It’s finally here!  The end of the school year, the unofficial start to summer, cookouts, parties, family outings, and trips to the beach… it’s Memorial Day weekend!  Hooray!

 More importantly, it’s an occasion to remember why we are celebrating this wonderful 3-day weekend.  We’d like to honor all the amazing men and women protecting our freedom every day and those who have served in the past.  From all of us here at Jockey®, we want to extend an extra special and HUGE “thanks” to all of you!  You are truly amazing.

 This Memorial Day, we hope you get to spend time with the important people in your lives.  With all of you being such an important part of Jockey®, we’d like to spend time with you too (and have a little fun)!  All weekend long, our mini brief key chain is ONLY $1!  As you travel and celebrate this weekend, take mini brief along for the festivities.  Be sure to share your mini brief photos on our Facebook page or Twitter.  It’s our way of celebrating Memorial Day with you.

Don’t have a mini brief yet?!  Get one now >>

 If the hustle and bustle of the weekend doesn’t allow for picture taking, we’d still love to hear from you!  Let us know… What are your plans this Memorial Day weekend?

Last week, someone commented on my blog post that I should make sure my boyfriend doesn’t “sabotage” me. At first, this made me chuckle, but then when I thought about it… He does! (Sorry, my dear.)

The realization came on Sunday night when we went to a steakhouse for dinner; he ordered the big T-bone steak, and I got a chicken salad, which I was actually really looking forward to. But then he also ordered potato skins for an appetizer. And I was realllly hungry. So when those cheesy, bacon-covered potato skins were slid in front of me and I knew I still had ten minutes until my salad would come out, I caved and had a couple. And then the realization came to me: this is what my commenter meant. SABOTAGE!

But can I blame him? He didn’t order the potato skins to make me eat them or to tempt me on purpose—he was just hungry, and he sure isn’t on a diet, so he eats whatever he wants. Maybe I should blame my self-control. Or maybe I should stop trying to stick blame on something. I mean, I was hungry, come on.

The problem here is being confronted with unhealthy choices during moments of weakness. It’s like when the alarm went off this morning at 5:30am for me to get up and run, yet in my comfy, sleepy state I pushed snooze and didn’t get up until an hour later. It’s like when I went camping this weekend and found the graham crackers, marshmallows & chocolate bars. S’mores, anyone? Yes, please!

Truth is, I am human.

Oh wait. That isn’t a flaw, is it?

Thus came realization number two: I am human, and I will err. I am going to be faced with temptations every day and I am not always going to triumph. It’s letting those little things go and trying harder next time that is important. There are things in life that will sabotage me, so maybe I need to learn how to make those saboteurs work with me instead of against me.

For instance, after dinner I told my boyfriend that if he wants to help support me, then getting appetizers like that probably aren’t a good idea. (What I really meant is, don’t order junk like that again! Please.) This is a struggle for me though—can I really tell him that if he wants to eat something like that, he can’t? That isn’t right. I think what I meant is this: If you want to support me, please also help me to succeed. Let’s take this journey together. Let’s be healthier together. Not just my boyfriend, but also my friends who willingly ate turkey hot dogs on whole-wheat buns around the campfire with me. And my friend who even got the 55-calorie beer for our cookout (after a couple, it all tastes the same anyway).

To succeed at any goal, having the support of those around you is crucial. And I realized that this weekend even more as I felt myself slip a few times. But I felt it even more when those around me were helping me along…Whether it was giving me a hearty “awesome babe!” and a sweaty hug when I finished my six-mile run, or when my friends supported my diet even on a camping trip. It’s great to know that I can still do all the same activities with my friends that I used to do, without having to worry so much about what I am eating or whether I will fit my workout into the day. And, of course, it definitely helps when I think of all of YOU who are reading this right now, and those of you who take the time out of your day to tell me that I am doing great and how you’re working harder, too.

So let’s ALL do this together, shall we?

Fat stats:
Starting weight: 166 pounds
Last week: 160 pounds
This week: 158.5 pounds (yes I am counting that half a pound!)
Goal weight: 145 pounds

Next week, I want to try some new workouts. My sister has been talking about Zumba® classes she’s been taking (not sure if I am coordinated enough for that, but I guess we’ll find out!). What kinds of workouts or exercises do you like to do? Leave me a comment & let me know, I’d love to try it out too!

Sweat on,
Amanda
@jockey_amanda

Over the weekend, I was faced with every dieter’s worst nightmare: vacation.

I could get away from the stresses of everyday life, work, the heaping mound of laundry that I’ve needed to do for the last two weeks, and more…but there was no leaving the diet behind. I went home with my boyfriend to Michigan for a long birthday weekend, and the challenges began on our car ride up. We stopped at a burger restaurant for dinner; I was good and ate a turkey burger…and I was bad and ate some cheese curds, too. Not the best way to start out the weekend, Amanda! I was a little mad at myself, and a bit in despair wondering how I would be able to control what I’d be eating when I knew we’d be out to dinners with family and friends, being confronted by birthday cake (brownie cheesecake, to be precise), and being offered more than a couple drinks. For an hour after dinner in the car, my mind kept going back to the thought: How am I going to do this?

I posted to Facebook about my dilemma: “How do I stay on track?” One friend told me, “It’s your boyfriend’s birthday [and your vacation], you don’t have to!” Now, I don’t like excuses, but…I thought she might have a point. I had to let go a little. After all, this quest to start a healthier lifestyle doesn’t mean I have to deny myself of small pleasures. It can’t completely rule my life and become a tyrant over my mind—that isn’t healthy either. A good balance is what I needed.

I tried to get in as many runs as I could, including one in the rain. My runs got cut off when we went to a cabin for most of the weekend and was told that unless I wanted to run from some wolves, I better not go running around on the dirt roads in the woods (crikey!). I tried to make up for it by going on a walk close by, going fishing (caught my first fish EVER [see picture], before it wiggled off the line and right back into the water, oops!), and running around after my boyfriend’s 3-year-old sister. On the food front, my meal options were limited to what the family made for me, but I did my best not to over-indulge. (Okay, I’ll admit it. I had a piece of brownie cheesecake. But it was sooo good that I don’t regret it one bit!)

Overall, I think I did okay. I could have done better, but, I guess I know next time to pack myself some healthy snacks, offer to bring something for a meal or two, and work out a little extra before I go.

Now I see Memorial Day weekend looming ahead and I know I will be enjoying cookouts, going out for drinks with friends, hosting some sort of get-together, and squeezing in workouts between all of that. So please help me! How do YOU deal when you’re on vacation, or out with friends? When you can’t necessarily control what you’ll be eating, or don’t want to seem rude at denying what you’re offered, how do you still stay on track?

Fat Stats:
Starting weight: 166 pounds
Last week: 163 pounds
This week: 160 pounds
Goal weight: 145 pounds

Thanks for your comments and support so far—it totally helps and makes me smile! Follow me on Twitter @jockey_amanda where I am posting about my daily workouts, fav meals, and other random thoughts.

Until next week,
Amanda

P.S. Just so ya all know, I bought a new scale yesterday that I do NOT plan on returning!

I never thought that in my first big girl job, I would be blogging about losing weight. But here I am, and here’s my story. For hundreds of people to read. Here goes…

Flashback: Two weeks ago.

Everything I put on to wear to work seemed just a tad too tight as I threw one shirt on the ground and grabbed another out of my closet. As the pile of discarded too-small clothes began to build over the week, I began to wonder. I hadn’t weighed myself in almost a year; surely I could not have gained that much weight since then? So I went shopping in search of a scale.

Upon entering the store, my eyes were pulled to the bathing suits that stood just off the entrance, which made me forget all about my scale worries and begin to daydream of laying on the beach this summer. It didn’t take too long for my daydreaming to become quite a nightmare as I looked in the dressing-room mirror. After trying on a few suits, I realized I did not need a scale to tell me the harsh truth… I quickly pulled my jeans & sweatshirt back on and texted my good friend: “quickest way to ruin a girl’s day: try on bathing suits!!! blah.”

Needless to say, I didn’t get anything I tried on; but, I did leave the store with a scale in hand and a sense of dread that seemed to weigh on me (yep, pun intended). As soon as I got home, I unpacked the scale and hopped on. 166 pounds.

Whaaaattt?! Last time I weighed myself (which granted was almost a year ago), I had weighed 148 pounds. So where did this [almost] twenty pounds come from?! I put my hands on my hips and pursed my lips as I glared down at the number. As I shifted my weight from side to side, the number went up and (my heart lifted) way down. No need to worry! The scale must be broken!

At work the next day, I joked to my co-workers about how I had to return the scale over lunch because—I scoffed—it just had to be broken. But deep down, I had a feeling that perhaps I was getting a little bigger, my clothes (definitely) a little snugger. I knew I could stand to lose a few pounds.

Then, my boss told me about the Jockey weight loss challenge that was starting the next week; she and a couple others wanted to start a team and they needed another person—would I want to join?

Well, I already felt guilty enough about returning the scale just one day after I’d bought it (what do I say when the cashier asks why I am returning it? Is it really defective?).

So, Jockey weight loss challenge, here I come.

And I hope that you’ll come with me! As I go through this challenge for the next 12 weeks, I would love for you to follow along with me. I’ll be posting about the challenges of eating healthy, squeezing cooking and work-outs into my busy days, trying new workouts, the triumphs that I’ll feel as I shed some weight, and the set-backs that will come surely my way as well. I could definitely use some encouragement, advice and support from YOU—and at the same time, I hope you find those things for yourself as well as I share my experiences, tips, and insights.

So it begins…

Fat Stats:
Starting weight: 166 pounds.
Week 1: 163 pounds.
Goal weight: 145 pounds.

Until next week – your fearless blogger,
Amanda

P.S. Follow me on Twitter to see more updates on how I’m doing: @jockey_amanda

P.P.S. My Jockey team rocks—we lost 18 pounds total! Go team!