Black Friday!!!!

It's black friday and I am so excited because Altman Fitness is offering some AMAZING deals!!!  I know I have been talking about these programs for a while now and I realize I talk about them A LOT, but it's only because I know....... without a doubt they work!

I know because I was that person that tried many other avenues that didn't work.  I know because I did these programs and I am now over 100lbs lighter.  I know because after a year of teaching these programs I see people lose weight, change their metabolism and most of all feel AMAZING!

I know because I see people every day that have changed their lives!

So if your ready to make a change, then I want you to take advantage of these amazing offers: click HERE 

Think about giving yourself the most amazing gift this year, the gift of health.

Blessings,

Jen

I RAN!

I RAN and RAN and RAN........ but it was so cold out someone took pity on me and let me run inside! Thank goodness! Thank you Kelly for taking the time to run with me!!!

Do you guys ever get in a funk?  I have 14 days left, that means I have been doing this for the last 36 days.... it's a long time.  The last few days I have been struggling with poor self talk and self doubt.  It seems to come when I'm feeling weak (makes total sense!) Right now I'm tired mentally and physically. I'm pushing hard to meet my goal by this friday, I have 4 lbs left so it's dig deep time!   The goal is to hit it this week because after this week my female body will start retaining water and weight loss does not occur for me.

When you start giving in to that poor self talk, nothing good comes out of it.......NOTHING!  You start manifesting negativity around you, incorporating the very people that are helping you and turning it into  something it's really not.  Is this making any sense to you?  A situation like this:  your going along in life feeling great and then suddenly something happens, you get injured, something goes wrong at work, you get the idea.  Someone says something very simple non-treating and YOU take it the wrong way.  You turn it completely the wrong way, then you start to focus on all the other bad things that seem to be wrong in your life.  It starts to manifest in to something BIG and you self sabotage OR this is what the old jen did.... you start to bring in other people to your pity party.

I spent the better part of Sunday digging out of self Sabotage and poor self talk.  It feels so much better to take the weight off and be positive and move forward.  Important lesson.... it happens, we all do it.  Acknowledge it, fix it and move forward.

Lastly, I want to publicly apologize to two very important people in my life that I know are trying to help me... Jay and Kelly you are the best and you are appreciated and sorry for the drama and negativity.

Have an amazing day everyone, it's not worth your precious time to be angry and bitter.

Jen

I Have to run!

I have to run tomorrow...... in the freezing cold...... on asphalt........ for 45 min.  Not only do I have to run tomorrow I have to run every day for the next 6 days.

Jay told me today, this is what it is going take to get to my goal.... hmmmmm REALLY?  I can think of much better things to do........ fly somewhere really hot and just lay on the beach and let the sweat/fat drip off my body,  watch a hilarious movie and jiggle the body fat off, suck helium... that MUST make you lighter right?  Coffee enema, laxative protein smoothie?

I have been having anxiety all day since hearing I have to run.... outside.... in the cold.....for 45 min.  I know what you are saying "it could be worse" "at least you have two legs to run with" "I love to run what's the big deal?"  Well if you could pick the worst thing for me to do to exercise........ it would be; run on asphalt....... worse........ would be for 45 min.... EVEN WORSE!........outside in the cold!!! Do you know what it feels like at 18 degrees to a girl that has lost 100 lbs of insulation? It feels like 20 below zero!  It feels like everything is going to freeze and fall off my body!!! HA HA!! That is what he is trying to do!  freeze my appendages and have them FALL OFF!  Good plan Mr. Altman, good plan!!!!

I WILL run tomorrow..... on the asphalt.....in the cold....... for 45 min..... I WILL..... UNTIL - I - WIN!

good day,

Jen

What does 100lbs look like?

So I have been asked by many of you "did you reach your goal?"  No I did not.....But last thursday I did quietly reach 100lb total weight loss.  I've kept it a bit quiet, one reason is because I am not at my goal ( I still have 4 more to go!) the other reason.... how do I explain?

It's like this, if you worked really hard at something for a really long time, like 2 years and suddenly you reach the ultimate.....the big kahunna.  How do you THINK you would feel?  Excited right? Yes, there is that element of excitement. 100lbs is a big deal, I of all people understand that.  I put in A LOT of hard work, a lot of sweat and yes a lot of tears along the way.  But there is another side to it.  One that I discovered after I hit 90lbs which was my original goal when I started.  Excitement.... and then what?   I put a lot of excitement and celebration into hitting my 90lbs and it was great; my friends, family and coach celebrated with me.  But the weeks that followed I did not expect to feel so sad and a bit lost.

So I did not want to make a big deal out of 100lbs.  I told my husband and my coaches.  That day was a bit of an emotional flood of accomplishment and it came over me when I did not expect it.  When I look back at this picture of when I started, I really don't recognize or even believe I looked that way.  I do remember EXACTLY how I felt and I remember how I felt when I took that picture..... This Time, This Time I have set myself up for success, I have invested in the best, I am committing and this time I WILL succeed! Succeed I did, I feel great, look better, I have a whole new long healthy life ahead of me and I am blessed by the people around me.

If you look at this and think "I'm ready, really ready" invest in your health, see the value in YOU and not in material things.... those things give you short term joy..... Good health gives you long term joy!

My 14 day  fat furnace deal is closing..... but you can still sign up for the next 28 day program with bootcamp.  Next one starts December 1st  click HERE to begin your weight loss transformation!

100lbs in 22 months!

HUGE THANK YOU TO:  My coach Jay Altman and Kelly Altman, my bootcamp trainer Christian Roseen, My family, All my friends who have pushed and encouraged me and to all of you who read this and become inspired to change!  Thank you!

sitting on the fence

What makes one person launch themselves forward and go after what they want, verses sitting on the fence watching, hoping that one day they could accomplish what they really want too?

I can tell you from my point of view what sitting on the fence looks like...... For years I sat on the fence, I would try to get down, I would tell myself "Yep this time it's going to be different!"  "I REALLY want to do it this time!" but I always remained in that same place.  I finally learned that I needed to STOP relying on the same people in my life to motivate me and seek out someone professional.

I quickly learned that if I REALLY wanted to make that change I was going to have to make myself a priority (meaning, my schedule had to change so that I controlled it, it does not control me).  It was going to take longer than a few weeks to change, it was going to take effort, it was going to hurt the pocket book in the short term.

Once I REALIZED the opportunity in front of me, I made that switch in my brain....... I launched myself off the fence and RAN!   I found someone that GUARANTEED results, I made sure it was a good fit and made sure his word was truth.   Honestly friends, it does not matter to me if you choose your local gym, a friend that's a trainer, take classes at your community center....... as long AS IT WORKS!  You have to like what you are learning, you have to like what your are doing,  if you don't.... it's not going to work.

I can tell you happily that today that I am 100lbs lighter!!!!!...... Jay Altman has been true to his word, I have more than exceeded my personal goals, I am a better person than I was 2 years ago and I am SUPER FIT!

I wish EVERYONE could have the same results, I wish EVERYONE could believe in themselves enough to want to jump off that fence and RUN, see the opportunity in front of them and TAKE IT! I know it's hard, I know it's scary but I also know it's WORTH it.

If you have been waiting for an opportunity to come along, if you are committed to making a change, I mean REALLY making a LIFE LONG change.... then pick ONE of these 2 opportunities:

Option 1: I'm considering offering this program to a small group of people who are interested in burning a lot of fat in 14 days.

So I'm calling it my "14 Day Fat Furnace system," but before I commit to doing a program like this, I wanted to see how many people would be interested in a 14 day rapid fat loss program like this.

If you think you'd be interested in joining my small group of "beta testers" and getting fast fat loss results in 14 days then Click Here  This program will start December 2nd-15th.

OR

The Bigger opportunity....... Let me hold your hand for 28 days.  I will get you set up on our Guaranteed 28 day fat loss program AND you can come workout with me the WHOLE time.  At an amazing price of $234.00  CLICK HERE to get in on this ONE TIME offer!!!

This is what I am talking about people...... SEE the opportunity and TAKE IT!!!

See you soon,

Jen

How do you learn best?

Good question right? How do YOU really learn best? I know for me I learn best by living it out.  By actually making the mistake, seeking out the answer and then applying it.  I will give you my most recent example and boy do I have many...... Since you are all so interested in food and weight loss I will focus on that.
     Over a week ago my trainer challenged me to change my breakfast. The mission... eat raw for 1 week.  He suggested a smoothie.  I understood the idea behind it, put amazing healthy simple ingredients into my body and see how my body reacted.  I was up for the challenge, not so hard right?  But to be honest, I did not think it would work, and I did not think I would feel full.  Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!  Why is it, that sometimes what we THINK is experience in an area turns out to be INEXPERIENCE? I mean come on....... I've been doing this for a year and a half, I have MOST of the answers right?  Nope, I don't.  But I'm LEARNING!  And that is what is so awesome about life.  Just when we THINK we know most of the answers....... there is SO MUCH more to learn!
     Think back to when you were in your 20's, didn't you kind of think you had most of the answers?  Didn't you kinda sorta know what was best? But then life challenged you, maybe through a job, a marriage, kids... you get the idea.   NOW you really know don't you?  I mean your married and you have 2.2 kids and a career.......NOPE!  Your next challenge comes..... you lose your job, your marriage, your house, maybe your child, your spouse or a parent.  GROWTH happens, you LIVED it, you EXPERIENCED it.  Now you MUST have all the answers right?  NOPE! Your next challenge comes...... and out of that GROWTH comes!  You see you can live your life believing at each stage that you have all the answers,  OR...... you can be humbled by your own inexperience and look forward to new growth! I am humbled....... I hope I NEVER come across as a miss know-it-all, and I will always be honest,  If I don't know the answer, I will be honest with you and seek out the answer.  Cool huh?  Just think how much knowledge and life experience we will all have when we are 90!! I know with these raw shakes I am drinking I will at least make it to 90!!! Wait NO I'm going for a 100!!!!

Here is my current Raw shake recipe complements of Mr. Jay Altman!

I'm going to call it......
The Slim Jen

1/4 avocado
2 cutie oranges (remove skin)
1 handful of kale
1/2 cup raw egg whites
1/2 ripe pear
1 cup of water (or you could use almond milk)
Ice
Blend and enjoy!

It's Friday!!!

     It's the end of the week and we are 19 days into this!!! We have 31 days left!  Next thursday is HALF WAY. I must say it feels like SO LONG, I feel like we have been doing this for at least a month!
So what is your progress?  Are you setting short term goals for yourself to make each week?  I am, I set 2 lbs a week as my short term goal.  So far I have accomplished them, feels so good to make them than to make up for them.

My progress so far......5.5 lbs
Genes progress so far..... -11 lbs

     What has been my struggle this week?  My mood.  It seems to always come down to my mood.  I am going to put out just a little excuse here..... For women, well we experience a time of the month when we just get a little moody a little crazy with our cravings and some of us down right not fun to be around!!!!  YEP that is me, look out for about 3 days of every month I can be down right ornery!!   And sometimes it's worse than others, this time ranks about top 5.  So that's my excuse, a pretty poor one at that but never the less I am back on track and ready to demolish this goal.
What kind of excuses you do come up with?  Are they worthy of even admitting?

Who wants a yummy cookie recipe???

Pumpkin Raisin cookies!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour or Gluten free flour (costco)

2/3 cup old-fashioned oats

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp fine salt

1/4 tsp ground allspice

3/4 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/3 cup olive or coconut oil

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup raisins

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and allspice. Stir to blend well. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, syrup and vanilla; whisk to blend. Using a flexible rubber spatula, gradually stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. Stir in the raisins.

For each cookie, drop 1 generous tablespoon of batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing the mounds about 1 inch apart (or use a mini ice cream scoop). Using moistened fingertips, flatten each to a 2-inch-diameter round. Sprinkle each cookie with a bit more raw sugar.

Bake the cookies until brown and a bit firm to the touch, 17 to 20 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.

Fat Loss is hard!

I keep saying to myself "fat loss is so hard!" there are those of you reading this that understand all that comes from being overweight.  The mental, emotional and physical pain from it.  Then there is the side that you reach when you have taken the fat off and still are not where you want to be.  That can be hard and painful as well.  That is when you have to look at the big picture.  Let me show you it.....
   
     Laying in bed this morning I was thinking about these next 4 weeks and how I am going to attack it and reach the ultimate goal.   Then my mind wandered to other people in my life.  People that are living with a terminal disease, people that are laying in a hospital bed in a coma, people that are aging and struggling with the lack of physical and mental control.  Suddenly my fat loss didn't seem so hard.  I mean really, I have a really high functioning body, mind and spirit.  I have a purpose and a dream.  I have a map of EXACTLY how to lose weight. And I have God that allows me to believe that anything is possible.   Weight loss is NOT hard...........Life can be hard.  And for those of you that are going through your own personal struggle, I commend you for staying positive, for having that spirit of life that encourages others to keep going especially for encouraging me.........you know who you are.

     Those of you that are in this 50 day challenge, or in your own challenge to lose fat..... Fat loss is not hard, see it for what it is: an exciting journey to better health and a better life, one that WILL impact others on multiple levels.

Stay strong, stay committed and most importantly.........

stay positive. 

   
Have an amazing day!

A new favorite smoothie my kids LOVE!

Cookie dough Smoothie
1 cup almond milk
2-3 pitted madjool dates
1 Tbl coco powder
1 cup ripe pear (skin on)
2Tbl of coco nibs
1 scoop protein powder OR 1/3 cup egg whites
5 Coconut ice cubes (pour frozen coconut water into ice cube trays and freeze)
Blend with high speed blender and enjoy!

Random thoughts from a former fat girl

Okay lets have some fun, I need to get myself to laugh.  These are the stupid things that run through my brain occasionally, okay maybe more than occasionally..........

• Where does the fat go?  No really where does 100lbs of fat go?? I've had some poop that floats, must be fat in that right?
• How much is really a cup? things like raspberries. does it mean tossed into a cup? Because if I "firmly packed" them I could fit a WHOLE lot of them into a cup.  Same thing with blueberries and strawberries! 
• How much does your poop weigh? - I seriously think a colon can hold 2-3 lbs.  which could make or break my final goal day.  - sorry Mom, she hates the word poop! 
• Future smell-a-vision: Would it be possible to one day pipe scents through your TV or computer?  It would be an awesome way to curb those hunger attacks without actually having the food in your house.  Think about it.......bacon -mmmmm if you could just smell some bacon cooking.........and maybe add in a juicy burger, can you imagine that smell right now? I know your mouth is starting to water, now add in...... a piece of chocolate cake! ahhhh yes! Oh my gosh I just invented smell -a -vision "curb your appetite without all the calories" okay I feel better urge over! 
• Actual packaging: What if they acctually packaged food for what it really is, would people still want to buy it?  Like - vegetable oil could say "high cholesterol in a bottle" or a can of Red Bull - "anxiety, diabetes, high blood pressure and gut rot in a can" okay I know some of our are not laughing right now, your actually a little ticked off at me that I put a damper on your red bull, it's OKAY we ALL have our thing! 
• When your exercising: and your working so hard it feels like your lungs are bleeding....... are they actually bleeding? My trainer says no don't be silly, but I think he's totally wrong on this one, I can FEEL the droplets as they enter my mouth and want to hack up my lung!
• At almost the age of 40 when performing "sumo squat to chair" and your trainer is yelling "get your butt lower" - does that mean if I dislocate my hip I get out of ever doing them again?
• Why when trainers say "10 more seconds"...... it's really more like 15 or 18 more seconds, do they do that just to get every little bit out of you?  I would NEVER do that! hahahaha!

Okay everybody have a good day! I am feeling much better! Rock on to our goals!!!!

I'm MAD

     AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am so MAD!!!!  This blog is about being real so here it is........ I'm mad, NO I'm actually pah hissed OFF!   It's been 8 days since the scale has moved EIGHT let me repeat EIGHT days!!!!  I was on a path that was leading me directly under 150lbs this week, and right now.......... I am sitting at 151lbs.   Seriously, I am just so MAD MAD MAD and FRUSTRATED!
     When you are so focused on your weight loss and watch everything with your food how often you exercise, and then to NOT see results.......  It starts to weigh on your thought process!  In my mind I keep dwelling on the fact that I've done something wrong, I've put too much fat into my body, even if it's healthy fat, it was too much!  And now, it sits in my body and it sits and sits and sits there for a LONG time.  This has happened before and it takes a week for it to filter out for me and TIME IS TICKING!!!!    I know this sounds like crazy talk and what's the big deal?   The big deal is I have a REALLY SWEET MARK II CAMERA on the line, that's the big deal!  There are a small few of you that will understand this..... When you  are working really hard, I mean really hard at weight loss for  a long period of time, to the point where you are so focused that you know how your body reacts, how it is going to gain and lose weight only to see your hard work without result --It's frustrating.
I purposely did not write anything Monday because I was worried that putting really negative comments on here could disrupt progress.  But ultimately I decided it's better to put the reality of weight loss and ALL THAT GOES WITH IT  on here as well.
     What to do in this situation?  Cry, no I mean it cry it really it does help.  Kinda lets out some built up emotion - okay check.  I tell my family to back off me a bit right now, all I need is for someone to be joking and trying to be funny - yeh, no,  so not cool with me, puts me right over the edge.
I personally try to withdraw a bit, I don't like to be around people when I feel like this.  I do some quiet time; reading, praying, watching motivational videos.   It helps if you can stick to it and tell yourself "just get through today"
What I do know is.... this  is all normal but it's also important to not stay here.   Frustration MUST to lead to ACTION.  What is my action step?  Go back to the basics, go back to what I know to work for me and MY body.  I need to walk the hungry line, I need to stay focused and not let my temptations get in my way even if they are healthy options.  Stay focused and DO NOT let the small distractions in my life get to me.  Are your feeling frustrated?  If so, what are your action steps????

spinach salad

Raspberry Spinach salad:

cup of spinach

grilled chicken breast

10 rasberries

small cucumber diced

toss with aged balsamic vinegar

It's friday!

     Whew, did you make it through halloween last night?  Or do we need to do damage control?  If you fell off a little, it's okay today get back on it!  DO NOT let it snowball -- that is a weak mindset and you are all stronger than that!
     I don't know why I like fridays as my official "how am I doing day"  maybe because the weekend can be hard to get through and Mondays seem like a fresh start day.  Who wants to weigh in  on a Monday?

     We are 12 days into this 50 day challenge.  I want to start by telling you a few things before I tell my progress.   I have some things that motivate me and keep me going.  One of them that is super easy is..... Music.  I dont' know what it is but for me putting on some high energy music gets me going.  If you currently wake up and have the house quiet I challange you to get up tomorrow and put some HIGH ENERGY music on and see how your mood changes!   My current playlist:

• Best I ever had -gavin DeGraw
• Best day of my life - American Authors
• Treasure - Bruno Mars
• Alive
• Overcomer - Mandisa
• Lucky Strike Maroon 5
• Beautiful - Ben Reactor
• So What - Pink
• Nothin' but a good time - Poison
• Let's get it started - Black eyed peas
• Move like you stole it - zz ward
• Get to work - Britney Spears
• Light it up - OneRepublic
• My songs know what you did - Fall out boy

Other tips.... Watching motivational videos on youtube motivate me.... You can search that title and you will come up with 100's of really good ones.  One of my favorites right now:  give it all you've got  you guys have got to watch this! 

But what motivates me the MOST....... all of you!  I get  a lot of messages and comments that I motivate you and inspire.  The reality of it is.... YOU inspire me!  YOU push me to keep working hard, YOU motivate me to stay on task and not give in when I just get so sick of pushing toward fat loss.  So THANK YOU! Thank you for your kind messages, thank you for reading this blog, thank you for taking this challenge and working hard and believing that YOU can do it.

By progress this far: -5lbs  Gene -10lbs

Mostly I want to know YOUR progress!!!!!! Weight, inches, percentage, how you feel, what inspires and motivates you?????  Give me all you've got!!!!!

Oh and one last motivation...... the OLD me over 240lbs.......Motivates me to NEVER go back always move forward! - thanks sis