Back to the grindage.

Yes, I made a reference to Pauly Shore slang in the title of this blog. What can I say?

I'm a fan of the Weasel.
Anywho, obviously in a good mood on this Monday morning, for a few reasons:

• I actually didn't ditch my morning workout today. Usually I'm pretty diligent about morning workouts, but the past couple of weeks, I've been setting my alarm for 5 am with the intention of working up a sweat, but not always following through, due to occasional bouts of laziness and/or muscle soreness (mostly the former).
  
  Well, today, I stuck to my guns since I had gotten a decent amount of sleep and didn't feel particularly sore. Granted, I laid in bed for about 20 minutes after the alarm went off, but I finally crawled out, put on my workout gear and made some appointments with Jackie Warner and the treadmill. Did Jackie's upper body workout to warm up and then took on a 2 mile run. Felt so much better. Not a big whoop I know, but it just felt like a real accomplishment, given my random lack of dedication lately.

• For the first time in ages, I meditated after my workout. Sometimes I hesitate to meditate (ignore the rhyme) so early in the morning because I'm afraid it'll make me just want to go back to sleep, but I felt quite refreshed afterward. It was a great way to cool down after my run and generate some positive vibes, which are very much welcomed on Mondays. Need to make more of an effort to work that in every day, even if it's just for a few minutes.

• I read a great post from Dietgirl called "Intuitive Eating- What and Why." Whether or not you're really interested in intuitive eating, I'd still recommend giving it a read; pretty much every thing she talks about is identical to my experience. We're all so different, yet very much the same when it comes to figuring out this whole weight-loss/health schtuff. It's not so black and white after all.
  
  While I feel it's a bit premature to say that I'm fully recovered from disordered eating and poor self-esteem, I can say that I've shown a great deal of progress the past couple of months. I've finally confronted a lot of issues that led me to eat the way I did and look at myself in such a poor light for so many years. It feels good to have those burdens lifted and to truly understand what it means when I say, "I'm damn awesome." Frees up a lot of time to y'know, live.
  

The joy of figuring out things for yourself.

It's been pretty routine lately; eat well/exercise regularly Monday through Friday. Sometime between Friday night and Saturday night, my eating and drinking habits more or less go to crap. Monday morning finds me regretful, but also ready to start life anew. I feel focused, motivated and ready to dismiss my poor weekend eating habits for good! ... That is... Until the following weekend. The cycle repeats itself. And while I feel proud of myself every Monday morning for not giving up for good, I can't help but feel like a joke for letting the setbacks continue.

Instead of letting myself go into autopilot like I usually do every week, I've been productive this morning in taking the time to capture the details of my bouts of overeating in a separate journal. I've listed just about every possible reason why I let my healthy-minded guard down on the days of the week that I do.

Such thoughts have taken place in between my usual blog and twitter reading. I don't remember how I came upon it exactly, but I found a great site called Maria's Last Diet, while my self-analysis was taking place.

I've found myself reading post after post because there seems to be a regular, common theme: weight maintenance. There really is, seemingly, a bazillion blogs or articles that break down the ins and outs of losing weight. I'm easily a part of that statistic, if you read back far enough. But for me, finding a similar amount of reliable, practical weight maintenance resources hasn't been as easy. Maria's Last Diet is less about "eat this, do that" and more focused on the psychological side of losing weight and keeping it off. I have a tendency to ignore a lot of important psychological/emotional cues and doing so sets me up to make poor choices, even if my intentions of being healthy are still in place.

I still have more to read and even more questions to ask myself, but so far, I've noticed a few things:

1) While spending over 2 years losing 90 pounds, I devoted little-to-no time thinking about how to keep the weight off. Even after I hit my "goal" weight, my immediate thought was to keep losing. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I didn't even try maintaining for a single week to see if it could even be done. I  turned into a machine.

2) The majority of magazines, blogs, articles and celebrity trainers I relied on as my primary resources during my weight-loss journey rarely discussed post-goal weight maintenance strategies. If they did, I took the information with a grain of salt because somehow, I thought I would magically have it all figured out by the time I lost all of the extra weight. Flawless logic, eh?

3) Most tips on weight maintenance include continuing to track calories and/or points as you did while losing the weight. Makes sense, I suppose. But... Seriously? Do "they" really expect me to keep thousands of food logs until I'm on my death bed? Unfortunately, while losing weight, I became dangerously obsessed with numbers in just about every possible way; daily weigh-ins to record X point X pounds, Weight Watcher points eaten, activity points earned, calories burned, calories eaten, protein, fiber, fat, saturated fat, sodium, sugar, cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, ounces, grams, milligrams, miles, minutes, beats per minute, reps, inches, body fat percentage, dress sizes, resting metabolic rate... Buh. Believe it or not, ALL of those things were being captured in my head, throughout the day, just about every damn day.

Not to suggest that such knowledge is useless, but I clearly let it control my life and dictate my happiness for about two years. In all honesty, I've tried about 3 or 4 times in the past month to track my food in some capacity, be it Points, calories or journaling and each time, I've gotten frustrated or anxious once the numbers came back.

4) Each time I give up on tracking my food (usually after a few days), I tell myself it's because I need to learn to eat well and manage my weight naturally, without being a slave to points, calories, charts and spreadsheets. TRUE! Absolutely and completely true. BUT... I also need to be responsible for my food and exercise choices. Lately, I just haven't felt responsible or fully in charge a good chunk of the time.

5) Although some of the posts on this blog may imply otherwise, a lot of what I've been doing lately (re: food and exercise) has been out of fear. Fear of having to buy bigger pants. Fear of not fitting into smaller pants. Fear of gaining. Fear of being judged by others for slipping back into my old ways and "letting myself go." Fear of never becoming a "normal" eater. While I try to eat and exercise with better intentions (just being healthy and fit, regardless of weight or appearance), the fear runs deep and serves as my main source of motivation most of the time. Obviously, doing things out of fear is a horrible way to go. What kind of life am I living if such basic daily activities like eating and exercising are done out of fear?! It's absurd.

Anyway, it's time to face some facts:

• I've gained back some of the weight I've lost. (Not specifying the amount, as I don't currently feel it's appropriate or necessary.)
• It's not the end of the world.
• I can find a happy balance.
• Self-sabotage does absolutely nothing for me.
• I, once again, need to pace myself and not rush into things or expect change in a week.
• As of now, I still don't appreciate myself as much as I should.
• Life is waiting.
• Honey-nut peanut butter, ice cream, chocolate and chips aren't going to suddenly disappear from the world any time soon (though, some days I wish they would, haha).
• The few pounds I've gained back don't cancel out my overall success in losing a shit-ton of weight. How quickly I forget that I was once clinically obese, unable to jog for more than 10 seconds or do more than 2 sit ups.
• If I'm free to still watch and enjoy Spongebob, I'm also free to watch what I eat and enjoy being healthy.
• I can't live in extremes. Not for long, anyway.
• I need to stop rebelling against myself.
• I need to stop being so strict with myself.
• I need to make a new commitment to weight maintenance. And I need to think it over a lot more than when I committed myself to weight-loss. Things need to be sane and sustainable this time around. No more diving in head-first. No more autopilot. No more running around in the dark.

To help get me started in drafting the ins and outs of my new commitment, I'm using this post from Maria's Last Diet as a guide:

"Does keeping the weight off once you've lost it require more of a commitment from you? It does.

Despite the fact that you lost the weight and you were certainly committed to doing that, you now have another commitment to make.

Keeping the weight off is no easy matter, as the research shows. Most people who lose weight don’t keep it off. They may keep it off for a year or for a few months or for a few weeks. But they gain it back, and it is not unusual to gain back more than you’ve lost.

So if want to keep the weight off, you have to make yet another commitment. Here are some ways to make sure your commitment is solid.

Be specific—tell how, where, and what

Set up a consequence for not following through

Make sure to tell someone what you are doing

Take your past history of commitment into consideration

Anticipate commitment spoilers

Don’t force your commitment; give yourself a choice

Set up a self-monitoring plan

Support your commitment by attributing success to yourself

You’ve come this far. You already have a lot of commitment under your belt. Commit again and be a step closer to permanent weight loss."

I'm also reviewing some highlighted notes from Eat What You Love to remind me that it's possible to have a sane relationship with food. Good resources aside though, I need to be responsible and get serious. Seriously happy. Seriously healthy.

Toned for Tuesday.

This week, I've finally had a chance to try out a new DVD:




Exhale: Core Fusion Lean & Toned.

I had this on my Amazon Wish List for a while after hearing some buzz about it through the blog world, but thanks to Missy at Missy Maintains, I had the luck of winning a copy through her contest. (Thanks again!)

The workout itself is based on a series of Core Fusion classes offered at Exhale spas. The DVD has 5 workouts (all under 10 minutes) and closes with a cool down stretch (about 7 minutes). I must admit, I kinda groaned at the thought of doing all 5 segments, but to my surprise, the entire thing went be really fast! To me, it felt more like 30 minutes. You'll need some hand weights, a mat, a chair and a nearby wall for support.

The warm-up is included with the arms segment and is mostly a mix of knee-ups that incorporate your arms. Then, you quickly move into various types of push-ups and arm exercises using hand weights (tricep kickbacks, shoulder presses, bicep curls, etc.)

There's also segments that focus the lower body as well, including thighs and glutes. Lots of squats and leg lifts (included some pulsing lifts that are killer!).

Right now, my least favorite segment is the Flat/Round Back Tone & Stretch. You're basically leaning up against a wall and doing all sorts of movements with your legs. It's hard to describe, so my apologies, but it's just a difficult circuit to follow (for me, anyway). That said, the moves really require a lot back and ab strength, so I can tell I'll reap the benefits if I just keep trying.

I also enjoyed the Pretzel Core Toner segment, where the focus is on abs. Here, you rely on your abs (both front and obliques) to hold certain positions in place, followed by some pulsing movements. Definitely a good challenge, but it didn't necessarily burn my abs out completely, which I appreciated.

My biggest complaint overall with this DVD (and really, it's not even that big) is how many of the moves require you to rely on a wall for support. Sorry, but I don't like rubbin' my [somewhat sweaty] body all over my white walls. And I don't have a big stand-alone wall in the middle of my living room, so it can be kind of a hassle to follow along visually while simultaneously getting your form in place. I don't know. It just seemed awkward at times. During the gluteal segment, I did try using the floor as an alternative during some of the moves, but couldn't make it work for all of them. Oh well.

This workout definitely seems to combine yoga and pilates moves with lots of stretching. In fact, I think the stretching is probably the most appealing part of this workout. Because you move through the segments so quickly, it's not nearly as intense as other strength/yoga workouts, but the extra stretching in between helped me feel a bit more flexible and stronger.

The instructors do a fantastic job of explaining the moves, which I found impressive since each segment goes by so fast. In fact, that was probably one of the (if not THE) first workout DVDs I've tried where I wasn't lost on how to perform any of the moves on the first try.

All in all, I'm quite happy to have this unique workout in my collection. While I don't think I'll rely on it for my usual strength training (it's simply not intense enough), I'll definitely work it into my weekly routine to improve my core strength and flexibility. I'll also rely on it as a great total body stretch routine, especially in between more intense workouts. I always tend to rush over my cool down stretches (something I'm always working on), so the segments in this DVD will ensure that my muscles and joints get the special treatment they deserve.

Salad Squared.

Tonight, Doug and I whipped up some special salads that made for a great, quick summer dinner.

I caught a recipe for Potato Salad with Green & White Beans on Serious Eats. The recipe, of course, was by Kristen from Cheap Healthy Good, whose site I raved about earlier today. It was a great spin on the same ol' potato salad:



Changes I made: Weighed out enough potatoes for 4 servings, not six; used 2 tbsp olive oil instead of 1/3 cup; 2 tsp of dried basil in place of fresh; used a can of green beans instead of messing with fresh ones (personally, I sometimes like the texture/flavor of canned green beans and thought they would go well with this dish anyway).

While I was working on that, Doug was putting together a shrimp salad, to be served on a baguette with guacamole:



He mixed:

• 2 servings chopped cooked shrimp
• 2 tbsp light mayo
• diced cucumber
• chopped red onion
• chopped celery
• little bit of Dijon mustard
• salt
• pepper

Doug mentioned how he wished he mixed a little Tabasco sauce with the shrimp salad before serving it up. I still poured a few drops on after the sandwich was made anyway and it was a really nice touch!

Loved the potato salad and looking forward to leftovers tomorrow. I'm thinkin' of adding some diced tomatoes and feta to it for a good lunch. It's pretty versatile and lends itself to all types of other mix-ins.

Great dinner! Back to our regularly scheduled Monday night TV programming. This gal needs to relax!

Mixed bag Monday.

Oh, Mondays. You always throw me for a loop, each and every week.

Weekend Re-cap:

Saturday:

Pretty good, all in all. Finally went back to 24Cycle (spin) class after a loooong absence and to my surprise, we got new bikes! I kinda miss the wider seats on the old ones (though really, I think I need a Tempurpedic pillow to sit on in that class to make me 100% satisfied), but the new ones have better/comfier handles and they're much easier to adjust with the better quality knobs and such. Not bad! That said, I've rekindled my love affair with spinning. Not sure if I'll try and get in to Tuesday's class, but I think I'll try and shoot for Thursday. Not planning on going to this Saturday's session, due to the debut of BodyPump! Still so excited for that class.

Sunday:

Could've used a do-over on this day. Emotional nonsense, lots of crying, lots of poor eating and drinking. Things did get resolved before the day was over though, so I'm thankful for that. Went to bed stuffed with a bit too much Domino's Pizza and tried to cope with the heat, but overall, felt better. That was, until...

Monday:

Woke up around 1 am with chest pains. Asked Doug to pass me a couple of Tums. Still in a lot of pain. Proceeded to drink some Alka-Seltzer. Nope. Kinda felt worse. Wanted puke, felt on the verge of passing out every time I stood or sat up, broke out in a sweat, mid-chest/top of stomach still incredibly cramped and on fire. It soon became clear that what was happening to me was the return of an ol' friend: an ulcer attack.

A few years ago, I started getting ulcers (the less serious, but still crazy-annoying peptic kind, not the bleeding kind). I don't get them often, but they've been popping up about every year or so. And the symptoms of a flare-up have become painfully familiar, literally.

Tried pinpointing the cause with my doctor in the past, but no luck. The attacks themselves do appear after not-so-great eating and drinking though, so it's sort of been a blessing in disguise. I have been drinking alcohol pretty regularly for the past few weeks, so now I HAVE to give it up for a while, as booze is a big no-no when trying to heal an ulcer. Naturally, I'll be making better food choices than I have been lately as well. All I need to do is replay the attack I had this morning in my head and it's pretty much instant motivation to eat better. I'm sure childbirth and passing kidney stones rate pretty high on the List of Pain, but I think ulcer attacks aren't far behind. It gets so bad that my dignity goes out the window for 30-60 minutes and I'm totally cool with dying by the toilet in my pajamas.

So, I'll be replacing booze with cayenne water (sounds strange, but kills ulcer pain and actually helps heal it, in my experience) and passing up sugar and fat in favor of Zantac. Makes me feel like a cross between a homeopathic wizard and one of those old dudes from the acid reflux medication commercials, ha.

I woke up long before my alarm went off this morning and even though I wasn't planning a workout after the attack, I figured I could at least handle some time on my recumbent bike. Pulled it up to the TV in the living room and watched Adult Swim for an hour while I rode at a moderate pace. Covered 13 miles. Because my chest area is sensitive at the moment, I'm avoiding running and other high-impact exercises over the next few days. I'll get by just fine with some other alternatives I have planned.

Things that have cheered me up:

-After sharing my emotional stress with my mom, she of course had supportive words to share and immediately planned a Girl's Night/Sushi Date for us and my sister, tomorrow night. Love, love that woman. She's driven me crazy plenty of times in the past (and still does, heh), but she's always there when I need her the most.

-Discovering a new favorite blog this morning: Cheap Healthy Good. This pretty much covers all of my favorite types of blogs in one. I follow individual health, food and frugal-living blogs, so naturally, CHG is my new BFF. I've already snagged a few recipes I'm eager to try, including this Savory Oats dish. I've heard of others trying savory oatmeal in the past, but was kinda hesitant to give it a shot myself. This recipe looks like it'll guide me in the right direction!

Anywho, hope everyone's week is off to a good start (or at least without ulcer attacks)! I hope to have a new DVD review posted this week. Also on the horizon, another book review and a new weight-loss plan review. Kinda busy these days!

Gone official, gone foodin'.

Trying to fit multiple things into the blog today, so hang in there kids. My feedback on French Women Don't Get Fat is indeed around the corner (as in, hoping to post it in before the end of the day because I finished the book yesterday and cannot wait to blab!), but since I had some other bits to share, I thought breaking everything into two posts would be a better fit. This week is going by a little too fast for me, which has been good in some ways (see: typical work week), but a bit unforgiving in others (see: blogging stuffs).

First: I haz a new domain name!

http://stretchjeanincident.com

I suppose it wasn't a necessity, but the original URL (http://thestretchjeanincident.blogspot.com) was hideously long and buying a shorter version was cheap, even by my standards, so there ya go. Update your feeds and bookmarks if you'd like, but if you don't want to bother, the old URL will still remain active.

I don't foresee any major changes resulting from the new URL, but it has motivated me to plan a possible blog face lift and more pages, particularly some dedicated to recipes, DVDs and maybe fitness. Yes, I realize all of those topics are incredibly unorganized currently and yes, I promise to fix it. Slowly, but surely.

Second: New Favorite Food Links.

I'm a bit reluctant to label myself a "foodie," because I don't feel I meet the requirements (or can even define them) and the idea of such a label is relative, arbitrary and at times, a bit silly. However, I'm finally moving closer to a place where I just love and appreciate good food (rather than fear or struggle with it) and I love that there are some decent blogs running wild with that same appreciation. That said, there are a bajillion food blogs these days, but I've found a few that I just really dig and wanted to shamelessly promote:

Serious Eats. They publish regular restaurant/product reviews, recipes and special food features (tips on preparing testicles, anyone?). I've found it to be a great resource, not just for my palate, but for my brain as well. It's a site that not only makes me want to continue trying new things (without necessarily making me a crazy hungry maniac every time I read it), but also fascinates me, from a general education standpoint. I'm a nerd for new knowledge these days and what better subject to hold my attention than food? Eeeeexcellent.

The Kitchn. This site features a mix of kitchen designs (geared toward small apartments primarily, but the ideas could easily be adapted on larger scales), recipes and general food Q & A. It's a great resource for some cooking/meal planning basics and of course, great kitchen design ideas, should you be in the market.

Doug is all about design (he friggin' BUILT our platform bed and made his own desk with floating shelves, for example), so his ability to recognize the importance of stylish, yet incredibly functional design within all aspects of the home has indeed rubbed off on me. We don't own a home yet, but when we do, we intend to customize the shit out of it. That said, I plan on using The Kitchn as a resource, as they have some great ideas for storage, appliances, colors, textures, etc.

Food Network Humor. Just for fun, obviously. If you watch Food Network regularly and find yourself mocking the hosts, this is a good site to vent your frustrations and/or encourage your mocking. I personally love the Food Network Drinking Game. One of these weekends when I'm feeling bold (and not planning on leaving the house), I might just open a bottle and play along.

Third: Fitness Notes.

Still rocking the strength training and noticing MORE bitchin' results. I know it'll make me sound like a narcissistic bee-yotch, but I totally spent approx. 10 extra minutes (not all at once) looking at my body in the mirror, lovingly, this morning. Seeing some definition come back in certain areas and enjoying the disappearing of flab in others. But the best part? I haven't been beating myself up at the gym and I've been enjoying wine & chocolate. I know, punch me in the gut for sounding like a total douche-y informercial. But it's true. And I'll expand on that when I write about the French Women... book later.

Monday, I did Jari Loves's Slim & Lean DVD. Tuesday was 24Cycle class at the gym. Yesterday, nothing. Today, I busted out an oldie that I haven't touched in mooooonths (possibly a year? I dunno):



Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones. I must admit, even though I hadn't done this DVD in forever, I was still feeling a bit cocky and thought, "Yeah, I'll just bust through this and will probably use heavier weight the whole time." Psh. I suppose I did bust through it, but not without struggle. And I used heavier weight for maybe like, 2 moves. The rest of the time, I was rockin' the 5 lbs. weights.

Best move that I totally forgot about that made me say "Oh, Jillian, you dirty bitch!" out loud? Plank rows. Granted, they're easier for me now than before, but they still snuck up me. Hell, I can say that for any move performed in plank position. Buh.

Last time I did this DVD, I still felt like giving strength training the middle finger. But now that I don't totally hate it, it was a great workout to re-visit. I still prefer Jari Love and Jackie Warner for strength workouts, but it felt good to throw in Jillian's routine, for old time's (and variety's) sake.

My cramps aren't totally kicking my ass today (well not now anyway), so I think I might make it to Zumba tonight, after a 2 week absence. But if not, I'm not going to beat myself up. I totally go through phases with my workouts and easily become obsessed with certain trends, eventually burning myself out (including, but not limited to: Zumba, 24 S.E.T., incline training, sprints and running). That's not to say that I no longer think Zumba is totally awesome, I'm just trying not to be so strict in my workout schedule these days and settling into the same routines. Going on a different night is always an option, as is just listening to my body and doing what feels the most welcoming at that particular moment. The only exception to this new philosophy is 24Cycle, because I have to reserve a spot and I expect to be tortured a bit. I'm starting to build a somewhat sick relationship with that class; I signed up for the Saturday class this week as well.

Fourth (and last):Hall & Oates Week.

Between gals on Twitter, Doug, our housemate James and I, Hall & Oates seem to be on regular rotation this week, so I decided to officially declare this week Hall & Oates Week, or "H.O.W.", if you will.



You have between now and Saturday to rock this shit out. Enjoy!

Shout-outs.

I've been trying to come up with a cohesive (and coherent) post today, but my thoughts on eats and body-movin' just ain't jivin' right now. I have however, felt the need to do a blogger shout-out, which will hopefully make for a better post than my ramblings on avocados, yoga and soreness.

• It's a Jogger's Life
• Sweat Every Day
• I Dream of Greenie
• Two Boos Who Eat
• Namaste Mari

Some I've been following for a few months, weeks or mere hours! Between their posts, tweets and comments, these chicks have been rockin' my world lately. The world of health/food/fitness blogs is indeed overwhelming these days, so I'm really glad to have found some women who get it and are pretty awesome/hilarious/smart/strong at the same time. I know this probably reads as a typical ass-kissing post, but I can't deny that I've been motivated and inspired by all of them. They make me want to keep moving, cooking and smiling. And that's pretty much what I've been doing all week.

Forming this type of bond with, well, to be quite frank, complete strangers scattered all over the world, not only makes me thankful that such a community exists, but also just amazed at how human social progression has formed this insanely elaborate bond with technology that makes blogging possible and incredibly beneficial. Pret-tay kick-ass, if I say so myself. Enjoy!

New favorite reads.

So, by way of a tweet from Amanda @ Two Boos Who Eat, I came across a new favorite blog, Hollaback Health. The post in particular that got me scrolling down the page more and more was "Don't Feel Guilty If... You Aren't White."

I found it to be an interesting read, followed by some personal thoughts on my own blog, my ethnic background (which resembles a good trail mix, if you will), my social class, my level of education and how it all affects (or doesn't?) my current healthy-minded food and fitness pursuits.

The post didn't necessarily change how I feel about myself or some of the other bloggers I follow, but it was a breath of fresh air to see someone else writing out some of the exact same thoughts I've had since I started following healthy-living blogs. Why yes, I rock a Joy Division T-shirt & Chucks on the weekends (at age 27, which still drives my mom insane). Yes, I kinda like love adding chia seeds to things now. I run. But hell no, I will not spend $23 on a jar of peanut butter (unless there's some sort of rad 10 second, full-on orgasm guarantee. Doubt it!).

That said though, I have looked at some of the more popular health blogs out there and will not even try to pretend that some of those posts had absolutely zero influence on my blog (or even my life, when trying new products, recipes or workouts). How could they not? And there have been times, no lie, where I've completely censored myself in a post or wrote certain paragraphs with very specific audiences in mind. It's all part of the process, I guess. As I continue to recover from binge eating and try to step with a healthy foot forward though, I do think I need to laugh more and censor less. And why not? I'm actually damn hilarious. Well, some of the time.

So where am I going with all of this? I don't friggin' know, haha. I guess my main points were to tell you to start reading some of the posts on Hollaback Health (if you aren't already) and to tell myself that it's ok to let my hair down a bit more when posting, letting things flow naturally and not be afraid to make with the jokes from time to time. Something, something "part of the journey" or something or other.

A few more things...

As if my last post wasn't long enough, I still managed to leave out a couple of things...

-RE: The Cheat Your Way Thin program... No, I did NOT pay $97 or whatever it says on the site... Because I was already on Joel's mailing list, I paid a fraction of that, thanks to some special limited-time-only sale price. And I did get just the basic program, none of the "upgrades." It all just seemed unnecessary.

That said, should you like to get on the mailing list (not just for special offer alerts on the program, but for *free* general fitness/food tips), I would suggest going to his main blog site, Body Transformation Insider first. From there, just sign up for the "Fat Loss Secrets Exposed" thing and that will add you to the list (that's the only way I've figured it out).

Otherwise, you can visit the contact section of the site for his Twitter/Facebook info.

-I discovered Emerald's Cocoa Roasted Almonds this weekend. OMG. I know they've been out for a while, but I forgot about them until our trip to Sam's Club this weekend. Perfect almond option, in my opinion. So far, I've exerted some major self-control and haven't finished off the whole tub in 2 days. Definitely one of those proceed-with-extreme-caution kind of snacks, but worth a try if you're looking for a healthier sweet treat alternative.

Phew. Ok. I think I can shut up for a few days now.

Link time and a revelation.

Ok, first, some new favorite links:

Body By Pizza: This gal is just kicking major ass. I like her sense of humor and writing style too, so it quickly became a new favorite.

Man Meets Scale: This is actually the blog of David Kirchoff, CEO of Weight Watchers. I didn't think I was going to get much from it at first, but the majority of posts I've read so far are pretty friggin' awesome.

...Which leads me to my revelation... In this post, David acknowledges post-goal behavior that I am TOTALLY guilty of, which was more or less shameless self-promotion (I know bringing this up in my blog for the world to see isn't doing me any favors, but hear me out). I found myself guilty of all four behaviors he mentioned. I'm glad he addressed the topic though, because A) I can enter the phase of shutting the fuck up; and B) It was kind of a relief (ok, a pretty damn big relief) to know that I'm not the only one who has experienced this after reaching a weight-loss goal.

I was kinda becoming aware of this me-me-me behavior already, hence killing daily updates this week. I just got sick of myself, I guess. So this particular post seemed like a rare gem that made perfect sense and spoke the truth.

Anywho, I just had to share that. It made me feel better and aided in the process of getting back to Tamara and moving away from Tamara-Who-Lost-90-Pounds. I certainly don't want to belittle my weight loss, but I definitely don't want to be defined by it either. It's like I've been in this "the world must revolve around weight-loss and fitness and healthy eating" fog for the past several months, so I'm trying to ease on the brakes and get back to a normal, balanced (but obviously healthier) life.

Link time!

Got some new links to share this week!

Tony "The Anti-Jared" Posnanski

I've actually heard of "The Anti-Jared" before, so it's possible that some of you have too. I vaguely remember seeing a quick clip of his story on a news station months ago. I came across his blog this week and can't stop going back and reading his older posts.

Just inspirational, overall. He says a lot of good things that make sense, especially to people who are just regular Joes/Janes bettering themselves through healthier eating and exercise. I must warn that he HATES the Biggest Loser though, so be prepared for some BL hatin', ha. (And I totally understand why there are a lot of health-conscious folks out there who hate the show; I guess I just take a lot of what goes on with a grain of salt. I love seeing people transform themselves, plain and simple, so that's why I keep tuning in each week.)

Escape From Obesity

I found out about this blog from The Anti-Jared and fell in love instantly. Some of the posts tend to be a bit long, but they all end on such positive notes! Lyn is honest, funny and totally understands what she needs to do each day to reach her goal. I'm having a hard time thinking of other things to say, so just read some of her posts and get inspired!

Link time!

Although I already have a permanent list of links goin' on the left side of the blog page, I thought it might be fun/helpful for some of you if I dedicated an occasional post to some new sites I've discovered, along with a short 'n' sweet description of why I'm so excited about them.

***Gym Junkies: Yes, I've already mentioned it several times over the past few days, but one more official mention won't hurt. It's just a good site that breaks down the awesome results you can get from weights and resistance training.

Vic's made some minor changes to the site over the past few days, so the 4-week Fat Loss Routine that I'm doing appears to be no longer available. HOWEVER, please visit the articles section of his site. There, everything is more organized and easier to sort through. And you can still access the Beginner's Workout Plan for free, which is very similar to the 4-week fat loss plan that I'm following.

Also note how he posted a few routines that don't require any equipment. Obviously, to get the best results, you're better off with access to weights, but you can certainly benefit from equipment-free moves that Vic suggests. Trust me, if you do enough burpees, you can (and will) get a kick-butt, heart-pumping workout done in a matter of minutes.

***Alwyn Cosgrove: I found this site through Gym Junkies. What I like about it is the time Alwyn takes to find and post pretty solid research about weight-loss/fat-burn through resistance training. Some of the posts get pretty scientific, but that's primarily why I like it so much. I'm a fan of science to begin with and reading about science in terms of weight-loss is almost my equivalent of a trashy romance novel, as enjoyed by a bored housewife.

I was particularly intrigued by the 480's Metabolic Circuit post. I wanna try it, but I have no idea how to set up that band for band jumps, or how to even go about getting one, haha. Is it sad that one of the main reasons why I want to win loads of money is so I can have my own fully stocked gym someday? Sigh.

***Lose Stubborn Fat (Josh Hillis): This is another blog I found through Gym Junkies, so all the credit goes to Vic, once again. I must warn you guys right off the bat; there are a lot of posts about "celebrity" bods and how they keep fit. No, sorry, I don't give a shit about what Lauren Conrad eats or what Hugh Jackman's Wolverine workout consists of. BUT, that all aside, there's also some really helpful info on how to keep your diet in check and how to get the most out of your workouts.

And, although some might find the wording a *tad* offensive, I actually really enjoyed his post, What Fat People Can Teach You About Getting Abs. It states, quite simply, why excuses are bullshit and won't get you any closer to your goal. Definitely something to re-read occasionally now and as I head into maintenance (whenever that happens, heh).

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You'll probably notice a common theme with these blogs; they're all pretty much maintained by personal trainers/fitness professionals. There are loads of others out there in the same vein, so start exploring! On the pro side, these blogs are loaded with LOTS of helpful and more importantly CONSISTENT information on how to approach fitness and diet. I've been learning something new each day since last week.

On the con side, most of them are always trying to push their own "complete body transformation program," so be prepared for sales pitches in between good posts. Some of them might be really good programs too, but due to the sheer abundance of personal trainers online, I'll be skeptical and pass for now, thanks.

And yes, as you can tell, I'm all about learning about resistance training right now. Why? Because I used to hate it and avoided it all throughout my weight-loss journey. Now, the more I read about it and the benefits it provides (versus cardio on its own), the more fascinated and motivated I am to push through and put forth some honest effort. I WANT to be stronger, therefore I HAVE to do more resistance training. It's as simple as that.

It all boils down to wanting something and accepting the fact that I have to work at it if I truly want results. There are no shortcuts here, people. Not sure if I've mentioned that yet or not, but just in case you were wondering... NO SHORTCUTS. (I promise I'm not trying to yell at you, just trying to beat the concept into my own head to help stick to the plan I've set up for myself.)