Journey continues

So I have been a little MIA lately, but it hasn't been because I fell off the wagon on anything. I will admit my workouts have slowed just a tad but I am hanging in there. My latest weigh in as of Saturday, September 19th. If you recall I started out at 215, this marks 22 lbs lost! I am thrilled my progress has continued despite me skipping a few workouts here and there. It truly does prove that it really is 80% nutrition and 20% fitness. I have made sure I've worked out a minimum of 3-5x weekly, where I used to do 6 days a week. I was doing 2 a days some days, but with a little more going on around the house and work it has been difficult to keep up two a days. I have found that posting on here keep my spirits up even if nobody ever reads this, to feel like I am doing something and being proactive with my dreams means the world to me. This is the most progress I have made in almost 4 years so I will keep at it until I reach the big 150. I plan to maintain carb cycling as a long term nutrition plan as it works and it is healthy for the body. Once I reach my goal I will do it for maintenance rather than loss. I'm not sure if this is fully the logical way to go about it, but I'm trying to get my weight down first and then I will focus more on weight lifting. I know it's probably better to do them at the same time, but I think I may discourage myself if I do much lifting right now and start gaining. For now, my plan is to get my number down a good amount like maybe to 175 and then I'll start incorporating more lifting in so it won't be so devastating if I gain a little. I'm still too close to 200 for all that lol. So right now, the #s keep coming down, but my mid section isn't drastically different. I get compliments frequently from people who don't see me daily, so I know something has changed at least. I've been told my face, waist neck and shoulder area look slimmer. I'll take that! 

 start: 215

AM or PM?

I have to admit I have not always done AM workouts. In fact, just a few short months ago I decided I was giving up on AM workouts completely as I was just too tired to get moving. I have found though, that PM workouts have been harder to get done. Getting home around 6:15, getting dinner started, and battling a 3 year old all the while squatting and dead lifting gets to be stressful. So I told myself I'll start trying in the morning and at least then it's out of the way when I get home I can focus on dinner and other things. I have found that it's not so bad getting up a little early to get it done. Note: I still cannot run immediately out of bed, that I have NOT mastered yet. 21 day fix workouts, PopSugar I love doing these as they set the tone for the whole day. It's just one less thing on my to do list and it's already done by 7am. 

One thing I am researching now is the Fasted Cardio concept. Does Fasted Cardio burn more fat? I have read it's great to do cardio when you first get up so the body will not have food to burn and will resort to burning fat. I have also found just as many articles debunking this theory. Still looking for a affirmative yes or no on that one. Either way, I will stick to my AM workouts whether it burns more or not. I'll post my findings on this one.

I've been using PopSugar Fitness App on my iPhone to put together workouts for when I'm just sick of doing the same ol same ol. These are some moves from the arm workout routine I built. I love this app because you can take whichever area( abs, arms, legs, booty etc) and pick which workout videos you want to compile into them. Some are just 5-10 minutes, others 20-45. This is GREAT for when you want to just do a quick one. There are some evenings where I don't have a PM workout planned but I'd like just a 5 min high intensity workout and this is the place to go.


Here are some moves from my AM workout today. This is not all I did but just a little sample. For more info check out: http://www.popsugar.com/Workouts

 

   



31 day No Excuses Challenge

http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Bodyweight-Workout-Challenge-37788635


Until next time

xoxo
T

ONEderland

There it is yall! ONEderland has arrived. This was my first big milestone I set for myself. My next goal is to lose another 10 lbs. This was a sneak weigh in. I'm not supposed to weigh in until Friday morning, but I wanted to kinda see where I was after slingshot week. Praying for continued results. Slow and steady is okay, as long as it's happening. 

I'm looking to change up my work out routine a little this was my plan I drew up last week, but some of these workouts were just too slow paced for me. Piyo Drench, Piyo Strength Piyo Core I didn't like any of these. So I'm going to replace with some more 21 day fix workouts and Pop sugar. New schedule coming soon!

Monday Piyo Core	Tuesday Am:21 day fix: lower fix Piyo: Strength	Wednesday Am: Crossfit at home Piyo: Drench	Thursday Am: 21 day fix: upper fix 21 day fix: Cardio	Friday Piyo: Sculpt	Saturday REST DAY	Sunday Popsugar: Cross fit at home, 5 min standing ab
Piyo Core	Am: 21 day fix lower fix Piyo: Strength	Am: Cross fit at home Piyo: drench	Am: 21 day fix upper fix 21 day fix: cardio	Piyo Sculpt	REST DAY	Cross fit at home, 5 mins standing ab
Piyo Core	Am: 21 day fix lower fix Piyo: Strength	Am: Cross fit at home Piyo: Drench	Am: 21 day fix upper fix 21 day fix: Cardio	Piyo Sculpt	REST DAY	Cross fit at home 5 mins standing ab
Piyo Core	Am: 21 day fix lower fix Piyo: Strength	Am: Cross fit at home Piyo: Drench	Am: 21 day fix upper fix 21 day fix: Cardio	Piyo Sculpt	REST DAY	Cross fit at home 5 mins standing ab

Nutrition

Having fun with my journey. Feeling better every day. I've found the best kept secret is to just take it one day at a time. One pound at a time. One goal at a time. I've never been disappointed by losing just one pound because hey, it's one less pound to my goal. I weigh in tomorrow. My goal was to lose 2 lbs this week. I pray that I made that goal, but if not, I know I will soon.  As is well known, nutrition makes up 80% of your weight loss journey, and fitness the remaining 20%. I've noticed the most changes when I changed how I ate. I'm ashamed to say I used to eat fast food sometimes 3x a week, soda each time. At my lowest I was eating that way and not working out at all. Or other times, I would eat that way and work out maybe 2x a week, but with the junk I was putting in my body I did not see much results. I'm proud to say I have cut out all white rice, white bread, soda, fast food, and traded them in for brown\red rice, whole wheat bread, sparkling water, and healthy alternatives. Note: this is not to say that on Guilt free day I don't put it down.. Because let's face it, I do. I eat whatever I want on Guilt free day and I don't let anyone tell me otherwise. Lately, my guilt free days haven't been all out cheats. I find I crave junk food less and less as my journey progresses. Last Sunday, I had a biscuit for breakfast(not terrible, but not something I would have during the week) I had a burger for lunch, no fries and a regular healthy dinner. Not too shabby. But it still satisfied my need to get off course a little. 

This week was slingshot week.

What is slingshot week?

Slingshot week is where you have a whole week of high carb days back to back. The purpose of this is to offset the carb cycle and to kinda mix things up so your body doesn't get too used to anything. You do this after 3 weeks of carb cycling. Then next week go back to your usual cycle. I have been doing the Classic Cycle since I began carb cycling but I'm considering the Turbo Cycle.

Classic Cycle- THE CLASSIC CYCLE

Unlike the Easy Cycle, which has a reward meal incorporated into every high-carb day, the Classic Cycle has an entire reward day every week. Imagine that—a whole day to satisfy those cravings for your favorite foods! And you’ll still lose weight.

Example:

Monday – Low Carb – reward meal before dinner
Tuesday – High Carb –reward meal before dinner
Wednesday – Low Carb – reward meal before dinner
Thursday – High Carb – reward meal before dinner
Friday – Low Carb – reward meal before dinner
Saturday – High Carb – reward meal before dinner
Sunday – Guilt-Free Day

With the Classic Cycle, besides losing weight at a quick and constant pace, you’ll also be able to tune into what is happening in your body during this carb cycle process. You’ll learn and actually feel how food affects your body, and while you may experience some brief periods of nausea, headaches, low energy and other symptoms as you change the way you fuel your body, these will be temporary. In the end, you’ll have a whole new appreciation for this marvelous body you have!

Today's schedule

Today's routine consists of

AM cross fit work out

5 man makers
15 weighted sit ups
10 dumbbell dead lifts

Repeat 3x


This one is shorter, but high intensity. It takes around 10 mins to complete

PM (after work routine) 

Piyo: Drench (This is new, never done this one before) So I'll post my review later

My Journey

My journey started probably from the moment I realized I was bigger than my peers... So about 3rd -4th grade or so. On and off for the last 15 years I have struggled with my weight. I've tried it all from diet pills, cleanses, fasts, all which failed miserably when I realized this just wasn't realistic or just didn't work at all. The pills made all these false promises, if I just took 3 pills 3 times a day I could lose 50 lbs this month! Or if I just drank strictly this cleanse for 48 hours I could lose 10 lbs. Sure, I may have lost a little weight, but I gained it right back when I went back to my "normal" lifestyle. True to form each and every time, when something failed, I would go right back to overeating, binge eating, and eating just because it was there. Often, I find it didn't even want what I was putting in my body. The shame I would feel afterward was not what I wanted in my life. 

When I was close on my 21st birthday I had gotten into a good rhythm of working out and eating pretty decent. I had dropped some weight and started feeling pretty good. And as my luck would have it, once I got to feeling good, I found out I was pregnant. I love my sweet now 3 year old girl to death, but boy did pregnancy take a hit on my body. I gained 60 lbs during my pregnancy and spent a good portion on bed rest due to preeclampsia. Naturally, my movement was limited during that last trimester so, I ate. And I ate. And I became quite swollen literally from the retention. I spiked up to 225 lbs at my peak just before delivery. It's been 3 years and almost 1 month since then and I've again started and stopped many times. At times  I felt I was pushing my hardest to lose no weight, and I would reason, I can not lose weight and put zero effort, so why try? 

So fast forwarding up to most recently. June 2015 I rededicated myself to my health after my 1st and only high cholesterol report at the doctor. I decided it's now or never. I began Beachbody's 21 Day Fix Workouts and nutrition program. The first cycle I did on it, I didn't really lose any weight or inches. I was getting bummed, but I was not going to give up. I did a second cycle, I lost 2 inches and maybe 2 lbs. I finally decided to look into the method Chris and Heidi Powell use for their mega obese clients. Carb Cycling.

Carb Cycling basically is alternating one day high carb day, next day low carb day(Classic cycle). By alternating you keep your body from getting too used to anything. After 3 weeks of following this plan, you do what's called slingshot week. Slingshot week you do all week high carbs to offset the cycle and start over. So far this has worked for me. I have dropped 11 lbs in the last 3 weeks. I am excited to post my journey and watch my body change for good this time.