Failure: Population Me

I completely failed at my pre-Thanksgiving diet/workout plan.

Upon the first day of my be healthy kick, I consumed Sonic onion rings for lunch and Texadelphia's burger covered in queso for dinner. The following morning, I ate at Good Gravy Diner and had to indulge in the biscuits and gravy. I've completely failed. Oh, and last week, I had three bottles of wine. Geez. I'm in trouble, and I can start to see it on the scale.

With this dreary gray and rainy weather and the sun setting at 5:30, I haven't gone outside to run after work. In like two weeks. Somebody shake me.

Thursday is Thanksgiving, and clearly, I cannot diet then. I need to get my butt in gear, and I'm so disappointed in myself I don't know where to begin. Walking? Salad lunches? Lose the soda?

How can I be successful when I'm so clearly tempted - and so willing to give in?

I need to change, and clearly, unless I'm doing a full workout like Jillian Michaels, I can't seem to do it for more than a week. After I return from Thanksgiving, I'm getting another monthly membership. My ass needs it. Literally. The ass that's growing needs it.

How will I look hot on Christmas? Somehow. Let's do this...after Thanksgiving break.

Before and After

After the winter season, I weighed a health weight. This is May. Size 6-8.


After a month of running, I dropped two pounds. Size 4-6.


After a month of Jillian Michaels, I dropped 5 pounds. Solid size 4 with some being too big.


In total, this summer, I've dropped almost ten pounds. I am six pounds from my ultimate goal weight. Thanks to Jillian Michaels, I have lost ONE INCH in my bust (sad face), THREE INCHES in my waist and FOUR INCHES in my hips. I feel great; my clothes are looking great, my legs look incredible and I'm fitter than when I got married. I'm pretty proud of myself, and I know that I will reach my goal weight. I'm looking forward to shopping for size 2 clothes!!

Life and Jillian Michaels

I called my parents and talked to them for awhile. I missed my mom when she was in Africa with my Dad for an African mission trip. I love calling her on my (five minute) drive home from work, and I like to talk to her while I wash dishes or fold laundry or sort the mail. It makes me feel like I'm home. I haven't seen much of them this year, and I miss them. We'll spend Thanksgiving with them, and that's pretty awesome.

One of my friends announced their pregnancy privately to us, and I talked to my mom about shopping for baby gifts. Immediately, my Dad got excited. I told them hold on. I have to give my sisters a chance to catch up, I say. When really, all I want to do is hold onto my freedom a little bit longer. I want to be able to sleep in as late as I want, go away on improv weekends, randomly take road trips, spend money on silly purchases and cook dinner when I'm hungry. I'm excited for my friends, and I'm actually really looking forward to how I will feel about the baby and parenting after seeing it so close to my heart instead of on the internet or in movies or via facebook.


Jillian Michaels is killing me and Bryan. We woke up at 5:45 this morning to get our workout on since we're having a guest tonight. I thought it might be a bit presumptious to think that he would want to join us in an hour long 200-lunge workout. And now we're resting. Resting until Wednesday's Day 8 workout which I am SURE will be even worse. I shouldn't be looking at the scale, but I've dropped 3.5 pounds. (tiny dance party)

I'm aching for the fall semester to begin. It's only a week away, but it feels like forever. Let's get some students on this campus, and let me get to Vietnam! I want to do my first year of recruiting!

Also, I relived our show in Oklahoma City for the festival when I uploaded the pictures to facebook. Gosh, that was so much fun. We've got a show in Tahlequah in two weeks. Last year, we sold out and people didn't know us. I'm hoping to kill it even harder this year.

Freedom from Chocolate

Last night, I finished off the last of the Robin's Eggs - which was the last of our Easter candy, so lovingly sent by my mother-in-law. I love chocolate, and I have never turned down a dessert when I've been offered. But let's get real: it's practically bikini season.


I have been working out three times a week, but I can't help but feel like my hard work at the YMCA is being sabotaged by those tiny candy eggs. Thankfully, we are entering a candy free period of the year. I can't think of any holidays in April, May, June, July, August or September where you celebrate with candy. I am homefree until Halloween. Hallelujah!


NOTE: My inlaws are coming to visit in a month, and my mother-in-law has requested two things. One: to eat lunch at my favorite chocolate restaurant Max Brennar's and Two: to visit the market in Philadelphia to buy some chocolate covered pretzels. Life is sweet.

Lady Fitness

With summer months and bikini sales approaching fast, I've been really serious about working out.

I've found a beautiful hour and a half of my day at the gym. I drop in, sign up for my treadmill, hit the mat for some strength exercises, then hit the treadmill for interval training and then stretch for a good fifteen minutes. It's wonderful. I get a chance to read all my magazines that sit dusty on my coffee table, think about all the crazy things happening in my life right now, listen to my awesome 90s hip hop mix and enjoy the solitude in the presence of lots of women getting theirs.

The whir of the treadmill belt, the beat of women's sneaks on the machines, the light murmur from the weight area, the Destiny's Child bumping in my ear: it's perfect. It's my escape, and it's also my means to a bangin' bikini body. Summer of 2010 is the summer of hot.

Work it, Make it, Do it

I'm not the kind of girl who turns someone down. After years of improv, I can't help but say yes. The holiday season is no exception. I embarked on our three week holiday with a fit body free of dessert and full of veggies. Well, at each stop of our journey, I was fed chocolate, pies, Kentucky fried goodness, muffins, cakes, steak dinners with french fries, mashed potatoes, everything bad, I had some. It was delicious...but it was also fattening. Bryan and I each gained some pounds over the holiday, thanks mostly to family.

Since we've been back, I've taken over the menu to involve more veggies, less eating out and more working out. Well, congratulations to me: I'm back to my pre-holiday weight. My hard work and dedication has paid off. I love seeing results, and thankfully, this is a result I can walk around in. I'm happy about my body and have now granted myself unlimited naked walks around the house.

How'd we do it? Living the Sweat Life.

Living The Sweat Life from Bryan and Alyssa on Vimeo.

It's Not Easy Eating Greens

Recently, I completed a 30 Day Fitness & Diet Challenge out of Biggest Loser coach and fitness extraodinaire Jillian Michaels' newest book Making the Cut. It should be called Jillian Kicks Your Ass and You Hate Her and then You Tone Up and then You Love Her. Because that's what happens.

Before my 30 days, I talked to my doctor and did a month of my own workouts to prepare my body. I took her test - and passed. Then, I set aside the month of September to do it. There were days I left the gym feeling so week. My mouth watered on every commercial for cookies, Outback steakhouse, yogurt, Coke, hell, some tv shows even got me. Driving past Chickfila on my way to work was torture. There were mornings when I hated every bite of my Kashi Go Lean (no crunch) cereal. There were days I cried on the arc trainer because I just felt like I couldn't do it.

And then came the good days. At my first weigh in, I'd dropped four pounds and lost an inch. At my second weigh in, I another pound less and another inch skinnier. At the final 30 day mark, I'd lost six pounds, three and a half inches from my waist and 4% of my body fat. And I looked fit! I felt fit. I was stronger. I was better.

This month, I'm off the challenge. I've had two Dr. Peppers, one CFA sandwich, a piece of chocolate, a cheeseburger and pasta. None of them as delicious as I remembered. I'm still working out hard - with a new workout thanks to my trainer AJ and eating right with lots of protein, healthy snacks and as many veggies as I want. Today, I'm nine pounds less than I was when I moved to Philadelphia, swimming in some of my pants and a hell of a lot happier with my body. Thankfully, Bryan was on board for the latest challenge. Together, we've shrunk our waists, grown our relationship and ignited a new lust for each other's bodies.

If you need a kick in the ass to get fit, this is THE book. I owe my health to Jillian Michaels.