Week 2!

Well this is my second week in to my new challenge and I am feeling great. I am having some fun with this new found fitness freedom. I have started to create a playlist of music to work out to and have started dancing again. Yesterday a really good song came song and I found myself dancing instead of doing my usual warm up. 10 minutes of dancing was was enough of a warm up because I sure could feel my leg muscles working.

Yoga! what can I say but "Oh where have you been all my life?" I am pretty speechless as to the effects I am feeling only after 3 total yoga workouts. I always had this idea that yoga was just for relaxation and composed of easy moves that didn't workout you out because you are basically held in stationary postures. I never dreamed it could work you like this. My muscles are sore and I can really feel them. Especially my upper body, arms/ chest. Someone even noticed my triceps the other day at work and said I am getting some definition. Really? Only after one week?


Of course my arms are not swimming in fat either like my lower body and belly. Is it me or does it seem when the fat falls off it just slides down instead of evaporating? No upper body fat really maybe just a small amount compared to the 10 ton tub of lard I call thighs. Oh why? Oh why? does the fat still shine on these thighs of mine? I can't explain it so I will file this question away as a U.F.O (Unidentified Fatty Object)

Since I am in such good spirits I think I will do a weight in on Friday just for shitz and giggles. I was contemplating on whether or not I should do my measurements but then again it may be image damaging if I don't see any changes in body composition. I know! I know! it has only been two weeks since I started this new challenge, so you know if you haven't noticed by now I can be a bit impatient about things but I do it quietly heheheh. I am slowly learning to accept things as they are and wait patiently for things to change. Easier said than done IMO.

One another level I just want to say that my heart and prayers are with those families in CO. As I reflect on this tragic event all I can say is "What is the world coming to?" are we in total chaos and lost our minds? or is there some government experiment going on and they put something in the drinking water? What have we as people lowered ourselves to? What is this sicko's motive to go and gun down people in a movie theater? Words just can't express my emotions on this and how I view society today. I could go on and on on this subject but I will refrain or this will be an all day post lol.

Sorry for the short post, I wanted to add ,more but my eyes feel like they have bricks on them and I need a nap after a long day. Have a happy Tuesday!!

Sweaty Betty In the House

I got my Sweaty Betty band that I won from a giveaway on Fitville. So here it is for all to see and oooooooooooooooooooo and awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww in it awesomeness.

I tested it and I LOVED IT. I did feel a few sweat bead roll down my face but nothing like it used to. When I removed the band it was soaked after a 45 minute workout. I also have declared that today is officially going to be my first day of my 10 week challenge since last week got screwed up by my ever stubborn bad tooth. Ok here is the break down............

• July 16 - Sept 28 
• Just say no to cardio
• Only work on strength training 

Stats as of today....

• Weight in: 135lbs
• Waist in inches: 34 inches
• Right Thigh: 23 1/2 inches
• Left Thigh: 23 1/2 inches

My workouts will vary so I don't get bored but I will focus on full body workouts as opposed to breaking each muscle up on given days. I will add in 2 days of yoga along with 3 days of complete body weight training with light weights. I want to focus more on form and control then intense bursts of fast pace movement. I feel more controlled movements utilize our muscle more, but that is just my opinion. I hope and pray this works because I have realized that cardio is no longer working for me. Been doing it for 6 months with minimal results. I have to say I am enjoying just turning on the radio and going freely with it instead of having to keep up with an instructor although I do miss my workout DVD's but then again I have my yoga DVD's to cure my withdraws.

Did I mention it is HOT HOT HOT today. I thought I was going to melt away at work. I can not wait until Fall, my favorite time of the year. I also had to refrain from my lime drink after my workouts due to the acidity and I have a raw gum with stitches so I am substituting with green tea, and I can barley eat anything which really stinks. Guess I have to suck it up and deal with it. I was a bad girl yesterday and bought mint ice cream hehehehe. I did not get B-Day cake so ice cream was just as good to me. YES I ate some and it was YUMMY, did I mention YUMMY oh I am so so bad. Shhhh told tell nobody hehehehe.

How is everyone dealing with the heat? Ice cream ^ ^

The First Day

Today is the first day of my new training regimen. I didn't do my measurements because I had some running to do after work and when I got home I went straight for the workout and it is getting late. So I will post my beginning stats tomorrow. I really need to sit down and write up a workout plan for this because all in all this is total body and the sets I did in all only gave me about 8 minutes of a workout. So I added in some more strength moves to up it to at least 20 minutes. While I was working out I was thinking of splitting it up on set days for each body part and maybe adding in some yoga 2xs out of the week to give my muscles a little bit of a break. I will post my complete compilation of moves when I get it down on paper.

I will say this, it is scary to completely change a routine but I think my husband may be right on this. Grrrrrrrr... I kinda hate the mere thought of that because I really, REALLY REALLYYYY wanted to get him on something but then at the same time I JUST WANT THIS SILLY FLAPPY FLABBY FAT OFF OF ME DANG IT. I only have about 10 lbs to lose why does it have to be so dag gone hard. It is like walking through the pits of hell with no exit door. Will this nightmare ever end and turn into a paradise of reality?

I was also reading some interesting tid bits on eating more because if you eat less and workout more it will not do any good because your body will go in starvation mode. Guess what? Come on I bet you can guess........That's exactly what I was doing because I READ it somewhere. I guess I still have a lot to learn along this winding path of food, workout like a crazy lady, food, etc.....So I am going to change up my diet a bit and EAT MORE......

 

 You all may think I am crazy...well maybe just a bit....but I am up for anything to break out of this plateau. So now I am totally doing a overhaul on diet and exercise. I pray to the weight God's that this will work. 

On a more lighter and pleasing side I made my lime drink after my workout with a nice salad topped with tuna and "Oh Yeah" that was refreshing since it is a stinking hot day today. I happen to be sipping on it as we speak and I am even looking forward to having one again after my workout tomorrow. I might add it was a nice complement to my salad.    

Image is from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CObhLr_YNRVDKETtzsYfX4OODgeYxV3AXWHzFoEKTWbpgNtK8QCLSYtlW0HH5Kz17Lwccbzpx7v8CzswRgqXd6Bn6RqO__n2WBM-uNCTMUej7Mdr1Oi7VNi82jOVHSO1cLkaF3vcE7s3/s320/OMG-Meme-by-Chad-Syphrett.png  

My New 10 week challenge

Ok so now I have a new challenge and this one is proposed by my husband Tan. After watching me relentlessly search the internet for weight lose tips and hearing my whines and complaints about not getting anywhere with my efforts to drop the last 10 lbs he says this to me,

"Baby just do sit ups, squats and push ups and stop doing all that cardio. Cardio aint doing crap for you. Just build your muscle to firm up and the fat will burn off."

My response "But baby I need to do cardio to burn off the fat."

He gives me that look of despair and says "I told you to do that a long time ago but you don't listen."

So I say ok! I am going to take him up on that and do a 10 week challenge. He set out a regimen of 3 sets of 10 for each move and I added in a couple of fav's and my workout is going to be 1/2 hour long each day and as I get used to that I will add more reps and increase as I go. So I am giving up all the DVD workouts and kicking the cardio to the curb...for the time being!

It will look something like this:

• 10 reps and 3 sets of each; squats, sit ups, dead lifts, push ups, lunges, and I may throw something else in like sumo squats, donkey kicks or what ever else tickles my fancy. I am just going to workout in the moment and see where it leads.

This just may be an attempt to finally prove him wrong on something because he is seriously a "Smart Ass" and what I mean by that is he is smart as sh*t and a ass to boot. Not one of those ass's that most men are but a wittingly funny smart ass. He makes me laugh on a daily basis but at the same time piss me off because I can't never seem to get him back on anything.

So if this fails then I can laugh at him and say "I told you so"....but then if it works I will praise him to the heaven's with an "AMEN". he also told me to stop drinking the whey protein after my workouts and drink the Vietnamese lime drink he makes which is oh so yummy and refreshing. I will post the recipe for this. On the plus side I know lime is considered good for fat burning.

So wish me luck and starting tomorrow I will re post my current stats and let the count down begin...

Setting New Goals

I have decided to set some new goals for myself for the rest of the year. My old goal was to lose 6 lbs in 4 months, even though I worked out hard and ate sensibly the scale has not moved accept up 1 lb. I have noticed some visible results but i am wondering why my left side of my body is getting smaller and firmer but my left side is not. I work them out equally so why is one side getting results but not he other? It goes from my left arm, waist to my leg all those parts are visible firmer then the right.

Very frustrating if you ask me. Does this go into the category of "You don't choose where your body burns fat?" kind of thing or am I doing something wrong? I really wish I had some help on this but I don't have the money to hire a personal trainer or anyone else for that matter to help me with this. So my new goal is this for the rest of the year.

Don't worry about the scale just to keep doing what I am doing and be patient enough until the flabby fat is all gone no matter how long it will take. My reason for this thinking is this...I have set goals to lose and x amount of lbs or firm up the flabby fat but none of my goals have been met yet to my standards. So I am going to stop stressing over it and just keep working hard and see where my body decides to take the fat of first then hopefully move to the other side.

My work out regimen consists of this:

• Work out 5 to 6 days of the week, depending on my schedule or mood I may get 6 days in but most likely only 5
• I work out anywhere from 20 minutes to hour again depending on my schedule
• I mix my workouts up but always get 3 days of strength and 3 days of cardio in, something like this but not always
• Monday: Jacki Warner's power pyramid for lower body 20 minutes
• Tuesday: Jillian Michale's 30 day shred about 20-30 minutes
• Wednesday: Crunch total re-sculpt 40 minutes maybe only 1 of the 20 minute workouts
• Thursday: Run in place for 45 - 60 minutes
• Friday: Jillian Michale's killer buns and thighs 30 minutes.
• On some of the strength days where I work out for only 20 minutes or so I sometimes add in a 30 minute running in place right after.

So my question is am I on the right track and just keep pushing or do I need to change something up or is it better to just stick to one or two workouts for a certain period of time before changing again? Anyone who has any helpful suggestions I would love some feedback. Also I don't have money for a gym membership or the room for equipment. just a mat and hand-weights is what I have.

Progression!!!!

Trying to burn pure body fat is by far the most hardest and frustrating part of this journey. Now it feels like losing the first  100lbs was the easy part. Now trying to drop the last 10 lbs, firming/toning, and working on firming the skin has been a nightmare thus far.

Last year I slacked off after 1 1/2 intense years of cleaning up my diet and exercising. I started back to my work our routine in January and have been pushing myself for the last 6 months. My progression this far has been minimal but I am still trudging on. I told myself no matter what that I will not quite until I reach my goals.

You really need that mind set and determination when you get down to the last few pounds. Those are the hardest to lose. I have done my homework and spent hours searching and reading on diet and exercise to find out what I am doing wrong. My diet (I don't like to use the word but for this purpose I will) is fine. I eat mainly a Vietnamese diet because my wonderful husband is Viet and I have to admit I love the food. Vietnamese food is very healthy for you aside from the rice. I do however watch my rice portions. Although I eat well and have my one cheat day out of the week the fat is just not burning off fast enough.

I figured I would have 10 lbs off by at least 3-4 months tops. I work out 5-6 days out of the week focusing mainly on strength and a couple days of cardio. I made the big mistake of cardio blasting myself to skinny fat syndrome. Now I'm paying for it because I did not have the arsenal of knowledge as I do now. So I just jumped into it and barely ate and did cardio for about 2 hours a day with some strength training in between. So as of now my stats for this month are:

• Weight in still 136 (scale has not moved in 6 months)

• Lost 1/4 inch of my thighs and waist

I will post this once a month because I only weight and measure once a month. That is enough to at least keep me from getting unmotivated due to the slow progression I am encountering. One thing I will say that NO MATTER WHAT do not give up on yourself if you have a slow peak like I have. Any lose whether it be 1/4 inch or 1 pound is still BETTER THEN NOTHING! 

If anyone has any advice for me as far as working out/ supplements or any helpful advice is welcome and greatly appreciated.

Scaletatics

The Almighty Scale....HAHAHAHAHA

  

We all dread it, believe it, and fall into the scales trap to utterly destroy any and all happiness we feel with the progress we have made. 

IT LIES!!!!!!! Liar, Liar, Scales on Fire....

I just can't recall how many times I would have a very productive week full of good eating, knocked out some awesome workouts with the feeling of "I probably lost a couple of pounds this week...I just know it..hehehehe" Then we go to weigh in all bright eyed, feeling excited and scared at the same time..we slowly step on the scale that we think is our best friend..look down only to see either we gained a couple of pounds or the scale has not moved at all.

We stand there for a few seconds going over everything trying to figure out what we did wrong. Beating ourselves up, rethinking our strategy, saying to ourselves "I must workout longer and push myself" anything and everything negative will cross our minds even the ultimate "I should just give up". 

The truth is the scale is another one of those evil demons trying to crush us. Don't believe it's lies. The scale cannot and I mean CANNOT differentiate between muscle, body fat or water gain. The 2 lbs that you may think you have gained in fat could actually be............MUSCLE. Muscle weights more than fat, and muscle is what we all want. Yes even the ladies need muscle to have a shapely body. 

I recommend and follow this advice myself..ONLY weight in maybe 2 times a week or better yet once a month. Even then i still don't rely on what the scale says but I rely on how my clothes fit.   Using your clothes is the best way in my opinion to know if you are making any strides in your fitness goals. The scale may say one thing but your clothes will say another. Also measure yourself. Keep track of your inches. You may not have lost a pound according to the scale but you may have lost 3/4 of an inch off of your thighs. Even if you may have hit a plateau don't give up, don't fret just change things up a bit and keep going. You have come this far why stop now?

Motivation!!!!!!

Well today I decided I really need to get a jump on blogging as I am a first timer after all "I can't inspire people if I don't write". As I sit here shifting through my thoughts and sorting all the details out on how I want to place everything and what I want to write about....It dawned on me that I lack motivation. I have all the makings for it but trying to connect mind and body is just not working. How do I get back to that mind & body connection?

Maybe I haven't yet slayed all my inner demons as I have thought. I still feel blocked and cloudy. Like my mind is hazed and confused. I always had a passion for writing and I remember a once brief time when the words would just flow from me like a waterfall and spilled onto my pages. Where has that gone? I don't recall ever loosing it...misplaced it perhaps? It is funny how life sometimes gives you gifts and suddenly they go and you never even realize you lost it in the first place.

I knew something was missing when I tried to start on my novel again a few months ago that has been 4 years in the making now, but due to my lack of confidence and being the most critical on myself I have revised and rewrote it many times over. When I opened my word press I was completely blank. The story was still fresh in my mind but the waterfall has since dried up. Must be those damn beavers. Have to find the damn and blow the thing up. Without that I have no muse, no flow, no articulate motivation what so ever. 

I have motivation to workout, and eat write but WHERE'S MY INNER MOTIVATION gone to? How can I incorporate everything I want to accomplish and achieve and stay sane at the same time? Maybe I am only wired to focus on one endeavor then move onto the next. If that is the case I am going to be doing this and never get it complete until I DIE. I can't have that, I just wont. Somehow, someway I have to find that click to make everything snap into place and work together like clockwork, all together in one harmonious rhythm. If I could feel like that again maybe I wouldn't be as ditzy as I am now.

Well Nuff Said..................

I want to inspire you!!!!!!!!

I have always wanted to reach out and help others after I started my journey. I know the pain of being overweight and how it can impact your life, self image, and basically everything around you. I was once the fat girl that held myself back from enjoying life because i was ashamed, depressed and felt worthless. Growing up I never had an issue with weight. I was always active and very fit up until I got pregnant with my first child. I never thought I would have a weight problem even with my pregnancy because I did not have that Abominable appetite like my friends had when they was pregnant. Never the less I gained a lot of weight due from stress and depression I developed during that time.

10 years and two more children later I went from 115lbs to a Whopping 236lbs. One day I couldn't take it anymore. I was not happy with my life, myself, my body or anything at all. I had to change things before it was too late and lived a life full of Regrets & What Ifs. Things were not just going to change themselves I had to make the first step. I started to act instead of think or should I say Daydream of a much better me.

Having never been a exerciser before in my life (One that never done aerobics or weight training.) I found a nice fitness video on Netflix one day and decided to give it a shot. It was a crunch video called "Super Slim Down by Ellen Barret" I loved it. For a beginner and very over weight for my small 5'1 frame it was easy but tough to get through. The start off was a bit slow as I only worked out maybe a couple times a week and worked my way up from there. I tried various different workout videos to see which ones I liked as I get bored easily if it doesn't catch my attention.

I slowly started to work on my eating habits as they were very bad. A lot of processed frozen foods, fried foods, sweets, pop and fast food anything and everything that was a SIN to eat. I didn't completely do an overhaul right off from the start because I was afraid of crash dieting and then binging. The begining stages consited of reducing my portions, and I stopped drinking pop and replaced it with water. The I slowly cut out fried foods, sweets, and down the list I went. My kids on the other hand was not happy campers because I was not buying junk anymore at the store. Needless to say I eventually gave in to their cries and had to find the willpower not to sneak into the twinkie box.

Two years later I have lost 100lbs and have fought my demons head on and won many fights but I still continue to fight the war.