So Bad, But SO good.

One Friday afternoon, while winding down after a busy work week I stumbled upon a crazy little show on TLC called Four Weddings.

The show is a competition between 4 soon-to-be brides. The prize is an exotic honeymoon vacation for the couple that wins the competition. Each bride is scored by the other three brides based on food, venue, dress, originality, and overall experience. If you're thinking there's no point to this show because each bride is going to think her wedding was the best and sabotage her scores for the other brides' weddings, then you're partially right. The winning score for the episode I watched was 69%...that's an "F", if I remember correctly. And, the stereotypical brides are always contenders: over-the-top bride, drunk/ghetto bride, trying-too-hard-to-be-different bride, low-budget bride, etc. But, there is a point to the show and it's what pretty much reeled me in...

Personal touches always makes the difference. The winner in the episode was the one that had the best overall experience and originality. For example, instead of having a regular guest book, the couple made a wooden sign post and painted the cities of where their guests were coming from. Guests were then invited to leave a message on their sign and that was going to be something the bride and group would use as decor at their own house. The most common factor among the losers was that it was too "cookie-cutter".

Moral of the story: each couple has its own personality and that should show at the wedding...because it'll win you a honeymoon on a private island in Tahiti...hahah! That last part is if you're on Four Weddings, of course. It wasn't until I saw that show that I realized how important it is to know your "couple personality" when it comes to wedding planning. In retrospect, all the best weddings I've been to have been for couples that truly wanted to celebrate who they were as a couple and successfully combined their individual personalities.

...And We're Back

Wow...a whole month and a half has passed since my last post. So much for my resolution of writing in here at least once a week. Maybe I'll just calculate it by an average, especially with the new endeavor I'm planning to take on.

Albert found this new workout program: Xtreme Fat Loss Diet. It claims that you will lose 25lbs in 25 days, none of which will result in muscle loss. I don't consider it a "fad" diet because the program requires you to work out every day (sometimes 3 times a day) to build muscle, pig out during each cycle and fast only once during each cycle. Needless to say, I'm going to do the program...Day 1 is tomorrow. Albert will be doing the program also, so we're in it together - it's easier that way and we can keep each other honest.

The Motivation: My dear friend, April, is getting married in July and asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. Of course, I accepted in a heart beat! The bridesmaids dress has been chosen and, unfortunately, I can only zip it halfway up my back. April assures me it's fine and that it'll probably zip up all the way if I had someone help me. She's probably right, but I decided to make it a personal goal to be able to zip it up myself. Secondly, since Albert and I decided not to go to Thailand this year (mainly my fault for not having enough vacation days), we're joining our friends for a weekend cruise to Baja a couple days after April's wedding. Essentially, this means 3 days of walking around in a bikini to fit in with everyone the boat. So, I have a dress and a swimsuit to fit into in essentially 7 weeks. 

The Preparation: The beautiful thing about this new fitness program is that it actually STARTS with a cheat day and you get a cheat day every 5 days after that. The not-so-beautiful thing about it is it says the alcohol is counterproductive to what we're trying to do: lose fat. Also, I will have to be in the gym EVERY day. That's neither a good thing or a bad thing, really. It's more of a challenge. I am okay with going to gym...it's not my favorite thing to do, but it's necessary since I enjoy food and drink...A LOT. What I hate about the gym is when it's busy and the equipment or weights aren't readily available. But, I've come up with a schedule for the program where I can go during non-peak times, so I'm looking forward to completing 100% of the required work out time...or at least, giving it my best shot.

Surprisingly, I'm really excited about the new program. I think I may have plateaued on the old program, so this may be just the surge my body needs.

The Goal: Albert and I have been preparing for the program all week. We've figured out our calories and macronutrients, printed out workout logs, calendared our first cycle of the program (there are 5 cycles total and we adjust accordingly). He ordered all the supplements (Thanks Beb!) and they're coming in this weekend. I do have to figure out my menu for the first cycle, which I'll probably take care of at work today (haha...gotta love corporate time robbing...but c'mon, it's Friday, what do they expect?!) . We're taking our starting body measurements tomorrow morning. I took my body fat percentage this morning...it's a dismal 32%. Sadly, I think that's right, but I'm going to have Albert remeasure it tomorrow morning just to be sure. I'd list my weight here too, but I'm too embarrassed :\ I weighed 117lbs as a freshman in college...WTF happened?!?! Hahah!  If anything, if this program works, then I'll list my before and after weight at the end. Deal? Deal. 

A lot of self-help books say it's a good idea to have a visual goal, so for good measure...here are my visual goals:

...although, I doubt April will let me wear something that short during her wedding (hehehe).

If you can't already tell, Penelope Cruz is one of my body icons. She's not a waif and she's curvy - so I think she's a reasonable goal for me to try for. Now, if i can get her boobies and a sexy Spaniard accent, I'd be set!

I'll be logging my progress on the blog...hopefully, on a daily basis until it's over, but at least at the end of each cycle.

In TOTALLY UNRELATED news: NBC says they will be canceling Law & Order (one of my favorite shows). First Conan, now this?! This network totally blows.