No-bake delicious little energy balls!

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Trader Joes Better n' peanut butter)
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/3 cup honey (I used raw natural)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. I used my hands and got ALL into it!  Let chill in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.  Once chilled, roll into balls, store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

THESE ARE SO GREAT & SO GREAT FOR YOU!

~Coco

WORK IT!!!

How do you handle unsupportive friends?

The question was asked to me, "how do you handle a situation when someone is non-supportive in your weight-loss". Hmmm okay in all honesty how can you not get defensive, furious and hurt. I mean after working so hard to accomplish your dreams and then for someone to TRY to shoot them down. They don't understand the will power it takes to walk away almost every time from sweets you love, the motivation it takes to get up every day and push yourself physically, the hard work you put into every- single- day. Perhaps if they understood all of that they would be congratulating you and you two would be jumping for joy together because you'd share in the same lifestyle. In conclusion my answer would be keep doing what you're doing it's working for you, if you know you're healthy and you are taking care of your body the best you can, than you are doing amazing and you are adding years to your life instead of taking years away like the majority of our obese world. Lastly, surround yourself with positive people, negative- unhappy people will find any way they can do bring you down.
"It's easy to do nothing, that's why so many people do it".
So if you're one of the ones working hard pat yourself on the back and rock that bikini knowing you earned it!
~Coco

We've Upgraded!

Everything from here down is out of order, out of date, and probably makes no sense if you're finding us on blogger or just now finding out about our blog. We used to blog on Tumblr and wanted to import all of our old posts, but I wasn't going to try to figure out how to do it in order! We decided to make the switch from Tumblr to blogger for a few reasons but I can already tell I much rather prefer it. We hope you do too.

Stay tuned for some new posts :)

--Kb

It's gonna be a long one!

Herro!

Truthfully, I have wanted to write a blog for several days now, but every time I get started I get distracted. I really think I don’t know what to say.

April 1^st, my gym wrapped up it’s 60 day, Ultimate Body Makeover Challenge. My heart was NOT in this challenge at all. Which was kinda crazy because I was the last challenge winner. I knew my schedule wasn’t going to let me have as much time to work out (which proved to be true, up until this last Monday and Tuesday, I didn’t work out for the past three weeks), and I never trusted myself around a diet (I have a real week spot for oreos, which proved true in this diet too). Let’s look at my measurements when I first started my first challenge at the gym back on November, 14, 2011 (Aww, this was 3 days after I started talking to the man I’m now in love with. 13 days before I would meet him. I was always curious of my weight around that time. Now I know—ish):

Before:
Weight: 169
Waist: 37.5 Inches
Right Bicep: 12 Inches
Left Bicep: 12 Inches
Right Thigh: 23.5 Inches
Left Thigh: 23 Inches
Hips: 44.5 Inches
Body Fat: 29.2%
BMI: 28.2

After: 12/28/2011
Weight: 153 (-16 Pounds)
Waist: 32.5 Inches (-4 inches)
Right Bicep: 11.5 Inches (-.5 inches)
Left Bicep: 11.25 Inches (-.75 inches)
Right Thigh: 22.25 Inches (-1.25 inches)
Left Thigh: 22.25 Inches  (-.75 inches)
Hips: 41 inches (-3.5 inches)
Body Fat: 29.0% (-.2%)
BMI: 27.1 (-1.1)

First Challenge Results: -16 Pounds, -10.75 Inches, .2% body fat (sad!) and -1.1BMI

60 Day Challenge:
Before February 1st, 2012:

Weight: 145 Pounds (Down 8 Pounds from Last Challenge)
Waist: 31.25 Inches (-1.25 from Last Challenge)
Right Bicep: 11.25 Inches (-.25 from Last Challenge)
Left Bicep: 11.5 Inches (+.25 from Last Challenge)
Right Thigh: 22.375 Inches (+.125 from Last Challenge)
Left Thigh: 22 Inches (-.25 from Last Challenge)
Hips: 40.5 Inches (-.5 From Last Challenge)
Body Fat: 25.6% (-3.4% From Last Challenge)
BMI: 25.7 (-1.4 From Last Challenge)

After April 1^st, 2012

Weight: 131 Pounds
Waist: 31.75 Inches (+.75 Inches)
Right Bicep: 11 Inches (-.25 Inches)
Left Bicep: 10.75 Inches (-.50 Inches)
Right Thigh: 22.25 Inches (-.125 Inches)
Left Thigh: 22.375 Inches (-.375 Inches)
Hips: 37.625 Inches (-2.875 Inches)
Body Fat: 19.3% (6.3%)
BMI: 22.8 (-2.9)

60 Day Challenge Results: -14 Pounds, -3.375 Inches, -6.3% Body Fat, -2.9BMI

I lost 8 pounds from working out at the gym between the end of the first challenge and the start of the second, dropped 3.4% Body Fat and my BMI dropped 1.4 points.

However, from November to April, in five months, I lost, 38 pounds, 16 inches, 9.9% body fat, and 5.4 BMI points.  

That’s crazy. I really wish I had record of when I FIRST started. But, I don’t. So these numbers will have to suffice, and I will have to know that I was some 30 pounds heavier and much bigger.

If you didn’t see the before/after pictures I posted from the 60 day challenge they are in the pictures section. Kinda neat. I’ll be honest. I really wasn’t focused on the diet. I ate oreos almost every night. Our diet allowed for one cheat day a week and I basically made that every day. One week out of the 8 I was up in Anaheim and I had NO healthy food choice options so I hate horrifically. I can lose weight Mon-Thursday but I felt like Friday-Sun I spent gaining it all back. Like a vicious cycle. I apparently did well though and I’m proud of myself.

Some of the more common questions I often get asked are the following:

What are you doing?

The answer to this is simple. Kettlebell! Then when I say that, they are like, “what’s that?” So, let me explain it. Kettlebell is actually the short term name for Kettlebell weight training. Like, Crossfit is the short term name for Crossfit Training. Kettlebells are actually used in Crossfit, but Kettlebell Weight Training is derived of JUST kettlebells. Why are they so wonderful? As opposed to just regular weights, KB’s utlize your entire body. When you use regular weights you’re mainly using your arms, but with a KB, you can do swings and use your legs, squats (which I suppose you can uncomfortably do with a regular weight) and use your legs). KB workouts combine cardio, which I personally HATE. When I was going all the time I saw the most benefits. Even now, I see benefits because my body has changed so durastically. I CAN eat oreos at night and it doesn’t stick to me like glue. When I was 190 pounds, Oreos at night was practically a death sentence.

I eat very low carb. Not No-carb. That’s unrealistic. But, low carb. I set a goal of 10g carbs a day. Knowing, I’m going to go over that. Ideally, I try to stay under 20g and I like to think I do that. Today I’m somewhere between 8g-12g. I know when I eat anything with Carbs, they break down to sugar and store as fat. So, why would I spend my day thinking about how I can burn fat off of my body, to only go and consume it? No thanks! :)

How do you stay motivated?

This question comes in a variety of formats, a long the lines “I can’t believe you met your goal, I’ve tried dieting before and I never stuck with it, how did you do it, etc. etc.”. To which I usually respond, “If you knew how many times I tried and landed flat on my face before actually succeeding you’d probably be even more proud of me!” When I first wanted to start losing weight, my FIRST plan was to get as FAT as I could so I could just have weight loss surgery. Hello, lazy! 

Here’s my tips for staying motivated: Find a friend you can do it with. A LONG DISTANCE ONE. Not one that can bring you down. Don’t have a long distance friend? MAKE ONE! This wasn’t my goal going into it, but I know I couldn’t have done it without Coco. You need a no-hold-bar friend. Coco and I tell each other everything. Hell, we practically know each other’s poop schedule! Okay, maybe not “schedule” but, it’s definitely not a taboo subject in our text history. Don’t be afraid to talk about things that may seem weird. Your bodies certainly change when you lose weight! But also keep it positive. Have fun with your friend. Coco and I send each other pictures, quotes, and keep each other motivated. And I needed that. When I didn’t want to keep going, Coco, without even knowing it, would send me a picture of her, that would make me get off of my duff and get moving. Or she would send me a quote, or she would tell me something. Those little things, always helped. Plus, she was always there for me when I needed to vent about how I wasn’t losing weight, how  I was on a plateau, how something didn’t make sense, and vice versa. But, having her not be in San Diego, to bring me down, because she maybe didn’t want to work out (which, let’s be real, isn’t the type of person she is!) So, maybe because I didn’t want to work out, was perfect. There’s ton’s of people in online forums, on tumblr, all over who need encouragement. Find one.

Set goals for yourself. Short term ones and long term goals, and tell your buddy! Be accountable. If you set a short term goal to lose a pound for a week, or fit into a pair of jeans better, or be able to run a longer distance- whatever the goal may be. Reward yourself if you make that goal, but ONLY if you make that goal. Don’t change the guidelines, so you get the reward regardless of if you complete it. If you complete your goal, you get the reward. If you don’t you don’t. Set longer term goals, and even LONGER term goals. Have your buddy be truthfully honest. “Do I look like I have a pooch?” Coco asked me this one time, and I wasn’t going to tell her “No, you don’t”. She does. She’s carried a child. She’s going to have a pooch! She better have a pooch! I WANT her to have a pooch! That pooch is an incredible reminder of the MIRACLE that she carried inside of her, and that’s exactly what I said to her. I didn’t say, “Yeah, you’re fat!” She’s not! She’s freaking stunning. Have you seen her?! ::cat calls:: But if she asks me a question, I’m not going to give her the answer she WANTS to hear, I’m going to give her the truthful answer she DESERVES to hear. That’s the compound of our friendship. Our very, very, very close friendship.

In other news, I’m OFFICIALLY, signed up for my Kettlebell Certification and assuming I pass the course on May 19^th I will be a certified Kettlebell Trainer. That’s exciting. Never in a million years did I think when I walked through the gym doors on October 18^th, 2011, did I think that would be the result. I fell in love.

——-

In personal news, Caleb told me that his hours for work were going to be changing to 3:30pm-12:00am beginning in 2 or 3 weeks, with no possible ending date.  He told me last night before we went to bed and I was up most of the night, tossing and turning. I kept thinking about how I HATED when he worked Mid’s from 10pm-7am. That hardly gave us any time to see each other, but nights won’t give us any time to see each other except in the morning when I’m rushing out the door. I woke up this morning, after he left for work and cried my eyes out. With him working the hours that he has now, everything works. If I’m stressed out working a full time job, coaching, and working out (which has managed to become another part time job in itself), and being a student, I can rely on Caleb. With him working nights I can’t do that. I can’t count on him to get up and do laundry after not going to bed until 2am or 3am, and not getting up until 10am or 11am. I can’t count on the dishes being done, or things being cleaned up.  I can’t ask him to go grocery shopping because I physically just don’t have the time to do it. So, now I’ll have to make caring for the house an additional responsibility, which I suppose it should be, but don’t forget I’m also a student, who is transitioning into a university from a community college, and nothing in my schedule is exactly changing; only getting more hectic and I’m stressed and I’m tired of crying about it today. Ugh, and with stress comes weight gain. My biggest fear is that I was becoming very unhappy in our relationship when he was working Mid’s because he was never around and never pulling his weight. I don’t want to get to that same level with him working nights. I hate the Navy.

Eating Healthy while out of town?

Impossible.
===

So, thursday I left for Anaheim for WonderCon, 2012. What a different experience for the most ungeeky person like me. It was a fun time though and I bonded with a majority of my co-workers. I finally felt like I fit in with them.

However, we were put at the Hilton, where the only food there was a pizza place, burgers, or sandwiches. Wow, what a hard time for my diet. So, I threw it to the wind. Thought I’d start over today. However, I’m home from work today— after 7 straight working days, and what did I have this morning? Oreos.

It’s important to remember though, that I’m human. I’m not a machine, I’m nothing spactacular. I’m a human- and I have cravings, and I want food. Real, freakin’, food. But, once my clothes are dry, I’m going grocery shopping and getting things I need to make this week successful. Things I can have readily and easily available. I’m gonna spend more time in the gym, less time on my ass this week. It’s time to get back on the bike and keep moving.

So, my message to you is- we can all fall off the horse, stumble, and fall, but getting back up is the part that is part that can be inspirational. So, I’mma do it. <3 

Geeze! I have been working my booty away at my full time job (sometimes 12 hours a day), I leave there and go coach gymnastics, and then go home. If I’m lucky- I’m only awake for a few hours (usually doing paperwork for gymnastics) before I go to bed. My workouts have gone from 5x a week to 2. I hate it. But, that’s fine. 

So, I haven’t lost much weight in the past month or so. But, definitely have lost inches. I hit my lowest weight of all time last week at 135 pounds, but after my weekend (definitely where I struggle the most) I am starting this week out at a 137 pounds. That’s fine to me. The past few weeks I’ve been starting them at a 140. I suppose you can say I have been “maintaining”. About a month or so ago, I comfortably got into my size 3 jeans; my goal jeans. I even went out and bought a few more when all of my size 5’s were falling off of me. On Friday, I noticed that even my three’s were getting a little big, and so I went yesterday to go see if I could find any other ones that I liked. To my surprise; I did. In the clearance rack. They were a size one, but truthfully looked like they would fit. Never in my life have I seen a pair of jeans hanging on a rack, and been like “oh, I like those! let’s try them on!” I usually have to shuffle to the back of the rack, and find the largest size they had. Even then, it would be luck if they fit sometimes. ESPECIALLY without having do the ultimate lunge and squat maneuver to get into them. To my surprise when I went into the fitting room (with them, some others, and some “small” shirts) they fit. With ease. I bought them. :) 

I was asked the other day how my life is different than it was a year ago. I laughed. I can’t even put into words the way my life has changed.

      It’s like, I’ve blacked out the past year. I can’t look back and say what I was even doing a year ago; or where I was. I’m usually stellar with dates, and knowing what was happening when. I could probably tell you what I was doing 5 years or so ago around this time, but last year— it’s erased from my memory. 
     I can tell you this though; I’m happy. Am I happy because I’m thin(ner)…it’s still hard for me to say thin. Let’s go with thinner. Of course. Is that the wrong reason to be happy? Some may think so. I’m also happy because I had dream for myself, I had a desire. One I had set out on SO many times in the past, and failed. There was something different in it this time, and I did it. So, of course I’m happy. 
     I’m also in love. I thought I knew what love was, but I had NO idea. Did I fall in love because I’m thin(ner). Maybe. It’s hard to admit that you’re not attractive because you’re heavy; and I’ve had friends tell me I was always beautiful, even when I was 197 pounds. Those friends knew me though, they knew what was in my heart, and the matter of fact point is- men won’t give you the time of day to get to know you when you’re heavy. If they do, you have a real man. But, in San Diego, where the women are beautiful and small, they don’t look twice at you. Now, I’m head over heels with someone who loves me unconditionally. He met me when I was 30+ pounds heavier than I am now, and he looks at me the same now as he did then. He’s loved me though every sore muscle, every drop of sweat, every time I didn’t think I can do it, and he’s proud of me. It’s all the support I need.
     I’m confident. I’ve never been confident. I looked at myself in the mirror, naked, the other day, and LOVED the person staring back at me. I still have my problem areas, I have peeves that I don’t like- my boobs are small, and I have some lose skin here and there, but I have a confidence I’ve never had before. The person staring back at me- reaches for the moon, and doesn’t stray when she feels lost. The person staring back at me, feels like she can do ANYTHING. It’s not everyday peopel go from 197 pounds to 135 in five months. The person staring back at me is successful, and happy. I’m not dependent on alcohol, or drugs to put me into a state of oblivion. My work-outs give me a high like nothing I’ve ever tried. I’m okay with that. The person staring back at me has a future.  I can do things I never thought I’d be able to do. I dream of getting married- and looking beautiful in a wedding dress. Not trying to find one that covers up the areas I was the most self conscious in. The person staring back at me has  goals that include my health, and fitness. The person staring back at me, inspires others. I’ve never inspired anyone. Maybe I inspired them to not be an alcoholic- to not be heavy. I inspire people to be the best that they can be. If I can do it, anyone can do it. It’s so true.

So, what’s next for me? I’m obviously not losing pounds like I was. That’s fine. I only want to lose 5 (or 7 as of this morning) more. Cody (my trainer) has agreed to pay for my HKC certification in May. It’s time to shred body fat, build more muscle and be strong so I can pass my certification. It’s time to live a life that is focused on me; and making myself even better. 

Until next time (and I hope it won’t be long..)
-KB