June Goals Checkin

I set out my June goals, here.
So how am I doing????

• I'm on my way to 153 lbs, but I doubt I'll make it. Maybe 155?
• My fat is at 30% so I'm ALMOST THERE. I think I'll make it.
• I'm def. getting 110 g every day. I might be getting too much? like 120?? Gotta cut a little.
• Muscle is creeping up. I think I should aim for 34% this month. :)
• No where close to a 9 min mile. I think I backslid and am at an 11 min now instead of 10. ha
• I'm still struggling with a 2 min plank.

Also, starting a 7DSD today to detox from the overeating I've been doing.
M1: PFP Pancake
M2: 1/2 grapefruit
M3: Antioxidant Salad
M4: air popped popcorn in coconut oil
M5: 3 beers... >_>

June Goals

Final Recap of May Goals: 

You can view my first recap, here.
And the original post, here. 

• I still struggle to manage a 2 drink maximum but a few times I've made the choice to do wine instead of beer which actually makes it a lot easier to stop at 2 or 3.
• I haven't reached 153, but I think I've figured out some of my problems but deciding to up my calories and make sure my body isn't in starvation mode. (TBC :) )
•  I don't feel like I've taken my proper half hour to reflect the last 2 weeks or so. Gotta get back into that. 
• I definitely missed a lot more than 3 bikini series workouts. I've lost a lot of motivation it seems these last 2 weeks. It's rained a lot, maybe that's why. I don't know.
• I didn't practice yoga every Sunday. :/ But I did do a bit of yoga every week. 
• I officially held plank for 2 minutes over the weekend!
• I am getting 100-110g of protein a day, thanks to my Perfect Fit Protein. But once that runs out, I'm worried it'll drop.
• I completed my first 7DSD! I had a few slip ups but I made my best efforts to finish it as best I could.      

June Goals:

•  Reach 153 this month (PLEASE)
• Get my fat % out of the 30s. 
• Do some form of workout every day and check in each night on the blog. Whether it be toning, cardio, or strength training. DO SOMETHING.
• Strive to keep protein around 100-110g a day. 
• Do 100 TIU tummy tucks once a week.  

• Have a CarbSaturday every week and try to make improvements on my Sunday Runday. ((Track time and distance, just for reference. )) 
• Finish this round of edits on a book I'm writing with my friend, Kathy, called "Displaced." 

  I think for the month of June, I might be doing a bit more post updates at the end of each day, just to add my protein intake for the day as well as my workouts. For June, and probably July, I want to lift a bit of the pressure from myself. Things have been stressful at work and at home and I can feel ulcer pains again. It's finally summer (though the weather still doesn't really feel like it) and I want to try and enjoy it. I'm still going to push myself but these are the months I worked hard for so I don't want to punish myself for not being where I expected to be... I still worked hard and plan to enjoy the summer as things come up.  I always have to remind myself that this weight loss isn't a race. I want to get healthy and look good and feel confident. I'm still really really struggling to be confident and it's going to be a long road before I can feel truly good about myself.
 

7DSD Day 5

Well I slipped up on Saturday and had 1/2 PFP pancake about an hour before bed and I also had 2 beers while watching Hemingway and Gellhorn. I've been really down for about a week and I cant seem to shake that. It could be from the bloating and the fact that my numbers aren't budging, but the thing that is strongest on my mind is that I'm not in school and I want to be. I want my PhD and I can't even get my associates! And on top of that, I feel like I'm rotting away in this stupid town. It's been raining and cold and it's nearly june! Ugh, I feel like I'm suffocating. My boyfriend was talking to his friend up in California this week and his friend wants us to move out there. Once that idea got into me head, it's like I mentally gripped on to it and the chances of it happened are probably 2.5%. Basically not possible! My boyfriend will never go for it, although he did tell his friend that I could transfer stores and that it IS possible... I'm going to push for him to really consider this. Who wants to settle down or end up in the suburbs of IL!!!!? That cannot be the dream. lol. Well I'm sure we'd be happy enough doing that, but so much happier in warm sunny California.

Day 5 of the 7DSD. I'm glad it's day 5 so I can stop eating salt and hopefully, as the plan indicates, the bloating will blast down! This should be the best part of the slim down. Then I'll have to stay strong on Thursday which shouldn't be too hard since I work 8-4 that day, then Friday we are headed to the Cubs game and Saturday we are getting my first CARBSaturday lunch at Macaroni Grill. :)

Also, my mood may be low because I haven't been doing as much cardio the last week AND I have to work 8 days straight before my 3 day weekend. I'm sure none of this helped.

I JUST WANT TO WRITE FOR A LIVING. I'm so tired of retail. It's not even the helping guests part that bothers me most, it's upper management. They just don't care at all about the team. They care about scores and impressing corporate, and that's IT! It's really hard to keep taking. And they never stop reminding us how disposable we are but then they also never stop asking for favors. It's a really unhealthy dynamic happening.

Did 50 TIU Twisted Knee Raises yesterday w/ 5 lb weights.
Today I'm going to try to do 75 TIU lower ab toners. :) Ab goal every day till summer!

 1. Complete all the workouts going forward. I have been struggling weeks 3 and 4 to complete all my routines. I started off so incredibly strong and then as the weather took a turn, so did my motivation. I wish I didn't depend on mother nature as much as I apparently do. I will feel so proud of myself for doing these workouts even despite the crappy weather.
2. Reach 155 lbs at least. It's been a struggle to get out of the 160's for months now. Some weeks I creep down to 157, but other weeks I creep back up to 163. I want to get to 155 and not creep up anymore! This will feel amazing because the lowest I remember weighing in was 158 at the end of 2009. After all my hard work, I cant wait to see the scale reflect that!
3.Lose 2 more inches, anywhere! I think it's totally possible for me to lose 2 inches in 3 weeks. I was losing inches at the beginning of the bikini series but they seem to have come back on? I want to see 2 inches come off again. I dont care if it's from my waist, tush, or bust! lol. Take a 1/2 from everything, I just want to start shrinking again. <3 

Greece Week

100 squat challenge today!

Workouts to get still this week. YIKES.

• Cowabunga Workout X3
• Surfers Paradise X3

• Bridal Babe X1 + 30 minutes Cardio
• Santorini Bikini X3 + 20-30 minutes cardio
• Malibooty X3 + Bikini Cardio
• 45 min cardio
• 20 min cardio + Surfers Paradise X3
• Get active with a friend
• Sunday Runday!

Today I worked 10 hours. :/ I didn't want to, I still cant shake the exhaustion and the bloating is really getting to me. Abs is my focus this month, and I was seeing great progress until this bloating settled in. A bunch of my TIU sisters suggested I up my calorie intake to at least 1700, since I burn 500-600 most days, because the minimum should be 1200. I was way confused all along about how to cut... I thought I had to workout in addition to only eating the minimum in order to lose 2 lbs per week and that was working at first but sure enough, it has stopped. I've always questioned my energy level as well.... I try to avoid energy drinks and coffee doesn't seem to do it. I also tried B12, but that didn't seem to help. I didn't get what was wrong with me!! The ultimate reason I am inclined to agree with them is not that I feel hungry all the time or feel that I'm starving myself (on the contrary! I eat nutrient dense foods and get way more out of the foods I eat than I was before this healthy initiative)... No, the reason I think they're right is because my fat % has increased meaning my body is holding onto fat because it thinks it's being starved. I guess this is what people mean when they say "listen to your body." Also that I'm tired a lot!

I'll admit, I feel really weird deciding to up my calories when I feel heavy, bloated, and fatigued and the weight has been creeping up again. I just want to say I'm not giving up on the weight loss! This is not an intent to make things easier on me for awhile, I just want to see results for all the hard work I've been doing in workouts... Plus, I don't like how tired I've felt the past two days. And then last week I had that headache that wouldn't pass. Yeah, something has been up and I'm hoping that upping my calories will resolve the problems. I don't want to become lax with my food journaling though, so I decided I will try this for 4-6 weeks. I'll assess  this decision on 6/5, 6/19, and 7/3 (if so needed) to make sure I don't lose track. I don't want to get too anxious about the weight, but I do want to make sure my bodies getting what it needs.

Holy Exhaustion

I cant believe how tired I am today. I took a 3 hour nap after work and still feel totally beat. I guess the weekend took a whole lot outta me. Wow! Last week I missed the Surfers Paradise workout and the Cowabunga workout. Now today I missed 30 minutes of cardio and the Bridal Babe w/o. I hope I'm not as tired the rest of the week so I can kick it into higher gear and make up those workouts Thankfully I have Wednesday off this week, and I think I can use that to play catch up. I haven't been this tired is so SO long. The healthy eating and working out has really energized me, I think, but today I completely crashed. I dont think I had gotten a full nights rest in 3-4 days, and today I was feeling it. Plus I had weird dreams last night, and all day I felt like if I hit the pillow at any moment I would fall back asleep and continue the dream. The shocking part is that when I did take a nap at 3pm, I did continue the dream and it continued to be super weird!

The dream was that I was engaged to my boyfriend and it was the day of our wedding and I suddenly realized I didn't have a dress or any decorations and I felt too rushed and panicked. Then when I went back to sleep, in the dream I told him that it was too rushed and he said he agreed and wanted out. Then he said he wanted to go watch the game at the bar alone, this time so I said fine. But somehow this was code for the wedding was off and we were broken up. So I followed him to the bar and witnessed all these guys telling him that hes not welcome there because he's uncool. Lol. Then I drove home and a storm was coming. He came home after and our roommates told him to leave me alone in my room? LOL. We don't have roommates. I think all this tornado coverage on the news got in my head, as it does every year, and I went into a panic state or something. So funny, but so strange that just like I expected...the dream continued 12 hours after I had got up for work.

Here are some pictures from the zoo. It was a good time we just didn't cover much ground throughout the day. But we ended up seeing most of it, except penguins! 

Ot's past mid month now, so here's an update on my May Goals.

• I have not gotten my drinking under control at all. If anything, I've gone backwards in progress so far, partly due to my Bday but also just lack of effort.
• I thought I could reach 153 this month, since I was down to 157, but now my weights outta control so IDK
• Right now I'm at 3 missed, until I make up last weeks, then I'll just be at one missed.
• I'm trying to keep up with posting yoga, just missed last week because of my weight fluctuations.Posted here and here
• I can hold a plank for 1 min so far.
• Protein intake is definitely progressing. :) The goal was 700-750 a week so I can still take in some more, but it's gone up a lot! I wonder if this is why I'm gaining weight? Though when I googled it all I found is that protein DOES NOT make you gain, just aids muscle growth.
• 7DSD starts when my PFP comes in (I ordered it May 4th)

May Goals

So it's almost May! Wow, April went pretty fast! I think time goes faster when you have daily goals to achieve. Looking back at April, I think I've come a long way - especially compared to March! To Recap:

Final look at April Goals:

• I hardly achieved my bootycalls. 
• I completely stopped eating 2 hours before bed!
• I stuck very close to the TIU nutrition plan w/ the exception of pizza once and a few beers a couple times. Although, all except one time I stayed at a 2 drink maximum. :) But I slipped up on the once a week part, more-so recently.
• I didn't quite complete a 7DSD yet, but I do mostly eat the meals suggested on it.
• I have consistently burned enough to lose a pound a week this month, bringing me down from 168 lbs to 161 lbs!
• I have continued to take a half hour each week to reflect. I did so, here and here and here
• I am very close to being out of the 160's! Possibly by my weigh in on Wednesday I will be and then I will be able to say that yes, I achieved that goal. :)

 I think for May I will carry over some of the goals that I didn't complete or the ones I really enjoyed.

May Goals:

• Drink a maximum of 2 drinks, preferably wine or vodka, once a week at most.
• Reach 153 lbs
• Take a half hour each week for reflection
• Miss no more than 3 Bikini Series workouts that don't get made up
• Practice Yoga every Sunday ---
• post about yoga workouts on Friday and TIU Workouts on Tuesday
• Be able to hold plank position for 2 full minutes by the end of the month
• Take in about 100-111g of protein per day _ 700-750g a week. Less later in the month when I weigh less.
• Complete a 7DSD

Yoga & Arms

 

Just click the image for direct links to the youtube videos I've been doing! :)

/// Did 1/2 of the 30DS today, plus 65 min. cardio

April Goals

I did so awesome this week with workouts and eating clean! I only managed 3 bootycalls. I only managed 3 bootycalls but that's better than 0! On TIU I posted:

My April Goals:
>> Get in the habit of bootycalls. Even if not every single day, I want to see myself doing them 3-4 times a week.
>> Stop eating 2 hours before bed time. It's when I snack the most I realized so this should make a huge difference.
>> Stick to the TIU nutrition plan as closely as possible all month; only drinking once a week at most (2-4 drink maximum)
>> Complete a 7DSD this month
>> Burn 3500 calories a week at the gym to achieve at least a 1 lb loss/wk
>> Take a half an hour every week to remind myself why I'm trying to get healthy and eat right; allotting time to refocus.
>> Get out of the 160's!
Should be a great month!

I can say I'm really proud of myself for getting 3 in! I'll aim for 4 next week! :) Also, I burned so many calories this week. I stayed focused every single day and made smart choices. Last month I shrank in inches but the scale was kind of stuck around 166-168. This month I want to get out of this scale-rut & push myself out of the 160's.

I'm thinking I will do my 7DSD this week coming week since the following week I have an overnight shift. Also this week is my sisters surgery. It's a stressful time and I'm aiming not to fall off my awesome streak due to stress or inconvenience (being at the hospital). I will pre-plan my meals for that day and get a workout in before I go to the hospital. 

Just for fun, I made a TIU booytcall hoodie. I suppose if I stick to 3-4 bootycalls all month I could get myself this hoodie or a TIU tank or t-shirt :)

Workout Binder

So March is just about over and it's time to focus on April! More cardio, more HIIT, and switching my focus from my thighs to my arms. I'm excited for April because the warm weather is finally approaching and that is the most motivating thing!

I will be doing this TIU Arm workout everyday of the month. Yes, EVERY DAY! If my muscles are too sore, I will decrease the amount of weight or do no weight at all, but I want to make it a habit to do a workout every single day. It will help me get in the habit of morning Bootycalls as seen on Tone it Up.

I also made this binder of workouts from magazines. A lot of times I have to flip through a stack of magazines to find the one I'm looking for... this way, they're all in one spot. I just ripped my favorites from the magazines and added them to my workout binder. It'll be really cool when I have more... Each morning I can wake up, flip the binder open and do whichever workout I flip to. Right now I end up doing the same few.

Thighs & Tummys

There is a website that shows different types of tummys and I have come to the conclusion that I have a stress tummy. In response to this, I have focused on getting my sleep and been trying to include yoga or pilates AT LEAST once a week to de-stress. I took the images from the site and made this quick graphic on polyvore.com to illustrate the differences between the bellys. I added the lines because I was having trouble distinguishing the bloated and stress belly. The stress belly sinks in more then poofs out at the bottom, while the bloated belly is just wider and starts poofing out almost immediately. The website says a bloated tummy is often flat in the morning and swells by the end of the night. I experience that sometimes, but I wouldn't say most days. The stress belly is for "over-achievers" and people who might often skip meals, or experience IBS which may cause bloating. Anyway, I believe I have a stress belly.

The website also lists tips for each belly type which is kind of cool. I'd suggest you check it out!

Also, I started my March focus workouts targeting my thighs. I apologize for the pictures, but I think it's kind of necessary if I want to compare before the workouts and after. I bought Jillian Michael's Killer Buns and Thighs DVD and did my first one on Monday. It was hard! I can't imagine doing this all month and not seeing a change in my thighs!!  The DVD has three parts; level one, level two, and level three. I think I'm going to spend 1 week on level one (Doing it Mon/Wed/Fri) and then I'll spend one week on level two, and the last two weeks of March on level three so I get the optimum results. Currently I'm doing the easiest version of the moves because even though the section is for beginners, it's not for real beginners like me! These moves are hard and by the middle of the workout, my thighs didn't want to do what I was trying to get them to do. lol. I'll post a picture at the end of the month with my results.

Motivation Monday

Well Valentines Day is this week, and so is my boyfriends 30th birthday! I heard we will be getting a big snow storm on those two days, which sucks but might also be my savior. He wanted to go get these amazing, AMAZING tropical drinks at New China but as much as I adore them, I can't help but wonder how many hundreds of calories are in each drink. Then we were supposed to indulge in Mr. Beefys because, as he sees it, he can end his 20's the way he started them. :) But with the winter storms finally brewing, these plans may not occur...unless we just put it off until the weekend.

Then there is valentines day which I guess I can call my "cheat day" but then I also have that whole weekend off and wouldn't mind using Friday or Saturday as my cheat day. Maybe just some champagne and a salad for V-day? It doesn't matter what we eat or do, just that we're together right?

This is one of those weeks where I want to call it quits because there's too much going on. But the more times I quit, the more I'll have to start over. NO MORE STARTING OVER. Just progressing from here on out.

In order to try to track my progression and line it up with the goals in my head, I made a list of goals so I know exactly what I want and what I expect. March-November I will be mastering different workouts that claim they will deliver results. There are so many workouts to choose from that say "Do this for 20 minutes a day and you'll have killer ___" I'll pick some gems, I'll post exactly what workouts I'm doing to tone each area, and I'll post pictures of my results. Like a science project, with me as the test subject! Haha. I will lay out my hypothesis for the month and then return with my findings.  I also like this idea because if it does work, you guys can use this as a tool to get in shape (or, dare I say it, I can reuse it years down the line if I, curse-it-be-the-day, ever get out of shape again.

Oh, and side comment. I had another revelation today. I was talking about calorie deficits in my post yesterday and I was trying to do the math on how much calories to consume and how much to burn. Well, I realized that LoseIt.com also tracks this for me. It's called "Net Calories." So my net calories each day should be -1000 if I want to lose 2 lbs per week.