Because, food is not the enemy.

In honor of thanksgiving I figured I would blog about food. I personally feel that we as humans give food too much power over us. We blame our problems on food, we plan our days around food. I swear sometimes all I can think about is my next meal.

Food.

Food.

Food. 

What we need to realize is that food isn't the enemy. The problem comes within our relationship with food and how we  revolve our emotions around it. As cliché as the saying "one good meal won't make you skinny, just like one bad meal won't make you fat" is, it's true.  I really do believe that change comes with time. Little by little we have morphed our bodies into what they are now, by what we have eaten through out our lives. 

If you want to change your body, change your relationship with food. Change the food in your refrigerator. And I promise, It will change your life forever in the best of ways.  

But really. I'm so thankful for the knowledge that my meal tomorrow won't make me gain weight because hey, I'm going all out. And I deserve it! 

Thanks for reading my thoughts and happy eatings :) 

-love, ky. 

Don't Ever Give Up

Don't give up. You've come so far and you've struggled and you've cried and you've fought. For every inch lost, every pound dropped, every ounce of muscle gained. You're right, you're not where you want to be yet but you know what? You have come a hell of a long way and you can't turn back now. Think back to you at your heaviest, to the stares, the tugging at your clothes so they don't fall down or come up. Do you remember the doctor appointments where your siblings check ups went well but yours didn't. Because you were fat, and the doctor made you feel like something was wrong with you, like you were hideous. Think back to the seats you couldn't fit in, the stores your body wouldn't allow you to shop in. How about P.E. Where you tried your hardest but no matter what you came in last and you felt like a joke.

Weight loss is such a hard but very rewarding journey. You fall down a lot and sometimes, no matter what you do the scale goes up. It's difficult but ladies you are worth it. You are beautiful and you can be beautiful at any size and shape. I know this.  Although I never believed this truth when I was told it by those who love me. Do you know why? Because I didn't feel beautiful, I felt worthless and lousy. It wasn't the truth but my feelings were such.  

      Now that I'm getting smaller I feel so much better about myself. I don't hide from the mirror. How sad is it that I would close my eyes

And/or cringe every time there was a reflection of myself. Our bodies deserve more love than this.
A love that will nourish and exercise your body. And from now on I'm dedicated to give my body what it not only deserves but truly needs to work well.

I know it's hard but I also know that you are tough and brilliant and most of all, you are worth it. I just want to challenge you all to do something today your future self will thank you for. 

-ky 

New goals

Hey all, 

I have decided to up my training and increase my intensity. I have chosen to reintroduce HIIT into my weightloss plan. I've made a goal of 9 miles a week or three cardio sessions a week. I haven't been doing cardio really other than biking to and from the work and the gym. I'm really hoping this will help further along my progress. Hiit training is a great way to burn fat while keeping from going catabolic. I will still lift of course because it's honestly one of the things I love most to do. Lifting is a huge part of my lifestyle. I LOVE TO LIFT  

Meal Prep Monday, A first for me.

The husband and I decided to refocus our goals.  We've often heard the term if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.  And quite frankly we are tired of failing.  So today I ventured into the world of mega meal prep.
We figured it would be cheaper and easier to feed us through out the week. Today I prepared chicken breast, brown rice, veggie bags and yams. (our grocery store didn't have sweet potatoes and yams yield great benefits.)  It went smoothly and I think i've got this thing figured out.  Here was my list of first time must haves:

-Clean Dishes- as mediocre as that sounds, you dont wanna get in the kitchen expecting to cook but have no pans to do it with!

-Zip Lock Containers-  I went to the store and picked up three different sizes.  These are a must for on the go meals!

-Zip lock Baggies- Easiest way to pack quick healthy snacks.  This way you can prevent eating foods that weren't planned into your calories for the day.

Sorry ladies, I'm not too great in this area yet but i will get better as time goes on.

Thanks for reading ( :
P.S.- Each container of chicken and brown rice yeilds nearly 50Grams of protein.  A great high protein lunch!
Nutritionists in the body building field recommend 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound you weigh!

chicken and brown rice. 

getting everything ready for a meal prep adventure

more chicken and rice. plus yams. 

So much food.

brown rice for days.

peeling off the yam skins. yuck.

Music and Supplements: The Essentials.

Today I had an amazing training session with my husband.  We completely blasted our back and shoulders and it felt amazing.  A couple came up to compliment our strength and he said "You're lifting more than most the guys".  So that was neat haha.  I know i'm not stronger than a lot of the men that train at my gym but I do lift more than them.  You're probably thinking this doesn't make any sense but really it does.  I feel like alot of men and women don't believe they are capable of a lot of weight.  I cringe when I see women lifting the 5lb dumbbells.  It's sad when they pump out rep upon rep upon rep.  If you aren't burning by the 10th, 12th, 15th, what ever it is you're aiming for, you are doing it wrong.  Please ladies learn about reps and sets and make your work out count.  If it doesn't challenge you, it wont change you.

Rant over.

Music is a huge part of the workout for me.  I need something that really gets me pumped and ready to just destroy my muscles. As strange as it may seem to you while training I prefer Hardcore or classic rock.  A few examples would be:
Hardcore:
A Day to Remember
Stick To Your Guns
The Ghost Inside
Sleeping With Sirens
A Skylit Drive
Upon A Burning Body
ETC.

Classic Rock:
AC/DC
Def Leppard
Guns and Roses
Skid Row
ETC.

Love my music and how it pushes me to do my best. Now onto supplementation, Here is my top 5:
1. Protien
2.A good fish oil.
3. 7-keto DHEA
4. CLA
5.Glutamine
 and last but not least and nice multi vitamin.
I guess that was 6, but hey, they were all very much worth mentioning and looking into if you are at all interested. ( :
Happy Lifting errbody.

 Thanks for reading Guys (:

Falling Off, I wish I meant the weight.

I fell down and I stayed down. I ignored my better judgement and I didn't watch what I ate. I'm not talking about before I started, I'm talking about October. I rarely went to the gym and I hardly ate healthy. I got that Monday mentality back. And it was honestly the best eye opener. My body felt fatigued, I was tired although I did nothing physically draining. I felt fat, clumsy, huge, gross, ugly. You name it. I realized I hadn't felt this way in months. And I couldn't figure out why. And then it hit me, my health was leaving. I will never do this to my body again, today is a new day and I won't give up. My passion is renewed, my motivation is on fire. I could blame it on a new job, the cold weather, lack of transportation. These excuses aren't valid, they didn't fix the month I had. They don't erase the weight I may have put back on. Excuses only fool yourself, they do not fix the problem. I'm going to set some goals and then demolish them.  I want to double my progress. I want the body of my dreams and I won't settle for less. 

10 Months of Achievements

I have been steady losing since January of 2013, during this course of time I've learned quite alot. I also feel like I have accomplished quite alot.  Not only physically but mentally and emotionally.
-I have lost 12 inches off of my hips.
-I have gone down 6 pants sizes.
-I can do at seated back row at 180 lbs 10 times.
-I rep out over 600 lbs on a leg press.
-I have extremely boosted my confidence in myself and my love for myself.


I have come to realize that losing weight has alot more to do with mental strength and perseverance than I ever would have guessed.  It's really hard not to give into the temptation of food and when you do, its hard to forgive yourself for being weak. I've had good days and good weeks, but I've also felt like a failure and have had bad months. This is not an easy process nor is it a fast process but I know when all is said and done, it will have been worth it.

How it all began.

When I saw it I knew it had to go.  And I honestly couldn't believe I had let it get this far, this bad.  I deleted it from my phone and decided to delete it from my life. I would never look like that in a picture again.

I am incredibly blessed by an amazing husband.  He loves me unconditionally, he never mentioned how out of control my weight had become.  And to be honest I didn't notice, I didn't have a scale and if I did I wouldn't have used it. I have hid from my weight my whole life, the number on my pants, shirts, dresses, scale. EVERYTHING. I would pretend it wasn't a big deal that at 19 I was a size 20. I tried to ignore the fact that I no longer fit into the BIGGEST size at my favorite stores. It didn't bother me that my waist line was at a grand total of 57". Almost too  big to fit on the average measuring tape.  I put the daily uncomfortable situations out of my mind such as taking up more than a seat on a bus, the couch, in the car and on the plane. I didn't think about what I was truly putting into my body because I enjoyed food.  How it was poison, how my body grew in response to it. I paid no mind to a daily caloric limit and even if I had I would have filled my diet with the same old junk. Despite my lack of knowledge I decided to start. I knew fruits and vegetables were better for me than hot pockets and ice cream. I knew walking on a treadmill was better than not even getting out of bed. So I went with it, and for the first time in my life my body knew a different kind of hunger.  One that craved not only learning about fitness and nutrition but also practicing it.