Day 4 on the plan. No excuses!

I'm learning that if I can fix ONE bad habit, I can nail this 12 week plan.  That one bad habit is getting up at 6am, every day, and going to bed by 10pm, every night.  Let's try this.

Had a good day today.  Only thing less than perfect was I had a little milk with my coffee, and a tiny bit of balsamic vinaigrette dressing on my salad.  I believe I ate 4 times, plus my pre-workout eggs.

Tomorrow, the gym doesn't open until I'm already at work, so my lifting will have to be in the afternoon.

Good night all!

Wahoo, Day 3 on the plan! Motto: Just Do It.

So it's 10:32pm and I was supposed to be sleeping 32 minutes ago.  I guess I need to keep this brief.
Here's what I ate:
9:30am 3 egg whites
Went to the gym.  Did this workout:

Went home 11:30am, drank protein shake, ate 5 egg whites and had a banana. 
2:30pm had 2 turkey muffins and a salad with good seasons balsamic vinaigrette and italian seasoning dressing.  (I feel like I would get further along on my diet if I skipped the salad dressing.  It tastes good, so I haven't let go.  Maybe that can be my goal for the next few days.  Get used to dry salad.)
6:00pm 6oz chicken breast, some cauliflower, a handful of grapes.

I'm pretty sure that's all I ate today.  Oh, I did have coffee before the gym, and I did have most of an Honest Tea today.

But, what's really exciting is I did some more prep work, read up some more on this program, and cooked some food.  I made 2 batches of turkey muffins...enough to last for 6 days (plus what I already have).  I also hard-boiled and peeled 10 eggs and made 5 ziplock bags with 2 egg whites each that I can just grab on my way out the door in the morning.  I also baked 2 yams and cut them up into appropriate serving sizes, and stored in ziplock bags.  But I'm thinking all that plastic probably has negative effects.  I should figure something else out.

In the meantime.  I wrote down my workout for tomorrow.  All I need to do is shower, finish this blog, set out my clothes and go to bed.

Tomorrow, I'm creating a vision board and making affirmations.  I just did a recording on my phone to motivate me to get out of bed on time.  That's actually really exciting to me (first of all, I wasn't sure if I knew how to do it) because I was just reading this thing that Brian Tracy wrote about Program Your Subconscious that repeated some things I've heard but have recently experienced success with.  So, now, to kill two birds with one stone, my alarm clock will be full of me hearing affirmations!  YAY!  Call me a nerd, but when I've got killer abs, I'll have the last laugh.  ;) Oh I almost forgot my motivating pic!

I'm BACK with a 12-week plan!

It's August 29th and I've been on vacation for a full week and a half.  My plan was to rest, organize, visit my friend in New York, and create a vision for a 12 week plan.  So far, I've rested and visited my friend.  I've spent a lot of time catching up with other friends too, so maybe that was something that was missing.

At any rate, I watched lots of True Blood and saw this image of Sookie that was awfully inspiring:

I mean, DAMN, GIRL!  She looked so good I watched it in slow motion.
Anyway.  Those are my daily doses of inspiration that I need to incorporate into my day.

I mean, seriously, did you SEE THAT?  Look at those abs!  Those thighs!  Wow.  I just can't stop.  She must have worked really hard for that.  And I'm gonna work really hard to look my best too.

While I'm at it...that's just for your gratuitous viewing pleasure.

Alright.  Seriously now, getting back to my plan.  Amy was AWESOME and pointed me to this website: www.bodybuilding.com, where I found a 12 week plan for females.  Today was my first real day on that plan.  I haven't entirely wrapped my head around it.

When I did Amy's plan it was simple:  Here are the times you eat, here's what to eat, here's how much.  I've mastered preparing that food and it was doable.
With this plan, it is new.  I'm eating egg whites twice a day.  I'm making turkey meatloaf muffins.  It's all new and I don't have it down yet.

To be honest, I should probably take 5 minutes and look at what I'm supposed to do tomorrow.
Ok, so I took 30 min and looked at what I'm supposed to do tomorrow.
This meal plan and exercise plan is a little different than what I'm used to because it's about building muscle in the first phase.  I will eat A LOT of protein.

So, this means I have a few things to accomplish tomorrow.
Wake up, have a couple of egg whites, go to the gym.  Maybe coffee.  Trying to break myself of that habit.
Be done with the gym, drink a protein shake, eat egg whites and banana.
Use Chalene Johnson's reverse engineering to come up with a plan and a to-do list.
Do some organizing.  Start with 5 minutes.
Eat every three hours.
At some point, I need to run an errand for work.
I will avoid electronics tomorrow and maybe read some of the books I wanted to check off my list.  Maybe.  This muscle building thing takes a lot of effort, though.  Maybe instead I'll plan out my vision for the next 12 weeks.  Familiarize myself with the program, make some more turkey muffins.  They're great for protein on the go!

Alright, for now, I'm way past my bedtime.

Oh, but I haven't said:  I made myself a profile on the bodybuilding website, very happy with the tools there!  And the other thing is that I certainly didn't eat 7 times today.  I had 2 egg whites, then meant to go to the gym, but totally didn't until after my first real meal (egg whites, banana, oatmeal).  Then ate a protein shake, apple, nuts and two muffins after the gym (totally not what the plan calls for...no nuts on this plan), then I took a nap.  I needed it.  Then I ate a dinner at some point.  Egg whites and a salad (with dressing.  Totally not on the plan).  So that's 3 and a half meals.  Tomorrow I'll do better.

6 Days, and I Didn't Self-Sabotage!

I'm pretty proud of myself except for the fact that it's 8:50pm and I'm sitting at work when I want to take a Benadryl by 9pm.  So, this will be short.

Gold stars all around today!!!

I got up at 7am...my goal was that I get a reward if I got up by 7am (trying to fight the demon of hitting snooze for an hour and a half...I want it to up ALARM=SLEEPY TIME ENDS).  I actually crawled out of bed at 7:20am, but I did look at my phone for a few minutes first.  This is very good, though!

I ate 4 meals today!  Yay!  Here's the breakdown:
8am: typical breakfast, eggs, oatmeal, kale shake, banana, coffee...exactly the way I'm supposed to have it.
10am: more coffee
11:15am: protein shake, apple, almonds, (portioned.  No ability to eat mindlessly :)!) Kale shake
2pm: chicken pan fried in coconut oil, broccoli, cauliflower, 1pc ezekiel bread, 1 T butter, Kale shake, 1/2 honest tea
7pm: chicken (left over from pan frying), with melted string cheese, 1/2 honest tea.
OOOH, I almost forgot...at 8pm, I REALLY WANTED the PB M&Ms that were in the chocolate drawer at work.  At first I thought I'd have one.  Then two.  Then THREE.  We know how this story goes, right?  So I stopped, and posted what I was doing on Facebook so that I would have accountability and WOULD NOT CONTINUE.  And I did not.  Yay!  (It wasn't worth it, btw, shoulda just waited out that craving.)

I did Amy's PiYo class tonight, which was SO challenging, and I tried to be really mindful of how my body was moving to get the MOST out of the movements.  I'm thinking I might need to start doing pushups on my knees...I normally do them military style (LIKE A BOSS! hehe), but I can only go halfway down (and that's being generous). I found that doing them on my knees, I can touch my nose to the floor, and one big fat goal of mine is to be able to kick ass at some pushups.  I'm thinking I can develop those muscles a little faster if I throw some girly pushups in the mix.  Of course I'll keep doing regular pushups, because that way I'll know how the change is coming along.

Well, I'm sure there's more I could say, but I've got to get home and go to bed and all that.  Get ready for success tomorrow.

August 5. I've have 5 straight great days!

I have absolutely zero energy at the moment.  I caught myself playing Bubble Witch Saga when I could be blogging, showering, or going to bed, so I thought I should get started on that.

I've just discovered that I haven't been getting good sleep and that made it very difficult for me to remember WHY I cared to eat well in the first place, let alone actually CHOOSE eating well over something that would be more like self-medicating for someone who was so exhausted.

Anyway, I do have a temporary solution.  I'm making bedtime a priority and taking Benadryl so that my allergies don't mess with my breathing and that I'll get more restful sleep.  I'm probably being a big baby, but whatever.  Literally.  I will do WHATEVER it takes, even if it means being called a big baby.

There's something about this fitness goal that tells me it is just the beginning of the other goals in life I want.  Fitness isn't just about how great you look in clothes.  When you take good care of yourself, you perform at your optimum.  I'm ready to make changes in my life that STICK.  That way, the eating well and exercising daily will just be second nature when I'm tackling the next big thing in my life.  Which I have no idea what that is, but I'm open to it. :)

Anyway, here's how the past 5 days went.  They weren't perfect, but I rediscovered some tricks of the trade I forgot:

1.  Food Journal.
Keeping a food journal is quite possibly the most effective tool for eating well.  I literally found that I would strike the memory of eating something off my plan out of my brain almost as soon as it happened.  Keeping a food journal really helps my accountability.
2.  Surrender.  Surrender to the fact that YES right now a Diet Pepsi would taste phenomenal.  And it would help me feel less tired.  Or that piece of chocolate sounds great.  Or, everyone else is celebrating with Rita's.  Or pizza.  Or we're having a party with off-my-plan food for one reason or another.  Surrender all those wants.  Know that you are going to feel the craving, you're going to WANT WANT WANT.  Acknowledge the want and make a decision.  I used to be a slave to those cravings...I suppose sometimes I still am.  But I have a tool and that tool is to RECOGNIZE the feeling, and SURRENDER it.

Anyway, for the past 5 days, I haven't necessarily eaten ON TIME, but I have eaten well.  I also think that today was the only day I actually ate four meals.  The other days I only got three...I don't really remember.

I DID work out EVERY SINGLE DAY, though!  I am so proud of myself!  Wed I did Amy's class...I'm not sure I pushed myself to the absolute limit though.  We do this 8 minute circuit of 20 side touches, 10 pushups with elbow lift, 20 mountain climbers, 10 vertical jumps.  I have been kind of pooping out on the pushups, and taking breaks in between...

Also makes me think I should be taking my iron supplement daily again, oops!

But this one time Amy stood by me and talked me through it, and I was TOTALLY capable.  I must just have self-defeating thoughts running through my head.  It's just so hard to believe that I can DO all ten pushups when I feel the way I feel.  But I absolutely want to get to that place mentally that athletes train from.  They feel the physical discomfort (out of breath, feeling the burn) and they DO IT ANYWAY.  I guess I've just got to keep trying.

Anyway, Amy did this GENIUS thing which will probably mean that I'll have perfect attendance for this class...she made these cards to compare how many circuits we complete in 8 minutes from week to week.  I can't STAND the idea of having a gap in those weeks, and it totally motivates my elephant to go to her class.

That doesn't just mean PLAN to go.  It means that I also don't let anything else trump it or get in the way.  Usually, the only reason I miss Amy's class is if I don't feel physically up to it.  Which usually means I don't feel MENTALLY up to it.  Which usually means I ate something I shouldn't have when I shouldn't have eaten it and now I am uncomfortably full of food that is not good for me, and I don't want to embarass myself in the class.

BUT EATING IT WAS A CHOICE I MADE.  Probably because I didn't feel like I could do her class.  So I made sure I didn't have to.

There have been times that I've worked instead, but I've made Wednesday nights off limits for any job.

So, my last 5 days I have pretty much eaten clean, and I have worked out.  Thursday I simply did the 8 minute circuit while on a break at work.  I just wanted to make sure I did SOMETHING.  Friday I ended up doing pops on the treadmill, squats and pushups.  Totally didn't intend to do that, but it was a great workout!  Saturday I did pops on an arc trainer (I worked harder than I anticipated!), and then pullups and calf-raises.

Today, I was beat.  I filled in at Green Bowl, I got crappy sleep last night, and I went to the gym without a plan for what I should accomplish.  I kept running thoughts through my head:
"What am I trying to get out of working out today?"
~Setting an expectation that at the end of the workday I work out?
~Making working out a daily habit?
~Burning a few calories?  Not really, this lazy workout that I'm doing isn't as effective as pops or weightlifting...
~Stress relief!?  Great.  Necessary.  Is 10 minutes enough?
"Well I'm not doing anything too crazy today.  I did pops yesterday and the day before and I'm doing Amy's class on Monday, so today should be an easy day, right?"
~I suppose.  I am really tired. Maybe today is just a day we get to the gym to keep up with the habit.

I ended up quitting after 15 minutes on the arc trainer.  But whatever.  This is the best 5 day streak I've had in easily 3 months.  So, I'm keeping up with it.  Tomorrow, I will get up at 7am and go for a run on the golf course, and then I'll have breakfast at 8am and be to work by 9am.  I'll eat 4 meals and then do Amy's class and MAYBE get a 5th meal in.

I'm excited for tomorrow.
Here's my food journal.

 9:30am eggs, oatmeal, banana, coffee
11am coffee
12:30pm chicken, veggies, flattop grill-fried, brown rice
3:30pm chicken, veggies, flattop grill-fried, brown rice
7pm shrimp fried in coconut oil, raw broccoli, 1 string cheese and almonds...almonds eaten mindlessly. I've GOT to get around that. Probably need to bag them in serving sizes. Not have a container sitting around.

Also...I've been thinking that...I could spend HOURS blogging...and sometimes I do.  I wonder if it might be more efficient to start vlogging.  Not to mention a whole lot more fun.  I'm thinking I can even write down my food journal or my workout and hold it up for the camera...I am not sure about it yet, but I kind of just want to try it and find out.

Alright.  Good night! 

August 1st. 30 Day Challenge.

So, in checking on my blog, I find that July 16th was the last time I wrote.  And that I wasn't taking good care of myself then either.

Since then, I was convinced that my wisdom teeth were trying to make their way into my gums by breaking my other teeth, except for about 90 seconds in Wegman's when I was (I kid you not) certain I actually had a brain tumor and not long to live.  Then I thought, "Maybe I should try those anxiety meds again..."

Anyway, long story short, my wisdom teeth are happily embedded in my jaw, and I hope they stay there.  It turns out that the jaw pain I was having was probably due to me grinding my teeth.  Which was probably due to the high levels of stress I've been experiencing.  The high levels doesn't mean that anything in my life has changed, it means I wasn't using my primary method of relieving those high levels, which is EXERCISE, and eating well, and you know, sleeping.  So, my stress just built and built and built.  I was also dealing with allergies, which I think are responsible for at least the earaches and maybe the headaches, but who knows.  Since I wasn't exercising, I was certainly drinking.  And THAT'S always a good idea (<---sarcasm).

I tried to eat clean.  I would wake up every morning and make myself a clean breakfast.  But between the  jaw pain, headaches, and general irritation, by 12pm, I was having Wegman's or something.  And then I felt even worse, and didn't want to exercise.  The list goes on.

I still have the headache.  I really need some time off.

But, I don't have time off.  Yet.  Time off starts August 22.

In the meantime, I've tried to get back to that place where I was so determined.  I remember fighting through caffeine headaches, and JUST DOING IT.  Just eat at 7am.  No matter what.  Just eat at 10am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm and hopefully by 6:30, but close to it at least.  And exercise.  Every single day.

I forgot how to motivate my elephant.  I had a little glimpse of it today.  I saw someone wearing clothes that looked beautiful on her.  I have been squeezing into my clothes these days.  It sucks.  I hate it.  But, today, I was so proud and felt so accomplished that I might just want to keep this ball rolling.

So, that being said, it's 11:07pm, and I had every intention of being in bed by 9pm.  In order to not fail that goal any further, I'm concluding and going to bed.