For the After Picutre!

 I've started up my workout routine again.  I got pretty lax through the fall and winter but I'm ok with that, only gained 5lbs of fluff.  That will be easy to get off, the hard part is putting on muscle.  I'm such a lanky person I've decided I need muscle to off set that so I want to bulk up some.  I never realized it before but I'm what you'd call skinny fat.  I've been a size 2 or 4 almost my whole life (except in middle school and high school when I was a 0!)  but I've never had muscle or been fit/lean.  I was thin but soft and droopy, I've never had a butt, get that from my moms side.  Aren't Colombians supposed to be curvy!?  What the heck, I didn't get nice thick hair like the Colombians either : / Any who now that I've been on this program I actually have a butt and it's perky lol!  

This is where I started the middle of January.....

I've got signs up all over my house just like this one reminding me of my goals. I don't keep snacks in the house to it's not that hard to eat well and I enjoy it.  Now don't get me wrong, when the weekend comes I'm ready for a treat.   But weekdays my lunches consist or pretty much a combination of these: oats, black beans, cottage cheese, fruit, spinach, kale, fruits, avocado and eggs.   Bless my family's hearts!  Since I'm on a bikini diet so are they, it's actually not your typical "diet" to lose weight cause I have no intention of losing weight, it's a diet to gain muscle and health.  So dinners consist or a combination of any of these:  Chicken, salmon, tilapia, ground turkey, brown rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes and any all vegetables.  That's it, I swear my sister Kasey and I could eat the same old things over and over and it doesn't get that old.   I enjoy eating with a purpose and eating to live, not living to eat. That was always my moms motto.

A few employees at work started a Facebook workout accountability group which I love.  We post weekly what we are doing and it helps me stay motivated for sure!  So I'm that tool at the gym taking pics of myself so I can post them to my group to prove I was there.  Hey whatever works, I don't really care what everyone else is thinking. 

Here's a meal for example, smoothie with organic kale, spinach, cucumber, avocado, fresh squeeze orange juice and pineapple, with a bowl of oatmeal.  If I can't eat it all at lunch then I save it for a snack a couple hours later cause I know I'll be hungry.  This is how unpicky I am... I don't even refrigerate it, I  just leave it sitting on the counter and eat it later, cold haha.

Can anyone explain to me why all gyms have a tv set to the food channel. I find it awfully stupid and terribly rude.  Let's encourage your members to fail why don't you.

Bikini shopping!  I'm proud of where I am, I've always had a good body image, but I want more and want to push myself to see what I can become.

Getting a little lump on that arm!

Here's my problem areas, so far no matter the weight I lose or muscle I build I still have left over pudge and skin from pregnancy. I guess this can be expected when you get stretched to the max and  gain 50lbs with both pregnancies, oh well.   I have ordered myself a box of "it works" wraps to use so hopefully those will get rid of this.  For those of you with a csection, you can relate to the bump above your scar line.  I guess we should just wear it proudly.   (that wallpaper is not by choice!  One day I will texture and paint over it)

Waist cinchers.  I love wearing this think.  It just makes everything fell tight and in place.  My mom who is Colombian swears by these especially to use right after you have a baby.  The Hispanics know their stuff!  

One of our colorful lunches.

I have lost 3lbs since I started 8 weeks ago.  This is what I want.  I want to lose fat but gain muscle so I don't want the scale to move too much.  I'd even like for it to go up.  Damn it's hard to gain muscle though.  It's real hard and the progress has been slow for me but I trust the process and will keep going.  These next few weeks I'm going to try consuming more calories to see what that does for me, maybe I'm not eating enough to build the bulk I want.  We will see.  Either way I'm ready for summer and the pool!!