Dieting is hard when away from home

I've been out of town visiting family for a week now, and I am feeling very guilty over my eating habits since we left our apartment with a fridge stocked full of vegetables, lean proteins and other items I'm supposed to eat while on the Velocity plan.

It's friggin hard to be strict when you're eating at other's peoples' houses! I can't be rude and pass on a meal made because its not in my eating plan. And I don't want to be one of those people who ask for a completely separate meal, and inconvenience the host or hostess. Fortunately, we stayed with family who are trying to eat healthy, so there was a wide variety of fruits, yogurts and bottled water in the fridge.

Nevertheless, I still had pizza, pasta and fast food this past week. Uggh, I feel fat!

I can proudly say that Damon and I did manage to go to the gym while we were in Ohio. Three days straight, and good workouts too - sprinting on the treadmill, and I shared a lot of the exercises I learned from Jonathan with Damon. He was impressed. He called me a PT machine!! :-)

And the best part of the gym visits? I stepped on a digital scale they had, and saw I was down another 5 pounds. That makes my weight loss since I started Velocity 10 pounds total. In a month and a half. Not too shabby.

Tomorrow I am hitting up my old stomping grounds - a gym now called Hardkohr Fitness, that I used to belong to for a number of years. Going to take Zumba with one of my favorite instructors, Jodie. So looking forward to a good sweat. It will be a great workout and do wonders for my mental state, and alleviate some of the guilt I am harboring after this week away from my normal routine.

I gotta say, its nice to go away, visit family and vacation. But, I am seriously looking forward to getting home and picking up where I left off. I felt like I was making headway, and now feel like I just took a few steps back after this week.

Surely, I'll feel better about it all after I dance my ass off tomorrow.

How Would You Label the Caloric Content of Fast Food?

Seems the government is looking for comments from the average Joe on how we would like to see the caloric content of food reported on labels at fast food restaurants.

I can think of a simple way to classify fast food items:

A) Fat Ass

B) Fatter Ass

C) Fattest Ass

Who needs to see calories? We all know that bacon-double-cheeseburgers go straight to our butts, right? And thighs in my case. Seriously, for those folks who eat these colossal burgers that so wonderfully come with large fries, do they really care how many calories are in them? Probably not.

BUT, if you are concerned about knowing how many hours you'll have to sweat at the gym to work off your whopper, and have a great idea on how the restaurants should report the info, visit this website to chime in:

Go to Regulations.gov electronically

1. Choose “Submit a Comment” from the top task bar
2. Enter the docket number FDA-2010-N-0298 in the “Keyword” space
3. Hit “Search” button

Who Inspires Me? Jodie the Bejeweled Fitness Instructor

In this installment of "Who Inspires You," I introduce the most accessorized fitness instructor I've ever had the pleasure of exercising with- Jodie Strausbaugh! She not only teaches a whole slew of group fitness classes, but also runs her own successful Silpada jewelry business. Hence why she always looks so uber-cool pumping iron in her bangles, rings and other sparkly gems.

I met Jodie several years ago, when I started taking her step classes. She also teaches yoga and the really-popular Zumba dance classes. Last year I was in town when she taught Zumba and she invited me to give it a try. LOVED IT!!! Jodie is a fabulous instructor - she calls her moves in advance, so following her is a breeze. And she has a great nature - encouraging, supportive, motivational, and so likable. I can't imagine anyone not loving Jodie and her classes.

And for what must be now over 6 years (if my math is correct) Jodie has been growing her Silpada business. I remember when she first started the business. She was a natural sales person. And today, Jodie has a large team of women working under her, who help her meet challenging sales goals (that earn her big rewards, like trips).

In addition to all of her working, she makes time for fun with her hubby and grandkids. She finds a way to do it all - she's another one of the Super Women I know! Her lifelong commitment to exercise has always inspired me, and continues to. You're awesome Jodie!!

Photo caption: I asked Jodie for permission to use one of her Facebook photos. I couldn't find any of her alone (not surprising considering Jodie is such a people person). So, here's one of her and a gal she befriended during a vacation. I like it because she looks great! Thanks Jodie!

Down a few more pounds!

Hi everyone. It's been a few days since my last blog, so thought I would report back on how everything is going since the end of my official month on the Velocity weight loss plan.

Since then, I've been sticking with a modified version of the eating plan. Jonathan, my trainer during the program, changed the diet to include more carbs, especially fruits, like berries. He gave me a recipe for a fruit and vegetable-based shake, that really keeps me feeling satisfied and energized. While I am not as strict as I had been with the diet before, I am definitely still eating 4-5 times a day, eating lean proteins, vegetables, and avoiding junk as much as possible.

My trainer also suggested I go back to doing my old routine of cardio classes, to give my body a nice little surprise. So I've been doing kick-boxing again, spinning and dancing. Lots of fun to be back in the classes with friends.

We left Friday to go out of town for a week. In fact, I am in Ohio as we speak. When I am away from the gym, I tend to go outside for walks or a run. Today, however, I was fortunate enough to attend a local gym here as a guest. I had a great sprint session on the treadmill, like I had been doing on the Velcoity program. Then I showed Damon some of the exercises I learned from Jonathan, using the Bosu and med. ball. It was a great workout. And I think we're going back there the rest of the week.

The best part of visiting the gym? They had a digital scale...I stepped on and to my pleasant surprise, I lost more weight. I am now down 10 pounds since began Velocity - 7 weeks ago.

It's really working!! I had been wearing a size 12 pants before this all began, and now my size 10's are too big. I think in another week or so, I will pull out some 8's and see how they feel! (I have a whole gamut of sizes in my closet, all the way down to 2.)

So, I think by the time we move to Virginia, I'll be a whole new person. I can't wait!!

And the Velocity Results Are In!

It's been a long month, but the Velocity weight loss program has officially ended. As you recall, the program included 1/2 hour personal training sessios 3x a week, a training and non-training day cardio program, and an eating plan. The workouts with my trainer, Jonathan, were intense, high energy sessions that introduced me to all kinds of new exercises and really got my heart rate up. The cardio plan included intervals, sprints and steady state sessions on a treadmill. And the eating plan, well, that takes more than a sentence to sum up. But, if you've been reading this blog, you've probably heard more than enough.

Today I was weighed, remeasured and had my body-fat retested. I was a little surprised to see that the scale did not drop anymore from 2.5 weeks ago when I got on. So, in all I lost 5 pounds. I swear folks, I thought it would say I had lost 10 pounds. It "feels" like I lost 10 pounds. I look much slimmer, especially around my midsection, and I'm able to go down a size in my pants.

The same thing goes for my body fat percentage - it too only dropped a half a percentage.

Jonathan explained that both these things would drop slowly for me, because I started this program already physically fit. (He called me a "gym warrior." hee hee) If I were morbidly obese and had never exercised before, then yes, I probably would lose 10 pounds in a month.

And while the scale and body fat monitor didn't make me smile, the measurements we took with a tape measure did. I lost the following number of inches from my body:

-Chest: Lost 1 inch

-Waist: Lost 2 inches (two inches folks!! whoo-hoo)

-Hips: Lost 2 inches (again, whoo-hoo!)

-Arms: Lost 1/2 inch

-Thighs: Lost 1/2 inch

Calves: Lost 1 inch

So, there ya have it. The numbers may not be astronomical, but they have made a very real physical appearance change. And mentally, I feel a whole lot better about how I look.

Now, for the next 2 weeks, I am going to give the ole body a shock again, and switch up the diet, at my trainer's suggestion, by adding in fruit, more carbs, and one fewer meal a day.

I'll also go back to taking my regular routine of classes, with light follow-up work on the treadmill. After two weeks, I'm going to go back to training a couple times a week with Jonathan, and re-evaluate how to best get to my goal weight.

I promised some before and after pics. Sorry, these photos are not the best quality. I had my husband take them with my phone. I'm hoping to get some better photos over the weekend.

Who Inspires Me? Jonathan Lee, My Personal Trainer

This installment of Who Inspires You introduces Jonathan Lee. He's my trainer at Can Do Fitness here in Edgewater. He's also a martial arts expert, who competes, and is training for the Olympics. When he's not in the gym, he's also busy studying to further his education, modeling/acting, and getting a business off the ground. This man is busy and motivated!

I can honestly tell you that as a trainer, he is the perfect blend of "push hard, without acting like a drill sergeant." He introduced me to new exercises that really worked my balance, stamina, strength, heart and concentration. And I enjoyed him. He has a nice personality...not intimidating like some built-up guys can be, and not an ego-maniac like some gorgeous women can be. I always enjoyed my personal training sessions with him, and hope that I can continue with another package. Today I get my results (weight, body-fat, measurements) after a month of Velocity training with Jonathan. And I know I will be happy.

So thank you to Jonathan, who inspires me to work harder at the gym. If you are looking for a new trainer, I highly suggest Jonathan Lee. He's the greatest!

And I am hoping to post some videos of this guy in the gym doing exercises that will make your jaw drop. Just having technical issues right now. Stay tuned!