30 days done; 30 to go!

Have you missed me? I know, I am late on my BBL blog updates... but alas I am here and ready to spill the beans on my 30 day progress!!!

As many of you know , last Thursday I had my 30 day photo shoot for the test group. We were all put on the green and white diet that Monday, as many people were plateauing with their weight loss and therefore not losing as much as the Beach Body team had hoped. I was excited for the change in diet as I had started seeing only 2-3 lbs coming off a week, as opposed to the 8 lbs I saw melt off the first week. I also don't really miss the carbs once the 3rd day of the diet hits... It's almost as if your body gets used to not having them. The week went well and I was crushing the workouts!

lunch: grilled chicken with greens

Breakfast- egg whites

Thursday morning (aka D Day!) I arrived at the photo shoot. It was in the west village and I had the first appointment of the day; 6:30am. The day before, there was no class as Leandro had a QVC shoot to do in Pennsylvania.

Leandro says "lift the bum bum"!!!

I made sure to substitute his class with an Equinox spin class, as I didn't want to miss a workout. When I arrived at the shoot I was told we would be doing only one outfit shot, which meant they wouldn't be shooting me in the jeans that I couldn't button 30 days ago. I was a little bummed, as I wanted to see how they would fit on me, but I guess it will be that much better a month from now when I wear them for the final shoot. So into the sports bra and banana yellow boy shorts I go (eek!). Once dressed, I look in the mirror and I can tell there is a difference in how I look. My stomach is leaner and the fat that hung over the side of shorts ( aka: the muffin top) was not gone, but was certainly less severe. I was also not as self conscious about being in the scandalously clad outfit as I was 30 days ago! Once I was prepped, the photographer mimicked the poses we did on the first day and within 15 minutes the shoot was done. Next: the scale! Drum roll please.... Total weight loss since the first weigh in: 12 lbs!!! For those of you who excel in math ( and since I am not revealing my beginning weight until the end) that is a little over 8% of my total body fat that I have lost! Since I wasn't considered overweight to begin with, the people at Beach Body were very happy with my results! Not only did I drop the weight, but I look much more toned, lean and fit which is really what I was going for. Inches have been dropped from my thighs, stomach, even arms!

Thrilled with my results, I left the photo shoot with a smile on my face, ready to face the second half of the the test group program! Now my focus was on toning the "sagging" parts of me (my upper arms, my boo-tay and my stomach). But in the short term, I had my Vegas trip to think about! I was scheduled to fly out the morning after the shoot. Relieved that I had passed this milestone in the program, I now had a chance to relax and have some fun with my best friends. Viva Las Vegas!!!

Green and White!!!

That’s right, people… Starting Monday we are all going back on the green and white diet that we were put on the very first week of the program (also dubbed the Super Model Diet). This basically means the carbs they reintroduced will disappear and our diet will consist of nothing but lean white protein (egg whites, tofu, chicken and fish) and green vegetables. Everyone who has any amount of weight to lose was instructed to being the regiment again. I still have 9lbs to lose, so you can bet I signed up as soon as I could! Plus, I go to Vegas at the end of next week so I will have a nice spring in my step when I am a few pounds lighter, walking poolside in a bikini! 

Leandro scheduled a nutritionist to come in to talk to us, before class today, about what we should be eating once the program is over and how we can assimilate back into the real world. I asked her opinion on the Gluton free/Wheat free diet and she was a strong supporter. She said people have been taught that grains, corn, etc are necessary staples in the American diet and there are political motives around the campaign to encourage those foods (I totally agree!). She said one portion of carbs (whole grains) a day is sufficient if we’re trying to keep the weight off. People had a lot of other questions about dairy, soy and fruit intake. All in all it was very informative!

Carbs: the devil himself!!!

Next update to come on Monday, when we have our next weigh in. This weekend I head to the shore for the first half of the weekend and then Saturday night we come back to celebrate my friend’s birthday in the city! I’ll be toasting her with a club soda and lime. Until then!

3 weeks=11 lbs

Hi everyone! Today marked the three week point in the Brazil Butt Lift group! As you may recall, last week they did an ad-hoc weigh-in on Friday because of the bad results from last Monday. I’m happy to announce that I was down 1.5 lbs from Monday to Friday and then an additional pound was lost this weekend. That bring my total to 11 lbs lost over 3 weeks! I am 9 lbs away from my goal!!! All of the girls in class did better this week, so the scolding we endured must have made an impact! Additionally, we got a bit of great news. We are now allowed 2 shakes a week! They are delicious… the good news is they are large enough to split into 2 portions, so really I can have a treat 4 times a week, outside of “the bag”

As I mentioned, this weekend Alex and I headed down to Spring Lake to spend the weekend with his family at the beach. Saturday, wasn’t a great day for me. Once we got to the house I went right upstairs and took a nap. I was drained and lethargic all day. I was supposed to get up and work out in the city before we left for the shore and instead I over slept. The day was difficult to get through. We spent a couple hours on the beach and then came home to relax. For dinner, Alex’s brother put together a great BBQ, consisting of skirt steaks, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, sausage and peppers, asparagus and corn on the cob. It looked and smelled delicious! I, of course,didn’t participate. But I must admit I had a few asparagus! They looked so good and I figured if I was going to cheat, that would be somewhat acceptable (although they were cooked in olive oil so I shouldn’t have had any!!!)! After dinner we all took a walk to get ice cream (my favorite!!!) but I had to opt for a diet coke. But, it was so nice to see all the kids enjoy themselves and their ice cream. That night, while enjoying a cigar on the patio, Alex and I talked about how I was feeling, physically, and the mental struggles that I really just encountered/realized over this past weekend. I told him how some days are better than others as far as how I feel and what cravings I might have. So many times over the past 3 weeks I have said to myself “when I’m done with this program I am going to go here for dinner and have this to drink and make this for dinner… I can’t wait to have XYZ”. But that rationale defeats the purpose of why I am doing this! Why am I going to reward myself with food!! I certainly don’t want to go back to how I was eating/drinking before, then all of this would be for nothing. I explained to him that so much of our social lives revolve around food and drinking, especially because we live in NYC. I also admitted that I find much happiness in planning/cooking meals and picking out places for us to go for dinner. I look forward to it! Is that wrong? Is that how I got myself 20lbs overweight? If so, I better change how I view food and how I get enjoyment out of it. For one thing, eating 5 small meals a day has been great… I eat every couple of hours, there is variety and a sense of fullness (most of the time). My meals are full of delicious vegetables and lean protein, all of which I am going to start including in my diet on a regular basis once I go back to reality. Look at the salad I had today!

I’ve gotten so many compliments on how great my skin looks (I attribute this to not drinking) and how vibrant I look. And to be honest, I don’t miss drinking at all. That’s not to say I’m not going to enjoy a few cocktails once this is done, but you start to appreciate things less when you have them all the time. Is it necessary for me to have wine every night? No… a couple times a week, yes. As a treat! I think of how much better it will taste when we have it for special occasions. I told Alex I need to stop concentrating on everything I can’t have vs. how many things I do have now because of this change in my life. But I divert...

Alex and I ended up talking for a couple hours, and it made me feel so much better! I am so lucky I have him helping and supporting me through this!

Sunday, after a good night’s sleep, I felt rejuvenated! We woke up, I had my steal cut oats for breakfast and Alex and I went on a 10 mile bike ride to go pick up Crumb cake for the family in Belmar. It was so humid out, but the bike ride along the water was fabulous. After we got back, Alex enjoyed the crumb cake and I went for a 3 mile run. Then, it was off to the beach. I read some of my book, closed my eyes and relaxed for a little bit. It was wonderful! And I still managed to get a bit of a tan, even though it was overcast for most of the day.

This week, I am focused, clear headed, and my mind is on the prize. I found out today the last class we have is August 17^th, which is only one month away!!! Enough of this sulking, it’s time to kick it into high gear and start shedding these last lbs and shaping my bunda!!!

I have set a goal of 6 lbs to lose by the end of next week. That is when we having our 30-day weigh-in, measurements and photos taken. Those skin-tight jeans that they made me wear better button this time around!!! Next week is also when I got to Vegas for my very good friend’s bachelorette party! But like I told Alex, one day at a time… gotta take it one day at a time.

This is no joke...

Monday was a very rude awakening for a lot of people in the test group. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with my 2.5lb loss, but I was glad that the scale was at least moving in the right direction. But Tuesday morning wasn’t any better. Lara, from the Beach Body Production company, came in to talk to us 30minutes before class. They took the results of the anonymous index cards and wrote out what everyone cheated on: Cake, chocolate, fruit, hot dogs,cheeseburgers, wine, alcohol, nuttella sandwiches, etc. She told us that never before have they seen this behavior from people after only 2 weeks into the program. She told us how Leandro was sad about people having gained weight and the cheating that has gone on. She also said that there is hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on the test group (between the prepared food, gym memberships, etc) and there was talk of cutting the group in half and recasting! Oh no! We were informed that if we had any inclination to cheat, we should email Lara and find out what (if anything) we should be eating, or doing differently. Lara also informed us of some changes to our food bag. For one, we would start getting 2 shakes a week (from Shakeology) and well as 2 protein bars a week which should help with some of the sweets people may be missing. I had one of the bars today and it was delicious! It a wheat free, dairy free bar that tastes like chocolate. I highly recommend it (BIOgensis makes them).

We will also start having oatmeal for breakfast 3 times a week to help with any “intestinal”problems people may be encountering. I really have very little complaints about the food and the selection we have been given. Some things I enjoy more than others, but there hasn’t been anything totally unappealing so far.

All that being said, I just found out we have a surprise weigh-in tomorrow! Only 4 days after our last one.

I believe this could be doomsday for people who do not show improvement from Monday’s results. I really can’t believe that I am almost 3 weeks into the program… that means only 5 weeks left!!! It has gone by so quickly!!!

I am really looking forward to the beach this weekend. Don't worry, though. You'll get an update from me tomorrow night with the results of the weigh in!!!

Oh Leandro, we can't do it without you!!!

Well, I’m officially knee deep in BBL! I just completed week 2 of the program! This week was full of new foods and tough workouts. We had a weigh-in today (only 6 days after our last one) and there were a lot of unhappy faces in class. I fared pretty well, dropping 2.5 lbs. I’m OK with it because most people stayed at the same weight or gained a few pounds.  I would have been really disappointed if people were dropping 10lbs, but considering people were gaining I think I weathered the storm pretty well. Everyone knew it would be tough as there was no class on Friday, Saturday or Sunday so everyone was left to fend for themselves, workout wise, for those days. I guess it didn’t work out well for most people. Personally, I wasn’t too concerned about coming up with my own workouts. Friday morning Alex and I went for a 3 mile run. Then Saturday morning I did 45 minutes of the BBL DVD’s and then I ran 3 miles. Sunday I repeated Saturday’s workout. After we got weighed today, Leandro sat down will all of us and asked that people anonymously write down on index cards what foods they ate outside of our bag....basically he wanted to know what everyone ate when they cheated! I'm guilty of slipping in a Laughing Cow cheese wedge (35 calories) here and there over the past 2 weeks. I'm sorry Leandro!!! A lot of the girls openly admitted they missed sweets and were therefore eating an additional piece of fruit every day. That to me is probably the worst thing to have as the food they have us eating is clearly low in sugar and carbs. But what do I know. I've actually been enjoying most of the food they have given us since they started introducing carbs and meat:  Turkey burgers, stuffed peppers, steak stir fry, chicken salad, turkey bacon, etc.

Speaking of the meals, many people have asked Alex "so what are you doing for food now that Kathleen is on this program". I'm glad everyone is concerned will Alex's nutritional needs while I endeavor on this journey. That being said, Alex is being taken care, not to worry. I've cooked almost every single night... Chorizo quesadillas, sausage and peppers, chicken cutlets and omelets...I even bought him Oreos for the apartment because I know he loves them. He has also cooked his specialty, marina and pasta, which he has once a week. So all in all, I think he is holding up pretty well ;)

As I mentioned last week, my good friend got married on Saturday. It was a lovely event held at the New York Athletic Club. Alex and I got all fancied up and my dress ended up looking pretty good on me!

And let me tell you, I was very well behaved!!! I ate and drank NOTHING ALL NIGHT!!! I sat through cocktail hour, dinner and dessert and had nothing! Alex doubled up on both of the appetizers and I declined to order anything for dinner. Instead I ate my prepared dinner right before we went to the reception so I wouldn’t be hungry. As expected, my “diet” was the topic of conversation throughout most of the night. To be honest, by the end of the night I was somewhat annoyed at how some people were making jokes and comments about what I was doing. I didn’t realize trying to be healthy was so offensive to people! In the back of my mind, I know that is how human nature is. People try to make themselves feel better about their own fears and doubts by putting other people down. It’s OK… THAT ONLY MOTIVATES ME MORE, PEOPLE!!! I’ll show all those Negative Nancy’s who’s going to come out on top come August 24^th!!!

This week my goal is to lose 5 pounds. I've gotten into the groove of the program and am thrilled to see that my hard work is paying off.

This weekend we head down to Spring Lake for some R &R with the Mattielli's. I'm looking forward to getting out of the city for a bit and spending some time with everyone at the beach. Until next week, everyone!

Week 1: 7 days, 7 pounds

You read it right, my friends! Week 1 is done!!! This morning we had our weekly weigh-in and had our measurements taken before class. This gal lost a total of 7lbs!!! WHUT WHUT!!! During the past week we went through what Leandro calls “the super model diet” where we ate nothing but lean protein (chicken and fish) ,green vegetables and a lot of egg whites. The only carb we had came in the form of 1 piece of fruit a day.

Salad with grilled chicken

egg white omelete with asaparagus

Don’t worry, though. The weight loss will not be this dramatic every week. This week was just to kick us into gear and reset our system. That being said, I hope to lose about 3-4 lbs a week going forward. Ideally, I have an additional 10-15 lbs that I would like to lose over the course of the next 6 weeks. That means I have a long way to go!

I’m not going to lie, it was tough. I went to bed a few nights hungry, I was cranky and had very little energy. But I resisted temptation…and ohhhh was there temptation this week! Thursday evening my Mom, sister, brother-in-law and niece arrived from Buffalo. We had a lovely weekend planned. Thursday night I made 3 batches of my famous guacamole, slow cooked BBQ pulled pork, made coleslaw and popped a bottle of bubbly. Luckily I had Alex to be my taste-tester to let me know what needed more salt, lime, etc. We sat out on the rooftop and had cocktails and appetizers. And what did I have? Water. Once we came back to the apartment for dinner I ate my piece of turkey breast and greens beans with everyone, so that I wasn’t missing out on meal time. Then Friday morning we took my neice to the Today Show to get a glimpse of Maroon 5 (while I went to class) then we went to Build-a- Bear and walked around Time Square. It was lovely and she had a great time. Friday night, I had made reservations for all of us to go to Staton Social. Keep in mind, I made these reservations a month prior to that day, before I knew about Brazil Butt Lift. I purposely left my last meal for the day for when we got back from dinner, so that I had something to look forward to. We had early reservations (5:30pm), mostly because that’s when my niece Emily eats dinner. We pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves. The funny part was, one of the girls in my test group is a waitress there and was working that night!!! She came over to the table and was like “girl, I’m gonna watch you”! Hahahaha.. I had zero intention on blowing my diet the first week in…don’t you worry! I ordered about 10 different tapa size meals for the table and everyone loved it: ; Sliders, french onion soup dumplings, lobster rolls, red snapper tacos, and on and on. Then of course dessert which was donuts, red velvet twinkies, chocolate chip cookies and mudslide shots. And what did I have? Club soda with lemon. YAH for me!!! I really didn’t feel like I was missing out. I was just glad to see everyone having a good time! Then Saturday night, my Mother and I treated my sister and brother-in-law to a dinner at Il Mulino for their 8 year wedding anniversary. My mom and I watched my niece Emily and Alex had his son and daughter come over for a play date! While my sister and brother enjoyed heavinly Il Mulino, Alex and my Mom ordered Adrienne’s pizza. For those of you not familiar with the NYC area, Adrienne’s pizza is by far the most amazing pizza on this planet. It’s located right on Stone St., about 2 minutes from our apartment. So again, while everyone enjoyed the ‘za I had cod and escarole for dinner. YAH for me!!!

During the entire weekend I keep thinking to myself: “Oh, this and that is going to be my first meal when I am done with this program”…but who knows… will I even want all of that once I am in prime shape??? There is no way I am going to let all of this hard work go to waste.

Our classes this past week were all cardio focused. The intention was to “melt the fat away”. They were strenuous and at times I barely had enough energy to lift my arms. I looked in the mirror during class and thought to myself: “Pathetic, Webb”!!!!! Leandro reminded all of us that it is a privalge to be invited into such a program and that we should Never Settle For Less!!!

Tomorrow we have class and since it’s the 4^th of July we’re all wearing red, white and blue during our workout! Leandro told us a very inspiring story today of when he first came to this country, when he didn’t know anyone, didn’t have a job or anywhere to stay and how he made his success out of nothing. Just proof that hard work and determination will get you where you want to be!!!

By the way, this week we have carbs introduced into our diet! For a snack today I had red peppers and hummus, then stir fry with steak and brown rice (yum!) and I saw in my cooler pack turkey meatballs for dinner!!! YAH for real food!!!

This Saturday one of my very good friends is getting married in the city. I bought a dress about 2 weeks ago that juuuust fit me. I hope when I put it on Saturday afternoon it looks a lot better than it did when I bought it! I’m sure Alex is excited he’ll get 2 dinners at the wedding, as I intend on eating before the event!

 I will post picture from the night (and the dress) next week so stay tunned!