Day 16: "Snowpocalypse" Workout

It's Snowpocalypse down here in Atlanta,  y'all!

In all my years covering winter storms in my career as a TV journalist, I've never seen anything like this.  2 inches of icy snow with a combination of poor leadership from the city and state led to thousands of people forced to abandon cars on the side of interstate highways, school children sleeping at their schools--- the entire metro area came to a freezing, paralyzing standstill.

But did that stop the Mistress' workout?  Hell to the NO!

I thawed out by spending the majority of the day snugged up with my man....(that could have been considered a workout, haaaaaay!) But I did make time for 30 minutes of bootcamp cardio and 35 reps of Sequence 2.  I have 4 more days of level 2 before moving on the final sequence.

With the rations I had on hand, I also came up with a recipe for these delish "Snowpocalypse" Vanilla Rum Cheesecake Bites.  OMG.  They're low-carb, sugar free AND gluten free.  You're welcome.

Happy Baking, Baby Making (and working out!)

Love,

The Mistress

xxoo

Day 14: Dancing Queen

Mistress of Many Moves, here....

Delighting in my new-found Zumba dance-spiration!  I tried a different YMCA lastnight and found myself the only lily white in a sea of beautiful black and brown.

I mean, the other 45 women in this class could have been Beyonce's back up dancers.  Totes.

I was almost as awkward as Taylor Swift was at the Grammy's rocking out to a rap song.  White Girl Can't Dance Productions, haaaaaaaay!!!

Nevertheless, I still bumbled bumped and grinded my way through 60 minutes of non-stop hip hop/Latin inspired hip shaking.

This chick came up to me at the end of class and said, "You did great!  We always give first timers a free pass when they don't know the moves..."

Um, yeah.

I'll prolly need a few more of those free passes.

But what's important is that I got through it and had a great workout.  I was exhausted when I got home!  A couple changes I'm making:

1. Cut out the evening cup o' Joe.
2. Alarm is set for 5:15am to do mat/MS work.

Surprisingly, I'm loving the morning workout.  It forces me up early enough to get the whole sequence done and then have some down time to get my day started without a massive rush.  My entire demeanor feels calmer and I genuinely feel more centered. This does mean twice daily workouts (most of the time.)  I'm packing a change of clothes to do my Zumba workout after 5pm.  (No morning classes are offered at the YMCA's in my area.)

Tonight and Thursday I have dinner planned out, so I'll be doing Zumba Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun this week.  I figure 5 x 5 classes at 60 minutes a class is pretty darn good.

I'm definitely hungrier.  Like, a LOT hungrier. I scarfed down 2 huge chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on) and a chicken wing for lunch today....but no breakfast, so that might explain the tummy rumbles.

Lastnight's dinner was epic:

Bacon wrapped jalapeño popper chicken bombs.  OMG. They are the bomb.  Low-carb heaven, y'all.

The recipe is on my What's on Parker's Plate site.

Scrumptious.

Happy Workouts!  

Love,

The Mistress

xxoo

Day 13: Bootcamp Re-boot and Dance-spiration

I feel like I'm finally actually STARTING bootcamp now.  The first third of bootcamp has been clouded with sickness and an overall blah.  Bootcamp Blah pretty much sums it up.  Beyond the illness that snuffed out my workouts last week, I had chalked up my overall blahness to the fact that this is my 3rd time doing TAM bootcamp.  Maybe I was just over it.  Been there done that, kinda over it.  Not feeling challenged or inspired.  Especially in the cardio portion.

Enter Zumba.

I've been wanting to try a Zumba class forever.  But, we all know White Girl Can't Dance I can be a little awkward on the dance floor.  I've hid my bad dancing in umpteen living room cardio sessions, but in a quest for renewed dance-spiration, I decided to try a free class at the YMCA this weekend.  There were about 15 of us in a giant room facing a mirrored wall-- ranging from a college kid to an elderly lady in her 70's.

When the class started, I suddenly realized how much I have missed actually having a large space to workout with an ability to see what I'm doing.  The mirror was key to feeling like I was "performing"-- as Tracy puts it.  In my house, I had 3 Home Depot mirrors lined up, but it was hard to really see myself the whole time.  Plus, it's easy to justify stopping and starting when you're home alone doing cardio.  The phone rings, the dogs are barking, the clothes are buzzing in the dryer....distractions abound.

But this class solved all of those issues.  The music was awesome, the instructor had great energy and I actually picked up the choreographed moves pretty quickly, thanks to the sequences I know from previous TAM dance cardio.  Bottom line:  I'm hooked!

I signed up for a membership so I can take regular classes each week!  I really think the discipline of showing up for a group class is what I need to keep doing consistent cardio.  Plus, what feels like 3 hours in my living room to eek out 20-30 minutes of bad jumping around and dodging dog toys and 2 pitbulls trying to get my attention was a huge contrast to the class-- which was 60 minutes of non-stop moving which surprisingly, flew by.  I was totally sweaty and completely energized by the end.  I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror while I was doing some hip shaking Latin inspired fabulousness, and I was wearing a big 'ol smile.

The experience has completely re-energized my workout and I'm counting down to my 6:30pm class tonight!

If you're not familiar with Zumba, here's a youtube video of a routine-- it's similar to a lot of Tracy's cardio dance moves, with a little more hip shaking!

I also managed to get up at 5:15am this morning to do my mat work and it felt SOOOO good to get it over with before my day started.  I'm going to try to make it habit to get up early for the mat portion.

Happy workouts, lovelies!

Love,

The Mistress
xxoo

Day 10: Fighting through the Sick

I never get sick.  Like, NEVER get sick. The only thing that has ever kept me from working out in the past (besides sheer laziness) was a bad injury-- like a broken foot or a shattered knee.

This week, I've been derailed by a terrible ear infection that sent me to the doctor for antibiotics.  I hate taking medicine-- and antibiotics always make my weight jump up a bit which is frustrating.  I'm not sweating a couple pounds of gain, I'm just trying to focus on feeling better.  Lastnight, despite feeling awful, I powered through 30 reps on the mat.  No cardio-- but no dinner either so I feel like they balanced each other out!

Bonnie and Clyde, my lovable pits, were my  nursemaids!  Here's Clyde lying on my chest, in-between ear licks.

Puppy Love Prescription

So, I will be moving on to Sequence 2 today-- probably won't attempt cardio until tomorrow when it doesn't hurt to jump up and down.  Ear bulb hurts!!!

Didn't track my food the last couple days while I've been sick, but will get back to it today...

Happy (and healthy) workouts!

Love,

The Mistress
xxoo

Day 8: Pain in the Neck

I've got a pain in the neck.  Literally.  (Although, JP would argue I AM a pain in the neck...)

One swollen gland is making my entire neck swell and it's very tender and seemingly getting more painful.  Awesome. I soooo do not need to be sick right now.  Aside from some minor congestion, everything else feels fine, but my neck is hurting with all movement-- so the cardio thing?  Not so much.

Maybe I need some acupuncture!

I also just got TOM, so really looking forward to crampy, head-achy crapola.  I'm just Queen of Positive today!  Whoopdadeedoo!

I have plans to meet a couple girlfriends for dinner tonight and was planning on finishing my MS afterwards. We'll see how I feel!!!

Happy Workouts, y'all!

Here's my meal plan today:

Breakfast: 1/2 avocado
Lunch: 8oz ground chicken with onions
Snack: 3oz mozzarella cheese
Dinner: (pre-looked at menu at the restaurant) Beef burger with bacon and egg (no bun) side salad

Day 7: One Week In….

Hard to believe it's already been a week of bootcamp.

To be honest, I don't feel like I'm getting a ton of results.  This is my 3rd time committing to TAM bootcamp and this time around it feels a little, dare I say….Boring.

Been there done that, kinda boring.

I'm not bored of the Method, just the monotony of bootcamp.  Meh.

Don't worry, I'm going to stick it out!

To add a little fun to the mix, there might have been some vodka drinking going on during the workout this weekend.  Just sayin'.  Might have been some drunky-cardio….

My diet over the long weekend was not awesome.  I avoided the open jar of Nutella that JP so conveniently had sitting by the side of the bed….but there was a whole lotta cheese and bacon goin' on.    A little too much cheese and bacon going on!!!  I usually reserve my bacon consumption for the weekend, but since getting treated to a virtual arsenal of bacon products by Burgers' Smokehouse to review on my foodie blog, I indulged a bit.

Arsenal of Bacon and Cured Meat Delish

A lot of you have asked on Facebook about my diet-- and proportions.  Best calculator for how many calories you need to lose/maintain is Keto Calculator.  Here's what my stats look like:

Stats: 5'11 and 144 pounds

One of the awesome parts of the low-carb high fat (LCHF) lifestyle is that you don't really need to count calories-- I just pay attention to carbs.  As far as ratio-- it should be about 70% fat 20-25% protein and 5-10% carbs.

This was yesterday's chart:

I was a little high on protein, little low on carbs, but this is close to a typical day for me.  I need to up my veggie consumption and go a bit easier on the cheese.  My all-time favorite snack is a mix of mini mozzarella balls (boccacini) stuffed olives, sweet/spicy cherry peppers and marinated mushrooms.  The gourmet Kroger near our new house has an antipasto bar with all of the goods-- but it's pricey.

Mozzarella, olives, mushrooms and sweet cherry peppers

I took a rest day this weekend, but otherwise have worked up to 30 reps and 25 min cardio.  I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so taking it easy on cardio today.  REALLY hope I'm not coming down with something!!

Menu Today:

Breakfast: Espresso with heavy cream and 1/2 avocado
Snack: Fresh made pork rinds at the Farmer's Market (!!!!)
Lunch: 2 chicken thighs in a tomato based sauce (Chicken Paprikash)
Snack: 3 oz fresh Mozzarella
Dinner: Herb encrusted sea bass with roasted broccoli

Love y'all!

Day 4: Cheater Under the Full Moon

I cheated!!! Damnit, I caved and cheated.

No, it wasn't a donut or a brownie or a slice of pizza.

It was a serial killer documentary.

I know, I know, I just PROMISED y'all yesterday that I wouldn't watch any more true crime shows so I could focus on my Mind-Body Connection.  mmmmhhhhhmmmmmm.

Let me talk myself into a lather of excuses...

I blame the full moon.  It turned me into a Monster Bee-atch.

I got so grouchy after work and couldn't get warm and I was pacing around, procrastinating, thinking about every reason why I should skip the workout.  I begrudgingly put on my gear, plus a scarf and hat and started bootcamp dance cardio.  I reasoned, atleast it will help warm me up.

Then, I forced myself to do something else.  Smile.

From what I understand, smiling actually gives us the same happiness that exercise induces in terms of how our brain responds.  Our brain feels good and it tells us to smile-- we smile and tell our brain it feels good.

So, why not combine the exercise and smiling and get rid of the inner Bee-atch???

It worked.  Until I had to get on the mat.

Motivation disappeared again until I decided the ONLY way to get through 25 reps was with a crime story in the background.  Honestly.  I didn't seem do-able until I got my fix.  Yup.  I'm addicted.

So, instead of suffering through withdrawal from crime shows, I fed my addiction with a horrible story about a serial killer couple from Britain.  Lovely.

I wasn't sore during the day, but as soon as those legs started lifting, it burned like HELL.  Like, this was pretty much my expression:

Uh, yeah, while we're talking about killers.  That's one of my all-time favorites-- Tracie Andrews AKA the Road Rage Killer.  

So, let's all try to kill it today.  Our workouts, that is!

Food was tracked at about 1650 calories yesterday-- I had like 41 pieces (OK, 6 pieces) of bacon with a steak salad from Ted's Montana Grill, an avocado and some mozzarella.  I actually skipped dinner because I was so full.  Didn't weigh cuz I was up at the ass crack of dawn to go to the DMV.

Here's the best part of the DMV ordeal-- actually weighing (as of yesterday) what's documented on my license!!!

Whoohoo!!!!

Workout:
20 minutes Bootcamp Dance Cardio
25 reps Sequence 1

Happy Leg lifts, Lovelies!

Love,

The Mistress
xxoo

Day 3: Mind-Body Connection

One of the things Tracy Anderson has always emphasized is the importance of the Mind-Body connection. The "tah-dah" moment as she calls it, when you are visualizing and connecting with your movements and extending your energy in each rotation.

I'm a huge believer in the old adage from Buddha, “What we think, we become.”  It's why I take a moment before going to sleep and before getting out of bed in the morning, to meditate quietly, visualizing the day ahead and the outcomes I hope for.  Mind-Body connection.

Watching 48 Hours while doing mat work lastnight, was NOT promoting the Mind-Body connection.

My girl Jen, always gets on my case for watching TV shows while I'm working out.  For me, it just helps get the workout over because I'm not focusing on the workout.  Therein lies the problem.  I'm not focusing on the workout.

Instead, lastnight, I was focusing on a Pastor who murdered 2 of his wives, one of which in a car accident where he claimed a deer caused the car to crash, killing her.  Well, Mistress of Mayhem, ended up waking up from a nightmare where there were dozens of deer dying in the middle of the road that I was driving on. Mind-Body connection, indeed.

WTF???!!!

JP is always on my case to stop watching true crime stories-- I swear, I was a CSI in a former life!  I'm obsessed.  Maybe it's my former career as a general assignment TV reporter, covering all the fire/murder/baby killer stories.  Whatever it is, it's not exactly promoting my Mind-Body Connection-- or good night sleeps, for that matter.

SOOOOO, I'm saying this to be accountable:  I'm cutting myself off from all true crime stories during this 30 day bootcamp.  Period.  NONE.  No Dateline, no 48 hours, no Killer Couples or Serial Killer Central.  Instead, I'm going to try to listen to music while I workout--- and watch/listen to some inspiring material when I'd otherwise be knee deep in a crime rampage.  Dealio?

Here is the workout/food log from yesterday:

Breakfast: 1 avocado
Lunch: 1 cup chicken salad, 3 pieces of shaved roast beef, small side salad with 2 Tb blue cheese dressing
Snack: 2 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
Dinner: Leftover steak and peppers

I'm going to start posting a screen shot from MyFitnessPal.  I came out rather low on the calorie side-- only 1127 calories, but my carbs were higher than I normally have at 33 grams-- I usually try to keep them <20 grams.

Workout: 20 minutes of Tracy's Daily Motion Dance Cardio
20 reps of BC Sequence 1
Weight: 144.8

Have a great workout, lovelies!

Love,

The Mistress
xxoo

Day 2: Fat Head Girl

Gasp, wheeze, expletive , gasp.....

Um, yeah.

That was me after 3 minutes of Boot camp dance cardio lastnight.  Just goes to show, thin does not equal in shape.  It's been a while, uh, OK, 2 months, since I've done any form of real exercise.  (Walking the dogs does not count.)

And, I've grown a bit lazy, since my diet has been the main method for me to lose weight and keep it off.  Doesn't leave a lot of room for motivation.

Here's the other ish I'm dealing with.  I realize that it takes a while for the mind to catch up with the body when there is a huge weight loss transformation.  There are times after a heavy dinner, for example, where I wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and quickly check to see if my former fat self has returned.  It's irrational and ridiculous, but it still happens.  I call it the Fat Head complex and it's no bueno.

FAT HEAD!

When I'm suffering from Fat Head, I will beeline for the size 10's in my closet and put them on, thinking that they'll be tight.  And they're falling off, of course, because I wear a 4/6 now.  But I try them on anyway....just to make sure.

What IS that???

I think there's a place we come to in a weight loss journey, where we reach our number goal (mine was 145) and then it's like, "NOW WHAT???"  The struggle is over.  The wishing to be thin is over.  The goal has been met.  NOW WHAT???

The REAL head

So, it's time for new goals.  And that includes getting rid of the Size 10's in my closet because I don't ever plan on wearing that size again!  It also includes being kind and gentle to myself when struggling with Fat Head, but encouraging nasty ass Muffy and her ugly sister Gutty to get out of my head.  They've been evicted from my bod, so they're not allowed in my head!  (Muffy and Gutty, if you recall, are the hideous sister who took up residence on my Muffin Top and my Gut for years!)

As you can see from the pic during my first day of bootcamp, there is nary a Muffin Top nor a Gut to be found! ( :

Muffy and Gutty are Gone!

So, here are the food deets.  I was HUNGRY yesterday before I even did my workout, so I upped protein and fat a bit.  For lunch, I had my old standby-- it's super boring, but keeps me satisfied for hours. 8oz of ground chicken and onions sauteed in butter seasoned with homemade taco seasoning and topped with fresh cilantro.

Ground chicken with caramelized onions for lunch

I didn't have an avocado or cheese with me, so mid-afternoon I picked up a roasted chicken breast from Kroger.  For dinner, we had delish surf and turf of salmon, skirt steak and roasted peppers with fresh mozzarella. (Salmon not pictured).

I had a 6oz piece of salmon and probably just 4oz of steak. It filled me up quick!

Workout will be after work again today, but tomorrow I will try in earnest to get up at 5:30am to knock it out.

Happy workouts, lovelies!

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Hi Lovelies!

It's been, what----  a year and some change since I've written on this little old blog of mine?

If you don't follow me on Facebook, you may not know that I started a foodie blog, called "What's on Parker's Plate?" which chronicles my journey through delish.  I finally got my ass in gear, (and in shape, by the way, haaaaaaaay!!) and committed to making a name for myself in the food blogosphere.  I also now host a cooking segment on CBS Atlanta which has been fabulous and has taught me so much about not taking huge bites of food on camera translating good food to even better TV.

Last we chatted, I was lamenting a terrible car accident and the resulting injury, which rendered me unable to workout for about 6 months.  I was forced to figure out another solution to lose the 40 pounds that were creating a very unhappy, very puffy Mistress.

Enter a Low-Carb Ketogenic style of eating.  Hello Bacon!  Sayonara quinoa and green smoothies!  (Sorry, Kimberly Snyder, but if I had to choke down another Glowing Green slime ball smoothie I'd barf all over your yoga mat.)  No, this is not a prescription to clog your arteries...it's basically forcing your body to use fat for fuel instead of carbs. Here are some myths debunked about the low-carb/high fat (LCHF) style of eating on Mark's Daily Apple-- it's a great read.  Does this mean I'll never eat another banana?  Of course not!  But it does mean that I've swapped out Cheezits for fresh mozzarella and instead of filling my gullet with sugary, carby junk, I opt for a whole avocado sprinkled with sea salt.

I've been able to maintain my weight loss with very little exercise-- but rather than get all skinny fat, I figure it's time to get my butt toned. In the past, as documented by my fitness journey 2 years ago, Tracy Anderson's Bootcamp works wonders for me.  This time around, I'm not actually trying to lose weight!  I actually had to re-read that.  I'm not actually trying to lose weight!!!!

I'm currently 5'11 and 144 pounds.  I just want to tighten and tone!  Here's a visual of my journey from my all-time highest weight of 189.

My year long weight loss journey: 189 to 144 pounds

I will do another photo shoot at the end of the 30 days!

As far as diet, a typical day for me is this:

Breakfast: Espresso with heavy cream, 1 avocado
Lunch: 8 oz ground chicken with caramelized onion (seasoned with homemade taco seasoning)
Snack: Handful of olives and fresh mozzarella or chunk of parmesan, another espresso with cream
Dinner: 8oz salmon (or other protein- beef, chicken, seafood) with roasted broccoli
Snack: Chocolate Bomb (coconut oil with cocoa powder, truvia and vanilla) *will post recipe this week

I will track my food intake each day-- I'm curious to see if the workouts really amp up my hunger.  I've all but given up my beloved red wine because it's super inflammatory for me, but I do indulge in a vodka/soda water with splash of grapefruit juice and a fresh lime cocktail a few times a week.)  I don't monitor calories, just carb counts-- usually trying to stay under 25 grams of carbs a day.

OK, so yesterday was supposed to be Day 1 and I had an epic fail!  We are still unpacking, and I couldn't find my Bootcamp book and couldn't download the PDF file on my phone.  UGH.  So, I will make sure I'm prepped and ready to go for a great workout this evening when I get home.  Preparation is everything.

I'm rocking out a whopping 15 minutes of cardio-- whoo hoo!  And 20 reps to start....adding in 5 reps a day up to 40 and then adding ankle weights. I don't have time for 3 1/2 hour workouts this go-round!

Good luck with your workouts, lovelies!

Love,

The Mistress
xxoo