Friday, January 31, 2014

Feeling Awesome!

I was so close to not going to the gym tonight. I told myself yesterday that I wasn't going to go and so I didn't and then tonight I told myself the same thing. I told myself that I would just do more on Sunday (I wouldn't be able to attend the gym Saturday because I work a double) and so I kept thinking, thinking, thinking about me not going to the gym for two days in a row and then I thought I would just go for a run but I made the excuse that it was too dark. Than I FINALLY decided to go and I can't even explain how happy  I am that I went! I went on the stepper/elliptical contraption for 30 minutes than to my surprise ran on a speed of 5.7 for 15 minutes! Ahh, I was so happy and to my amazement, even thought I was sweating so much, I still felt like I could do more! But I walked for about 2 minutes to cool off and called it quits.

I also got some new sneakers! I'll take a picture of them very soon. I through my other ones in the trash because I have had them for three years and they're kind of beat up plus they smell preeeetty bad.

I actually decided to go to the gym because I was reading some blogs about working out today and it got me motivated to do the same. So go you!

I hope everyone has an awesome night!

I know I shouldn't think this, but I really hope that the scale on Monday reflects my recovery and how hard i'm working *crosses fingers*

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

I don't want to go!


This video made me get off my butt and go to the gym tonight. I really didn't want to go but I went for 30 minutes on the elliptical and sweat my butt off. I'm glad I went.

I installed a squat challenger app on my phone and I don't find squats to be all that bad, except for my legs burning but I get past the pain. After that, I did about 20 minutes of both squats, jumping jacks, weights and other various exercises but I felt that was not enough so after watching this video I decided to go.

I love this guy! He has a whole weight loss channel on Youtube and he is so positive and encouraging. He really motivates me and I enjoy watching his videos. So Shay, thank you for the kick in the ass you gave me...I needed it.

:)

Goodnight Everyone!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Need to get my sh*t together!

Ugh, I've been eating horrible =(

On Saturday, I went out with Craig's daughter out to a buffet. Granted, I only had one plate but it wasn't exactly the healthiest (stuffing, garlic bread, orange chicken etc.) than two glasses of chocolate milk, arg.

Monday I had like 3 slices of pizza for supper (and they weren't small pieces, either)

Today, I went to Panda Express and had chow mien, orange chicken and some beef thingy. UGH

I don't want to eat like this anymore.

So right now I made a celery, banana, spinach, strawberry smoothie for work tomorrow and I am making oatmeal squares with sunflower seed and dried fruit to bring as well.

I am still working out but it deficits the purpose if I eat like shit so I am trying to find a balance.

The rest of the week I am going to eat very clean and work out as much as I can!

This week looks like:

Wednesday: Gym or jog
Thursday: Gym or jog
Friday: Gym or jog
Saturday: work two doubles - no gym
Sunday: Gym or jog

Yesterday I went on a run and now my legs are sore from slipping and sliding on snow but I like the feeling. I want to start doing squats everyday (starting tomorrow) and I am thinking of doing a 5 day smoothie challenge next week.



My problem is I have to start saying I am going to do something and JUST DO IT. So far I have worked out and ate fairly well but I want to start doing more for myself and being more productive.

That is about it

Have a good night!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Weigh In # 4

I am down .4 today. I now weigh 156.6. I am 1.6 lbs away from being 155. When I hit 155 that will be my real challenge as I have not been below 155 since...forever! It is coming off slow. I would like to see at least a full pound or two each week but I am glad that I am losing something each week.

My birthday is coming up in less than a month (February 24) & I REALLY want to be down to 150. I am going to work extra hard to reach this goal because than I will have 5-10 lbs until I reach my goal. I. Can. Do. It :)

I really want to start drinking smoothies more. I would start juicing but its an annoying clean up and I feel I don't get full enough during the day. I think I will start looking on pinterest for some easy smoothie recipes. I don't really have much else to say.

SW: 159.6
CW: 156.6


Hope everyone has a good Monday.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Brutal Workout

Jogging was brutal today. It said it was 12 degrees on my phone but it felt like -10. UGH! But I jogged but not for too long, probably for 10 minutes. I couldn't do anymore than that because my fingers were freezing. So this is my workout schedule for this week.

January 19-25
Sunday - Shoveled snow for 1 hour
Monday - Jogging/Walking for 30-45 minutes
Tuesday - Jogged for 10 minutes
Wednesday - work double (no gym)
Thursday - Gym
Friday - Jogging
Saturday - Probably Ice skating

Monday, January 20, 2014

Weigh In # 3

After those five days at the gym last week, I have weighed in at only 157.0--BUT I also started my period (I know a lot of people probably don't want to hear that). Last Friday I had a date night on Friday. Craig (my boyfriend) and I went to Olive Garden, shopping than the movies. At Olive Garden I had lasagna but had half ONLY because i had like four bread sticks - but they were SO good :/

We had nothing at the movies (which we usually have at least a large drink of ice - t) we just brought water with us. During the weekend I spent 40 hours at work (not intentional) but I ate relatively well. I had gone shopping for myself and bought pretty healthy foods and I felt really good about not caving in and buy junk food. I actually looked at the nutrition facts when it came to things like peanut butter and decided what PB to buy according to what I thought was the healthiest.

I did not go to the gym over the weekend because of work BUT I did about an hour shoveling both Saturday & Sunday and my knees and arms are still aching! So I count that as a workout :)

Today, I really did not want to work out and I made the excuse that I was too crampy to go to the gym. INSTEAD I went outside and jogged. It felt so nice. It was cloudy, cold, and my sneakers got wet but SO WHAT. I often felt myself smiling while I was running because I remember when I was unable to run such a long distance and I felt great.

SW - 159.6
CW - 157.0



I was also smiling because I pushed myself even though I reaaaally did not want to go to the gym, I found an alternative. I pushed myself halfway up this really steep hill as I was jogging back home and so I stopped halfway because I was so tired so I took several seconds to re-coop than I went the rest of the way. I will not lie, my throat burned, I thought I was going to throw up, I was so out of breath BUT. I. DID. IT! I was almost thinking I would make that as sort of a challenge to myself if I didn't want to run a long distance. I would walk down the hill than run up it 5-10 times. Hmm, I might think of doing that sometime...

Hope everyone had a good workout today!

Have a good night :)

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Words of encouragement help!

These are the status comments I received on Facebook when I announced for the ump-teenth time time this week that I was at Planet Fitness from my cellular device :)

1. I wish I had your will power when it comes to something like that! I see your post everyday about going. That's awesome!
2. Rachel, I'm trying to be like you. I have been goin everyday since this week.
3.Good job! Do it out of habit and eventually it will stop being a chore. 
4.I love that you go before I go every day, because it holds me accountable! You're awesome!
5. Keep it up Rachel, you can do it!!

It is totally cool that I receive these on a daily basis because it motivates me to try even harder. My legs are so weak and hurting right now from going to the gym today but I LOVE IT! I love that I feel this way because I know I am doing SOMETHING right at the gym. I love that I feel pain the next day in my legs and stomach area-is that strange? 

I know that I am not pushing myself hard at the gym if :
1. I am not constantly wiping sweat from my eyes
2. My shirt isn't soaked front and back
3. I'm not making unattractive faces
4. I'm not making noises, wishing to stop
5. And I am not dying of thirst




Today, I REALLY didn't want to go to the gym because I had just got off of work and I really wanted to go home afterwards but instead I went straight to the gym, that way I could just get it over with and I still want to keep that mental note that the gym is ONLY for 1 hour. That is not a long time. Some people do more than an hour but I think an hour for me is just fine.

Before the gym I always say to myself that I am only going to go for 30 minutes but I always push myself to go for that whole hour once I am in the zone. It is an awesome feeling and its only week two! I really want to be able to lose those two pounds for my weigh in on Monday! Will I do it??

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Push Yourself!


Another successful day at the gym. When I left the gym, I was soaked with sweat both front and back and so I knew today was a good day. I tried a machine that I had not tried in awhile. Its a machine that always seemed to kick my ass. The machine basically makes you step takes steps (my descriptions suck) and you can set how much resistance you want and how high you want to step. I had my eye on it today because I was on the treadmill and I ran for 5 minutes and talked myself out of doing the last 5 minutes because I was "tired." When I stopped running, I wasn't even tired, I was sweating but I was not out of breath or wanting to die AND I could still breath with my mouth closed, fine. I walked the rest of the 25 minutes I had left.

As I was walking I was looking at that stepper machine and decided that I was going to push myself on that machine after I was done on the treadmill and I must say it was a really good workout after I got off that machine. I loved it! I saw a guy next to me sweating so bad. He had a puddle of sweat on the floor below him. That may sound disgusting (it kind of is) but it just showed how committed he was and I wanted to be the same way, so I made it a point to work really hard and I did. I accomplished an awesome workout.

I am planning on going on that stepper machine again tomorrow! So far, I have gone to the gym every day since Sunday and like I had said a few entries ago that I plan on going everyday except for Saturday, as that will be my rest day PLUS I work a double that day so there is no way I will make it there.

I have also been eating well, drinking water and tracking what I eat. Things are going really well so far and even though I have only lost two lbs so far, I. Feel. GREAT. I already feel better in my clothes. I can't wait to hit the 155 mark so that I can finally push hard to finally get below 155. It has been like 3 years and every time I lose weight I never get below that point. This year, its time.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Weigh in # 2

I am down .4! At least it is something right?! Yesterday was when I was extra cautious of what I put in my body. I even started tracking again. I realized that no matter how many tracking apps I  install on my phone I always never track when it comes to tracking everything I eat. So I have a little purple notebook that I had bought a while back that I am using for tracking.


SW: 159.6
CW: 157.6


Since I will be going to the gym more often this week and tracking what I eat, I am shooting for 155.6-2 lbs. This will be awesome because every time EVERY TIME I hit 155 lbs I stop & than I gain weight. It doesn't make sense to me. This blog will help me. I know it. I am so exciteeeeeeed :)

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Make it count!


Welcome to my stomach pudge, stretch marks and all, yay. I want to see progress on my stomach being it pretty much the part of my body I want to work on the most. To me, as of right now I do want to be healthy but right now I am focusing more on losing weight and less on wanting to eat healthier to BE healthier. Does that make sense? The scale has gone up, some and I think it was a result of not a good two days but I did go to the gym today and plan on going Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. I loved going to the gym early in the morning and it would be nice to keep up with it. Today, there were hardly any people there. Most probably being the fact that it was healthy but once I was ready to leave it started to fill up quick.

Last weeks workout schedule looked like this:
Monday - Gym - 1 hr
Tuesday - Gym - 35 min

I was going to go on Saturday but it was so icy and YES, I could have done workouts at home but sadly, I didn't even do that.

This weeks gym schedule
Sunday - 1 hour
Monday - 1 hour (weigh in # 2)
Tuesday - 1 hour
Wednesday - 1 hour
Thursday - 1 hour
Friday - 1 hour
Saturday - rest day 

I'm ready to bust ass at the gym this week because I am not too confident about weigh in #2.  Every time I complete a gym day I will put it in bold



Friday, January 10, 2014

Bad Day


My workout schedule this week said I was going to work out on Thursday. I talked myself out of it and ended up going to bed at 7:30 instead. I have been so tired this week but for the most part I have been eating good...UNTIL TODAY. I had two helpings of chicken nuggets and french fries and than two sugar cookies with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. GAH. I need to keep up with staying motivated because I don't know how this weeks weigh in is going to be. I really think that since I did not work out Thursday AND now Friday because of plans that I will go on Saturday at some point than definitely early Sunday morning.

I am trying to ingrain in myself that yes, I had a bad day but to keep. going. I got this!


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Finally did an early morning workout!



I finally was able to go to the gym really early in the morning and watch the sunrise at about 7:30am. I was surprised at how many people were at the gym. I was kind of hoping that I would be one of the only ones there just so I could be by myself but I actually did like that there were a lot of people there. It made me think of all the determined people out there striving for some of the same things - to be healthy, lose weight, and/or maintain their weight.

I hope I can push myself to go to the gym more often, although I need to make sure I eat enough because I could hardly jog on the treadmill without feeling light headed. No, I am not starving myself, I just made stupid choice to not pick up anything for breakfast except coffee. I need to make sure I am giving my body the nutrients it needs AS WELL as eating enough so that my metabolism doesn't slow down causing me to gain more weight. Like I said, I want to (hopefully) lose two pounds for my second weigh in.

My Gym Plan + What I have done so far for January 6 - January 11

Sunday - No gym
Monday - Gym - 1 hr
Tuesday - Gym - 35 min
Wednesday - No gym (working a double)
Thursday - Gym (after meeting)
Friday - No gym
Saturday - Gym  (early morning workout)



Monday, January 6, 2014

1st Weigh In of 2014.



My cat gave me a scare on Saturday and I almost think I have not cried so hard in a long time. I had to bring my cat Carmen to the emergency vet because she was jerking her head and clawing at her face causing her face to bleed (she could have been turning into a zombie for all I know) but it all turned out that she had a bad tooth that needed to be pulled and so they took it out, gave me antibiotics for her and I went on my way. She is just like her old self again, cuddling with me and begging for food multiple times a day.

To some people, it might seem kind of silly that I was fussing over a cat so much but once you have a pet and it becomes apart of your family, its hard to see them in pain and I honestly thought she was choking and was going to die. I might have been overreacting just a tad but I thought about her dying and I lost it. I can't help it. She's been with me since I was sixteen so she is something I get really emotional about when I see that she is in pain or really sick (which she never is). So now that she is better, I can move on from that...


I have weighed myself this morning. I am now 158.0 so I have lost 1.6. I was kind of hoping to be in the 157's because I weighed myself a couple days ago and it said 157.6 but for my first weigh in of this year I wanted to lose anything. I wanted to recap how my week has been and see what I need to change or do more of. I am happy I lost something, don't get me wrong but I am rooting for two pounds for next week.

SW: 159.6
CW: 158.0


My goal is to plan to drink ONLY tea & water for the week. I have done that pretty much all this week but I didn't drink enough water. I have also come to the realization that I like tea. I never was a fan of tea but its actually not bad and I want to drink more and discover more flavors.

I have also discovered mandarins. O. M. G. I could eat them all day long. I bought a bag for snacking on at work and each one was so friggen delicious. OH! OH! I should also, this week be more aware of eating more vegetables. I can eat a lot of fruit but I should really be eating more green vegetables as well.

So that is all, so far.

I will be attending the gym today. That is another thing. I only went to the gym maybe two times last week because of storms and because of working overtime. I find it OKAY to work out at home but I don't really push myself enough and I really don't enjoy it as much as the gym. But I will try to get better at it in case of another storm.


Thursday, January 2, 2014

Get up & do something!


Hey again!

I was motivated to go to the gym today even though there was a storm outside my window. This is how it went:

I came home at two from work and was really tired and so I took a nap until about six. I logged onto face book and saw that someone had gone to Planet Fitness so that made me want to go to despite the weather and so I drove to Planet Fitness at around 7:45p only to see a sign saying they were closing at 8 because of the weather.

I then went to Walmart to get a few things, went home and decided that since I am still in my workout clothes that I would do a workout. It is pretty simple, all you do is log onto Youtube and there are so many different workouts you can chose from. I started off doing a reggae workout (I looked ridiculous) than a circuit training workout. Now, I feet satisfied that I at least did SOMETHING.

It looks as though there is still going to be a big storm tomorrow so probably no gym after work but I will definetely want to get a workout in whether it be at the gym or at home. I also want to search for more cute workout pants at TjMaxx (just saying) :)

By being subscribed to so many people who are in the same boat as I am really gets me motivated and it really makes me want to get up and get my heart racing. I wasn't even thinking of working out today until I saw someone on Facebook had gone to Planet Fitness and it made me want to do the same.



Monday is weigh In day so I got to make these days count. My first goal is to lose at least SOMETHING, ANYTHING. From this day on, I need to work on drinking water, water, water & more water. I drink water but not as much as I can.  But I am happy to say that SO FAR my eating habits are doing good.

Hope everyone has a good day. DRIVE safe but don't really go out if you don't have to :)