Now, you know from reading my posts, that I am slowly transitioning into a new diet. You can't just go from eating out three times a week to vegetables for dinner right?! Well I can't, haha... those of you who have are awesome! I am a firm believer though that those crash diets don't work. I believe that if you just take out EVERYTHING you know and love to eat, it won't work in the long run. My mom was on Lindora for approximately 6 months. That diet was ridiculous and very unhealthy, in my opinion! I'm going to give you a little bit of my educated information on healthy eating. YOU NEED CARBS! Yes, I said it. Those low carb diets are not only unhealthy, but studies have shown that those who were on low carb diets end up going back to their old eating habits and gain all of their weight back, plus more. The important thing is to maintain a balance in your diet. This is how you should balance your caloric intake:
Carbohydrates: 45%
Fat: 20%
Protein: 35%
I also believe that you should be allowed a cheat day or days in the beginning. I have a cheat day! I make my cheat day Sunday. I choose that day because it's the day I know I will be hanging out with family and not wanting to think about my caloric intake. This is wonderful for me. I still don't binge eat, but I don't worry so much about my carbs, fat, or calories. This keeps me happy, and keeps me on point the rest of the 7 days out of the week. I don't get super bad cravings for things and I can maintain my diet. Do you have any diet or supplement ideas?
7.27.2010
Week 2: Weigh in and Motivation
Sunday was weigh in! You would think all those days I worked my ass off I would get some damn results, but... no. Still the same weight! I could not believe my eyes! But then I had to stop and think about something. I am gaining lean muscle, and it's true that muscle weighs more than fat, so I didn't freak out. Then, my workout partner and boyfriend weighed himself and he lost a whopping 6lbs! 6lbs in 7 days?! Come on man, that was really depressing. So I thought back on how things went: Did I eat too poorly? Did I take in too many calories? Did I binge eat? Did I push myself hard enough? And all of my answers passed with flying colors. I know that I'm doing my best, so why nothing? Well B (my workout partner) told me, you look slimmer. Your back is smaller, your belly has less rolls, it's working! So I looked in the mirror and lo and behold, it was true! Now I've been doing some research online, reading stories, watching videos, and most have said that the first week, people usually gain weight! So the measurements are what are more accurate. I've been getting suggestions to measure myself, and I know I've said before that I would, so finally today I did! According to Beach Body, you should measure your arms, chest, waist, hips, and legs. So I did. Now, I am pretty sure I dropped a little bit in measurement since last week, so this may not be super accurate, but it's as accurate as it's going to get. Here are my measurements:
Arms:
Left: 12" Right: 12"
Chest: 42.5"
Waist: 41"
Hips: 44"
Legs:
Left: 25" Right: 26"
I am hoping I can drop my waist approximately 2 inches by the end of the ninety days... better yet, let's set that as my goal. My goal is to lose 2 inches by the end of the ninety day program. I hope I lose more, but I am setting a reasonable goal for myself. After all, it took me five years to grow that much, so I'm not going to expect a miracle in 90 days. And, that brings me to my next topic.
Motivation. What motivates you? Is it an extrinsic or intrinsic motivator? Is the motivator constant or does it change daily? Does the motivator give you ENOUGH motivation? I have tons of motivators, but my main motivator is living a long and healthy life. I want to be able to run around with my kids when they are playing or are in sports. I don't want to embarrass them when they are older and have an unhealthy, fat, mom. I want to be able to watch them grow and go through the transitions of graduation, college, marriage, babies, etc. I want to be able to do things for myself when I get older and not depend on a wheel chair, or a walker, or my children! I want to be able to travel and be independent until the day I die. Every day that I wake up tired and beat up emotionally, I remind myself of my ultimate goal. See, I believe our problem is that we think about the here and now; well this tastes good, and you only live ONCE! Well, it's only one burger, etc. etc. Well, when you get blood test results that says you have high cholesterol, hypertension, and/or diabetes, you will be wondering how?! And it's because you didn't think about your future, you thought about the here and now. I really hope things are going well for you all, and I hope you learn from my journey. Please share yours!
Arms:
Left: 12" Right: 12"
Chest: 42.5"
Waist: 41"
Hips: 44"
Legs:
Left: 25" Right: 26"
I am hoping I can drop my waist approximately 2 inches by the end of the ninety days... better yet, let's set that as my goal. My goal is to lose 2 inches by the end of the ninety day program. I hope I lose more, but I am setting a reasonable goal for myself. After all, it took me five years to grow that much, so I'm not going to expect a miracle in 90 days. And, that brings me to my next topic.
Motivation. What motivates you? Is it an extrinsic or intrinsic motivator? Is the motivator constant or does it change daily? Does the motivator give you ENOUGH motivation? I have tons of motivators, but my main motivator is living a long and healthy life. I want to be able to run around with my kids when they are playing or are in sports. I don't want to embarrass them when they are older and have an unhealthy, fat, mom. I want to be able to watch them grow and go through the transitions of graduation, college, marriage, babies, etc. I want to be able to do things for myself when I get older and not depend on a wheel chair, or a walker, or my children! I want to be able to travel and be independent until the day I die. Every day that I wake up tired and beat up emotionally, I remind myself of my ultimate goal. See, I believe our problem is that we think about the here and now; well this tastes good, and you only live ONCE! Well, it's only one burger, etc. etc. Well, when you get blood test results that says you have high cholesterol, hypertension, and/or diabetes, you will be wondering how?! And it's because you didn't think about your future, you thought about the here and now. I really hope things are going well for you all, and I hope you learn from my journey. Please share yours!
Day 4, 5, & 6: Yoga, Legs & Back, Kenpo
It seemed like days 4-6 were a lot easier for me! Yoga was 1.5 hours long, but it seemed like I went through it really easy. Don't get me wrong I could not do a few of the moves, but I got through it! I had to split it up again into two workouts, yes, because I had to feed my son in between! I loved yoga, but I must say that Plyo was harder, more challenging and still my favorite! Legs and back were awesome! I am naturally stronger in my legs and back, so it came easy for me. Kenpo was fun on Saturday. Some of the moves were a little confusing but I just kept going! I know I probably looked retarded, but that's the wonderful thing about P90X, you do it at home, so nobody's watching you! I used to go to the gym, and I hated being surrounded by ALREADY fit men and women. It was extremely discouraging. I have to say that I felt so great after each workout, instead of dying like I was the first three days! I actually felt like I was not pushing myself enough or like the workouts weren't pushing me hard enough the last 3 days. I have to say that I was very motivated to wake up every day and workout! It wasn't like, oh no I hate working out! Or I hate this part! Each part was very motivating, easy to adjust to and challenging. Each workout has been exciting and challenging. After doing each day, the only workout I dislike doing is ab ripper x, and why? Because I suck at it, lol! Other than that, things are good! I am happy that week one is complete! I look forward to what each week is going to bring!
7.22.2010
Me Then and Now
Here is a video of my progress so far:
I hope you enjoy! What does your progress look like? Need help creating a video? Shoot me an e-mail!
I hope you enjoy! What does your progress look like? Need help creating a video? Shoot me an e-mail!
Day 3: Ab Ripper X, Oh How I Loathe You!
Yesterday was shoulders and arms, plus ab ripper x. This is my second time doing ab ripper x, and I suck! I try so hard to do those sit-ups and can't for the life of me get my body up all the way. I can not do even half of those moves and it eats away at me because I have to be good at everything I do. I am easily frustrated and angered when something does not come easy to me, so as you can imagine I now HATE ab ripper x. It's going to be more than likely my favorite challenge to overcome. I may get discouraged here and there, but I will not give up that battle!
Now I took a break in between the first workout and ab ripper x. I had to feed my son. :) But it re-energized me, so I could have a little more energy to complete the moves. For some reason, yesterday I didn't feel too bad working out. The workout was NOT as challenging as Plyo's, which was a sigh of relief for me.
Today is Yoga, so I feel great going into it. It is 1.5 hours though, so I know I'm going to have to take at least one break to feed my son. I can't wait for weigh in on Sunday!
Now I took a break in between the first workout and ab ripper x. I had to feed my son. :) But it re-energized me, so I could have a little more energy to complete the moves. For some reason, yesterday I didn't feel too bad working out. The workout was NOT as challenging as Plyo's, which was a sigh of relief for me.
Today is Yoga, so I feel great going into it. It is 1.5 hours though, so I know I'm going to have to take at least one break to feed my son. I can't wait for weigh in on Sunday!
7.21.2010
Food/Supplement Recommendation of The Week
I am NOT following the p90x diet or taking their supplements. As you have read, I'm trying to be nifty with the little money that I have! I did discover, thanks to this video: Mike's p90x Transformation, Michi's Ladder. As stated, follow the first two tiers and your diet will be good! I am an easy person to persuade. So changing my diet should be pretty simple for me. I love ALL foods, so I shouldn't have that much of a problem, should I? We'll see about that. :)
Yesterday I made stuffed bell peppers. Instead of using vegetable oil, I used olive oil. That was the ONLY change I made. Haha! But hey, it's a step up right? I ate a vegetable, ate some protein, and had a little bit of carbs. Now I have a family, so just throwing them into a new eating style is not going to fly, especially with my kids! So I made them tostadas. I LOVE tostadas, so I made myself a little tiny one. Oops! I couldn't resist. :)
I'm telling you, I'm SLOWLY changing my diet. So bear with me. One good thing that I do is I drink water all day! I recommend drinking at least 32 oz. of water, but I drink at least 64 oz. No joke, I LOVE water! I drink water at every meal. I have cut out mostly all juices, and ALL sodas. I really have not been interested in soda for years now, which is a good thing. I drink milk twice a day at the most. I know for some of you it's going to be hard, so I recommend slowly replacing one drink with water every day. Soon enough you'll be enjoying water with every meal and snack. Now if you can not get used to water, please feel free to add a packet of 0 calorie flavoring in it! My boyfriend loves doing this. It makes the water taste way better for him, and it won't put a damper on the carbs or calories he's consuming each day.
I also am taking a prenatal vitamin to get all of my vitamins in for the day. It's cheap! I bought a bottle of 500 tablets for like $13 from Target. I always recommend buying the generic brand of everything! I used to be a pharmacy clerk, so I know that all generic OTC or prescription vitamins and medications must be the same as the name brand. So essentially, you are paying for the NAME and nothing else when buying the name brand.
By the end of this week I will have better ideas for you. Since I just started my transformation, I have not gone shopping or cleaned out my pantry yet. Stay tuned for more next week (or sooner!)
Yesterday I made stuffed bell peppers. Instead of using vegetable oil, I used olive oil. That was the ONLY change I made. Haha! But hey, it's a step up right? I ate a vegetable, ate some protein, and had a little bit of carbs. Now I have a family, so just throwing them into a new eating style is not going to fly, especially with my kids! So I made them tostadas. I LOVE tostadas, so I made myself a little tiny one. Oops! I couldn't resist. :)
I'm telling you, I'm SLOWLY changing my diet. So bear with me. One good thing that I do is I drink water all day! I recommend drinking at least 32 oz. of water, but I drink at least 64 oz. No joke, I LOVE water! I drink water at every meal. I have cut out mostly all juices, and ALL sodas. I really have not been interested in soda for years now, which is a good thing. I drink milk twice a day at the most. I know for some of you it's going to be hard, so I recommend slowly replacing one drink with water every day. Soon enough you'll be enjoying water with every meal and snack. Now if you can not get used to water, please feel free to add a packet of 0 calorie flavoring in it! My boyfriend loves doing this. It makes the water taste way better for him, and it won't put a damper on the carbs or calories he's consuming each day.
I also am taking a prenatal vitamin to get all of my vitamins in for the day. It's cheap! I bought a bottle of 500 tablets for like $13 from Target. I always recommend buying the generic brand of everything! I used to be a pharmacy clerk, so I know that all generic OTC or prescription vitamins and medications must be the same as the name brand. So essentially, you are paying for the NAME and nothing else when buying the name brand.
By the end of this week I will have better ideas for you. Since I just started my transformation, I have not gone shopping or cleaned out my pantry yet. Stay tuned for more next week (or sooner!)
Day 2: Plyometrics, My New Favorite Workout!
Today I was a little sore from Day 1's workout. I was still mobile and not so bad that I felt like I couldn't move. Day 2 was Plyometrics (I will use Plyo for short). If you are wondering, here is the definition of Plyometrics: Any exercise in which muscles are repeatedly and rapidly stretched (or loaded) and then contracted. The aim of plyometrics is to improve muscle power. The workout was 60 minutes long, and it kicked my ASS!
One thing you have to think about the P90X is that it requires a lot from you. You have to be self-motivated, your desire has to come from within, not from without! You also have to know how to manipulate your body with your mind. I can not for the life of me remember ever being this self-disciplined. Even in sports, I depended on my coaches and teammates to motivate me to finish, or to push it to the limit. I kind of half-assed my workouts before the P90X. But today, I realized how mentally "strong" I am. I was in so much pain, I could barely bend my knees to complete a squat, but dammit I finished each exercise!
Now, let me tell you, there were just some things my body would not allow me to do. So in those times, I would either do a modified version of the exercise or run in place to keep my heart rate up. At the end of the 60 minute workout I measured my heart rate. The recommended maximum heart rate equation goes as follows: 200- your age. So my recommended maximum heart rate is 176bpm because I am 24 years old. I reached higher than this in today's workout. At the end of the 60 minutes my heart rate was 180bpm. The way I measured it (once again, because I'm poor and can not afford a heart rate monitor) was I placed my index finger to my carotid artery on my neck. It takes a few seconds to find, but that's the easiest pulse to find. Using the P90X timer, I counted how many beats I had in 10 seconds and multiplied that by 6 to get my BPM. This is just so I can see how hard my body was working, it is no indication of anything else. Well, I definitely was working hard! Anyhow, if I had the choice I would definitely do Plyometrics every day. But, since I have decided to follow the P90X to the T, then I will just wait until next time! My body is completely sore and my core muscles (abs, obliques, etc.) are killing me. This is good. This means the program is working! I love pain, it's a little odd, but I do. I love to feel the effects of something I worked so hard for. I plan on feeling this throughout my journey with the P90X. Looking forward to pressing play again tomorrow! :)
One thing you have to think about the P90X is that it requires a lot from you. You have to be self-motivated, your desire has to come from within, not from without! You also have to know how to manipulate your body with your mind. I can not for the life of me remember ever being this self-disciplined. Even in sports, I depended on my coaches and teammates to motivate me to finish, or to push it to the limit. I kind of half-assed my workouts before the P90X. But today, I realized how mentally "strong" I am. I was in so much pain, I could barely bend my knees to complete a squat, but dammit I finished each exercise!
Now, let me tell you, there were just some things my body would not allow me to do. So in those times, I would either do a modified version of the exercise or run in place to keep my heart rate up. At the end of the 60 minute workout I measured my heart rate. The recommended maximum heart rate equation goes as follows: 200- your age. So my recommended maximum heart rate is 176bpm because I am 24 years old. I reached higher than this in today's workout. At the end of the 60 minutes my heart rate was 180bpm. The way I measured it (once again, because I'm poor and can not afford a heart rate monitor) was I placed my index finger to my carotid artery on my neck. It takes a few seconds to find, but that's the easiest pulse to find. Using the P90X timer, I counted how many beats I had in 10 seconds and multiplied that by 6 to get my BPM. This is just so I can see how hard my body was working, it is no indication of anything else. Well, I definitely was working hard! Anyhow, if I had the choice I would definitely do Plyometrics every day. But, since I have decided to follow the P90X to the T, then I will just wait until next time! My body is completely sore and my core muscles (abs, obliques, etc.) are killing me. This is good. This means the program is working! I love pain, it's a little odd, but I do. I love to feel the effects of something I worked so hard for. I plan on feeling this throughout my journey with the P90X. Looking forward to pressing play again tomorrow! :)
