Week One Results

So it's been an interesting week, that's for sure.  I was able to stay within 200 calories of 1400 Calories a day for eating.  I was able to eat right 6 times this week, in fact I ate right all 7 days on a caloric stand point, but I wouldn't say it was a perfect six days.  A Big Mac Meal got in there as did a donut and pumpkin cupcake with icing.  So not horrible, but not excellent either. The teacher in me gives me a B-, I have a lot of stuff to tighten up if I want to be successful in the long run.

Week two's short term goal is to do cardio 5X a week for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 3 toning exercises a week for 15 minutes, and to eat right 6 days a week in order to lose 1-2 pounds.

Now let's see how I did in the weight and measurement category.


Beginning measurements:                                                        Week One Measurements
Weight 1XX (no I am not saying that number :P)                     Weight: 1XX   -1
Neck: 13.5 inches                                                                   Neck:  13.5   no change          
Shoulders: 42 inches                                                               Shoulders 41.5    -0.5
Bust: 43 inches                                                                       Bust  42               -1
Chest (under armpits and across) : 36 inches                           Chest: 36 no change
Thigh: 25 inches                                                                      Thigh: 24.5       -0.5
Calf: 15 inches                                                                        Calf: 15     no change
bicep: 13 inches                                                                      bicep: 13 no change
Hips: 45 inches                                                                       hips: 44   -1
Waist 1 (smallest part of waist): 35 inches                                waist 1: 34  -1
Waist 2 (over belly button): 39 inches                                     waist 2: 37.5   -1.5

Well I have lost a total of 5.5 inches in the first week, that's very encouraging!!!  And I lost a pound which means I am on track to be losing 6-10 pounds in the next 6 weeks.  


Through last year when I was losing weight, I didn't really lose a lot of inches in my neck or chest area those areas pretty much stayed the same so I am not suprised to see no movement there.  I also didn't see much more than an inch shift in my calf or bicep so those aren't surprising. What I find the most encouraging is the loss of inches in those areas that are so problematic for me, my hips and waist!!  I always identify those areas as my problem areas with my thighs, but hopefully this will start dropping and I can begin to feel like I have no problem areas!! 


Bring on week 2!!!!!

Ok so here is the beginning of my 6 week challenge.  Participant ME!!!

First step is to set my goals, long term and short term.
Long term goal: In six weeks to lose 6-10 pounds by eating right and exercising frequently.
Short term goal: During week one I will do five cardio and 3 toning exercises for a minimum of 30 minutes a day for cardio and 15 minutes a session for toning, I will also eat within my 1400 calories 6 times a week.

Now for the measurements section
Beginning measurements:
Weight 1XX (no I am not saying that number :P)
Neck: 13.5 inches
Shoulders: 42 inches
Bust: 43 inches
Chest (under armpits and across) : 36 inches
Thigh: 25 inches
Calf: 15 inches
bicep: 13 inches
Hips: 45 inches
Waist 1 (smallest part of waist): 35 inches
Waist 2 (over belly button): 39 inches

So there's the dark and dirty of where I am beginning.  I will then let you know how many lbs I am down each week.  Don't worry that 1 in my weight won't disappear.

I would like to attach the goal charts I am using so when I figure that out I will lead you to the links!!!

OMG What have I done?!?!?!

Recently I uploaded some pictures from my birthday party in March.  My first thought was, "I really like my new shirt!" Which was followed by a more 'surprising' thought, "but man do I look fat!"  Omg I did not just think that, but unfortunately as I peered at the photo a little more, I realized that it was true.  I had gained weight yet again.

Who's fault is this weight gain, well none other than yours truly, I mean I can't really blame anyone else, I ate the food, I stopped the exercise program, I did all that, no one else, so I am the one who is to blame.  Yup that was me.

I haven't stepped on a scale to see how much I weigh I really don't need the scale to be taunting me as well, I do a good enough job at that as it is already.  But it has definitely lit a fire under my ass, I mean I don't want to be the fat mom, I want to be the healthy has lot's of energy, and hey my mom looks good mom.  I don't expect to have changes over night, I know this is an arduous battle, I have been in this spot before, about 18 months ago actually, and I am here again, so now I know I need to make a change.

I am going to talk to my doctor about it at my next appointment, I mean the weight gain is a little surprising I didn't feel I was being that negligent on my eating habits, maybe a little, but not to this extreme.  So I want to rule out any medical reason for the weight gain, then I am going to "diet".  But not really diet, I am going to track my food intake and I will post weekly results here, to keep me on track.  I don't know who all reads this but I don't want to be eating crap and having you all judge me for it.  And I am going to exercise every day, so when I post my weekly food log, you will also see my weekly exercise log.  And my total earnings that I am going to reward myself with.

So the plan is this, for every day I am within 200 calories +/- my daily caloric intake of 1400 I get $2.  For every day that do at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise I get $1 and for every day that I do 30 minutes of strength toning exercises I get $1.  So I can potentially earn $4 a day.  This will go for 6 weeks.  At the end of 6 weeks we will check our progress and go from there.  This will start tomorrow so tomorrow I will measure and weigh myself then post the results here.  Not the weight, I will just post my % lost after on each weeks update.

Ok here we go 6 weeks to a new me!!!!

Protein Shakes

I have been going to my gym for almost ten months now.... that's shocking!!  But it has taken me at least nine months to enjoy Protein Shakes.  I seriously hated them and the thought of having to drink one would turn my stomach.

But now I am enjoying them.  I am even willing to try new shakes.  My good friend Michelle is sending me some Visallis Shakes in the mail to try and may order them if I enjoy them.  But for now I am creating tasty treats in my own home basing my ingredients on my diet plan from the gym.

My two new favourites are:  Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cup and Vanilla Berry Banana Cup.

The ingredients are listed below in a single serving size but feel free to experiment, it's the only way to find how you like your Whey.......

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cup                                                                            Vanilla Berry Banana Cup

1/2 banana                                                                             1/2 banana

1 heaping tbsp of Peanut Butter                                             5-6 strawberries

1 cup 1% milk                                                                        1/8 -1/4 cup blueberries

1 scoop of Chocolate Protein Powder                                    1 cup 1% milk

2-3 ice cubes                                                                           1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

Blend for all it's worth and drink                                            2-3 ice cubes

                                                                                               Blend and Enjoy

It's only a number..

We had our weigh ins again this week.  Sometimes I dread these bi-monthly occurrences but they do help to keep me honest or more honest.


I need to create an excel sheet that will record my body changes in percentages.  I am really good with Mircosoft, but sometimes it's hard because I don't use Excel that often and sometimes my ideas are much more complicated than I initially think they are.  With this spreadsheet I would have actual stats to show me how well my workouts are going.  Also if I stick to my diet I would be able to see how much more the diet helps in the weight loss category because sometimes I am still skeptical at the diet component.


So here is what I found out from the latest weigh-in.  I am up 4 pounds, not good, but I am not worried until I see the differences in the measurements.  It is the inches where it counts.  So the bad news is I am up 2 centimeters in my chest, Jayzus, the one area I want to lose inches, I gain almost an inch.  I mean some girls may enjoy gaining inches in the chest, but I don't want to go up to an E cup. Like come ON!!!  The Ok news, I have not changed in inches thighs, glutes or neck or shoulders.  The good news, I am down  5 cm in my waist, this would be the smallest part of my waist, my calf is down 3 cm, and my bicep is down 1 cm.  


So here is my next goal.  I am going to book a photo shoot with a photographer, or if money is an issue I am going to set up a photo shoot with my friend where we do some glamour shots and do our hair and make up.  I want it to be an Old Hollywood shoot, so I have to get some ideas for hair and make up and then outfits.  But I think this would be great to keep me motivated and it will be a great  activity to do with my friend or friends that want to get involved with this.

Finding a new end date.

I have every intention to continue working out and watching my diet, but I have encountered a slight problem..... yup I find that I don't feel the desire to stay on the diet as strictly as before.

When I started my lifestyle lift, I had long term and short term goals, many of which have fell to the wayside at this point, but the weight loss one stuck.  I felt that I had let myself go since the passing of my father and the subsequent pregnancy etc, etc.  

Not that I had become Jabba the Hut, but I was four rolls short of this happening, seriously, it was not a great situation.  I happen to be one of those people that can put on weight, and I put it on fairly evenly through my entire body so it's not like one area becomes a problem and the rest still look great. No, as I put on weight I develop all the problem areas, belly, thighs, double chin, wingy arms, well you get the picture.

So then I decided I want to get in shape, for the long run, which is a more important factor than any other that I have come up with, to enable myself to have more energy and be healthy for my kids.  I wanted to enjoy their childhoods so that I could participate with them in their activities and not just be stuck on the sidelines watching because I had no endurance to keep up with them.  The shorter term goals had to deal with the wedding and wanting to look amazing in my wedding dress.

Now I am finding that I don't have the same will power to stick to my diet, because I don't have anything that I am working towards.  Just my long term goals, but there isn't really an end date in which I have to bee a certain weight/size by.  I talked with my trainer and she suggested trying to sign up for a bikini show, which is based on how you look and stuff, but I don't know that I am ready for that.  That seems like it might be a long way off when I look in the mirror, so I need something that may be in the middle of that.  She also suggested doing a Boudoir photo shoot.  Which is something I have considered, but now I have to decide how long I want to give myself to set up this end date. 

I have determined that I would like to lose another 15 lbs.  We were talking at the gym the other day that to loose a healthy amount of weight you should take your weight  multiply it by 10% then divide it by 52.  I think that was the formula and if I follow that formula, that would mean I need to loose 1 pound a week.  I don't know that that is the formula, but when we were figuring it at the gym that is what we came up with. 

Therefore, it can be determined that if I want to lose 15 pounds I  should give myself 15 weeks to obtain my goal.  Thus, by Christmas I should be at my goal weight.  But then what goal do I put for myself, do I set up a Boudoir photo shoot as my reward for reaching my goal weight?  Should I set it up for before Christmas on the 22 or should I set it up for just after New Years?  Or just before New Years? 

I am leaning towards doing a Boudoir shoot, so I can pretend I am a model, and maybe I can be discovered.  Then I can reset my short term goals to maybe do a small bikini show, but I have to set my mind to this goal.  I can't just make the goal, but not actually set up the shoot, because if it's not a concrete possibility in my head I won't do it.

Any ideas or suggestions from my readers would be greatly appreciated!!!!

so here's where I am at....

I have given myself four weeks to get into shape, and lose ten pounds.  Now that isn't my final desired weight for my life, but it's the weight at which I would like to leave Canada before my wedding.  So I had four weeks to get to work and work out in order to accomplish this goal.

I have been working out and I have made some motivational pictures and posters to hang up so I know the desired look I am working towards.  I have been good on my diet, there have been a few, oops-ies, but nothing that has totally derailed me.  Nothing I don't think a little extra effort can't burn off. 

Awhile ago I posted some dreaded bikini shots of me, the front the rear and the side view, I had Adrian take them again so that I could have a visual comparison.  I am down five pounds in the after pictures but you wouldn't be able to tell, at least I don't think you can.  That and the lighting and distance of the pictures was changed so it's hard to say.  I am going to retake them tomorrow so I can get a better sense of what's going on.  I know that I had my measurements and I am down a total of 6 inches as well.  So there are changes happening, and they should be visual, but I think I need another pair of eyes to tell me what they think.  I could be dreaming it all, but I don't think I am.

So here are my pictures for you to see.  Let's see if we notice anything.

So this is the whole shot with all six photos side by side, I will now put up three more pictures with each view on it's on page.

Besides the love handles I don't see much difference but that could be on account of the lighting, angel and the fact that I have a great tan now is really coming through.

Here are the dreaded first set of bikini shots

I am trying to be brave and not worry about what my insecure voice is going to say once i put this out there.  It's one thing to put up shots of yourself in gym clothes but it's quite another to put up bikini shots when you used to be over 200 lbs.  yes I said it that was my top weight when I decided enough was enough.  I have lost 20 lbs of fat but gained some lean muscle mass, so my weight isn't down 20 lbs but it's close.  I have lost more since these photos were taken a total of 3 lbs. So I think my next shots that I will take tonight will maybe show some of these changes.
 So here are the front, side and rear view of me.  I am going to do another blog here soon and show and progression of pictures, from when I started to now.

The Results are in (for me anyways)

Well I had my final weigh in for the six week challenge that I just participated in.  It was a good challenge, the exercise routines were different, the support was great and I had fun.  The only difference was that my trainer no longer looked at my meal plans so I definitely stopped writing down everything I was pass through my lips. 

Therefore, I cheated on my eating a few times.  Ok like two or three times in the last four weeks per week.  Seriously it wasn't a great thing.  But my break down didn't look to bad either.

I lost 7 pounds or weight.  In that weight loss I lost 2% body fat and gained 2% lean muscle.  I ended up losing 8 inches in total from when I started although my mid-measuring said that I had lost even more, but it's just with different people measuring so you have to take the good with the bad. 

I feel good about what I accomplished, and I know I still have some more work to do, but I am enjoying going to the gym.  It's really my only out of the house time I have so I take what I can get.  I am going to continue going to the gym until August for sure, after that I will have to re-evaluate what I am doing since I may not have a job in September and the gym is a little expensive.

However, I am seeing results and I don't feel I am working to exuberantly hard.  Just enough to get my energy up and my weight down.  I am loving it!!!!

2 weeks left

There are two weeks left in my six week challenge and I don't know how close I am to my goal.  I wish I knew how other people were doing so I could compare myself and set real goals for myself to reach in order to win.  In a race you can see how far back you are from the finish yet, I can't see how far behind or how far ahead I am.  I think I am behind by at least 6 pounds, so that has to go so I can at least be competitive with the other girl in my class.  I have no idea what other people are at so it's hard to compete for the goal when I am not sure where other people are. 

I know I know I am supposed to be concerned with myself, but I set out to win and I am not sure how far or close I am to reaching my goal.  The other thing that sucks at this point is my bloating, boo to having to go through these periods of times as a female.

So tonight we will have another set of measurements done and I will update you all on my progress.  I am hoping to see some definite changes!!!

May 2 to June 15th

For the next six weeks I am going to be on a strict diet and exercise regime. AGAIN!! Yes I have seen results but I want to see more results especially since my wedding in basically in 4 months, less than 4 months.

So no sugar for this girl, lot's of water and lot's of protein.  I am not cutting out carbs, but cutting down on carbs.  I am planning to adhere to this diet with the utmost conviction. I want to win this challenge, but there are a few people that are even biking to the gym before working out, I'm not doing that, so I have to bring my A game every other day of the week.

No more excuses no more!!!  Gotta do this up right and if I do I will win a $1000 travel voucher that will by my gift to Adrian and I for our wedding.  Have a goal now let's get to it!!!

New Six Week Challenge

So I am starting a new six week challenge at the gym.  I am hoping to see some more phsyical results that are noticed in my appearance again.  But I have a lot of hard work ahead of me.  I NEED to win and that is going to drive me to try my hardest.  I am hoping I see big changes but I know I am going to have to work extra hard to see these results coming through.

Here are some rather unflattering photos of me from my first six week challenge and here are some more updated photos, can we see a difference?

The next picture has my before and after from my six week challenge, I am at the bottom!!

diet where have you gone?

Diet oh diet where have you gone?  I was looking for you the other day and I couldn't find you so I snacked on half a Reese's peanut butter egg... I looked a couple days before that I couldn't find you either so I tried out a mini blizzard from Dairy Queen.

Today I am baking and baking, bread and cookies and then fixing Fettuccine Alfredo for supper... diet I am still missing you? 

I have come to a conclusion, in regards to my diet.  Thought I have taken a few liberties with my diet I don't feel as if I am cheating. And in actual fact I almost feel as if my diet has become my regular eating habit!!!  I know shocking right.  I no longer feel like I am on a diet, when I am feeling snacky I often go for a bit of fruit or some veggies or some kind of healthy carb, like whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter.  I sometimes give into temptation but I am ok with it, I know that one treat here and there is not going to ruin me and put me back on the fat gaining train.

I fit comfortably into a smaller sized jean now, my shirts are fitting better and I have much more energy.  All in all I think I am being successful on my journey to my wedding day.  Just gotta keep going until I feel like I need to maintain my weight and not lose anymore. 

So diet oh diet thanks for becoming my regular diet and not something I do because I am dieting!!!

Bikini Season over wedding Date?!?!

So today I am going swimming with the family again.  Actually Chandler may be opting out to go play badminton, but the rest of us are going swimming.  I forgot to do laundry this week (actually not forgot, neglected would be a better description) so my swimsuit from last week is still not clean so I was forced to try on my dreaded bikinis from before I was pregnant. 

Quaking as I pulled out the four different swimsuits (all bikinis) I laid them on my bed.  I knew two would be tight squeezes and I did not want to go to looking like a sausage to the pool, so I immediately put them back.  I tried on a pair of board shorts, but they gave me that horrible muffin top look and I did not want that at all.  So I took a deep breathe and tried on the other two suits. 

At my skinniest I had a bikini that I had to actually tie into a knot on the top part for it to fit me properly, I tried that one on first.  The bottoms fit nicely, but the top was a little tight, except when I undid the knot it was a little loose so there was no happy medium.  Which left me with my last suit to try.

It was one I had bought at my skinniest, but it was a bit big, so I never got much chance to wear it.  I had high hopes that it would fit without creating extra rolls on my body.  I turned around and faced my dresser mirror and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw reflected back at me.  There was no excess baggage, no extra rolls that aren't normally there.  Actually, I was missing some rolls from the last time I had tried on a bathing suit that was not my maternity bathing suit.  I know so sad. 

So now I have an added incentive to get into shape for this summer, I want to rock it out in a bikini, I want to feel comfortable walking down the beach in just my bikini and know that I look like the hottest chick on the beach.  Well at least in Adrian's eyes and honestly that's already the case but I want the other boys on the beach to be jealous of what Adrian's caught.  ME!!! 

So superficial, but I can't wait!!!  It's going to happen.  I may post a picture later, if I am feeling up for it!!!

The Results are IN!!!

Ok so I am going to provide everyone with my results and explain what my next step is in this process.  I am very excited about all this.

To start though let's go back to where I was 6 weeks ago.  On January 9th, 2009 I had my first weigh in and measuring.  At that point my weight was a whooping 200 pounds, my impedance (resistance) was 502, and my measurements were: Neck 33cm, Shoulders 108 cm, Abdomen1 89cm, abdomen2 102cm, glutes 114cm, right thigh 64cm, chest 96cm, calf 39cm, and bicep 35cm.  My body fat percentage was 37.3% which calculates to a total of 74.3lbs of fat on my body (gross!).  My lean body mass was 124.7 meaning I had a 1.7:1 ratio of lean body mass to fat ratio.  That being said the calculations show that I had 11% excess fat on my body.

My goal was to go down 20lbs.  I didn't quite make that, but I did drop 13lbs in my 6 weeks.  My long term goal is to get down to 169lbs and 26% body fat for a healthy body.  I would even like to drop down to 160 lbs, but that could change based on the muscle I gain which may keep my weight up, so I am not as concerned with the number on the scale as I am with the size of my wedding dress.

So my weight was down ~13lbs( this weight fluctuates during the day, so at the time of my weigh in I was at 191).  my measurements read like this; Neck 33 cm, chest 89cm, abdomen1 81cm, abdomen2 95cm , glutes 108cm, thigh 61 cm, calf and biceps were the same, shoulders 103 cm.  That equals a total of 15 inches lost during the 6 weeks. My body fat percentage is now 31.3% for a total of 61 lbs of fat which means I lost 13.3 lbs of body fat but I did gain 7 lbs of Lean body mass.  So I am now down to 5% excess body fat on my body (yeah). 

So there you have it those are my results and I am very happy with them.  I can now fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, so I am looking forward to continuing my lifestyle change to fit into those other clothes that I was wearing when I first started dating Adrian.

I plan to continue with One to 1 fitness doing the group work out classes, as I get closer to my wedding date I may look into changing my workouts so that I can work one on one with my trainer just so that I can keep on my path to healthy living.  I am very much enjoying this journey that I have taken, I am so glad that I did and the trainers at One to 1 are amazing.  If you are in Red Deer and looking to make a healthy change, stop in and join my class you won't regret it.  I look forward to sharing more results with you in the future!!!  I will post some pictures soon!!

Last week!!

OMG I can hardly believe it, I have one week left in my six weeks to a new you. Do I feel like a new me, well I feel more like the old me then I have in a very long time.  There are definitely some changes that I still have to work on but some of the changes have come very easily and I am enjoying incorporating them into my life and into my families healthy living.

So next Monday I go for my final weigh in and measurements, so that is when I will post my final results and then I will hopefully have some links to send you to see my video interview or some first time pictures with last week pictures.  It's going to be exciting.

I can give you these results though. I am definitely feeling a change in my body at this point.  I have more energy, I am not as tired as I was.  I still like my sleep and can still go to bed early but if I stay up an extra hour or two I am not a walking zombie the next day.  I feel healthier and I am not getting sick even though everyone around me is catching every cold and virus that is floating in this environment.  My clothes are fitting better, I even wore a pair of guess jeans I bought back when my dad was still alive in the hospital yesterday that I hadn't been able to put on since I bought them because I had gained weight after he passed away and I gained more weight because then I got pregnant.  Now two years later I am getting back down.  Next stop is to get back into the pants I bought when my dad was in making his big mistake 8 months prior to his death. 

I hope you are all looking forward to my results as much as I am.  Soon maybe I will be comfortable posting bikini pictures too!!! lol

New results

I have now officially lost 11 pounds, and a total of 11 inches!!!  I am so excited about this turn of events.  There are two weeks left in my program and I need to work extra hard to lose those last 9 pounds to reach my goal and then I will be half way to my long term goal. 

I was a skeptic, I will readily admit that, I didn't think the diet component would be that big of a deal, but apparently it is.  So after struggling with it for a bit, I have adopted it into my new routine and things are going well.  I still would like to indulge every once in awhile and have some tasty treats, but I am refraining for now because I want to win the competition but also because I am determined to see this through.  My treat after the six weeks will be a night out to have a decadent dessert.

But I will keep up with the food plan and the diet plan.  I think that will definitely help, but I will have to adopt some extra workouts to do at home if I do not win this competition to work out with a personal trainer.  I can always continue to sign up with the group classes, but I think in April for sure I want to be working out hard core for April, May and June so that I can be in my best shape and learn to maintain my weight, because that's going to be my next big challenge. 

I have lost weight in the past, but it's keeping that weight off and down with which I struggle.  I mean I can't even blame everything on the pregnancy, I gained a bunch of weight before I got pregnant and then my eating when I was pregnant didn't help matters.  So the next habit I must teach myself is moderation and not doing things in excess.

Any ideas how to do that??

UPDATE!!!

As many of you have read (I think it's only two or three people but hey it's a start I guess) I had begun a six week workout session with a personal trainer at One to 1 fitness.  This six week program is designed to help you loss weight by changing eating habits and doing some amazing workouts.  I know if my trainer reads this it may go to his head, but I vowed to be honest in my blogs and the workouts are hard, but I am able to push myself through them and I am seeing results.

When I had my initial consultation I was asked to give a short intreview in a camera to tell everyone why I signed up and what my goals were for the six week program.  I told everyone that I had signed up because I wanted to lead a healthier life and I wanted to have a healthier body and lifestyle.  My goal for the six week program was to lose 20 pounds.  It seems like a lot of weight, and I will admit that it is but it was half of all the weight I essentially want to lose by June.  By June I hope to be down to my ideal weight and then I will spend June to August and further on maintaining that weight.  They also asked me to identify my biggest obstacle in my weightloss journey.  That was easy, it's my eating habits, the snacking and junk food that I would eat. 

I have had quite the wake up call to the food I am ingesting.  I enjoyed those Fibre One bars, and cereal bars and those things, but they are not that healthy for you.  I have survived kicking sugar out of my diet, and I haven't had many cravings for sugar,  there have been a few, but I have been able to distract myself from eating anything that is high in sugar.  I thought it would be hard, especially with two children at home and a husband, or soon to be husband that was not necessarily interested in changing his diet plans. He still likes junk food, chocolate milk and his beer.   I have not been drinking anything since this started, and I may have a night or two where I drink and stuff, but I am going to be very conscious of my decisions.  Everything in moderation and really some things should be limited.

I really thought I would struggle more with eating, and there are a few times when I do struggle, but the biggest change that has happened, well the two big changes that have happened have made things easier than I expected.  The first change was cutting the processed sugar from my diet, that's all those corn syrups, fructose, glucose sugars that are manufactured and not really healthy for you.  I have supplemented in Splenda for those times when I have to have a sweetener on a product to be able to ingest it.  I tried to eat oatmeal a few times without sugar and I thought I was going to choke on it, I could barely swallow it, it just did not taste good.  But they have brown sugar splenda now so that makes things much better.  The other change has been the cutting back of prepackaged food.  I don't eat very many frozen meals or frozen meat products anymore.  We eat more fresh prepared food that is homemade.  It's been a big change because we were completely a family of convenience.  The funny thing is, when we make a meal from scratch it really only takes an average of 20 minutes longer to prepare and then we have so many leftovers afterwards for lunches and stuff that it is very much worth those extra 20 minutes. 

So now here is the update on my results at the half way mark of my six week journey.  I am down 9 pounds from when I first weighed in at One to 1.  I have lost 6+ inches since starting with them.  Those inches have come from my chest (2), waist (3) and glutes (1).  So there have been some definite gains from this program. 

Last night I didn't want to go, I wasn't feeling well, but I dragged my butt down there and I did my work out, it was worth it! I am glad I did it and I felt better when I got home, so now for the next 3 weeks I am making a goal to be more diligent to my meal plans and to actually work out more then the 3 times a week with the group class.  I will let you know more results as I find them!!!

30 Day challenge day 7

Seven days in what are your results right now. Is there a change in weight, energy or motivation?

So I have successfully blogged about weightloss and stuff for 7 days, but the actual event is not going as planned.  I had my last scheduled work out class last Friday and I am sad.  I now have a month to get things going on my own, to get my own intrinsic motivation built up to be more powerful then my extrinsic motivation.  That is hard in today's society when so many things are dependent on external factors "creating" happiness.  Who knew weight loss would bring about this type of reflection??
 
I can say that after ending my 6 classes on Fridays there has been a change in my cardio and my upper body strength, so I guess there are results but I have to keep going or else they will turn into jelly.  Ok I will post stats tomorrow or later today.... I need to see this chart thing so that I can see that it is real.  Wii Fit here I come again :P

Total Body Blast

So this week began my six weeks of exercise classes.  I began on Friday going to a class called Total Body Blast.  I wasn't sure what to expect but it seemed like a good class. Mostly because it conveniently fit into my schedule and did not really interfere with Leigham's bedtime routine too much.  So to the Rec Center I headed.

First thing I would like to say is the instructor was very welcoming and very supportive.  She pushed but not too hard, and was always encouraging me through my workout.  Since I hadn't really done anything since March, when I stopped going to Crossfit.  (I don't know why I stopped, I just did, it was getting nice outside, figured I would stay motivated doing things outside....ooops I was wrong)  So I was a little slow but I was able to make it through the whole workout without dying of exhaustion.

It was a workout that's for sure.  My muscles were shaking as I left the Rec Center.  I knew I was going to be hurting the next day or the day after.  And do I ever feel it today.  Muscles I forgot I had, are crying out in protest, but not is so much pain that I am thinking I will never do that again. In fact I can't wait to start my next class. 

I am starting Firm Up Aerobics on  Tuesday. It goes Tuesday and Thursday and then I will have Total Body Blast on Friday.  It's going to be busy but in such a good way I am very excited.  Soon the numbers on my scale won't make me groan inwardly!!!