Good Times Were My Reward!

January seems ages ago to me now.  It was back then that I had set my goal on "This week".  The day I set my goal I thought, no way is it going to happen, but maybe I will be close to that weight.  Turns out I was so close to my goal weight that I didn't notice it wasn't achieved.  My rewards were abounding.  It was the first time in some years that I felt good about my appearance.  I am a far cry from where I want to be, my goal is another 40 pounds.  But to be able to walk the
same floor that Meryl Streep was walking, Michael Douglas crossed and so many amazing Rock n Rollers were on and to feel "in place"...well that was my reward.  I had no one to thank but me, and for the first time in my life I really knew that.   This is not to say I don't owe some credit to my friends, family and even you the followers of my blog, I thank you all.  You have been encouraging with your words, comments and acknowledgments.  But I really just feel like patting myself on the back, because in the end, without my personal commitment, it never would have come to be.  (Pictured above, Meryl Streep and friend)  (Pictured to the left) The finale at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Inductions at the Waldorf Astoria.  Featured in this picture are Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra, Rob Thomas, Ronnie Spector, Peter Wolf, Chris Issak, Fefe Dobson, Eric Burdon.  I had an awesome night, hanging with many old friends and hanging with some new friends.  Maroon 5 were super awesome and had me dancing with them throughout the night.  I wanted a picture with them, but the night didn't call for it, and in the end, FUSE actually taped us all dancing together.  (check for the RnR inductions on FUSE channel - they always rerun the show a lot)

CBS Orchestra Horns:
Left to right
Tom "Bones" Malone, Trombone
Alan Chez, Trumpet
Bruce Kapler, Saxophone

Inductee, Iggy Pop of The Stooges singing with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day rockin it!

Faith Hill singing "Winner Takes It All" 


Jimmy Cliff and
the CBS Orchestra horns

 The Hollies & Maroon 5

   Chris Isaak singing
   "Don't Be Cruel"


  Rob Thomas sings
  "Save the Last Dance For Me"

Band wives:
Cathy Shaffer
Cat Chez
Sally Malone
Cynthia McGinnis





Felicia Collins
Cat Chez

To see all my pictures from RnR Inductions, go to my Facebook page photo link below:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000736533375#!/album.php?aid=7258&id=100000736533375&ref=mf

Lastly, before leaving NYC on Tuesday, 2 of my 4 daughters came to the city and met me for the Dr. Oz show (airing in a few weeks).  We were VIP guest of the show and received front row seats.  My daughter, Michelle will be featured doing the hoola to get Dr Oz' attention on the "Ask Dr Oz" segment of the show.  After the show we were invited back to meet Dr Oz in person, super nice staff and amazing man, Dr Oz!  He was really concerned about my daughters question and hooked her up with a specialist.  It was a great time.  When Dr Oz found out I was a karaoke DJ he told me he was considering having karaoke at his 50th birthday this summer and wanted my card.  All in all it was a great 2 days in the city.  

In conclusion, I skipped the desert at the Induction Ceremonies, but opted for a few glasses of wine.  Took the skin off the chicken, and stayed within my calorie count.  Tuesday, before the Dr Oz show, I walked to the show (much shorter walk than anticipated) I walked the stairs every chance I could. (lots of times actually) Had a fiber one bar & nectarine for breakfast, a NYC breakfast on the go.  Had a veggie burger for lunch, and opted for wheat bread instead of the bun, ate only one piece of the bread to boot.  Came home, ate a light dinner.  Still managed to burn 2200 calories for the day.  It goes to show you can have a great time, and not lose sight of the prize...permanent weight loss!

"Getting healthy happens a day at a time, there is no race to the finish line.  Just do what you can to live healthy today".  Dr Oz

Thanks for reading and encouraging me as always....Cat Chez

Getting Ready to head out....and new goal number???

Well, the clock is tickin' and the time is comin'.  I leave in 22 days for Fitness Ridge.  I have been so fixated on my trip, my kids are sick of hearing about it!  I can't stop myself, I am so excited and terrified all wrapped up in one.  With 3 weeks left, I am trying to get everything I need for the trip so I don't forget anything.  Being gone a month is a long time! Usually when I travel I say if I forget something I will pick it up when I get where I am going,
But I will have no vehicle to get me to the store so I want to be prepared.  After being on Fitness Ridge website and reading many blogs I have compiled my list.  And have purchased most things:
Sunscreen
Deodorant
Bandaids
Neosporin ointment
Blister bandaids
Moleskin
Toothpaste & toothbrush
Shampoo & conditioner
Bodybugg
Purex Sheets
Bleach pin
Qtips
Duct tape
Headphones
Laptop
Camera
Cell phone also my mp3 player
Extra battery for my cell phone and a portable battery charger
Surge protector due to lack of plugs
Travel blo dryer, the ones at FR are weak
Powder for chaffing
Knee brace (heaven forbid I would need 2 at the same time)
Sewing Kit
Hangers
Camelback aka Hydration Back (I bought a Coleman 2L)
Anti Friction cream
Icy Hot Roll on
Advil PM
Vitamin I aka Ibruprofen
Over the door holder
Laundry bag
2 bathing suits
Pool Shoes
8 pairs of workout shorts
8 pairs of capris
Lots and lots of shirts
Sports bras
Regular bras
2 pairs of sneakers, 1 for hiking (I bought Adidas Response Trail 16) 1 for indoor cardio
Rain jacket & poncho
Anti-Blister Socks (I bought Wrights)
Vitamins!

I am prepared to take 2 suitcases weighing in under 50 pounds each. 

If you are heading to Fitness Ridge or have been there and you can think of anything I forgot, please let me know!!

Okay so, my goal weight was to lose 17.5 pounds by the Rock n Roll Inductions this coming Monday.  I missed my goal slightly.  I am now placing my new goal for April 4th.  Drum roll.....I want to be 20 pounds lighter by my weigh in.  So, I need to lose about 4 pounds in 3 weeks.  Pretty doable.  If I lose more...yippee!
I will shoot for more, but I am keeping it real.  I will be actually shooting for 175 by weigh-in.  If I accomplish that I will be 22.8 pounds on April 4th.  I will be happy with either weight. 

PS I intend to enjoy Monday nights Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Ceremonies being fed by the Waldorf Astoria and drinking more wine than I should! lol  I will however, be passing up any desserts they serve as I gave that up for lent.  Also, the morning after usually starts with room service eating naughty things.  I will be passing that up and instead head to the gym for a workout before the Dr Oz Show. (I hope anyway??)

Well this blog should be my last till after the Dr Oz Show on Tuesday, hope you have a wonderful weekend, make it count!

Weight a minute, I missed my goal???

Not really worrying about not reaching my goal weight!

Originally my goal was to drop 17.5 pounds by March 10th.  Basically for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Inductions Ceremony.  Only the ceremonies are March 15th now, so I have 4 more days to reach that goal.

But I am not fretting about it at all .  I guess you could say I am looking back to the day I started my blog and this journey.  I was near 200 pounds back then.  And now I am a sneeze away from the 170's.  So again, I am not fretting that I have not quite reached that goal weight.

I lost 2.1 pounds this week. 

I have been in a limbo for 2 weeks, with my weight loss.  I have been daily frustrated by my scale. (yes I weigh myself everyday).  I just didn't let it kick me.  I knew one day that number was going to drop.  And lucky for me it did today!!  On my Thursday weigh-in.                                                                                           

Before, I would have given up on eating right and exercise because the scale was NOT moving!!  I am not that person anymore!!

So I said, today would be the day I tried on the outfit I wore to the Emmy's (I was the same weight back then as I am today).
I put it on, it zipped up and ironically, I don't want to wear it on Monday!!  I am going shopping for something to wear even though I know it will be something that won't fit me for very long.  I cut my face out of my photo today because I hadn't brushed my hair or put make up on..but you can see me at the Emmy's in it and today in it.

Unveiling my Cee

When I started this journey, I had a lot of business to wrap up prior to going to Fitness Ridge.  The day has come where it is no longer a secret to the bars I work at that I will be taking a hiatus for the month of April.  I have decided to let my singers and followers know that I am going to be away for the month of April.  I am leaving for a month to get healthy!  That is pretty much what I have told them.  Now that the "cat" is out of the bag, I can be honest about who I am.  So Cat Cee is now shedding the Cee and is proud to say its is really Chez.  Cat Chez.  I am married to a NY musician, Al Chez.  You can find him 5 nights a week on "Late Night with David Letterman".  He is the trumpet player, the middle horn player behind Paul Shaffer. 

We have a great life together, and spend so much of it sharing music with the world.  It is always hard for me to prioritize my life, never mind I prefer not to do mornings!  Well all that is about to change.  I have made my peace with my world and am ready to leave it for a month.  This is a great sacrifice to my husband Alan and to my 4 daughters.  I am super close with all of my daughters and spend a lot of time on the phone with them.  They range from 30 to 21.  It will be hard for us all to be apart for an entire month.

Because I have been preparing for Fitness Ridge for near 7 weeks, I feel I am on the successful path to good health.  I want to be there for my family and I want to be there healthy.  I don't want to be someone who said I could have been a healthy person if I only took the initiative.  I am taking the initiative.

So let it be known, I am Cat Chez, goodbye to the Cee.  I am happily married with amazing children.  I plan on being a healthy weight before this year ends, and really hope before the fall begins.  I have lost 14 pounds since my journey began and hope that I lose a minimum of 10 pounds while I am away.  My stage name is Karaoke Cat and I do have a website:  www.karaokecat.com,  I also have a myspace.com/karaokecat and facebook page, karaokecat chez.  I am no longer hiding myself behind my monitor.

I intend on living a healthy life for ME, and for those I love so much!!

A weekend of buttery movie popcorn aroma!

So we have this ritual that we do every year at this time.  We try and get in the best pictures before tonight, Academy Awards Ceremony.  On Thursday Alan said, the Academy Awards are Sunday, lets see what we can see before then.  There started the mission.  Thursday night I met Alan at a theater that was still showing two of the movies, The Last Station and Precious.  We double featured it.  I bought us both Subway on our way to the movie along with sliced apples for me.  I had a late lunch so I opted to wait to eat my subway between the two movies.  Alan on the other hand ate his subway during the first movie, then had the greasiest popcorn along with some butterfingers during the second show.  I also had carrot sticks with me so  I munched on my imaginary popcorn (carrots) while he ate his popcorn & candy.
Friday followed with a 3pm showing of "An Education", it is funny how prone we all are to want to have something to munch on while watching a film.  I brought my own popcorn and candy, now..don't laugh...I brought in carrots, an apple and a couple of prunes!  I was just as satisfied as Alan was with his candy.  I can't begin to tell you how strong my sniffer was, I could taste Alan's chocolate in my mouth!  No I did not make any bad choices!!
So, last night took us out one more time, this time we had a little more than an hour between our first film and our second.  We saw, "Up in the Air"  then went to the Macaroni Grill for dinner.  I ordered a salad along with the balsamic chicken over angel hair with a side of broccoli.  I broke down a little and had some of their bread, but kept it to a minimum.  I ate a small portion of my chicken and gave Alan the rest and focused on all of my broccoli and some of my pasta.  Back we went to the movie for our next feature film, "Crazy Heart", the best of all the movies we saw this weekend.  It is great seeing someone clean up their act and make it right.  It is inspiring!  Just like so many of the blogs I read!!!!
We finished the night off watching our last film, "The Hurt Locker" on our couch. 

So we are all set for the Academy Awards Ceremony tonight, and to get all revved up, I am heading to my elliptical now, then my treadmill, and lastly its another beautiful day here so my dogs are being treated with walks.  My hopes is to award myself with at least a 1,000 calorie burn today.  After all, I am 28 days away from checking in to Fitness Ridge!!

Happy Sunday to all, see you at the movies..............

Another Weigh In, A wee bit closer to my March 15th goal

Today is another week, another week wishing, praying, hoping the scale is my friend.  That it paid attention to all my good choices, and noticed the sweat that beaded off of me every single day this week.  That it noticed that I ate that bowl of broccoli, instead of that bowl of sweet potato chips.  That it noticed, that I passed on a late night snack every single day.  That instead of reaching for that cheesy enchilada in my fridge, I opted for the carrots.  And no matter how tired I was, I got my feet planted on my treadmill, and did a workout.  I even reacquainted myself with my elliptical of which I ignored the week prior.  Lets not forget that this week, I increased my workout from the week before.  I even did sit-ups for the first time in so many months I am embarrassed to admit. So, it is THAT TIME but once again!  I tap my scale, its blue hue in front of me, as the 8888 disappears and rewrites itself to read 0.00.  I know this can make "or" break my day.  As I lift my feet one at a time, on to that little piece of glass that measures my achievements and failures of my week.  I contemplate, did I do enough?  Or am I going to spend my day getting over the crankiness that the scale is so good at creating within me.  I didn't jump for joy as the number climbed and stopped at 184.1.  Yes it was a loss, but heck I really had hoped for more.  But it is a loss.  I have convinced myself of that every 5 minutes since I got on that bloody scale!

I am 10 days away from the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Inductions being held in NYC.  I had hoped for 180.5 for that date.  So basically, I need to lose 3.6 pounds in the next 10 days to reach my goal.  Okay, so it seems plausible that I can do it.  But it is frustrating that a week brought only a 1.5 weight loss.  I am not complaining, I CAN do this.  I did plateau this week and so I will do more than the last 6 weeks to get to and pass my goal!

My plan...to actually use the gym membership I have continued to pay for the last year.  I wanted to step up this month with weight training anyway.  I am leaving here in "31 Days" for Fitness Ridge and don't want to go there without some strength training.  I want to be able to lift my arms, leg and be able to breath without pure agony.  So now is the time to step up my game even more.  More cardio and the addition of the gym!!  My goal is to wear if I feel I want to, my Emmy dress from a few years ago to the RnR Hall of Fame Ceremonies.  I wore it at 182, and will try it on next weigh-in (next Thursday).  If it looks good, I will more than likely wear it March 15th.

So, to date, I have lost 13.7 pounds. 

Plateau Means Step it UP

Today typically is my first day of an old onset.  Today is usually the day
I give up.  I get discouraged by the "numbers game".  I convince my inner
self, that it's not worth all the effort if its not going to show up on my scale.

Today is the day plateau means quitter.

Think about it, what is the one thing that happens in the middle of dieting?  At first the excitement is there, you can't wait to get on the scale to see the pounds have dropped.  At first there is an immediate feeling of being a skinny person.  You can almost taste the cardboard you will be eating as you achieve your goal.  Everything is going along as planned and you are smiling at your accomplishments.

Then BOOM!
As if a ton of bricks just came crashing down on you, you start to analyze what happened.  Saying it's not fair, you ate great, you worked out.  It is just not worth the effort! 

If you are like me in your thinking, its NOT YOUR FAULT!  You have been doing your thing!  You have been eating right and working out, and for what?  Then a temptation shows its ugly face, something that always comforted you in the past when you were feeling frustrated.  Or maybe you just don't feel like getting up and sweating if it isn't going to make a difference anyway!!

That was before, this is NOW!  Now is NOT being OVERWEIGHT!!  NOT saying yes to temptation, but saying...there is a new dawn and it's coming up roses!  It is going to be me climbing over that plateau and continuing down the right path of my journey!

Today I changed my breakfast to an egg beater omelet with spinach, ham, low fat cheese, peppers, onions, and tomato.  My usual is oatmeal with raisins and nuts.  I changed my workout to reps of jogging and running, then incline, then less incline.  And went on to the elliptical and did a good 300 calorie burn on there.  And lastly, tonight while drawing inspiration from one of my favorite shows, "The Biggest Loser", I will get on my bike and ride like the wind! lol So hopefully I will have a calorie burn of at least 1,000 calories today. (a small cry from the burn I will be getting in Utah).

No longer will "plateau mean quitter"  from now on it will be: "plateau means time to step up my game!"