Dealing with Life

I typed the following a couple of months ago, but I was not ready to post it. Now, though, I think I am.

My last post was 3 months ago. That doesn't mean that I haven't been on my fitness journey, at least for the most part. It means that life has gotten in the way, and I just haven't had or made the time to write. In my last post, I alluded to something happening that renewed my desire to be fit. That something was my mother's diagnosis of colon cancer at the end of June.
I have to be honest, I NEVER thought that I'd have to deal with cancer in my family. I'm not sure why, I realize now that it was very naive of me. But, it just wasn't anything that really had been in my family. So, when my mom's diagnosis came, it was colon cancer but it initially was found in her liver, which meant that it had spread. Which meant that it was Stage IV. We were told that eventually the cancer would be terminal, but we had hope that aggressive chemotherapy would allow her a few more years.
From July 9 until August 29, she really only got 3 chemo treatments. We thought that she was doing okay, since she was still going to work many of the days, when she felt up to it. However, on August 29, my father took her to the hospital, thinking that she was dehydrated. Her kidneys were beginning to shut down. The hospital stay led to finding out that the cancer had spread even more...the cancer in the liver had turned into its own tumor and it also had spread into her lungs. So she decided not to prolong things and opted to forego dialysis. As a result, she passed away the day after Labor Day.
Needless to say, my exercise and nutrition have been affected. I did start my Body Beast program on July 13, the day after my last post. I stayed consistent with that up until the week of my mother's passing. Since then, I have gone out to exercise, although it has been less frequent. As well, I have found my eating to be more fueled by comfort to an extent.
And I am okay with that right now. But I don't want to stay there. I CAN'T stay there. I know it's not the healthiest choices. But, I've given myself some grace during this time, because I know this is what I need, too. When I think about getting up at 4:30 in order to get my workout in, some days I've known that my body just needs the rest and I stay in bed. I've said it before, this fitness journey is a marathon. Yes, I initially lost 28 pounds and I've gained about 10-14 of those back. (However, some of that has been increased muscle with the Body Beast program.) But life happens. You aren't always going to feel like making the good choices, even 80% of the time. The key for me is to get back in it now.
Since I initially started this "Fit After 40" journey at the end of July/beginning of August 2014, I have really enjoyed seeing more strength, definition, and stamina. I don't want to lose that. And if I continue to allow myself to make those unhealthy choices, I will eventually stop making ANY healthy choices. And I don't want to do that, because then it makes it that much more difficult to start making the healthy choice again.

So now, a couple of months after writing that, we're right in the middle of the holidays, and my motivation is pretty low. Especially when I think back to how I was doing last year. Since September I generally have maintained exercising two to three days a week, until the last couple of weeks. My eating has not been that great, though, which makes more of a difference. But, I'm still determined to get myself back on my journey at some point. Of course, the new year is the time that pretty much everyone decides to get on that journey, so I guess I'll be in good company. 

I just didn't want to let my journey go, or let my blog go. I wanted to let people know where I was, although pretty much most of my readers probably knew from Facebook. But like I have said several times, and again in the above section written a couple of months ago, a fitness journey (and life) is a marathon. There will be several steps forward, and then some backward. Some victories and some defeats. I want to, I NEED to, get back to that 80% rule. Making healthy choices 80% of the time. So let this be an encouragement to anyone who is struggling to get that motivation back. I'm there. But I refuse to stay there. Sometimes it's just baby steps, but the momentum can get started. 

I hope to still keep people updated on this in the upcoming weeks.

Still on the Journey

This post has been a long time coming. I got busy at work, life got in the way; other things came up that called for my time, and I didn't use it to keep up with this blog. I've created snippets of this post in my mind for the last two months. I've stuck with my workouts, overall. The clean eating, not as much, and it really shows in my weight. But I knew I'd come back to it at some point.

First, I'll start with my P90X3 progress. I had started Round 2 on April 6. You can see my first couple of weeks' workout pictures in this post and this post. While I did stick to the schedule (for the most part), I didn't stick as well to the eating, so I don't really feel like I "went" through it. I certainly didn't want to take progress pictures like I had for my first round, because I was not making the right kind of progress. But, I did the workouts, at least 4 or 5 days each week instead of the 6 I usually did. Right at the end of the round, I had to start working 10-hour days for three weeks in the summer. And I got tired! So, I was a little more lax in my getting out there and getting it done. But, I did take a picture every day that I did work out, so it is still documented. Here are a few, for now.

Next, I'll talk about my eating. I already have said a couple of times, I did not stick to the eating like I should. I'm not quite sure where it started. I guess it kind of was a combination of stuff, including some Disney trips where we indulged a little. Also, I found myself getting away from trying to eat to fuel my body and started wanting to eat things because they taste good. I knew I needed a balance, but I was just letting myself indulge some.

So now, my weight. I still monitored my weight, pretty much daily. No, it was not where I had been back in March or even April, and it was not where I wanted it to be. I definitely yo-yo-ed a bit more. I actually was a little surprised at how quickly my weight shifted from the beginning to the end of May. Then June. This picture is from My Fitness Pal in June, showing the last 6 months of my weight progress. I basically started and ended the same, but look at that dip and then the recent spikes.

And now, the beginning of July. Although, I stepped on the scale this morning after a 4-day Disney vacation, and I have to say, I figured I'd be back in the 170s. Thankfully, no, I wasn't, but I was pretty close.

In the last couple of weeks I've been reminded of why I think that it is important to eat healthy and be active, so I have had a renewed drive to get back on target. I am almost a year out from starting this journey, and this is just proof that it is a marathon, not a sprint. There are going to be good times and bad times. Times that I'm motivated, and times that I just want to eat an Oreo doughnut. I just need to remember the 80/20 rule. I want to make the healthy choice 80% of the time.

On Monday, I will be starting Body Beast. This is another Beachbody program that focuses mostly on weightlifting. Not that I want to get into bodybuilding, but I just want to tone up. I am excited to see my progress with that. But since the majority of weight loss is going to be due to nutrition, I am getting back on track with my eating as well. At least 80% of the time.

Weeks 39 and 40: Scaling Back (Or not)

(I got a little behind so I'm catching up by combining these two weeks.)

I have mentioned this before, but I pretty much get on the scale every morning, "just to see" how I'm doing, but for my official "weigh-in," I only count what I weigh on Fridays (or sometimes Saturdays). But this week, I thought I would try to go the whole week without getting on the scale. I've realized that when I get on everyday, I tend to get lax when I start to see the numbers going down. "Oh, I've got this, I'll be down this week." So when I'm feeling a little craving for a doughnut, "Well, I can afford that," and I eat it. I've also realized that I've been acting more like I'm trying to maintain my weight than trying to LOSE weight still.

So, like I said, I thought I'd go sans scale this week, but I just couldn't do it. I was making good nutrition choices, and I just felt lighter, so I wanted to see what the weight was. I couldn't resist getting on to see. But actually, a friend told me that she read something that said people who weigh everyday tend to lose more weight than people who don't. I guess it just depends on how you use the information, then. But hearing that just gave me more support to step on everyday. And I started writing all of them down in my planner, just to document it. One thing I've noticed is that how well I sleep has seemed to make a difference. I know that sleep will definitely make a difference in the long-term when trying to lose weight. And of course, sometimes just what I ate the day before can make a difference (like sodium and water-retention).

Anyway, I don't think that I can do only a weekly weight-check after all. That's okay, I'll just stick with what I have been doing.

Round 2 of P90X3 has been going great! I feel stronger, like I did the first time I went through it. I think I'm pushing myself a little bit more, particularly on things like squats and lunges. Pushing myself to go lower. Or pushing myself to keep going. Here are my pictures from the last two weeks. Oh, I did skip my day 13 workout because we were at Disney and stayed out at Magic Kingdom way too late, so I did NOT want to get up and work out. But I did get a ton of steps that day from walking! (I discovered the new iPhone operating system has a built-in pedometer. More on that in another post.)


Here is my final weight loss progress for the last two weeks. I'm holding steady right now. Well, really, my last post (week 38), I was 160. Then for week 39, I actually went up to 161, so I'm pretty pleased with the 159!

Week 38: Round 2 Begins

I first went through P90X3 from September 29 to December 27. I really liked it, and I was so proud of myself for completing it, since I had never before completed P90X (or, really, any workout program).

I thought about going through it again at some point, but I wanted to try a couple of other things out. Then, I did a combination of some of my favorites. But I really like the idea of going through a program and completing it. Especially when it is formulated to get you in good shape. I also wanted to see what my results would be when I pushed myself even more than I had before. When I was starting off in even better shape than I had been when I started the first time.

So, I started my second round of P90X3 on April 6. I still love it. My first week is done, and I'm feeling the pain (good pain). I decided that for this round, I want to take and share a picture of myself working out everyday. This is something that I did a lot already during P90X3, but since at heart I am a digital scrapbooker/memory keeper, this is kind of like my own little Project 365 (or in this case, Project 90).

So one thing that I noticed this week is that I have been still acting as if I'm trying to maintain my weight, rather than still actively trying to lose. So even though I think it's okay to once in a while splurge, I'm just doing that a little more often than I should. So it shows in my results. But at the same time, my waist went down a half-inch. So maybe my 2-pound weight gain this week was really muscle. I guess we'll see... 

Weeks 36 and 37: The Real Numbers

I didn't get a chance to post last week, so I'm "combining" the last two weeks.

First of all, I'm going to take my authenticity up a level and start sharing real numbers. Yeah, it's a little embarrassing, but I'm already sharing my pictures, so I might as well, right? Second, I'm going back to sharing a weekly PROGRESS update. I've gotten to where if I don't lose any weight (or if I gain weight) in a week, then I just don't mention it. I guess in my mind, I figure I'll lose again in a week or two, and I'll mention it there. But I want to be more transparent in my weekly progress. Especially since I'm starting Round 2 of P90X3.

Okay, so when I started this weight loss venture back in July 2014, I weighed 185 pounds. I wanted to get down to 150 pounds at that time, but I later changed that to 145. So I wanted to lose 40 pounds. As of today, I have gotten as far down as 157 pounds (so a 28-pound weight loss). But, on my Friday morning weigh-in, I was 158 pounds (current loss: 27 pounds). At the beginning of 2015, I talked about setting a timeline for my goal, which was to be down to my 145-pound goal weight by April. So, after being a lot more casual with my nutrition for the last couple of months, I doubt that I will meet that goal by then. Maybe it would be more realistic at this point to shoot for July (right at a year that I've been doing this.) So, July 19 would be the date that I signed up as a coach and made the decision to start getting fit.

I've written several times before that the scale is not the ultimate measure of my progress. In fact, I looked back at my waist measurements from when I started, and I really have to say that I am excited at the progress there. In July, around my belly/abdomen area, I measured 41 inches. Yikes. This past Saturday, I measured 33.25 inches. Woohoo! So even if the numbers on the scale are fluctuating, my inches are coming off!

I am starting my second round of P90X3. I'm excited to see what my results will be this time. I'm posting my progress when I went through X3 the first time. And then my current picture, which will be my new "before" picture for Round 2 of X3.

Week 35: It's Always Something

I actually first thought about this a couple of months ago but never wrote about it, and now I'm thinking about it again, so I decided to write about it now. Throughout the year, it seems like there is always some reason to indulge with food. You know, that feeling of it only happens once a year, so I've got to have some [blank]. Or that feeling of it's tradition, it just won't feel like [blank] unless I have some [blank]. Here is a look at my personal "events" calendar by each month.

January-college bowl games and pro football play-offs. For us there is usually this desire to have pizza or wings or nachos, you know, FOOTBALL FOOD.

February-Superbowl, Florida State fair, Valentine's day, Girl Scout cookies. This is apparently a heavy month. You start off still with the football food. Then, if I go to the fair, I want to have some good fried oreos or something like that. For Valentine's, of course, I want chocolate (although I didn't really do that this year, well, except we went to Disney ON Valentine's day, so I did splurge.) Then, you know, Girl Scout cookies are only available for a limited time.

March-spring break, my birthday. Not that spring break HAS to call for food, but there is this feeling that I'm on vacation, so it's a little easier to get a little lax. And my birthday this year has been bad for my eating. I wanted some donuts or cinnamon rolls.

April-Easter. The first of several family get-togethers in the next couple of months in which we do a potluck dinner, which means tempting desserts.

May-Mother's Day, (teacher appreciation). Another family get-together event that can have tempting desserts. And now, of course, I'm a mother, so I "deserve" it. And usually teacher appreciation week brings a whole bunch of food (Panera breakfast, Chick-fil-A lunch, ice cream one afternoon, etc.), but this year I'm not at just 1 or 2 schools, so I probably won't be bombarded with it like I usually am, which is probably a good thing.

June-wedding anniversary, Father's Day. Often, Jason & I would go to Kobe's for our anniversary. Then, I usually wanted some sort of dessert (like Cold Stone.) Then Father's Day is another family get-together.

July-4th of July, vacation. Actually, other than usually wanting a hot dog, the Fourth of July is not that tempting of a holiday for me foodwise. But the last couple of years we've been doing our family vacation right around that time, so we usually splurge a little.

August-                 . Wow, I actually don't typically have anything major in August. Other than going back to work, which is not really cause to splurge. My one good month.

September-fall, daughter's birthday. So, at first I only had my daughter's birthday listed, but then I realized that September is always when I'm ready to start eating pumpkin muffins or other goodies like that. I at least usually try to make the kind where you mix the pumpkin with the spice cake mix (and we ice it with just a little bit of cream cheese icing.) Then, my daughter's birthday. Since she's only 3, she's still having birthday parties, which of course means cake.

October-hub's birthday, Halloween, and still fall. On his past birthday, we went to Kobe's. But even if we just go somewhere else, there is still the temptation to splurge just a little bit. As for Halloween, of course, it's usually just a candy thing, which sometimes I can take or leave. But it's still a possibility. And since it's still fall, there is still the pumpkin muffin temptation.

November-Thanksgiving. That doesn't really need any explanation.

December-Christmas. Neither does this.

So what is my point in saying all of this? I guess I realized that there is ALWAYS something that only comes once a year, that makes you feel like you need to indulge. But, since there is always something, I'm realizing that I need to be even more selective than I have been. Wow, it can be hard to stick with the good choices consistently. But since nutrition can really make or break your fitness progress, I know I need to make better (consistent) choices.

As for my current weight, I'm about 2 to 3 pounds above my lowest weight so far (thanks to those cinnamon rolls, I guess.) I'm still working out, but I did notice that coming off the weekend my workouts were harder, due to the kind of food I ate, I think. I just feel better when I'm eating right. It just can get so easy to get off track, so easy to give in to those cravings (that taste good for the moment, but are they really worth it?)

Week 34: Back Again

After doing the 3 Day Refresh, I realized that I probably could cut down a little bit on what I had been eating and be okay. I also realized that I needed to sort of "re-calibrate" my eating plan. And I suggest you do that, too, especially if it's been a while since you've started. I had been sticking with my P90X3 plan (in my mind), but when I pulled the P90X3 nutrition guide back out, first I realized that with the weight I've lost, I needed to go down in my calories. (The nutrition guide gives you a range of calories to eat, but it's specified more as "blocks" of macronutrients to eat. So for instance, at breakfast I should have 2 proteins, 3 carbs, and 1 fat.) So where previously I've been eating 2 egg whites and a whole egg with some veggies for breakfast around 6, then having my Shakeology (which the powder counts as 2 proteins) at 8, I realized that just having my Shakeology for my breakfast is sufficient.

It was a good week to revamp what I was eating, as I was on spring break, so I could see how it works for me without having to be at work. And it worked well. I typically ate an apple with some almond butter for my morning snack. Then for lunch, we made either salmon or chicken, brown rice, and a vegetable (green beans or asparagus are my favorites!)

I also started back on my workouts. I had gotten tired of my Pump and Combat hybrid, so I had begun just doing what I felt like doing each morning, throwing in some PiYo again. It was good to revisit some of those workouts and check out improvements in my form. But I took a little time off (about 10 days), due to being sick and just needing some rest when I did the 3 Day Refresh. So I used this workout generator website (just google it) to create a hybrid program of PiYo, P90X3, and Pump. I set it for only 4 weeks, and I started on March 9 with my current challenge/accountability group that is going on. I'm really enjoying it right now. I just think that as I'm getting fitter and losing more weight, then I find that my workouts are even better. Maybe my form wasn't exactly great on some things initially (like my squats), and maybe I didn't push myself as much as I should have all the time. So going back to them, I feel like I'm seeing (or will see) even better results.

I didn't lose any more weight this week, though, but I did maintain my previous weight. Still at 28 pounds!

I loved seeing my daughter try some exercising herself. She doesn't typically see me exercise, since I go out to our detached garage when she's usually still asleep. But since I was on spring break last week, I didn't work out as early and she came out with me for a little bit of my workout. I also loved overhearing her watching something on her Kindle where they asked if they know anyone who exercises, and she said, "Mommy and Daddy." Love it! 

Week 32/33: The 3 Day Refresh

I'm combining these two weeks due to holding off on posting until I finished the 3 Day Refresh.

I shared previously that I haven't been as disciplined in my eating as I had been when I first started getting healthier. While I know how to fix that overall, I wasn't doing it. I wanted to get a kickstart with Beachbody's product, the 3 Day Refresh. It was something that I had wanted to try anyway, just to see what it was like, so I figured that it was a good time to do it. I also had a friend who was doing this, so we kept in contact a lot through the week.

Before

I used the weekend to plan what I was going to eat. I have to say, it was a little stricter than I thought it would be on the food, but once I planned for it I felt ready. Before I started, I got a cold or something, so I don't know if that impacted how I felt while doing the Refresh. I also want to note that I've never done any kind of restrictive diet, like the grapefruit diet, or anything like that. The most restrictive I've ever done is counting calories and things like that, but I've always allowed myself treats when I do those types of things.

The Plan

The program comes with a guide book, which is really regimented about what to eat,  and when to eat it. When you first wake up, you start by drinking about 8-10 oz of water. Within the first hour of waking, you have your Shakeology, (they recommend using the vegan formula) and a fruit. And you make the Shakeology with water, and not milk, which is different than what I normally do.
You can have some green or herbal tea later in the morning. Then about an hour later, you have what they call the Fiber Sweep. It's a powdery-ish fiber that you mix with water and drink IMMEDIATELY, before it thickens too much. After at least another hour, you can eat your lunch, which is their Vanilla Fresh Shake (a plant-based protein powder mixed with water), plus a fruit, vegetable, and healthy fat serving. For an afternoon snack you can have another vegetable and healthy fat serving. Then later, for dinner, you have another Vanilla Fresh Shake and one of the dinner recipes. You continue to drink water and can have more herbal tea throughout the day if you'd like.

Day 1

I started on March 3, a Tuesday. I chose the middle of the week because I'm more disciplined anyway during the week than I am during the weekend. The night before, I didn't sleep very well, because of my decongestant. All I could think about was how my eating was going to go the next day, and I just couldn't sleep. So I woke up for Day 1 kind of tired. However, even though I woke up tired, I felt pretty good when I got up and drank my water and then my Shakeology. I was surprised that it tasted okay with just water. It filled me up more than I thought it would. And the tea kept me fuller, too. I did start to get hungry a couple of hours later, which is when I would normally have my morning snack. The fiber sweep filled me up a little bit, but not for long. I could see why they say to drink it immediately. The taste was okay, but the texture was a little weird. When I had my lunch, I was surprised at how full I felt. The first day I blended my fruit into my shake. The serving sizes were so much smaller than I am used to, and I pretty much eat good serving sizes. But my veggie serving was 5 baby carrots, and my healthy fat serving was a little bit of hummus. I wasn't hungry again for a couple of hours. Overall, I was feeling pretty good. I could do this.

Then I had  my afternoon snack, which was the same vegetable and healthy fat. That didn't last me as long, and I started to get hungry again in just a little time. So it was here that my attitude started to change, and this started to feel hard. I was hungry, and I started thinking about all sorts of foods that I would like to have and couldn't. If someone had told me that I didn't have to continue this, I would have gladly complied, EXCEPT I wanted to see the results from the entire three days. Plus, I had blogged about doing this, so I needed to finish, right? Dinner was better, since I got my Vanilla Fresh Shake again, plus a salad (the recipe that I decided on), so I felt full again. But all I could think about was that I had to do this again for the next two days. And I was really exhausted, so I went to bed early on Tuesday night. And even though it says mild to moderate exercise is okay, I knew that I was so tired, that I did not want to get up at my normal 4:30 in order to get my workout in.

Day 2

On Wednesday morning, surprisingly, I did not wake up hungry. I felt rested, but I was still a little foggy. I did everything the same as I did the day before, except that at lunch I ate my blueberries solid rather than add them to my Vanilla Fresh shake. I found that after I had my lunch, I felt a lot better than I had earlier. I decided that this thing was doable, just not ideal.  I also noticed, like the previous day, that after my lunch I was actually kind of full. So I wondered if spreading it out a little bit more might be better so that I was eating a little more evenly across the day. So Wednesday was a lot better, especially by the end of the day. I wasn't as tired Wednesday night as I had been Tuesday night, so that helped.

Day 3

On Thursday morning, I did wake up hungry. But my Shakeology satisfied that. All day long I was excited that it was my last day, even though I realized that still meant that I had to go to sleep, and THEN I could wake up and eat unrestricted again. But it was good. Thursday was much like Wednesday, where I was feeling better. Oh, and one thing I noticed was that the small portion was enough to fill me up now. I did spread out my lunch more, eating my carrots, hummus, and blueberries first, and then drinking my Vanilla Fresh shake about an hour later. I guess that helped
some.

Results and After

So, I knew I would drop some pounds, because this was basically around 900 calories, which is obviously not sustainable. From Tuesday morning to Friday morning, I lost 3.6 pounds and about an inch in my waist. However, I also knew that I would gain some back just by going to my "normal" diet. And I did. I was careful on Friday, sort of. I knew that I wanted to retain some things that I learned from the Refresh. Namely, beginning the day drinking 8-10 oz of water. They say that gets your system going, and it really does. I also knew that just drinking the Shakeo in the morning was enough to keep me full until my morning snack. Previously, I've been eating eggs with veggies right after I work out, and then drinking my shake an hour or two later. And then still having a later morning snack. I also could probably get by with adding less milk and more water to my shake. (I've been doing 8 oz of almond milk and 4-8 oz of water, because I like the consistency.) I ate a spinach wrap with turkey for lunch, so my first meat in a few days. I could only eat one of the halves, though. But, I did cave and eat my peanut M&M's that I had been given from our Sunshine team for my birthday this month. (I got it on Wednesday, so I am proud of the restraint that I showed in waiting until Friday when I "could" eat them!) And Friday night, we got takeout from one of our new favorite barbecue restaurants. So, Saturday morning, my weight was back up a little bit, but it still is the lowest point that I've been since beginning this journey in July. I've now officially lost 28 pounds. Woo-hoo!

So would I do the Refresh again or recommend it to others? I'm not sure if I will do it again. Maybe. I'd say if you have something that you're trying to lose weight for, it's good if you can handle how restricted it is for 3 days. You also have to realize that the weight loss will most likely be temporary. It would be really good for a kickstart, which is what I wanted to use it for, but I didn't plan for the "next stage" as well as I should have. Although, there will be more in another post about what I'm doing now. But overall, I'm glad that I tried it, I'm proud of myself for sticking with it and not cheating AT ALL, and I'm hopeful that the things that I can apply toward a normal eating plan will begin to make some differences in my progress.
 

 

Week 31: Time for a Refresh

Time to get real. I have been off my nutrition game lately, and I'm starting to see the difference.

I'm still working out 6 days a week, and I'm sure that my added muscle tone is helping me out with an increased metabolism. HOWEVER, they say that abs are created in the kitchen, and it's pretty evident in my (fl)abs right now that I am not eating great. I haven't been careful with my eating like I had been when I first started getting healthy. And that happens every once in a while, but I usually get back on track right away. But, first we went to the fair, then we went to Disney, and then my Girl Scout cookies order came in. I swear, Thin Mints are like crack or something. Well, I went back up a pound, then the next week another pound, and now I've gained back a total of about 4 pounds. Which means I had lost 27 pounds, but now it's back down to 23 pounds.

Wake up call!

So, I decided that, of course, I need to refocus my nutrition and get back to my right ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats. But, I also decided that I was going to do Beachbody's 3 Day Refresh in order to get a kickstart. I've wanted to try this for a while, and I figured this would be the perfect time to go ahead and do it, so I ordered it. Now, I don't know much about it yet (it just came in today), but I know that I'll drink one of my Shakeology shakes everyday. There also is some sort of fiber drink, and you can eat some fruits, veggies, and healthy fats. There also are some dinner recipes. I will definitely keep you updated when I start it (March 3 is the planned date).

I'm excited to see some results, both from the Refresh, and just from getting back on board with my nutrition, too.

Week 30: WHY I am a Beachbody Coach

Even though I would normally post an update on my weight loss, I wanted to use this blog post to talk about WHY I have decided to be a Beachbody coach, and my journey from that perspective.

I first got started, really because my husband signed me up. As far as the business side of being a coach went, I wanted nothing to do with it. And I told my husband that. I said that he could do it, but that I wasn't going to. I knew I needed to lose some weight, and I was all up for that. (Even though I secretly wondered how long we would really stick with this.) So, my WHY initially was to become healthy myself. If you've been following along, you know that I have lost 27 pounds. But, it didn't take that long for me to realize that God had brought Beachbody into our lives. And that meant that I needed to go for it the best that I could.

You see, a lot of times, I write my prayers in my journal. On July 15, 2014, I prayed for many things, including to lose weight, to find some good friends, and to get out of debt quickly. On July 19, Jason saw an invitation to join a challenge group for P90X3, and as he decided to join, he also decided to sign (both of us) up as a coach. As we found out more about how everything worked, I saw that the answers to the prayers I had just prayed could all lie right in this new venture.

So then, in addition to wanting to be healthy, my WHY became more about finding financial freedom. This one is really important to me. We have been able to work toward that pretty well since we started in July. But, I'm also beginning to see some unintended, unexpected WHYs pop up in my mind. For one, I have seen more of an entrepreneurial spirit develop in me. Since I've always worked in the school system, I've never had the situation of being responsible for developing a business, but it's a pretty cool thing to think about. I've never been interested in the cutthroat business world, but there is something to be said about setting goals and then working to achieve them. And I get to do that without having to be in the cutthroat world. Plus, Beachbody recognizes even the small achievements, like when I got promoted to an Emerald coach in January.

Throughout the now 30 weeks that I've been sharing my journey, I've been told that I am inspiring and encouraging others. That is really nice to hear. And now that I'm running my own challenge/accountability groups, I am really wanting to help others get healthier. So that is another big WHY for me. In fact, I really believe that a lot of people are missing out on fulfilling their purpose in life simply because they are tired and unhealthy. And I would like to help people get healthy so that they have the energy to fulfill the purpose of their life.

Do you know your purpose? Are you achieving it? If not, is it because you are tired and unhealthy? If so, I'd like to help! Just let me know!

Fitness Journey Week 29 and One Word 2015 Update

I can't believe that I've been on this fitness journey for 29 weeks already. Even though I was overweight, I'm really feeling so much different now, and I can't imagine going back to just eating whatever and not working out.

I've said this before, but it really is second nature now for me to get up so early, get dressed in my workout clothes, and go out to our detached-garage-turned-gym to do my workout. And I really enjoy that alone time, too. It's just me, my video, my weights, and knowing that I'm improving myself. I can feel that I'm getting stronger, too, with my Pump workouts.

I will say that my nutrition is not as on-point as it was when I first started. I have my moments, but I'm just not being AS careful as I was, or as I think I should. But, I'm still making progress, and this week I lost another pound, bringing my total to 27 pounds lost since July!

I also wanted to update a bit on my One Word. I wrote about the word I chose for 2015, "Push," in this post. I have to say, I have second-guessed picking a word that means moving obstacles. When I picked it, I was feeling very confident and optimistic about the new year. Don't we usually feel that way about a new year? Now, I'm not saying that I'm not confident or optimistic now, but I am saying that I've had the opportunity to experience obstacles this year. A LOT of them. Just in the fitness realm, at the beginning of January I fell down my steps and bruised my tailbone. That hurt for a while, but it's feeling better now. Then a couple of weeks ago, I twisted my ankle while holding my daughter, so I tried to keep from falling with her. My foot was swollen for a couple of days, and it's actually still sore just a bit. In the emotional realm, let's just say I have a 3-year-old. Haha, but seriously, we've had some situations where we are needing to teach her acceptable boundaries and teach her to listen to us, and that just creates some obstacles. So, little did I know that choosing the word PUSH would cause me to be put in situations that would force me to push through, but that's what's happened.

Anyway, I WILL keep pushing to my next goal. I still want to lose 13 pounds by the end of April. And I want to continue to develop my character, so I'm okay (sort of) with the obstacles that I've experienced so far this year.

28 Weeks Later...Progress Pictures

For anyone who hasn't read my journey yet, I was at my heaviest weight in July 2014. I was not very happy with how I looked, but I had pretty much zero motivation to do anything about it.

Then came Beachbody. After signing up as a coach, I participated in accountability groups that helped provide the motivation that I had been missing. I have now lost 26 pounds, plus 7 percent body fat and 7 inches in my waist. Woohoo! And I feel SOOO much better! I'm not done yet, I still have about 9 to 14 pounds that I want to lose.

This last week in my Pump and Combat workouts (I'm doing a hybrid schedule of the two that was created by Beachbody), it was more of a transition week, kind of like how P90X3 is set up. Instead of lifting weights with Pump, it was more High Interval Intensity Training, so there were some plyometric-type exercises. Whew! I was exhausted. But the next day, I really felt it. Now this week, I already started a more intense Pump workout, so again I'm really feeling it in my back. I can't wait to see even more progress.

Here are some progress pictures.

After participating in a few, now I'm leading some of these groups myself. Maybe you're wondering what the groups are like. Basically, the participants commit to working out at home to a Beachbody program of their choice, drinking Shakeology, and eating healthy everyday. The group is done on Facebook as a closed group, so only the participants can see what is posted. Each day I post a tip, a motivation, or some sort of prompt, and the participants check-in each day. I've seem some great interaction, and everyone gets motivated and helps support each other. And we're starting to see some weight loss, some changed mindsets, and just feeling better overall.

If you think you'd be interested in participating in one of my groups, please complete my challenge group application form.

https://claireee323.wufoo.com/forms/challenge-group-application/

It's the Little Things-Weight Loss Update (Week 27)

This week, I will just put it out there that I didn't see much progress. In fact, even in looking at myself, I feel like my stomach is looking bigger. I know this is not the right mindset to have, since it's probably a little self-defeating, but that's what has been going through my head. And it may be a little true. I unofficially changed my ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats. I think I'm eating a little less protein and a little more carbs than I had been, so that may be the reason for the progress stopping. The program that I'm currently doing has their eating plan set up differently than the previous two programs that I've done. The previous ones will tell you to eat, for instance, 5 proteins, 3 fats, and 6 carbs (and they break some of those even further). This one just gives you some recipes, but doesn't really recommend what ratios you need to do, so I've been loosely staying with what I had been doing with P90X3, but not as strictly. In fact, I haven't been too careful about snacking.

So I think I need to reread some of my previous blog posts and remind myself of all of the things I've said about non-scale victories and all of that. One thing that I noticed this morning, that after about a month of lifting weights with my Pump program, I did push-ups today and found it even easier than it had been when I was doing P90X3. (I didn't have to do as many, but you know, it still counts!) Also, I can see overall that I'm not as wide as I used to be. And I'm pretty pleased with the progress in my legs so far.

Anyway, no additional weight loss this week, BUT I'm getting stronger! Sometimes, it's just the little things!

Six Months In...Weight Loss Update (Week 26)

I'm at week 26, which means that I'm halfway through my first year of my new lifestyle. On July 19, 2014, I signed up to be a Beachbody coach. What I knew, was that I was at the heaviest weight I had ever been (not being pregnant), I wasn't happy with how I looked or felt, and signing up as a coach meant that I was going to get started exercising and try to make some changes. What I didn't know yet, was that I really was going to stick with it and see results, it was going to affect so many more areas in my life than JUST my physical fitness, and that I would be so excited to help others start on a similar journey.

I've been leading an accountability group, that we call a "challenge group," for the last week (really, two weeks with the "introductory week." If you don't know what a challenge group is like, basically, everyone works out on their own to a Beachbody program of their choice. The group typically lasts 4 weeks, and the group members commit to eating healthy and drinking Shakeology. I was excited to start it, because I know every one of them from different points in my life. They all were excited to get started and ready to be healthier. I have been SO BLOWN AWAY at how they have all supported and encouraged each other. It's so exciting to see! And I know that they'll see some great results soon.

During the last week, I've still been back on track with my working out motivation. And I guess with my eating, too. I am doing a hybrid of Les Mills' Combat (martial arts-based) and Les Mills' Pump.(weightlifting), but I decided that I was missing my weekly flexibility that I've gotten used to. The Pump program does have a yoga workout, called Flow. However, I didn't like it as well as X3 Yoga, so one day last week, I felt like I needed to just do that workout, so I did. Then, I decided that I'm going to modify my hybrid workout schedule. It's pretty much set up to do the Pump workouts on Mon, Wed, and Fri with the Combat workouts on Tues, Thurs, and Sat. I decided to keep it that way, except change the Saturday workout out for either X3 Yoga or one of the PiYo workouts in order to get some flexibility in there. And I'll do those on Sundays before I go to church.

So, yesterday I did PiYo Sweat. I felt like I was seeing an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while. I also could see some improvement in how I did, compared to what I was able to do back in August and September. It was pretty cool!

I do have to say, two weeks ago I fell when I was walking down my porch steps, and I bruised my tailbone. It still hurts, and it's kept me from doing certain moves as fully as I'd like to. But, I think it's starting to feel a little better, so hopefully I'll be back at 100% pretty soon.

Anyway, this week I lost another pound. I have to admit, it does feel good to see the numbers going down again. But, even when I wasn't, I knew that ultimately my healthy choices were paying off in how I felt and how my body was responding. So, if you're on your own journey, and you aren't seeing weight loss like you'd like, just stick with it and know that you're getting stronger and healthier.

Weight Loss Update (Week 25)

I've taken a couple of weeks off from my weight loss update, because of being sick, on vacation, going back to work, and just getting back in the swing of things. Well, one of those weeks, I did post my current before-after pictures.

So, the holidays are over, I'm getting back into the routine, and I should be completely back on track, right? Sort of. Overall. I'm getting there.

As for my workouts, it took me a couple of days to get my motivation back, but it's back, and I'm excited to see what progress I make with my current program. I'm doing both Les Mills' Pump and Les Mills' Combat. It's a hybrid schedule created by Beachbody. Pump uses barbells and focuses on what they call the "rep effect." It's doing many reps with a relatively light weight. Combat is basically mixed martial arts, which I've always liked to do as a workout. I'm starting my second week, and today's workout (Pump & Burn) was a little tougher than the ones I had done last week. I am already feeling some soreness in my muscles, which always says something. Now, I have to admit, I'm NOT excited that some of these workouts are going to be 45 or even 60 minutes. I will definitely be missing my 30 minute P90X3 workouts then! I'm even tempted to create my own schedule, and only do the 30 or 45 minute workouts (and maybe add in my X3 Yoga). But, one of my friends who is currently in my challenge group, is so motivated that she's getting up at 4 AM when she needs to do get her workout done. THAT'S dedication! (Check out her blog...http://annromagnolo.blogspot.com)

I finally got past my little holiday plateau that I was on for the last couple of months. This last week I lost 2 more pounds, so I'm finally at 25 pounds! I was really excited!

Confessions

Confession time. I haven't worked out in a week.

I totally was planning to. I had the 21 Day Fix program workouts typed in my iPhone calendar (although I later decided that I was going to actually revisit my PiYo workout). I finished P90X3 on the 27th, and I was planning to start my next workout on the 5th. But I got sick. Since I was between programs, I decided not to push myself, and just to let myself get some rest. Also, we went out of town on the 1st and just came back today. So, other than walking around Disney yesterday, I have not had any normal exercise since the 27th. And I FEEL it. I miss it.

I'm ready to get back into my exercise routine, because it just plain makes me feel a lot better! Granted, I've been sick, so I'm sure that contributed to how I've been feeling, too. But I've missed the energy, the confidence, the overall healthy feeling that my daily workouts give me.

So, I start back tomorrow. Ready or not.

One Word 2015

About two years ago, I first heard of the concept of "One Word" or "One Little Word," depending on whose website you're on. I don't know who originated the concept, but the idea is that you choose a word to focus on for the year, rather than a New Year's Resolution. I semi-participated in 2013, choosing the word "fulfill." But, like most resolutions, I sort of lost sight of my word. For 2014, I chose the word "light." If you'd like, check out this post from one of my other blogs, where I explain my reasoning even further. This year, I definitely remembered my word more, and thought about it. It's funny, I had all of these definitions for light, but little did I know that I would actually lose weight and become "lighter."

So as 2014 has come to an end, I've been thinking about what word I wanted to choose in 2015. I had thought about doing this last year and decided not to, but this year, I signed up for a class with Ali Edwards. She is a scrapbooker/blogger, and she has a year-long online class to help people reflect on their word by providing monthly prompts. You end up making some sort of album with all of your reflections. I'm pretty excited about it, mostly because I want to see the change in my life, and the word that I'm going to go with goes right along with some of the books I've been reading recently.

Lately I've been thinking about my tendency to be more about thoughts and ideas and less about doing and follow-through. I've been getting better at that, I think, but I want to really work at that this year.

That's why I am picking the word "push." To me, it reflects what I want to see happen in 2015...truly striving toward my goals. Some of the definitions I like are "to carry (an action or thing) toward a conclusion," "to make one's way with effort or persistence, as against difficulty or opposition," and "to put forth vigorous or persistent efforts."

While I believe in setting goals for the new year, I think resolutions are a little overrated. But, new years are a time to reflect on the things you did well, the things that you could improve, and decide what you're going to do to improve. What word would you choose for the new year?