I Want to be My Own Inspiration

I'm the type of person who is always looking around for other people who have lost weight for inspiration.  They are "success stories".  I'm always thinking...man, I want to be one of those people.  I want to do that.  I wish that was me.  Well, I want to be my own success story.  I want to be my own inspiration.  I can easily be one of those people if I do what I already know I need to do.

This morning I had to take a picture for Win, Lose or Blog and this is what I saw:

Goodness, I look smaller than I feel like I look in the mirror.  I wasn't sucking anything in and I don't have any equipment to alter photos to make myself look thinner.  I think I look pretty bloody fantastic.  (Sorry about the "bloody"...it's a habit from reading too many British books lol!)  Although, I think  the size of my body looks great in this picture...I'm still trying to figure out why.

I know it really makes no sense to wonder about this, because I've been working hard.  I'm honestly puzzled though.  This is not what I see when I look down at my body or even when I look in the mirror.  I had to run and take a quick check on my belly button and hip measurements and they have indeed gone down in just two weeks.  My head still isn't wrapping around this picture though.  When I look at myself in the mirror or down at myself I think I see about 20 lbs more than this picture shows. 

I'm not an emotional person, but at the moment I want to cry.  There are two reasons:

1- I'm a little upset the self image I have of myself is so messed up.  if this picture is what I really look like, why am I not seeing it?  What's wrong with me?

2- The more I stare at this picture, the more I realize I AM DOING THIS!  I mean I know I've been making changes and I know the scale has been going down, but this picture is just.....WOW.  It's my "aha moment."  I AM DOING THIS!

Even while typing this I keep scrolling up to the picture asking "Is this really me?"  I don't have anything close to a flat stomach, but this shirt used to be tight and showed all kinds of stomach rolls.  I just don't know.  I really don't have anything else to say.  I'm just a little in awe...my mind has not caught up to this picture yet.

              

This isn't a song on my workout list, but I'm kinda feeling like an All-Star

Smash Mouth - All-Star

Whoo Hoo!

First of all, I applied to be a contestant in a friendly weight loss competition a week or two ago.  I received an email today saying that I have been accepted!!!  I am so excited.  Their website is Win, Lose, or Blog.  I'll give the address to my personal blog through their website next week when the competition actually begins.  You can also click on the icon to the right of the page to go directly to their site.  They have giveaways (even if you are not a contestant) and nice motivational posts throughout the week.  I'm really pleased to have been chosen.  This will be great motivation for me.  I'm 3 months into my journey and some days the motivation is really not there, but knowing so many people will be watching my progress with help me keep going.  Yay me!

On to regular stuff......
Today was a training day.  I did burpees, mountain climbers, wall balls, high knees, jumping jacks, and ski jumps (I can't find a video of the ski jumps...probably called something else.)  Boy, did I sweat today! 

I went to the grocery store today and stocked up on chicken breast, salad stuff, Greek yogurt, and lite raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  I like to grocery shop, but It's hard to pass up the candy and cookie aisle.  I did good today though.  I would not even allow myself to walk down the aisle to look.

Short blog today...mostly to tell you about Win, Lose, or Blog!  Have a great day!

Love Love Love today's song
Michael Jackson - PYT

Turning Into One of THEM

Sorry for the delay.  It's been a busy week...research, work, studying for exams...you get the idea.  Anyway, this has been a super week.  I've had some really great workouts that have challenged me every step of the way.  I honestly can't remember everything I did on Monday and Friday.  Wednesday was homework day.

2 laps
10 push-ups
2 laps
10 burpees

I had to do this for 6 rounds.  This means I jogged 3 miles, did 60 push-ups, and 60 burpees.  I thought it would never end lol!  It took me 50 min 50 sec to finish.  I went to do this at the Rec Center as soon as I got off on Wednesday morning.  I was in the middle of round 1 and guess who comes upstairs with a client...Sam.  He looks at me and says "faster faster" lol!  Part of me was happy he saw me doing things on my own, so he knows I'm really putting in the work.  Another part of me was thinking oh no, now I really have to do it lol!  When I met with him on Friday he said when he saw me jogging on Wednesday he was so happy and felt like a proud father haha!

Let me give you a few videos of exercises I had to do this week that completely wore me out:

1. Weighted Rope Jumping Jacks
This is incredibly hard.  These ropes are super heavy and I felt like my arms were going to fall off.  I had to do 3 rounds of 30 on Monday.

2. Stability ball Push-Ups, Stability Ball Knee Tuck (In and Outs), Stability Ball Press
I could not find a video of what Sam called a press.  I did the push-up, immediately went into the knee tuck, and from the tuck to the "press".  Basically when you are back in the push-up position at the end of the knee tuck, press your hands into the ground and your body backwards on the ball (almost like you're trying to roll off of it backwards).  Once you push back as far as you can, then bring yourself forward again to the push-ups position.  It's almost a kind of stretch, but it works your arms and core like crazy.  Sorry if I did not explain it well enough.  I don't have a stability ball, so I can't just film myself.  I did 3 sets of 5 of these and believe me...that was PLENTY.  I'm sore as I type this.

3. Thrusters
I had 2-15 lb dumbbells.  I've done these in the past and it has not gotten any easier.  I had to do 3 rounds of 13 on Friday.

4. Box Jumps
For some reason these were very intimidating to me.  To be honest, I can remember the last time I jumped onto something with both feet like this.  I was always paranoid that I was not going to jump quite high enough and only hit the edge of the "box" and fall lol!  I did 3 rounds of 30 of these on Friday and boy they can wear you out big time!

5. Walking on Incline
On Monday I had to walk at a 12% incline.  At first, I thought "no problem".  After about a minute I was thinking will this ever end?  haha!  It was difficult for me, but I can say that if you do this consistently you should have killer legs!

It's funny how hard workouts motivate me to do more.

My food this week has been pretty good except for last night.  I went to a Mexican restaurant and had a taco salad made with steak.  I honestly probably wasn't too bad on its own because I did not eat the fried shell it came in.  I DID eat chips and cheese dip though plus a frozen mango margarita.  Eeeek!  Other than that I had a great food week.

This morning I woke up and my arms and core were pretty sore.  I thought to myself "Hmmm...it hurts so good.  I like this.  Sore IS good.......wait a sec.....Did I just think that?  Oh my, I'm turning into one of those crazy fitness people...mmm mmm mmm."  That was literally what when on in my head lol!  Then I got out of bed and did Zumba on Wii for 45 min.  Here's the sweaty pic I took afterwards.

So, looking at this now, you can't really tell I was sweaty, but I PROMISE I was soaking.  It just didn't translate well in the pic.  Yes, I know I look a mess with the headscarf on, but I like that my face looks thinner.  So, I'm posting it anyway!

Today I'm posting a zumba routine instead of a song since that's what I did this morning.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Zumba - El Bacilon



I'm Growing

SO........I posted a small gain this week.  I'm up 0.8 lbs. 

Old Me:  A gain???  I don't understand!  I worked really hard this week.  I did all my exercise homework.  I ate better.  Heck I've done more than ever and I still gained.  This isn't working and it's not even worth it.  Wah Wah Wah!  I'm going to Dairy Queen.

New Me:  Well, let's take an assessment of the week.  I did not eat well the two days I went out of town over the weekend.  I did post a gain, but I'm now a believer in this process.  So, work harder and eat better this week.  Get dressed and let's go walking.

That's exactly what I did.  I went walking then after a nice 10 min walk I decided to see how far I could jog.  Normally, I'm at around 3 min.  I did 5 min straight during the 5k.  Today I went for 9 min 12 seconds.  I could have gone farther (not much), but I was back at my car.  Also, I held a plank for 1 min and 32 seconds.  My previous PR (personal record) was 1 minute.  So Whoo freaking Hoo!  Today, I'm kinda feeling like a ROCKSTAR!

Pitbull and Ne-yo - Give Me Everything

Are You Serious? Really????

I cannot even count the number of times I said "Are you serious?" to Sam today.  If I was not saying that I was saying "Really???"  Yeah, it was one of those days.

Yesterday I was really excited to see him today.  I have not seen him for a session in quite awhile.  Last Friday he had to cancel because of an emergency and this past Monday I had to cancel because I was out of town.  I have been doing my homework, so I just felt like a superstar!  Well, I had to work last night, so by the time Friday morning came I was exhausted.  Plus, I was having shin issues.  I was really hoping for an easy day with Sam (cue insane laughter here).

We talked about what we both had been up to and I told him what issues I was having with the homework.  I also let him know I planned to be completely dedicated during this current 6 week stretch.  He thought I had been completely dedicated already.  So, I had to explain to him what I was REALLY doing when I was not around him.  Then he said we were doing a circuit of 2 min on a cardio machine then 3 exercises and we would do it twice.  I thought...no big deal...right....WRONG!!!!  This is what I had to do today

Treadmill jog for 2 min
1 min Mountain Climbers
20 Thrusters  (30 lb barbell)
20 Leg Lifts

Stationary Bike keep rpm above 80 for 2 min
30 sec Squats w/ Pulse
20 non-modified Pushups
20 Wall Balls

Elliptical Trainer keeps steps per minture above 120 for 2 min
15 Alligator Walk  (instead of a quick continuous movement I walked my hands out after I moved each leg)
1  min Burpees
20 TRX Row
2 min Rowing Machine

2 min water break then do it all over again

Looking at this typed out, it doesn't look like much, but just try it.  It's torture.  This will seriously get tagged as an insane workout.  When I left the gym my body just felt like dead weight.  I was not sore...yet, but it felt like body parts were just there.  I have to admit though, once I was done I felt amazing.  I had this Superwoman or She-Ra (I know I'm not the only person who watched She-Ra) glow. The fact I had completed this monster of a workout made me feel invincible.  I wanted to go jog a mile and had delusions of kickboxing.  Yeah, that would be the endorphins kicking in. 
No worries, I listened to my head and got in the car and headed home...no crazy extra working out.  Good thing, because less than 24hrs later.  I am ridiculously sore.  I normally feel my worst close to 24-36 hrs later, so I am not looking forward to the soreness I will have after I wake up tomorrow.

My eating is going really well so far this week.  I only had one slip up and that was Thursday.  Wendy's was calling my name and I ordered a value french fry and a crispy chicken sandwich.  I had eaten so well previously in the day that even with the Wendy's food I was in range for the day.  I think only having one slip up in a week is pretty wonderful knowing how I normally eat.  Mrs. Dash has become my friend.  I was shocked by how many salt free seasoning are in the grocery store.  I currently own three (garlic and herb, chicken blend, and lemon pepper).  Right now they are enough to keep my taste buds entertained. 

Saturdays are my weigh in days, so I'm hoping this week has paid off.  Unless I do something spectacular I won't blog over the weekend.  So, you'll have to wait to find out how my weekly weigh in went.  Regardless, I can say that I feel better.  I honestly feel smaller, whether I actually am or not.  I've had a successful week and for that I am proud.  I feel like celebrating!

Today's song was chosen because I feel good!  So, push play and get moving people!
Cobra Starship - You Make Me Feel...

I Did It!

I did it
I did it
I did it
Yay!

Haha!  I couldn't help, but think of Dora's we did it song.  I completed my circuit homework today. 
Homework:
5 Laps (1 lap = 1/8 mile)
25 Pushups
25 Squats

4 Laps
20 Pushups
20 Squats

3 Laps
15 Pushups
15 Squats

2 Laps
10 Pushups
10 Squats

1 Lap
5 Pushups
5 Squats

The most I jogged without stopping was 3 laps.  I jogged 11 out of 15 laps during this circuit.  I guess that's pretty good.  I was honestly just happy that I completed it.  I had more sweat dripping from my body from the pushups and squats than I did from the laps.  I started out great and got really tired around round 3.  By the last round I was thinking Sam's homework sucks lol!  It took me 34:17 to finish.  I also did 10 minutes on the elliptical machine before I started the circuit.

So far so good this week.  Tomorrow is a straight cardio day.  All I have to do is put in my headphones and go.  I'm thinking about trying the bike tomorrow or I might even jog.  I'm getting a little bored with the elliptical.

Today's song is not on my workout playlist, but I just love to hear it.
DeBarge - Rhythm of the Night

Doing Better

So, for the next 6 weeks, I'm going to make a real effort at doing things right.  I've been halfway doing things or not doing them at all when I'm away from Sam, and I know I can do better.  Today was a cardio day.  I did 2 min moderate and 2 min fast in a continuing rotation for 45 minutes on the elliptical machine in between my classes.  Most of the time I was actually thinking, I'm really going to have great results in 6 weeks.  I also liked the sweat...go figure.  Initially I was not sweating at all, so I found myself working harder simply to feel sweat drip down my back and face.  It's almost like a badge of honor.

I showed Sam my stats today (I didn't have a session with him.  I just stopped by his office to show him my 3 month results).  He looked over the numbers, but his face really lit up when he saw the before and after pics of my face.  That made me happy. 

Anyway, tomorrow is a circuit day.  I will have to look back at my sheet in order to see exactly what it is I'm supposed to do.  I hope to get it done early.  I CAN be dedicated for 6 weeks.  I'm GOING to be dedicated for 6 weeks...there...that's better.

Today's song...by request lol

LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem

3 Month Results and Lessons

First, I completed my homework for the week from Sam.  It was hard, but not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.  I completed the circuit on Wednesday and it only took me 22:01.  I thought it would take me close to an hour, so I was excited.  The for the cardio I used an elliptical machine.  I would use it at an okay pace for 2 min and then really turn it up for the next 2 min, and so on.

So, I've consistently worked out at least 3 days a week for the past 3 months now. Some weeks I work out 5 days a week, but I know I've done at least 3 days every single week.

Results:

I'm feeling alright about these results. As usual, I know I could have done a lot better. Just because you have a trainer doesn't mean the weight will fall off. I still have to do the work when I'm not with him, and I don't always do the work.

What I've Learned in the Past 3 Months:
1-I'm much stronger than I thought
2-Yes, soup can have 600 calories and 48g of fat
3-Yes, a salad can be more unhealthy than a cheeseburger
4-When your mind says "You can't possibly do this." Try it anyway...you'll surprise yourself
5-Water really does make your skin look better
6-I thought I hated walking lunges...burpees are worse
This is a burpee www.youtube.com/watch?v=
c_Dq_NCzj8M
7-It's okay to revoke your membership to the Clean Plate Club
8-Fiber makes my tummy happy
9-You should set a few goals that don't involve the scale
10-It is possible to crave things like hummus, carrots, and grilled chicken
11-There will be bad days, but there will also be days where you feel like a FREAKING ROCKSTAR!!!
12-You should celebrate your accomplishments
13-Support is important, but make sure it is genuine and not just someone sticking around to watch you fail
14-You don't have to apologize for making healthy changes in your life
15-It's okay to say thank you after receiving a compliment (and even to believe it... ) I used to be notorious for listing reasons the compliment wasn't true
16-I have to do the work, whether I'm with Sam or not
17-I still have a lot to learn

The following are before and after pics of my face. The first was taken a long time ago, but I was only 2 lbs heavier in the pic than I was at the start of this 3 month journey so, I figured my face was probably about the same. The 2nd one was taken on Sunday, 9/11/11. I can really notice a difference

I'm looking forward to the results of my next set of measurements in another 6 weeks. I may not have lost a ton of weight, but I feel SOOO much better about myself and my body is changing. I'm more dedicated now than I've ever been and I'm expecting big things. Thanks for all of the support everyone!

Also, I met my pushup goal. 3 months ago I said I wanted to be able to do 25 regular pushups in 6 months. I told Sam this and he said "You'll do it in 3." At the time I could only do 2, so I told him "I think I'll leave it at 6 months, thank you." Then he said "Look at me...3 months and that's final." Well, Sam was right...I just did 31 nonstop. My arms feel like jello now, but I did it! Whoo Hoo!

Entering a New Phase

I took a week off after the 5k nerve issues and I put on weight.  I was supposed to do another 6 weeks measurement last weekend, but I didn't want to because I had gained weight.  I'm doing it this upcoming weekend no matter what though.

As usual, my eating has not been very good.  I've done better since Sunday though.  It's hard to resist temptation sometimes.  I pass my tons of fast food places on my way home and my time is so limited.  I work full time and I am a full time student.  Stopping at a drive thru just seems so much easier when I'm short on time (which is most of the time).  This week I've made an effort not to stop for fast food.  The couple of times I have stopped I've made decent choices.  I stopped at Chick-fil-A and had their chargrilled chicken sandwich (normally: 12 count chicken nuggets, medium fry, and medium lemonade).  I also stopped at a Greek place and got a grilled chicken kabob plate (normally: cheeseburger, seasoned fries, and sweet mint tea).  I put a fresh bottle of water in my car every time I get in it, so I won't have an excuse to get a soda if I do stop somewhere.  All in all I've made pretty good changes.  With the two changes I made the two times I ate out I saved a gazillion calories lol!  I have also changed out salad dressings.  I used to use Hidden Valley Ranch (regular...not fat free or lite).  I now use a fat free, low calorie raspberry vinaigrette.  I really see the difference when I log my food.  I didn't realize there was so much fat and so many calories in a regular ranch dressing. 

Sam has officially given me homework.  He has given me a set of workouts for the next three weeks for three days that I do not see him.

WEEK 1
Day 1
40 min of cardio (2 min moderate, 2 min fast...repeat 10 times)

Day 2
21 Burpees
21 Leg Lifts
21 Squat Jumps
18 Burpees
18 Leg Lifts
18 Squat Jumps
15 Burpees
15 Leg Lifts
15 Squat Jumps
(then 12, 9, 6, 3)

Day 3
40 min of cardio (2 min moderate, 2 min fast...repeat 10 times)

WEEK 2
Day 1
45 min of cardio (30 min moderate, 15 minutes comfortably hard)

Day 2
5 Laps (each lap = 1/8 mile)
25 Push Ups
25 Squats
4 Laps
20 Push Ups
20 Squats
3 Laps
15 Push Ups
15 Squats
(then 2-10-10, 1-5-5)

Day 3
45 min of cardio (30 min moderate, 15 minutes comfortably hard)

WEEK 3
Day 1
50 min of cardio (2 min moderate, 3 min fast...repeat 10 times)

Day 2
2 Laps (sprinting)
10 Push Ups
2 Laps (sprinting)
10 Burpees
(repeat 6 times)

Day 3
50 min of cardio (2 min moderate, 3 min fast...repeat 10 times)


When I read this I looked at Sam like he was a crazy person.  Of course, he has faith I can do it all.  I will always do the "day 2" workout on Wednesdays.  When I work I will do the "day 1" and "day 3" workouts on Saturdays and Sundays.  When I'm off I'll do them on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  In some ways I'm looking forward to it.  I know it will kick off this next 6 weeks for me on a really great note.  I look at this "homework" and I can see the lbs falling off.  On the other hand, I know it's going to be really hard work.  I feel like I've goofed off this past 6 weeks, so I really need a kick in the pants to turn in an awesome set of measurements in another 6 weeks.

Right now I can admit that I do not always give my workouts everything I have.  I get tired and just squeak out whatever I can to get by, but at the end of this next 6 weeks I hope to be able to say:

Link for Inspirational Workout Quotes

I forgot to post a song with my last post.  Janet Jackson has a lot of music that's good for workouts.  Sometimes you just need something upbeat to put a smile on your face.  This does it for me.

Janet Jackson - All for You