Losing Inches!!

My body is changing! The scale is barely moving but the inches are leaving! Last weigh in:

07/23/14

Weight 167

Waist: 36"

Hips: 40.5"

Bust: 40.5"

Arm: 12"

Thigh: 22"

Calf: 15.5"

Today: 

Weight 165.8

Waist: 34"

Hips: 40"

Bust: 38.5"

It's working! I have mixed up my workouts and cut bread, rice, and pasta from diet almost completely. Keep it up! Keep going! It will work!

Workout Ideas

I have completely stopped running, I think I will pick it up again as fall approaches and the weather cools down. I love being outside in the  fall air. But for now I am still in the gym. I have been making myself cheat sheets for 21 day fix workouts but I am ready for a new challenege. Here are two workouts I hope to try this week.

Dirty 30 Cheat Sheet

Today's gym cheat sheet... Dirty 30 workout from the 21 Day Fix

Warm Up: 2 times through
Run in place 1 minute
Jumping jacks 1 minute
Windmills 30 seconds forward 30 seconds backwards
Side stretch 30 seconds right 30 seconds left
Toe touches 1 minute alternating sides


Workout:  Each set is done two times, 1 minute per workout. 15 second rest between sets.

Set 1
Side Lunge with weights
Renegade Row (weights in hand in plank position, raise and lower the weight alternating sides)

Set 2
Sumo Row
Chest Fly Raise

Set 3 
Squat Lat Raise
Tricep Kick Back

Set 4 
Side bend with weights
Side Plank Raise ( Get in a side plank and lift and lower your leg 30 seconds right then turn over 30 seconds left)

Morning Smoothie

Smoothies and Cardio

I am falling in love with smoothies. This morning I had a peach, strawberry one. It made way more smoothie than I anticipated so I shared with my husband, which meant less nutrients for me... I need to switch up some portions next time so I can add more protien. Here  is what my smoothie contained

These amounts were doubled in the entire smoothie, I only listed my half. This is such a yummy easy way to get your fruits, veggies, and protein in.

Todays workout will be 21 Day Fix Cardio at the gym. I actually quickly scrolled through the video to write down the work out because I could not find it anywhere online which is super irritating so I am going to list it here for you if you are like me and can't be home to do a workout video, or you simply don't own the 21 day Fix and would like to really challenge yourself ftoday. It kicks your ass.

All workouts begin with the same warm up:

1 minute run in place
1 minute jumping jacks
30 second pinwheels forward
30 second pinwheels backwards
1 minute toe touches
30 second side reach right
30 second side reach right

Repeat this warm up section 2 times.

Workout:
Do each workout for 1 minute the entire workout should take 25 minutes.

Round 1
Cross Jacks
High Knees
Cross Jacks
High Knees

Round 2
Skater Jumps
Mountain Climbers
Skater Jumps
Mountain Climbers

Round 3
Reverse Lunge
Burpee
Reverse Lunge
Burpee

Round 4 
Lateral Squat Walk
Oblique Knees
Lateral Squat Walk
Oblique Knees

Bonus Round
Down Ups (Plank)

Personal Post: Comparison

I was feeling amazing today. I felt strong, confident, beautiful, then she walked into  the bathroom in her skimpy gym shorts (which she looked totally amazing in) and I suddenly felt the fattest girl in the room. She is maybe 5'2 very petite, skinny, tan, beautiful. I am 5'7 big boned, broad shouldered, white, suddenly feeling not so beautiful.

It's not just her either, I come across women every day that have smaller frames, smaller bones, slender arms. Al the things I am not, and will never be. I cannot be any smaller, I cannot shrink my shoulders, or my bones. No matter how much I work out I will not wake up petite.

It is disappointing on so many levels. This phrase was actually the first thing that popped into my mind today when my confidence fell flat. I am killing my joy, killing my confidence by comparing myself to people that I have physically nothing in common with.

It is so hard not to do. It is so hard to put things back into perspective. Sometimes it is totally subconcious. I don't even catch myself doing it. I have made it such a habit I don't even notice. Other time I do catch it and I try to remember "I am not her" and that is ok.

I wish society made it more ok. I wish the standard for beauty was not 5'5 100lbs, small, fragile. Because I can't ever be that. And sometimes that makes me think I can never be beautiful. Th sickest part is that I have allowed myself o be convinced through years of brainwashing that this is what I am supposed to look like. And it's not just me, it's all women. That's why we have plastic surgery, and fast diet programs, and lipo, and camera filters, and Photo shop.  We are accosted with images every single day that tell us we are not good enough. That we are not "perfect."

I could let this comparison eat at me. I could let it ruin my progress and I could give up. Or I could take my diet to an extreme and starve until i think I fit that ideal. That is what I did years ago when I was anorexic. Even then I hated me. I hated my frame, I thought I was huge. Ask my husband and he will tell you I often refer to myself as Fiona (From Shrek). I feel like an ogre. People try to convince me I am a beautiful Amazon, but that term also upsets me. I don't want to be an Amazon.

I am only sharing this because I want to be honest. I want to share what I think many of us feel often. Even if you look at someone and think they are fabulous and must be so happy with their appearance, they probably aren't. I think it is rare to find a woman who is totally confident with her body.

I am just like you. Some days I feel ugly, some days I feel fat. This is a journey not just in changing habits, or losing wieght. It is a journey is changing your mind. Changing the way you see yoruself. Most of us with weight issues have a very established mental image of who we are and what we see in the mirror is quite different than what others see. I don't know if it ever goes away, if we ever stop comparing. The goal for me is to change my thoughts. To remind myself that I am me, not her. I am in this body and this body can be beautiful. I will never be her and so I have to stop trying.

It's a journey.

Weekend Food Prep You will Learn to LOVE it!

As I said in my last video the key to weight loss, and healthy eating is preparation. Every weekend we go shopping but before we head out I make a menu. I plan out dinners for the whole week, as well as lunches. This helps me to make a list. This weeks menu

Salad for lunches (with shrimp, chicken, beef)
Salmon with Aasparagus
Chicken Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice
Spaghetti Squash with homemade sauce and meatballs
Naked Turkey Burgers with Cauliflower
Grilled Chicken with Broccoli
Burgers with Terra Chips

We go to Sams and buy produce and sometimes meat in bulk. This is what the cart looked like this week.

We also make a trip to King Soopers for things Sams doesn't carry. Overall we spend about $160 per week in groceries. What made us super excited was that switching to more produce didn't raise our bill at all.

When I get home I start prep. I get out all the produce and start chopping. I put everything into bags all measured out. ( I bought a pack of 6 peppers from Sams two weeks ago, these are the two we had left).

We get several servings of meat from one bag  so we put some of it in the freezer. I am not someone who worries about GMO's and I don't care about all organic or grass fed. This is a personal choice, but you can always buy organic free range meat and cook it and then measure and package. It's up to you. I buy precooked meats  a lot because it makes my life easier, with work and kids I need a little easy. two weeks ago I bought a precooked brisket from Sams, it made 19 servings and we still have some in the freezer to take to work.

The red container is from 21 Day Fix. It is a 1/2 cup. 

I will usually boil a carton of eggs as well to have boiled eggs all week as an option.

This preparation means I don't buy things I don't need at the store. It also means I can quickly grab foods that are good for me to make for lunch or snack. I am not tempted to grab a granola bar because I have healthy choices readily available. If you are committed to changing your life, you need to become committed to a little prep time. It will make you life  so much easier.

Why Counting Calories is Better

After trying a program that touts  a "no calorie counting" method to healthy eating and weight loss I have determined that for me counting calories is so much easier and allows me so much more freedom in food choice. In the 21 day fix you use the cups provided to measure out food portions. There is a guide that tells you what types of foods should be measured in each cup. It is a helpful way to see appropriate portion sizes, however it s not a long term solution in my opinion and here is why....

There are many foods and beverages that are not included in the guide, that leaves you wondering what color cup it should fit into. You risk throwing yourself off by eating/ drinking too much, or getting  discouraged if you do happen to have something that isn't on the guide because you worry you aren't really staying on track. I love soy chai, I don't have it all the time, but when I do what cup does that go in?? If I want an Odowala Bar is that a fruit? A grain? Is it a mix? What about Naked Smoothies.. are those a fruit, a veggie? Both? How do I measure that? What if I want a latte? The possibilities are endless honestly there are many foods that don't fit this profile. If I was committed to eating completely clean, no processed foods at all I can see how this would possibly be the best solution, but thats isn't real for me and I am guessing that isn't real for many of you. You are making changes, but still eating some of the foods you used too.

If you are counting calories you can easily see where you are all all times in the day. the My Fitness pal app has literally every food you can imagine. People add to it all the time, the database is immense. You can also add your own foods, which allows you freedom to be creative and make up recipes. You can eat out and quickly see the calorie content.

You can't carry those cups everywhere. I mean you could, but where is the practicality in that? You can track calories on the go on your phone. You can even scan in barcodes and it will add the food for you right away. You also can't dissect foods you eat at a restaurant and start measuring them out at the table.

The cups are great for teaching yourself portion control, and for teaching you the right foods to eat, and how much of each food group you should eat in a day. I was eating way too many grains. I still use the cups to measure out meats because I don't have a scale, but the red cup is 1/2 cup which ends up being 3-4 oz of meat, that is a serving size. It is a helpful guide. It is also helpful to see what bracket you should be in for your weight loss goals, however the My Fitness Pal app gives you rough calculation on that as well. It has worked very well for me so far.

After a while you start to know how many calories are in all the foods you eat, you become super educated and prepared to make choices on the run. Counting calories trains you to really see the food for what it is, and allows freedom in choosing foods. If you find yourself struggling with the cups, maybe switch it up, use them as a measuring guide, but start counting those caloires. I think you will find it's actually easier in the long run. Give the fix a chance for 21 days at least. Especially if you have really been struggling to lose. You paid for it, use it! But don't try to live on it forever.

Preparation: Video Post