BIG Announcement Time AND Before Photos!

I've quickly realized that blogging is like marketing. The more clever my title, the more folks come to read. : ) I have to say, I am thrilled by the traffic that I've had with my blog so far. 400 views in a week and about a dozen countries! Oh, and the 400 views aren't from me "checking" my blog 50 times a day. I turned that feature off. : ) Anyway, I'm super stoked about the interest people are showing! 


So, today is the big announcement! I think I'll wait to tell you that last. First, I'd like to do something that is going to take a lot of guts to do. I'm going to share with you my weight and my measurements. I'll include my body fat % when I get my instrument Tuesday. Honestly, I do not feel comfortable doing this, but I feel y'all need to know in order for me to completely feel accountable. Therefore, I'm throwing all dignity out the window and sharing all this information with you. Please don't judge. : ) My weight first. I'm 5'8 weighing in at 144 lbs. Yep, that's right. I even bolded the weight! No shame. No shame. Now for my measurements:


-- Chest (I measured around the fullest part of my boobs across my nipple line, and no I'm not trying to be dirty here. This is where you take a correct chest measurement. So, get you minds out of the gutter...or is it just my mind? ; ) ) : 38 1/2 


-- Waist: 28 1/2


-- Hips (I personally take two measurements here: The correct one around the fullest part of my butt, and also around the fullest part of my love handles, muffin top, my parentheses, whatever you want to call them) : Around my butt: 37, Around muffin top: 36 1/2


-- Arms (at the biceps): 10 1/2


-- Thighs (thickest part): 20 1/2


-- Calves: 13


I'm glad that part is over! Hopefully, in 12 weeks, those numbers will drop...except my calves, hips (around the butt), and arms. I'm hoping to build those up some. Tomorrow is the big day! The start of Jaime Eason's LiveFit Trainer (Take 2)! I'm so ready! I've got my groceries, so I can eat clean. I'm about to have my new gloves, new protein, new log book, AND a new drive!


Okay, okay, okay...the big announcement! Like I said yesterday, it's not going to be big news for you guys and you probably won't even care, but I'm super pumped about this. I've never done anything like this before, so it seems kind of silly, but I'm going to approach it very seriously. Here it is: I'm signing up for bodybuilding.com's Elite Ambition Transformation Challenge! Yeah, see, I'm not pregnant or anything major cool like that. Sorry! : ( There are two reasons I've decided to sign up for this challenge. One, I want something else to talk about on my blog. I'll be learning more about exercises, nutrition, and other stuff that might be interesting and helpful. The second reason is for accountability. I want to go hard...somewhat extreme this time and I want to make sure I'm held accountable. If I've got y'all and the bodybuilding.com folks "watching", I won't fail. I'm not saying I'll win, but what I am saying is that I 'll be pushing even harder now. Here is the link to the challenge if you want to read more about it:


http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dymatize-challenge-home.html


I have to take my before pictures holding the newspaper published today, then take my after photos 12 weeks from today with a newspaper from that day. Which means you get before pictures today! Oh, and I HAVE to take pictures in a bikini, so don't think I'm just out flaunting my stuff around, because I'm not...YET! Here 
they are based on the contest's rules:

Urgh...front view. Skinny legs and love handles FOREVER!

Side view!

ANNNDDD...the back view!

Let me leave you with one last thing. I have given up eating anything with artificial sweetners all together! That means my Coke Zeros. I haven't had a soda in almost seven week, and I don't even crave it. I've picked through all my foods to make sure nothing contains aspartame or sucralose (splenda). This was challenging at first because I LOVE my diet drink a day, my yogurt, and my favorite protein powder. However, I'm trying my best to only put in my body what is all natural...not something made from a lab somewhere. I will say since eating clean, I don't have headaches anymore (except for the occasional sinus headache), no bloating (which was something I fought with A LOT), I sleep amazing, and I feel better overall. I feel that just the change in eating has transformed my health more than the gym. Here is a brief description of clean eating:


http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/what-is-clean-eating/