How do the celebs do it?

I often ask myself, so, if it's so hard for me to get skinny, why can celebrities do it so fast? Then I think about it for a second... and I realize, that, well no shit, they are RICH. And they have nothing TO DO ALL DAY! So naturally, what would YOU do if you were RICH and had NOTHING TO DO ALL DAY?? AHhhhh yes... the secret to all our diet problems.. work out ALL DAY and have a personal healthy chef cook all our meals... IT'S JUST THAT SIMPLE.

Right, so instead of Weight Watchers, or Nutraslim, why isn't there the CelebSlim plan? Where you basically get a ridiculous amount of money, quit your job for 6 months, and drop weight! I would totally sign up for that plan. Let's face it, it's not fair. Yet another reason why celebs suck. Everything is always easier for them. Hmmph. I don't think my job would like it much if I said, hey, I can't work for the next 4 weeks because I need to workout 10 hours a day and have every meal prepped for me. Don't think that's going to fly.

Sure, I could have such an amazing transformation like J-Hud if I had the access to the funds, personal trainers and chefs that she does, but that will never happen (unless I win the lotto, my fingers are always crossed).

I did a little before and after of myself too, and I would totally look like a hot model too if I could workout like that. I'm pretty sure I would look exactly like Joanna Krupp.



So why can't it be that easy? I was reading up on some of the "celeb diets" and this is what I learned.

1) Some celebs have had complexes since they were 9 and put themselves on weight watchers and never got off it. Well shit, at 9, I didn't love my body, but McDonalds was my favorite restaurant, and let's face it, I wanted to be a kid.

2) Olivia Munn does kickboxing like 4 times a day... I can do it once a day, so I guess times how many months it takes me to drop 10 pounds by 4 and I can get that skinny, THAT FAST! Just so simple.

3) SOME celebs have to bulk UP and gain weight, oh what I would give to be one of those... Gwyneth Paltrow ate fried chicken for like a month just to gain weight for Country Strong... well, I wouldn't have a problem doing that, and in fact, fried chicken sounds good right about now... mmmmm with some mashed potatoes... mmmmm... yeah ok, on to the next one before I run to the closest KFC and stuff my face.

4) Elizabeth Hurley starves herself! She eats one meal a day.... well, no shit, you get skinny like that, right off the bat, but girllllll even I know that starving yourself isn't good. Right now I'm on a 1200 calorie diet, and even though it's enough food, if I eat ANY LESS then that, my body goes into starvation mode, and it's not good for you. A healthy weight loss, to lose the weight and keep it off is 1 - 1 1/2 pounds a week. The diets that say, YOU CAN LOSE 30 POUNDS IN 30 DAYS!!! NO freaking way... and if you can, it's probably not the healthy way, and you should be careful.

5) CLEANSES DON'T WORK. Especially the ones where you only drink lemon juice and cayane pepper! Yeah, you will drop it, and drop it fast, but the minute you add anything back into your body, like eating a slice of bread, you will gain it all back! just don't do it. OK?!

6) THIS IS THE WAY YOU DO IT. Padma from Top Chef, she gains about 15 pounds each season from Top Chef, just from eating all the amazing foods, and I'm sure, all the travel, etc. But guess what, when the show is over, she doesn't crash diet, she adds more veggies into her meals, and more spices (the more spicy your food is, usually, the less you will eat...) and works out like a normal human being, once a day... and she drops those LBs and they stay off... DO THIS PEOPLE! haha

Ok well now that I'm done bitching about the fact that I wish I was a GAZILLIONARE so I could workout 1000 hours a day and have a chef, I hope you learned something here... we aren't GAZILLIONARE's, (not yet at least, and if one of you are, can I be your new best friend?!?!) so just eat right, workout regularly, and you will see results! BOOOOYA!

Love you guys long time for reading my horrid blog!
Andrea

8 weeks down, a lifetime to go....

Looks like I'm going to have to keep writing this blog people, because clearly, my job is FAR from over.

The big question is why...? Why??? BECAUSE. I DONT WANT TO LOOK LIKE THIS ANYMORE! (see right below)

Our 8 week CRANK class has now come to and end... and as I sit here and look back on when I started this whole thing, and not even just 8 weeks ago, but like from the beginning of this blog.. I look at the fact that I did 4 week cleanses, or I did a WEEK of working out, but today, I can say, I watched what I ate, and I worked out for 8 weeks straight. Besides playing sports in school, that's the longest I've gone, post college, that I have ever been in a gym, and I'm not stopping. What's Next? 8 weeks of bootcamp. So in 8 more weeks I'll be writing talking about how I made it thru 16 WEEKS of working out... and so on, and so on. I think a lot of it has to do with the people I work out with at RTB, and my friends who graciously sit here and read my horrible writing, and listen to me bitch and complain, but still send me those supportive text's, or facebooks, or emails.... It's YOU guys, and a little bit of dedication on my part, that has gotten me through the beginning (and I believe hardest) part of this journey.

The hardest part for me has always been getting over that 2 week hump - finding time to get to the gym, and finding a place where I'm happy and I feel comfortable.... but I've learned, if you want to meet your goals (and unfortunately, mine take a lot more work then most) you have to make it part of your life. Make it a priority, and make it one of those things you just have to do everyday... I used to just, eat, work, sleep, hangout... now, eat, sleep, work, WORKOUT... It obviously sucks... because I don't have the time that I used to have for my friends, or for Juan..... just last night he was telling me how he's happy for me, but he misses me, and misses that we don't hang out as much.. and that hurts. It's the hardest part of this whole thing... trying to better yourself, without hurting the ones you love. Especially for me I think, because i'm not just trying to lose the weight so that I'm healthy and skinny for everyday life.. but I'm newly engaged, and am trying to meet specific goals for my wedding, so it's like, one, I'm doing this for me, for our day, but two, it's hurting my relationship. Unfortunately, I can't force anyone to come workout with me, Juan and I from day 1 have had different ways of dropping pounds, and we are pretty much stuck to our ways.. .he does his thing, I do mine. Thats just the way the cookie crumbles my friends... and it sucks. It's not that he doesn't support me, that's not true in any way, it's just hard, and I understand that.

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Last night I met with Brian (the owner of RTB) and we talked about diet and nutrition - and we are going to be taking it to a level that I haven't taken it before. Well, actually, I retract that... the "detox" I used to do, is a lot similar to what my diet will be from here on out, but I think it's going to be harder this time. I really learned what I should and should NOT be eating... because it's so hard for women's bodies to lose the weight, since we were built to have some chub and be baby makers, there are tons of things that we think are OK for our body, that really aren't. And last night, I learned a lot about it... And like Brian said, this isn't a "diet" this is changing your eating habits to give you a healthy life. And I believe that. I think the problem with a lot of these quick loss weight loss programs is that you do them for a year or so but you aren't training yourself how to eat healthy for life... you are training yourself how to be healthy for your immediate goals... I really have a much better sense now on what this banana is doing to my body instead of just, I'm going to eat it since it's a fruit. It's really pretty cool.

What does this mean though? It means again, less socializing, more working out and eating right. If I am going to achieve such radical goals in one year, this is what is going to have to happen... and hopefully my friends won't get pissed, and won't be upset with me, but instead, will go on a bike ride, or take a boot camp class with me... but see that I need to do this, I can't step off track by going to the bar one night and skipping the gym... that this is my life right now, and hopefully you will be there with me along the road... Does this sound selfish of me? Of course... but honestly, I've been a good friend, for a long time, and I was always the YES girl, YES I'll go drink, YES I'll party all night, YES I'll eat that whole cheese PIZZA ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! haha... But I can't do that anymore.. plain and simple... And stop making me trying to eat a whole cheese pizza when I'm drunk, I won't do it! HAHAHAHA..

This doesn't mean I'm going to be lame, shit ass boring, Andrea... I'm still planning on going on my trips, I'm still planning on going out and such - but I'm just changing some of the habits that I had in the past, to reach my goal in the future.

SO AFTER ALL THIS - AFTER 8 WEEKS - I know it might not sound huge to you guys, but I lost over 12 inches on my body - 4 1/2 in my bust, and 4 1/2 in my waist to point out the big ones... and 10 pounds! A normal, healthy weight loss is a pound a week, and yeah, that sounds like not a ton, but it's healthy weight off that I will keep off!

I couldn't be happier... (well, I could, not thinking about everything I'm about to give up as far as FOOD YUM YUM FOOOOOOOD) but, really... I say this again, I couldn't have done this without you guys... without the trainers at RTB, without Juan... and this is only the beginning!

I also think about the things I COULDN'T do in the past, and the things I want to do...

• I couldn't wear a north face jacket unless it was dudes, because a womens didn't fit me. 
• I couldn't wear sweet ass snowboarding gear bc again, the women's stuff didn't fit me... 
• I couldn't fit into a blazer because it wouldn't fit around my sides and button -- (my arms are still an issue, but I'm sure those will start shrinking soon as well) 
• I couldn't shop at awesome stores like GAP/AE/ATL without shopping online in their "Large Sizes"
• I couldn't fit into most XL Nike workout pants... 
• I couldn't even really fit comfortably in a plane seat...

All these things are now I CAN'S... we are getting there, slowly but surely... but I'm about to buy my first North Face winter jacket, and some new snowboarding gear that isn't MENS for this upcoming season... I love being able to say, finally... I can get this stuff... And eventually I will have all the problems skinny people have with shopping and such - more problems like - I can't find this in my color, or this might be too big, can I get a smaller size, or even, these are too small, can I get a larger size! Because up till now, I've ALWAYS BEEN THE LARGEST SIZE! haha

So, after all that, I leave you with this today... THANK YOU. If you are reading this, I have to THANK YOU... and because if I can finally do it... ANYONE can do it...

Well, I'll leave you this as well -
From our friends at Dashing Dish:

Carmel Apple Pie Protein Shake!!!!!! Yum.
Ingredients

1/2 cup	Fat free cottage cheese 1
1	Scoop vanilla protein powder 2
1/2 cup	Apple chopped fine, or 1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp	Caramel extract (or 2 tbs sugar free butterscotch pudding mix)
1/2 tsp	Apple or pumpkin pie spice
Dash	Cinnamon
5-10	Ice cubes (Depending on how thick you like it, use less for a thinner consistency)
1/2-1 cup	Water (Alter this according to desired consistency)
Optional:	1/2 tsp xanthan gum 3, 1/2 tsp butter extract

¹ Cottage cheese may sound strange, but TRUST me… this is what makes the ‘MILKSHAKE’ consistency! Also, if you are sensitive to dairy, you can use tofu to get the same consistency!

² I use Designer Whey Protein powder. (I WOULD SUBSTITUTE THIS WITH Vitol Egg White Protein Ice Cream Vanilla -- 12 oz (LINK HERE)) It has 100 calories per scoop. I buy the vanilla flavor because it’s a good base to add whatever flavors you want to make. It is also all natural. You can buy it from Kroger, GNC, Trader Joe’s, Amazon, or Netrition.com.

³ You can get xanthan gum from most grocery stores in the gluten free section! Just a pinch of it makes your shake so thick and creamy!

Nutrition Breakdown

1	Serving
213	Calories per Shake
0 g	Fat
16 g	Carbohydrate
2 g	Fiber
10 g	Sugar
36 g	Protein
5	WWP+*

WORDS TO LIVE BY:

When I try to diet. #whatshouldwecallme

http://whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com/post/29810348632/when-i-try-to-diet

Detoxxx Time - I found my friend!

Yesssss! Talk about great morning - I love getting chats saying, "I'm going to try your detox again starting next week". YESSSS. Looks like I've got a detox buddy and I won't be miserable and alone...

K and I will be starting on Monday, anyone else wanna try it out? If you want to know the rules again, here they are!

Remove all of the following from diet for 4 weeks:
•Fried Food
•What
•Refined Sugar
•Dairy
•Alcohol
•Caffeine...

To put it easy... all you should be eating is lean meats, fruits, veggies, and long grain brown rice and if you need a potato, you can have sweet potatoes....

And ok ok ok I know no one can go 4 weeks without ALCOHOL... so if you NEEED to, just stick to vodka and water. That's it, Vods and WADS. Nothing more... NO CHEATING.

So since I'll be back on this again, if you see me cheat, KICK MY ASS... Because I know I'm going to be kicking Kim's ass.

Sweet... can't wait to start having proteins, fruits, veggies, humus and quinoa for the next 4 weeks straight... grrr... ok... enough bitching, TIME TO DROP SOME LBBBBB'S!!!!!

XOXOX

I've got some awesome friends...

Ever since I have started this blog I have found that my friends are AMAZING.... When I told them, or they read the blog, the texts, emails, facebooks started pouring in - and I know this sounds super lame, but I was so touched by the fact that my friends cared about me that much that I did this, and they helped out ---- so for that, my amazing friends, I thank you - Now, time for some shout outs ----

First and foremost - Juan has been my rock - even when he comes home with McDonalds, he at least warns me that he's coming home with it, and I run and hide in our room haha... That right there, is love. HAHA.

Sara - she's the enforcer - she makes sure that I don't go off track with her uber inspirational words like -

And all the nights we go to get food and she orders the same thing I'm eating! (chicken and broccoli from TGIF's people, only $4 if you want a cheap meal).... And all the countless phone calls, I WANT A COOKIE and her response being SHUT UP! hahaha -- without her, I don't know what I would do.

Sam - yeah, sure she was a pusher while I was in NYC, but still, one of my biggest fans - always telling me to blog, giving me healthy recipes, letting me know that I can dooooooo it haha - I love her and her pushing me!

Nicki and Chris - when I walked into their door and they said, we know you are on a diet so we will help you, I mean come on, what's better than that (except I totally ate like crap that weekend because I was stressed, but STILL)

Amy - Her email to me, which will just have to be a whole other blog post, was amazing - the first thing she said was, "just wanted to let you know how happy and proud of you I am for starting this process" those words mean a lot! :)

Mia - THIS DETOX - if she hadn't had lunch with me on that Wednesday, I wouldn't have ever felt as amazing as I am right now - and for that, and the continuous support, has been amazing...

Betsy and Katie - coming out and working out with me and just being an amazing support system, has been the best thing ever. They came out, took TRX with me, and are constantly helping me improve myself --- I don't know what I would do without them! :)

Cousin Sarah - for all the inspirational words and FABULOUS comments about how I can do it --- I love you.

Lisa - for encouraging me to keep blogging and to stick with it - she lost a good amount of weight for her wedding, and not because she needed to, but because she wanted to, and she wanted to feel better - and that is what I want, I just want to feel better, I love who I am, but you push me to want to better myself...

I'm sure I'm missing people, but here is a compilation of comments from people that I just love! :)

Really though, from the bottom of my heart, friends and family - YOU ARE THE REASON I KEEP DOING THIS... Thank you for all your support ---- I LOVE YOU.

SKINNY KID OUT!

WHAT I WANT TO EAT RIGHT NOW.

So I know that I just said that this detox was easy and I love it and all this shit ---- well UGH, I do, but I'm craving some serious unhealthy food. Last night, these were the thoughts going through my head (i made a picture for you guys)

From left to right, I was dying for some chocolate chip cookies, buffalo chicken pizza, apple pie, this amazing pumpkin pie that Juan's sister makes, cheese fries from outback, ugh a spicy chicken sandwich from chick-fil-a, donuts donuts donuts, just BREAD in general, mac and cheese, then back to some pepperoni pizza, then go kill some chicken nuggets with honey from McDeeeez, buffalo chicken dip, A MILLION pumpkin spiced lattes, brownie sundae, fries from chick-fil-a because there the best, then go up to philly and get a cheese steak WIT WIZ, then kill a few bacon egg and cheeses on bagels, grab some bon chon wings, maybe throw in a healthy chicken caesar wrap from Sweet Green, and top it all off with some chicken parm......

UGH - Kill me now, if I could kill at least ONE of those things right now I would be happy... but hey, NO PAIN NO GAIN. I want to be skinny and I can't be skinny by eating all this SHIT.

But, thinking of this food made me look up some healthified recipes for some of these things...  So in the next upcoming blog posts, you will see a plethora or awesome recipes for some of your most sinful treats.

Ok, gotta go eat some GOD DAMN FRUIT.
FAT KID OUT!

2 weeks down, 2 to go.

So, it's been TWO WHOLE WEEKS since I've been on this detox.... let me tell you - I feel amazing... I really do - This weekend I went on a serious drinking binge with my cousins in NYC and then at the Giants game, and I don't know how I did it with only like 4 hours of sleep, but I made it, and I made it like a champ. I wasn't tired at all - and I KNOW if I wasn't on this diet, I would have felt like shit and probably wouldn't have even made it to the Giants game on Sunday....

I was so worried going into this weekend - I got to the city on Friday before Sam got out of work... I was like well shit, what am I going to do? I guess there isn't anything to do but drink... so, that's what I did. I went to the bar around the corner of their building (The Mason Jar) and started in on my Vodka and Waters (which will now be called, VODS AND WADS). Waiting for Sam, I only had 2, but as I sat there waiting for her, I thought, well shit.... what am I going to do all weekend about eating? I knew that Sam has basically told me that there was no way I was going to be able to stay on this detox while in NYC... with the bagels, the pizza, all the other delicious street treats... But thankfully, Sam was awesome and totally catered to my needs... For dinner on Friday night, along with the Vods and Wads that we were drinking, she made this amazing stir-fry dish with chicken, quinoa, and veggies... it was amazing, and it totally filled me up and was detox approved.. :) Thankfully Friday night was chill, and all we did was sit on the couch, drink vods and wads and watch Jersey Shore! :)

RECIPE FOR the dinner that Sam cooked on Friday night:



1 cup quinoa
2 chicken breasts diced

Garlic powder to taste

Pepper to taste

1 small red onion, chopped

2 carrots, thinly sliced

2 cups steamed broccoli florets (I buy the ones that you can just steam in a bag)

2 cups snow peas

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (the lower sodium kind)

Bake chicken seasoned with garlic powder and pepper in oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cook quinoa as directed on the box. Meanwhile, spray a large pot with cooking spray and add carrots and onions. After about 5 minutes, add snow peas, broccoli and teriyaki sauce. Cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes. Dice chicken into bite size pieces and add to the veggie mix. You can either mix in the quinoa at this point (that's how I did it for us) or take a scoop of quinoa and put it on a plate and then top with the veggie/chicken mixture. Add more garlic/pepper/teriyaki to taste.

Saturday was the tough day.... Jon woke up and the first thing he did when he woke up was went and grabbed a dozen bagels... Now, anyone that has been to NYC knows that their bagels are the best.... THE BEST. (don't event try to fight me on that, I will win). And do you know whats even better than NYC bagels? NYC bacon egg and cheese's on bagels hahaha.... Anyways, Jon rolls in with bagels and cream cheese, Sam looks at me and says, your having one. There's no way around it, you can't NOT have one... and I thought back to when Mia said it was ok to have a cheat day once a week.... so I said fine, ONE bagel but with peanut butter (for protein) instead of cream cheese. LET ME TELL YOU, that bagel was amazing, and that my friends, was the only, yes the ONLY time I cheated these whole 14 days.... But, at the time, I didn't think that was going to be a true statement. I thought to myself, there is no way I am going to go out tonight, not get drunk and not want a slice of NYC pizza... but whatever.

So during the day we went around and shopped, got a Jamba Juice, love love love and got back to the apartment to get ready to go to dinner and go out. Thankfully Jon and Sam had picked this awesome spot called Wine 30 for dinner... I had chicken and roasted potatoes for dinner, detox approved, and we indulged in some amazing wine... Now this was 7pm - we probably had our first drink around 6. The night was filled with beer pong, shots, wine, everything you could think of, we had it. I was wasted..... and guess what? I had to be up at 7:30am the next morning to get my ass to Jersey to meet up with Val and Rog and crew for the Giants game.... When my head finally hit the pillow at 3am, I thought, I am sooo sooo SO FUCKED.

7:30am on Sunday. Wake up, feel a little woozy, maybe a little drunk still, but I thought I would be much worse... Got in the car, ate one of my awesome already cooked chicken breasts that was sitting in Sams kitchen, and headed up to the game. 9:30am I cracked my first beer.... hahaha

Now, one would think, omg she must be exhausted... How did she do it - she probably only had about one beer... nope, shit I probably had about 10 - I totally surprised myself... I didn't even feel tired! In fact, I didn't even go to bed till like 11pm that night! If you ask me how I did it, I will say this detox. HAHAHA.... Even at the tailgate - I stuck to my guns and only had chicken and a hamburger without the buns and some pop chips --- even INSIDE the stadium when we went to get hot dogs - I just got peanuts... I was so proud of myself. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew that if I wasn't on this detox, that Sunday would have sucked and I would have been miserable.

I have honestly been living off of, chicken, veggies, fruits, smoothies, quinoa, and sweet potatoes and thats really it for the past 2 weeks.... I never thought I could do it - but I did! :)

I have been up and down, but honestly, I feel 1,000,000 times better, and I don't want to ever feel the way I did before...

OH AND THE GIANTS WON. Yeah, we are awesome.

Ok, that's it for my weekend wrap-up -
FAT KID OUT!

This fall, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?

I saw this on FB this morning - thought I would share... as I'm answering mermaid and starting my detox today... UGH KILL ME. 


LINK TO THE FACEBOOK POST 


A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.

We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.

Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

(The girl on the picture is French model Tara Lynn)

 — with Teresa Myers.