Muscles RAWR!!!

Oh manish arms of mine.....my little muscles have been popping up again since I started exercising with Bob Harper's videos, dang it! Let me tell you, that man (Bob) is BRUTAL, he is NOT nice like he is on the TV show "The biggest loser" This DVD is the best 12 dollars I ever spent!!!! You can find it at Target. There are 3 different DVD's in his series, not including his new kettlebell DVD. The only issue some of you may find is that the running time of each video is a little over a hour long. There is a 20 minute workout that you can do if you are short on time.

You can actually get it on amazon.com for 10.49 right now http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Harper-Pure-Super-Strength/dp/B003ULW71Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1297380925&sr=8-3

and for funsies, a pic of me and my lady guns!!!! Rahhhhhhhhhhhh

Rewarding myself.

Hi Friends...

I think I'm the worst blogger ever, I can't seem to be consistent with my posting! I'll try better, I promise ;)

Update on my weight loss: It has SLOWED down, I'm like a snail, or a turtle, slowly losing every week. I'm so close to being under 150 pounds I can taste it! I have been very discouraged every week when I only see a 0.6 or 0.8 loss on the scale. This week I lost 1 whole pound! I decided to reward myself with a piercing that I've been promising myself for a while. Here are some photos:

It's a monroe/madonna, it's very feminine and sexy! It's so important to reward ourselves with non-food items on this journey. The best part was being able to spend time with my friends S&T!!! They are so much fun to be around and I'm so blessed to have them in my life <3 you guys :)

What?! You want to see more pictures?! Ok ok ok, if you insist!!!!

xx.

Weight Watchers Struggles

I'm really struggling, I never thought the holiday's would have this effect on me but Christmas and Disneyland got me way off track, I actually gained a few pounds while I was there. I've lost them since and another pound on top of that. Yay me :) I've hit my 20 pound mark since starting weight watchers. I like the new plan, but I'm still adjusting, I have a higher daily points value and I'm having a tough time hitting that goal every day. I either am way under, or way over. Then my snacking has crept back up on me.....hopefully I can overcome this soon. I've also been sick this week, and that messed everything up even worse! I can't catch a break!

Took some updated before and after pics. The first one was taken around the time I started WW and the second picture I took a couple days ago. I like the way my booty is toning up! Woot!

I've also started P90X, again....yes....again. I'm on week two, and I'm SORE, so so so SORE!!!! Damn you Tony Horton. I will be posting my 30, 60, and 90 day photos when I get there. This will be my second round and I'm hoping that I'll actually finish this time.

I want to be in the 140's so bad! I'm getting so close to my goal, and it seems like the closer I get the harder the weight is to lose :(

New hairs

Here are some new pics of my hair. I love it! LOVE!

I've got two different lengths going on, I've been wanting a a-symmetrical haircut for a while now and I'm so happy with the way it came out! I esp. <3 the bangs!!!

and for fun here is my daughter and I while we were watching Eclipse

As of this morning, I haven't lost any weight this week :*( I had a huge loss last week so I think my body is still adjusting to that. I'm still elated to be under 160 and I'm going to use that as my motivation. I weigh in tomorrow morning and will be staying for the WW meeting. I haven't been in 2 weeks!!!! I miss my leader!!!

10 Percent Key

I received my 10% key from weight watchers this morning! I had no idea they even gave out such a thing!

I decided to drag both my little goblins into weight watchers with me at 8am, I don't know what I was thinking!!! I got plenty of dirty looks from crabby, middle-aged women that seemed irritated with my cute screaming children. Oh well! I didn't weigh in last week and I wasn't going to let anything stop me this time. My lovely little daughter kept stepping on the scale while I was on there, but it read 159.6! The receptionist was astonished, and I explained to her that my husband left for Brazil a week ago and it has really helped my weight loss! She wanted me to come into the meeting and celebrate but I declined. Putting a 2-year old Diva and 3 year old boy w/ASD in a small room isn't a good idea.

So to celebrate we went to starbucks, I got a tall skinny caramel latte and my goblins got pink birthday mini donuts. Everybody was happy, and it was all worth it.

Here is my KEY!

Today I'm going to get my haircut, it's been over a year, and I need to start taking better care of myself. It's all part of my journey. A friend from high school works at a salon and she is going to cut/color my hair this afternoon. Pictures soon to come :)

Weekend Food...

A few people have been asking me what foods I'm eating, so I'm going to try and update with my favorite healthy, low point foods.

I made a wrap the other day and it was so yummy I had to take a picture, here is what I used:

Papaya Mango salsa
Fat-Free feta cheese
Onion
Roasted red pepper hummus
Spinach
Flatout light bread

Here is a pic of my delicious, 3pt lunch

I also had some fresh fruit on the side. It was very filling :)

SUCCESS!

I've hit my disneyland goal.

Did I think this would happen?!

HECK NO, but I did it.

I've been trying new workouts, eating right (most of the time at least) and I think it's working :) Weight Watchers has been a huge part of this as well, the meetings and my friends/family  that are on this journey give me the support that I need to succeed. I usually weigh in every Saturday but I like to see how I'm doing mid-week and make sure I'm pushing myself hard and eating right. I stepped on the sale this morning and it read 165

165!!!!!!

So since I'm a picture addict here is my new before and after from May 2010 - Nov 2010

New Workouts I've been doing: Lauren Brooks Ultimate Body Sculpt and conditioning, and Bob Harper's inside out method.

I'd really like to lose another 15-20 but my ultimate goal is to have a strong core and run a 5K. 

Weight watchers. Day 1.

HOlE-EEEE-SH*T!!!!!! I'm HUNGRY. Ok, had to get that off my chest.

My GMIL is a wonderful woman, she does so much for my family and when I told her I was interested in weight watchers she offered to come with me to meetings and do the program with me so I would have a buddy to with. My mom is also supposed to be coming with us, I think she still needs some convincing though. So....I have huge issues with food, I use it for comfort when I'm stressed and I haven't been conscious of my portions. I don't know why I'm like this. Standing on a scale every week in front of a stranger is going to help me stay on track, I need to be accountable to someone until I can conquer my addiction to food. Since I'm familiar with eating healthy I feel like I can do the weight watchers program without eating all the weight watchers pre-packaged food. It's got tons of chemicals and is junk if you ask me.

I officially signed up and started WW today, and the first thing I realized is that the WW points system is going to take quite a while for me to get used to. I've been running back and fourth to my computer/phone trying to figure out the points of all the foods that I ate today. Luckily I'm finding a lot of the foods I love have very low point values. Based on my activity/age/weight I get 27 points per day and 35 "flex points" a week, I can divide those points out during the week or have a cheat meal on the weekend.

So how am I feeling so far? HUNGRY!!!!!! No pain no gain right?!:) I will update after my first weigh in. Wish me luck!

Time to get busy

I've been bouncing all over lately, from BBL to insanity, to turbofire, hip hop abs, etc. My eating hasn't been the greatest, and while I mostly eat clean, whole foods, my portions are not reasonable, especially at dinnertime. I only have 11 weeks until we leave for Disneyland and I'd really like to be in the 160 range by then. I've been feeling really discouraged lately. I think the stress of my son starting special-education pre-school has a lot to do with it. I decided yesterday that I need to commit to a new exercise program to help get me out of this rut that I'm stuck in.

I've decided to start ChaLEAN Extreme, it's a 90 day program, by beachbody/Chalene Johnson (of course) I started yesterday, and so far, so good. I did burn circuit 1 and my booty, arms, legs and chest are pretty sore today. The program is about 80% weight lifting and 20% cardio. I love love LOVE lifting weights, and I'm good at it so I think this will keep me coming back. Plus Chalene is amazing, she's a great trainer and I feel connected to her since she is a mother :) She always has moms in her videos who have had 1 or more children, it's quite motivating for me. Also, the workouts are shorter, about 35-40 minutes, which is nice for me since I'm usually short on time.

Here is the commercial:

Weight update and more fun sh*t

DUDE!!!!!!

I lost 5 more pounds!!!! I've been doing hip hop abs, insanity, turbofire, and brazil butt lift, in case your curious. I'm a beachbody addict.  I hadn't weighed myself in a couple weeks so I was very excited when I saw that number on the scale. Less than 15 pounds until I hit my December Disneyland goal!

Here is a updated pic a couple of you have requested, and yes I know I look like hell this morning! I honestly don't see much of a difference, except I've totally lost my butt. Hubby isn't too happy about this HAH. I think it's been a month or so since I took a update picture. My underwear I usually wear in my pics don't fit anymore so they had to go. I also need to get new pants, which is super exciting :)

Also I decided it was time for some new body modification so I got two surface anchors. One by my eye and one on my neck. I love them to pieces! Life has been tough lately, and I felt it was time I did something for myself....

Xx.
Stephi

Losing my craving for sugar?

 Friends and Starbucks! Yay!

A few of my friends and I went to starbucks for a girls night out last night (Aren't they gorgeous?!) and I realized something: if this was a couple months ago I would have ordered the most creamy-sugary blended drink they had on the menu, but I honestly have NO desire! I can't get over it! It's so bizarre to me. My husband laughed when we discussed this last night. I actually enjoy the full flavor of coffee and I don't covet the sugar as I once did. I'm no longer craving ice cream or candy, and if I do eat it I feel sick almost instantly. I usually have soy/almond milk and sometimes a drop of stevia in my morning cup of coffee. 

So, I've been trying to figure out how this change within me occurred. I know eating clean is part of it, I do allow myself to enjoy the cheat foods I like every once in a while but for the most part, all my food is unprocessed and healthy. I finally figured out where my change of heart came from...

I REALLY want to be healthy....and I will do anything to reach this goal. It's not even about the weight loss, this is about overcoming my addiction to food. There are so few things that I have control of in my life and what I put in my body is crucial to my well-being.



Xx.

My new toy!

Seems like every single cardio workout I do the instructor says we need a heart rate monitor. I used to just roll my eyes. I had no what they really were until recently! I decided since I'm on week two of TurboFire that I would get myself one to make sure I was staying in my zone and pushing my hardest during workouts. I finally figured everything out on the HRM yesterday and used it during my Fire55 EZ class.

Here is my calorie reading:

875! HAH! I kicked ass today! Chalene (the instructor and creator of turbo jam/turbofire) is super-awesome, she makes me feel like I can do anything! I lost 3 pounds in the first week I started TurboFire. I'm almost done with week 2. My body is responding well to the cardio workouts. I think this program is just what I needed to push my through my plateau! I weigh in every Monday now, this helps me stay on track during the weekend.

Also my family and I are spending Christmas in DISNEYLAND! We are all so excited, I will be with my brothers, niece, nephew, sil, mom, son, daughter, and my lovely hubby! My new short-term goal is to be down to 165 by Dec 20th. I think I can crush this :)

Xx.

A Break?!

I decided yesterday that I needed to take a small break from P90X.....yes, you read that correctly. I'm taking a BREAK! A week or two in length. The reason is mainly because I feel like I'm hitting a plateau and I need to mix things up a bit to confuse my body.  I tend to push myself too hard during workouts and I want to do switch things around . I also feel like I'm gaining a lot of muscle, especially in my arms. My dad, being the oh-so-considerate "father" he was, used to always tease me as a teen and say that no matter what I did, or how much weight I lost I would still have a "manly body" His words still affect how I look at myself, even to this day. I suppose his comment was partially true because I do tend to bulk up quickly when I lift weights. I actually like the way my arms are toning up and I'm proud of all the hard work I've done! 

I'm going to be doing Turbo Jam this week and next, lots of fun cardio kickboxing! I will start back up with P90X after that and go from there. I will also continue doing Ab ripperX 2-3x a week.

My Journey, Cont...

Hi crazy blogger people!

This neglected little blog/journal of mine is once again shifting to a different subject. My health has become a priority for me, so you won't be seeing many looks until I get my health in order. I will be using this as a place to post my journey, vent, and BRING IT!

I've been doing P90X for 91 days now :) I'm officially starting round 2 today. I did Legs and back yesterday with the pull up bar and it was SOOO HARD, like a million times harder than it was using the bands. I'm doing the classic version of P90X this time so I will be doing Plyo and more Ab ripperX (which is torture for me btw) I've seen some big changes in my body already and I'm very pleased that I no longer look like I'm 6 months pregnant. I was tipping the scales at almost 200 pounds which is quite a bit of weight for a 5'3 1/2in, 26 year old.

Take a look at my journey so far....

Here is my P90X schedule for the next 3 weeks:

Weeks 1-3:
Day 1 – Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Plyometrics
Day 3 – Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

I'm eating things like this for lunch:

My goal is to lose 15-20 pounds in the next 90 days.

My P90X Results

Here are my P90X results. I've been doing this program for 90 days:

Check the bling

I LOVEEEEEEEE My hubby....had to share the new upgrade he got me for Christmas. It's so sparkly!!!! He spoils me  and I have no idea how I got so lucky xoxo :)


Face: MineralFaceFX.com Twilight line pigment and mineral foundation. MAC Zoom Lash.

Hi friends!

The hubby and I have decided it's time to buy a house, so I'm deleting miss makeup monster (mmmonster.org) and using blogger, since it's free ;) I will be moving over all the info and pics to this site asap. I won't be blogging as much until we are all settled, so bare with me :)

FYI: This blog will be much more general than MMM and will include my weight loss journey, recipes, makeup reviews, tutorials, photos, bow creations, etc.....

Hope you enjoy!

Xx.

Stephi

Detrivore Cosmetics

I recently received some pigment from Detrivore cosmetics (http://www.detrivorecosmetics.com) The color I got is called kill joy, it's a flat intense red color.
I absolutely love the dark names and the look of this website. The pigments are very high quality. I will be buying more in the near future! I got to play around with the color a couple nights ago and took some pics for you guys :)
Here is what I used to achieve this look:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Detrivore pigment in killjoy
MineralfaceFX pigment in Matte white, charcoal briquette and gold finch
MAC fluidline
About Face pigment in firecracker.
This look reminds me of fire. My husband LOVED it ;) Xo
Below are some pics I took using a couple different types of lighting:

Mineralfacefx.com Holiday Pigment

MineralFace FX (mineralfacefx.com) is one of my favorite places to get pigment from. I have over 100 colors (including 3 palettes) and love it all! MFFX also sells mineral foundation, blush, lip gloss, brushes, etc. I wear this makeup EVERY DAY!
They have affordable prices, highly-pigmented colors, and they ship FAST!
The holiday colors I received today are called jolly, merry and twinkle. I also got a beautiful color called gold finch that is NOT part of the holiday line.
Here are the swatches from left to right: Gold finch, merry, jolly, and twinkle

The jars...


I'm sick, so I haven't had time to do a look but expect to see one in the near future :)
After swatching these colors I think my favorite is jolly, it's very shimmery and has a beautiful blue-based pearl sheen. All the colors are very glittery! Perfect for the holidays!

Urban Decay and MineralFace FX Look

Here is what I used for this look
MineralFace FX (mineralfacefx.com): Cat's eye, and Mystic green on lid, electric purple on lower lash line, and matte white (highlight)
Urban Decay: Half baked E/S, Covet eyeliner, and heavy metal glitter eyeliner over covet.
MAC Zoom Lash mascara

XoXo