Still Plugging Along

Well, I’m not sure where to start this blog post.  I always hate these types of posts where I have to “explain” myself after going silent for so long.  I’d like to say my very sporadic updates will improve, because it seems every time I say I’ll start updating more, I disappear again.  So let’s just start off with an update on where things are at, and just go from there.

Last time I posted, it was right before my 30th birthday, and I was just getting back into the swing of things when it comes to exercise/diet.  Obviously I fell off the wagon, but I’ve been doing good here and there, and have even been working out consistently for a week now.  I’ve found that the best way to approach my workouts is to just number my workouts – don’t assign a day to them.  Because when I do that and something comes up, I fall off.  I tend to have that “all-or-nothing” approach.  So instead of saying “Monday is this workout, Tuesday is this, etc…” I start with day 1.  Then the next day I workout I move to day 2.  If I miss a day, then the next time I workout, I do day 3.  It’s been working really well, especially in the mental aspect of it.

Eating of course has always been my weakness.  But I’ve come up with a different approach in that department.  I’m working on doing weekly challenges where I focus on just a couple things.  This week, I’ve been focused on no soda, no take-out/delivery/fast food (all meals prepped at home – it doesn’t have to necessarily be “clean” or whatever – this has really helped), no watching TV while I’m eating, journal my meals/workouts, and 2 cups of water a day (I told you – baby steps).  This has been working really good for me so far. 

A lot of times people just jump in to things all gung-ho thinking they’re going to do it all and lose 10 pounds a week.  That’s not helpful, and it can definitely destroy your weight loss efforts.  It’s best to start with baby steps and work your way up.

Another thing I’ve been thinking up lately is a YouTube channel.  I have literally been obsessed with YouTube channels lately, and I’ve subscribed to so many.  They’re so fun to watch, and it’s so easy to get sucked in to that world for hours on end!!  It’s definitely a plus when there’s nothing to watch on TV.  So yeah, I was thinking of starting up a YouTube channel to chronicle my weight loss.  If I do, I’ll obviously share the link here as soon as I upload my first video.  Only problem is – I don’t have any fancy equipment or anything like that.  So I’ll definitely have to wing it. 

So that’s it for now.  I’m still here, still trying, still plugging along.  I can’t promise when I’ll update again, but I’ll keep trying in that department too.  Not like anyone reads this blog or anything on the regular…LOL.  But anyway, hope everyone is having a great week!

Goals For Week 1: Operation Summer Body

A little Sunday funny – because who doesn’t love looking at the Sunday funnies??  
Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mine was uneventful and completely relaxing.  I definitely need more of them.  But it will definitely be the last weekend of non-activity.  Starting tomorrow, Operation: Summer Body is on.  Here’s the plan for the week.
ExerciseMonday
-AM: C25K
-PM: Pure Cardio
Tuesday
-AM: C25K
-PM: Pure Strength 1
Wednesday
-AM: C25K
-PM: Dynamic Flexibility & Core Dynamics
Thursday
-AM: C25K
-PM: Cardio Strength 1
Friday
-AM: C25K
-PM: Off
Saturday
-Fit Test
Sunday
-Cardio Interval Burn
-Anywhere Anytime Workout
FoodBreakfasts will be oats in a jar.  I went to Michaels this weekend to get some mason jars and will be putting them to use for my breaksfasts!
Lunches will be mixed bowls including quinoa, chicken breast, and lots of veggies all mixed together.
For dinners, I planned 3 different things to cook throughout the week.  Since I live alone, all these dinners will be eaten twice (yay leftovers!).  TJ’s vegetable fried rice with TJ’s chicken chow mein, tilapia with veggies (asparagus & new potatoes), and Sausage with Veggies in Foil Packets.
Snacks will be fruit, protein bars, and protein shakes.
Goals1. Follow my eating and nutrition plan
2. Drink at least 4, 8-oz glasses of water per day
3. Take my daily vitamins (more info on this later)
4. Get in to a skin care and flossing routine – every day!
5. Two-three cheat meals only (I’m kinda loving this goal)
Have a lovely Sunday!  Now it’s time to get cooking my breakfasts and lunches for the week!

Weeks 1 and 2 of Max Weight Loss Challenge

Sorry I wasn’t here to update my progress for last week, or to update with my new weekly schedule.  Life just gets in the way sometimes, and I’m way busy now that summer has rolled around.  But I’m here, so that counts for something!
Review of Week 1Last week I only got workouts in two days.  But hey, I’m not complaining, because that’s more than what I’ve been doing for the last several months.  High five for me!
Meals went pretty well.  I had a few slip-ups once the weekend came around, but I do have to say, I really watched my portions, and only ate until I was full.  I actually threw away quite a bit of food after a couple meals, so I was really excited that that happened.  Each week, I kind of come up with a plan of what I’m going to eat for each meal.  It was mostly the same all week.  Once I got to Friday, though, I treated myself to some Culver’s for lunch.  And it was oh so worth it!!
Breakfasts were Almond Butter Banana Protein Pie from Liz’s blog (recipe here).
Mid-Morning Snacks were Trader Joe’s White Cheddar Puffs, and half of a Clif KidZ Bar
Lunches were something I came up with – chicken sandwich on a ciabatta roll with whipped cream cheese, strawberries, and spinach.  They were yum!  I also had mixed fruit on the side.
Afternoon Snacks were the other half of the KidZ Bar and more mixed fruit.
Dinners were grilled hamburger patties on a lettuce “bun” with corn on the cob and small salad on the side.
I think I did pretty darn well!
Week 2
This week will be a little more tough on the workout front.

Cardio
Party Rockin Step #1
Step Blast
TIU Biker Babes
TIU Love Your Booty Shorts
Drill Max Premix 1
Weights
Standing Leg Pyramid Lower Body + Burn Sets Premix 5 (Shoulders)
Burn Sets Premix 13 (Chest, Back, and Core)
Burn Sets Premix 2 (Biceps, Triceps, and Core)
TIU Love your Legs & Booty + Cross Train Xpress Upper Body Split Premix
Looks tough, I know.  My body is already screaming at me.  The weight workouts I’ve done so far are heavy weights, so my arms, chest, legs, and butt are on fire – which is a good thing! 
----
On a completely unrelated note, here’s a picture of my hometown.  This was from Sunday afternoon.  On Monday, the water was over the sidewalk and creeping on to the street.

Hopefully it gets under control soon.  A big 4th of July celebration is coming to town (it’s the oldest and largest celebration in the state).  On the other side of that bridge is where we always watch the parade, and the small coffee shop that’s over there is completely under water!  I feel terrible for them.  But I believe it’s already crested, and the river is on its way down again!
That’s it for today – happy Hump Day!!

Confession Wednesday

It’s confession time.  Because I haven’t blogged in over a week.  And I gotta get these confessions out there.  Time to be real!!

1.)  I didn’t exercise at all last week.  Or yet this week.  I do plan on starting where I left off a week and a half ago….just gotta get the motivation to do it.  Why can’t I be a normal person and just do something and see it through for once in my life??

2.)  I’m thinking of starting to run again.  But I haven’t run in about 2 years.  I can’t believe it was 2 years ago already that I ran my first (ahem, and only) 5K.  I had such grand plans to keep running and even run a 1/2 marathon.  But none of that happened.  I just stopped after I ran the 5K.  I think I need to find more than one race to sign up for and stick with it.  But I’m afraid of failure and afraid I’ll just stop again.  *Sigh*

3.)  I hate Quest Bars.  I know.  Bloggers all over the world will hate me for saying that.  But I just don’t get all the hype.  Put them in the microwave, and they’ll taste just like a cookie, you say?  No, it has the same taste that all protein bars/powders have, with a terrible aftertaste.  And if after 2 minutes you don’t stuff it down your throat, it turns hard as a rock.  Yuck.  Their chips are disgusting too.  I made the bad choice to buy about 5 bags of them for snacks one week.  I had 2 chips out of that first bag and proceeded to throw that bag and the 4 other bags in the garbage.  Lesson?  Try before you buy a million bags.

4.)  My eating has really sucked.  I do good for 1 or 2 days, then go completely off plan.  I’m starting to think I’m never going to lose weight because I’m, like, pretty much addicted to food.  Good food.  Not lettuce, or vegetables, or fruit.  Carbs.  Give me all the carbs.

5.)  Next Tuesday is my birthday.  My 30th birthday.  Cue the violin music……….   :’(         That is all.

Update

The crickets sure do chirp around here…….

But yes, I’m still here and going at it with my Circuit City rotation.  I’m on week 2 of the rotation.  I didn’t do the workout yesterday, so I’ll be doing yesterday’s workout today….Imax 2.  I think this is one of Cathe’s toughest pure step workouts.  It’s all cardio intervals, and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get through the entire thing.  So I’ll be taking lots of breaks and pausing it quite a bit I’m sure.    :)

I’ve been doing pretty well on the fitness front, but eating not so much.  The eating part has always been the toughest for me.  I’m an emotional eater, and more than anything, a boredom eater.  I tend to do really well during the day, and get bored when I’m at home doing nothing at night.   :(    Or on the weekends.  I really need to find some hobbies, obviously.

I’ve started tracking again on My Fitness Pal.  It’s been a little sporadic the last week, but I’m working on it.  I definitely want to make sure I’m sticking to my calorie goals.  Right now I’m aiming for about 1400-1500 calories per day (sometimes more if I’m really hungry), seeing as I’m trying to walk at least twice a day (sometimes more), plus doing a pretty vigorous workout after work.  Sticking to a 1200 calorie diet has never been for me.  I’m way too hungry/tired/crabby if I stick to only 1200 per day.  And where will I go if I hit a plateau?  Most certainly not below that calorie level.

I haven’t weighed myself.  Mainly because I’m pretty sure I haven’t lost anything.  I have been bingeing (I never know how to spell that stupid word) too much on the weekends that I think any progress made during the week goes down the drain on the weekends.  So weekends, like I said earlier, are something I’m really going to try to focus on in the next couple of weeks.  I’m going to measure myself sometime this week though.  I do feel like I’ve lost inches, and that has really kept me motivated.  So I’ll share that once I get that done.

So there’s my little update.  I know I always say I’ll post more, but that never happens.  As long as I keep coming back, right?  Baby steps….

TGIF – April 24

Happy Friday!  I thought I’d use Fridays to have a little fun on the blog and catch up on my fav shows that I watch (titles will always be TGIF….doesn’t everyone remember the most epic night of television back in the 90s??  Where TGIF originally came from?).  Gosh I miss those TGIF shows.  And don’t even get me started on Fuller House coming out in 2016…..I predict I will binge the entire show in one sitting, and be begging for more!  Because who doesn’t love Full House??

Anyway, I thought I’d use this first TGIF post to quickly go over the shows that I do watch.  I don’t have cable, so the majority of the shows I watch are usually watched the day after they air.  I do watch Scandal, and unfortunately I haven’t watched last night’s episode yet, because I can’t watch it until tonight on Hulu.

So let’s get started.  Right now I’m not watching a ton of shows.  And some I’m watching on Netflix – usually binge-watching a couple episodes per night.

***WARNING***  SPOILER ALERT  ***WARNING***

I’m so sad that this show is going away.  I absolutely love it, regardless of the “critics” out there.  Emily/Amanda is amazing, and I sure wish I could take revenge like her on those that I feel the need to take revenge on.  This past week’s episode ended with Victoria, sitting in a chair (which she claimed had importance to her), spilling gasoline everywhere in the Grayson (now Amanda’s) mansion and igniting her lighter.  The mansion exploded, and the screen went to black.

WOW.  I did NOT see that coming.  I had no idea what significance the chair had, and I was so confused when the truck driver opened the back to reveal the chair.  Were there some kind of secret documents inside the chair?  I had no idea what it meant.  And the ending really did shock me.  I can’t wait to see what comes of it next week.  But I really hope it doesn’t fuel Margot to continue the feud.  Because, geez, when is Amanda going to catch a break??

Scandal is another one I watch, but like I said, I haven’t watched last night’s episode yet.  I do have to say, though, that this season has really been a downer for me.  I wasn’t liking the whole storyline of Olivia being captured and held prisoner.  They need to get back to the show’s roots and the actual “scandal”….let’s see more sex with the president!  Ha, just kidding.  Sort of.

DD4L!  I’m a dancer, so I obviously love this show.  I had to actually purchase the current season on Vudu, because it’s not available on Netflix.  I binged on the first two seasons on the Lifetime channel on my Roku (they were free).  Once I found out there was a Season 3, and it was currently airing, I just had to have more.  These girls have some serious attitude, and their dancing is on point.  Technique-wise, not so much, but I just love watching.  I kind of feel like the “drama” is a little forced and scripted to make it more interesting, but the dancing makes up for it.  I particularly love the stand battles!

The show I’m currently bingeing on on Netflix is Gossip Girl.  I’m still only in the first season.  I can’t believe I haven’t started watching sooner!!  The beginning was a little hard to get into, but it’s getting more and more interesting with each episode.  I’ll have more to write about as time goes on….

Some other shows I love, but there currently out of season…..Pretty Little Liars, How to Get Away with Murder, and Big Brother (can’t wait for this to start….it’s the thing I look most forward to every summer, and I even buy the online feeds).

Anyone else have any shows they love, that are currently airing?  Obviously I don’t watch much TV, mainly just binge on Netflix.  I need more shows to watch that are current!!

Anyway, it’s the weekend, and I’m super excited to not have to work tomorrow.   :D    Have a good weekend!

Circuit City

I am so so terrible at blogging.  That has obviously not changed since I came back to the blogging world!  I’m going to work on creating some type of schedule (kind of like my “stop eating the entire house after work and create a schedule” routine I came up with a few posts ago) so that I kick out more blog posts more consistently.

Anyhoo…part of the reason I didn’t want to blog is because I’m doing something terribly embarrassing.  Something I promised you guys I would not do.  Seriously I feel like I’m letting the world down when I do this, and I’m so embarrassed to admit it.  But if I want to blog more consistently, I obviously need to be honest, right?

I quit the Bikini Series.  I know.  After only, what?….a week and a half?  Well, I’ll still kind of be doing it.  I’ll be getting in a few booty calls (morning workouts) here and there, and those workouts will be the Tone It Up workouts, but I just felt like it wasn’t enough.  And don’t get me started on the many different pieces of technology I needed to use to get a workout in.  If I needed to do a workout from their most recent DVD, that was easy….just pop it in and I’m ready to go.  But then if I needed to do a workout from their second DVD, I had to turn on my computer and connect it to the TV (because I only have the digital downloads).  Then if it’s a YouTube workout that they post on their web site, I either have to connect my computer to the TV, or get on to YouTube through my Roku (which takes forever when I have to search for something). 

It was just starting to get inconvenient, and I felt like the workouts weren’t working me as much as I wanted them to.  I’m not saying they weren’t hard, but I’m definitely used to hardcore workouts leaving me drenched in sweat.  Some days I was lucky if I even had a little bit of sweat from their workouts (which is hard to believe, seeing I’m soooo out of shape and overweight).

So what’s a girl to do?  If you followed my blog before my hiatus….around the time I ran my 5K…..you’ll know that I love Cathe Friedrich.  She is the QUEEN of at-home workouts.  Recently, she finally added her On Demand subscription as a channel on Roku!!!  I was super pumped to see that.  So I subscribed to her On Demand (about $20/month), and pulled up the channel on my Roku. 

It was love at first sight.  I have access to ALL of her DVD’s (she literally has hundreds of DVD’s) – right at my fingertips!  It’s also nice so when she comes out with new DVD’s, I don’t have to buy them….I have them right away on my Roku (and it’s SO easy to get to the workouts!). 

So I marched right over to her forums, where there are (probably hundreds of) rotations.  Some are made by Cathe, some by other members.  I chose to do her Circuit City rotation she created back in 2007.  It’s basically a ton of circuit workouts.  You can see the rotation here.  I started the rotation yesterday, so today is actually “Tuesday” from the first week (I’ll be doing the Kick, Punch & Crunch workout), and next week I’ll get back on track.   I’ve also been walking on the treadmill at work for 15 minutes, twice a day.  I’m super lucky that we have a small workout area in the back at work with a treadmill, elliptical, weights, balls, bands, and even a TV!  So 2 15-minute walks….that’s a total of 30 extra minutes of movement every day!  I’m proud of myself for sticking to it.  Once the weather starts getting warmer, I’ll probably take my walks outside (in the afternoon, anyway….I’ve made a habit of watching the “Hot Topics” segment of The View every morning during my walk).

So that’s where I’m at.  Like I said, I’m super embarrassed to be admitting that I already quit the Bikini Series, but I’m very optimistic about this rotation and what it can do for me.  Now that I don’t need to hide with my tail between my legs anymore, I can post more often.    :)