How to NOT pack on extra lbs during the Holiday season...SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER!

Here's an oldie but goody!  I wrote this last year at this time...

Be sure to click HERE and read the comments for some GREAT holiday recipes! 

How to NOT pack on that Holiday weight...

This is my most favorite time of year! I love the colder weather. I love sweaters, boots and scarfs! I love being with family and celebrating all of the holidays. I also love the FOOD! Who doesn't? I have some tips that will help you keep those holiday pounds at bay and help you enjoy every minute while doing it. Let's get started!

If you aren't active now, get active! Start moving, get to the gym or hit the pavement or even put in that DVD, whatever it is that you do, DO IT! Make it a priority to stay physically active throughout the rest of the year, and don't wait until New Year's to "start over". These are a few reasons why: First, this time of year can be VERY stressful! The best way to combat stress is through exercise. While you exercise, "feel good" endorphins are released. You will enjoy the feeling of self accomplishment and experience a clear mind. This is SO important this time of year! Second, you will sleep better. Who doesn't need a better quality of sleep? We can be so busy with holiday errands and parties. We need to understand that sleep is critical to not only beating stress but to weight loss and management. The third reason why exercising now is important, you will burn those extra calories you WILL be consuming! If you aren't exercising, you will gain some weight! That is a promise! Exercising will help you truly enjoy this season while looking and feeling great!

This time of year can be a time to help those in need.  This is something that can also help you. Let me explain.  Now this is Holiday Weight Management 101 by Amy Blue. This is something I believe to be true.  Some of the reasons we over eat may be feelings of depression or boredom. Some people experience these feeling  more so during this time year, and as a result more weight is packed on.  I personally believe that if we wrap ourselves up in serving those around us, we simply forget our own issues or our personal burdens that may be making us feel down, suddenly don't seem as hard to bare. There is a feeling that comes from serving others that you can't get from exercise or eating right. Also, by filling up our free or unproductive time with service we avoid eating out of boredom. So, please incorporate service one way or another into your everyday tasks. It will change your season and your life.

All the wonderful FOOD is the biggest problem for me. Who else has a hard time saying no to chocolate in any form? I love this, "I would give up chocolate, but I'm not a quitter". Anyway, back to FOOD in general. Now for most people staying on a diet or avoiding eating anything not so good for all together is very unrealistic.  Understand this, it's ok to enjoy all of the yummy holiday food. However, there are a few ground rules. Everything in moderation. Don't eat until you are uncomfortable. Pick and choose, don't have a full serving of everything! Make healthy choices when you can. For example, volunteer to bring the veggie tray instead of the cookies. Make your food from scratch. Stay away from processed quick and easy meals. That way you can regulate what goes into it.  There are also plenty of healthy substitutes that you can use in your recipes.

Try these:

Sugar-Stevia  You can buy a large bag of stevia anywhere and it measures out just like sugar. We used it to make bread and it works great.

Sour cream/cream cheese-Greek yogurt   I have replaced sour cream all together with all natural plain Greek yogurt. It's high in protein and very low in fat.

Vegetable oil-Applesauce or Coconut oil  It depends what you are using it for.

Try to be creative with your meals and incorporate fresh veggies and fruits. Eat less of the processed foods. You will find fresh just tastes better. There are tons of healthy recipes out there...have fun experimenting.

One mistake a lot of us make is, we drink our calories.  So many of us are soda drinkers, juice drinkers, or one of my weaknesses, hot chocolate. All of these are high in calories and have NO nutritional value. You can keep the weight off by drinking WATER! Ok, with that said, the same rules apply to your choice of holiday beverage as your holiday meal.

Most importantly, just stay in tune with your body and don't over do anything. Take time to relax and enjoy your blessings this season.

"Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so."
~Robert G. Ingersoll~

Please feel free to share your favorite Healthy Holiday recipe in the comments below!


For the Holidays, I'm running a special offer.  This would make a GREAT gift!

I'm offering a 6 week Online Training Program with Nutrition plan and Email support for $50!  AWESOME!  I have had such an amazing response to this program, that I wanted to keep it going!  You can't beat this!

If you are interested in purchasing this program for you or someone special on your list, email me.  I will send you a certificate that can be redeemed online.  Now, I'm limiting this offer to 2 per person and the certificate expires July 1 , 2013.  I only have 10 certificates so act fast!

For more information contact me bobybyblue@gmail.com

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Just me...the end.

It's been a very long time since I first posted about my personal struggle.  In THIS article posted back in April, I shared a VERY personal experience with ALL of you. If you haven't read "Just Me", do so before you continue reading this.  I was just re-reading that article and it brought me to tears.  So  many emotions came flooding back.  I was a little surprised.  This post will be an extension of my previous post.  I'm throwing out a disclaimer!  This post may contain some information you don't want to know about!  It's personal and graphic.  With that said, let me continue.

Some of you may be wondering, "her last post was in April, why continue this article now in November?".  Honestly, I have been struggling with this issue since then!  Back in April, we were packing 2 small tunnel  wounds with hopes of them closing in a few weeks.  I was to then have a new implant reinserted.  Oh, if that was only the case...

Three weeks later we had our visit with my Dr.  We thought we would get some stitches and schedule my last surgery. It was a pretty exciting day to start.  When the Dr. looked over everything, he seemed pleased with the healing process.  He took one last look before setting me up for stitches. To my horror he found some more of that infected tissue.  He took a better look, and realized that there had been no healing.  I was just developing that gross tissue.  He then decided to operate.  He numbed me up with several local shots and a block that he inserted through my ribs.  The goal of this surgery was to clear out ALL of the infected tissue and create a healthy breast pocket.  In order to achieve this, he had to scrape out all of my existing tissue.  We were going to make a pocket that could be easily and more importantly, efficiently "packed".  Doing this would allow me to heal correctly.  Now, the process of scraping out the tissue was extremely disturbing.  I could feel the pressure of pulling flesh. The sound was by far the worst.  It sounded like someone was tearing cardboard right next to my ear. 

When the Dr. was finished, I  had a hole that was 4 inches deep and 3 inches wide.  My entire breast pocket was open.  We could fit 6 4X4 inch gos sheets inside, and that is exactly what we did.  We had to pack that wound 3 times a day until it healed completely.  To top this day off,  I was put on some HEAVY antibiotics.  These are the same ones they give you if you were exposed to anthrax.  Needless to say, they made me sick.

That night when we got home, we were to change the gos.  I will never forget this experience and the totall panic that came with it.  As Greg removed the first 5 sheets, things seemed fine.  The last sheet was crammed deep, he had a very hard time getting to it.  Once, he got it out, the blood started pouring out of my chest.  I was instantly light headed.  I have never seen that much blood.  It kept pouring out!  Greg had to apply pressure on my freshly operated breast for 5 minutes.  It was excruciating!  He did this twice, and the bleeding stopped.  We then had to replace the 6 sheets of gos. At this point, we were both in tears, and questioning this decision we made.  I was put back on pain meds.  Something, I wanted to avoid but couldn't. 

The process of packing this wound went on for a few more months.  The pain I had in my chest never went away fully.  After a couple months, we reassessed my healing.  For some reason, it was extremely slow.  I was on and off those harsh antibiotics.  There was still evidence of an infection.  The opening at the base of my breast was actually healing faster than the wound.  He  had to cut it open a few times.  I would travel up to Ogden everyday so Greg could change my gos.  This party got old fast! 

My training became hit or miss.  My energy levels were all over the place.  The medication I was on was making me crazy!  I became mildly addicted to the pain meds. and went through withdrawal symptoms for about 3 days. I felt miserable.  I hated the way my body looked.  The negative self talk was in full force.  The most frustrating thing was that my physical appearance was out of my control.  I second guessed my decision almost every day.  The biggest question I had was, "What if...?"  I cried myself to sleep many nights.  I felt weak.  Right when I was about to roll over in my self pity, my sister sent me a package in the mail.  She has no idea (until she reads this) how much her thoughtfulness did for me.  It gave me the boost I needed. It reminded me that this was all for a reason.  I could either just "get through" this or I could "embrace the challenge" and learn from it.  I developed new relationships and friendships because of this experience.  My friends rallied around me and always offered words of encouragement.  I greatly appreciate all of you! (you know who you are)

As time went on, I was finally able to weight train at full capacity.  My healing had progressed enough that the Dr. allowed me to finally work out!  This was a BLESSING!  I finally got to do what I LOVED!  Things started to settle down a bit.  I had figured out a way to "stuff" my bra to make me look as even as possible.  I decided, I  could do this!  I started to see some of my muscle tone come back.  I was being patient. It's amazing what an attitude adjustment can do! 

A couple more months went by.  The healing process was taking way too long.  I called the Dr to see if there was anything else I could do to speed up the process.  He called back, and gave me two options;

A: He would open me up in his office, and see if he could get a better look at what was causing the slow healing
OR
B: I would go to the hospital so he could really open me up to see what was going on.

Greg and I decided to go with option B.  That was the best decision we made!  We scheduled my operation with hopes that he would be able to clear out whatever was the problem, and we could start packing again.

This was surgery #4 for me!  It was a success.  The Dr. found deep inside my ribs, more of that infectious tissue.  There would have been no way for him to find it, had I not had this surgery.  My prayers were answered.  Another bonus was, I was without a hole!!!  I was all sewn up!  I had a drainage tube in place but that was removed 1 week after surgery.  It had been 7  months since the last time I was without a "hole".

The next step in my journey was to let my newly operated on breast tissue soften.  The Dr. wanted to see me back 4 weeks post surgery.  If everything looked good, we would talk about the next step, a tissue expander.  Those next 4 weeks were great!  Things were finally moving forward!  It had been 7  1/2 months since my first surgery.  I was prepared for the tissue expander.  The expander was to be inserted and then slowly filled until the skin had expanded larger than the needed size for my implant.  This process was estimated to take 6-8 weeks.  I was ready for it!  I saw the Dr. and things were healing great! We scheduled my expander surgery for 1 week.  I was excited!  I was almost done!  The day of the surgery, I had a really good feeling.  I felt a tremendous amount of comfort.  When I woke up, the first thing I did was feel my breast.  It was bigger than I thought it would be. I was confused.  The nurse kept saying I had a right breast augmentation. I argued that it was a tissue expander.  My Dr. overheard us and shared the best news with me.  He was able to put a new implant in and skip the expander.  I had another drainage tube in place but that was something I could easily handle. Now, everyone seemed to know my "story" at the hospital.  Each one of the nurses, my anesthesiologist, and surgical assistants congratulated me and celebrated with me.  I was completely overwhelmed!  My emotions were all over the place.  I was finally finished!  Now, I'm a planner.  I had everything all worked out as far as my training schedule goes.  I was now 8 weeks ahead schedule! 

I had strict orders from the Dr. to not do anything.  I did exactly as I was instructed.  I was not about to do anything to mess this up.  1 week after surgery, the drain came out!  I had 5 more weeks of recovery ahead of me.  I did talk my Dr. into letting me ride a stationary bike.  So, that is what I did for 5 weeks!  Need less to say, I'm so over the bike!  I did appreciate my recovery on it though. 

6 weeks after surgery, I meet with my Dr.  He was extremely pleased with my healing.  Everything was settling nicely and faster than he thought it would.  We all celebrated in his office! Dr. Sellers is an amazing surgeon.  I know the Lord had a hand in my decision to choose him.  Everyone there was supportive and understanding.  I greatly appreciate each of them.  I received full clearance to train at 100%.  It was the best day ever!  It had been 8 months since day 1 of this journey for me.   I hope and pray I never forget all aspects of this experience.  I hope I can apply what I have learned to my life each day.  It changed me forever.  I do not regret my decision back in February. In fact, I would do it over again.  My loving husband Greg, is my hero.  He held my hand, and wiped the tears.  I'm grateful for my sister and her support long distance.  I love you Erin!  I'm blessed to have a great neighbor friend who was more than willing to offer an ear or even help in the gos changes. I'm blessed to have made new friendships.  These ladies are awesome and they inspired me.  Thank you.

I have started a new journey about 3 weeks ago.  Before this all started, I was preparing for my first photo shoot.  I am focused on getting my body where I want it to be, photo ready.  I am documenting this journey and will be sharing it right here!  I will be including work outs, and nutrition plans that I will be implementing.  I'm starting off with Body by Blue! My "before" pics were taken, and I look forward to sharing them right next to my "after" shot!  It feels so good to be back! 

I hope there is someone out there that reads this and can pull something positive from it.  I learned that I could do hard things, pain is temporary, and attitude is everything.  Each of us has something we are struggling with.  For some it's their weight, others have health issues, or even problems at home.  We need to rally together to support and encourage each other.  I couldn't have done it alone. 

To celebrate, I'm extending my 2 for 1 offer!  Visit HERE to take advantage of this opportunity!  You have until Thanksgiving day to redeem!


Thanks to all!