Memorial Day and Progress

Hi, all!

Happy Monday! And more importantly, happy Memorial Day! I am so thankful for those men and women who have sacrificed their own lives in order to save ours. How did your weekend go? Did you make healthy food choices? Have a good workout? I had a great weekend, I worked out once and stayed under my calorie goal both days. The weather here has been crazy today, it's been rainy one minute and then the sun is shining. Oh well, I'll be inside most of the day anyways.

I'm incredibly proud of myself for something that happened yesterday. After church, my mom and I went out for lunch at this delicious Italian restaurant and anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Italian food. Anyways, we had Italian food and I made a better food choice than I normally would have. Typically, I would have gotten a huge serving of pasta and eaten all of it. However, I order a sandwich and some minestrone soup. I even only ate half of the sandwich at lunch and had the rest of it for dinner. Things are changing for the better in regards to my food choices and I can't be happier about it.

This evening we're grilling out, even though it's a rainy day, and I've already tracked what I'll be eating. It is things like this that are different from before I changed my life. Honestly, things are different from even a month ago. Before I allowed myself a 'cheat' day and I think that was where I struggled a great deal. When I allowed myself to eat a higher amount of calories once a week definitely took away from the progress I made throughout the week. Also, I shouldn't need to 'cheat' because I'm allowing myself to eat everything within moderation throughout the week. All of the foods I eat should fit into my calorie goal. Those 'cheat' days really did throw me off because it made it harder to get back on track the next day. So, no more 'cheat' days and focus more on making sure things fit into my nutritional goals for the week.

Today I decided that I'm going to do more strength training and not just upper body! I did a shorter, whole body strength training session today. My session could have been longer, but some are better than none. Hopefully, I'll be able to increase my strength training sessions from here on out. Along with my strength training, I walked for 32 minutes and I'm feeling great! It's especially wonderful because I wasn't sure if I was going to work out or not when I woke up this morning. But I decided that I not only should work out but crave to do it. I never regret a workout, but sometimes I regret not working out. So, I got my workout in and loved every minute of it.

Okay, well I'm off. Time to watch the baseball game and get a few things ready for dinner tonight. I hope that you all have a wonderful Monday, week and Memorial Day! Until next time!

~Sara~

Update

Hi all!

Happy Friday! How are you all doing today? I am doing alright today, ready to get back in the swing of things. I will be honest, the past two days my nutrition was off, especially Wednesday. Yesterday I tried to get back on track and was doing well until the evening, I did not eat enough throughout the day and I paid for it in the evening. Today is a new day though and I am thankful for the new beginning that today offers. From now on, I am upping the intensity of my strength training sessions because I have been slacking with it and if I want to see results, I do need to work harder.

Let me tell you, my workout was intense today! I did my 30 minutes of cardio and 40 minutes of strength training. 4 sets of legwork and 3 sets of ab work, I would have done more but I was so shaky because I needed to eat something. So, I stopped because I thought that was better than passing out. On Wednesday, I missed my workout, which is why I did both legs and abs today. I am probably going to be hurting tomorrow, especially my legs, but I love the burn.

I have a weigh-in tomorrow for my challenge, not sure, how it is going to go because of my two off days this week. Oh well, it is just one weigh-in, it does not define who I am as a person. Even though I had two off days nutritionally this week, I am still calling this a decent week. I have 293 fitness minutes and before Wednesday, I was spot on nutritionally. Two off days are not going to derail  me completely, not this time.  

Time to get back to my schoolwork, this week I am trying to get through most of the information for my final paper and presentation. It is definitely time consuming but necessary. Hopefully I’ll be able to update by Monday at the latest. I hope that you all are having a great day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Discouraged and Motivation

Hi all!

Happy Friday! How are you all doing today? I cannot believe it's already Friday, this week has flown by, which is both a positive and negative. This week I have not accomplished as much as I had hoped, but thankfully I'm ahead on my homework. I just need to push through and continue moving forward.

I'm going to be honest, this week I have been feeling really down for some reason. I have been feeling so fatigued, tired and lacking motivation. The reason why is unknown, but I haven't give up. I'm working really hard to overcome whatever is going on with me. I'm still working out and eating within my calorie goal, so that is positive. The effort I gave may not have been 100%, but working out at 50% is better than not working out at all.

Part of me is feeling discouraged because I have such a long way to go to reach my health goals.
Last night one of my online friends posted something on instagram that really spoke to me. It said that even if you can't see results physically, every effort is changing your body from the inside.
This is completely true. Even though I haven't lost a bunch of clothing sizes, still have stomach rolls, still have a great deal of excess fat all over my body, does not mean that I haven't made changes.
I calculated the calories of a typical day before I changed my eating habits and the results were staggering. Yesterday, I ate 2171 calories (21 calories under my goal). Before I changed my eating habits, I would eat between 2000 and 2200 calories at lunch alone!?! Then add in another 1300 - 1500 calories for dinner and an evening snack. I would skip breakfast most days, eat a huge lunch, bigger dinner and evening snack. On a daily basis, I was eating between 3400 and 3600, if not more! It's no wonder why I was continually gaining weight before. From 3400 (at the least) to 2200 calories a day. I'm not hungry, I can eat all throughout the day, if I pick my food carefully. Plus, I'm losing weight, so what's not to love?!?

Today was abs day, feeling great after my ab routine! I probably could have done more sets but I will work on that next week. Hopefully next week I'll have a bit more motivation as well. I'll be getting my cardio in this evening, while dinner is cooking. Well, I'm off to hopefully get a bunch of school work accomplished. I hope that you all have an amazing day. Until next time!

~Sara~

New Experiences and Enduring

Hi all!

Happy Friday! How are you all doing today? It's a beautiful yet cold day here in Wisconsin. Beginning tomorrow, it is suppose to be warming up. We'll be in double digits before windchill and that's a very happy thought. It was my nephew's birthday 2 days ago and tomorrow afternoon we're celebrating. Hopefully my sister-in-law will have some healthier options available, doubtful but I still have hope. If not, I'll make the best choices that I can or simply eat at home instead.

My legs are still killing from leg day on Wednesday but I'm pushing through the sore muscles. As much as it hurts, I love sore muscles. Today my workout was abs and cardio. My abs are definitely the part of me that I want to see transform the most, sadly, I cannot spot reduce. So, I'm continuing my cardio to burn fat and doing exercises that will help to tone my muscles. As long as I continue this, I will see results, slowly but surely.

This morning, I was doing some research about kettlebell workouts. I got a kettlebell for Christmas and I wanted to learn proper form for different exercises that I found. After learning the proper form for kettlebell swings, I decided to use that as part of my cardio for the day. Let me tell you, the kettlebell definitely gives you a phenomenal workout. My calorie burn in 20 minutes with the kettlebell would have taken at least an hour, if not more, through walking alone. Not to mention that the kettlebell offers toning benefits.

Weigh-in is in a few days, I'm excited to see the results. I've been at or under my calorie goal every day this week and have worked out 4 days thus far. Overall, it has been a great week in regards to nutrition and fitness. :) Well, now I am off to go continue working ahead on my school work. I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon and evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

Strength Training and School Work

Hi all!

Happy Wednesday! How are you all doing today? I am absolutely wonderful, feeling motivated and a good sore. It's another cold day here, but I'm not letting that get me down. Today I'm feeling really great, motivated, happy, and just excited for life. It is truly amazing what a positive attitude does for you, emotionally and physically.

This morning I had a killer legs and cardio day, by the end of my strength training session, my legs were shaking. The last 30 seconds of it, I almost didn't make it through because my legs were shaking so much. It was difficult to finish that session but I pushed through and I'm proud of myself. The exercises I did were not difficult by any means, I just haven't done any strength training in awhile. It has literally been months. After looking at my records, I realized that it's been between 11 and 12 months since my last consistent strength training sessions! God, no wonder why my muscles were screaming at me during my workout. I've done some consistent cardio between now and then but never strength training. I just need to ask myself one thing, why?!? Why on earth would I do that to myself? Things could be very different right now if I would have continued with strength training, but it is what it is. Let me tell you, I am ridiculously sore right now. I needed to bring my fitness equipment back upstairs and it was not an easy task. That just means that my lower body muscles are awake now.

This morning I decided to take some photos of myself, baring most of myself. I wasn't able to hide behind clothing. As much as I dislike taking pictures of myself like that, I think that it's crucial. One thing that I'm really trying to do is to not focus on the number on the scale. Comparing pictures, especially one's with fewer clothes, and measurements are really telling. I encourage everyone to take measurements and photos consistently, they may show your progress in a different way. It gives you a different perspective than just relying on the scale. I don't know about all of you, but I would rather feel and look healthier at a higher weight, than the other way around.

My class opened up two days ago, so I'm enjoying getting things prepared for my class to officially start on Monday. I've set up my homework chart, saved everything that I need to onto my computer and began working on my assignments. Yesterday, I turned in all of my week one assignments and began working on week two assignments. I figure, this session of class will not be all that busy because there's only one class, whereas beginning in session two, I'll be in three classes (including the one I'm in now). So I'm working ahead as much as possible, while I do have the time. Starting in the middle of February, things are going to get ridiculously busy again. Oh well, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for my undergrad work, only 4 months until graduation!

Well, I'm off to work on some school work. I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon and evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

No excuses

Hi all!

Happy Tuesday! How are you all doing today? It's a beautiful, yet cold day here in southeastern Wisconsin. Today it only feels like -11 with windchill instead of -25, like it was yesterday. Is winter over yet?!? I'll answer my own question, not by a long shot. November and December were incredibly mild, so January and February for sure, will probably be full on winter. This week our highest high is 16 and that's before windchill. It is what it is though and I'll deal with it.

This morning I realized how much I was wallowing in my sickness and emotions lately. Honestly, I just wanted to shake myself and just yell at myself. So I gave myself a little pep talk and I'm choosing to have a more positive attitude and get back to my usual happy self. I have been making excuses, plain and simple, and that needs to stop now. Yes, I am sick, but I can't change that. What I can change is how I handle it. I do need to rest, that was doctor's orders, but I still will be up and do some light working out. So this morning, I put on my exercise shoes, HRM, and ankle weights and did some walking and a little strength training.

I haven't been feeling the greatest about myself, physically, we all experience that sometimes. I have been feeling sort of discouraged because I had gained some weight back last year and clothing that was loose on me is now tighter again. Yes, it does suck that those things happened, but they did happen. It's time to look at the big picture, I'm down 23 pounds from my heaviest weight. I'm wearing a size 20 pants instead of a 24. Today I'm wearing a size XL shirt when before it would have needed to be an XXL. I've lost about 7.5% of my body weight. I can't complain about any of these things, I am smaller than I was and just losing 7.5% of my body weight has a great deal of health benefits.

Starting today I am going to be doing more strength training. I know that I can't really build a whole lot of muscle while I'm eating at a calorie deficit, but it can help me to get leaner. No more excuses this year. I want to see amazing changes in my mind and body. Losing weight will happen, as long as I continue to eat at a deficit but that's not the most important thing. Ultimately, I just want to be healthy. Healthy is not a clothing size or a number on the scale. It's how I feel about myself. I hope that you all remember this fact as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

Bad News

Hi all!

How's everyone doing today? It's actually "warm" here today, it's in the 30's! :) This week in general is suppose to be warmer, in the mid and upper 30's, which is a welcome thing. Now, if only it will stay this temperature and continue to get warmer. But sadly, next week it's suppose to be back down into the teens and lower. :(

Well I went to my chiropractor this morning and he gave me some news that I didn't enjoy hearing. My shoulder could take 4-6 weeks to heal. :( So at that point, no upper body strength training for a the coming weeks and I have to be care with how much I'm moving my shoulders and arms at all. It's been really tough the past few days, with my pain level. Last night it got so bad that my mother had to feed me dinner because it hurt too much to even lift up my right arm to my mouth. So I'm just resting my shoulders as much as possible, icing a ton, and praying for quick healing.

Although I'm having an issue with my shoulder, I am not going to let it get me down. It's day 2 of my BLC and I'm doing well so far. After I have lunch and finish icing my shoulder, I'm going to get some cardio in, probably just walking today. Mostly because it will be the least straining on my shoulder with what I have available to me.

Time to cut this short and rest my shoulder, ice it, and read an article for school. I hope everyone has a wonderful day. So until next time!

~Sara~