My Favorites!!!! --- to eat of course!!!!! My favorite subject!

Below are images of my favorite things.  I wish that my favorite things could be as popular as Oprah's, but hey they get me through the week!  ;-)

 Fiber One Sandwich Rounds (above)

 Roasted Chicken and Broccoli Slaw Wrap

 Greek Yogurt and Strawberries (an blueberries below)

Beautiful Food and Grocery List Mastery!!!!! :-D -started 10/8

Blog Guidelines

B - ody - Tell us how your body is feeling, improving, etc. 

L - learning - what new things have your learned about yourself, fitness, or health.   

O - observations about the the changes in your life, the people around you, etc. 

G - goals - Reflect on your goals and action plan. 

S - set next week's goals.

Body:  Okay, my body hates me, but my mind likes what it sees!  I am exhausted!  My joints hurt and my muscles are tight, buuuuuuuuut I am pushing forward! It is way to easy to quite.  I have been doing this since May and I have achieved wonderful restults.  In fact, this is the longest that I have been able to stick with an excercise program ever since my collegiate career ended.  I am so inspired by everyones efforts in bootcamp.  I often look around an look for inspiration when my body is giving up and I find it in so many people!  Thanks to everyone who pushes during the hour that we meet!

Learning:  I think that I have mastered my grocery list and grocery shopping.  I included the picture below.  

Learning:  

I have found that I have to shop twice a week because not many of the fresh ingredient keep for long periods of time.  The list below is what I use twice a week.  I also roast veggies about every 3 weeks.  I have found that the food on this list give me energy.  

Observations:

This list has allowed me to create a routine that works with bootcamp and my work schedule.  I have two places that I shop because of where they fall in my daily schedule.  I shop at the Trader Joe's in Georgetown and at the Giant of of Glebe.  I work in Georgetown and I pass the Giant on my way back to DC  from bootcamp.  It works.  I am happy that I finally found foods that I like and work with my schedule and meal plan.

Goals:

I am happy because I have partially achieve one of my goals.  I found food that works with my plan!  I just need to add some variety and I think that this could be sustainable.

Set new goals:

My new goal is to add some healthy snacks and alternatives to the mix.

Grill Master!!!!! --- started this sometime in September

Blog Guidelines

B - ody - Tell us how your body is feeling, improving, etc. 

L - learning - what new things have your learned about yourself, fitness, or health.   

O - observations about the the changes in your life, the people around you, etc. 

G - goals - Reflect on your goals and action plan. 

S - set next week's goals.

One of my main focuses of this challenge is to create effective routines that allow me to workout at least 5 times a week, eat 6 small meals, have energy, and still be effective in other areas of my life.  

My BODY is feeling pretty energetic, but my joints are a little sore.  (I sound OLD!  LOL!)  I may need some joint juice.  I have also been cramping up so I've been adding bananas to my diet and drinking more liquids.

Learning:  I am still learning about what foods I enjoy, give me energy, and don't take much preparation.  Below I posted my grilling extravaganza!  I grilled some zucchini and roasted some vegetables.  While they were all delicious, it took a long time to prepare and they didn't last very long.  I need to combine these choices with other options.  

Observations:  I often find myself bouncing around and full of energy!  :-)  This is awesome because I was so negative before and had no faith that I could be as active as I am now.  I thought that my athleticism had left the building!  LOL!  Now I find myself considering 10ks and participating in other group activities.

Set Goals:  I plan on finalizing a grocery list and signing up for my alumni game :-)

Health & Goals : I started writing this on October 3rd :-/

Health & Goals : I started writing this on October 3rd :-/

Background…

Soooooooo, one of the reasons that I did this challenge was to develop a healthy eating and fitness lifestyle.  In the past, the only way that I knew that I could lose weight was by low-carbing.  When I was in college I read the South Beach Diet book and the only thing that I took away from the book was the order in which the body burns the fuel/food/calories that you feed it.  I found it interesting that the reduction of carbohydrates in one’s diet decreased the body’s insulin production resulting in the body’s use of protein and fat as a main energy source.  When I started low-carbing, the results were immediate.  I felt like I had been given control of my ability to lose weight. 

Since I graduated from college, I have used low-carbing as a main strategy to lose weight.  While I am usually successful on low-carb diets, I have found that I can lose the weight but the result is a smosshy toneless body that isn’t all that flattering.  I have also found that I have low levels of energy while low-carbing and that it is extremely hard to be active when you are lacking the energy to perform. 

In addition, my weight fluctuates like crazy.  Since I was about 18 years old I have always weighed around 170lbs.  Over the past year my weight has fluctuated between 160lbs. and 170lbs.  I would  usually go up to 170 around thanksgiving and Christmas, then diet down to 160, then go up to 170, and diet down to 160, and so on and so forth.  I also used to be a college athlete, so 170 now definitely does not look like 170 then!  Smh!  LOL!  …NO really!  S….M…H!!!!!. 

I believe that a healthy lifestyle includes a balanced diet and an activity.  The challenge for me was how to be active, eat healthy, and be thin.  My goal is to transform the core of my body.  As an athlete I looked okay at 170 because I had a strong core, lots of muscle tone, and I was 19% body fat.  In 2010 and up until May 2011, I was up to about 23% - 24% body fat last year.  I could get down to 160 by low-carbing, but  my body was so smooshy.  I used to say that I had no idea what to do with my new (non-athletic) body.  I have few curves so it just didn’t make sense.  In order to be satisfied with my new body, I needed to workout but crazy me did not want to workout because I thought that muscle tone wasn’t always attractive on my 5’10” athletic frame (especially since I am so big in comparison to others!!!).

I needed change, so I decided to just let go of my fear of muscles and just do this!  Shavon asked me to start doing Bootcamp with her and after my second challenge I’m down to 23% body fat and I weigh 159lbs.  Throughout my life I’ve struggled with my height and weight because I’m not the little cheerleader build.  I have always seen myself as being tall and heavy!  LOL!  But, I can definitely say that I am so proud of my transformation.

O - observations about the the changes in your life, the people around you, etc. :  

Recently, my aunt asked me just how much weight I had lost.  The funny thing is that the last time she saw me I was approximately 160lb (not much different than I am now).  However, my body looks completely different because I've toned my core and achieved a leaner look.  I have to say that felt like my work was paying off when she confronted me.  :-)

G - goals - Reflect on your goals and action plan. 

My goal is to continue to push hard and target my problem areas.  I am still challenged with time and getting in an additional workout, but it will just take some more sacrificing.  My weight isn't really decreasing, but I am in shape and able to do more that I used to.  Finally,  I am still striving to make healthy eating simple and enjoyable.  I made the Thai Basil Chiken below, but the sauce has sooooo much sodium in it.  I really had to use it sparingly...but I will continue to search for yummy healthy options!

S - set next week's goals.

My goals for next week are to focus and not succumb to my muscles telling me that they are not going to work for me anymore!  LOl!

Cooking :  Thai Basil Chicken

60 Day Challenge Background Info

Below is the outline of the program.  My blog entries will relate directly to the goals and guidelines established by myself and the KZX Bootcamp coaches.

60 Day Workout Challenge Guidelines:

1. Workout 5x a week. Mon-Thurs- you have to be at bootcamp from Aug 29 to Oct 31. Add at least one 45-minute workout per week. (lift, run, KZX, etc) 
2. Blog on bootcampkzx.com about what you eat and your fitness journey! 
3. Talk with their coach before Aug 29. Check in with their coach at least once a week over the phone, email/skype, or in person. 
4. Keep up with facebook accountability page. Up load pictures, stories, video blogs, chats, etcs. 
5. Come to Thursday's. Aug 25th Kick off Meeting before or after class! 
6. Be at BC at 7:20 so that you have time to be measured and put heart rate monitor on before class starts. Measurements will be taken every Monday! 
8. Follow nutrition plan outlined by your coach

My Goals:

1.      Lose my cupcake (a.ka. – the tire around my waste)

2.      Figure out a lifestyle diet (the way that I eat, not just a phase to lose weight quickly.)

3.      Establish a lifestyle of fitness and healthy eating

4.      New Weight-loss Goal 155lbs (established 9/21)

Action Plan:

1.      Cook meals on Sunday

2.      Stick to meal plan outlined by David = 1800 calories a day and around 50 carbs

Blog Guidelines

B - ody - Tell us how your body is feeling, improving, etc. 

L - learning - what new things have your learned about yourself, fitness, or health.   

O - observations about the the changes in your life, the people around you, etc. 

G - goals - Reflect on your goals and action plan. 

S - set next week's goals

Reflecting on Week 2 and Planning for Week 3

Body - My body feels pretty good  today.  Thursday was really tough because I maxed out my shoulders in Wedensday’s bootcamp and the push-ups and shoulder exercises in the combo class just about brought tears to my eyes (although I had tons of fun and  I think I will now be adding Kazaxe to my weekly workouts…luv, luv, luved it!).   I have noticed that my muscles definitely need 1 full day to recover if I max them out.  My body is looking leaner,  but my belly is still smooshy!  J  I am struggling with pushing myself in some sets and recovering in time to max out in the next set.  I sometimes feel like I’m slacking if I push extremely hard in certain sets and have to rest a long time to recover.  I’m wondering if it’s better to choose to max out on certain exercises so that I can still complete the entire workout with great intensity.  Maybe, I will be able to reduce my recovery time by adding cardio this week.  I will see how this week goes and make adjustments the following week.

Learning - I’ve learned a lot about planning throughout this process.  In order to eat properly, I’ve found that I have to cook multiple meals on Sundays and spread out my shopping trips for perishable foods (such as fruits and fresh veggies that I do not plan to cook).  I am also accustom to low-carbing, so the introduction of Almond milk, Oatmeal, and Arnold’s High Fiber Sandwich rounds, and fruit is a very new concept.  I will say that when I do include these items into my daily meals, I am super energetic.  My body typically stores carbohydrates and as a result I do not lose any weight.  We will see how this eating plan works out. 

Observations = Something that I have observed is that I feed off of the other Test Group members.  So many people have encouraged me to finish a set or to push harder.  I also feel like it is my responsibility to push 110% because it encourages others to do the same. 

Goals – It took me a while to figure out what I should be eating, where to shop for these items, and how to fit the workouts, cooking, and eating into my schedule.  Today I cooked a ton of food that should cover my meals for the whole week.  Last week I cooked nothing and bought everything pre-cooked or raw, but I would practically starve if I ran out of something.  I also failed to complete the extra workout.  Moving forward, I am going to try to mix it up by having some raw pre-cooked meals and some frozen pre-cooked meals so that I don’t go hungry.  I am also adding two workouts to my Mon-Thursday schedule so that my weekend activities do not prevent me from completing the extra workout.

Set next (this) week’s goals:  My goals for this week are to add two cardio-sessions before bootcamp on Monday and Wednesday.  I will be doing an interval low-impact elliptical workout.  I may also add some light weights depending on the bootcamp schedule.  In addition, I will create a budget and official shopping list so that I can better manage my diet.  

1 week DOWN!!!!!

This week I made a conscious effort to push myself harder in each set during bootcamp.  The result: I am sore!!!!!  LOL!...but I know that the soreness that  I feel is evidence of progress!!!!  A leaner me is in the making.  Now, I just have to avoid all of the Lauriol Plaza Slushy Margarita temptations that I will face this weekend!  I think that I can conquer the urge, though.  When I’m in class and Maia throws a difficult set at us, I sometimes focus on a point in the ceiling, get in a zone, and PUSH super hard through that particular set.  The journey is going to take a lot of focus; both in the moment and over the course of the challenge.  I am ready to see the new me that is dying to meet me at the finish line!  Leggo!!!!

P.S.:  Thank you to all of you who pushed me this week!!!!!!! 

-B.C.