Back on Track

Hello!  I’m back!  Here I am on Day 1 of my Back on Track plan!  Not that exciting and kinda a bad pic, but at least it’s recent since it was taken 5 minutes ago (: I’ll be better at posting more of my favorite workout clothes and fashion stuff in the near future.

So far this summer has been a whirlwind.  The last 3 weeks I’ve been on vacation and at girl’s camp.  My exercise routine hasn’t been happening for about a month.  I’m not too worked up over it.  It’s o.k. to take a break from life for awhile.  Sometimes it’s just the motivation you need to get back on track.  So, when I received an email that Jamie Eason was doing another DietBet challenge, I jumped all over it.

It starts today and goes for 4 weeks.  All you do is pay $30.  Then you have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight.  For me, that is 5.5 lbs.  If you achieve this, you get your money back AND then some.  The grand pot is divided up among the participants.  Last time I did it, I got $50 back.  So, it’s not a money issue but more of a commitment issue.  Jamie’s challenges are even better than anyones because she sends out a 4 week workout and meal plan!  It’s amazing.  I’m excited to get started.  Check it out and JOIN me!!!  Click HERE to go to the challenge!

She also sent an email about how many calories you should be eating to reach your goal.  To do this, multiply your goal weight by 10 to get your resting caloric expenditure (RCE).  This is the number you need if you don’t move at all.  For someone looking to lose weight you would typically add anywhere from 300-400 calories.  So, my goal weight is 130.  I multiply that by 10 and get 1300.  I’m going to add 300 to that and so my daily caloric intake should be 1600.  I’m pretty active and it said you could even add up to 600 calories if you’re extremely active and looking to build muscle.  I want to build muscle, but I need to lose a little too so I’m going to keep my calories at 1600.  I’ll be pluggin everything into MyFitnessPal to help me out with that!

Sorry I’ve been pretty flakey lately with my posts!  I’m here to say that I WILL be posting more often!  I’ll be giving updates on the challenge and sharing parts of the workouts and meal plans.  I’m also ready to train for another 1/2 marathon in September.  I’m putting together a 8 week training plan that I’ll share SOON!!  Running has been put on the back burner in my life right now.  I still really enjoy it, but I’ve grown to love weightlifting more.  My body likes it better too.

Today I’m going to get organized with everything!  Check back in a few days and I’ll give you more details of what I’m eating and working out.  I’m so excited to get back on track and lean up my muscles.  Endorphins are my favorite and I need them in my life (:  I’ll end with a few of my favorite pictures from the last two months (:  Alaska was one of the places we visited.  These pictures do not do it justice.  I really need a real camera!!  Everyone should see Alaska.  It’s the most beautiful place I’ve seen.  I loved it!

 

Update on goals. Stick with it!

Today is Saturday!!  My kids had school off Thursday and Friday for Fall Break and I just got back from St. George.  I’m a little confused as to what day it is!!  I can’t go this long between posts!  Next week I’ll be more organized!  October is a blip on the radar.  It is flying!  I’m sticking to my goals and eating well.  My new commitment is to weigh and measure myself every Monday.  Doing this keeps me in check and from straying too far from my fitness goals. I loved my workouts while I was out of town.

DAY 1 we ran one mile on the treadmill at an 8 minute pace, worked chest and abs, and then ran intervals of 20 on and 10 off with the treadmill set between a 9-10.

DAY 2 was a FUN 11 mile run.  It turned into a tour of the city.  I loved running through streets and neighborhoods I’m not familiar with and not really knowing how long our run would be.  It felt great!!

DAY 3 we worked shoulders, back, and a cardio circuit!!  Try this one at home!!  3 stations: burpees, kettlebell swings, and situps.  The burpee station was the timer.  25 burpees.  That was about 1:45-2:00 minutes.  When the burpee person finished we switched stations.  4 rounds!  Loved it!  Easy way to whip out 100 burpees.

Food has been good!  I recommitted myself for the rest of the month with only 2 days off.  One was on the trip.  Waffles, chocolate carmel bars, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies.  Lovely.  My stomach didn’t like that much, but I went right back to normal the next day and I feel fine!  So far my mini goals work for me!  I’ll tell you what my prize is at the end when I accomplish my goal! Next, I found my dream body!  I’m sure most people think this is too muscley.  Dang!  I love working for something like this and I love lifting.  One day (:  Work Hard.  That’s all that matters!

 Here are a few photos from the trip too!  Back to reality! Such a fun trip!  I love St. George always.  We saw a great play at Tuachan, hiked, visited the temple, ran, lifted, played games, laughed, and much more.  Getting away is my medicine along with exercising.  Oh, one more pic!  This was last Sunday.  I decorated my front porch and we were on our way to church.  I love my cute boy in the background the most! I love October!  I’ll post more next week!  Next Saturday I’ll have another half to talk about too!  Always going.  Happy Harvest season!  Make it work.  Fit it in.  Be happy.

Challenge 20 to 20

My husband is sick of hearing about my goal to be 129 (I say that in the nicest way).  I’m a “CRAZY, have to finish everything” kind of person.  When I can’t find something, I literally will NOT give up until I find it.  Same way with my health goals.  Sooooooo, once again, I will be 129 on or before October 20th!!  I really do LOVE to have something to work for.  I like to see how I can change my body and I LOVE seeing the results.  This is what I will do:

CUT CALORIES (Yes, this is reality.  You really need to slash them.)  

LIMIT whole grain carbs to BREAKFAST only.

FRUITS and MOSTLY VEGETABLES GALORE.  I will have vegetables with every meal.  

WATER, WATER, WATER.  

I’ll keep following my Jamie Eason weight workouts, 1-2 bootcamp workouts a week, 3 runs a week, body combat and zumba if I can fit them in!!   I ALWAYS workout 6 days a week.

No eating after 7:30 p.m.  This helps with mindless and unnecessary eating at night.

Here are a FEW healthy “TREATS” that help me get through the day:

Low sugar vanilla greek yogurt

Protein balls

Protein shakes and bars

Apples 

String Cheese

A few (6-8) cashews

NOW, I need to print this and put it on my FRIDGE!!!  I like to reward myself too.  So, I’ll be heading to Lulu, J Crew, or Hollister to pick out my reward (:

Hope everyone is enjoying the FALL leaves.  I live in a BEAUTIFUL place where they SURROUND me.  Here is a canyon close to my home where I went to collage.  The leaves are PERFECT right now!  I think we found something to do with the kids this weekend.  A drive, picnic, and leaf peeping!!  The Best!

Enjoy this song and think of a SPECTACULAR place to visit this weekend!!

6 Weeks to Summer Bod Challenge!

O.K.  Here it is!!  I am in GREAT need of this.  I have to stop eating candy and desserts at every meal!  I tried something similar to this plan a couple years ago and it was AWESOME!!!  This is how it helped me!!

• increased energy
• never had a fat day
• lost weight
• happier
• clothes fit how I wanted them to fit

For 6 weeks we will keep track of 7 Healthy Habits every day.  You will get a point for each one earned.  So, that is 7 points per day, 42 points per week, and 252 points total.  To earn the REWARD at the end you must fulfill the 7 healthy habits at least 95% of the time.  That equals out to 12 Freebies!  Way too many I think.  Strive for 100%!!!  Everyone can set their own goal and make their own reward.  My goal is to lose 5-7 lbs and to work on lean, tight muscles, and to fit into all of my clothes comfortably!!  I think we should all have a GROUP reward and then you can make your own if you’d like.  After it’s done I want to have a luncheon at City Creek with everyone who stuck with it 95% of the time.  I’m going to treat myself to something at the mall too or Lululemon (my fav)!  

7 DAILY HEALTHY HABITS

• 64 oz. of water
• 5 servings of fruits and vegetables
• 25 grams of fiber
• Exercise 6 days a week
• Don’t eat anything that has more than 6 grams of sugar
• Record everything you eat
• No eating after 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. if you stay up till 11:00 p.m. or later

A couple optional healthy habits are:

• 7 hours of sleep 
• Vitamins and supplements
• 1 meal off a week

I figured out the points for 6 days a week with 1 day off.  So, one day a week you don’t need to keep track of anything.  Have a nice break!  The only thing I want everyone to stay strict on is the EATING part.  Which I believe is the most important part.  You don’t need to record everything on your day off, but do not eat whatever your heart desires all day long!  Let’s make it a goal to have one TREAT MEAL one day a week.  That means you can eat whatever you want for one meal!

You will find out at the end of 6 weeks you will be sick of recording everything you eat, but you will have also turned all these daily goals in to real HABITS which is the only way to lose weight and to keep it off.  Make it a habit and stick with it for the long haul! 

Here are a few tips and tricks that I do that you might find interesting.  I am going to start my challenge with a 2 day juice fast (starting tomorrow, Saturday April 7th).  On Monday I will do a 3 day low calorie diet.  I follow the Cleveland Clinic diet.  It gives me a kick start to eating less and makes me more conscious of what I’m eating.

 Other things I love are: Jamie Eason’s Live fit combo pack, Green Tea HP, Muscle Milk after a hard workout, and protein bars.

Click on the sites below to get more help and info. on all of the above:

Jamie Eason’s Live Fit Combo Pack

Livestrong.com

High fiber foods

Juice fast

Smoothie recipes

Cleveland Clinic Diet

I strongly suggest making your own progress chart to keep track of each day.  Follow a website like livestrong.com to keep track of your eating.  They are the BEST!!  You can easily see how many calories you’ve eaten and track your progress with the fiber, fruits, and vegetable servings etc.  I will make a post at the end of each week (Sunday) for everyone to comment and POST their point totals for the week.  Please add any other tips, recipes, and suggestions!

A comment about exercise.  Step it up!!  If you run, run faster, longer, and with more hills.  Do at least 3 hard weight and cardio workouts a week similar to what I post on this site.  Another website I like with great workouts is gppfitness.com.  You DO NOT need to workout for 2-3 hours a day.  You DO need hard, super intense interval workouts.  Many boot camp classes are GREAT.  

WE WILL OFFICIALLY START OUR 6 WEEKS ON MONDAY, APRIL 9TH AND IT WILL GO THROUGH SUNDAY, MAY 20TH!!!  LET’S DO THIS!  GOOD LUCK!