Staying on Track While Being Injured.....and How to Overcome It

Hey everyone!  So after a long hiatus, we're back.  May was crazy.....hockey was in full swing and then I dislocated my shoulder on top of it and have been in a sling for over 3 weeks waiting on surgery. So...I haven't really been up to tooooooo much!!!!!

Anywhooo....the purpose of this post.....staying on track while being injured and how to overcome it.  I workout errrday.  Pretty much. It's my release, my de-stresser, my escape, my outlet to let everything go.....so one Friday I was sitting catching up on some emails and reached back to pick up my 5 year olds coat off the floor and bam....my shoulder popped out....for the 15th time. Legit.  An hour and a half later I find myself in the ER, getting X Rays and getting referred to an orthopedic surgeon.  Flash forward 3 days and I find myself being told I am 99.9% getting surgery and will never be able to lift probably ever again.  My world crushed.  My one escape, my one thing I do to get rid of everything that is bothering me, to be told I most likely will never be able to do it again.  I cried the whole way home until my little guy asked if he could buy me some ice cream with his piggy bank money.  At that moment, I realized, you can overcome this.   This past 4 months, I have made some of the most amazing gains that I ever have.  I packed on 20 lbs of muscle...and not in the binging on Burger King and McDonalds type of way either. I increased every single thing in the weightroom.  And then to have that all be taken away in an instant? No way.  I will not let that happen.  So....after a week or so of sulking, a week of crying to my husband every night and thinking my life is over....I made a plan.

I talked to one of my really good friends (who happens to be a trainer and works in my hospitals sports medicine clinics) and worked on what I can do to help myself until I have to go in for surgery.  I decided that I'm going to continue to lift.  I know.....it sounds crazy, but here me out.  My right arm is a-okay.  My left, well I can continue to do bicep work and minimal tricep work. So I will.  We also came up with a nice little resistance band/isometric shoulder workout.  My anterior capsule is completely shot, but if I can strengthen just a little portion of it, I will take it. It will make recovery easier.  I've switched my cardio routine. The recumbent bike is my new best friend.  I can incline walk and bike it out to my hearts content.  I need to modify my diet, which I know I need to do, but I haven't completely done it yet.  I know come surgery time, I will need to eat as clean as possible with the limited movement that I will be doing.   I can have my arm out of my sling right now for a couple hours a day, so I've been maximizing on that.   Post surgery, we will take it as it comes, but I plan on getting my full mobility back. They told me between 3 and 6 screws are to be put in place and to expect to lose some mobility. I plan on rocking my physical therapy and showing them whats up.

The most important piece of advice I can give on this.....have a positive mind set.  If you tell yourself you can do it, you can.  It may suck the big one right now and you might be beyond butt hurt over it all, but if you can tell yourself that you will overcome it and come out better and stronger than before, than do it.  Make a plan out for yourself and follow it.  Tell yourself this is what I'm going to do and don't falter.  Don't use it as an excuse to binge out on crap.  Nourish your body.  By going about setbacks in a healthy and positive manner, you will find yourself overcoming and being stronger in the long run.  I know I have a long 12 weeks ahead of me.....but I won't let myself get down over it.  I'm going to use it to come out the best version of myself that is possible.  The body is an incredible thing.....push yourself.  You will see yourself adapt and power through things you never thought possible.  Don't baby yourself.  Give yourself strength and positivity and you will see definite changes.

Body Image vs. Body Images

We are going to hit you up with a two person post today, because we both have things we want to say about this topic.

I (Linda) was going through the VS website drooling over their adorable bikinis when I came across this image, and got real upset.

Okay I get it, we are all different shapes and sizes, some of us are thin, some of us have a lot of curves, some of us have no curves, doesn't matter, we are all females.  This image however, it upset me.  Why?  Well it's not because this model is super svelt, it is Victoria's Secret after all, I get it, the models are thin and that is what is attractive to the brand and the fit of the bikinis, I'm over that.  However, look a little closer.  You can see where she had a shadow, that has been removed because the photoshopper was nipping her in further at the waist and gapping her thighs more, to emphasis what?  Curvy-ness?

You know what this image emphasizes to me?  It emphasizes why it is hard to be a teenage girl, why women say things like "omg I am so fat" and why everyone is looking towards the next best fad diet or cleanse to "get skinny".  I am exhausted by it, it makes me angry, and sad, it makes me want to take all the teenage girls into my arms and hold them close and shelter their eyes from the world.  It makes me want to follow my goddaughter around at all times just to make sure she never ever has to deal with bullying or "mean girls" or whatever.  It makes me want to throw my desk up on itself and tell the fashion industry to fornicate itself...in nicer terms.

I sent this image to Megan, and her first response was "this is why we have the problem we have", and she is right and I agreed to the millionth degree, so much so that here we are ranting about it in a post.

I won't lie, sometimes I feel "fat", sometimes I nitpick myself, I do it, more than I should and people, like my husband for example, cant for the life of them understand why.  My cellulite bothers me, but he doesn't even see it, like at all.  I hate that my thighs rub together, he's never noticed that.  My arms are flappy, but to him he sees nothing but a perfectly functioning arm.  Okay maybe my husband is just a really good guy (he is), but it's also because he doesn't dwell on this stuff, because, well because he is a man.  Us women, we are bombarded with these images that seep deep into our heads and sit there and burn into our brains and remind us "hey, you are imperfect".  And we are, we are imperfect, we are all imperfect, so is this model, because someone thought it necessary to change her image to make her look SMALLER.  WHY???  Why can't we be real about it.  We are all different shapes and sizes and colours, why do we expect to fit into the same mold?  Can we please stop it?

Can we please accept it and be imperfect?

I saw a post on instagram the other day, it said...

"You are not fat, you have fat.

You also have fingernails, you are not fingernails"

 Heyyooo! So it's my turn (Megan).....I agree with EVERYTHING Lin says.  I know everyone has a different take on what is "hott" and "skinny" and "fit", but instead of loving you for who you are, we are constantly bombarded with being smaller is being better.  I can't go and buy a pair of jeans without having to look at a picture of a size 00 model wearing the pair that I want and making them look amazing and then grabbing my size 4's off the shelf and having a moment of self loathing in the dressing room.  My husband asks me DAILY why I don't wear jeans and why I wear leggings alllllllll the time instead. Simple answer -- a) they are comf...lets be honest here  and b) society today has given us such a warped sense of what we should look like it's uncomfortable to squeeze into them and realize they look NOTHING like what they looked like in the picture. I haven't bought a pair of jeans in 2 years.  Not  a single pair.  

Okay so where am I getting at with this.....instead of focusing on how small you are, we should be focusing on how strong we are.  I no longer focus on what my scale says, but instead on did I up my max today doing curls or did I PR on squats.  I eat clean-ish for the most part, but I don't hold back. If I want something, I work it in my day.  I am active, I workout almost every day. Once.... I trained to be a bikini competitor and the experience taught me a whole heck of a lot.  I was unhealthy....starving....and when I quit training, I still wasn't near stage weight.  I wasn't going down that path again.  I love life and want to live it.  Below are 3 pictures of my absolute idol -- Libby DiBiase.  She is everything I strive to be....strong, healthy, fit, and beautiful.

Focus on strength. Focus on being healthy.  Focus on being fit.  Don't focus on fitting in to your size 0000000 jeans.  I care about if I can run that distance.  Can I row that 5000 meters? Can I lift that?  I took a picture of myself the other day and sent it to Lin.  I looked at it and realized, I am fit.  Yes, I have abs. No, I'm not 100 lbs.  I have quads that are defined. No, I'm not 110 lbs.  I have arms that get noticed.  No, I'm not 120 lbs.  I'm 140 lbs.  140.3 to be exact....and I STILL wear the same clothes I wore when I starved myself down to 115lbs.  Sure, I'm not going to be that stick thin waif walking around the beach, but I'm okay with that.  I'm the only girl in my gyms weightlifting club.  And I'm okay with that.  You should be okay with yourself too!!  Take your strengths and focus on them.  Don't get caught up in society today. Be the best version of you that is possible. 

Alone time dinner

Saturday I was alone in my house with my cats and no vehicle.

Alone...all day, unheard of.
Which meant I had a lot to get done, I was very productive, laundry, cleaning, workout, groom cats, etc. After lunch, I had the hindsight to throw in some chicken breasts onion and garlic with spices and my fav hot sauce into the slow cooker. By the time dinner rolled around I was hungry.  There wasn't much in the fridge but there was enough to make what I gotta say, was an amazing dinner.

I sautéed some kale in olive oil and garlic, sea salt and some pepper and a spash of white wine. I like my kale crispy so I wait until the edges are brown to eat it. I then baked a sweet potato in my microwave. I peeled it first then washed it then popped it in for 7 mins. While that was all happening I remembered my avocados. Took out an avocado and smashed half of it with lemon pepper mix mix mix. 

Once the potato was done. I took it out and cut it and laid it out like it was a plate, smeared some virgin coconut oil on it, put on some pulled slow cooked chicken, threw on the avocado, put the kale on the side and went to dinner heaven.

 

Okay I'm not the best with photographing it, but that shit was GOOD.  I was soo full and happy after it was amazing.  I also had extra kale for my lunch today, which made me extra happy.

 

What you need to recreate;

 

- Cooked "pulled" chicken (slow cook a pack of chicken with onions, garlic, salt pepper, whatever other spices you like, a dash of hot sauce and let it cook for hours until you can pull it apart.

- Kale (with olive oil, kale, garlic, salt pepper, a splash of white wine)

- Half of a ripe avocado

-Sweet potato (and coconut oil, or if you want to use butter and can eat it, go for it)

 

Simple ingredients in little to no time.  I wish I worked from home so I could use my slow cooker for everything, I don't trust it on all day when I'm not home.  Lucky Megan...

 

Linda

 

 

Throw out your scales!!!

Whats up fitfam?!  So, in my 15 day hiatus.....I've done a lot!  Bronchitis and walking pneumonia overtook my house -- thankfully not me -- Work has been crazy (what is it with this time of year?!??!) and I've been planning for the start of coaching my first junior high Hockey season, which starts tonight! So, while my diet hasn't been "on point" in my hiatus, my workouts most definitely have been.  So get to the point here Megan, what is this post about!

Alright, alright.....I want everyone, yes everyone.....to throw out your scale!!  But why!!! Why would anyone want to do that?!?!?  Think about it....your weight, it's just a number.  But it's a number that you let CONSUME your every being.  You are probably that person who weighs themselves every.single.morning.  or better yet, weighs themselves 5 times throughout the day.  Okay, timeout....you know that your body can fluctuate weight up to 8 lbs in an entire day right??  Just ask Lin about my extraordinary food babies and my amazing ability to hold like 10 lbs of food at one time.  But anyway...back on topic...the scale.  It's just downright depressing.  Who the hell wants to get on a scale after busting their ass in the gym or with their diet just to find out it hasn't budged AT ALL.  Talk about a buzz kill.  I'll admit it, there are times I get like that.  I was in a downer on Friday...I worked hard all week at the gym and expected to see SOMETHING and I didn't.  And then I slapped myself and realized "silly girl. you know better than this!".

The scale means NOTHING when it comes to telling you how in shape you are....NOTHING.  When you weigh yourself, you are weighing bones, fat, muscle, water, the 1/2 lb cheeseburger you ate 2 hours ago.  Lets get in to it even more.  Muscle weighs more than fat....Fat takes up more volume in your body. To get a definitive gauge of yourself, you should be taking your measurements.  I do mine every week. It's much more rewarding to see your inches decrease (and by saying that, I'm hoping it is being replaced with lean muscle mass and not just eating so few calories you are losing everything you have).  So instead of saying "I want to lose weight" everyone should be saying "I want to increase my lean muscle mass".  I'll give you me for example.  My diet has been....well...not where I know it could be.  Sure, I'm eating in a deficit, I'm watching my macros for the MOST part, but I indulge....more than I know I should.  Just ask the tupperware full of brownies and funfetti cupcakes on my counter right now.  Over the past 4 weeks, my scale has gone up 3 solid pounds.  I briefly had a cry sesh over this the other day......and I mean briefly, as in step on the scale, see the number, step off, cry for .2 seconds, then put my favorite pair of pants on that have been too tight for 6 months that actually now fit, and get happy again.  But how?!  I will tell you how.  My gains in the weight room have been incredible.  I am gaining lean muscle mass and losing fat.  My inches lost tell me so.  So while the scale is going up, my body is replacing fat I had stored with lean muscle and decreasing my size.

I ain't scared....I'll tell you....today I weigh 142 lbs, was 18.4% body fat when I got measured last week at the gym, and am sitting solid in a size 2/4 pant. This ain't no lie.... Flash back 5 years ago when I was in college.....didn't know what a diet or a gym was.....weighed 150 lbs and was in a size 10...barely.  It's a hard concept to grasp, I know this, but trust me on it.  Don't be afraid of the weights people, and stay away from the scale.  Take your measurements.  Judge based on "goal" pants. Do whatever works for you, but stay away from the scale.  You will thank me for it later.

xoxo!

My Guide to Supplements

The one question I probably have people ask me the most is "what supplements do you take??"  Now, while I can't answer what works for everyone, I can tell you what works for me and what has worked for me.  Before starting ANY sort of supplement, read about them, read possible side effects, just read everything and anything about them and see if they are right for you.  This is what I take on a daily basis.  I've never been questioned going through airport security with my pill box either....if you are wondering about traveling and supplements.  (I've also never been stopped for having a shaker full of Whey). I know it might seem like a lot, and sometimes I feel like an old lady when I pop them all, but I'd rather support my body then not.  

My supplements: Prenatal vitamins, fish oil, Migrelief, Amino Burst 300 

PreNatal Vitamins:  NO!! I am NOT pregnant, and NO, I have NO plans on getting pregnant.  So why PreNatal vitamins you ask?? It's really pretty simple.  When we workout, we are wearing down and rebuilding muscle fibers constantly.  PreNatal vitamins contain folate.....what do we need to rebuild muscle tissue?  Folate!  Folate is critical for rebuilding and creating new cells in our body.  What is one way that muscles grow?  By rebuilding and replacing the cells we damaged when we weight train! So I can get into it even further if you want (since you probably think I'm crazy).  What else does folate do?  Helps build DNA and RNA.  What process do we use to build and grow muscle when we weight train?  Muscle Protein Synthesis!  What are the main components of muscle protein synthesis? DNA and RNA!  Yayyy!!!  So in short....a PreNatal vitamin aids in the building and recovery of muscles while weight training. It also contains DHA which is an Essential Fatty Acid that your body needs to function.  Enough said.  If you're not down with taking a PreNatal....make sure you are taking a multi-vitamin formulated for your gender.  Men and women need completely different nutrients, so make sure you are taking one formulated for your needs.  

Fish Oil: The human body cannot produce enough essential fatty acids on it's own....so it looks for the food we eat or a supplement to get the proper amount of of EFA's. EFA's are a main component in building lean muscles.  They help increase muscle synthesis and decrease the rate at which you degrade your muscles. They also help your cardiovascular health, support healthy blood flow, help joint function, and like I said before, muscle recovery. 

BCAA's:  Branch Chain Amino Acids are very important for all muscle synthesis and muscle recovery.  I swear by them. I take GNC Amino Burst 3000.  I pop 3 post workout, and I swear the next day I am not as fatigued and the pain from Delayed Onset Muscle Syndrome is MUCH less. When you weight train, you deplete your bodys natural storage of BCAA's.  Protein is made up of 22 amino acids. Eight of these amino acids the body cannot produce, so it looks for supplementation to make up for it.   BCAA's reduce muscle fatigue, speed up muscle recovery, decrease the loss of other amino acids, and help your body absorb protien (and we all know, if you are trying to build muscle, protein is a MUST). BCAA's are also metabolized in the actual muscles, not in your liver like most amino acids.  If you lack any of these BCAA's you are putting yourself at risk for muscle depletion.  

Protein:  Ahhh protien....I don't have any protein pictured, because I try to get MOST of my protein to fit my macros naturally.  I used to swear by drinking shakes errrrrday, but I've now discovered I can pretty much hit my protein goals by my food intake.  Don't get me wrong, there are days I still drink shakes, but if I can hit my goals based on the foods I eat, then I'm okay with that.  Protein is the building block for all muscle tissue.  You need protein to build muscle (duh.) The body also utilizes more calories breaking down protein which increases your natural calories burned.  Win win, right?  So get your protein in!!!  

What's the other one in the picture? Migrelief.  I suffer from EXTREME chronic migraines.  I know it has nothing to do with muscle recovery or function, etc.  But I take it everyday, so it was in my pickcha. I won't get into the details of it, but I take it every day.  It helps decrease the frequency and intensity of migraines, and was recommended by my doctor.  So for all you fellow migraine sufferers....you might be interested in checking it out!!  

Traveling and staying on track? Wait whaaatttt

Heyyyyyyyyy everyone! Sorry for the hiatus. I just got back from my national sales meeting in Texas. A week in Texas without being able to choose your meals and spending countless hours in an airport (and on this trip....I mean countless)....wait that's all possible??? Why yes it is!

So...how do you plan for all this? It's actually really easy. Before I left, I prepped a weeks worth of meals for my hubby too. It's a choice to live a healthy lifestyle.  Sure...we all have our indulgences. Hell....my hubby took me to five guys for lunch today and I got a regular bacon cheeseburger. I actually had to take a breathing break halfway through to get it all in me.

But anywhoo....how does one travel and stay on track. First....I usually look for or book a room with a fridge. That way I can make sure to keep stuff cold in my and my ice pack frozen. If your ice pack isn't frozen....the TSA will make you throw it out (even more reason to check on a fridge). For this trip I did shredded chicken with salt free seasoning, 75% Cabot reducded fat cheddar, steamed broccoli, carrots and ranch, bananas, apples and PB, and protein oatmeal. Make sure you freeze whatever you aren't going to eat right away so it stays colder longer. I bag out in separate bags 4 oz of chicken, 1 oz cheese, 3 oz carrots, a cup of broccoli, and apples. I pack everything in a cooler bag. Remember if you're carrying on....ALL liquids have to be less than 3 oz and in your quart bag.....that means all your shampoos and stuff AND your ranch and PB. Sucks I know....but such is life.  People might look at you like you're cray cray but it'll be aight. I forgot to pack forks this trip so the first day in the airport I cave manned it with my bare hands and the guy next to me just stared. Hey....shit happens.

So the oatmeal....In little bags I pre portion out 1/3 cup oatmeal, a half scoop of whatever protein I'm deciding to use, a pack of splenda (I usually do chocolate protein). I ask the flight attendant for a cup of hot water and pour it in. I usually then add a tbsp of peanut butter.

Call me crazy....I might be. But whatevss....it works for me. There are SOOOO many ways that you can make a healthy lifestyle work for you, even if you don't have the right surroundings. You just have to think outside the box a little. Whether it be school, work, traveling, whatever.....you can make it work if you put your mind to it.

Real Deal about Carbohydrates

So I've been seeing this SOOOO much lately and I figured maybe it's time we had a discussion about carbs.  I think with the new year starting off, everyone gets sucked in to these low carb diets.  I mean lets be honest here.....they make it so easy for you by offering shakes and bars and meal replacements.  But people....I have to tell you a secret.....carbs are not the reason you gained weight!!  You gained weight because you had a poor diet and most likely did very little working out! The only thing you can attribute to weight gain is yourself.  You can't pinpoint carbs and say "yep...that's it...that's why I gained 20 lbs". Carbohydrates are NECESSARY nutrients that your body needs to function.  Sure....if you down a whole Pizza Hut pizza in one sitting, yeah...carbs are PART of the issue....but I'd be more focused on the fact that you just consumed 1000000000000 calories and 1000000000000000 grams of fat.  Trust me....in that scenario...carbs did NOT make you gain weight.  Or say you go out to breakfast and get a stack of French Toast, bacon and top it all with syrup.   The carbs aren't what is going to wreck you in that scenario....the bread drenched in eggs and cream (yes....did you know that restaurants use either full fat cream or whole milk to make their French Toasts?  No? Well now you do) topped with mounds and mounds of butter.....and yes....the person who is plopping that butter on your French Toast doesn't care about your waist line and while it may not look like a lot when it comes out....that butter is already melted in to your French Toast....the full sugar syrup that you pour on top...that sucker right there has about 215 calories PER 1/4 CUP....thats 4 tbsp people....AND about 35g of SUGAR! And then there is the bacon....don't get me wrong...I love bacon....I love it so much I'd bathe in it. Do I eat it a lot? I go through spurts....but when I do I always limit myself to 2 pieces. 68% of the calories that come from your bacon is fat...that's over half people. This is why you are gaining weight...NOT because you had 2 pieces of bread on a sandwich or dipped your dry piece of wheat toast in your dippy eggs.

You can have your carbs and eat them too here.  What you have to understand is what TYPES of carbs should you be eating.  I mean....if you just say "I don't eat carbs" does that mean you don't eat most fruits and vegetables? A banana has about 30g of carbs in one banana.....and is one of the best post workout grab and go snacks you can eat if you don't have time for anything else.  There are such things as simple carbs and complex carbs.  What makes them simple or complex?  That depends on their chemical structure but more importantly how quickly the sugars are digested in to your system.

Complex carbs are the carbs you should be filling your diet with. These would be whole grains, beans, fruits  and vegetables. The sugars from these carbs release into your body gradually and deliver a steady supply of sugar to the blood stream which provides long lasting energy.

Simple Carbs  are made of molecules that your body can easily breakdown and cause a quick release of sugar into the body. This is where you can get in to the "bad" carbs. Sugars, candy, white bread, chips, syrups.....they are all simple carbs.  That syrup you had with your French Toast....it might have had 53g of carbs in it but 35g of it was sugar.....sugar that is getting released just like that in to your blood stream and is not going to sustain your energy levels.

Does all this mean that you need to eat 300g of carbs a day?? Heck no techno.  Not unless you are a high performance athlete that pushes their body to the brink during workouts every single day and is consuming 3000 calories a day.  I make sure to fill my diet with about 35% carbs every single day.  Sure....I might choose the low carb whole wheat wrap over the regular whole wheat wrap....but that's because I eat 6 times a day and I don't like to eat up all my carbs in one sitting. I might not have a "starch" for dinner because I know that my yogurt I'm going to eat at 8 PM is going to put me at my 35%.

If you are going to carb cycle (which is a WHOLE other topic)....but being very brief....follow a low - medium - high 3 day schedule and have your high carb day fall on a demanding lifting day (for me that would be leg day). Your body will thank you.  What do I  consider low-medium-high??  Low - 20%  carbs, medium - 30% carbs, high 45% carbs....but that's just me. Everyone is different and I know how my body reacts. I don't know about you....but I don't like being cranky.

So what am I getting at here.....basically, consuming carbs are not why you gained weight. It's what you put in your mouth as a whole that made you gain weight.  What should your diet consist of then?  Fruits, vegetables, whole unrefined grains, beans, etc.  Don't fill yourself up with sodas, sugars, syrups, donuts and cookies. It's not really rocket science here......but I guarantee you will find yourself having more energy, be fuller longer, and will just overall feel better about yourself.

Scales are for fish

Oh Hi there!  I'm Linda, Megan's Janice (long story).  I live in Canada, and we met on the internet and it's an even longer story.  Anyways, this is Megan's blog and I throw in some two-cents sometimes, so I wanted to throw in some two-cents about scales and weighing and all that jazz.

My story is I lost over 35 lbs in the passed 3 years ( went down and up before that my highest ever weight was 197 lbs!), I lost most of it in my first year, a handful in my second year and now I am just "In maitenence" or "reshaping" or whatever you want to call it.  I'm 5'6 and wear a size 4 if that is any indication and my weight fluctuates from 135-138 depending entirely on the positioning of the moon.

I stopped weighing myself a few months ago and decided to try to adapt a bit more to a clean eating/ high fat (yep HIGH fat, it's amazing)/ little to no gluten diet.  See I'm allergic to dairy, so I can't eat many things (yes it sucks but it works for me) and I try to avoid grains and beans but I still eat my jasmine rice, straight up white.  I guess you could say I'm kind of paleo, but I don't want to label myself with a title so "Hi I'm Linda I eat food that works for my body".  Yeah I like that.

I made the mistake of weighing myself after Christmas, because I am a total idiot and I was up a whole 3 pounds!  Okay that's nothing, could be water could be poop could be one of my cats sitting on my shoulders so I decided not to let it bother me.  Except it does bother me and I don't know why.  That's a lie, I do know why, it bothers me because we put so much emphasis on weight.  People always say "Linda have you lost more weight?! Stop losing weight!" When no... I haven't lost weight in a year, it's just that my exercise regime and my nutrition make subtle changes to my body weekly, even though half the time, I can't see them. Lets be honest without sounding like a conceited big headed pig I look pretty freakin fantastic, no lie and I work hard for that glory, but I have spent too much time nit picking extra skin and .5 of a lb etc etc.

Instead of spending the time celebrating victories or enjoying life in smaller jeans, I would worry about a number or that I have rolls still when I sit or that my thighs are too close together.  I'm over that shit, so done with it! I've come too far to be so cruel.

What I'm trying to say is that since that dreaded weigh in I have avoided the scale and I plan on continuing that trend, it's liberating until you step back on the sucker so please, join me!  Avoid/ trash/ burn the scale and focus on making yourself better for you, not for a board that measures your gravitational pull towards the earth.

It's simple really but I'm still learning.

In case you were wondering, this is what I look like.

(I cropped out my face because... I'm batman!)