Hi

HELLLOOO FRIENDS! So much to talk about. First things first, WE'RE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!! Ahhh what an exciting game last night.
We had a few friends over, all's fine... We get through first OT and then right as second OT is about to start our tv just shuts off. Im talking black screen. COOL. So I fiddle around and try and fix it. Doesn't work. After like 5 agonizing minutes I run to check my bedroom TV and it WORKS. So I call everyone into my room. All of us chilled in my room and watched the game there - thank GOD for that TV!
Funniest thing to have all these people in my room, but hey, at least we got to see Bieksa shut 'er down! Wooo! Western Conference Champions!

Second thing; Biggest Loser. So I start watching the first half of the finale last night and then had an appointment. No problem, I just PVR'd the rest. Wrong. I go to finish the finale after the game last night but it WONT WORK. Also due to whatever the F is going on with the TV in my living room. BAHHHHH I do know who wins though, and am happy about that. I just want to watch the rest of the episode.

Third: Had my weekly weigh in last night: down 2 lbs! Yippee! My biggest lost in a month or so. This marks officially 40 LBS LOST! WOW! I really never thought that I would see this. When I set my goal back in November, I thought it was a long shot and of course, I was doubting myself. But now, I am 7.6 lbs from my goal: the end is in sight! I have to keep working hard at it, because it has definitely gotten very difficult here at the end.

Fourth: Went fishing for the first time in a while the other day and I caught 12 fish and the biggest of the day! WOO!! Go me.
Here's me and 2 of this fish I caught:

Until next time my friends..... xo-B

Last night's weigh-in

Hi Friends! So I am super excited this morning. Last week I was sick and super tired from Mexico, so I didn't get to the gym. Then this weekend I went camping so you can imagine what my eating was like...not the greatest. So when I weighed in last night, you can bet what I expected. BUT. I am super stoked to announce I lost a pound! Yay! It just goes to show that when life throws you lemons, you actually can make lemonade (cliché I know). Somehow, I lost a pound. Im thinking its because Monday morning I started fresh, eating correctly and then hitting the gym. By the time Tuesday night came around, I was down. Yes, I can sit here and think, well if you had gotten to the gym, and eaten better last week maybe it would have been 2 lbs...but Im not going to think that way. Because even though, yes, I am trying to lose weight...I am still living my life. I have to live it the way I want to. Obviously something's working, so if I go camping and I want to have a hot dog and some chips for dinner, I am going to! I have shown right there that I can still do this.
[[By the way, I am not saying that if you want to lose weight, just go for it and eat whatever you want because lets face it, you have to be strict with your eating when losing. All I am saying is that if you have a bad weekend, it is not the end of this journey, its merely a bump in the road. Just gotta keep on keepin' on.]]

xo-B

Ps, I am only 9 lbs from goal! Even though my loss has really slowed...its still happening, and the finish line is in sight!!

Oh..and here is my latest before and after pic....cant believe I used to look like that!

MEXICO

HELLO!! I am back from one of the best weeks of my life!! I cant even begin to explain how unreal Mexico was. It blew any expectations I had out of the water.
We stayed at a hotel called the Sunset Princess. It was AMAZING. The place is absolutely beautiful. The service was great, the drinks were good, the food was awesome, the music and dancing was sooo much fun. . And the ocean..OH MY GOD...the OCEAN. After a week of being there I still couldn't get over the amazing ocean. When you are swimming in it, its like you are in a pool. Its soo clear. The sand is so white.

Our room

bathroom

Sunday night we stepped out of the airport around 630? And were hit with this wall of humidity. AWESOME. We were then faced with a 45 min bus ride to Playa del Carmen and our resort. After checking in and seeing our gorgeous room, Shawn and I had a shot of tequila (obviously) and then met everyone at the lounge where we danced to the live band until they were done at 11. We were all like WTF do we do now? This is where a crazy Mexican who worked there yelled "DISKOTEKA!!" which then became one of our sayings throughout the trip. So we headed to the disco and danced the night away until it closed at 2 and then we went to Tiffany and Staceys room. They had a swim up room so we all went in the pool until we were kicked out because we are too noisy! Haha..so we dried off and headed to the Sports Bar. This was basically our night time routine.

Monday was  a pool day.

poolside

Tuesday we headed into Playa del Carmen and caught this ridiculous ferry to Cozumel. I call it ridiculous because omg it was soooo rocky. A few us got sea sick...There was a band playing on the boat and most people at the back of it got soaked. Once we got to Cozumel we rented scooters and went off in groups to tour the island. What a great first half of the day this was. We stopped off at the Bob Marley Beach Bar for a drink and a snack on the beach. Absolutely GORGEOUS here. The second half was hectic. On our way back, one of the 4 scooters broke down. As we stood on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere I might add, a random couple of jeeps pulled up and started snapping photos of us. We asked to borrow their phone and one of the guys called the scooter company, and told us that they would be here in 20 minutes to help us out. Meanwhile, we find out that the people snapping photos are taking pictures for a travel magazine, so we helped them out. Shawn doubled the photographer, I doubled the guy with the flash, while we drove down the road beside Kristy and Shawn as they had their photos taken. Craaaaaaaazy.
So, 20 minutes goes by, then an hour, then an hour and a half. No Scooter guys. So we decide, screw it, we're leaving the scooter on the side of the road. We decided to head back. So on our way back...guess what!?!?!!! SHAWNS scooter breaks down. So now we are down to 2 scooters and 4 people. We decide to stop at the next group of shops (we are pretty remote at this point) to use the phone again. So Shawn gets on the phone and the scooter guy tells Shawn "Call the policia" and then hangs up on him. Meanwhile, we are being circled by about 10 mexicans who were all speaking in Spanish and laughing to themselves. They told us we could hop in the truck and get a ride with them...umm...nope. We hopped on the scooters and high-tailed it back to town. That was the only moment on the whole trip where I felt a little bit uncomfortable.
Fast forward a bit, we meet everyone in town for dinner and then take that ridiculous ferry back. We catch the Canucks game in the sports bar and then obviously finish the night in the diskoteka!

where we stopped for drinks in Cozumel

Wednesday was the wedding. What an amazing day this was! We spent the morning poolside, and then the afternoon getting ready. It was a breezy day so we were pretty comfortable, and not too hot. They got married on the beach under this gorgeous gazebo. We then got a bunch of pictures taken and then headed to the reception which was in a restaurant that was closed down for us, overlooking the ocean. Amazing! There was dinner, some fantastic speeches and then of course dancing. When the reception ended ...you guessed it....we went to the diskoteka! Wooo!

wedding day <3

Thursday was another much needed pool day.

Friday a bunch of us went to a place called Xel-Ha (pronounched Shell-Ha) it is a gorgeous park with snorkeling, cliff jumping, zip lining, etc etc...the snorkeling was UNREAL. Amazing bright coloured fish swimming around in this ocean that was literally as clear as a swimming pool. Denise and I even had a HUGE turtle swim right underneath us!  I had an absolutely amazing day. I cant wait to go snorkeling again...the fish were soo awesome. Pink fish, zebra fish, blue, light blue, 6 foot barracudas...HUGE fish. Also we would come up to these massive schools of tiny little fish....just unreal.
After Xel-Ha we had dinner at an Italian restaurant on the resort and then obviously hit the disco.

the group that went to Xel-Ha

Saturday a few of us went fishing out on the ocean. Talk about GORGEOUS! I am not one to get sea sick but I had a beer out there, and it did not sit well. So I asked Courtney if I could have a gravol..BAD IDEA. For the rest of the trip I slept in the cabin of the boat. I was soo tired the rest of the day... I will never have a gravol again for as long as I live!! I hate you gravol.

fishing group

Saturday night we went back to the resort, had dinner, watched the Canucks game, and then you guessed it DISKOTEKA! Wooop. We had an amazing evening. Stayed out dancing until 3 or 4 am ...definitely ended the trip with a bang.

all the people behind them are watching the Canucks

Sunday we woke up and had breakfast and then got packed up. We layed by the pool and enjoyed our last few hours before leaving. The bus picked us up at 2pm and then it was bye bye Mexico. :(

What an absolutely unreal trip. It was sooo good that we are planning our trip for next year already. It will be sometime the end of May 2012. If you are reading this, and want to join us (you will NOT be disappointed) please let me know and I will get you the details!!!
xo-B

Excitement all around

A couple things to be excited about this morning:

1) I had my weigh in last night and after a couple weeks of crappy weigh-ins I am happy to report that I am down 1.8 lbs! YAY! This past week I have worked my butt off by hitting the gym before work as well as really buckled down on my eating. It just shows that a little dedication is all it takes to lose weight.

2) Back when I went to the gym at 6 am regularly there was a lady who I would say "hi" to here and there. This morning, I saw her at the gym and she came up to me to tell me: "I haven't seen you here in a while, but I wanted to tell you you're looking really good, you have obviously had some success"... so that was really cool!
I think for the most part people who have never been through weight loss don't understand the mind games that come with it. I think a lot of people assume that because the person is smaller they are obviously confident.....not the case. The problem is, it takes a while for the mind to actually catch up to the loss. To this day, being down 40ish pounds I am STILL struggling with insecurities and feeling crappy. Sure, I have a lot more days where I feel ok about how I look...but the days of feeling like a fat mess are still here. I actually had a break down last week about something image-related that left me crying to my friend. She thought I was crying about something she did, but really it was all me and my insecurities....I just needed that vent session and she was there. ...The mind is evil and is a CONSTANT struggle. I just cant grasp the fact that yes, I am getting smaller...and yes I am looking better. I keep on holding on to the weight I still need to lose. So its these little compliments from random strangers that seem to impact me the most. I know they are not saying it "just to say it" like I think friends or family may feel obligated to do. (not that this is the case - but I think that could happen so just wanted to throw it out there) Also, I took my inches and since December I am down 28 inches! :) Go me!

3) After a CRAZY-intense game, the Canucks finally sent the Blackhawks golfing! All I can hear around me this morning, everywhere I go, is talk of the Canucks and that heart pounding game last night. When Burrows scored that overtime goal last night, I actually LITERALLY heard fireworks outside my house! It was awesome!!

4) Mexico is soo close. Just around the corner... 4 more sleeps! It should come fast because these next few days is a whirlwind of activity. I have so much going on this week!

5) Only a couple more days until I get to see GSP fight in UFC 129!!

I am just sooo excited this week! YIPPEEE!! Go Canucks Go!

Working out at 6am

So I finally have time and inspiration for a new blog post! Woo hoo!
When I first began my weight loss journey I dove RIGHT in to frequent vigorous workouts (usually twice a day, 6-7 days a week) Of course with combining this with my new diet I was dropping 2, 3, 4 lbs a week. Obviously this is to be expected when you first start working out, but even into my 8th week of weight loss, I was still losing 2-3 lbs a week. I know there are people on both sides of the spectrum when it comes to working out first thing in the morning, but I strongly believe my working out before I went to work had a strong influence on my weight loss.

Pretty soon, life started to get crazy hectic and I wasn't able to get to bed as early. Since when I go to the gym before work I have to get up at 5...if I don't go to bed early there is almost no point in going to the gym in the morning. I get way too tired and sluggish and the work out sucks!  So, with my new crazy life, I stopped going to the gym in the morning....and then my weight loss slowed. Instead of 2-3 lbs a week it is now averaging around 1 lb a week. I know, I know, I am smaller, so my loss is going to be less....but I just don't feel like I have been giving it as much as I can. I feel like if I could give it more, that I would be seeing bigger results.

After losing NOTHING this week and last....yes...NOTHING I felt like it was time to step it up again. Time to buckle down on my eating, and time to step up my work outs because the reality is, yes I am smaller, but I am not at my goal weight. I am still not feeling comfortable with myself. I want to look back at my day before bed and say yes, I gave 100% today. The past few weeks, this has not happened. In my defense life has been sooo sooo busy so I havent had the extra time for extra work outs, and my weekends have been soo full that I havent been able to work out at all....Weekends used to be my time to go to the gym and work myself until I couldn't work anymore.. Yes, these all seem like excuses, but they have been my reality.

After weighing in last night and seeing no loss again.... I decided that, that was it, I am not going to give into this and just go back to my old ways...this is a sign that it is time to step it up again.

This brings me to this morning. I got up at 5:00 and was at the gym by 6...and MAN am I SOOOOOO glad I did. I worked my absolute ass off and left the gym feeling amazing. Theres something that working out in the morning does for me. I get almost a "high" off of it. I do not waste any time at the gym in the morning. My mindset is, I got myself out of bed this early, I am going to make it worth my time. This morning I burned 500 calories in just under an hour of cardio. My intention right now is to hit the gym on my lunch break again, and then hopefully tomorrow when I check my weight, I will see something I like.

If you are thinking of trying to go to the gym before work - DO IT!!! I promise the hardest part is just getting yourself out of bed. Once you do, and you get to the gym, you will be soooo glad you did!

On a side note - we have now picked our photographer for our wedding, so that's exciting...oh and 11 DAYS TILL MEXICO!!! In fact, 2 weeks today until my lovely bestie marry's her man. WOW. Time has absolutely FLOWN by.... I am so excited, thrilled & honoured to stand up there with her. Eleven days!!!! xo-B

new photos...eeeek

Dec 11 --- Apr 11

ew cant even show the before of this...lol

VERY scary for me to have this photo out there!!!

8 pounds to go!!!

xo-B

a long road

Its been a loooong looong road. When I started back in November, I really
didn't have any hope. I had tried, and failed, sooo many times that I didn't
actually see it happening. I knew I was going to try what I was doing, but
that it probably wouldn't work for me. After my first week, I lost 5.2 lbs.
When I saw that I had lost those 5 lbs, I suddenly had HOPE!

The following week, I lost 2.6 lbs, followed by 3.4 and 3.2.... I couldn't
believe that in 1 month, I had lost 14.4 lbs!! I realized that if I focus,
and really try hard at this, I just might be able to do this.

Now, in my 21st week, I realized that I only have 10 lbs to go.. 10 lbs!
That's nothing. I am slowly starting to feel better about myself now that I
have gotten a few articles of clothing that actually fit. When I was
swimming in my big clothes, I couldn't really grasp the fact that yes, I am
actually smaller.

5 months ago, I HATED shopping with a passion. I am telling you, I would
absolutely avoid the mall at all costs. I hated the way I looked in
everything I tried on. Now, I am slowly starting to like it again. I am
enjoying looking for things that fit me properly and slowly replacing my
wardrobe. When I buy new things, I am enjoying coming home and modeling them
for my family.

I think my mindset has been my biggest struggle up until now. I know that my
number on the scale is smaller, but I have struggled with feeling good about
myself. I seriously think the fact that I have bought myself some new
clothes has helped me start to actually not feel so bad anymore.


.....soo...... Less than 3 WEEKS TIL MEXICO !! Omg, feels like I have been waiting
forever......and I have. Well, 6 months to be exact.
I have actually been dreaming about Mexico. I need the vacation sooo
freaking bad...its unreal!
We recently got our flight times, so that makes me just THAT Much more giddy!

I still have so much to do before we go:
-find some luggage
-pack my luggage
-buy some clothes to pack
-pack the girls stuff
-make room on my memory card so I can take photos
-get my bridesmaid dress
-try on my bridesmaid dress/get alterations if necessary
-find a good book to read on the plane (any suggestions?!)
-go bathing suit shopping.... :( :(

....theres more. But my brain is not working at the moment.

BAHEBFJAFKRNGOI RGJAI I am sooo super excited!

Today is the 11th of the month. That means its picture time! I don’t think I have lost that much since my last photo so I am very curious to see if I look any different. I am thinking no! But we’ll see later on tonight!
Ill post the photo when its done.

I apologize that my posts are getting a little bit fewer and farther between. April is such a crazy crazy crazy month for me. There is just no time for ANYTHING. Including blogging.

20 DAYS MY FRIENDS!!!!! xo - B