1. I WILL continue my TaeKwonDo & Kisado classes. They’re fun, and I can kick ass if I need to.

2. I WILL continue to opt for natural foods rather than processed foods. Who needs extra junk in the trunk anyway?

3. I WILL NOT eat fast food, no matter how easy, quick, or yummy a Sonic Slushie sounds… especially during Happy Hour..

4. I WILL use the treadmill I made my hubby buy me. Adding it to my fitness routine will *Help* me, not hurt me.

5. I WILL work my butt off… literally..

6. I WILL also work off other parts of my body, my tummy, my thighs, my love handles… because I need to.

7. I WIL NOT give in to late night snacking. A glass of water is my new best friend.

8. I WILL drink at least the recommended daily suggestion of water… more if I’m near a bathroom

9. I WILL train for, and run a 5K sometime in 2011. After all… I should be able to do it.. right???

10. I WILL NOT EVER buy clothing that is too large, or baggy, just for the sole purpose of “hiding my rolls”….  They make me look fatter…

11. I WILL buy clothing that fits well, is the proper size, and makes ME look awesome.

These things I swear to myself for 2011… If you agree.. Let me hear a “Hell Yeah!”

Got other vows for yourself… I’d love to hear them too!

UPDATE: So I went shopping today, and I bought clothing… in regular sizes… Yes, I shopped at my local Old Navy, and bought jeans… I didn’t have to buy online (since that’s where their plus sizes are). WOOT! These vows are so going to stick

ME!!!!

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve talked about my weight loss, but I think this deserves a little bit of bragging rights… So check this out…

I got up yesterday morning and got ready.. just like any other morning… but as I was getting ready, I caught a glimpse of my measuring tape in my vanity. I figured, what the heck… so I measured my waist… Can you believe it said 39″??? That’s a total loss of 6 inches since April. Yes, sadly, I started at 45″. SIX INCHES PEOPLE!!!!

I’m loving how I feel now. I have so much more energy, and aside from the annoying heel pain (yes i know the name of it, but I’m not even gonna try to spell it yet) crap, I’m feeling amazing. My clothes are so loose on me, and I love it. I have a pair of jeans from last year, that not only is the waist too big, but the legs are baggy! My jeans don’t cling to my thighs anymore. You’d have thought I bought skinny jeans last year… and I wasn’t skinny. Seriously. I’m seeing a lot less of me, and that makes me happy.

The holidays are here though, and that means a lot of delicious food, baking goodies, etc… I know that the name of the game is going to be “Moderation”… Lots of will power, and exercise. I am going to make sure that I don’t miss a workout. I may even do some extras. You know, I still have that damn treadmill that I haven’t really used a whole lot… Shhhh don’t bring it up with hubby… LOL..

Ok, I have to get the girls to school, but WOOT!!! Pictures to come later.. when I get a chance!

Check this out! I’m in the Jacksonville Daily News!!!! So are a few other Kisado students and Mr Ashton!

A couple of Fridays ago, someone came into Tiger Rock TaeKwonDo Academy, just completely out of the blue. She wanted to do a business feature of the Academy and the Kisado program! It was completely unexpected, and so much fun!

Check out the article here!

Kisado is growing! If you are looking for an awesome workout… and you’re here in Jacksonville, you really NEED to check out the Kisado program! I’m telling you.. IT WORKS!

I was talking to my mom tonight, and she asked me about my size, weight, exercise, etc. We talked about how I was an emotional eater. Whenever I got on a scale, saw a photo of myself, went clothes shopping, or just looked in the mirror, I’d get upset/depressed… and I’d immediately try to console myself with sweets. Don’t tell me you don’t sometimes reach for that carton of ice cream or chocolate when you get really upset over something… She asked me why… Well.. I have no idea. Food was comfort, yet foot made me unhealthy… read: fat… Yes.. I was overweight… according to my Wii… I was obese.. I admit it… I was not very healthy…

In April, I started TaeKwonDo… In September, I started Kisado… In October… I finally actually noticed a difference.

It’s always hard to notice a difference in yourself. You see yourself every day.. and when I got it in my head that I was big… well.. I always feel that way.

Monday, after Kisado, my instructor and I were talking about my weight loss. I showed him a photo of me that was taken by the local newspaper not long after I moved to NC. I also showed him a photo that I took that morning just after I took the girls to school. I actually put a side by side of me on my 30th birthday, and me that morning. Wow.

I wasn’t going to use this photo but figured.. eff it… It’s me.. without makeup… just before I left for Kisado.. I was about to get sweaty…

Can you see it??? Can you see the difference? My cheeks are skinnier, and my double (almost 3x) chin is almost gone!

HOLY CRAP! I’m finally losing size! Notice I didn’t say I’m losing weight… Another thing that I think really makes me proud is that I’m doing this on my own. I don’t have a personal trainer, I haven’t used any special diets, no nutrisystem, weight watchers, or whatever else is out there. I don’t take weight loss pills… This is 100% all me baby… We ditched the bad junk food, and opted for healthier alternatives like whole grains, fruit & veggies, and fish. We made a change to our lifestyle… incorporating exercise into our routine is a huge part of that lifestyle change.

You see that Kisado ad on the right over there… Yeah.. that’ll be me in another year.. HA! LOL! what? I’m serious.. ok, maybe not quite like that but… I wanna be close…

Mr. Ashton also asked me how much I weigh now.. Hell, I have no idea. I haven’t touched a scale in so long. I refuse. Why? I’m scared to. Yeah.. it’s a dumb psychological thing with me… but every time I’ve ever stepped on a scale, I got depressed. Sure.. I can tell I’m losing weight.. but I don’t know if I’m ready just yet. I’m afraid I might get disappointed that the numbers won’t reflect how I want them to.  I know muscle weighs more than fat. I know that I’m seriously building muscle on my body right now, and that is going to help my body burn fat faster. I get it! I just don’t know if I want to see the numbers just yet. Right now, seeing my clothes get bigger and me get smaller works for me.

I know I need to know how much I weigh… I may or may not go out and finally buy a scale. I have my annual doctor appointment in November… and I may just wait until then… Not sure yet.

Until then… I will keep up my TaeKwonDo.. I will keep up my Kisado, and I will keep eating healthy foods. I feel so much better, and I love the changes that are happening within me. I’m looking forward to seeing where I am just a few months from now. I can just picture myself in a year, fitting in my old Lucky Brand Jeans that I loved so darn much… before I stopped taking care of myself. So.. I leave you with a photo I took of myself with a pair of my size 20 capri pants on that used to fit me…. snugly…

WOOT!

So today was it! I wrote last week about signing on to do TaeKwonDo again, after a 14 year hiatus. I had planned on starting class last week, was all ready, drove up there and found our when I got there that it was a testing night! Sad as I was to not have class, I was not discouraged. I decided to go get some exercise running through the Old Navy across the parking lot. heee heee…

Well, today was the first day of classes following the testing cycle, and I was ready… or at least I thought I was.. lol.

Putting it nicely.. I got my ass kicked. Figuratively, of course. We did contact drills, kicks, punches, spin kicks… I was feeling it. I had to stop to catch my breath a few times. ok more than a few times…. but it was fun. It reminded me of all the fun I had years ago. It also made me realize how much I missed it.

Yeah, I have a lot if catching up to do… and I’m going to love working out again!

As much as I love blogging about my workouts on my main blog, I’m thinking it’s time to move them over to my personal blog for now. I am going to do a lot more blogging, and since I’m not actually “reviewing” anything but my own fat ass, I would love to make as many comments in whatever language I want… and I can only do that here. Should I happen to come upon any cool fitness products to actually review, I’ll post them on Mommy Brain Reports.. but until then… Let’s commence the fitness stuff.

So, last week was a hard week for me. I had so many things hit me over the past few weeks, that I think I kinda had a melt down on Thursday evening. I won’t go into detail about the previous things, because, well, they have to do with some people that I’ve worked with, and I can’t divulge that information publicly.. Just say that I found out some shit that didn’t sit well with me… It’s over now… The culmination of my disappointment came when I found out that I didn’t get chosen as one of the #mamavation moms. Yes, I’ll admit it… I don’t take defeat very well sometimes.. but only when it comes to things I really truly feel that I need. So, I lost. Do I sound like a whiney pain in the ass? lol. Well, the winners are two very amazing and deserving people, and I know they’ll do so well over the next 7 weeks. As Leah said… Their asses are hers.. LOL. She’ll whip them into shape…

So anyway, as I was wallowing in my own self pity… I set myself to cleaning house. I actually got so much done that I had neglected over the last few weeks while lobbying for votes.. I was pretty proud of myself. I pretty much stayed off of Twitter, and the interwebs in general. Hubby thought I was sick. No, I wasn’t.. Just finally focusing on something else besides my hypnotizing 24″ Apple iMac. *teehee* Anywho… I finally jump on my Tweetdeck, and see a tweet @’ing me… It was from a fellow blogger, and she actually wrote about me in her post. She mentioned how she had heard me and @DaddyClaxton on the Wii Mommies Blog Talk Radio Show, talking about our hike up Runyon Canyon, and how we really pushed each other to get up that hill. It was then that I realized that I wasn’t the only one in this situation.. meaning needing to lose weight… and that people are actually watching me, following me, and looking up to me. I’ve never felt like…. so… not important… but I’m having a hard time thinking up a more fitting word.. I snapped out of my funk and get my ass in gear.

I remembered a package of office products I had received from a party at BlogHer. Office Max I think gave them out. It had file folders and other random office-y things. It happened to have a journal in it. I immediately made it my fitness journal. Sure, I have this blog, or my iPhone, but you know, there’s something about having a paper and pen that makes it more interesting to me. Like I have to write in it.. No paper can be left blank! LOL. Plus, it’s something I can carry with me, in my purse… Yes, my purse is big. I decided to write down anything that I ate or drank, and every bit of exercise I did. Guess what? It worked. I did excellent… and it made me actually think about how much I was going to eat.

I was on a conference call with Pete Cohen on Sunday night. He’s giving us Mamavation moms 30 days of free fitness consulting… and I’m loving it. Anyway, one of our goals was to think more about what we want vs. what we need. Writing down everything I ate and drank really kept me thinking more about what I needed. Sure, I still had a couple of gummy bears, because I wanted them… but I only had a couple to kick that sweet tooth rather than the whole damn bag. See!?!?! Progress. (yeah)

So anyway… about the changing channels thing. We have Time Warner Cable… I hate them.. really I do.. but I have no choice but have them for cable and my internet. Well, I may have found my little light as to why I should keep them. On Demand. Yes.. I said it.. On Demand.. You know.. that little thing you can do with your digital cable box that lets you sit and watch just about any show you missed over the last few weeks? Well, I found a channel that I can’t just sit and watch. Exercise On Demand… It has so many various workouts, categorized under the type of what body part it would be best for working out. There’s even the strip tease aerobics.. Yes, I tried it, and I liked it.. LOL Damn thing had my legs burning by the time I finished my 24 minute workout. Sure it all culminates to a 60 second dance.. but you do it so many times you feel those muscles burning. There was also a walking show where I walked a mile in only 15 minutes. Granted, I’m walking in my own living room, but add in some hand weights and a few extra movements with the steps and DAMN! I was feeling it. All in all, I did about an hour of these little workouts… I felt good at the end. These workouts were so short, and easy to spread out over the day that I totally loved them… and for anyone who’s wondering, I did wait until my girls were upstairs before I even attempted those strip tease aerobics classes…. I don’t need them even seeing those… not that it was really stripping, but not that I’d really be taking my clothes off during a workout… unless it was Summer time and it was really really hot… Oh nevermind…