2000 and Stuffed!

Well, I wish that I had some good news, but unfortunately, I do not. I just recently found out that I am not eating the amount of calories that I should be. This means that I have to eat MORE!!

I recalculated my BMR with the Harris Benedict Formula given to me by my coach and though my BMR is still 1618, the amount of calories I’d have to consume is 2509 in order to maintain my current weight, which is definitely not what I want to do. In order to lose weight, I’m supposed to have a calorie deficit. I chose a deficit of 700, making my goal caloric intake for the say 1800. Well, since I’m still not losing weight, my coach told me to get more calories. At 1800, my body is going into starvation mode (even though I feel like such a pig). So, I’ve decided to increase it to 2000 calories a day. Let’s see where this takes me. Hopefully the weight-loss train will visit. Ooooh-Oooooooooooh!!!

I’ve also decided to change a little bit of my eating habits as well. In addition to not eating carbs at night, or as the last meal of the day, I decided to try and eat foods closest to the real thing as possible, which means that processed foods will be minimal. I hope that I can really run with this. It actually occurred to me as I was getting tucked in for my nap before the Audit shift. I had the image of grinding my own peanut butter. “Foods closest to their natural state are better for you than processed foods, maybe you should try more natural foods.” My step dad has been telling me this for years and he always reiterates it when I tell him that we drank skim milk. (Switching back to whole milk as soon as the last gallon of skim is gone.) This will also help me with calories too!

Anyway, the workout today was great! I started with High and Tight because it’s painful and painfully slow, in that it seems to last forever. I really felt the burn in my thighs and butt ;). I ended with Cardio Axe, the musically enticing dance routine. I started on a very high note but ended on a rather low one. My husband came in during the last 6 minutes of the workout because our food scale had died L. He wanted to know where the batteries were and naturally, I’m the only one who knows where they are. I stopped to give them to him but they didn’t make the scale turn on. He thinks it’s permanently broken, which I hope is not the case. We use that for every meal!!

It’s not entirely my husband’s fault, lol. I, too, was a little lethargic by the end of the workout. I had started so fast, I think, that it wore me out too much to finish strong as well. Next time, I will tone down the beginning and save more energy for the end.

By the way, when we are able to, I am going to try some almond butter. I’m a peanut butter addict and switching to almond butter will be healthier if I like it. So, fingers crossed. Also, I’ll be retrying the Greek yogurt. I tried some plain and it was NASTY!! So, I’ll give it a go with some fruit and see if that helps any.

Until Next Time,

SP

A Purr-fect Day to Cat-ch Up

Today has been a much better day. I woke up early despite the fact that I couldn’t get to sleep until about 3:30am and I started my day. I had one workout to make up for from Saturday and one for today.

The plan for today was to wake up at 8am, do both workouts, eat, shower, and then head off to my mom’s house because my husband and I had about 2 weeks of laundry we had to do. (Several months ago, our washer broke and we’ve been using the coin operated machine at our apartment buildings. This past week has been particularly rough and we weren’t able to scrounge up enough to get our laundry done.) So, my wonderful mother allowed us to use her washer and dryer. After the laundry was done, we were planning to go back home and clean our house thoroughly.

Upon thinking it through, I decided that I would just wake up at 8am, go to my mom’s house and just do my workouts there. That way, it saves time and my husband wanted to stay home and clean the house anyway. I repeat, MY HUSBAND WANTED TO STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE HOUSE ANYWAY. (lol)

Once I got situated at my mom’s and the first load was in, I immediately started the first workout, Sculpt. I admit, it was difficult doing the floor moves and pretty much any move that required my feet or body to be on the floor; my mom has wood floors covered only partially by a very thin rug. I was half on the wood flooring and half on the thin carpet; uncomfortable, but not unbearable.

After that workout, which is 50 minutes long, I transferred the clothes and then started the other portion of my workouts, High and Tight and Cardio Axe. The floor was even more uncomfortable this time especially since for the majority of the High and Tight video, I was basically down on all fours bearing weight on my knees and elbows. Cardio Axe was difficult only because there wasn’t much room to move around in and I’ve always had the idea that if I were to land too hard, I’d fall through the floor. (When I lived there, I used to walk on my tippy toes any time I was upstairs.) I was on the ground floor this time, but the idea has never left me.

Anyway, I ended up having to turn to the side and watch the video by turning my head to the right. It wasn’t that bad considering that I know the moves. The only bad part during this portion of the workout was the wood floors. Landing on it with bare feet and trying to “Samba” is hard work on wood floors especially when you are trying to do it softer so as not to fall through the floor. Regardless, I succeeded and am now officially caught up with my workouts.

There was one element that I particularly liked though, even though it meant being attacked sporadically. My mom has a cat and she was TOTALLY into having someone there (at an unusual time since both my parents work throughout the day). She was being all cute and rolling around showing me her tummy as I was working out. While I was doing some of the moves though, she’d randomly claw at me; that wasn’t very cute. Included are some pictures.

 

I guess that’s it for today. Food wise, it’s still been a little hard to the get the proper amount of calories in. Body wise, I haven’t felt or seen anything change yet. And, unfortunately, my work pants were a little snug this evening. As far as I know, I haven’t been gaining any weight. It could be water?? I’ve already drank about 2.5 liters today and the day isn’t even over. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s kind of frustrating. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Until next time,

SP

P.S. I decided to let the cat wear the resistance band...she didn't like it, but surprisingly stood still for about a milli-second while I snapped her picture.

In a Funk

So I’ve been in a little bit of a funk lately. Thursday actually started off really badly with some news that I really would have rather not discovered. I’m fairly certain that’s the reason why I’ve been so lethargic and almost absent minded about nearly everything.

As posted Wednesday, I didn’t have any time to do my workout because I woke up late. I did end up doing it Thursday morning though. It was actually to my detriment though. The workout was fine and I didn’t mind at all that I had to do two days worth of exercise. I was almost in a trance-like state and all I wanted to do was get it over with so I could lie down.

I say “to my detriment” because during the two hours of exercise, I drank a liter of water and my recovery meal was 2 cups of chocolate milk and a banana. So, a little more than 3 pounds of fluid plus whatever my banana weighed in my stomach not even an hour before we were supposed to weigh in for the 8-week weight loss group. I know that what the scale said was obviously wrong, but it made my day just a little bit worse.

From the moment we arrived home, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. (I hadn’t had any sleep since coming home from work that morning and was obviously tired, but I really didn’t want to have to deal with anything else.) I woke up around 7pm and moved to the couch to watch some Netflix. Yeah, that was my night.

The next day was basically the same. I did manage to roll out of bed and do my workout even though I didn’t want to. I was so tired and I just wanted to stay in bed. This time, I stayed in my room and watched 2 movies before watching one hour of Netflix and then off to bed I went.

Saturday was worse because I knew that I had to go back to work. I didn’t wake up early enough to get my workout in and instead, only had time to get ready and start that part of my day.

Today, I was planning on getting up an hour before I usually do to get the workout I missed yesterday in today. That didn’t happen either and I ended up sleeping in till 1pm, missing church and feeling even worse about these last few days. Not to mention, my husband woke me up with news that our hamster, Skamp, ATE our other hamster, Truffle. (Truffle was actually my hamster.) Literally all that was left was bone, dried blood and fur. Apparently, they didn’t like the food we gave them so Skamp turned all cannibal. I want to go back to bed. :/

Regardless of how I feel right now, I’m going to either work out tonight since I missed Saturday or do both exercises tomorrow morning. I purposefully planned something at 8am tomorrow so that I had to be awake so there won’t be any excuse not to workout. I’m trying to put my routine back in order.

By the way, my food intake has suffered a little. The leader of the weight loss group gave us a formula for calculating our daily caloric intake, which was very simplistic and hard to believe especially since it doesn’t account for age, weight, height and gender. My coach gave me a formula a while back that included all of these AND he gave an explanation. Still, I got confused and even a little upset (especially since my weigh in really brought me down.) So, I’ve been recovering from that and trying to eat my 1800 calories a day. Mind you, this is hard even when you fill your plate full of vegetables and lean meats. I’ve had to “fluff” my diet with peanut butter because you can add a lot of calories with just a little. (190 calories for 2 tablespoons.)

I have learned something through all this “blue-ness” I’ve gone through in the past few days: sleeping all the time really messes up your food schedule. I’d wake up at 7pm, eat for the first time and have to eat all the way up till 3 hours before bedtime in order to get my 1800 calories in. This is really hard especially when the first meal makes you feel stuffed to the point of explosion! I’m hoping to get everything back on track stating tomorrow.

Until next time,

SP

A Pocket Full of Apples??

Today will be relatively short. I worked the Audit shift last night and stayed over an hour because some of the staff had the flu; we had to switch a few things around so there would be coverage at the desk.

Anyway, I can’t tell you about today’s workout because I slept right through it. I don’t think my alarm for 3:30pm went off because I slept till 5:36pm, 9 minutes before I was supposed to get picked up for church. With that timing, I definitely couldn’t fit in a workout. I have made up my mind though that I am going to do both workouts tomorrow morning once I get home from this night’s Audit shift. My husband and I have a meeting to attend to at 10:00am, so there is no point in trying to go to sleep.

The up side to sleeping through my workout was I got to catch up on sleep that I hadn’t been getting. It felt like I was sleeping on a cloud. My feet were warm, I was warm and it was awesome!

 

I did have a dream though about me trying to stuff apples into my pockets (they had fallen out of my car). We were about to go into a museum when the lady allowing us in said that I had to ditch the apples because they don’t allow outside food or beverage within the museum. (It ending up being a mall; I was supposed to meet a friend there and she was there but ditched me when she saw her boyfriend.) Yeah, strange dream, right!

Anyway, I have been thinking only surface-level about ways that I can help others with their weight loss journeys. I supposed a blog is helping even though I haven’t gotten much feedback, but I want to do something more. Perhaps this is what I am supposed to do and why I started my entire journey in the first place: to help people with theirs, to allow them to see that it is possible if you decide to gift your all. I’m not entirely sure how to go about this so any ideas would be amazing!

I guess that’s it for today. (I told you it would be short.) Until next post, have a lovely day!

Signing Out,

SP

A Little Something Out of the Ordinary

For some reason, I feel like compiling a few things in this one post. I will talk about what happened the last two days with BBL but I will also talk about a few things that have been on my mind. They relate to fitness, in some way or another, so it goes with the nature of this blog.

First things first though: BBL! Yesterday was a new workout called “Sculpt.” I woke up mentally preparing myself for something similar to High and Tight, one that shapes you by having you do leg moves with or without the bands. I was wrong though. I popped in the DVD and under “Equipment Needed,” saw “weights or resistance bands.” …What?! I didn’t remember reading about that. Luckily, I had 8lb. weights and some resistance bands from P90X. So, it wasn’t a huge problem but I knew that with the use of weights, you tend to feel it the next day.

As we started, I began to realize that the portion of my body that was going to feel it the next day was my arms. There are so many arm exercises that I’m pretty sure this is primarily an “arm video.” I really enjoyed it though, it was fun, the music was awesome, as usual, and the moves weren’t hard. It was a butt-kickin’ good time and one of my favorite workouts.

My favorite of all the moves was the one in which we had to stand with our legs apart a little wider than our shoulders. Place one hand behind your band and squat down and touch the floor. It sounds pretty basic, but with the addition of a weight, you definitely notice what it does for you. I’m excited for tomorrow’s Sculpt session.

One of the moves that I didn’t particularly care for was the one in which you lie on the floor with knees bent. With a weight, cross you arm over your body and have it rest on your chest. Support your neck with the other hand and move that side of your body up so that your shoulders don’t touch the floor. I can’t remember what muscle this was supposed to work because 8 pounds on your breast really hurts! I tried repositioning the weight but it was either going to end up right by my arm pit, if not inside of it, or in between the twin mountains. After a few minutes of painful maneuvering, I decided to do the move without the weight. It worked a lot better after that. :)

Today was Cardio Axe and High and Tight. I am so familiar with these videos that I’m actually starting to get better. I am in no way good enough to dance in public, but I didn’t do completely horrible. The music gets me every time! It makes me want to dance dance dance.

Well, it seems that I’ve “nut-shelled” the past two days. Time to move onto the other stuff.

One of the things that I have been thinking about the last few days is about my teeth. I especially think about this one particular thing while brushing and flossing. And, it’s not an “ah-ha!” moment, but still one that’s worth saying. Here it is:

While eating healthy is good for your body, it’s also good for your oral hygiene…

Like I said, I’ve pondered this before but it’s probably something most people don’t think about. If you eat junk all day, not only is it going to have an effect on your body and health, it also affects your oral hygiene! Oreos, pizza, chips, fried foods, etc. contain a lot of ingredients that hurt our teeth as well. It’s not enough that it makes our waistlines bigger but that stuff corrodes our teeth. This is made worse when people don’t take the proper care of their teeth, or regular brushing and flossing.

To be honest, I didn’t even used to floss until recently. I had a cleaning in early December and the dentist who examined my teeth told me that I had a “beautiful smile.” Naturally, I smiled and then he told me that I needed to floss more because I told him that I didn’t. He said something to me that day that really stuck: “You only have to floss the teeth you want to keep.” Well, I want to keep all of them; I want all of them to be healthy. So, I’ve been making the necessary changes I need to in order to not only eat foods that won’t damage my teeth but also to take care of these pearly whites. I do this by leaving the floss container on the counter (out of sight, out of mind) and it’s been helping tremendously!

Something else that I actually just started thinking about was fear. I’ve been watching a television series and they’ve been pinpointing fear: the fear of getting older, the fear of not wanting to disappoint your family, etc. In fact, in this series, one of the actors confronts the fear of eating blowfish, the fish that if not cooked properly, will kill you because of the poison contained within. (He didn’t actually fear that specific task, but rather the fear of trying new things.) Once he tried it and realized that he was alive, he took particular joy in eating the rest of the dish. This is an extreme case but it just goes to show you that once you confront your fear and step out and do the thing causing you to have these feelings, you’ll find out that your fear was just keeping you back.

In a different television series, fear is highlighted as well. However, “fear” turns out to be this little 5-inch troll that was making everyone scared with smoke and mirrors. Once the actors confronted this little guy, all they had to do was step on him and he was dead. Fear is very tiny but can make a HUGE impression on someone’s life. Likewise, the fear of actually having to workout and eat better could be holding people back from the body that they really want and the life that they desire.

I admit, eating better and having to change my mentality was scary at first. Would I succeed? Was this another thing that would fizzle out in two weeks? Am I actually capable of having the body I want? Once I confronted this fear and actually dove right in, I found out that eating better is so very simple! Of course, you have to get used to weighing and measuring your food, counting calories and making sure that you have what you need, but anything that is new just takes some getting used to. The same goes with exercise. Working out for the first, second and even third time filled my head full of fears. Yeah, I was starting strong, but would I finish strong too. Once you overcome the fear of failing by simply DOING, it becomes a natural thing and that fear is COMPLETELY eradicated!

By the way, in the New Testament of the Bible, there are 365 fear scriptures (Do not fear. Thout shalt not fear. Etc.) Funny how there are also 365 days of the year, or one for each day. God doesn’t want us living in fear and he certainly doesn’t want it to control and determine the outcome of our lives. Let’s make it a priority to face our fears head on.

I guess when I first started this post, it sounded like I had several things to talk about that were a little out of the ordinary. Lol. Hopefully something from the above mentioned topics helped in some way.

Until next time, fear not!

Signing Out,

SP

Pain in The ABS!

I’d first like to address what I wrote about in my PS yesterday. Why I do some of the stuff that I do. Well, the thing that comes to mind immediately and the question that I get from my husband along with funny looks is “So, why are you eating bread at night now?”

The simple answer is: to increase fat loss. This was actually a brief topic stated in my most recent Coach Check In from my Beach Body Coach. Specifically, it states “Ban white carbs as Night: cut out bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes from your last meal of the day and substitute with steamed vegetables. It not only helps to keep the extra pounds off but it also improves the body’s elimination process.”

I decided to take that challenge because it was indeed, a challenge. My nighttime meal used to be VERY heavy on the rice or pasta and I figured it couldn’t hurt. I need more vegetables anyway.

Another question that I have gotten, well, more like a funny face, which also came from PJ, was when I turned down a glass of Diet 7-up. The funny thing about this was that I was the one who got really excited about it when we saw it in the store. (We had literally been ADDICTED to Sprite prior to our ‘new start’ this year and that seemed like a close second.) I’ve been working REALLY hard to get at least 2 liters of water in each day (8 cups, which is recommended) so I never ended up drinking it. Drinking 2 liters of water is still a huge challenge; it’d be even more of a challenge if I decided to try to squeeze that in as well. So far, I’ve been meeting my water requirement. I do want to get to the point where I can drink more. (And, by the way, when I first started upping my water intake, my restroom usage practically tripled. Since getting used to the amount though, I’ve noticed restroom usage a lot less! That is definitely a downfall to drinking more water at first, but once your body gets used to it, it’s all fine and dandy.)

So, I was sitting in church listening to Dr. Chris Cody, my pastor, when I felt this uncomfortable pain in my upper abdominals. I thought I was getting a tummy ache, so I ignored it (minor discomfort isn’t something to be alarmed about, at least with me.) I was still for a little while and the pain seemed to fade. But…

It got really cold in the sanctuary. (By the way, cold to me is hot to my husband, so it was probably a comfortable temperature to any normal human being.) I started moving around to get warm, took my coat off the back of my chair and covered up my legs with it, used the shawl-thingy (that I brought not because it matched my outfit but because I knew I’d probably get cold) and mummy wrapped my torso with that. It was still really cold and I could feel the air blowing across my face, moving my hair and making me even colder. I tried snuggling up to my husband (all during service, mind you) and I told him to “hold me.” He consented and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as I basically tried to occupy his space. I noticed the pain again...

When service was over, it finally hit me…my abdominal muscles hurt because I did a new workout yesterday: Tummy Tuck, if you remember. That’s why I was and still am in pain. It’s a wondrous feeling and I keep contracting and relaxing my abs as I walk, sit, lie down, what have you to feel it again. Call me weird, but I like the pain that comes from a good workout! It’s painful, yes, but it makes me laugh and smile because I know my body is shaping itself into something a lot healthier. Do not be discouraged by the pain!!

As far as food consumption goes, today has been a challenge as well. I haven’t had any protein except for some peanut butter that I spread on some of the 35 calorie bread I told you about yesterday. It was delicious, but since I ate that at 2:45pm, that was all the bread I was to consume for the day. The rest of my food today will consist almost entirely of FRUIT! I love fruit, but I’m kind of yearning for some MEAT! I will definitely do better about this tomorrow! Since I wasn’t able to get the meat protein, I’ve been and will be dining on peanut butter, apples, bananas, strawberry yogurt, a fruit and nut bar, and either a little bag of peanuts or a protein shake when I get home. Fruit doesn’t typically contain many calories and that is why I am eating so much peanut butter. Like I said, I will do much better tomorrow.

Speaking of food, if you recall from yesterday, I ate almost 1800 calories, my goal for each day. But, when I got home last night, I felt like I was STARVING!!!!! At first, I was envisioning the white cheddar popcorn in the cupboard that hasn’t been opened even though we got it as a Christmas gift. My mouth was water and I was actually going to get up and make my way toward it. My mind stopped me though and told me to “Drink some water or just go to bed.” Seeing as I didn’t want to get up, I decided to go to bed.

Two hours later, I was still awake, for some horrible reason, when my husband came in to settle down for bed (around 3:45am…) I told him that I was SOO hungry and he did an awesome thing, “Go drink some water.” He could have told me to “Go fix something to eat,” but I am very thankful he didn’t because it allowed me to see that he supports me.  (Awww!!)

So, that’s all for now. Tomorrow is another day and the beginning of WEEK 2 of BBL! I’m excited to see Leandro again!!

Signing Out,

SP

The Pictures and Videos I Promised!!

As stated yesterday on my Facebook, I promised that I was going to upload some pictures and videos so that you could 1.) hear the music that inspires me to dance 2.) get a little chuckle out of what goes through my mind when I turn on the Cardio Axe DVD, 3.) see what the clam shell looks like, 4.) see what the rainbow looks like and 5.) see what happens to bands when I do the High and Tight video.

This first picture is a picture of my paused TV. I was taking a water break during the Cardio Axe. The man in the center is Leandro. He's having a marvelous time!!

This video (seen below) is a short clip (from my phone, so there is background noise) of the Cardio Axe DVD screen (the whistles that I was telling you about) and it goes on into the actual Cardio Axe workout. (Listen to the music in this video and see if you don't feel like dancing.)

If you are fellow BeachBody-er, then you recognize the intro!!

This next video is the image that I get when I here the DVD Menu music!! It's a hoot! (The quality of this video is low, but you get the general idea)...and it's in spanish...but all you need to hear is the whistles.

 This next picture is the clam shell that I was trying to describe yesterday.

<<He didn't keep his heels together, but Leandro tells us to...

This next picture is of the rainbow. The lady in the picture is actually not doing it, so I put X's on the floor to show you where her toe would have to touch. Remember, you move your leg in a half circle up in the air and touch the X's. Try it, I dare you!!



Remember how I told you that that pesky band kept rolling up on me and making itself into a tight rope kind of thing that cuts into your legs. Well, here's a visual. Ouch!!

 

Can you see why that might be painful?? Yeah, not fun!!

And, this last video is a cleare video of Cardio Axe. It's actually supposed to be a demo version I guess. But, I'm putting it on here because you get to hear more of that awesome music!!

Enjoy!!!

Signing Out,

SP

Back into My 8's!!

First and foremost, a congratulations in is order!! I can now fit back into my 8’s!!! I could actually fit in them yesterday but I was so wrapped up in the music that I forgot to mention it. Regardless, I don’t ever plan on going back up in work shirt size, EVER!!! I’m staying with the 8’s until I can fit into a 6 or lower! (Oooh! I can’t wait for that day to come!!)

Since I’m on work shirt topic right now, let me just tell you that I found my old work clothes. Ya know, the uniform that I wore when I first started working at the hotel. The pants were a size 22 and the shirt was also a 22. They were shoved into a bag and got all wrinkly or else I would have taken a picture with them on. I will make that a priority within the next few days. (Dewrinkle the fat clothes so they will be “picture ready.”) I did, however, try them on in their ridiculous wrinkled state and the pants fell right off! My hips are no longer wide enough to even catch the pants to make them stay. The shirt was monstrous and I looked like a child trying to play dress up in mommy or daddy’s clothes; it was terribly funny! To make the pants stay on, I tried to walk all “saggy pants” kind of in a low squat position but that didn’t help the cause. They still fell down and I gave up on that. Once I have dewrinkled the uniform, I will enlist the help of my husband so that he can take a picture and so that I can post it up on this blog. It’s a hoot and your mind will be BLOWN. Mine is! I can’t believe I was that big!!!

Alright, onto the workout portion of the day. I woke up a little later than yesterday and immediately started Day 6! It was Bum Bum (pronounced “Boom Boom,” if you remember from yesterday) and Tummy Tuck. Bum Bum is one of those workouts that I am beginning to detest. It first starts out with Plies both flat on your feet and then on your toes. I swear to you that not even two minutes into doing the Plies, I had to stop, take a chug of water and calm my heart down! I felt ridiculous and very much out of shape, but I pressed on. In this video, there are a lot of squat moves, which doesn’t bother me necessarily, but I can’t go that deep in the squat. If I do, I either lose my balance and fall over or can’t get up in time to do that rest of the move or continue on with the squats. But, I do try my best. 

This video is the one in which the “Booty Drums” are played. I like this move because it allows your muscles to relax from all the squats!

The second portion of today’s workout was Tummy Tuck, an ab workout. This reminded me of the Ab Ripper X and Cardio Abs (the ab workouts from P90X and Insanity.) They were vastly different and none of the moves overlapped, so it was pleasant, especially since those workouts just about kill me! Still, I got a good workout from this video and I didn’t drag myself away from my folded over comforter (I don’t have a yoga mat yet) like I would have with the other two mentioned.

The only problem that I saw with it was that there were entirely TOO many moves that have your neck unsupported. You’re lying down on your mat (or comforter) for the majority of the video and some of the moves require you to use your hands to reach toward your knees or thighs or what have you while your shoulders are off of the floor. But, while you arms are doing that, your neck is kind of just bobbing in whatever position you have it in. Personally, my neck cramps up and I can no longer focus on the move I’m doing because I either have to lay back down or I have to use my hands as support. It was very annoying. Other than that complaint, it’s a good workout and I’m excited to see what it’s gonna do for my abs!!

I realized that I haven’t talked much about food lately. So, hopefully I can make it a more normal addition to my posts, starting with today! After all, “muscles are torn in the gym, made in the kitchen, and built in bed,” as a post from my Facebook Fitness group says. After my workout, I usually recover with 2 cups of skim milk, 3 tablespoons of chocolate syrup and a banana. This comes close to the 4-1 carbohydrate to protein ratio that is needed for optimal recovery. (As so I’ve been told by my BeachBody coach.) A recovery drinks (or food, if you can handle it) is necessary to regain those nutrients that you lost during the workout. Today, I hade the chocolate milk and a cup of Fit N Active Nonfat Strawberry yogurt because we were out of bananas and that offered about the same ratio.

After a few hours, I’ll eat lunch that either includes rice, whole wheat pasta, or the 35 calorie bread that we buy from Sams or Walmart. (It’s actually quite yummy!) Today, I ate ¾ cup cooked jasmine rice with chicken, onions and green peppers (made in a ceramic skillet so no butter or oil, just some Fit N Active Chicken Broth purchased at Aldi.) For a snack, I ate one banana and a Fruit and Nut bar. Later, for dinner, I plan on having the same mixture of chicken, onions and green peppers without the rice, a medium sized green apple and 4 individual servings packs of peanut butter. For dessert, which I don’t usually have, I’m having ½ cup of sugar free chocolate pudding made with skim milk topped wit ¼ cup of light whipped cream.

As far as calories are concerned, I am supposed to be consuming about 1650-1800 calories per day. If I were to lie around all day and do absolutely nothing, my body, at my height, weight and age, is estimated to use at least 1600 calories. So, I need to eat enough calories to support my body but also so that I can burn it during exercise and thus, lose weight.

Here’s an example of what my food journal looks like for today:

2 cups skim milk                                 160                 

3 tbs. choc. Syrup                               150     

1 cup nonfat straw. Yogurt                 100

--

¾ cooked jasmine rice                         160

Chicken, onions, and green peppers   140 

^^ (my husband made this last night and counted all the calories, then divided it by weight into four bowls)

--                                                          <<710>>

Banana                                                            100

Fruit and Nut Bar                               140

--

Chicken, onions and green peppers    140

Med. Size green apple                         80

4 ind. Ss peanut butter                                    480

--

½ cup sugar free choc. Pudding         75 (35 for ¼ package of pudding, 40 for ½ cup milk)

¼ cup light whipped cream                 40

--

2 liters of water                                   0

                                                            <<1765>>

As you can see, it definitely helps to write down what you eat. I used to use My Fitness Pal but now I just use a plain old fashioned composition notebook. It helps keep you more accountable and deleting the app will help relieve some space on my phone (lol.)

I think that’s all for today. I’m planning on uploading all those pictures and videos tonight. I wasn’t able to last night because I was just so stinking tired. Until next time, be blessed and encouraged! Losing weight IS possible!!

Signing Out,

SP                                           

P.S Tomorrow, I’ll talk about why I do some of the things that I do. Like, for instance, why I’ve cut out bread/carbs in my evening meal. Stay tuned!

Music that Makes You Want to Move!!

One of my most favorite things about BBL is the music!!! More specifically, the Cardio Axe Music. I am literally humming the tune while typing this post! I’ve actually been humming it ALL day. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to get up and dance all Brazilian (even if you can’t…like me!) Today I woke up really not wanting to “shake my booty” and when I heard that music that’s all I wanted to do! Lol. I tried to take a video of the music so that you could hear it but as it turns out, I can’t send the video from my phone to my email. I might be able to save it to my computer later tonight and hopefully post that tomorrow!

There’s another section of music that I like as well. The reason for this is because it makes me laugh inside. Lol. It’s the music playing in the background of the Menu Screen for the Cardio Axe DVD. It’s a series of whistles (or at least that’s what it sounds like) and it reminds me of the scene in White Chicks where Latrell accidentally ingests the drug that he was going to give one of the twins. He’s then seen on the dance floor (without a shirt) constantly blowing a whistle and moving to the music. That part makes me laugh everytime!!

Alright. Now with the serious stuff. Today was Cardio Axe and High and Tight. I’ve already done this combination before so I didn’t really have to get used to anything new. I’m still not a good dancer but a whole heck of a lot better than that first day (which I never want to recall!) I still get tripped up, figuratively and literally, on this one move. I can’t remember the name of it but it’s basically a cross step action and then a turn. Step with your left, cross with your right. Do that 2 more times and put your hands in the air and spin around. Leandro said that he stole the move from Shakira, but I don’t know a thing about how she dances so I can’t validate that as truth. Regardless, I haven’t been able to master it or really even attempt without 1.) Stepping on my own feet, or 2.) Getting my feet confused as to which way they need to go. The rest of the moves are easier but the ongoing thought that I have while doing the video is that I can’t do two things at once when it comes to dance.

Seriously, Leandro wanted me to shimmy my shoulders and circle my hips and all I could make myself do was circle my hips and that was even difficult! I’m a conservative gal, as you read previously, and circling my hips around my navel is difficult and uncomfortable! Perhaps it’d be easier if I’d have let the girls in high school teach me how to dance. But, then again…no! My prom was literally a GRIND FEST!! No thank you! Lol.

Hopefully within the weeks to come (considering that there are only 3 left) I will learn how to fluidly dance like a Brazilian. Haha!

Onto High and Tight. This video is all about working the muscles that include and surround the butt, or “Bum Bum” as Leandro likes to call it (pronounced “Boom Boom”). My mom has a VHS of Buns of Steel and I’m pretty sure that if you’ve seen any of those moves, they’re probably included in High and Tight. Reason I assume this is because my mom asked me if during the video I had to lift my leg in the air behind me. I sure did!

I won’t go into the detail of how the entire video ran but I’ll definitely highlight a few of the moves that were either particularly painful or memorable. The first is the Rainbow.

Rainbow:

-Sit on your knees

-Place the part of your arm that connects to your hand (what is this body part called?!) on the floor in front of you.

-Place your other hand out to the side for balance.

-With the leg opposite the one out to the side, lift up and place downward to that side of your body.

-Then, bring it up and over to the other side of your body (like a half circle.)

Do this a few times and you’ll start to sweat, groan and moan because it hurts! BTW, if you can’t visualize it, it’s probably not your problem; I’m horrible about explaining things. It’s best to show you. And, at this point in my journey, I’m still a little too hefty to be featured in any kind of exercise video, even if it’s a mere demonstration.

Well, that one was the most painful. I shall proceed to the most memorable.

Anytime you work with bands, those moves can become either painful or memorable, or both. But, with the BBL provided bands, a move can be painful even if it’s not. Explanation: The band that I was provided with is a connecting yellow band. It’s a flat piece of whatever material those things are made of (rubber?) that you are supposed to put around your legs, feet, etc. to get a nice and painful workout. If it is placed around your lower legs, just above your feet, it keep it’s shape and does painful wonders to your hips, but and thighs. When placed any further, like right above your knees, it rolls up into a thin piece of rubber that literally digs into your legs. That is the part that hurts! The move that I am about to describe, as best as possible, uses the band in that position and while the move isn’t completely painful, the band that slices into your legs is!

Clam Shell: I’ll do my best…

-Lie on the floor with your hip touching the ground (or hopefully, yoga mat) and leg on top of leg. (Band around the area just above your knees…if you are so lucky to have it keep it’s flat shape, it shouldn’t slide. If it curls up into a painful string, it’s gonna slide.)

-Extend the arm closest to the floor out above your head and rest your head on that arm.

-Place your other hand in front of your navel for balance.

-Bend both legs back a 45-60 degree angle.

- With the leg that is on top, bring it up (like you are opening a clam shell). Heels should be touching during this entire move. After a few, you will feel the burn from the muscles being worked and the pain from the band both pinching your skin as it slides and also cutting into your leg.

I honestly tried to put the band on and keep it flat. But, within a second on placing it around my lower outer thighs, it curled up and I gave up. I guess I have to be a little smaller in order for it to keep it’s shape.

While today’s moves were nothing new to me, they definitely kept my heart pounding! These girls in the videos don’t EVER stop for water! It’s crazy! I have to take a chug after every few minutes because it’s exhausting! They just keep smiling too!

Hopefully, I can find some videos from Youtube as well as upload my own personal video so that you can get a “taste” of what the music sounds like,

Oh yeah, and just in case you are wondering, that 8-week weight loss meeting that PJ signed up for went very well. I learned more about serving sizes and even got some information about what words to look for when ordering at a restaurant. And, BEST OF ALL, I weighed myself and am 6.2 pounds lighter!!!

Signing Out,

SP

P.S.

I just tried to upload some pictures and it won't allow me to on this computer! blah!! I will upload them when I get home and have a chance to upload everything. Sorry for the let down...

Sore Butt and Everything Else!!!

As promised, I said I would blog more. And, also as promised (to myself, at least) I have successfully completed Day 2 of Brazil Butt Lift.

The back story on this workout program is a little funny. I saw it a while ago while doing my first rounds of P90X and Insanity (sometime during the beginning to middle of the year) and almost fell in love with the results it promised: a firmer (and smaller) behind! It was always a wish but didn’t become a reality until I saved some of my personal spending money in late October. When it arrived, I was so eager to start but didn’t think I’d be able to keep up with it AND the P90X/Insanity Hybrid that I was doing, so I put it off. In fact, for Christmas, I wrapped it up as a reminder to myself that I was going to start the program in January. (That’s the funny part. I also didn’t have as many gifts under the tree as my husband did so I wanted one little extra thing. Lol.) It wasn’t going to be just another workout program that I left gathering dust on a shelf. I was determined.

January rolled around and unfortunately, it started on a Tuesday. If you are anything like me, you hate starting workout programs on any day other than Monday because for some reason, it just throws off the natural order of things. I like to start on Monday because Sunday, (the ‘day of rest’) is actually a Rest Day. I like it like that. So, I actually waited 13 whole days to start Brazil Butt Lift.

What was I doing during those 13 days you might ask? And why didn’t I start on the 6^th? To be honest, I actually didn’t want to share this with anyone except my husband, but I will tell you since things are looking up. From about the beginning of December till the 10^th, I went wild! I was eating what I wanted, not measuring it, not counting calories, not giving a rip what I put in my mouth. It was bad and looking back, I only half regret it. PJ and I actually had a junk food night!!

A few days before the 10^th, we had received coupons from various manufacturers because of some faulty junk food that we had eaten. I, of course, being the ‘quality matters’ lady that I am, always writes into the company politely letting them know that their ‘Nutter Butters taste like plastic’ or that their ‘Honey Roasted Peanuts were chewy.’ We literally got about $16 worth of junk food and made a night of it. Doritos, Oreos, Nutter Butters, Ritz Chips. I’m gonna stop here. I can hear the vomit come up in y’alls throats. Yeah, it was bad. Good, but very bad.

But, I do not regret this very lax way of life. Well, like I said above, I really only half regret it. The reason for this is because I felt horrible, felt fat, ugly, you name it. I had headaches often and worst of all I had to get a larger work shirt because my size 8 was just a little to snug for comfort. That was kind of a slap in the face. But! I learned something from it. I learned how my body reacts to these foods and that I never want to feel like that again!! Oh yeah. I also gained 10 pounds. (Please pick up your jaw from the floor because I know that’s where it went. I am actually ‘ok’ with this because I know that I am going to work my butt off to get where I need and want to be. It’s a minor setback.)

I said all that to say that I am now happily on track (with my husband who is also exercising and eating better plus counting calories.) I started Brazil Butt Lift on Monday and oooh myyy goooosh!! It hurts sooo much!!

The first day was an introduction to the basics. Ok, no problem. I got to see how absolutely uncoordinated I am but it really wasn’t that bad. I sweat a lot, drank a lot of water, and PJ chimed in a little bit on the ‘Booty Drums.’ Yes, there is a move called ‘Booty Drums.’

I was a tad uncomfortable though. First and foremost, I’d consider myself to be a conservative gal. The basics alone made me feel very ‘wrong.’ The moves are some of what you’d see on “Dirty Dancing,” perhaps and I just don’t move like that. So, it was VERY awkward. I tried my best though. The second uncomfortable thing about the workout is that it is led by a flaming homosexual. I can’t think that Leandro is into girls with the way he moves and the way he talks. In my opinion, men should not be able to move like that. I can’t see Tony Horton or Shaun T doing ‘Booty Drums’ or moving their hips in a wide circle. I can barely do that!!

After Day 1 was complete, I didn’t feel bad. I felt good with the exception of my knees almost giving out on me while walking. But then, I went to bed (after Audit) and I did not want to move! In fact, I didn’t even get out of bed or really move from the position that I was in till about 4pm.

Day 2 started and I feel like an utter disgrace to Brazilian dance! Today was Cardio Axe and High and Tight. Cardio Axe was basically a bunch of dance moves that I never fully got the hang of and ended up looking like a drunken monkey. (I’ve never actually seen a drunken monkey.) With High and Tight, we used the bands to work the glute muscles and just about every muscle within the ‘butt vicinity.’ And, boy I was FEELIN’ IT! PJ can even attest to the constant groaning that was coming from the living room. We were working muscles that I literally NEVER knew were there! It was painful! Even the familiar stretches that I did with Tony and Shaun T, that normally don’t hurt, HURT! If you try this, be prepared to be in some pain!

No wonder the first week has 2 breaks!!

So, there you have it! I’m caught up with Brazil Butt Lift and blogging as well! Be blessed!

Signing Out,

Sherri Pate