Just say no!

****Posted by Nicole

I’m slowly but surely getting back into the habit of just saying no. Last night I desperately wanted to eat after dinner and I just said no! Instead I poured a glass of water and went for a walk on the treadmill. This morning my teammate offered to get me a McDonald’s breakfast and I just said no! I’ve found that unhealthy snaking and portion control are my two worst enemies.

Even though I’ve worked out every night but Wednesday I have this sinking feeling that what I’m doing isn’t going to be enough. When I was running 2.5 miles I was burning at least 400 calories at a time. That’s almost a meal! Now I’ve lost my running stamina and can barely walk for 30. I am trying, just not really hard like I was in the beginning. Damn, this is so frustrating. Is it this hard for everyone else? Has anyone else gone through what I am right now?

Some other good news is that I've not had a carbonated beverage all week. This is an accomplishment because I love love love coke and Dr. Pepper. I'm going to see how long I can go without one. So far we are Five days and counting!

Reasons for the Blogging Decrease

***Posted by Kyle

I know that Nicole has been doing a lot of the blogging lately, and I want to apologize. The reasons for this are multi-fold. First of all, my brother and I went on a road trip last week. This caused me not to blog for a couple of reasons- first of all, I haven't started blogging from my phone (and I'm not sure if I want to). Another reason is that our road trip centered around eating at BBQ joints across the Midwest- not exactly the type of thing that's good to talk about on a blog that encourages people to lead healthier, more active lives.

Another reason for my laziness is that Ninja Fingers is slowly turning into a lifestyle. When we first started this thing, we were excited. We were losing weight, feeling great, and wanted to shout it out across the world. Since then, this thing called "life" has gotten in the way. We are both working really hard, and have stopped losing weight at the rapid rate it fell off before. We still try to eat the same healthy things that we used to- Whole Grains, more Veggies, less fried stuff, less soda. Last night we went out to eat. Instead of gorging ourselves on huge meals, we split some appetizers. It was nice, light, and didn't kill our caloric sensibilities. Let me publicly praise Nicole- she has started her gym membership back up again, and is doing well and feeling better as a result. My workouts this week have come from (literally) moving hundreds of cases of wine in my warehouse by hand.

So, there are my lame excuses. I will try to be better about posting. I will also post more recipes that we are eating from Cooking Light- great stuff I must say!

Have a great day, make at least one healthy decision.

Reporting in….

This week so far I’ve worked out every day. Okay so it’s only Wednesday, but I’m trying to get into the habit of giving myself only one day off a week. Trust me when I say that I am not excited about this decision, but I think it’s necessary. I’ll give myself one day a week off and it will be a floating day. I have to work out at least 30 minutes and it doesn’t matter what that is. Biking, running, walking, climbing stairs, doing a video, whatever, just something to keep my heart rate up. Surely I can do just 30 minutes a day!

Ice Cream Social

****Posted by Nicole

Yesterday was the building ice cream social. I am not into ice cream or socializing with people from the buiding so I decided not to go. As I stared into my computer screen doing work like a good little girl, my teammate wheeled over and asked if I wanted to go down and get some ice cream. No. I told him I wasn’t going and he said that he didn’t want to stand in line by himself. I proceeded to call him and girl and then found myself walking to the elevator with him. I’m not a huge ice cream fan, but on a hot summers day, it sounds pretty freaken good.

As we walked through the lobby I saw some people coming in with Drumsticks. Ugh oh, a bowl of ice cream is one thing, but a Drumstick is another! I told myself to “Be strong!” and proceeded to stand in the massive line. My teammate and I chatted about the steamy weather and I gazed ahead to watch the chocolate dipped vanilla melt down the hands of my fellow office/building friends. I wanted to whimper like my pups do when they want a piece of cheese from my hand.

As we got closer and closer I noticed that they were giving out an array of flavors. Mint chocolate chip, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and freaken oreo. Really? So I pulled myself out of the line and waited for the weenie boy to get his free treat. As we headed back up to the 6th floor and I watched my teammate gobble up a large bowl of chocolate chip ice cream I smiled at the thought of not wasting my dinner calories on one thing. Yay me!

For my friend not so Fatty Patty

****Posted by Nicole

I got an email from a dear friend of mine today that had some recent pictures of she and her family on vacation. As the pictures came up on the screen I noticed that she looked like a freaken rock star. She had a baby about a year ago and has not only lost the baby weight, but also the weight she and I both put on after high school and college.

I love her dearly and have been friends with her so long that I can’t even remember life before her. I’m ashamed to say that when I saw her pictures my heart sank. I hate that there is still that little voice in my head that screams “Noooooooo! We are supposed to be fat together and lose the weight at the same time together!” She and I have always been about the same size. I had gained weight, so had she. I was rolie colie and she was fatty patty. We were going through the same struggles and hardships with our self image and eating habits. I am very proud of her for losing so much weight and I want nothing more than to be happy and celebrate with my friend.

I refuse to wallow in my self pity and am going to fight my horrible jealous, sinful, tendencies and keep on the positive road. I will one day get to where she is, just not today. I will one day be able to look at a picture of myself and think, “yep, I’m good. I made my goal.” It just won’t be next week. So here is to one of my most cherished friends that looks amazing and I am so very proud of!

But it’s a girlie night!

****Posted by Nicole

When I was a kid, every now then my mom would have what we call a girlie night. It was when my dad would be out of town and we would get something really good and naughty to eat and it would be just us girls. We would watch whatever and eat whatever. I’ve continued this tradition and lately it’s been happening a little too often. Whenever Kyle goes out of town or has an event I want to head straight for Taco Bell. It’s fast, it’s convenient, and it just wrecks my stomach and diet. So the next time he's out of town I’m going to pledge to be good. I’ll watch a girlie movie, but I will not stuff myself with tacos, nachos, pizza, or cheese. I will go to the grocery and get something that is healthy and low in fat. I will be good until Saturday, I will be good until Saturday, I will be good until Saturday….

No, seriously, we really are trying

One thing Nicole and I have both realized is that a lifetime of bad habits is really, really hard to break. This last week, our pastor gave an amazing sermon on leadership. One of the things that he talked about is that leaders (in the church, but I think you could extrapolate that out into effective leaders in every facet of life) need to be free of any current addictions, including food. This is a problem not only with me and Nicole, but with a lot of people that we know. So many of our friends and even some family members spend a significant portion of their time focusing on what they just ate, what they are eating, and what they are going to eat. Now, anyone that knows me realizes that I'm not a fan of crappy food. I like good food- whether "healthy" or not, I like food that is well prepared from quality, fresh ingredients, and tastes good. But, me "liking" food and using my job/social situations/my mood/etc as an excuse to commit the sin of overindulgence is what got me in trouble in the past. This, combined with inherent laziness when it comes to working out alone, is a dangerous combination for anyone.

What about you? Are you using food as a crutch? Do you eat to fuel your body, and enjoy it, or do you literally think about it all day long? How many times this week have you said "well, since I've already blown it today, having some more [insert food or drink item here] won't hurt."? Do you eat when you are bored/upset/happy/probably just thirsty? I'm not hating on you. I have done all of these in the last week, which is one of the reasons I have actually gained weight for the first time since we started Ninja Fingers.

So, fellow ninjas, just check yourself. Are the little "cheats" that you are allowing yourself really small rewards, or are they symptoms that you are addicted to something less sinister, but just as harmful, as any drug?

Ninja Classes

***Posted By Kyle

Whereas Nicole was reading up on Plus Sized Models, I was reading about where to take Ninja Classes. Check it out.

http://www.cloud9living.com/new-york/private-ninja-lessons

By the way, sorry for the lack of posts. I was travelling a bit over the weekend. Trust me when I say that I walked a lot, ate fairly unhealthily, but sweated it all off last night watching a concert outside.

Have a great week!!!!

Be who you are

I found a really good article today on yahoo about a plus sized model. I found it to be enlightening as I struggled just this morning about the way I feel about myself. So take a peek if you get a chance!

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/bikini/model-kate-dillon-speaks-out-about-being-too-skinny-too-plus-size-and-whats-up-with-the-crystal-controversy-2015056/

Bad food, Wasted calories

****Posted by Nicole

Last night Kyle and I had to go to a church BBQ. It was at a very lovely home and we met some very lovely people, however, we did not eat very lovely food. I was really excited when I saw it put out because they had burgers galore and hotdogs for days. I went for the burger. It looked a little overcooked, but I figured that’s okay, I can deal, and I’m in the mood for a burger! Kyle and I sat down and dug in. This is where my foodie snobbery comes in. I’m embarrassed to say that it was the second worse hamburger I’ve ever eaten. I would have stopped eating right then but the people who cooked the food sat down at the table and my Texas upbringing wouldn’t allow me to not eat the food that was cooked for us and in front of me. So I ate it. My mother calls it wasted calories, I call it a huge disappointment. How hard is it to mess up a burger that bad? Even I know how to cook a decent burger. In their defense they were cooking for the masses and did provide the food free of charge. I know, I’m ungrateful. Now it’s off to try out my first class of Zumba tonight and work off those wasted calories.

Ditched

****Posted by Nicole

Last week I got a call from my friend that I called Vern. We had decided that we were going to just get to the gym and go for it. We coordinated our schedules and were going to make it happen. Well, Vern did not make it and I was ditched. She had to pick up her little girl from school so I gave her a get out of jail free card this one time. :)

Going back really felt great. A lot of the regular ladies recognized and welcomed me back to class with open arms. The normal instructor wasn’t there, but I was a little glad because the sub put in some “Zumba” routines in with the “Drills That Make You Sweat”. It’s kind of like Jazzercise and done with dance moves but with better music and a cooler name. I loved it and have completely changed my dinner/workout schedule today to go to a real class. It was just what I needed to get excited about working out again and I can’t wait to see what an hour of this stuff can do!

P.S.
I think my body is in shock because every muscle was screaming at me this morning when I got out of bed. Ouch!

Hittin' the Sack

****Posted by Kyle

Well, fellow Ninjas, we're definitely back- Nicole is in the gym as I'm typing this, and I just got done doing a heavy-bag boxing workout in the dojo. Wow, I forgot how freaking hard that workout is, and I skipped the push-ups and crunches that I used to do in the middle of it. This "back on the right track" thing hurts, but will be so worth it!

Thanks for all the prayers, support, letters, notes, texts, messages, and emails....we can't do it without you!

Small success, caloric destruction

***Posted by Kyle

This last week, I flew to Denver for the night. One of the things that I whined about at the very beginning of this project was how embarrassing it is to be on an airplane, and have to ask for the seat-belt extension. No matter how discreetly you do it, someone overhears you, and you can just feel the people around you judging you immediately, whether they know you or not. Trust me, it sucks. At any rate, this was the first flight that I have taken since losing the pounds, and I am happy to report that the "normal" seatbelt fit comfortably. This may not mean much to you, but man, it literally almost made me tear up.

So, what did my dumb ass do? In celebration I ate a bunch of bad food in Denver, and continued the caloric atomic attack over the 4th of July weekend. Nice job, bonehead. Now, I'm in a meat hangover, I don't feel like working out, and I have a lot of office work to get done.

Oh well, one week at a time, right?

It’s good to have friends

****Posted by Nicole

Lately it’s been really hard for me to get downstairs to workout. I did so good for so long, and now all of my efforts have been reversed. Man it’s frustrating. I worked out once this week and that’s about it.
Today I received a call from a friend that couldn’t have come at a better time. She made a trip to the doctor and was told she needed to lose 10 pounds. It might not seem much when you’re looking at losing 30, but as she said, better to lose 10 now then 20 next year. She knew that she needed some motivation to work out and that she would meet someone there, but not go on her own. I feel the same way! Perfect! So, next Tuesday we have a workout date and I am pumped! (no pun intended!)

Thanks to my friend (we will call her….. Vern) for phoning me up in the nick of time!