lack of wheat/dairy or just a better day for me.

And of course, since it's a weigh in, I've linked up with Heather and Ashlee

And Nina here...

(Sorry it's a day late guys!)

Back to the 30 day challenge group, Another assignment we had was to fill this out.  

This page was so emotional for me, given the circumstances I've been in the past couple of weeks.  After dropping my son off at the airport on Sunday, this hit home so much more than on just a weight loss level. Each one of these answers both pertain to me losing weight, as well as things I need to work on for myself emotionally. Ugh. Talk about a tough day.  And I'm super glad that it wasn't Monday's homework.  Cause I was a wreck that day.  I didn't make it to work, I laid in bed a cried.  I'm at work today, I'm trying my damdest to make sure each assignment is done and that I put on a (semi) happy face.

Two of the ladies that most inspired me to jump in to Adie's group challenge are hosting a linkup today for healthier foods.   Alicia at Brew Mama

 and Candra at Camo & Lipstick

.Since so many of us are on diets of "clean eating", "gluten free", "low carb" etc, I think this linkup will be SO beneficial to so many.  Even if not all of the recipes appeal to you, ONE of them will.  I'm so excited for this and have already been scouring the recipes for myself! Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe to add this week, but you can have a gander over here...

Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully I can whip out another post tomorrow. Thanks for the understanding on the late posts, and hopefully, you'll stick around. Happy Thursday folks! 

Weigh in Wednesday

It's that time of the week again, and because it's also a new month, I've got measurements for you too.

This weeks weigh in?

Yup.  All four of those were taken within a couple minutes of each other. WTF? So, I'm going with 216.4 I suppose. Just average it out, right? It's a small loss, and small is better than nothing, right?

And here are this months measurements compared to last months.

 

that's bust, under bust, waist, tummy (at belly button), hips, thighs, biceps.

And this months photos? I can't tell a difference in, but here they are, I'll put January and March up:

I really have no idea what I'm doing, I just hope that something works... and soon! lol I think that the stair climbing I've added has done some good. I lost well over an inch in one thigh... although a little weird that its only in one. My arms have gotten bigger, even though I'm not doing anything to do that to them... so that's a little confusing. My hips dropped an inch... so much that I re-measured three times, just to be sure. Bu apparently my boobs got bigger? Ugh, I need those puppies to get just a tad smaller. Please.  And thank you.  Amen.

In Monday's post, I mentioned breaking down my gaols into monthly smaller goals. I need to lose about 8 pounds this month to get back on track for my 30 by 30 campaign. And in order to reach my 18# goal by the time we leave for Vegas.  Momma needs money to spend at Tiffany's. I also need to figure out how to get rid of that Shar Pei on my back... blech... 

I also set a goal to workout 30 mins a day, for at least 4 days a week. I've started back on my yoga videos (again, I know) and also am doing a couple of IG challenges. These are my photos from #MarchYogaWithJoJo up until today... 

Anywho- Congrats to one of my favorite bloggers and IGer's Valarie at Fab Chick Gets Fit... She hit 10K followers on IG overnight! WHOOT! Check her out and give her a follow!

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone that posted kind words on last weeks post.  I'll be able to elaborate soon, but each thought was felt and appreciated. THANK YOU!

Since it's Wednesday, it's linkup day... Heather and Ashlee here...

And hopefully Nina this afternoon.
Have a great week y'all and make it count... It's almost tank top season!

Starting Before

So I told ya about the Jillian January contest I'm doing on IG... well, part of it is to take before pics, and measurements.  And while I took the before pics yesterday (and forgot to post them) I took measurements too, and forgot them at home.  I'll update this post this evening with my measurements... I'd like to compare to the ones I posted a month or so ago anyway... even though I hadn't done anything to change anything... I've probably gained inches now that I think about it... EEEK! HERE is a link to my before pics and measurements that I posted on 11/13
So, here I am. In all my glory. Once again.  Front, sides and back... Same exact type of clothing as the last photos, just different colors.

BTW... Why does my back look like a Shar Pei? WTF? What do I need to do to get rid of that stuff? That's just nasty.

Wish me luck with this whole Jillian thig... I'm not liking her after last night!

All of me...

Michael Buble is singing to me in my head as I make this post... Its a tough one to make.
Below, you'll find me.  All of me. I'm determined to make these pictures into "before" pictures of me that I (or any one that might actually read this) can refer back to and actually see the progress that I have made for myself. This is not who I want to be, or who I am going to stay. Here it is folks...

I'm shuddering as I let those look at me on the screen.  This is what I see daily, what I fight with in clothes, and what I want to fix. These are my motivation for making myself healthier and better.

I also took measurements as I said I would, They are as follows:
                                   Left            Right
Biceps                       14 1/4"        14"
Forearm                    10 1/2"        10 1/4"
Bust/Chest                       46 3/4"
Under Bust                       39"
Waist (smallest)               40"
Waist (bellybutton)         49"
Hips                                    52 1/4"
Thigh                       30 1/4"      30"

So there it is folks.  Me.  In pictures and numbers.  I posted my weight for today earlier.  Every Wednesday I'm going to weigh in. Once a month I'll take progress pics and measurements. From time to time I'll post Yoga pictures as I'm ready to start doing it again. I'm hoping that MissMunchy will get back with the challenge poses as well. It seemed to keep me motivated. And please, if you're reading this and I don't post, or don't do my weekly weigh in... PLEASE nudge me.  To know that I'm accountable to more than just myself seems to help too. Until then... Here goes nothing!

I do yoga...

Daily.

Twice.

And I LOVE it.

Hello, my name is Niki and I'm a yoga-holic.

I never thought I'd love working out as much as I have the past 3 and a half weeks. Yeah, its just yoga. But its YOGA! It may not look like much more than stretching, but IT IS so much more than that. Its breathing, it toning, it concentrating and centering. I'm more centered than I've ever been, my back pain is the least amount I've had in years (finally this week) and like I said in my previous post, I've lost 5 inches. AND!! Today, I got my first in person comment about how I look as though I've slimmed up. From my boss. Who is male. Holy crap y'all! I'm stoked!

I started with a video that my sister got for free with her yoga mat that she just HAD to have to tan on in the back yard, of course. She brought it, I did it for a week, I decided I liked it, then I fizzled out.

Then, my honey and I decided to have a contest on who could lose the most weight while he's away for his new job training. I took off running, as did he. He lost 3# his first week, I gained 2#. WTF? I took a weekend off from my calorie counting, but kept with the yoga. Then back on track on Monday with calories again. I lost a couple pounds, but not like I was hoping. But last week, after being discouraged about the numbers on the scale, I decided to check my numbers on the tape. 5" last week. Its wonderful.

Yoga is my friend. And I love it.

Five

Last week, I had posted on Facebook and Instagram about my 5" loss since starting Yoga full time at the beginning of this month.  I'm so stoked! While my hips aren't decreasing ( :-(  ) everything else is! My waist has shrunk tremendously (to me anyway) and every little bit counts for my arms, thighs and bust.

5. That's the number of the day. Why you ask? Cause that's the number of inches I've lost since starting my bet with my honey on the first of this month! I've started back on my Zeal Weight Loss Program, 20 minutes of yoga a day, and daily yoga challenge poses with @missmunchy1, and I've lost 5 inches!! I may not have lost that many pounds but I feel better and look better. And besides, your weight is just a number. It doesn't define you.

I've started being accountable for my workouts... and my food in a way.  My friend Kim and I check in each weekday morning to tell each other what we did that morning. (Some mornings are better than others!) If one of us isn't up and at em for the 5am club, then we pay the other a dollar.  It could get expensive, but it's motivation.

I use the handy app LoseIt! on my phone.  I've used it for a year or so, although, more dedicated at this time. It's free, has a great database already, is easy to use to add foods/recipes to, and it has a handy barcode scanner so that you can just input anything thats not already in there.  I LOVE THIS APP.  Even though I may not use it daily, Using it for a period of time really makes you think about what you're putting into your body and just how much of every thing that you're consuming.  It makes me think twice about everything I eat.  Is it worth it?