Well I started a new program with a friend of mine who has been an athlete her whole life, she is taking me to a ladies gym and kicking my butt into gear as best she can. We've done 2 45 minute work outs so far and I have to say, I'm doing okay with it. I need a person to get me into going on a regular basis and then hopefully I can keep myself doing it. I know I may need to hire one of the trainers on staff there eventually but I'm happy to start out with a friend and get into the routine. I still don't feel comfortable going to the gym so having a friend to do it with is nice. I really hope I keep this going better than I have in the past. I know I can't do it alone to start with and as much as I thought doing this blog and joining groups would help it just hasn't.... So I have high expectations with myself to keep up with this new program. I have a goal of 5 pounds a week weight loss and I know that it won't always work that way but you need goals.
This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good. ~Author Unknown~
Well I've been sticking to my clean eating for the most part but not my workouts... I'm struggling with level 2 of the 30 day shred. That cardio is really kicking my butt, I'm considering adding more cardio in another form to build up my abilities. But I'm not sure if that will help of harm the cause.
Measure up
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12-Jun
|
|
18-Jul
|
|
17
|
right arm
|
16
|
|
18
|
left arm
|
16.5
|
|
43
|
upper waist
|
39.5
|
|
45
|
lower waist
|
41
|
|
28
|
right thigh
|
27
|
|
29
|
left thigh
|
27.5
|
|
20
|
right calf
|
18
|
|
21
|
left calf
|
19
|
|
52
|
hips
|
48
|
It's encouraging because none of the numbers are the same anymore and I know continuing my workouts will boost the progress but I'm really having trouble staying motivated right now. I think because I'm not having success keeping up like I was in level 1, I may stick with level 2 for an additional 5 days... we will see.
I haven't been MIA because I'm slacking, I haven't worked out but there is a reason. On Wednesday my folks came over and we began an overhaul of my lawn and landscaping of my new home, it was a disaster... I think the neighbors were beginning to get annoyed. So I spent an entire day digging, pulling, and struggling to clear away the chaos that was the landscaping but in that did some serious work on my hamstrings. I'm assuming its from being in an awkward position for long periods of time that my body wasn't use to but whoa did my body ache the next day. It was torture to move and I still had loading and unloading of crap from my yard to do. So after those two days and some seriously sore legs, I took a break today. But I'm ready to get back tomorrow to level 2 of the 30 day shred and fight my way through the cardio.
Food wise I've kept up with the eating schedule to the best of my abilities and haven't gorged myself on some unclean sugar filled meal. So I'm pretty content with things.
Measurement Check:
12-Jun
|
|
13-Jul
|
17
|
right arm
|
16
|
18
|
left arm
|
16.5
|
43
|
upper waist
|
40
|
45
|
lower waist
|
41
|
28
|
right thigh
|
27.5
|
29
|
left thigh
|
27.5
|
20
|
right calf
|
18
|
21
|
left calf
|
19
|
52
|
hips
|
49.5
|
Starting to have 3-4 inch losses... that's exciting, and even though I can't physically see the difference it's still so encouraging to see this.
I have to say I'm proud of myself for keeping all this up. I've never been good at working out, eating writing, or keeping track of things like I have been. I know I had a period of nothing around the cleanse and holiday but I came back pretty solid so I'm patting myself on the back for that. It's the small hurtles that we make that we need to remember to give ourselves credit for, a success is not a failure so way to go me.
Workout: Day 2 of level 2 of the 30 day shred
I think today went pretty well, it's definitely kicking my butt to say the least right now, but I'm learning the moves and keeping up with the "badasses," as Jillian refers to the non-beginner moves, for the most part. I am struggling with keeping up in the cardio department but I'm trying my hardest to keep moving. I hope as the days pass and I've learned the moves better it will be easier to keep up with the cardio. Or I need to amp up in the cardio department and try doing other things...
Intake: (and I did make it up for breakfast, I think my subconscious read my post from yesterday and woke me up)
Breakfast: oatmeal and strawberries (I need another protein for the am, not always eggs)
Snack: hard boiled eggs; apple
Lunch: almonds, whole wheat pasta, Asian pear
Dinner: homemade nachos
Snack: apple with nut butter
I know I missed a snack in there but I'm getting better - 5 meals is better than what I was doing before.
Well I started level 2 of the 30 day shred and it was definitely a change from level 1. I spent a lot of today making sure I had the correct form so not pushing my hardest but I still worked up quite the sweat. There were a lot of moves that involved plank and it was more difficult to get the correct form down than I would have assumed, but that is my first concern to make sure I'm doing the moves correctly so I don't hurt myself and maximize the workout. So I was pleased that it wasn't has horrible as it could have been, even with skipping my workout yesterday, but its definitely going to push me to the next level. And can I say I much prefer this set of exercises rather than the ones she had chosen for level 1, funny that I'm actually saying that I like exercise.
I have been struggling with getting up early enough to eat breakfast. I've been waking up at around 10 and just getting right into my workout so I know I will do it and not find other things to do. But when I do that I skip breakfast and I know I really need to make the time for it. But I'm afraid that if I wait too long I'll skip out on the workout and go about my day. I guess its just tweaking life a step at a time.
I read on another blog somewhere about beginners wanting to see results either from the scale or by looking in the mirror all the time. I combated the first by not really measuring my progress through the scale but my measurements and I have it already planned out when I will check those. The thing I really hadn't thought about was how I would look for changes whenever I looked in the mirror. What I read was that its normal but to remember you probably won't see physical changes for at least 60 days. Now I'm about 15 days into this whole new take on life so I need to give myself a break from looking for some significant change. It's something you know in the back of your mind that you won't see changes for a while cause it takes work but you forget whenever you are in the mirror. So I try to remind myself whenever in front of mirror that its not been very long so you can't see the difference yet, but I know I sure feel the difference everyday.
The progress....
|
12-Jun
|
|
8-Jul
|
|
17
|
right arm
|
16
|
|
18
|
left arm
|
17
|
|
43
|
upper waist
|
41
|
|
45
|
lower waist
|
42
|
|
28
|
right thigh
|
28
|
|
29
|
left thigh
|
28
|
|
20
|
right calf
|
19
|
|
21
|
left calf
|
19
|
|
52
|
hips
|
50
|
See it's nice to see some change, even if its only a few inches at a time...
Well late last night, I got hungry and my brother ran for pizza and got me a grinder :( which I totally ate. Then I slept in way too late today and woke up and ate the remaining half. Then the rest of the day I laid around totally wasted. Now my guess would be 1. I did not workout because my tv was consumed by xbox. 2. I ate terribly. This is probably the first time that I noticed how not working out and eating terribly really make me feel. I've not slept a whole day since I was down with the flu, even before starting to eat clean. I'm not about to have a more balanced salad, which I'm certainly looking forward to.
It just goes to show how much food choices and lack of activity can really effect you once you start paying attention.
Well today has been a success in my book. I got up in the morning ate a bowl of oatmeal with some cinnamon and honey topped with strawberries and a banana. Did day 9 of the 30 day shred and really pushed myself today. I tried a lot harder than I have in a while, now the last set, especially cardio, was much harder to complete but I felt better as a whole cause I was really feeling it today. Then made a protein shake of my own....
Strawberry/Banana Protein shake
1 banana
4-5 strawberries
1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder
1/4 cup of low fat yogurt
small handful of almonds
1 Tbsp wheat germ
2 handfuls of ice
1/2 cup of chilled green tea
Dinner: Roasted Turkey with cauliflower mashed "potatoes" and steamed broccoli
Snacks: banana with nut butter and the rest of my smoothie before bed.
My goal for this next week is to get lists of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks that I enjoy as a quick guide for planning my weekly diet and shopping and just ease of getting into a good eat clean schedule. I'm just trying to get as many ideas and recipes as I can so that when the school year starts up I won't have trouble sticking to the eat clean life. Any easy meal ideas?
