LaRell Loses Lbs

The Fear of Gaining the Weight Back

larellreynolds — Sat, 25 May 2013 17:16:13 -0400

Erik Chopin is a man that people called an inspiration. Eric appeared on the third season of ‘The Biggest Loser.’ His starting weight was at 407 pounds and he managed to lose 214 pounds. After the cameras stopped rolling and he was out of the eye of expectations, he gained the weight back. He weighs around 350 pounds.

I read his story today and also the comments. One person stated a shocking statistic, 95% of dieters gain their weight back. This is shocking to me. How can a person gain all their weight back? Why didn’t they stop it?

It’s an unknown, a scary unknown, to our future. When we lose weight we want to say it’s a permanent change but how can we never know? Look at Oprah. Girl has money to pay for professional trainers and chefs. Yet, she is not rail-thin.

I can’t do it. I cannot compare other people’s weight loss journeys to mine.

Here is some good news. The statistic of 95% of dieters regain their weight is a lie. Actually the statistics is lower for people who lose weight on their own terms.

The contestants on ‘The Biggest Loser’ workout for 4+ hours while eating a strict 1,000 calories diet. Is this practical in the real world? NOPE!

I can hear sweet brown saying, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

We have jobs, families, and even sleep to maintain. We need a TV show that shows how to lose weight in a particle world. And no, I am not talking about arm workouts with the office chair.

For those who lost over 100 pounds and gained it back, I am sorry. For those who lost it and are worried about gaining it back, you are not alone.

We are community, we are family, and we need to stay strong.

~LaRell

Photo

larellreynolds — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:09:49 -0400

March To The Core

larellreynolds — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:40:55 -0500

Before we talk about my March Mission. Oh, I love the sound of that. I have good news about February. I attempted to do the push-up challenge. On the first, I started with 10 pushups and everyday I added one. Remember, I couldn’t do a single push-up at the beginning of the year and now I can do 38! Holla.. So this means I succeeded! YES!

But, On the last week, I asked a coworker if my form of the push-up was right. He told me that I look like I was humping the ground. My back was not straight enough. You see, I was too worried about having my butt so high in the air that I sunk my body. So i apologize to any person working out who saw the embarrassing mess of a push-up and you thought I was doing sex moves to the ground. I am sorry. Also, If I see myself on Tosh.0, I will come for you… kidding.

So I checked the scales and I weigh around 233 pounds which is awesome. This is the amount I weighed when I originally hit my plateau a few months ago. The holidays took a tole on my body so I gained 12 pounds. Yikes, but I lost all that off this month by eating “somewhat” clean. I mean, I ate everything in moderation.

I ordered Girl Scout cookies (Thin Mints) and I got them the first week of February. I had to wait 3 weeks to eat them. Friday, the first, was a glorious day inside my mouth. Nom-Nom Nom. I will attempt to spread out the cookies so I will eat the two boxes in two weeks. Haha cross my fingers for this. :)

March to The Core Challenge

Sit-ups!

Yuppers, I am doing 20 sit-ups on the first and adding 5 each day. YES, 5! My stomach right now is sore. I can’t do a sit-up on the hard floor. The pressure on my tailbone is painful. The gym has an incline sit-up machine that i have used instead. Hopefully by April 1st I can OFFICIALLY break out of my plateau and get under 230 pounds. If / when I hit 220ish I will have the motivation to just keep going. My mentality since my plateau was that 230 pounds wasn’t that bad. Its still a whole lot better than 385.

~LaRell

February Challenge

larellreynolds — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:31:11 -0500

When I was in Phoenix, Arizona with my friends, I tried to do push-ups. The problem is, I have upper-body problems. Like, I am unrealistically weak. I remember when I was forced to do weight lifting sessions for Football in High School (shocking! I did play) and I could barely lift the bar during bench press exercises.

Yup, painfully weak. So over this past year I focused a lot on my lower body but little on my upper body. A stroke a genius ensued and my February Challenge was born.

I will do at least 10 push-ups a day. Each day I will gain 1 pushup.
so

Feb 1st - 10

Feb 2nd - 11

and so on…

I got the idea from a coworker who tried to persuade me do a ‘squat challenge’ in December. Same format as above but instead of push-ups a person squats throughout the month.

Okay, I know I posted this a little late but who is on board with me?

Lets Push(up) through this month so we can March to April.

On April 20th, WDBJ7 is hosting the Blue Ridge Marathon. You can run a whole marathon, half-marathon or join a 5 person team. I hope to see some of you guys out there. Details HERE!

for now

Chimo,

LaRell

Hot Tub Rendezvous

larellreynolds — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:36:14 -0500

Hot Tub Rendezvous

About 2 weeks ago I was in Phoenix, Arizona with some friends. The hot tub was our watering hole. We always ended up at the hot tub every night. Now, fatties unite can all agree, we HATE swimming pools and/or hot tubs. Basically, we hate showing off our bodies.

When I was bigger, I had to wear a t-shirt in the pool. If the rules were no shirt then I would not swim. I hate having my man-b00bs shown. Yes, that is a technical, official term that I am using.

Before the trip, I messaged my friend telling him that I will not enter a body of water because of my low body image. I refused to swim and I purposely didn’t bring a swimsuit. Bad mistake, because hours after my plane landed, I was in the hot tub wearing running shorts and a college t-shirt.

When you first dip your toes into the hot tub, it BURNS! Like, the heat is too much to bare. After a while, you get used to the feeling and what was painful is now soothing.

Well, on the 2^nd night I was sick of wearing a cold damp t-shirt post-Hot tub hangout. I decide to strip it off. I gave the group a quick, “don’t judge my body and saggy skin because I lost a lot of weight in a short amount of period” speech. Yeah, they looked at me funny and I felt a little embarrassed.

I took my shirt off.

Sting.

I can feel the pain of the on-lookers as they assess my body. I need to submerge my body ASAP. I failed to live up to the pressure of society to have the perfectly toned, ripped with 10 abs body. I felt ashamed, cold, and lonely.

After some time, I realized that people did not care. I made such a big deal over my body when we all struggle with body image. I talked to a normal guy who ran track in High School and some college and he said he hated some parts of his body. This guy has the perfect body. It is insane the amount of pressure we put on ourselves.

The watering hole, in which in my mind, was a place of judgment and pain revealed its true nature to be soothing and comforting. I didn’t feel alone. I felt a part of the group. I felt free.

Body image disorder screws with our minds. We feel less of a person because our body is not perfectly scaled, sized or colored. If I could be honest, I never felt fatter than right now at my skinniest when I eat junk food. When I was huge, I did not feel it. Now that I lost a few pounds, it really comes to mind the hysteria over our bodies. I do not know if it stems from me not wanting to be fat again or .. I don’t know what else it could be.

We have all seen the pictures with the skinny girl that circles parts around her body that she wish she can change. Well, that is a reality for most of us. We may not have the courage to actually use a black sharpie or vocalize it but we do it in our heads. When we see someone who has a better body than us we compare them to us. We are chipping away our self-esteem every time we judge another body to our own.

How do we stop it?

Inner peace.

I just have to find that calm within.

~LaRell

New Years Resolution

larellreynolds — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:22:06 -0500

It is a new year and it can be the year for change. Most people attempt weight loss as their resolutions. You would think I put it down as mine for 2012 but I did not. I actually wanted to succeed because most resolutions fail.

We get so energized for a new start that we rely on ourselves to have this insane boost of energy everyday. Well, that motivation slowly dies and days at the gym become fewer and fewer while trips to fast food joints increase.

I wish I had a brilliant idea to avoid this mis-step we take on our resolutions. Maybe, we can try to have mini resolutions. Set our goals for 3-4 month long. Then, we can taste the finish line. We can renew our goals then so its something fresh through the seasons.

lets say we have 4 months to lose 20 pounds. Does that sound reasonable? or go to the gym at least 3 times a week.

Making extreme goals can be unrealistic especially for a weight loss number on the scale. How about we take better lifestyle choices. Eat an apple a day at work or eat veggies as snacks. Once a week eat a salad for dinner. We could limit our soda intake to one a day or none.

What are your thoughts? Can we actually live a better lifestyle? (The answer is YES!)

Believe in yourself and the change will appear.

Tell me your New Years Resolution. I would love to help in any way I can think of. I love you all and wish you a great holiday.

Stay tuned for more

Chimo,

LaRell

LaRell Recipe: Reynolds' Pie

larellreynolds — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 16:25:52 -0500

LaRell Recipe: Reynolds' Pie:

larellrecipe:

This is the answer to all of your leftover food during the holidays. Its like Shepard’s pie; instead of mashed potatoes, use cauliflower on top.

1. Put Cauliflower in a food process to change the consistency into little shreds.

2. In a pie crust, combine all extra vegetables, meat…

For most of us on Thanksgiving, we did NOT prepare the food. How...

larellreynolds — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:24:41 -0500

For most of us on Thanksgiving, we did NOT prepare the food. How can we eat right when the food is so wrong? The scavenger hunt of the healthy food at the buffet table!

Most veggies on Thanksgiving are prepared in a lot of fat, ton of sodium and don’t get me started on the grease. We can’t control what is in front of our face. However, we can control the amount of food that enters our body. It is all about portion control.

Remember, it is still NOvember. Its okay to say YES to some things but even it out with a NO! If you had a slice of pie on first serving then skip it on the second.

Wait in between rounds. (Trust me your stomach will appreciate it). Walk around and enjoy company. When you have a conversation, you forget to stuff your face. It is scientifically proven by Dr. Reynolds.

I made a video from our Thanksgiving banquet. I went around the potlucks and decided if it is a YAY or NAY to eat. Then, I show you guys what the perfect thanksgiving plate should look like.

Surviving Thanksgiving: Part 1

larellreynolds — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:40:24 -0500

Thanksgiving is days away and you are already have the recipes picked out. Put THEM DOWN! It is time to plan your meal the healthy way with a few of these tips.

Meat-

*Avoid Ham and buy Turkey.

*Do not Deep Fry your Turkey (I know… we will get through this together).

*Do Not put the stuffing inside the Turkey; cook it outside of it.

* Brush skin with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

*Avoid Butter and Salt

Sides-

*Avoid carb loaded sides (mashed potatoes)

- Use Cauliflower instead of Potatoes. Trust me it works and no one will know

* Instead of Green Bean Casserole with high calories toppings, Use almonds or cashews in the mix.

*Stuffing, Check Out this Recipe (you will LOVE it)

*Macaroni and Cheese – AVOID

*Biscuits- Do not use store bought, make with Whole Wheat and limit salt.

Dessert-

*Use blue agave nectar to substitute Sugar

* Do not BUY whipped cream. Its empty calories

These are just simple fast tips to remember when planning for Thanksgiving. Part 2 will cover what to do when you are at the table.

End of Jocktober

larellreynolds — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:42:00 -0500

Jocktober was a success and a failure. However, I look on the bright side, therefore, through the fails, I see improvements. Lets talk about the WINS.

1. Roller coaster

I finally fit in the roller coaster seat without feeling embarrassed. I conquered a fear of mine.

2. Gym Challenge

I pushed myself harder than ever in the gym. One week I ran for a total of 21 miles. I wanted to puke after some runs but I still accomplished something I thought I never could do.

Fails!

1. my diet

haha, I wanted to do a week eating solely fruits and veggies. #Fail… BUT, my takeaway is that I need to eat more fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Lately, for my snack at work, I eat apples. I brought in carrots and dip for a snack today. I am taking a right step, away from processed food.

2. I am still plateauing!

Yup, no weight loss. Probably weight gain because my diet was off due to a whole cheat week.

To help with the plateau, I ordered Green Coffee beans off of Groupon. These beans have helped clinical trial patients lose 15% of their body fat without diet or exercise. I heard about this on The View and it was also on Dr. Oz. I am not relying on the green coffee beans to lose weight but just jump start the fat burning process.

I will have more on the miracle workers once I start using them.

~NOVEMBER CHALLENGE~

I thought of this in the shower today. Yes, I had to tell you this :)

Anyways, This month starts the holiday period when we binge on sweets and carbs. Well, we can’t always say no. SOOO.. I came up with a plan to fulfill our sweets and still be on a diet. It is a 50 / 50 plan. Every time sweets are in front of you, you will eat or not eat. It will go back and forth. Therefore, if I passed on the cake yesterday, then I can have a thin slice of apple pie today. Get it? it is better to alternate your yes then to binge by saying ‘YES’ all the time. Try it! I bet you will notice how little weight you will gain over the fat gaining season.

Love you all,

LaRell

Last week, I wanted to do a strictly fruits and vegetable diet....

larellreynolds — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:23:52 -0400

Last week, I wanted to do a strictly fruits and vegetable diet. Well, that lasted a day. So, I decided that this week I will try something new at the gym. In all spirits of jocktober, it is time to hit the treadmill.

The mission is to run 3 miles everyday for a week; that is over 20 miles! Yikes.. help?!?!?

One YEAR Anniversary!!

larellreynolds — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 17:27:00 -0400

It is official. Today marks the one-year milestone on my transformation! I am so proud of myself. I have worked out everyday for the last 365 days. Yes, that means holidays and days where I felt under the weather. I wonder how many people can say that?

I just can’t stop writing how proud I am of myself. I know it sounds egocentric and narcissistic. Okay, I will stop now with the self-love.

Yesterday, I went to Busch Gardens for the first time. I don’t like roller coasters and they don’t like me. I NEVER could fit in the seats. Also, I was terrorized that I was going to die. I also never been on a roller coaster that went upside down.

Well.. until today! I put on my big-boy pants and just went for it. I have a fear of rejection. Whether it comes from people or my butt not fitting in seats. This fear causes great anxiety in my life. When I sat my tush in the seat and it fitted… MAGIC! I was like “I have this.”

Are rides worth it? Does 30 seconds make up for an hour in line? I don’t know! I am glad I rode rides but it wasn’t like the best thing ever. Glad to experience it but I rather do other things with my time.

Speaking about long lines. I was in line for a haunted house attraction. The wait was over an hour long. After waiting 10 mins in line, I saw people step out of line to leave. I turned around to two girls behind me and told them that this shows our character. Are we the type of people in face of tribulation to quit and walk away? or are we the type of people to endure and persevere under harsh circumstance. I think that is why I have been successful this year because I have the ability to dig deep and bring myself out of darkness into the light.

Tomorrow, I start my week long diet. I bought 20 dollars worth of fresh fruits and vegetables to hopefully last me 2 days. I know for certain that I will be eating a ton of apples everyday and I won’t mindlessly snack after work. I most likely won’t even stay up after work. I will probably get the most amount of sleep this week because I don’t want to feel hunger pains.

This colon cleanse work best when you are not starving. I predict that I will most likely have that feeling all day. Ugh, I am nervous but excited at the same time. just like riding a roller coaster.

~LaRell

So… When I gave you the ‘Jocktober’ challenge...

larellreynolds — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:43:26 -0400

So… When I gave you the ‘Jocktober’ challenge I forgot to mention how scary gyms can be. I mean, it is another world. It doesn’t matter what job you have or level of intelligence. To get respect, you have to use proper techniques. However, being new to the gym is very intimidating especially if you encounter the four types of these people.

Jocktober Begins with this new vlog :)

larellreynolds — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:27:06 -0400

Jocktober Begins with this new vlog :)

I'm Allergic To Healthy Food

larellreynolds — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:34:00 -0400

I am literally allergic to healthy food. It sucks sooo BAD! I have Food oral allergy Syndrome. So, October is coming up which marks my weight loss journey to ONE YEAR! CRAZINESS!!! I can’t believe I stuck this out for a year. Granted, the goal is 2 years but considering how poorly my previous diet attempts were, I am ecstatic. Also, I have worked out for a year, every day. Actually, I have a few more weeks to go to reach that milestone but when I do, I will be proud.

Okay, going back to my main point. It is going to be October and I have been on a plateau for a while. I didn’t mind it because he helped (allegedly) my skin catch up. But, I’m sick of not losing weight so I want to do a crash-esque diet. You know the ones that celebrity do to lose 20 pounds for a role. Basically, I am doing this diet for A. a colon cleanse and B. to revive my metabolism.

The past few weeks I looked at different diets. Most diets I had to turn down because I can’t eat raw fruits and vegetables. For instance I can’t do the smoothie diet or juicer diets. They make my mouth itch. My lips, tongue, and other body parts swell. I heavily considered doing the lemonade cleanse, again. I did this “diet” in college. I lasted 16 hours. Granted, I had ZERO support from my friends. I kid you not that they forced me to go to Waffle House. How was I suppose to watch butter soaked biscuits or biscuits soaked butter in front of my mouth without getting hunger pains??? Also that salt-water flush every night was a joke- It made me throw up.

I am planning on eating fruits and vegetables that I can eat without swelling like a balloon. I will avoid all meat, carbs, and processed food for a week. I will have a daily blog on here for you to track my progress. I will start this diet on October 15th. I am hoping that this will last more than 7 days but I won’t be sad if it ends on the 7th night.

Okay I have some exciting and SCARY news to share. As October begins, I will start (hopefully) to VLOG (video blog). I am saying this by making it a commitment which means I have to do it. Crossing my fingers that my first vlog will be up on Oct 1st. I have a special name for October and you will have to find out what it is on my vlog.

until then

~keep on dieting and losing that weight… LaRell

My Dallas Trip

larellreynolds — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 21:56:00 -0400

My Trip to Dallas

I just want to give an overview of the trip before I get into the specifics. I loved my weekend away from Va. It was relaxing, amazing and I really can’t think of words to describe it.

Air Flight

Okay, so remember how I made a big deal about me fitting into the seats. Back Story: A couple years ago I was on a flight in which I couldn’t snap my seat buckle in. I hid the belt under my shirt to not make a scene. I was embarrassed and felt like dying. On the plus, travel motion makes me sleepy so I got to hide the reality away in my sleep.

Fast forward to today, and a 140ish pounds lost. The first sign that I knew I would be okay was the seat in the terminal. When I sat down I had room to my left and to my right. I was excited to finally sit in the real seats. When I boarded the plane and I sat down, the first thing I did was snap my seat belt.

It clicked!

With extra slack too. I had to tweet the photo immediately. If you are reading this and you saw a strange, yet happy, black man take a photo of his crotch before take-off, you now know why.

Can I be honest with you? Okay, so I fit in the seat- check. But the real test was to see how I would do when I am sitting next to someone. In all of my 4 flights, no one sat next to me. In 3 of my flights no one sat in my row. Where was this luck when I was fat? Really guys I finally prepare myself and I get rewarded with the gift of row privacy.

Anyways, I am extremely happy that I can fit width wise in the seat. Now for my legs, this is a different story. Dear Airlines, some people are over 6 feet tall. Some people need leg room. Thank you for your non-consideration. ~Love, LaRell.

Goodbye Diet

I totally told my diet to See You next Tuesday, literally. I returned to Roanoke on Tuesday and that’s when my diet returns, supposedly. I told you guys about my friend, who is like a brother, Micah. Our friendship is basically surrounded by food. When I was a sophomore, us and two awesome chicks would sit in an all-you-can serve Caf.

This is my first time in Dallas and I wanted to get the full experience. This means I am going on the Texas Diet. This diet is full of Tex-Mex, BBQ and everything unhealthy. I ate out practically every meal. I had my first Whataburger sandwich that weekend. I basically didn’t care what entered my mouth because it was my break from my diet.

Now, I am paying for all of that. My metabolism is HIGH and it wants me to eat more and more food. But it’s not the good food that I crave; it is the greasy, buttery food. It also doesn’t help that the weekend I come back to Roanoke the Greek Festival is alive.

Okay readers, I am doing a new diet starting October 1^st. I need help to find out which diet to do. This is where you guys come in. Tell me of a good colon cleansing diet and I will try it out and see if it works. The worst thing is that I have an oral food allergy so I can’t eat uncooked veggies + fruits.

Color Me Rad 5K Run

This is what you guys probably want to hear from me about. I trained for 2 months for this race. Let me tell you, that training was pointless. This race was not a race but a party. There were kids, kids in strollers, people walking and people lightly jogging. Since I run 3 miles every weekend on the Roanoke Greenway, I ran past these people like no one else’s business. The tempo of runners was so slow that I ran around people like a real life FROGGER. There were stations were people got blasted by colors and some stations I ran behind because there was a line, a hold-up of “runners.”

The best thing about the race was that I got to see my friend, Brittany. I wrote on my Facebook wall that I was going to Dallas this weekend. She encouraged me to run this race. I accepted but forgot to actually communicate back with her to see what time she was going to be there or when her heat began.

I was about 2/3^rd done when a woman tackled my side, It’s Brittany! ((no b*tch) sorry I had to…) Anyways, I slowed down and chatted with her for a bit and she commented on my weight loss. She was another person who hasn’t seen me since the start of my transformation. It is weird seeing people of the past see me because I physically changed. I feel like a Pokemon metamorphosing to the next level.

I had fun at the 5K but I really want to run a serious 5K race now! They are fun, exhilarating and endorphin-releasing good times. I ran the 5K in 32 minutes which is a really good time for me. I am thankful for all the training because I know I can run if a zombie apocalypse ever happened.

The next day I was in my college town for a visit. I asked a friend to go running / jogging with me. You see it’s running to me but jogging to him because we ran at my pace. We ran 4 miles, the longest I ever ran. After our exercise session I was dying. I can’t believe how physical I have become in less than a year.

I started my diet October 14^th 2011. I have one more month to make it a year. A former roommate (who was my BEST roommate ever) asked me if I really lost weight. He was extremely happy for me and asked me how I feel. I told him I am scared. I am scared for my future - if I can hold the weight off and I am scared on the change in my life. How will I readjust to something that has been a constant in my life? I always been the fat kid or the overweight guy. It is hard to comprehend my body now.

Yesterday, someone asked me what my body shape was. I had no idea how to respond to that. I texted my BFFs and one said ‘LOL idk any more’ and the other said ‘average’. I never been ‘average’ so in my head it’s not making sense. I am totally confused.

For now, goodbye. But seriously, If you know of a weight loss diet or colon cleansing diet send me the information to LReynolds@WDBJ7.com. Thank You so much :)

235 pounds Weigh-In

larellreynolds — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 21:26:00 -0400

Didn’t lose much this month but its fine. I ate horrible and had a pretty horrible diet. I mean it wasn’t that bad, but, it was not that great. I have 50 more pounds to my goal weight and it seems much harder to lose these pounds then the months prior. I am way more stressed than 6 months ago. Thanks to Big Brother After Dark I am also not getting 8 hours of sleep anymore.

The main reason why I am not terrible upset about the number on the scale is the fact that my skin needs time to tighten up. If I lose weight to fast (and I did) then I will get stuck with a lot of loose skin. This means I have to fork over a couple grand to pay for cosmetic surgery. So maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that this last 50 pounds is taking a little bit longer because my body, especially my chest, has a lot of tightening up to do.

Today, I had my last Saturday 3 mile run before the 5K Color Me Rad. The race is next Saturday, September 8th. I know I can run (jog) it without stopping. I just want to focus on time. 33 minutes is a good time and I hope I can get under it. The past month I have ran every Saturday. My worst time was 37 minutes and my best was 31 minutes. Granted I was dying at the end of that race and I had a bad case of this.

I am excited to see one of my best friends this Thursday. He has not seen me in person since I started loosing weight. It is unfathomable to think that I lost so much weight. Like so many of our memories are shared with food being the common denominator. If I wanted a late night McDonald’s run, he was there for me. Visiting him will bring back the memories of the over-eating. I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. I mean, we both tried to be healthy during our last semester. We both got gym memberships to Anytime Fitness and soon realized that we only went there like 13 times. I am glad I am using my membership to good use now.

FLYING! Okay, I am totally excited to fly now. Before my transformation, I had reservations because I couldn’t A. fit in the seat and B. Have the seat belt fit me. One time flying, I couldn’t get the seat belt to click so I stuff the pieces under my fat rolls and pretended it snapped. That goes in the top 10 embarrassing moments of my life.

I am excited to see my best friend, to fly, and to race in my first 5K. This will be an amazing weekend and I can not wait. Literally, my work productivity will slowly drop. I feel like a student in the opening scene of High School Musical 2.

~LaRell

Dentist Day

larellreynolds — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 02:37:26 -0400

Okay, so I haven’t been to the dentist in 5 years. My braces were removed the summer before college and I never returned, until today. I know, I am horrible. What makes it worst is that I did not have the best oral hygiene growing up. Literally, every cleaning turned into, “We found another cavity.” I have had my fair share of cavities growing up.

So I walk in today feeling nervous because I don’t know what to expect. The last year or so I have been doing a BETTER job at brushing my teeth daily. I had positive thoughts that I was only coming in for a cleaning… NOPE!

The Dentist workers (I dont know their actual job roles, Ortho-hygienist Enthusiasts???) forced me to take an X-Ray of my teeth. When that X-Ray hit the black light board my heart dropped.

Holes, Holes-Holes…HOLES holes, Holey holes! My teeth looked like the landscape from the Shia Labeouf movie, Holes. I had like over 15 cavities or “dental repairs.” Some were bad, but a lot were small gaps.

I felt horrible. I wanted to just crawl in a dark-cold place and just meditate of how much of a failure I have become. I blame my fat self. I blame the 3 dollar southern style chicken meals at McDonalds. I blame Tacobell. I blame the Arnold Palmers at Sonic. But mostly, I blame myself for allowing all of that food to enter my body.

After hours of drilling, sawing, numbing, poking, gargling, spitting, and cleaning, my top left side is repaired. I have to come in later to do the top right and another to do the bottom.

When the assistant was cleaning up the station she asked me if I drink soft-drinks. I responded with a No. She was shocked and thought I was lying to her. She then went down the line of asking if I drank, coffee, tea, Gatorade and I denied the intake. She said she couldn’t believe that I only drank water. (before I continue, remember I have not been to the dentist in 5 years. I have spent 4 of those years drinking all the bad stuff but lately I have been clean)

For Proof I showed her a picture of what I looked like a year ago. She was stunned and she immediately sought after her phone. She showed me a picture of herself at a bigger state and we shared a genuine moment.

When former fatties come together or share stories, it is like an indescribable power that overtakes you. You share this special bond with a complete stranger. One moment I hate her because she is causing so much pain in my life, or mouth, and the next we are almost tearing up because of the fight to stay healthy.

That moment, that special moment, I really wish I had given her my information. I wish I had a business card or just a simple card that had the information to this blog so that we can stay in touch.

I am going to ask you, my readers a very simple question. Do you think I should carry cards with my blog information? It will be a simple way for people to have access to the link. Write your opinions or simply email me at LReynolds@wdbj7.com

If you have any topics or questions that you want me to discuss please send them over to my email.

~LaRell

236 lbs Weigh-In

larellreynolds — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 20:44:00 -0400

This past month has been crazy! I lost 9 pounds which is awesome. I also have been carrying around a secret. A few weeks back, I decided to plan a trip to see one of my best friends in Dallas, TX in September. I posted this on Facebook and another friend asked me if I was interested in a 5K run. Without much hesitation I signed up. This 5K is a color run. Its called ‘Color me Rad’ the website is right here. Basically, for the duration of the 5K, I will get bombarded with different colors and at the end of the race I will look like a rainbow flag had thrown up on me.

A 5K is a little over 3 miles. That is 3 miles of running/jogging/walking. I am striving to avoid the later. I don’t run! I love my elliptical, I use it practically everyday. How am I suppose to RUN 3 MILES???

A workout plan!

Friends advised me to follow a simple schedule to get my body conditioned to run for 3 miles. Its called ‘the couch to 5K running plan’ which will get your body in shape for a race. In 2 months, you are transformed from a couch potato to 5K marathon runner.

Good plan, But will it work for me?

Two weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, at 8am I decided to run… OUTSIDE. Now, I have ran on a treadmill before and I usually run a mile, walk 10 minutes, then run the remaining 3 miles. I am dead afterwards, but I can do it.

I get out of my car and I use this amazingly awesome iPhone app, Nike+, to track my mileage. I just start to run / jog around a local Roanoke park. I am running…doing my thing… trying to catch my breath. I am determined not to stop and walk.

I am chugging along and I hear ‘I completed 1 mile’; I feel great. I finished that mile in 10:30 something. Okay, you have to understand where I am coming from to fully understand this. In PE class in high school, I could “run” a mile in like 16 minutes (with me running the curves and walking the straights). So I am overly impressed with my time.

Apparently, its a ‘thing’ to run at the park on a Saturday morning. Who knew? There were so many other runners with all different shapes, sizes and ages. They were my motivation to keep going. I see a shirtless guy and I am like, ‘I can’t wait to get that body’.

I did it! I ran 3 miles without stopping. I completed it in 33 minutes. This is Cray-Cray because I was going to train so hard for this 5K but now I know I can complete it in a decent time.

Today, I ran 3 miles and completed it in 34 minutes so i am staying on average in my run. i know the first run wasn’t a fluke. Also, I am running on a trail that has few incline shifts. I just hope the one in Dallas / Ft. Worth is flat.

I am training hard so I can kick this 5K in its…

for now,

~LaRell

I'm Pregnant, Man

larellreynolds — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:34:45 -0400

I seriously think I am pregnant some days. Yes, I know I can never, technically, be pregnant therefore I wouldn’t know what pregnancy is really like. I am basing the below on watching shows like ‘Secret Life of The American Teenager,’ ‘16 & Pregnant,’ and ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ (Kourtney stays forever preggers)

*Food Cravings*

Just like any other pregnant woman, I have the strangest cravings. One month all I crave is cinnamon, and then guacamole, cookies n’ cream, and finally buffalo ranch. Its like I crave something until my taste-budsget sick of that flavor.

*Frequent Urination*

Okay, this is totally my fault. Ever since my diet all I have been drinking is water. I drink a lot of water each day and that means more trips to the bathroom. It does compare to the levels of pregnant women, though…

*Back aches*

Oh yes, my back hurts all the time now. I blame it on my sleep. Fun Fact: when your fluffy, you have cushion all around you. Now imagine going to sleep with a natural cushion surrounding your body. Sleep is wonderful.

Now imagine that fluffiness is gone and your are sleeping on top of your liver and spleen. YUP, you will get back pains because sleeping becomes a nightmare (see what I did there) and you have to sleep in weird positions just to fall asleep

One the same note, I commend the thin people on the world for their abilities to sit in a chair. Sitting on my bum becomes more and more difficult as my cush over the tush dissolves. I can feel by bones scrape the wood on chairs. Sitting is not fun anymore…

I had it good… those were the days :(

*Emotional Wreck*

A wise person once said,

“Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands”

-Elle Woods.

Eating better, getting runner’s high, gives you this positive outlook on life. You feel and act better. But then there is the crash when everyone is so annoying that you just want to hit them in the eye. I wouldn’t say I am a violent person. but some days, if thoughts could paint, I would be Picasso.

Also I become so indecisive. I am worried about my future and my future self. If I should eat that food or not. Is it okay to consume or resist. AHHH!!!

*Stretch Marks*

So apparently I forgot that I have stretch marks all over my body. You see, I have stretch marks on my stretch marks. I was a huge balloon, like the ones in a parade. Now, I am slightly deflated and my stretch marks are like rivers of a map on my body.

Every night, I cocoa cream it up. I have to do it to try to keep my skin tight and to help the marks fade. Also it helps prevent new ones from embarking. Fun Fact: If you lose weight fast (guilty) you will get new stretch marks.

Skin is a meanie and you have to treat it nice or it will be viscous to you.

*Raspberries*

I am hoping none of my coworkers are reading this part. I feel that ever since I started eating healthier, my farts have gotten…poisonous.

Shocking, I rarely eat pinto beans. I once ate those beans during dinner break and I felt like that woman’s stomach in Alien. Something was going to pop out of my stomach and it was not going to be pretty.

I am an offender to some of the top gas-producing foods:

Green Beans

Corn

Onions

Broccoli

Cabbage

Carrots

I feel like my *raspberries* are worse when I eat healthier foods then when I ate McDonalds / TacoBell last year (in which they are garbage to begin with).

I have been on this lifestyle change for 9 months now. I may not have a baby, but I am bringing a new life into the world, my own.

~LaRell