10 Questions For Carly

I posted last night on Instagram That I would answer 10 "about me" questions in honor of the 10,000 people now following me. So here are some answers to your quesions :)

Q: What was the hardest part of your weight loss transformation?

The hardest part is the mental game. Some mornings I wake up and in the mirror I see 210lb me, not the new 148 lb me. I think the mental aspect is 10x harder than the pyshical part.

Q: What keeps you motivated?

Besides all of you? What keeps me motivated is looking back at how far I have come. Pictures also keep me motivated because I can SEE how much I have changed. My parents, brother, sister and best friends all keep me motivated as well.

Q: What has been the hardest thing to remove from your diet? Sweets? Pasta?

BOTH. I LOVE bread, pasta, cookies, cupcakes, you name it. But you know what I love more than those things? ME. My body just does not do well with those things, so they are gone…92% of the time.

Q: How did you get diagnosed with PCOS and what steps have you taken to correct it aside from proper diet & exercise?

I was diagnosed at 17 years old. Took me two years and different doctors to figure it out. The best thing I have ever done for my body & PCOS is clean eating and exercise. I do not take medication besides yaz (bc). I am not on metformin/glucophage. I am all about food being thy medicine.

Q: How old are you?

23, although I feel much older. I’ve been through a lot in my short 23 years.

Q: How tall are you?

5’8..ish

Q: Was there a specific moment that mad you want to change or did it start gradually?

When I first started, no. Just kind of started gradually… and slowly. But most recently after a bad few months my big “ah ha!” moment happened after my 23^rd birthday trip with one of my best friends and I weighed 174 lbs. I was not in a good place. Glad I turned it around! Started drinking shakeology, got back on my workout routine & started eating better. Keep in mind I graduated last june at about 159lbs. Today I am 148lbs.

Q: what workouts do you do for your abs?

I don’t target my core. I do a lot of full body workouts that burn fat everywhere. (hello burpees!) And I eat clean. That saying… abs are made in the kitchen? Well it is true. I don’t have abs, but my tummy is flat. And that is from clean eating.

Q: What do you do when you go out to a restaurant to keep yourself from overeating?

Well, I don’t eat out much. I love cooking and I find eating out expensive and kind of a hassle. If I have to go out for something special or a birthday, ect. I always have a snack before so I don’t go hungry. Keeps me from over eating. I always order a salad with lemon wedges for my dressing. No croutons, no tortilla strips, no cheese. Lots of veggies & a lean protein.

Q: How do you deal with sugar cravings?

FRUIT. I love fruit. But… I crave salty/sweet a lot. Like peanut butter & chocolate… that is my demise. I think that is why shakeology has helped me so much. Every morning its like I am drinking a reeses peanut butter cup smoothie! Kicks my cravings right from the start of my day.

Overwhelmed

I came to the realization today that yes, I am indeed human. Shocking.
16 weeks ago I was a recent graduate of UCLA, I was 175 lbs, somewhat depressed, blissfully and naively happy with the copious amounts of "crap" I was eating and content to accept my post-college weight gain with the excuse that "I am tall, this weight is fine for my body"
I had a deposit down and was enrolled for graduate school at USC.

Fast forward 16 weeks to today.
I am 148 pounds, blissfully happy with the copious amounts of clean food I consume & overwhelmed by the recent changes in my life. 

I have declined USC.
Dropped almost 30 pounds.
Gotten rid of my excuses & found my happy place.

Sounds great... Why is the name of my post "Overwhelmed" you might ask?
Well with these changes have come huge responsibilities.
10,000 people look up to me on Instagram.
 Close to 200 women rely on my advice as an admin in my PCOS support group. 
I am writing an Ebook.
Looking into doing an autobiography about my journey.
And I have weight loss challengers who I am coaching. 

I am overwhelmed, exhausted and utterly shocked every day about the response and communication I have created about my weight loss story and PCOS journey. BUT, It is a joyful overwhelmed & an exciting overwhelmed.

I am reaching my goals and my dreams one day at a time.

I always wanted to find a way to REACH people and never knew how. 
Who knew creating a little instagram account about my story would lead to such BIG chages? I sure didn't.

Although I am overwhelmed & exhausted, I am a HAPPY overwhelmed & exhausted person. And that is A LOT more that I can say for myself than just 16 weeks ago.

I am content in my own skin, pushing towards losing the last 10lbs and so incredibly happy with the path and crazy journey this thing called life is. 

With change comes responsibility. I am responsible for my actions, my happiness and my overall health. I am making big things happen in my life right now and I am NOT stopping any time soon. 


Big News & Big Changes:

• Enrolling in IIN (The Institute for Integrative Nutrition) and becoming certified as a holistic health coach
• Becoming a beach body coach and helping people with their weight loss journeys. I am their motivator and coach... and yet I think I am more motivated by THEM. Their posts bring me so much joy. And knowing I am helping... well, it is priceless.
• Creating a professional website for my Story and Coaching
• Completing my first Ebook that will be a clean eats 5 day detox that I do when I have had an off few days
• Moving to my home town in Orange County 
• Leaving my life and "home" I created in Los Angeles

I think that is it.... for now. I'm going back to loving & living my life right now :)

Why I decided not to run my half marathon...

Sadly, Today I have come to the conclusion that I will NOT be running a half marathon this fall. The decision was a hard one to make because I am putting my body first, although it feels like I am also failing my body at the same time. The reason why I have decided to cancel my training and not run is because of my left knee. My knees have been pretty bad for years because of many hours of volleyball practice when I was very overweight. The constant jumping, sprawling, diving and blocking with 200 pounds of weight on my body did pretty bad damage on my knees and I have been paying for it ever since.

 I also seem to have a curse whenever I train for races. The first half marathon I ran, I hurt my achilles a week before my race and ran on it anyways, which put me out for 6 weeks, which led to weight gain. Then this past fall while training for the LA full marathon, I broke a tiny bone on the top of my right foot, which led to weeks of inactivity, which also led to weight gain AGAIN.. which led to a bad few months of binge eating (as talked about in older posts).

I guess what I'm trying to say is I love to run, and always will. But right now I am putting my knees first and my pride second. I know my body will be thanking me for it later.

Breakfast of Champions

Today on Instagram I posted one of my favorite breakfast meals, Paleo Egg Muffins
I also had a chocolate shakeology/ PB2 cup. sooo yum!
Each morning (and evening) I also drink green tea with raw honey and apple cider vinegar.

PALEO EGG MUFFIN RECIPE:

• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites (or 6 tbspn of liquid egg whites)
• chopped bell pepper, cilatro & green onion

Mix ingredients, pour into muffin cooking sheet (I use coconut oil for nonstick)
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
YUM!

CHOCOLATE SHAKEOLOGY PEANUT BUTTER CUPS:

• 2 tbsp Organic unrefined Coconut Oil
• 5 tbsp Chocolate Shakeology
• 3 tbsp PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
• 2 tbsp water
• foil baking cups or muffin tray

In a microwave safe bowl add coconut oil & Put in the microwave for 30-40 seconds (but do not let boil, we want it to become liquid). Remove and add Shakeology to the bowl, stir. Next in the foil cups add just barely enough of the chocolatey mix to cover the bottom of the foil tray. put into freezer for a few minutes to let harden.

Next, in a bowl combine the PB2 with the water. take tray out of freezer & Add about 1/2-1 tsp of the PB2 mix on top of Shakeology layer in the foils. Finally, top off the PB2 layer with enough of the remaining Shakeology/coconut mix to cover the PB2. 

Let stand in freezer for 20 minutes, then ENJOY!

BACK AT IT!

Finally, FINALLY back in the gym today and feeling awesome.
Why is rest so important for our bodies?
I learned the hard way...
When you break down your muscles continuously and don't give them rest
they have no time to repair!

When I googled back pain and put in my symptoms,
I learned that in order to get better I needed to do these things:

• Ice for 20 minutes each hour
• Walk and move, but do not work out
• Get plenty of sleep
• Correct my posture

Needless to say, I worked all week at these four things and feel MUCH better,
with only a tiny bit of lingering pain in the morning getting out of bed.

Anyways, back in the gym today and this photo (from instagram) is what I did today!
(plus my post workout shakeolgy... nom nom nom)

HAPPY MONDAY!

May goals

Rest and heal my back so I can go hard at the gym
prep for marathon training and start running more
Continue my no binging Streak
DRINK MORE WATER
Make note of all the things that bring me joy during the day
Incorporate shakeology into my every day diet
Help others and smile more
Work on Beach body apprenticeship and coaching
Drink green tea in the morning and at night with apple cider vinegar
Make more time for family
Tell someone I love them each day

Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

Today on Instagram I decided to post a very personal photo. 
the top pictures are from two months ago after a few weeks of binging 
and not taking care of myself.
I didn't realize I had "BED" (binge eating disorder) until about a year ago.

This is what I said on my photo caption today:

I am TERRIFIED about posting this... But here goes nothing...

When I created this account I promised myself I would be honest with myself and those who follow me. Little did I know in less than eight weeks I would have more than 5000 people following me but nonetheless I remain committed to being completely honest on this page. As some of you know, and some of you don't, I suffer from binge eating disorder. I can go through phases where I just eat my feelings and that's exactly what happened two months ago. I went through a rough patch and decided to just eat instead of take care of myself like I usually do. I gained almost 20 pounds in a few weeks by simply letting myself eat whatever I wanted and not taking into consideration my health and wellness. I have worked my butt off for the last Six weeks to get my body back to where  it should be. It is a work in progress and I am nowhere near where I want to be or what anyone thinks is perfect but for me, my progress is perfect and I'm so proud of myself. I so badly wanted to give up two months ago And just accept the weight gain and live with it. I let my emotions get the best of me, but I am proud that I took my life back and remembered how far I have come since 210 pounds. It is so important to remember not only your own health and wellness but also your happiness. I am happier and healthier today Because I didn't let my binge eating take the best of me. I am working every day to be better than I was yesterday.

According to the Mayo Clinic: 

Binge-eating disorder is a serious eating disorder in which you frequently consume unusually large amounts of food. Almost everyone overeats on occasion, such as having seconds or thirds of a holiday meal. But for some people, overeating crosses the line to binge-eating disorder and it becomes a regular occurrence, usually done in secret.

When you have binge-eating disorder, you may be deeply embarrassed about gorging and vow to stop. But you feel such a compulsion that you can't resist the urges and continue binge eating. If you have binge-eating disorder, treatment can help.

When I go through a binge, a fog comes over me and I will stop at nothing to 

obtain and consume the food I want at that very moment.

And yes, it was always done in private when I knew no one would disturb me. 

Every day is a battle with food, but I am two months binge free and I am SO proud of that.