Holidays! o_O (updated and revised)

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! On one hand I'm enjoying the holidays but on the other I can't wait for all this to end! I just wanted to come over here and make a quick post. As far as working on the weight loss so far so good. I was actually able to lose weight for Thanksgiving. Right now I'm averaging around 2.25 pounds per week. I just really hope that I can keep this up. Due to a family emergency I was unable to go to the gym this week. No use talking about getting into all of that. All I can do is get back up and work again. (12/17/12)


I finally got my internet back up and running so I decided to come back online and edit the travesty that was my "smart phone" post. LOL! You know, looking at myself now, I am noticing that I am beginning to look a bit different. I actually am catching myself taking double takes in the mirror. I almost look foreign to me. Recently I have been experiencing other changes for example I celebrated my 26th birthday on the 8th. Also my first year wedding anniversary was on the 5th! Other activities include but were not limited to seeing that the world didn't come to an abrupt end plunging all of humanity into oblivion or what have you, family get togethers, church, and the schedule changes at the Sportsplex. I'm glad to report that I did not gain any weight during Christmas. I didn't lose any either but my main goal was to not gain. 2013 is right around the corner and the funny thing is I've already got people asking what my new years resolution is. I just smile and state that "I'm already doing it." (^_^) Until next time. -SKBarnes (12/28/12)

I want to work out, not stress out!

     Hello it is I again. I know long time no see. I ask if you will to please forgive my absence. Per request of my husband I will not go into full details but long story short, I am finding myself to be under a great deal of stress. I am sure that there are a great number of you who have heard that stress in itself can trigger cravings and lead to weight gain. I am noticing an increase in cravings and crankiness but I have still not completely derailed into an all you can eat frenzy. Maybe a soda or two but nothing like a buffet or an entire cake! What I wish to know is what can I do to escape it? Mentally, if I could  I would be working out constantly but the body alas can only do so much. It decided to demonstrate that this week when I started experiencing some knee pain. (It's better now! (^_^) ) Believe it or not at one point I was feeling as though I wasn't doing quite enough until I stopped and actually took the time to evaluate my typical schedule. I mean when you view television shows depicting the lives of  people who are dropping  tremendous amounts of weight in the first few months, and I on the other hand so far have only lost 15lbs, you can easily start to question if you are really doing enough. As of now, this is what my schedule is currently looking like.
     Sundays, if I am unable to get a ride to church due to the fact that it is not local, I take a yoga class (1 hour). Mondays will either be aqua-boot camp or Zumba (1 hour each). I have gotten to the point where I love both trainer's classes so much, I have begun to alternate the classes weekly. (I love all my trainers really, I just don't have a class that I don't like!) (^_^) Tuesdays consists of Body Pump and Zumba back to back (2 hours total). Wednesdays are now rest days due to the fact that yoga was canceled. On Thursdays I take Body Pump and a belly dancing class. (2 hours total). Then I wrap up my week on Fridays with Zumba (1 hour) and Zumba Gold (45 minutes) back to back in the early in the morning. I also rest on Saturdays. I can see why lately I have been having some friends call me insane. To that I'm going to say the same thing I say to my husband when he calls me weird. You knew that when you met me! I love you anyways. (>_<) LOL!) So taking all of this into account, what is the issue? Is there a certain stress inducing chemical imbalance that physically is not allowing me to let the weight go? I do not wish to find some "special" diet pill. It is hard enough taking vitamins everyday as it would seem that  I tend to be a bit forgetful when it comes to taking any medicine/vitamins.Hopefully, this is temporary. Until next time.

-SKBarnes

Buffets are NOT my best friends

     That's it! I've tried and failed miserably. It is official. I have to avoid buffets. Initially, I had all of the right intentions. "I'll just go and stick to the salad, poached salmon, and maybe just maybe a few piece of sushi." WRONG! That good intention sooner morphed into "Maybe I'll just grab one potato wedge." "A little bit won't hurt besides, it's a buffet and I want to get my money's worth." before I even reached the table! Ughhh! Good intentions down the drain. This got me to thinking. Is it really a good deal if it effects your health in the long run? Now bear with me a bit and just think about it. If you eat excessively because you feel it is a "good deal" and your body just stores it as fat, isn't that the same as just wasting it? Looking back on my younger years if I was blessed enough to get invited out to eat, instinctively I would attempt to eat all I could until I was full. Let's be honest, I didn't know when I would be able to eat this well again. I mean I would literally look at food, see dishes and think I have to try everything because I may never have another opportunity to try this. Quite honestly in most cases this was true. I mean even the school lunches from time to time would appear to be an upgrade. Now, I am not so much complaining as I am attempting to put this all in perspective for you. I mean you did what you had to do to get by. You live and you learn. I mean it would have appeared as if I were absolutely greedy and selfish if I had attempted to eat multiple times a day when a family of five were on an extremely tight budget. Also we, meaning my two younger brothers and I, were always told to eat everything on our plates. That THIS family NEVER wastes food. This would then be followed by a three to four hour lecture on how the children in Africa have nothing and how we should ever be so lucky to have a chance to go to a buffet. As a matter of fact, our dad would actually take our drinks away until we were full. Then and only then could we get our sodas. I so am fighting to flip that now! That is to say I am striving to have a glass of water with every meal and to recognize that it is alright if you have left-overs. It's actually a good thing. Most portions at restaurants are really two servings anyway. I just have to remember it is all a learning process. Until next time.
-SKBarnes

Seek help when you need it. Don't wait!!!

Sorry for the late post. I was actually pondering on whether or not I should include this but I had decided long ago that I wanted to speak on all of my experiences that took place while attempting to lose weight. Well, recently I noticed that when it came to exercising, especially with high impact cardio, I would begin to lose my breath. I just figured it was because I was overweight. After all after about 15 minutes or so into the routine I would be fine. The problem was after I had completed my work outs. The transitioning feeling would go something like this. "Ah! Why am I doing this? AM I CRAZY?!?" to "Oh, yeah! I've got this! I am definitely coming back to this class." Then I would have this great since of accomplishment with the most amazing feel good high. No real issues right? I didn't think so either. I'm sure just about everyone who works out thick or thin falls into something similar to this but that is neither here nor there. Now, let's fast-forward this another 20 to 30 minutes. This is typically when my body has pretty much cooled down. At this point, I am having difficulties in breathing. My chest is tight, I'm wheezing, and I feel like I just have the worse chest cold in the world! I should have went to the doctor then but on the account that the seasons are changing to fall, I just assumed my body was attempting to catch a cold. I just took some medicine and called it a night. Now, I am going to be completely honest with you. I really am not one of those people who just loathe going to the doctor. It's just that I  currently do not have health insurance. Plain and simple. Now, getting back to what I was saying earlier. This continues on for about a week or so getting worse every night until two nights ago. I regret to inform you of this, really I do but I was suffocating. I began to panic. Largely due to the shock of realizing I had stopped breathing for a moment while I was asleep. I scrambled for the bottle of Primatine Mist. I had this from sometime ago and figured I wouldn't throw it out. It had helped me breath when I was congested and the expiration date had not passed on it. Also, I have always wondered why they discontinued/banned this product but it was the quickest thing I could get to that would provide some since of relief. I hate the burning sensation. It makes me feel like I'm a smoker but it helps temporarily. However at this point,  I was way too afraid to go back to sleep. The very next morning, which in all actuality was only a few hours, my husband and I went to Urgent Care where the doctor immediately put me on a breathing machine. I informed him of what had happened and how I only have serious congestion issues when the seasons change from warm to cold and vise versa. I later found out that some people have E.I.A. which is exercise induced asthma. I also was informed about why the Primatine Mist wasn't available anymore. Apparently, some people had died from over using it! I am definitely considering myself lucky at this point.  He prescribed some medicine and a fast acting inhaler to prevent this from happening again. I want to let you all know that I am fine and I can workout like I normally would if not better. (^_^) Funny, I am feeling kind of emotional recapping all of this. Please, if any of you notice anything out of the ordinary, don't wait like I did. Please, seek help immediately. No doctor's bill is worth your life. Until next time.

-SKBarnes

Water water everywhere and to hungry too think!!!!!

As of last night, I am currently at 350lbs which is now a total of 12lbs lost give or take some water weight. I am finding that it is actually hard to "rest" on my rest days. *chuckles* Sunday, believe it or not, I caught myself doing yoga stances when I had purposely only set out to a little stretching. I know getting the right amount of rest is something that I have to make certain I do in order to ensure that my body has ample time to repair itself. Drinking enough water is still a battle with me at this point. I have found that some nutritionist actually recommend taking your weight, dividing it by two and switching the pounds to ounces. This would mean in my case that I would take 350lbs/2 to get 175lbs. Then I would switch 175lbs to 175oz and this is the true amount of water I am suppose to drink daily. Now knowing that 128oz equals one gallon, this means that I would need to consume one gallon along with an additional six cups each and every day until more weight is lost! (@_@) At this point I might as well never leave home because with just the eight glasses alone, I can't be completely comfortable going out unless I know where the restroom is.

I am hungry ALL OF THE TIME! As you may recall in one of my earlier post. I stated that I was working on increasing my metabolism and thus have increased the number of "small" meals I consume on a daily bases. Forget about using the alarms on my phone now. I don't need them! The only problem is that I have to keep reminding myself that eating more often, does not equate to me taking in more calories. For example, if I roast half of a sweet potato and then later finish the other half, I shouldn't look at it as if I have had two whole potatoes fried in oil and doused with salt. Speaking of sweet potatoes. Did you know they are packed full with vitamins and are a good source of fiber? They can also help restore elastin to the skin. (^_^) You can read more about it at http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64. Now getting back to what I was saying earlier. This way of thinking stems back to my upbringing. Practically my entire family is thin so the thought behind it was "If you are a bit on the heavy side, eat less to lose weight". That backed with the uncertainty of where our next meal would be coming from created an unhealthy lifestyle. I've always compared myself to a bear. You know how they have to eat as much as they can when they can when food is available because they will have to hibernate? Well, that was in some since me. It is very difficult to "reprogram" my brain. Naturally, I want to go back to eating once or twice a day but I can't fall back into old habits. All that did was make me sluggish and aided to packing on the pounds. I love the new found energy and passion for life that I have and am not giving it back up without a fight. Until next time.
-SKBarnes

Got a little ahead of myself.

Sorry I have been away for a few days. I actually wasn't able to go to bodypump this week on account of scheduling differences. You see currently we only have one automobile and of course his job comes first.  The good news is that I have met some wonderful people that are king enough to give me a ride now and then. (^_^) Lately I have been doing some thinking about this blog. Reading over my past post, it appears I kinda just dove into this as if it was an online diary. You at this point don't really  know anything about me so that got me thinking. What would you like to know? I am a cosmetologist, 25 years young, and a newlywed. I mostly go by Kiki and I love to cook. Anything else you wish to know, within reason, just ask away and I will try my best to reply to you. I can't wait to see what this evolves to. There have been plenty of times where I would go online looking for a blog that I could to relate to. I normally come across these sights that, even though the  are still inspirational, don't really apply to me. I'm not saying it doesn't exist. I am just saying I have had not such luck find anything. Well, yesterday I asked my husband to drop me off and the sportsplex. I was fully prepared to be there all day but luckily, I bumped into someone I had met at aqua boot-camp. Come find out, I actually have built up enough endurance to do two Zumba classes back to back.  I am very proud of myself. In just a short period of time I am able to see a vast improvement in my health. I became so emotional today when I was actually able to run again. It was only two short laps around the indoor track,12 laps equaling one mile, but considering that a month ago I would get out of breath just going up eight stairs from my apartment. I am elated! I have gotten back on schedule with my meal times along with my water intake and I have also purchased a product called Muscle Milk to help feed my muscles after working about by giving them protein. I even manged to find some packages that were on sale and sugar free. Have any of you use this brand before? What has been your experience. What do you recommend? I would love to know what you incorporate into your regimens. (^_^) Until next time.

-SKBarnes.

Splash and Burn

Yes, I feel great! I just got back from my aqua boot camp class. Today we worked our arms and legs and more people joined in. Tomorrow I plan on going to this class called body pump. I wonder if it is cardio or if it is weight training. I really hope that there are not a lot of high impact moves on account that I am still building up my endurance. I am getting stronger everyday. I remember just last week I was afraid I was going to fall down in the pool face first when I attempted lunges. Now I have actually developed speed!  After I had completed my workout I proceeded to the hot tub to relax my muscles. I also cleared my allergies/sinus symptoms in the sauna. It's that time of year again. (@_@) What do you do to unwind from a workout? I know that we need to make sure that we stretch before and after working out but how long are we suppose to do so? Does it differ depending on the type of workout you choose? Feel free to comment. I will be back tomorrow to fill you in on what this "body pump" really is and what it really in-tales. Until next time.

-SKBarnes

Slip Ups

I know it's late but hey, better late than never. I am starting to see some changes starting with my appetite. I am seeing that I do not have to rely on the alarm clock completely. I am however, noticing that my craving for water has diminished. I am going to have to make sure that I stay on top of my game. Speaking of staying on top of my game, I have decided that I can not have any kind of candy in the house. You see my husband saw that there was a sale and decided buy some bags. Why did I have to see it? (T_T) Tried as I might I gave in. I am not going to beat myself up like I use to do but I still need to practice restraint. I recently ordered a dvd that that will allow me to walk/jog three miles at home when I am unable to get to the gym. Again, I am starting over and do not wish to rush into this so much that I burn myself out. This is not just a quick weight loss plan so that I can be skinny but a life style change. Luckily, I have discovered that there is a organic health food store not far from where I live. It is amazing! They have the freshest foods and I love their weekly specials. I was able to get an entire whole organic chicken just for signing up on their e-mail list. This week's deal allowed me to get a carton of eggs, half a gallon of orange juice, one protein bar, a box of cereal and a carton of almond milk for only five dollars! I was ecstatic when I saw the cash register jump from 16.00 to five dollars! I will have to ask the manager if it is alright to mention the store in my blog so I can share the deals with all of you. (^_^) I am excited about tomorrow. That's right! It is aqua boot camp day! I can't wait. Look at me staying up all hours of the night as if it was my birthday or something. (>_<) Oddly enough, even though I am down eight pounds, I still feel like I am not doing enough. Crazy I know. Yes, I know I had the little candy slip up but that is no reason for me to feel that I gained 8+ pounds back. This is something that I have been working on for a while. The moment I lose a little weight, I start worrying about gaining it all back and then some. Just like with my physical health, I have to take on day at a time, take back my self-esteem and my confidence. I can do it. It is just going to take a little time. Until next time.

-SKBarnes

8lbs for the win!

354 pounds. Looks like I am on my way! (^_^) Not too bad if I do say so myself. Today I decided to switch it up a bit and eat a veterinarian style dinner. You see earlier I had been pondering about how to change up my diet. You have some people who recommend cutting out all carbs while others suggest removing meat from my daily diet. I even spoke with one individual, who upon hearing that I ate like everyone else in my family but was the only one who was plus-sized, recommended I became a vegan all together. I don't know if I am ready for quite such a commitment. *chuckles* Right now I am discovering what my body likes and doesn't like. I also realized something else about my eating habits. Even though I didn't eat very often, once or twice a day, I still managed to take in a lot of sodium. I read somewhere that the daily intake of sodium should not exceed over 1500mg. I one the other hand have been eating in excess of over 2400mg! I believe this may be the reason why, along with me not consuming enough water, I would swell and retain water weight. I have been looking at the labels more closely and it seems just about everything pre-packaged has over 550mg of sodium per serving. I was absolutely at a loss when I decided that I would give canned soups a try. I'm not the biggest soup fan but I figured it would be a light meal that I could easily heat up in the microwave. I even made the effort to go for the "lite" soups. Well, first of all the medium sized cans are actually for two servings so I would have to remind myself to place half of the can in a container for later. What if I wasn't home? Am I suppose to just throw the other half away? I'm sorry but to me that is a waste of money. The companies should just give us the one serving and cut the prices in half so we don't have to worry about this sort of thing. Secondly, I found that some of the original soups actually had less sodium per serving. Are we now at a place where we have to trade calories for sodium? I guess I will be starting on my own soup recipes. *laughs* Until next time.

-SKBarnes

Medic!

Unfortunately my sleeping times have been completely off.  My intention was to up wake up in the morning and make my husband breakfast for work, sticking to my meal/water schedule and  going to the gym to swim, so on and so forth. Lo and behold I wake up late. I also have a dulling pain in my right shoulder. Talk about irony! I started yoga purely to decrease my chances of having injuries and this happens. Maybe I over did it with the weights afterwards. Such is my life. *smiles* Oh well, I am not giving up. I'm always coming up with new ideas in the kitchen so now I wish to create healthier options. Today I was wanting to make a pasta dish so I grabbed some bow-tie pasta. Did you know the average 1lb box is for eight servings! Now I see why we need to read the labels. My husband and I would normally split a box add pasta sauce and throw some type of meat in it. I proceeded to  measure out my pasta and instead of just smothering it in Alfredo or tomato sauce, I added spinach, pesto, a little Parmesan and diced tomatoes. It was amazing and what's great is that I know I had at least two serving of vegetables. Funny, I feel it actually tastes better without it being loaded in heavy sauces. (^_^) I really hope that my shoulder gets to feeling better because I do not wish to be out for too long. To anyone who may be reading this, please feel free to  leave suggestions. It will be much appreciated. Thanks. Here is to  trying again tomorrow!

-SKBarnes

Aye yo, YOGA!

Today I was invited to try yoga for the very first time. At first I was a bit apprehensive due to the fact that I do not appear to look like the average yoga student but I am the type of person that will try almost anything once. Where the moves kinda hard? Yes. Did I think about quitting? Maybe. What I did find however was that after I would say the first 20 minutes, the old body started to remember what it was like to stretch again. *chuckles* You see, besides getting the invite, I had been kinda curious about yoga. For some odd reason even if I stretch before working out, I always tend to pull or hurt something. I will continue to go back at least once a week in hopes of seeing a vast improvement in my flexibility and balance. I need to also find a  way to break the habit of eating only once or twice a day. When I went to class I found that I was extremely nauseous and dizzy.  What I am doing now to try to rectify this is building a schedule. Right now I have my phone to go off every 2 1/2  or so hours. I am going to try to just eat smaller meals and fill up with water. Let's see how this goes. See you tomorrow!

-SKBarnes

One day at a time. . .

362 lbs. Something that I never thought I would see in my lifetime. How could this have happened considering that I have been combating this my entire life? I have always attempted to find something to get involved in but as of yet no success. Am I here to start a blog site filled with "woe is me" posts? Not at all. You see I recently decided to take the time to reflect what was missing in all my attempts. I have tried diets, pills, you name it but to be honest it was for all of the wrong reasons. In school everyone is worried about fitting in but now I just want to be happy and healthy. I also feel that by actually publishing this online that maybe someone in a similar situation would have someone who they could relate to. Also for some odd reason, posting here makes me feel a bit more accountable so I'm hoping this will also keep me from getting bored.   Who knows? (^_^) My plan is to check in with this blog and post what I have done and how my actions have effected me and my weight loss goal. Ready, set, GO!!!! Here is to day one.

Thanks for listening/reading,

-SKBarnes