Friday Five: The Skinny on Operation Skinny Bitch

As many of you peeps know by now, Karla has been involved in a little mission called Operation Skinny Bitch for a little over seven months now.

It all started because Karla was at her breaking point.  She didn't feel good.  About herself.  About her body.  About her life.  So a change had to be made.  And with any goal one makes, Karla knew that she had to make herself more accountable in order to meet said goal.

Thus, Operation Skinny Bitch was born.

It started innocently enough.  A Facebook status update along the lines of:  Day One of diet, four hours in and I haven't gnawed off my arm yet. I think that's a good start.  Right?  And, do you know what happened?  SOOO MANY 'Likes' and tons of comments, all cheering Karla on and congratulating her on making this change.

ON THE FIRST DAY.

It bolstered her so much that she started updating her status more and more with little things about her diet plan.  Updates on how many miles she made it through with Norm the NordicTrack on her walks to nowhere.  There were good times and bad.  Who can forget her update one night:  Disaster struck, peeps. On tonight's run to nowhere, I lost my balance and fell off the treadmill.  But, it's okay. The elliptical broke my fall :(  Suffice it to say, that was not a good night.

Again, the response was overwhelming and most of all, motivating.  And, in that moment, Karla KNEW that she was not alone in this endeavor.  So many friends (both in real life and the ones who live in her computer) were pulling for her to succeed.  I won't lie.  There have been some truly gruesome moments in these past months, but knowing Karla has that support system in place has helped tremendously.

Recently, I've been getting messages online from peeps following Operation Skinny Bitch.  They tell me how this girl *points at self* has inspired them to get into a healthier them.  And, you know what? That feels better than all the other encouraging notes I've received because that means Op Skinny Bitch hasn't just helped me.  It's helping others.  Woot!.

So, here is my Friday Five, friends.  (thought I'd never get to it, huh?)

How to Get the Most out of Operation Skinny Bitch

• Make healthier food choices. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you may have to get on a regimented meal plan like I did.  But, if you don't want to do that or just have a couple pounds to lose, make better choices.  Drink unsweetened tea instead of soda pop.  Use Splenda in lieu of sugar.  Choose grilled chicken over deep fried.  Eat more proteins and veggies, less carbs.
• Get off the couch!  I know we all have our favorite TV shows.  But, you don't have to sprawl out on the couch to watch them.  I have my Norm (the NordicTrack) set up in front of a TV.  I get prime boobtube time every night, WHILE GETTING MY HEART PUMPING!  It's a win-win situation.
• WATER.  Drink it.  At least 8 glasses a day, but try for 10.  You will notice an immediate difference in how you look and feel.  Take it from me.  My skin fairly GLOWED after only two weeks of my diet plan, and I drink about 100 oz of water a day.  Plus, my nails are freaking BEAUTIFUL.  Again, WATER.
• Have your last meal of the day a minimum of THREE hours before you go to bed.  I know.  I know.  We all like to snack while we're watching TV at night.  But, going to bed on an over-full stomach does not help you.  AT ALL.  And, really if you think about it, odds are you're not even hungry when you snack at night.  You just think you need to eat.  Find yourself something to do with your hands while you're unwinding from the day.  When I first started Op Skinny Bitch, I got out all my dusty old crocheting stuff and worked my fingers to the bone.  Not only did I not snack at night, but I made several blankets and scarves for my friends.
• Lean on your friends.  Having a hard time of it? Reach out.  No one can help you thru the tough times if you keep it all in.  They will definitely help pick you up and cheer you on, because they know you'd do the same.  Believe me.  You don't even want to know about the ledge I was on at on freaking point in Op Skinny Bitch.  But quite a few peeps stepped in and told me to leave PityLand behind and rejoin the real world.  And, I did.  I'm not sure how long I would've been wandering in that desert if they hadn't of interceded.

Okay, friends.  That's it for my Friday Five.  What about all you fun folks?  Have any words of wisdom you care to share with the group?

Now and Then

As you peeps know, my second novel A SLIVER OF HOPE is due to come out soon, and we've been working diligently on the cover design.  The front is just about done, so I was asked for my author photo for the back.

This is what I had on ALWAYS AND FOREVER...

Well, if you fun friends have been following the progress of Operation Skinny Bitch, you know that this girl *points at self* definitely does not look anything like that anymore.  So, we had to do a little photo shoot for SLIVER.

And this is what we got...

YOWZA!!! Those two bitches don't even look like the same person, huh? *big grin*

Happy 100, You Skinny Bitch!

You might remember this post about how Karla decided to take control of her life.  If not, I'll wait while you go familiarize yourself with this topic ;)

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Now, Operation Skinny Bitch has reached a milestone, peeps!  That's right.  This girl *points at self* has lost a whopping 100.6 pounds overall.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*big grin*

Ahem.  That is all.  I said good day.

Operation Skinny Bitch, FTW!!!

New Year's is a time for resolutions.  We all do it.  Make huge goals that, for the most part, never really pan out.  At the beginning of the year, you have all these grand ideas, hopes and dreams for what is to come.  You think to yourself, This is the year I'm going to run a marathon, lose that pesky weight, find a cure for lazy writer's syndrome, save the world from the upcoming zombie apocalypse.  You know, real goals you have a chance of actually achieving.

You start out with good intentions, but then something happens.  You get a nasty cold that can only be cured by a 20 piece box of chicken nuggets.  You start out your marathon training, but then your brand new running shoes give you the blister from Hell, and well, you can't possibly run injured, now can you?  You really do want to find the cure for lazy writer's syndrome, but well, you just can't get motivated to start your search.

And, the zombie apocalypse?  You tried out that new Walking Dead game on the Facebook, and well...you've been a walker since level two.

My point is, New Year's resolutions don't work, simply because you make them at the time you think you have to, not because you are actually ready to make these changes.

Take me, for instance.  I've always been a fat girl.  Not just a tad overweight.  Not chunky.  Not cuddly, or any of the myriad other things people say to make themselves feel better.  I was FAT.  But, I was always okay with it.  I liked to call myself skinny-fat.  I was fat.  This I could admit freely, but I could run circles around my (much) skinnier friends.  I had oodles of energy and I felt good, about myself, about life, about everything.  So, again, I was okay with it.

Like everyone else, I'd always make a resolution at the new year to lose a couple pounds, to get "healthy".  But I wasn't really interested in doing because like I said, I had energy, I felt good, I was happy.

Until I wasn't.

I was the fattest I'd ever been.  I didn't have energy.  I didn't feel good, about myself, about my life, about anything.  And, I for damned sure wasn't happy.

I was finally ready to do something about myself.  To make a change.  This was in July (2012).

Thus, Operation Skinny Bitch was born.

Who is that fat bitch on the right? We don't know her anymore, but the hot girl on the left? ME!!

Now, a little more than five months later, this girl *points at self* has lost 76.4 pounds of low self-esteem, 56 inches of muscle/joint pains that comes from being so FAT.  And, I feel GREAT!!!!

Yes, I still need to lose some more weight to be considered a skinny bitch, but if I were to stop right now, I'd be fine with it.  Why?  Because it wasn't about getting "skinny".  It was about getting back the Karla that I'd lost along the way.  And, guess what, bitches?  She's back!!!!

So, I'm not going to ask what your New Year's resolution is this year, cuz really, I don't believe in them.  My question is: What is your LIFE resolution?  It's okay if you don't have one yet, but when you're ready to do it, you will know and it won't be all that hard to attain it once you've made up your mind to.  Just look at me!