In the Mud, Spinning Wheels

I still haven't made any progress. Well, I lost a pound. But I thought I would have lost more than that by now. I'm still exercising, I'm still eating right. For the most part at least...  I think it's protein. I don't think I'm getting enough protein. Do you guys have any suggestions? I'm kinda retarded when it comes to cooking meat, so I just avoid it. The only protein I've been getting is two to three eggs each day. I don't think that's enough. I might start making black beans a part of my diet now.

Learn From My Fails

Just as the title suggests, I want you to learn from my fails. The most prominent one this week occurred during spin class. I definitely pushed myself WAY too hard. It was forty-five minutes of intense cycling and I pushed through the entire class.  Even now I am having trouble walking... I did stretch before and after, but that's my first intense workout in years and I don't think my thighs were ready for it.

Every night since then, aside from last night, I was waking up every time I moved my legs because the pain was so intense. I read online that working out the way I did can cause moderate sized tears in your muscles and you need to give them time to heal.

It was on the livestrong website, I don't think it was in this particular article, but it still contains valuable information that everyone should follow. http://www.livestrong.com/article/407171-sore-abdominal-muscles-and-exercise/

As a result, I skipped Zumba on Thursday. But I did lift weights and work on my arms on Wednesday! I was supposed to lift weights again today but my gym buddy bailed. Instead, I jogged for two miles. I kinda regret it since I'm still walking funny, but it felt good to get outside. It was in the low 60s today and with strong winds it felt wonderful against my face.

Now! The moment you all have been waiting for,  my weigh in. So when I weighed myself a few minutes ago, I was exactly at 250 pounds. I know, not good, right? I think I'm exercising enough, I'm just not eating right. See, I was doing a special job for my work that required me to work away from the office, so I would usually be forced to eat fast food. Luckily this week was the last week and now that I will be back at the office, I can bring a lunch and keep it fresh in the break room! So I definitely hope to see results next week. Even though I basically was in the mud spinning my wheels this week, I just need to try harder! Stay POSITIVE. I'm already doing so much good for my body but getting her moving.

I've also decided to record my inches so that I can better track progress. There may be weeks where I don't lose weight, but lose inches.

Below chest: 43in
Arms: 15.7in
Hip, below stomach fat: 49in
Belly button: 54.5

So yeah, not pretty, right? I just can't wait until a year from now where those numbers are completely different from what I will be then.

One more thing before I let you go, tonight I am making veggie burgers with a friend. I will be taking pictures and uploading them on to my Facebook page, so please go there to read all about my adventures in the kitchen!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Changing-Your-Lifestyle/182176238536973

Until next time!

Just Walking it Out

So, I wanted to have something that could easily track my workouts so that I can share them with you guys. I have a smartphone, so instead of spending $100 on some kind of sports watch, I bought this app. Well, first I tried the free version, liked it, and THEN bought it. It's pretty awesome and it was only $4.99. I'm not trying to sell anything here, so unless you guys specifically ask for the name, I'm not going to include it.

But basically it tracks you via GPS and so far I have logged two workouts with it.  I'm going to post them here.

Walking

Nov 13, 2011

1.41 mi

44m:49s

Walking

Nov 14, 2011

2.25 mi

54m:33s

I know the times don't look that great, but these are my first official workouts, I just hope I can improve time and speed. Granted, I had my dog with me and he is a beast. He kept making me stop, so I could probably shave a few minutes off of them. I won't lie, my legs hurt. Especially since I didn't stretch, I know I should, but I feel ashamed when my belly fat gets in the way.  I am going to stretch after posting this, and you should make sure to stretch before and after every workout.

If anyone is reading this, what music do you listen to while working out? Do you have a playlist or do you put your MP3 player on shuffle and just go? I need some new songs, so if you have any good suggestions, feel free to drop me a comment!

I almost forgot! I have some exciting news, I decided to bring this blog to Facebook. While here on Blogger I will write about my exercises, I am going to use Facebook to post about my nutrition and share any recipes I find. I think this week I'm going to try and make a good veggie burger from scratch.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Changing-Your-Lifestyle/182176238536973

Here is the link in case anyone is interested.

I'm excited about my weigh in this Friday. Cross your fingers and hope I've made progress to living a healthy lifestyle. Until next time!

Still on Track!

Yes, I know it's been what, a week? since my last post here, but I haven't vanished. Two friends passed away, then I had my birthday (November 6th.) I am actually going out tonight, it will be fun and full of alcoholic calories. It's my 21st birthday, so I'm going all out tonight.  Regardless of my sudden disappearance, I have lost two and a half pounds by doing.... absolutely NOTHING. That's right, nothing. I think it's stress, because judging from the Taco Bell from five nights ago, I haven't been sticking to my diet.

After tomorrow (I will be extremely hungover and wanting Taco Bell), I'm getting back in the game. You see, I'm going to honor my Magistra by trying to lose the weight. It's going to be for her. It's great motivation! In fact, tomorrow or Sunday I will be purchasing sweat pants for jogging.

I have such hope for the future, if you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.  I feel as though this holds true for losing weight.

Until next time!

Perseverance

That's one very important thing that you need to have. Perseverance. Something I am struggling to obtain. I was supposed to work out this past Friday, but after my gym buddy decided to not show up without telling me, I skipped. Now, it's not like I can get there on my own, my car's rear window was smashed and now I can't drive it.


Hopefully I can get it fixed within the next week. Also, I'm going to a spin class this Tuesday, which I'm really looking forward to. 


There really isn't anything new to report now, other than the fact that I'm only going to weight myself every Friday. Which I'm not looking forward to this week. I kinda sorta have been eating ice cream and sugary cereal. I tried to make oatmeal and due to the lack of culinary skills, it didn't go so well. I did make pasta for lunch and dinner yesterday. Which, isn't that healthy, but it's definitely better than Taco Bell.


Speaking of, I'm having a hard time fighting my cravings. I was watching How I Met Your Mother today (I know, I'm a dork), and it was the episode about New York's greatest burger, and I totally want Five Guys. 

And So it Begins

With every new journey, there is hardship. Today? Today is MY day. I know that for a while, if not for the entire life of this blog, I'm going to mostly be talking to myself.  But for now, I'm content to ramble on.


I know, this country is in a serious need of a work out. Trust me, I'm one of them. I've been over weight for nearly my entire life, save for my first eight years of life. I've always been the fat kid, the one people never talked to, the one that always sat by themselves in elementary school and partially middle school. I was lucky, though. I met a few people in middle school and through them, I branched out with a big group of friends. Some people would call me a social butterfly. 


Today, I weighed myself at 251 pounds. I know, crazy, right? I am going to take charge of my health and make sure I lose this weight. I'm going to allow anyone to follow me, even if the only thing they do is make fat jokes, as I pour blood, sweat, and tears, into becoming healthy. 


You can only lose weight by exercising and eating healthy. So, for my first step, I went to the gym and did an hour and a half of zumba today!


I won't lie, while it is fun, it's thoroughly embarrassing if you can't dance. I am very awkward when it comes to shaking that booty, which is basically what we did the entire class. It wasn't very intense, but that's because I don't know the moves and struggled to follow the instructor.  I'm hoping that as I go to every Thursday class, I will learn the dances and be able to adequately work out.  


As far as eating healthy... Let's just say the fruity pebbles for breakfast and the taco bell for lunch probably cancelled out any calories I burned today. But I plan on eating fruit and veggies for dinner. That helps, right?