Everyday is an uphill battle

I know this is a common trend, but when it's something that is constantly on your mind, you can't help but blog about it! :)

In my year and 9 months of doing this diet thing, I think one of the biggest things I haven't learned is that all good things take time!! When I try something new I'm SO good for a week or two then if I don't see what I want I just want to quit!!  I think everything is going to be the next miracle thing! It's going to make it go away over night!

Mentally I know it takes time, but tell my body that!! There is just something so dang frustrating.  Every day I have to tell myself "this is just another day!" Easier said than done, yes, but at this point really, what choice do I have?

My goal is to get into the U.S. Army, and to do so, I have to lose inches and/or weight. There's no candy coating (Mm, candy coating!! NO CARA, NO!!) I have the most amazing people in my corner, and I have the tools I need to get to this! Okay, yes it's taking a little longer than I thought, but I'm not giving it up!!  Keep on truckin'!!

Thanks for letting me ramble! :)

Update central, back on track 9!

Well, I got yelled at today by a certain someong (eh hem..mother!) to update my blog, because well, obviously it has been a since!

Well where do I begin?  I got the job I was aiming for and I started this week! Working 3 jobs for one week I realized, hey, two jobs is plenty for now, so I'm taking a break from Huntington! I'll miss the kids, but Colin and I need SOME time together! I know, over rated, right? Pa-shaw!

As for the diet, you guys caught me on a great day! I am started a new diet plan! Now I'm sure you're saying "Cara...AGAIN!?" Well, to you I say, yes, again, another one!!

Before you go all diet hatin' crazy on me, let me give you the back story!   You remember the week from Hell, right? (If not, why not? You should be reading my blog...*sigh!*)  Anyway, so one of my bad week turn arounds, was the discovery of this boot camp class I've been going to for 2 weeks now.  I must say folks, I'm being pushed harder now than I have in a long, LONG time!! Probably since I started working with Norman the first time, is how it feels.  I mean heck, I wake up, and I hurt...it's AWESOME! Anywho, when you sign up for this amazing boot camp, you also get help with your diet.  I think, it's not said, but I think, doing the two together will get great results!!

This new diet is a lot of protein, A LOT of protein!  What makes it different though, is it incorporates everything you need to lose! It's gonna be hard at first, 'cus I freakin' love my Lucky Charms, but then again, when has anything great ever been easy??

On the Colin home front, he's officially joining ROTC next month, so because of that, he's non-deployable for at least 2 years!! How awesome is that?! I know, right?  I did the math, and 6 years ago yesterday, Colin and I went on our first date.  Then doing more math, I figured out, that out of the 6 years we've been together, physically we've only spent about 3 together.  But, we've made it this far, and I think there's no turning back! :)

So, as you can see folks, at this point, things are really starting to get back on track! Life is spiffy and I'm feeling good about it all!

P.S.  If you're wondering about the "back on track 9" thing in my title, well, Ihave no idea...it just sounded more catchy than "Update Central!"  :)

"Never Never Never Give Up"

I think you could classify THIS week, as a pure week from Hell.  Monday, my student canceled, so I was supposed to have a 3 hour shift, I got one.  I went to the dentist to fix my wisdom teeth instead of getting them pulled, and found out I had to get them pulled anyway! This of course was AFTER they drilled all four of them!  I got scammed out of $1800 (and the bank won't help out AT ALL!) My little lizard, Tiny, passed away. And best yet, I went to the recruiter to find out, I lost weight, I lost inches in my hips, neck AND waste, but according to their system I GAINED BODY FAT!! Why? Simply because I lost weight in my neck! UGH!!

So as you can see, just...bad! Well, of course on Facebook we all share everything! Life has no secrets.  As I posted my Army results I had one person leave a message simply saying "That sucks, I guess it's not meant to be."  Well, that got me thinking....a lot!  Why haven't I quit?  If people quit everytime things got hard, where would the world be?  And is it really that easy for people to quit on things?

I don't know about you, but my parents always taught me to not quit, and when things got hard to keep pressing on.  I think there's something to the saying, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.  The odds feel like they're constantly building up against me, but who cares!?  The sun came up today and odds are, it will tomorrow too.  If I let one thing keep me down, 10 years from now, what am I going to tell my children? "Well kids, mom had a dream, but because things got hard, she quit!" Umm, no.

Since I've been young, I've prided myself on getting back on the horse  and very quickly.  So, I had my 10 minutes of feeling sorry for myself, but now I've turned it all around again!

On a strict VERY LOW carb diet, doing a hard core bootcamp 3 days a week at 5:45 am on top of an hour of cardio 6 days a week. I now might have another job, making it 3, to help make up some lost funds that were stolen and taken away at Huntington. And as for my Tiny, well he's up chasing cricketts with Willy and Lilly!  So yeah, things got hard, but if you sit and mope around, nothing is gonna happen!

My advice to anyone out there who is going through a hard time, just get over it! What good is it to sit and feel sorry?  Well, it's no good!

So onto the next chapter my friends! It's too early to quit...it's always too early to quit!

Good times, bad times. Good friends, better friends.

When I was working out today, I realized this whole workout/diet/joining the military thing, has been the biggest ride of my life thus far! It's been a year and 8 months, and I'm STILL going!  A lot of the reason I'm still able to keep on, is because of the strong people I have in my life!!

The biggest and one of the most influential all my friends who have stood by me through anything and everything!! They've been there when I was fat, and they'll be there when I'm fit. Diets can make people moody, yeah, but they've been there when I was grumpy as hell and when I got over it, they didn't resent me!  (Believe me, I know I've been moody, and cranky! You go 6 months without a bite of real pizza, and we'll see how thrilled you are!) The best of the best have proven to me who will always stay by my side!  There were times when I just wanted to hide from the world, and they hid right next to me, then got my butt out the door!  The true friends are the ones there when it's the hardest to be a friend!

Then I have people in my life who, when it's convenient, they'll be a friend. When it's time for their life to say it's okay to be a friend, they will.  And that's fine, we all know people in our lives like that.  Not every person who comes into our lives will stay there! It happens, and we can't expect every person on our Facebook to be our kins for life!! 

Friendship is a two way road, and to those friends who have been and will stay in my life, I would do anything for you guys!!  You guys motivate me every single day, to get up, to live life to the fullest and keep reaching my goals! And I hope you all know that the day you reach yours, I'm gonna be there for you too! Whether it's graduating from college or bootcamp.  Whether it's celebrating marriages or births, you're never getting rid of me! :)

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”
         - Mark Twain

Is your kitchen making you fat?

I was looking through Yahoo today, and found this very interesting article.  Changing habbits around you makes all the difference in the world.  Here are a few helpful tips that might catch your fancy:

"Dim the lights. Bright lights can raise your stress levels, ramping up your appetite and causing you to eat more quickly, according to research by Brian Wansink, Ph.D., director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab in Ithaca, New York. The result: You end up finishing off a mega portion before you have the chance to feel satiated (it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that it’s full). For the best lighting over your kitchen table, swap your light switch for a dimmer.

Add a bouquet. A whiff of flowers may keep you from overindulging at supper. Smelling something inconsistent with what’s on your plate dampens your appetite, research shows. In another study by Wansink, people who were served plain oatmeal scented with apple and cinnamon ate more than those given oatmeal that smelled like macaroni and cheese. OK, no need for unappetizing combinations, but some slight sensory confusion—a fresh bouquet or a scented candle—might help you limit portions.

Use smaller bowls and spoons. We match our portions to our dinnerware. “A half cup of ice cream looks good in an 8-ounce bowl but wimpy in a 16-ounce one,” Wansink says. Size even fools the pros: When Wansink gave food experts bigger bowls, they ate 31 percent more ice cream; given bigger serving spoons, they ate 15 percent more. You don’t have to invest in a whole new set of dishes and cutlery (unless you’re in the mood to update your pattern, of course!); try setting the table with salad plates and spoons instead of dinner-sized ones.

Conceal your leftovers. You skipped that last slice of pizza to save calories, but every time you open the fridge, it calls your name. (OK, this is me and it’s calling my name!) Don’t set yourself up for temptation: Stash the slice in a fridge drawer or wrap it in foil to help you resist it until it’s mealtime again.

Leave dinner behind. Serving food family-style at the table makes you more likely to take seconds (or thirds). Sidestep that tendency by serving yourself before you sit down and leaving what’s left on the counter. In preliminary research, Wansink found that women who plated their food at the counter ate 10 percent less than those who ate family-style. One exception: Keep salad on the table—multiple helpings of healthy greens is never a bad idea!"

It's the small things

Since Colin has been home from his deployment I've gone down hill.  I stopped REALLY counting. It was more of an estimate as to how many calories.  Turned out it was getting towards the 2000 plus side.  My clothes were starting to not fit quite right but I thought it was just 'cus of bloating...for 6 months.  I was making just about every excuse I could think of.

Then something just clicked! Maybe it was joining a new gym, maybe it was the looming end of money matters. I have no idea, but for the last month I have been going hard core! Well, honestly, since the surgery I have been pushing myself to new limits!! I've been going to bed early and getting up MUCH earlier.  In that time, I workout for an hour and half, take my pups for a walk, and get all my daily affairs in order.  All of this before I ever used to even wake up.

Life has done a complete 180! In this last month, my weight has started going back down! It's ALMOST to the point to where I was when I greeted Colin (yeah, I gained about 20 pounds since he's been home) I'm back down to my size 8 pants, and there's even wiggle room!! I've lost 2 inches in my waist and losing quickly in my hips (Oh those blasted hips!!)  And even better, I'm feeling so confident I'm almost ready to take a step back into the recruiters office!!

They aren't major accomplishments, it's simply getting back into the mindset as to where I was before, but that part is huge. With this renewed sense of dedication, it's merely a small amount of time until I get to that final step...FINALLY!!!

Giving Thanks

In the last two days, it seems like Thanksgiving has been a constant theme.  Canada got to celebrate their turkey day, and yeah, I actually went back to church on Sunday! (p.s. I think I'm going to go more again!)  Anyway, in his sermon our pastor said people who are greatful everyday have less stress, sleep better, and are just generally happier!!  So, taking his advice, I am going to start a "great, full journal" aka, a journal full of things that are great in my life!! 

So here my friends, is why I, Cara Ann, am greatful:
- I am married to a WONDERFUL man
- I have 2 parents who will help me with anything and listen to whatever problem I may have
- My friends are just amazing!!!  I have SEVERAL girlfriends who I would give my life for, and after college, I never thought I would find that again!!
- I have a roof over my head, food in my belly and just a couple bucks in my wallet, enough for an ice cream cone at DQ!
- I get to cuddle with two wonderful puppies every single night!
- There are people all over the world cheering me on to my road to get to OCS.
- I have a body where I can be active, and run and jump and do anything I want!


Ya know, I could keep going and going about how greatful I am for everything, but I think Mr. Bing Crosby can say it better than I ever could:



So remember, count your blessings tonight, and know that I am including all of you in my counting of my blessings!