Biggest Loser (season 12) Premiere

The Biggest Loser lives on without Jillian Michaels for at least for one more week. It was truly a worthy premiere starting with surprises and ending with an emotional weigh-in. And oh yes, a little crowd pleasing drama was sprinkled in the middle. It was a 2hr premiere, and I'm pretty new at this type of blogging...so here is my random, oversimplified, and unpolished take/recap/thoughts on the show.

The producers decided that this season would be a "Battle of the Ages"(young ones, middle ones, and older ones.) Each group races to choose their trainers. Ahhh...the trainers. Bob needs no introduction, and actually, I'm pretty much convinced that Bob could do this in his sleep. He probably snores encouraging phrases. I joke, but I do think there is some truth to this. Bob seems to do this effortlessly, but at the same time, you can see in his eyes that he is completely invested in each and everyone of his team mates success stories. It's what makes Bob...well, Bob. He pushes his team, and as always, it pays off. Enough said. 

This season welcomes two new trainers, Anna Kournikova and Dolvett Quince. Oh Anna. She wins my heart within the first 15 minutes of the show. Truly. I'm pretty sure she pulls on everyone's heart strings. If not within the first 15 then, definitely within the first 45 minutes. Watch it. iDARE you. She has a heart for what she is doing, or at the very least, that's the impression that she is giving. The $250,000 question is, "Is that enough?" I don't really know. She seemed a little out of her league next to Bob and Dolvett, but hey the camera is a tricky beast. Only time will tell. She may have gotten the short end of the stick with her team, but her team may wind up being her greatest advantage. I'm cheering for her, and hoping that her journey is less reminiscent of Kara's journey last year. Kara was a sweetheart, but not too memorable (in any sense of the word). 

Last but not least, there was...there is Dolvett. With phrases like, "No more rookie, baby." and "I'm here to show that I'm not only qualified. I'm over qualified."; he talks the talk. I laugh because he talks the talk almost too well. He looks the part almost too much. He barks at and celebrates with his team at the right time too. Oh man. I'm telling you. He seems like the real deal, and a real compliment to Bob's style. By the way, was it just me or did Bob seem to have some extra pizzazz this season? Love it. Anyhow, I'm completely rooting for Dolvett and his team, but it's too early to tell if he will live up to his own hype. His first week results were respectable, but left a bit to be desired. (Sorry, I couldn't help but wonder what his team's results would have been under the leadership of Jillian or Bob.)

I will end with saying, this cast is great. The casting directors have a real knack for choosing participants. You can always depend on the background stories of family illnesses, newly diagnosed diabetes, and etc. Diabetes is on my HATE list for personal reasons so though we have heard all of these story lines before, it still gets to me a bit. This season opens with  the epitome of tragedy...from what I know, never before has the show seen this type of situation. It's heart wrenching, and the consequential resolve is captivating. Watch it. With that being said, there's more than a LITTLE bit of the same old, same old. You have your former professional athlete, older person with knee issues, and you can easily spot the first one to go...almost as quickly as when the participant is introduced. There must be a not-so top secret Biggest loser casting formula somewhere. With that being said, it's the trainers and personalities that give the show a little extra umph that makes it even more of a success. 

I think we are in for a heck of a season. 

What are your thoughts?

One blog at a time.

I suck at blogging. Inconsistency kills a blog, and well, I just keep going as in pursuit of perpetual inconsistency. So I've decided that a lesson in discipline would be for me to blog...habitually, a la Julia&Julia. It would make sense for me to blog through a cookbook, but frankly, that's too much commitment for me.

Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Therefore, I have decided to blog about a tv show. A once a week obligation that involves lazily sitting at my laptop after watching a beloved tv program on said couch with said lazyness pretty much sounds like a good time. In the spirit of the Sheen roast, winning? Oh yes. I think so.

It just so happens that Season 12 premiere of The Biggest Loser airs tomorrow. Coincidence? I think not. It's funny because as much as I LOVE The Biggest Loser, I tend to dislike it. This will be a good discipline for me because I'll have to work through those feelings versus dissing (do people even say that anymore? lol) the show for a couple of weeks. I shall blog through the good, the bad, and the skinny as I forge ahead in my own weight loss efforts. Sounds like a plan. It would be great to have some company so feel free to stop by anytime..and when you're done, you may want to check out the real deal, http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/pop_culture_blog/biggest_loser/ .

Let her know that I sent ya.

Ok, don't let her know that I sent ya. She won't know me. It just sounded like the right thing to say. lol

Toodles!

BIG and the missing ingredient.

After a bit of sleeping in this morning, I watched some Kitchen Nightmares and some MasterChef. (Apparently, I'm a big Gordon Ramsay fan. Who would have thunk it?) Anyhow, after spontaneously baking and devouring a few Curry Cherry Sugar Cookies that were surprisingly edible, and maybe even delicious.  I knew it was time to turn off the food shows and get out of the house. One catch. My knee is still feeling a bit vengeful after my bright idea of taking 5-6 Zumba classes in a 24hr period last week. I ignored it yesterday; that turned out being a bad idea. Today, the gym was out of the question.

Instead, I fluffed my BIG hair, put on my BIG funky earrings, and finished my otherwise plain outfit (green T and denim skirt) with my beloved BIG "London Bag" and set out to run errands; after a quick photo shoot with my cell phone. I couldn't help it. Geez. It felt good. It felt good to be me, BIG, fluffy haired, funky yet shy, and zany me. I didn't hold a grudge with myself for eating those weirdo cookie...okay, cookieS. Neither did I weigh myself to see what damage I may have done as of late. I gave myself the permission to smile and live, which eventually led me to Barnes and Nobles.

Is that the bookstore that's closing? Oh I hope not.

Anyhow, I walked directly to the health and fitness section. LightPages being primarily a fitness related journal, I felt pretty official as I decided that this was market research. It felt better to realize that I truly want to start something, something BIG. Therefore, this was true, not an excuse for spending hours doing anything to do something.

Anyhow, I even took out my little purple notepad, appropriately adorned with the word "LOVE" on the cover. I made note of the covers there in that section. For the most part, I hated what I saw. Yup. I said it. HATED it.

Most of the covers, had these absolutely unrealistic looking thin and/or muscular people on the cover. The subliminal title on them was, "C'mon. Buy this book, so you can look like me." The problem is that we won't. No matter how much weight we lose. Jillian Michaels is Jillian Michaels. Bob Harper is Bob Harper. Jennifer Hudson is Jennifer Hudson. You are YOU. I am me. Not only do we all have different body types, we also have different lifestyles. We have different obligations and different schedules. Okay, okay. Here also is my disclaimer. None of the above is an excuse to remain inactive and unhealthy. It's not an excuse to eat curry cherry sugar cookies all day every day. ;) Point taken? I hopes so.
I also noticed that recipes and diet plans are EVERYWHERE. I mean EVERYWHERE. They were all over the health and fitness section. They even had another section specifically labeled "Diet". In case you needed more, there were two walls of cookbooks. It's amazing to me that cookbooks even sell anymore considering there are blogs (like this one) with recipes, recipe mags at the grocery store, and heck, Google even has a recipe search engine. Yikes. I made note of all of this too.
Somewhere between that section of the bookstore and the business section. (Got to get my marketing fix) it smacked me in the face like a banana cream pie. Seth Godin, modern day marketing genius, says that you should be remarkable and outrageous, so here it goes. I am becoming more and more convinced that the missing ingredient in America's weight loss is simply love. Now let's all hold hands and sing, "Kumbaya". Haha...let's not.
Truthfully though, I dare to believe that my declaration is true. Scare tactics aren't working. The gazillion recipes and diet plans that surround us aren't helping. The peer pressure book covers aren't helping either. I saw a Facebook post the other day about how watching X amount of TV everyday cuts X amount of time off of your life. True story. I read it with my own eyes. Then there was a post about what the inside of your body looks like when you are obese. Eew. Honestly, I didn't even want to see the outsides of my body when I was obese, much less the insides. The pic is circulating quite quickly among fitness bloggers that are working on losing weight.

I don't get it. Call me a rebel, but I don't want to get it. I downright refuse.

Please, oh PLEASE allow me to stand on my soapbox and SCREAM, "Your scare tactics do not work!". If scare tactics worked, we would have been a fit country a long time ago. Stories of our loved ones dying prematurely due to weight related issues would have done it. And when I say "done it", I'm not referring to the lose 20lbs now, gain 25lbs later that I am oh-so guilty of. I'm referring to gaining a whole new lifestyle, a healthy sustainable lifestyle guided by love. There goes that word again. Love makes a difference.

I know that to be true. Love was my first step. Love for God motivates me to do my best to take care of what He has entrusted to me. Love for my husband and the children that we will someday  had a lot to do with it. The love for others inspires me to be an example, not of perfection but of possibility. The love of my style empowers me to seek out healthy habits that fits me, and is therefore more sustainable. The love of my body moves me to appreciation even while surrounded by pics of supermodels and fitness buffs. There is so much consequence in that thought, but I'm going to tie everything in by saying this. Remember the mention of my BIG earrings and BIG hair? It's about more than my frizzy curls and retro earrings from my beloved thrift store. It's about appreciating who I am for the woman that God created, appreciating who I am for me. It's appreciating it all, celebrating it all, as I better it. Weight loss is not about changing who you are. You are who God created you to be. He can change us, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm referring to the fact that you are not going to transform to Jillian Michaels after losing 75lbs. However, you can better yourself by being a 75lb lighter version of yourself. You can have a voice that speaks with the accent of your unique background and experiences.

Maybe that's what God was trying to teach me today. As I seek to start something BIG, along with keeping Christ first in all things, I need to embrace and celebrate the unique voice that He has given me. How's that for remarkable and outrageous?

At the moment I'm sitting in our home office blogging and wondering what's next for me. I quit my job almost 2 weeks ago, but that's probably not a surprise. You may be wondering what's next. In a lot of ways, I am too.

However, this I know. Whether I ever make money off of this or not, I have the passion and thus responsibility to share this with others. Fitness doesn't have to be about the Sargent like commands of boot camps or the isolation of the Biggest Loser. It can be about love. It can be about living, living now, not seeking to live later once the excess weight is gone. I believe reaching and maintaining that healthy weight range is possible. And yes, I still believe Matthew 5:16 is possible. I believe we can be light. This is the message that I hope to share with LightPages, but whether or not I make a sale, I will continue to try to innovate ways to love, encourage, and empower us to keep reaching for our health and fitness goals. I am  crazy enough to be fully convinced that we are strong enough, beautiful, and oh-so deserving to live these goals into life.

MOD (+ an added bonus): Breakfast Quiche

Spinach, feta, and tomato crustless quiches baked in a cupcake tin featuring Egg Beaters and reduced fat feta cheese. Sooooo good!!! Two of these suckers total about 90 calories. These and a cup of coffee definitely kept me satisfied until my snack. This MOD was based off of this recipe: Breakfast Quiche Cups


Now for the added bonus....
Sharing recipes and tips is one of my favorite things to do, hence this blog. lol In doing so, I get many tips and ideas from friends in return. I love it.

My friend Melissa recently shared her recipe for Mini Hot Wing Quiches. Hot wings being one of the yummiest, but fattiest foods out there, I think it's fair to say that these are not quite as dangerous to your diet.

1 20 can of chicken
1 container of bleu cheese crumbles
5 eggs mixed well
Shredded cheddar cheese.
hot sauce to taste
Drain chicken and dump in bowl. Use a fork to break up and dump on hot sauce to taste.
Pour in blue cheese and eggs and mix well.
Spray at 24 qty mini muffin tin wiith Pam.
Use a cookie scoop to dole out the mixture into the mini cups.
Fill to just below the top.
Sprinkle each with a little bit of cheddar cheese
Bake at 350 for 30 mins.

You can change up this recipe using any type of cooked meat, and cheese. Also try adding some veggies.

Mmm Mmm good. Can't wait to give these a try! 

Do you have a MOD?

I have a MOD.

It's the Meal of the Day. Don't fret. I'm not saying to eat one meal a day. What I'm referring to is that meal that you eat that seems to hits all cylinders. It tastes amazing, satisfies the belly, is nutritious, and..oh-yeah it's well within your budgeted points+ or calories. 

Let's be honest. Not all meals hit the spot like a MOD. Some are satisfying, but not nutritious. Another may be nutritious, but it only tastes only "okay". You know what I mean.

Just like "The Other Sister" (great movie!), there will always be those "other meals". However, MODs are anything, but just another meal. When those other meals whisper, "You can't do this. You will never be one of those healthier and smaller girls.You love food way too much." MODs scream, "You got this! You CAN do this!" 

Got it? Good.

 I will post a MOD everyday. It will be a picture of the meal in all it's glory with a brief description of what's on the plate...starting in just a few minutes. Stay tuned. 

In the meantime, start thinking. Do you have a MOD?

E-mail them to me at Kristyna.Richards@gmail.com. Be sure to include a pic and the brief description. If you count point+ values or calories, be sure to include those too.

Happy MOD Hunting to ya!

A+ week

I've said it before, and I will say it again. I LOVE my Fitbook. It helps me to manage my weight loss. It rolls with the punches of life while all the while giving me the accountability that I need to keep me from completely falling off the wagon. Just like the icing on the cake, (Mmm...cake) Fitbook has some additional sweetness, but it's without the sugar and calories. Each week it asks me how I will reward myself when my weight loss week is over. For me that day is Friday.

That's still a tough question for me to answer. You see for so long, my weight loss was my reward. -2lbs here. -3.5lbs there. Oh yea, that was one heck of a reward! The problem is that the closer I get to my goal and the more muscle I gain....the less I feel rewarded. Weigh in day used to be like Christmas around here, but nowadays it's kinda like New Year's Day around Times Square.

It's the day we clean up the mess after the party. Yuck!

We have come to dread it. Notice I said we. It's no bueno when something so insignificant (like a .5 weight loss) affects the mood in our otherwise festive home.

Today, I made a decision to fix that.

Not only will I make more of a conscious effort to reward myself. I will reward myself the day before the weigh in. Oh yes. I will celebrate keeping my rigorous workout schedule and adhering to my calorie counts. I will celebrate giving it my all. Since I didn't feel up to shopping, I will purchase The Help on my Kindle app (Thanks Kayla!) and enjoy a good novel. Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it?

And about the weigh in...That will still take place in the morning. May the chips fall where they may.

My hubby will be so proud.

Pink Lipstick and Gym Shorts

Not too long ago, my workout mantra was, "Ugly". I liked working out ugly, and I liked it a lot. The girl with the slightly high water, baggy pants and worn out grey hoodie with the hole in the elbow was me. I was proud of it, and frankly I have no real regrets. However, there's been a change...a change for the better.

It started with Zumba. The mirrors in the fitness studio made it quite evident that I needed new workout clothes. Truthfully, the fact that I was still wearing the same workout clothes all the while being 40+lbs lighter, should have given it away....but I digress. I brought new workout clothes. Comfy. Body hugging workout clothes that go perfectly with my vibrams. I had no idea the difference it would make on the outside and the inside.

During my workouts, I was lighter so I worked out harder. The special fabric behind my knees gave me the support that I needed in that area. The difference was obvious. My body thanked me.

Inside I became more confident. The workout clothes and the effect of Zumba reminded me that I am a woman. Though my actual workout may be ugly with sweat and the look of determination, my workout clothes are nice. My movement is beautiful (in it's own way), and guess what....in the middle of my workout, I smile. Tonight I smiled with my full lips adorned with pink lipstick as the sweat rolled down my brow and past my yellow earrings. I burned 507 calories in 35 minutes of being on the elliptical.

I am a strong woman, a pretty woman, and I think it's starting to show.