April 27th- Welcome Back :)

Well hey there everyone, I know it has been awhile since I have posted, but for the record I have been dealing with another round of back injections, a rhizotomy where I got the pleasure of having some of my nerves in my back burned to help with the pain I have been having. I am happy to say it seems to have worked, there is just the drawback of getting my muscles back in fighting shape. I am doing a no weigh month, so I haven't stepped on the scale or anything for all of April.

Still working on getting my weight down and Sarah B and I have been hitting the gym everyday this week with the exception of our rest days. Here's what our week looked like:

Sunday- Cardio- Run/Jogging for at Least Two Miles

Monday- Cardio- 2 Miles Plus Arms 

Tuesday- 55 Minute Personal Training Session- Focus on Legs

Wednesday- Cardio- 2 Mile Walk/Jog

Thursday & Friday- Off

Saturday- Cardio, Abs and Arms

It's been a very busy week in this household. Alan's birthday was on wednesday as well so I made a piecaken and have been attempting to stay away from it... but it is difficult. I got to stay strong and keep going with healthier eating. Anyways I think that getting back on track is the name to the game and I am in the perfect position to do that. Thanks again for everyone's support!

Love Yourself Always, 

Corinne K. 

Busy Life/ Healthy Life :)

So today was another chapter in my new wave of healthy living. The goal this month is 8 pounds to lose so I am working on eating healthy, cooking at home, and making good decisions when I am out to eat with family or friends. That is probably the most important element to all of this is that I am allowed to have a social life, as long as I make good decisions when I am out and about. 

I am doing no soda, no bread items, no sugar, and clean eating again. I put wheat items back into my diet for a little while and my progress slowed down quite a bit so I am pulling them out for good and sticking to fruits, veggies, and lean proteins. Let me tell you, I miss baking, so I will be researching some more vegan/gluten and sugar free options of cooking/baking since I enjoy doing that. Meat veggies and fruits are so much easier to eat :) baking with restrictions is crazy hard, so I will probably only do it when I really get the urge :) Then I'll let Alan eat all of it, unless it is diet friendly. 

I have been working out :) I finally went back to balboa classes and will be returning to pole classes this week. I have been doing home workouts as well :) Today was a little bit of everything- 

25 pilates leg lifts both sides

25 side crunches

50 regular crunches

25 leg up crunches

20 leg lifts 

30 reps bicep curls 8 lbs each arm

20 tricep extensions 16 lbs

100 Squats- adding weight tomorrow

Tomorrow is also a cardio day because I am starting the C25K program. That is the Couch to 5 K program... I will be doing it at the gym since I am registered for a couple 5Ks for this year :) Whoo Hoo Here are just a couple pics of ones that I am registered for:

I am sure I will add some more as I find them. My goal is to do at least 5 this year :) Even if I have to walk them, I am going to do it!! Anyways! I hope everyone is doing well and that all of your progress is going well! 

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 45- Relaxation and Reward

So this post is not really day 45 but I have been so busy this week with work, working out, eating clean and grocery shopping. We did that last night and it was much needed. I got a ton of fruits and vegetables to get ready for this week. I have been eating so well and it has been paying off. I lost 10 pounds in december, 11 pounds in January, 7 pounds last month (February) and I am well on my way for great loss in March. My total pounds lost so far since I have decided to make this life change is 28 pounds.... it's unbelievable! I still have a long way to go, but I am feeling great about all of this change. My family and friends have been so supportive. Sarah B. and I have signed up for some 5ks this year and so it will be a year of firsts for me. I have the Rugged Maniac, the Graffiti Run, Color me Rad, the Dirty Dash, and I am sure so much more as I tackle the first one. I am going to New York this year too and planning some trip with Alan. Seriously this is going to be my year! Watch out March because I am aiming for another 10 pound weight loss :) 

Today was a reward day. Mom and I went for a two mile walk with my nephew and the dog and then we headed to our much deserved spa day. I got my first facial today and decided that it is something that I am going to continue doing for my skin. I loved how relaxed we walked out of there feeling. I felt beautiful, strong, and just ready to take on whatever was coming my way. I also ate really well today too. 

Breakfast: Apple and Water

Lunch: Big spinach and cabbage salad with balsamic dressing, bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, turkey, and bacon bits. Lots of Water!

Snack: Beef jerky, Banana

Dinner: Coconut oil pan seared salmon with salt and pepper and broccoli and a sweet potato ( MY MOM IS THE BEST COOK!)

Snack: Popcorn, Diet coke, and I had a couple twizzlers it was a movie night. Back to no sugar tomorrow lol :) 

Love Yourself Always, 

Corinne K. 

P.S. Anything is possible when you commit to succeeding! 

Day 44- All Balboa and Snow today :)

Holy snow today.... we officially are under Blizzard conditions!! It snowed all night and then all day today. I still decided that I needed to go dance and work on my skills!! Talk about a come back :) It was like riding a bike. I just got out there, made a bunch of mistakes and just kept going in class. I really enjoyed seeing instructors, friends, and other dancers that I haven't seen in awhile. It made me happy to know that even though I was nervous, I still went and danced. I think this fitsperation is perfect for today:

So here's how my day looked:

Breakfast: Plain Bagel

Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwich on Wheat Bread

Snack: Skinny zebra Mocha

Dinner: Homemade meatloaf with salad. I put ranch dressing on my salad. 

Snack: Nutri-grain bar, strawberry.

TONS OF WATER TODAY!! I have been so thirsty!

Spent 2 hours taking Balboa classes, while I don't think these were as intense as my normal workouts, I was at least up and moving around for 2 hours. Plus when I came home I spent an hour shoveling the driveway... falling into snow drifts... and shoveling some more. I forgot how much of a workout that is. Anyways I am very ready to go and enjoy a movie with Alan and just be content with the weekend being over. Great time dancing, and lots of excitement with the weather. Can't wait to see how this week plays out. 

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 43- Pole, Balboa, and Homemade Chili YUM!

Day 43 on this Journey, and I do have to say, it is pretty fantastic. I spent all day eating well, working out and seeing some people that I haven't seen in quite a while thanks to the broken ankle and bum back. Thankfully those things seem to be doing very well and so I got through the 4 hours of dance classes pretty easily with only slight flair ups in the bionic ankle :) Anyways, let's take a look at today and see how it played out...

Real fast, inspiration for today. I took the basic balboa classes and did very well in them :) So I am going to...

Breakfast: Everything bagel from Einsteins with veggie cream cheese. It was delicious and exactly what I needed this morning. 

Had an hour of Pole dancing this morning with Missie. There wasn't any intro people there so it was like getting a private lesson with Missie. We worked on so many new and cool tricks. I really love all of theses classes! Then it was time to head to Balboa. 

Lunch: Chicken tacos and a diet pepsi :) 

Took 3 hours of classes with some wonderful instructors at Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout! 

Snack: Honey Crisp Apple

Stopped by the Turn to drop off some things for the Venue Manager, picked up my hoodie and then headed home to spend time with Alan and eat dinner.

Dinner: Homemade chili with cheddar cheese. (Alan made it especially spicy, but it was awesome!)

Drank a ton of water today and feel really good about what I chose to ate :) No time to write anything else I am exhausted and I have a whole day tomorrow that I need to be rested up for. Thanks for all of the support everyone! 

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 42- Calm, peaceful and ready for the weekend!!

So I am just updating real quickly for today. I have Rocky Mountain Balboa and Pole classes this weekend. I am also going to try and get the house cleaned and restore order to my household. Alan and I have been eating really well all week and I have been getting in mini workouts every day. I have found a pattern of slipping them in at lunch and doing a quick 30 minute ab, squat, lunge, and weights workout. It is pretty awesome. Also I am slipping in little weight workouts during the day while I am sitting on conference calls. Here is a fitsperation for today, nothing too crazy just keeping going on this healthy lifestyle:

Breakfast: Coffee with sugar free non dairy carmel creamer Fruit smoothie with coconut milk and vanilla greek yogurt. I put a cup of peach, strawberry, mango, and pineapple froze fruit in it and mixed it. 

Snack: String Cheese

Lunch: Salad with sugar free raspberry vinaigrette, chicken, avocado, spinach, iceberg lettuce, carrots, and bacon bits. 

Snack: Vegan chocolate chip pumpkin bite, Apple

Dinner: Homemade meatloaf with salad and corn

Workout- 50 bicep curls (each arm)

100 squats

25 sit-ups, leg lifts, and bicycles

20 tricep extensions (each arm)

30 minutes cardio on the treadmill

50 weighted lunges each side

Days 39,40, and 41- Great eating this week :)

 This week has been flying by. After I tweaked my ankle on saturday, I decided to chill out on the impact workouts and do more area focused workouts. I have been really focusing on eating well this week and making sure that we are going back to vegan and little to no sugar consumption. So let's take a look at the last two days.

Sunday Breakfast: Had a turkey sausage, cheddar, and egg croissant. I took Milo to the Vet and dropped him off for his exam and went to work on my final for school. 

Lunch: Sesame dressing salad with chicken, almonds, mandarin oranges, and some tomatoes. I had a diet coke too as I was working on my paper. I am going back to no soda starting tomorrow. :) 

Dinner: Apple, 6 ounce fire grilled steak and some shrimp. 

Got a quick workout that night:

25 legs up

25 stability ball situps

50 crunches

25 leg raises

25 pushups

50 squats

(Repeated 3 times as fast as possible)

Monday breakfast: Coffee, celery and peanut butter and a greek yogurt

Lunch: String Cheese, Apple, and Carrots

Dinner: Bowl of Chicken with mozzarella and buffalo Sauce

Snack: Popcorn at the movies :) 

No workout since I have injections on tuesday and my back was already hurting me. 

Today:  Was a rest day since I had to go and get, with any luck, my last round of back injections to help with my disc that is pinching my nerve. With any luck this will fix the issues I have been having and I will be able to workout a little bit more without having to take "back breaks". Anyways today was a rest day. I made from scatch buffalo chicken pizza and had it with some salad. I also made some vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins that I am going to freeze as treats for when I need a little fix. Anyways I think that is all for now. I am still aiming to keep losing in february and be under the 220's :) Still working towards it and I appreciate all of your support. Fitsperation for today:

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 38- Kicking Butt and Hurting Ankles :)

Today was a great day. Enough said :) Just kidding!! So I did have a very relaxing day, and managed to work my butt off quite sufficiently.  I woke up and took Milo to the Doctor's office for his annual comprehensive. Unfortunately they mixed up my appointments so I have to take him tomorrow instead. Oh well. So I went for a little drive this morning and just centered myself to get ready for working out and finishing my final this weekend for my class. So here is what today looked like:

Breakfast: Skinny mocha (Grande) from Starbucks and then I made a kale, pineapple, peach, mango, blueberry, strawberry, and coconut milk smoothie.

Then it was time to bring the pain... I mean that metaphorically and literally. Headed to studio3sixT to get my workout in and spent 3 1/2 hours there. I did intro to pole, XXX flow with Virginia (striptease class... yea sexy!), and then Pole 2/3 with Xiaohui (She kicked our butts, I think I might stick in 1/2 for awhile).

Managed to come down out of an invert wrong and hurt my ankle... Regardless when I was done I felt like this:

Lunch: Came home and had a Honey Crisp apple and a chicken Sandwich on Wheat bread. Tons of water after and during class today, I was so thirsty!!

Dinner: Had a bowl of chicken with a little mozzarella cheese and buffalo red hot sauce ( 23 calories, but it added a ton of flavor). I also had a Honey crisp apple for dessert- Yum!!

It was a hard work-out, low calorie day, but I feel really great about what I did. It is time to go off to work on my final, look for a workout tomorrow though :) Thanks everyone for your support!!


Love yourself always,

Corinne K.

Week Recap :) Changing it up!

Alright so I will admit, I have not been blogging the way I should have this last week :) So let me update you on my week, what I have been eating, where I have gone and all the amazing progress I have made! 

I left for my grandparent's last week and went for the whole weekend. We spent a lot of time shopping, walking around, and eating. Now before you jump to any conclusions, I monitored what I ate, Mom and I packed healthy foods, and I made good decisions when we stopped. I even was able to purchase some new jeans while I was out there- Size 12!! OH YEA!!!! 

I did have a diet coke here and there, but it was acceptable, nothing crazy, I didn't go off and binge eat or drink while I was in New Mexico. 

We came home on Monday and I got a mini workout in, just some abs and push ups (20 push-ups, 25 flat,  25 leg up, open, and flat, and 25 bicycle sit-ups Whole series done two times. 25 leg raises, and 20 hammer reps of my 8 lb weights). Alan and I went out to eat to celebrate me being home- I did have a piece of Old Chicago Pizza and a beer (So delicious!!). 

I had a workout wednesday, took yesterday off, and then worked out today... 

So for lack of a better explanation, this week was pretty crazy busy, as many of you know that it has been the week of love AKA Valentine's Day. I have been fighting the candy urge, but have had a couple little cheats this week. I made a really healthy dinner last night for Valentine's- Balsamic chicken with peppers, onions, and served over brown rice. I also made dessert- Peanut Butter and chocolate chip blondies. Alan and I opened and shared a bottle of wine too, which was fantastic. Today it was back to the sweaty grind!

I started today out with something like this just to get me in the mood:

My workout consisted of 20 minutes on the treadmill, with an incline :) I was sweating and feeling great, then it was weight lifting time. Bench press- 90 lbs 8 reps 4 times, 90 lb lat pull downs 10 reps 4 times, Hammer pulls 40lbs 8 reps 4 times,  hip flexor 110 lbs 20 reps 3 times,  110 lb leg extensions 8 reps 4 times. 50 150 Lb leg press

Abs- 50 on stability ball, 50 laying on the floor, 20 leg raises each side, 50 crunches. 

It felt amazing!!! I am back on track and can't wait to go to Pole dancing and xxx tomorrow. It is going to be such a great feeling so look for another post tomorrow! Just remember:

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 35/36- Sometimes my body quits...

 And 

So I decided to do a combo post because it has been a little bit of a crazy two days. Not only did I manage to have my first certifiable break-down, but I realized that I have an amazing support system in place for when I do fall and need help getting back up. Believe me everyone when I say, struggling is a part of life and sometimes your body will quit on you, but it doesn't mean that your mind and passion have to. A wise friend told me today- "It isn't your fault you are injured and working through this, at least you are trying. I know you are frustrated but you will get there." I may have paraphrased her a little bit, but in my childish nonsensical way I responded- "I am not listening to you anymore, you are making too much sense". Needless to say I was having a rough day. However one thing today did teach me was that I have a friend who wants me to succeed. Anyways I just want to thank her, Sarah B. and of course my mother, grandmother, and the love of my life Alan for their support in this life change. Alan held me while I felt pathetic and told me that everything was fine and that I was doing exactly what I should be doing, man he has a way with making me feel better too. I love you ALAN! 

Alright, let's look at yesterday and today real fast:

Breakfast: Greek Yogurt with Blueberries

Snack: Apple

Lunch: Chicken with Salad and Fat free italian dressing

Dinner: Qdoba Burrito bowl: little rice, black beans, corn salsa, sour cream, cheese and Guacamole

Headed to workout at Studio3sixT for 3 hours: xOut with Virginia which is like a boot camp class, then stretchibility with Jen, and then finished off the night with Pole 1/2- I went home sore, exhausted, and feeling like I got beat up. We fan-kicked the shit out of class. I was in a wonderful mood when I was done though, hence my fitsperation for today :) 

Snack: Apple and Air-popped popcorn

Today: Day 36

Breakfast: greek Yogurt with Blueberries

snack: Apple

Lunch: Two pieces of Chicken 

snack: Celery with Almond butter (I am not the biggest fan of this, I think I might need to stick to peanut butter)

Headed to attempt working out at Studio 3sixT. I went to teach little kids modern before I headed there so in total I got in about an hour of a workout before my body gave up on me and I had to head home to Alan. I needed to cuddle and have someone tell me I was ok. 

Dinner: Alan ordered up Pizza :) So I ate a couple slices. That was about it...

All in all I feel like I have been having a pretty good couple days and today my body just gave out on me. Yet I did have a three hour workout yesterday so at least I got up and did something today. I just have to keep on going. Sarah is heading out to Alabama on Monday and I am heading down to New Mexico to visit my Grandparents tomorrow. I will be packing healthy snacks and eating well and working out while I am down there so look for updates. Thanks! 

Love yourself Always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 34- Day of rest :)

So it has been a little over a month and I have managed to lose about 15 pounds so far :) I am just going to keep pushing and going with this, I feel great and I know it is just going to continue to work and help me feel even better about myself. Alan has been dropping weight like it is going of style as well. I can't tell you how excited he seems to be when he gets on the scale and weighs less than he did the other day :) Well today I just woke up tired, sore, and my back has been acting up a bit so I termed today a rest day. 

We went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch, I had eggs for breakfast with my coffee, and then tonight I had a bowl of chicken for dinner and some popcorn at the movies. Alan decided that we were going to go out and enjoy the rest day. I certainly did, but can't wait to get back to it tomorrow. I tried to drink a lot of water today, I am feeling a little bit on the bloated and pudgy side. Had a slip up and ate some banana nut muffins. I am going to have to be careful when I go to my grandparents this weekend so that I don't completely jump off the wagon. Wish me luck :) 

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 33- Back to Barre

 So much pain, but lots of good things happened today :) Barre was killer tonight with Jen but it was awesome! I came home and was just exhausted. Let's get a quick run down of today shall we?

Breakfast: Had Greek Yogurt with a half cup of Kashi Go Lean Granola and 1/4 cup of blueberries. Also had my coffee this morning and a lot of water.

Snack: Had an apple

Lunch: Had a bowl of chicken with a little mozzarella and green tabasco sauce


Dinner: I made lean pork and put salad with it. Added a tablespoon of bacon bits to it and a tablespoon of ranch.

Workout: Headed to class and had Jen hand my butt to me :) Thankfully I know it was a good work out because of that. I don't think my legs will ever be the same though :)

Snack: Veggies and Artichoke Dip- I had a ton of water after class! 

Of course it wouldn't be a complete day without some fitsperation!! 

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K. 

Day 32- Pump up the jam!!

So I had a really lazy day... it was nice to not do much of anything but homework and my workout this morning. I woke up, got dressed and headed to Sleek and Flexy Physique at Studio 3sixT :) Jen always manages to kick my butt with lots of reps and light weight. It's crazy how all of her exercises are good to start out and then just kill as we keep going... That means that they are for sure working. Had a little bit of a hitch in my back today so I had to alter a couple of the moves, but I still walked out of there feeling like I was worn out.

Clearly this is perfect for the workout we got in today :) 

So let's take a quick look at the rest of today shall we?

 Breakfast- Apple (Haven't been too hungry in the am)

Workout at studio3sixt Sleek and Flexy, lots of weight exercises :) 

Lunch- Apple Pecan Chicken Salad from Wendy's, I got Alan one too. He worked until 6:30am yesterday so he deserved to get some food brought home by me :) 

Snack- Skinny Mocha from Starbucks, Apple

Dinner- Bowl of chicken with mozzarella and green tabasco sauce

I drank a lot of water today cause I was feeling a little dehydrated today. I just got to keep it up :) Still no soda this week so it has become an official no soda week... I will just keep going with it since I dropped another pound :) 226! Slowly inching down, but my clothes are fitting better so I am feeling good about that. Anyways it's time to go to bed I am exhausted. Thanks everyone for your support and make sure to drop your suggestions for work out songs :) Thanks everyone.

Love yourself always, 

Corinne K.