Workout Wednesday

Hello, I'm here!  This post is a little late today, but better late than never!  Today is Workout Wednesday, and I'm linking up with SkinnyMeg!

On Monday, I shared my workout plan for the week.  It includes a lot of short runs, because.......well, because my running sucks.  I feel like I'm back where I started before C25K.  Seriously.  How can taking off a few weeks make me take a bazillion steps back?  I can't even run a mile anymore.  How did that happen??  So I'm getting back in to the swing of things and starting slowly (though not as slow as C25K was).  My longest run this week will be 1.5 miles.  Maybe.

In addition to that, I'll be doing some Cathe workouts.  I originally planned to do her Cross Train Xpress series, but decided against it.  Yesterday I put in her Cardio & Weights workout - I was drenched in sweat, and my face looked like a tomato!!  It's basically 3-5 minute bouts of step, with step focused on legs, then some upper body work.  Then you move on to the next step/leg/upper body circuit.  It's about an hour-long workout.  Check out a description and a (nice and long) video clip here!

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And one last thing before I go.  It's my baby boy Ricky's birthday today.  He's turning 2!!!  Love him to pieces!!  :)

Accountability Tuesday #1

I know, it's not a very "catchy" title, but I wanted to do this on Tuesdays (partly because it doesn't fit in anywhere else).  So today I'll go over my goals for the week.  For this week, I plan on sticking to my "Back to Basics" bullet points I mentioned last week.

(Hehe, I just thought this was a cute picture)

1.  Drink more water.  I've been filling up my water jug every day.  Right now, I'm aiming to drink at least half of that thing (hey, I have to start somewhere) every day.

2.  Count Calories.  So far so good - I've been logging everything I eat.  Even that darn chocolate cake I ate yesterday - why did someone have to bring that in the office yesterday?!  And now there is a box of chocolate brownies from Davanni's sitting pretty close to my cube.  Must. Stay. Away!

3.  Weigh In Regularly.  I've decided my weigh-in days will be Fridays.  Stay tuned for my first weigh in post in quite a while (at least officially), coming on Friday.

4.  Move more.  I posted my workout plan yesterday for Menu Monday.  Yesterday went well.  As soon as I got home yesterday, I put my workout clothes on and left right away for my 1-mile run.  I was so proud of myself!  And my workout?  Well, that's another story.  I'll go a little more in-depth tomorrow, but let's just say I can really tell I haven't run in a few weeks.  It was so disappointing, but motivating at the same time.

5.  Make a plan - and a back-up plan.  Yesterday I posted my plan.  My main problem is my workouts.  Lately, my schedule has changed quite a bit.  I used to put on my workout clothes at work, and then head straight to the gym after work.  Now it's summer, and I froze my membership for three months.  That means I need to find the motivation inside myself to go home and workout, and NOT sit on the couch.  With my schedule change that I mentioned (I have something going on pretty much every night after work), I plan on bringing my clothes to work again, and changing in to workout clothes before leaving work.  That way, I'll be able to run no matter where I go.

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Next week I'll go over my goals, grade myself, and discuss what went well, etc.  I'll also post next week's goals at the same time.  Tomorrow is Workout Wednesday, which is the one and only linkup with SkinnyMeg!

Back to work - here's to hoping I can stay away from those brownies!

Menu Plan Monday #1 & A New Blogging Schedule

Morning , er good afternoon everyone!  It's been a busy one - though I hate Mondays, the day usually seems to go by fairly quickly.

My weekend was pretty good, albeit the terrible weather.  June 10, and still the weather has been cold and rainy.  I'm over it.  Looking at the forecast, though, it's about to get better.  I went to visit with my grandpa on Saturday morning - it's always great to visit with him.  He's my only grandparent left - his wife died when I was 7, and my grandparents on my dad's side died when I was still a baby.  I wish I would have had more than one grandparent growing up, but I think "Gramps" has more than made up for it!

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So last week, I mentioned that it's time to get back to basics, and that it's time to come up with a blogging schedule.  I think that coming up with a schedule will hold me more accountable on this journey, rather than randomly grasping at straws trying to come up with a blog topic every day.  So, without further ado...

Menu Plan Mondays - I'll go over my fitness menu and meal menu for the week.

Accountability Tuesdays -  I'll go over my goals for the week, and will recap how well the previous week's goals went.

Workout Wednesdays - I'll go over how my workouts are going so far, and probably give some reviews and share the details of some of my workouts.

NSV Thursdays - I'll link up with Katie on Thursdays for some good old NSV's - to get my mindset in a good place before....

Weigh-In Fridays - Weigh In day!  And I'll recap the week - what went well, what didn't, etc.

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That brings me to Menu Plan Monday.  Not just my meal menu, but also my fitness menu for the week.

Fitness Menu (I'll go into more detail on Wednesday for Workout Wednesday)

Monday - 1 mile run

Tuesday - Power Circuit + 1 mile run

Wednesday - 10-10-10 + 1 mile run

Thursday - All Step + 1.5 mile run

Friday - Step & Intervals + 1.5 mile run

Saturday - Kickbox + 1.5 mile run

Sunday - Off

Meal Menu
My menu is pretty simple.  For breakfasts I'll be having my Pineapple-Mango smoothies.  Snacks will be mango with string cheese, and also wheat thins with Laughing Cow cheese (2 snacks per day).  For lunches I'll be having Lean Cuisines.  I know, not the healthiest, but I need the convenience of these this week.  I promise, in the future I'll be eating cleaner, but for now - these are going to have to do!  Dinners will be as follows....
Monday - Italian Pasta
Tuesday - Chicken Dinner (drumsticks with boiled potatoes, plantain, and veggies)
Wednesday - Stew meat with plantain and veggies
Thursday - Fish with rice and lentils

**Weekend meals are usually eaten out or consist of leftovers.  I'm hardly ever home on the weekends, and usually go with the flow, so it's hard to plan for those.  Once I get the hang of this meal planning, I'll attempt to come up with some kind of solution to that problem.

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That's it for now.  Come back tomorrow for Accountability Tuesday!!

Um...Who Is That??

Last night, I was looking through some old pictures on my ex's phone.  And then I came across some pictures of me (these were not taken too long ago - maybe a few weeks ago) sitting in a lawn chair, and a few from his brother's wedding.  I thought I looked great that night.  I had splurged on a dress at Macy's, and felt like a million bucks.

Um...what was I thinking???

I. am. fat.

There is no way around it.  My God, I didn't even recognize myself.  I knew I could stand to lose a few pounds, but I did NOT realize how unhealthy I look.  There were a few pictures of me looking to the side - my neck looks like it belongs on a turkey.  Where is my jaw line?  No where to be found.

I can't believe I look like that.  Needless to say, it was the kick in the pants that I needed.  I'm still debating about whether or not I want to share those pictures here on the blog.  Maybe some day I will, when I can post an "after" or "during" picture at the same time.

All I wanted to do last night was cry.  And stuff my face.  And starve myself.  All at the same time.

I truly know what it means now to be "in denial" when it comes to weight loss.  I have been in denial.  All this time, I thought I was a little chubby, and that all those people who were saying I was fat (mainly my ex's friends, who thought I didn't understand Spanish....joke's on them) were just stupid men who only liked how little girls looked - not how a real woman looks.  Yes, I have curves, but they are way too big for my 5'1" frame.  Ugh, I'm so.......I don't even know the word.  Disgusted?  No, that word doesn't do justice for my feelings right now.

Many of us know what we have to do to lose weight, but a lot of the time, we don't do it.  We make plans, only to let it fall to the wayside, or don't even start them at all.  We make excuses for ourselves: "I worked out extra hard today, I deserve this ice cream."  We tell ourselves that we have time, and it's not like we have "that much weight to lose."  Or the biggest one yet....."I don't want to."

No.  I don't want to.  But after seeing those pictures?  I want to.  I have to.  I am not a little chubby.  At 5'1" and 156.2 pounds, I am on the verge of the "obese" category, and my body fat % is more than 30%.  That's not chubby.  And that's not healthy.  Not one bit.  Not even a little.

Random - What's Up Lately

I finally did my nails last night....

:D  I figured it was about time....I think the last time I painted them was last summer.  Oops!  I tend to put that kind of stuff on the back burner.  But I love it when I actually do it.

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I was thinking today that I need to come up with a schedule of blog posts.  Like on Mondays, I weigh in.  On Tuesdays, I do a link up.  And so on.

It's so hard coming up with random topics all the time.  And I think that the schedule would help me focus more on my goals.  If I know I have to weigh in on Monday, I won't indulge so much on the weekends.  If I know I need to recap my workouts for the week, I won't slack.  Get what I mean?  That'll be my homework for today.

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I have been so un-motivated lately - both with my diet/exercise, and with work.  I just don't want to do anything.  I don't know why I go through these bouts of not being motivated.  Maybe it's the weather.  It has been un-seasonably cold and wet here, which makes it hard to push myself to go out there and run.

And I noticed that when I was running and exercising regularly, I was really exceeding at work, and always in a happy mood.  It's such a vicious cycle.  I'm hoping the days get warmer and sunnier.  This weather is just depressing!

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That's it for today.  Short and random - which is why I really need to come up with a schedule.  Happy Friday Eve!!!

Back to Basics

Good morning, and happy hump day - Friday can not come soon enough!!

So today I was wandering around Facebook and stalking looking at various profiles, when I noticed a post by a brother of an old friend of mine from middle school (she moved right before high school).  He had tagged her in a post, and mentioned that 2 years ago today, he lost his sister.  I was shocked - I had no idea she died.  So I did a little Google search, and found an old news story - she apparently died in a motorcycle accident.  She rear-ended a car that had stopped for some baby geese to cross the road, and she wasn't wearing a helmet.  I'm still in shock, and can't believe it.  Just a little reminder for me today that life is so short, and we shouldn't take anything for granted.

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Yesterday when I got home, I noticed that my bike was laying down on a small hill not far from my apartment's balcony.  So someone took it for a ride and decided not to put it back?  And someone stole my ex's bike a few weeks ago.  We had them both sitting by my balcony - I guess we're too trusting.  I have new neighbors, and I'm thinking it's their kids.  The bikes have been sitting there for almost a year, and now one got stolen.

So last night I put the bike on my balcony.  Not a pretty sight when looking out the window - I'll have to stop being cheap and spend the few dollars it is to get a lock.  Luckily, my parents own a sporting goods store, and they said I can stop by to get myself a new bike any time *for free*.   ;)   ::spoiled::

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When I started my journey, I was all gung-ho about my weight loss techniques.  I've continually tried to create plans/challenges for myself; sometimes I succeeded, but a lot of times I've failed.  My most recent plan is turning in to a fail.  I can not get out of this funk.  It seems whenever my schedule or something else in my life changes, I fall out of my workout/diet routine.  A few things have happened in my life recently (that I don't feel comfortable sharing here right now) that have made me go way off the train tracks.  For the past 3 weeks, I've struggled to get into a routine again.

I've printed out my plans and posted them on the refrigerator, only to leave them blank, with no X'es to mark the days off as "complete."  I really want to run the 5K before the 4th of July parade in my hometown, but I'm having second thoughts - I don't want to end up walking in that race.  I know too many people that will be watching.  And I haven't run for about 3 weeks.  Part of the reason is that my routine has changed drastically, but also because the weather has sucked - rainy and cold pretty much every day.

I know, I know.  No excuses.  But something has to change.  Often times, people get burnt out (or don't even start, like me) when they make plans that are far too big.  It's back to basics for me.  These are great tips for beginners when it comes to losing weight, and they're also great for someone who has gotten off track and needs to slowly build momentum again.  

1. Drink more water.  Ugh, if I hear this tip one more time, I am going to scream.  I'm not a water drinker, and I'm guessing a lot of you may know how addicted to soda I am.  I will still be doing the #NoSodaSummer challenge, and I've recently bought this huge jug of water....

Well, I guess this picture doesn't do it justice, but that baby holds 2.2 liters of water.  My goal is to eventually work up to drinking 1 of those things every day.

2. Count calories.  It's what I love to hate.  But I have to do it.  I haven't been tracking on My Fitness Pal lately, and it's time to get back in the saddle.  My user name is MyInnerButterfly - be my friend and kick my butt in gear!!

3. Weigh in regularly. I have been in an on-again, off-again relationship with that B from the start.  Heck, I could be off-again as soon as next week.  Another problem of mine is that I keep forgetting to weigh myself.  I'll be putting a reminder on my phone calendar so an alarm will go off every Monday morning.  For anything lost each week (even if it's .1 pounds), I'll put $20 in a jar.  Still deciding what I want that money to go towards.  More than likely, clothes.   :)

4. Move more. I'm going to start wearing my FitBit again.  I'm going to wear it for the rest of the week to see my average movement every day, and create a goal from there.  I've read several times that, if you work at a desk all day, a 1-hour workout hardly makes up for all the damage you do to your body when you're sitting all day.  I want to try to get up and move around at least once every hour.

5. Make a plan - and a back-up plan. Weekly meal plans will become a regular in my life again.  I'll also be creating weekly workout plans (that are not too complex, and don't take a lot of time).  And seeing as I like to come up with lots of excuses as to why I can't work out, I'm making back-up plans.  

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It's basic.  It's simple.  Sometimes you just have to take a step back in order to move forward again.  I'm hoping this will be a refreshing change for me, and will get the ball rolling again.  Please hang in there and stick with me - I'll need all the encouragement I can get!

Weekly Plan (6/3/13 - 6/9/13)

Nothing like good old Garfield to cheer you up on a Monday.   ;)    Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.  I was able to get some much-needed cleaning done (well, most of it) and get the billion loads of laundry done.  Now all I have to do is put away said laundry.  *Sigh*   That is the worst part of doing laundry - anyone with me?

June is off to a good start.  I did my challenges (#kickassjune and plank challenge) this weekend, and indulged in NO soda.  My plan for the week....

I haven't made my menu plan for the week, but I do know I'll be having smoothies for breakfast (frozen pineapple, frozen mango, greek vanilla nonfat yogurt, and almond milk...delicious!!), Lean Cuisines for lunch (along with some kind of veggie), and some kind of fruit, nuts, and hard-boiled eggs with guacamole (like deviled eggs, but no yolk, and just guac as the filling) for snacks.  Dinners are up in the air.  I'm still making plans.

I almost had a weak moment today.  I really wanted to get a soda with my lunch, but ultimately decided against it.  I was sooo close.  I had the money in my hands, but ended up not going to the cafeteria to heat up my lunch - just went to the coffee area (it has a microwave) closer to where I sit.  Phew!

Today will be my first day back to running in almost 3 weeks.  I did run one day in the past 3 weeks, but it was terrible.  Wish me luck!!  

And now it's time to get back to work.  Make it a great one (as great as it can get for a Monday)!