Changes Needed (Day 14 of 20)

Just got done doing Energy. It would seem that I am doing the opposite of what I want to be doing. What I WANT to do is get my yoga done earlier in the day, so that I can relax at night and actually go to sleep and just feel better and not feel nagged to get my yoga in. What I AM doing is doing yoga after midnight (for the past two days anyway). Not cool.

Oh and I don't want anyone to think I am doing that awesome with my calorie intake either. That's why yesterday I put "and counting." I knew there was a chance I would overdo it and I did. I did it again today too. Both were a bit over 2500 calories. Could I have done worse? Yes. Is it that bad? Depends. For an active person who goes around during the day working, doing errands, exercising it should be a normal-ish amount. For me, no it's not good. I need to be losing weight and 2500 calorie days are not going to cut it. Having said that, I'm actually not eating that bad. I got into the wine the past two days and said bye-bye to my calories. No more of that.

Tomorrow will consist of a refreshing exercise heavy day with healthy meals and most importantly, no alcohol. I guess I've been making up for all the nights I didn't drink. Well except those last two semesters. Both my friends turned 21 that last year, so we had to celebrate.... several times. : ) But I'd rather be healthy and alcohol kind of sucks anyway (although wine is delicious). Relaxing with a glass of wine isn't bad, but I've been doing a little more than that and getting healthy is more important. No more of that either.

I will finish the last couple of days of my 20 days challenge being focused on getting as close to my goal as possible. Oh and in case you were wondering, my goal is unreachable now and I actually haven't lost any weight since I've set it, but I would love to at least lose one or two pounds. That would be awesome. More of that.

I hope everyone is doing a little better than me, but just keep motivated and going your own path. If something isn't working, fix it!

20 Day Challenge_____________

Day 1 (8/18/13): Fat Burner

Day 2 (8/19/13): Energy

Day 3 (8/20/13): Red Hot Core (and volleyball!)

Day 4 (8/21/13): Energy

Day 5 (8/22/13): Energy + Red Hot Core (and burpees + treadmill)
Day 6 (8/23/13): Red Hot Core
Day 7 (8/24/13): Diamond Cutter + Red Hot Core

Day 8 (8/25/13): Below the Belt + Red Hot Core

Day 9 (8/26/13): Mix Tape + Red Hot Core
Day 10 (8/27/13): Energy + Red Hot Core
Day 11 (8/28/13): Fat Burner + Red Hot Core
Day 12 (8/29/13): Energy + Red Hot Core
Day 13 (8/30/13): Red Hot Core
Day 14 (8/31/13): Energy

Lazy Day (Day 13 of 20)

Just going to be a lazy day for me today. In other words, I'll be doing Red Hot Core as my work out for the day. It should never be knocked though! Even if it's around 13 minutes long, it can pack a punch if you are truly engaging. If your core isn't developed (mine definitely needs work), then you will be feeling this in your abs within the first three minutes.

Nothing wrong with that! Can I do more? Yes, of course. But I think it is important to maintain the course of achieving your goals without overdoing it and adding the stress of keeping up a crazy workout schedule. That's why I love Red Hot Core. It;s best for me to do something everyday. If I give myself an "off" day, that one day become two, then three, then I am working out once every now and again. With Red Hot Core I can commit to a 13 minutes workout that I feel and still have a lazy day. Love it.

Vegetarian Chili for dinner. Recipe can be found here. Will post my verdict later. Oh and it's a very good idea NOT to touch the burner on the stove.... just sayin'.

Oh and if you have been keeping up with my posts and vlogs, you will know that I am now doing 30 days of tracking my food (mostly calorie intake). Today is going great with 1252 calories and counting!

20 Day Challenge_____________

Day 1 (8/18/13): Fat Burner

Day 2 (8/19/13): Energy

Day 3 (8/20/13): Red Hot Core (and volleyball!)

Day 4 (8/21/13): Energy

Day 5 (8/22/13): Energy + Red Hot Core (and burpees + treadmill)
Day 6 (8/23/13): Red Hot Core
Day 7 (8/24/13): Diamond Cutter + Red Hot Core

Day 8 (8/25/13): Below the Belt + Red Hot Core

Day 9 (8/26/13): Mix Tape + Red Hot Core
Day 10 (8/27/13): Energy + Red Hot Core
Day 11 (8/28/13): Fat Burner + Red Hot Core
Day 12 (8/29/13): Energy + Red Hot Core
Day 13 (8/30/13): Red Hot Core

60 Day Update (Day 12 of 20)

Today was my 60 Day Update. Check out my video for it below! I talk about my weight loss since my last update and my total weight loss; show my pictures since my last update; and talk about what I've been doing and what my goals are for the next 30 days.

I'll post my pics below, but also make sure to check them out on the tab below my banner marked "Photo Journey." (Click to enlarge):

I can tell the difference since I have started and I really had to think about that today to feel good about my progress. I have been feeling that it isn't enough, but at the end of the day I am doing better than I was when I started. That was what I wanted: to feel better. I have gained some weight since Friday, however, so I will have to start monitoring my food intake. Starting tomorrow I will track my calories until my 90 day update. Then I will evaluate again how I am doing and any changes that need to be made.


Today by itself was okay. I got up late, but not too late. I actually did good and woke myself up and got up to weigh myself and measure and take pics. Then I ate a pretty good lunch with protein and veggies.Dinner consisted of some tofu that I marinated and onions and celery. Was very good. Of course I am ruining all of that by having a drink. Really need to stop that, but as soon as I start tracking my food and drink tomorrow I think the problem will take care of itself, because of all the calories that are in alcohol. I can already foresee my weight loss by tracking. The biggest thing is to not stress out about it. If I do then I will reduce my goal dates. Better to lose weight gradually and with less stress than overdo it and gain everything back.

Exercise wise, I did Energy and Red Hot Core. I had meant today to be another exercise heavy day with my extra, non-yoga workout attached. I got tired though after doing my yoga and decided that since my exercise isn't the problem I would just chill a little today after my yoga workout and not stress about it and prepare for tomorrow. Will continue to do my challenge and hope that next Thurs/Fri weigh in is better than today's and most likely tomorrow's.

How have y'all been doing?

20 Day Challenge_____________

Day 1 (8/18/13): Fat Burner

Day 2 (8/19/13): Energy

Day 3 (8/20/13): Red Hot Core (and volleyball!)

Day 4 (8/21/13): Energy

Day 5 (8/22/13): Energy + Red Hot Core (and burpees + treadmill)
Day 6 (8/23/13): Red Hot Core
Day 7 (8/24/13): Diamond Cutter + Red Hot Core

Day 8 (8/25/13): Below the Belt + Red Hot Core

Day 9 (8/26/13): Mix Tape + Red Hot Core
Day 10 (8/27/13): Energy + Red Hot Core
Day 11 (8/28/13): Fat Burner + Red Hot Core
Day 12 (8/29/13): Energy + Red Hot Core

Lateness (Day 11 of 20)

Super late yoga night (as in 11:45 I started it), but an even later post. I thought I wanted to be getting this stuff in earlier... Need to be up a little earlier tomorrow with it being a big day and everything. Tomorrow is finally my 60 Day update with DDPYoga. I've only been talking about it everyday now for the past week. Not too excited about it, but still going to weigh-in, measure, and take pictures and shoot a video. I know I've lost stuff since the first 30 days though, so that's always nice.

Other than that, I had a mind opener tonight. Was talking to a friend about how something isn't working for us like we want it with the weight loss even though we are working out. I figured it was the food and decided to round up what I ate today, calorie wise.... Um.... can you say 3000 cals? It was near there. Today was a heavy day; I don't eat like that everyday (had a bit lot of wine). Still... that is ridiculous. I was avoiding counting calories again, due to the stress it ends up involving, but there is no way around it now. I need to retrain myself to eat a proper amount at least. After I get used to that, then maybe I can cut out the counting and just pay attention to what I'm eating. Thinking about starting that Friday. Tomorrow I am going to focus on the update and everything and try to cleanse a bit with no heavy foods. Might do a no carb day? Just don't want to feel as heavy after today.

Guess I'll leave off here. Some changes to make, but I am happy that I've been keeping up the exercise. That is half the battle and at least I'm doing good there. I do have to get it in earlier in the day though. Tomorrow is also my big exercise day where I do the extra exercise like I did last week. Should make me feel better after that!

20 Day Challenge_____________

Day 1 (8/18/13): Fat Burner

Day 2 (8/19/13): Energy

Day 3 (8/20/13): Red Hot Core (and volleyball!)

Day 4 (8/21/13): Energy

Day 5 (8/22/13): Energy + Red Hot Core (and burpees + treadmill)
Day 6 (8/23/13): Red Hot Core
Day 7 (8/24/13): Diamond Cutter + Red Hot Core

Day 8 (8/25/13): Below the Belt + Red Hot Core

Day 9 (8/26/13): Mix Tape + Red Hot Core
Day 10 (8/27/13): Energy + Red Hot Core
Day 11 (8/28/13): Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Halfsies (Day 10 of 20)

Halfway through my 20 day challenge. Feels like it's been twice that long though. It was another late night for yoga, as in I just finished it. I did Energy and Red Hot Core. It was really nice to get back to Energy after challenging myself with the other workouts. I need to have more energy for these workouts though. I think I need to tweak my sleep schedule a bit still, so I can wake up and get them done. It's so tiring just to think about getting up and dong yoga at a certain point. I'm still getting it done, but it's getting harder to get them in and it's only been 10 days. 10 more to go!

Thursday is my 60 day update and I'm a bit nervous. I mean I should have at least lost another inch on my waist, but I'm not losing the weight like I want anymore. Still a big improvement on where I started. I guess that's how I need to be looking at it. I feel way better than I did and a lot less stressed. That was the main reason I started this.

Gonna end the post short tonight as I left it so late and I am tired. Hope to go to sleep at a relatively decent hour tonight. Hope everyone is doing well!!!

20 Day Challenge_____________

Day 1 (8/18/13): Fat Burner

Day 2 (8/19/13): Energy

Day 3 (8/20/13): Red Hot Core (and volleyball!)

Day 4 (8/21/13): Energy

Day 5 (8/22/13): Energy + Red Hot Core (and burpees + treadmill)
Day 6 (8/23/13): Red Hot Core
Day 7 (8/24/13): Diamond Cutter + Red Hot Core

Day 8 (8/25/13): Below the Belt + Red Hot Core

Day 9 (8/26/13): Mix Tape + Red Hot Core
Day 10 (8/27/13): Energy + Red Hot Core

Night Sessions (Day 9 of 20)

I really need to get back to getting my yoga sessions in during the day when I have a little more energy. I just did Mix Tape and Red Hot Core (RHC). I kind of  played out a little bit while doing Mix Tape, but I figured even if I'm not engaging fully I'm still doing better than just sitting down. I had never done Mix Tape before, so it was a little weird to do RHC moves during it and then to do them again when I followed up by doing the RHC workout. I thought about not doing it, but since I told myself I would I did it in the end.

Can't go breaking myself out of the habit of doing what I told myself I was going to do. Not now that I am a day away from being halfway through my 20 day challenge. The days seem to be going by really fast, but the challenge seems to be slow going. Not sure how that is happening or if it even makes sense. I'm doing it though. I just hope I get the results I want in the end.

Still need to work on food intake as always. I did a lot better today though, so I think I may be making some progress. Two things I know I need to work on: breakfast and carbs. For breakfast, it's actually the fact that I still need to tweak my sleep schedule a bit so that i get up in time to actually have breakfast. I am not allowing myself to squeeze in an extra meal to make up for it. If I want breakfast (actually I do need breakfast) I need to get up for it. The carbs aren't horrible, but I still need to work on eating more vegetables than I have been.

It's all about them baby steps and making progress. This isn't an overnight process so i know it is going to take some time for my body to really show the results that I am working for, but I confess I have my doubts about if I'm doing enough. I just feel that I went from doing nothing to doing so much to improve my health and I'm not seeing a lot of what I thought I would see, especially from losing weight before. I really just don't want to go back to counting calories. That's too much stress and this is about lowering my stress not adding to it. Well those are just some of my worries and doubts. I wouldn't be human if I didn't have any, right?

I always end up typing more lately than I think I will. That's what happens when you tend to ramble on I suppose. Let me know how you all are doing. Leave a comment, I love them
: )

20 Day Challenge_____________

Day 1 (8/18/13): Fat Burner

Day 2 (8/19/13): Energy

Day 3 (8/20/13): Red Hot Core (and volleyball!)

Day 4 (8/21/13): Energy

Day 5 (8/22/13): Energy + Red Hot Core (and burpees + treadmill)
Day 6 (8/23/13): Red Hot Core
Day 7 (8/24/13): Diamond Cutter + Red Hot Core

Day 8 (8/25/13): Below the Belt + Red Hot Core

Day 9 (8/26/13): Mix Tape + Red Hot Core

Why so serious? (Day 8 of 20)

You know I'm serious about this challenge if I woke up just to do yoga... Seriously I was so tired that I decided that I had to take a nap at 6:30. I was going to get up after an hour, watch a show, and then do yoga. That didn't happen. Fell back asleep after my alarm went off. Somehow (probably my subconscious not wanting me to screw up the challenge) I woke up and am about to do yoga at almost 10:00 at night. Not only am I about to yoga, but I am going to do Below the Belt and Red Hot Core. Why am I going to do that? Because I'm nuts. Will finish writing post after yoga. By the way, I'm still really tired.

Pretty much modified and didn't engage as much on the second half of Below the Belt, but I'm tired and I know I still got a workout, especially with Red Hot Core at the end. I;m sweating and was shaking, so I know I was turning stuff on. I'm glad I woke up to workout though. I would have been so mad at myself tomorrow if I hadn't. I need to be careful though, knowing me I woke wake up next time. I need to be getting my workouts in earlier in the day I guess.

So while I'm pretty serious about the workouts lately, I am still slacking on the food front. This week was supposed to see me being more serious about what I am eating. Today consisted of pizza. Granted, the whole reason for the pizza is because I had been craving it since I graduated in May and it wasn't my idea to go do the trip into the city to get some things and grab the pizza on the way back, but I was happy happy happy while eating it. I guess I'm okay about it since I know it's not everyday I do this. I know I just need to do the program and actually get serious about what I'm eating, but I'm concentrating so much on the workouts and I feel better about that since I was having such a tough time not doing them not to long ago. I just feel much better these days because of it. I'll get there I just am not going to stress about it.

Guess that's it for tonight. Hoping to go back to sleep soon. Close call, but I managed to get it in. Did you get everything in you wanted today?

____________________________

Day 1 (8/18/13): Fat Burner

Day 2 (8/19/13): Energy

Day 3 (8/20/13): Red Hot Core (and volleyball!)

Day 4 (8/21/13): Energy

Day 5 (8/22/13): Energy + Red Hot Core (and burpees + treadmill)
Day 6 (8/23/13): Red Hot Core
Day 7 (8/24/13): Diamond Cutter + Red Hot Core

Day 8 (8/25/13): Below the Belt + Red Hot Core