Whoop Whoop! Pull Over, That Ass is Too Phat!!!

I am officially under 200lbs!!!! Yes ma'am! Yes sir! I've been doing the cabbage patch, kid n play, and the roger rabbit all day, every day since I hit the under 200lbs milestone. It's been a minute since I've seen this side of the scale. I'm always losing inches, but pounds are another story. It's like the fat loves sticking to my ass. And by ass, I mean other areas that are not my gluteus maximus. Oh, I've got the thickness, but I've got the thickness more in my thighs and my upper back (aka back fat). I hate that shit! But since it's unrealistic (and just plain stupid) to spot lose, I'm okay with losing all over. But you know what that's doing for me? It's making my ass look AMAZING!!!! No, for real, check it.

Yeah buddy, I'm doing the damn thang!

Less back fat + less you ain't pregnant no more belly = dammmmnnnnn girl!!!

I've been doing really well with the lifestyle change. I've also joined a gym which I held out on doing because I live in an apartment complex with a gym. But, I had to have a Come to Jesus meeting with myself. If I'm training for life (shout out to Bianca!) then I have to TRAIN FOR LIFE! I can't be half stepping! Yeah, I'm getting it in with Salsa and Bachata dancing and I'm walking daily and running twice a week. But I need to bring it with the weight lifting. Which I don't have access to. Yeah, I could do things like use a resistance band and buy some weights. But nah bruh, I ain't trying to do all that. Besides, I like going to the gym. I'm a notorious people watcher. So going to the gym feeds me on so many levels. It's keeping me fit, boosting my moods, and satisfying my nosiness. Sounds like a win if you ask me ;)

Life is Good

It's true, I can't deny it. Things just seem to have been truly happening for me lately. And, I truly believe with all my heart it's because I decided to make the move towards embracing life. By embracing life, I mean I gave up the negativity. I stopped focusing so much on the little things going wrong in my life and starting focusing that energy on everything that is going right. I woke up one day and sat with the silence. One of my besties loves to say "there is too much truth in silence and some people can't handle what they hear". She is SO right. I sat in my silence and just listened. I listened to all the negativity that was sucking the life out of me and deciding right then and there I was sick of that shit.

No more would I spend weekends alone, cooped up in the house. No more would I waste hours of my life arguing with my ex husband about his responsibilities to our children. No more would I let work drag me down and drain me so I couldn't enjoy my children. No more would I left my emotions make me turn towards food. No ma'am! No sir! I'm threw with that shit.

I made a pledge to myself to be more active. So I started taking dance classes and spending more time with friends. I even started back to volunteering and mentoring. I told myself to simply let my ex husband argue with himself. When he says slick shit or tries to pull a fast one, I simply ignore him. Though there are a few random times when I do give him good taste of sarcasm served with a side helping of STFU. But those moments have become far and few between. I simply focus on the boys now. I promised myself I would not be up until midnight working anymore. At 5pm, I shut down at the office and I stay shut down until 8am the next day. And don't let it be a Friday! Cause sir you will get the "I'm currently out of the office and I will return your call/respond to your email when I return." Lastly, I exposed Otis Spunkmeyer for who he really is. A delicious muffin that hates me! Him and his homegirl Little Debbie ain't got no love for me. So I ain't got no love for them. Nope! And I kicked their cousin Coca-Cola to the curb too.

I've got a new attitude!

Somehow the wires uncrossed, the tables were turned
Never knew I had such a lesson to learn
I'm feelin' good from my head to my shoes
Know where I'm goin' and I know what to do
I tidied up my point of view

Yes ma'am!!!! Yes sir!!!! I am enjoying life!!!!!!!

Normally, This Would Have Been a Rough Week

I've got nothing new to report on how my lifestyle change. I'm still doing good, though I won't lie and will tell you that on Friday I inhaled a small bag of french fries from McDonald. And when I say inhaled, I mean inhaled. I'm 110% sure there was no chewing. It's all the school district's fault. They canceled school on Friday so the boys were home with me until I could get them to their dad's house. That's cool, I like having the boys home. Anyway, what had happened was the boys asked if they could have McDonald's for lunch. I wanted to say no, but everyone came home with great progress reports and the youngest decided to up his reading skills so how could I say no? So on the way to their dad's house I stopped at McDonald's. Well, you know how McDonald's does the apple slices and the french fries in Happy Meals now (yes, because fried potatoes slathered in ketchup are totally canceled out by apple slices)? Well, what had happened was I was just trying to make it to their daddy's house so that I could get them settled and those fries out of my car. I even rolled down the window (it was maybe in the 30s at the time, keep in mind I am delicate when it comes to the cold) and had my face turned out towards the window. I thought I was okay, but then that damn light took forever and a day to turn green. And in the span of waiting for the light to change, I lost my mind and went batshit crazy on my youngest son's french fries. No worries, he doesn't like potatoes at all. Yes, yes I know. Something must be off with that kid. How can you NOT like potatoes? No worries, I got a DNA test to confirm I AM the Mama because yes, I too was worried if he was my kid after I found out that little tidbit about him. So yes, I inhaled that child's fries. By the time I finished, we were at his dad's house. Ain't that some shit?!

So anyway, that's it on the healthy eating changes for the week. I've actually been really busy at work. I'm usually always busy, but by busy I mean still have time for FB. But, there have been a lot of changes at work lately. So I didn't even have time to FB during the work day on several occasions.  I have a new manager and a new desk that is NOT by the window anymore. Even though I told my boss I have a severe vitamin D deficiency and need as much sunlight as possible. Though I also really wanted that desk so I could catch a giggle anytime one of the girls at Sonic's tripped up and kissed the sidewalk or some fool driving 190mph got pulled over by the cop who is always at that same overpass and has been since the dawn of time. So anyway, I gained some new accounts too so I've been having to spread my awesomeness around to the new people. It's just been really crazy.

Normally, this would have been a rough week with all the changes at work and all of the changes I'm making in my personal life regarding my boys. Since I'm still working on the legal stuff, I'm not going to elaborate on that aspect. Just know changes are coming for the positive. So anyway, I've been so busy I didn't even go to salsa class this week. Say what?! Yep. I'm also dealing with a bruised left foot. Well, it was bruised. It's healed up now. I'm planning to go on Sunday, but we'll see. I can't remember if I told the baby sitter if I needed her or not. Thankfully, the oldest doesn't have a basketball game today.

Anyway, I made it through the week still sane and unscathed. But those fries didn't. I'll pour out a little ketchup for them...

Boom Boom POW!!!! I Wasn't Ready!

I finally did it! I FINALLY went Salsa dancing! I usually ONLY Salsa dance at my dance school where I feel safe. And by safe, I mean I don't have to worry about someone dancing more than what I know. Well, actually that does happen since most of the classes I take are mixed with beginners and intermediates. Which is great because I get to learn some new stuff and help out newbies with beginner stuff. But I've always been afraid to step out on the town and go dancing. I didn't want to run into someone who belongs on Dancing With the Stars and get embarrassed because I'm going forward while they're moving back. But this:

Yeah, ALL of this!

Yeah, they weren't ready for ALL of this! Man, those men straight up paused when they got a look at me! I was killing it in that dress and those shoes! But the real surprise is I wasn't ready!! No ma'am I wasn't! I haven't worn this dress in three years! Since I've last worn this dress, I've moved to a new city, dropped my ex-husband like the bad habit he was, changed jobs twice, and started making single parenting work for me. I was prepared to break out some spanx and tuck and push everything into place, but NOPE I didn't have tuck/shove/push/pull nothing. My body was ready for this dress. I look DAMN GOOD, if I do say so myself. (see the last post for what the dress looked like when I wore it 3 years ago)

You know what this dress did? It motivated me to keep on with my journey of changing my lifestyle. And yes, all the positive attention I got from the men helped too. But truly, this tells me I'm doing something right. There are days where I want to do nothing, but eat a swimming pool full of mashed potatoes. With butter. And cheese. And bacon pieces (not bits, bacon pieces dammit!). I just want to swim in a pool of mashed potatoes. I miss potatoes! I miss potatoes like Dwayne missed Whitley. Like Ross missed Rachel. Like Jim missed Pam. Yes lawd, I'm saying I wanted to spend the rest of my life with potatoes. But I know that my fantasy is not a healthy one. So I'm scaling back on carbs. And until I can gain the control over my "need" for them, I'm not even going to tempt myself with just a little taste. Cause I'm not stupid. I know one quick taste will turn into me eating the entire pot and my kids looking at me like I've lost my damn mind.

So anyway, back to me and my banging body. Yes! THIS is what I want. I want the healthier lifestyle and all the benefits that come along with it. Like ALL of THAT above :)