No more

Procrastination.

We've all had those days where we push our goals aside for another time. One day leads to one week, then leads to one month.

When I first signed up for the gym it took me a whole year to commit and go continuously. I wasted time going just once a week, or even once in a blue moon. What results were I expecting to get with that kind of determination??

Then I made myself a new year's resolution. I would make it a point to go to the gym at least 3 times a week, but ideally 5 times if possible. Surprisingly, I stuck to it and achieved results that wouldn't have been accomplished with procrastination or laziness as I call it.

I found that going to the gym in the mornings was easier for me. As soon as my alarm would go off I would spring up and start on my preworkout drink. The first month was kind of a dragger though. I wasn't seeing results and I didn't see the pounds dropping off the scale.
It wasn't until the second month I started seeing some muscle definition. My legs started toning up and my arms were slimming down. That was the result I was looking for. Just that little push. I needed to see some type of achievement even if it was little. My weight remained the same, but  I didn't care. The weight stayed on, but the fat got switched into progress.

That's all it took, just that little glimpse of those results to get me on my path now.

Food Rules

This book was stuffed in a lot of my friends' stockings this year......and surprisingly they loved it!  No excuses on skipping out on this read, it's simple to follow with cute illistarion to go along with it.

Baby steps add up

 

Now motivated more than ever, I look back and realize just how far I’ve come along. My eating habits have  drastically changed and I feel very proud of it. Just shortly over 2 years ago, I cut out the bad “stuff” completely and never looked back.

Not saying that this is easy for some if not most people, but I had some helpful pushes along the way. With a reason and a strong mind set these sacrifices can be given up a lot easier than expected.

Soda- This was my first step in losing weight and it’s a big helpful one too. It’s amazing, yet disturbing, knowing that one can of soda holds 10-12 teaspoons of sugar. (Which is about 10 sugar packets. Yikes!) That’s 10 times more the amount of sugar I put in my 1 cup of coffee. Add 2-3 cans a day and that’s just asking for fat to pile up. Once I saw the sugar content in these measurements I dropped soda cold that day. It’s been years since I’ve touched a soft drink and you now what, I don’t miss it.

Fast Food- Have you seen the movie Food Inc? If you have, you’ll know why I gave up fast food. If not, watch it! I highly encourage it. (I came across mine on Netflix.) I really enjoy my love for food, but after seeing this I couldn’t stomach eating cheaply processed meat mixed in with mystery ingredients. Who knows what the heck I’m eating if it doesn’t even rot.

High Fructose Corn Syrup-  When I used to buy food I didn’t really bother to look on the back of the ingredient list. I figured, hey, it’s food. What’s more is there to look for? Oh was I wrong. After helpful articles and advice from friends I realized that most of the processed foods I loved so much had high fructose corn syrup in it. This man made sweetener was hidden in almost everything that was in my cabinet. It was no wonder I wasn’t losing any weight eating those high sodium sugared products. Now if anything is packaged I quickly flip over to look at the ingredient list. If HCFS was in it, it wasn't going in the basket. It was simple as that. This was a helpful guideline when first learning to eat better and healthier.

These 3 steps are big stepping stones when trying to lose weight. After I followed these cutbacks I lost about 7 pounds. Seven pounds may not seem like a lot, but when you're 5'2 it does make a difference. I went to a size 11 down to size 9 in a year (with absolutely no exercise.) Can't complain about that.

Have you had any recent or drastic cutbacks that you've accomplished? How did you come to make the sacrifice and have you noticed a difference?

Madness

Who says being a couch potato won't help you shed a couple pounds? If anything I tend to think it helps with the process. You see, I found this show on Netflix. Maybe you've heard of it? Mad Men. Yes, this show is what's keeping me up late hours of the night and causing bags to form under my eyes when I wake up every morning. Is it worth it? I think so.


Even though this show has been out for a while now it's my new favorite series. This is what I look forward to when I get home from work everyday. Not only is the plot interesting and a refresher from those typical "reality shows" on tv, but I love looking at the girls. Whoever the costume designer is, I just want to give them I big ol' hug...and kiss. Watching the ladies in their classy everyday attire gets me motivated believe it or not. I wake up in the morning determined to look and dress better for work. And let's talk about Joan, shall we? Wow, her body is so voluptuous and womanly. Her curves could make any man's jaw drop. Now that's the type of body that needs to be shown more on television.

After watching a couple episodes of these a night, it gets me ready to hit the gym the next day to stay on board and right. Motivation is what keeps us going..............

My Happy Hour

The week is filled with enough stress and worries. Sometimes it's nice to just take a day and relax. If I make my way to the gym 5 days out of the week I like to reward myself for the good work. Sushi is my weakness and I could never give that up no matter what. Spicy tuna is my favorite, yum.

Do you allow yourself a cheat day as well?

Juicing

I never knew that there was a such thing as juicing vegetables. Ever since I saw the movie  "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead," I was really intrigued and decided to try it out. I've been juicing for the last 5 months now and I love it. I don't do this everyday, but I do try to make a drink at least 3 times a week. Now that I have an office job I'm more tempted to snack all day on those unhealthy sugar foods. I found that making a juice was the perfect solution to my afternoon munchies and sometimes a late night snack.

I started off small and stuck with mainly cucumbers and fruits. Now that I've acquired the taste for this healthy homemade drink I throw in kale, spinach and sometimes beets. The juicer I got was given to me from a friend that no longer used it. That saved me a pretty penny, but now I'm on the hunt for something bigger and better. The one I have has a small mouth and makes prep time a little long. I have to make sure I cut the pieces to fit the opening or else it'll just get stuck. The cleaning process is also a pain and takes forever to scrub away at the blades.

Do you juice or knows somebody that does? What are some of your favorite recipes and which juicer would you recommend?

My Stats

age- 25
weight- 141.8 (lbs)
lowest weight- 117
ideal weight- 110
goal weight- 120
height- 5'2

arms- 11 (inches)
chest- 36
waist-30
stomach- 36
hips- 39
thighs- 23

Today was leg day and I'm proud that I pushed myself pretty hard. An hour and a half later my legs were like jello. I always favor my legs and thighs and I find it easier to start the week with my favorite body parts.It gets me motivated and pumped up for the rest of my workout week.

This is my usual leg workout routine-

Leg Press- 3 sets of 20 reps/ 45lbs on each side
Leg Extensions- 3 sets of 12/ 75lbs (using both legs)
                           3 sets of 15/ 40lbs (using one leg)
Hamstring Leg Curls- 2 sets of 10/ 50lbs
Bent leg Kickbacks- 3 sets of 15/ 20lbs
Inner Thigh machine- 1 set of 50/ 145lbs
Outer Thigh machine- 1 set of 50/ 145lbs
Ball Squats- 2 sets of 50 seconds (holding  in squat position)
Ball Squats- 1 set of  10 (squatting halfway then coming back up, squatting back down....holding 20lbs in each arm)
Calf Rises- 3 sets of 10/ 195 lbs
Cardio- 5 minutes on bike at level 9
             10 minutes walking at speed 3.7


Now keep in mind that these aren't my starting off weights. These results are a year's worth of working out my legs and slowly increasing the numbers. They've definitely toned up since January, but I'd like to now focus on my butt. It could be a little firmer and more defined.

Motivating Rain

It's been raining non stop for the last 2 days. I don't really care to drive in this kind of weather so I made that my poor reasoning to skip the gym today.

Starting tomorrow I'm going to push myself to the extreme and start my road to getting toned and trimmed up. I've been going to the gym for about a year now, but not what others would consider consistently. I use work and time constraints as an easy excuse, but then regret slacking off when I see the pounds (and fat) adding on top......

Yes. Tomorrow is the starting point to my new lifestyle.