The last 6 months have been amazing. I've transformed my body into a fit and healthy one, I have changed some of the bad habits I had and have formed new, healthier habits, and I have successfully planned a wedding!
I am ready for my big day and so excited that I have been able to share my progress with you all over the last several months. I hope some of you have been encouraged to start your own journey if not for a wedding, just for your own self goals!
The wedding plans are all set, my dress is with the seamstress who is making alterations, and my family is excited for my fiancee and me!
I know I need to keep changing my workouts to keep myself interested
I planned my boot camp workouts perfectly this week!
This week as a nice smoothly run week. I planned well and stuck to my plan. I knew ahed of time what my work schedule traffic would bring, so I really planned cardio and boot camps to allow for the least drive time and the most efficient workout location. I worked out in La Jolla on Wednesday evening for the first time. It was fun to meet new ladies and do a workout in a different location.
Not just a healthy phase... a healthy lifestyle
Everything is starting to sink in now. Its becoming reality not just a phase. Working out and making healthy nutrition choices has become a total lifestyle change that I can stick to for years and years to come. I don't plan on gaining any weight or body fat back, which means I will need to continue to be smart and continue to strength train, well after the wedding.
The honeymoon will be challenging, I'm sure. We are going to Spain for 15 days which will be I'm sure food-filled. Food-filled doesn't mean I have to eat everything in sight. It was doesn't mean I have to avoid things just because my lifestyle is healthy. I will be moderate, and make sure we are getting enough active activities in our vacation.
Learning to handle my cravings for sweets
I've still been struggling with the sweets cravings and have felt some pressure to give in at times. I know how important it is to resist these, however, because of the nature of sweets. They are highly addicting! If I give in today, I'll have more likelihood of giving in tomorrow, and the next day, etc. My plan for this week is to make fruit my dessert. Its still something sweet and its a much healthier choice than frozen yogurt or chocolate.
Only 55 Days to GO! Weddng RSVPs are adding up and I'm feeling good!
This week was good. I worked through some feelings of over-training by cutting down on the cardio sessions and putting 100% of my energy into boot camp on Wednesday and Friday. I had been doing hours of cardio daily - and still starting to hit a plateau. Upon Bootique Fitness's advice, I pulled back on the cardio. I'm happy to say that the weight is coming off again and I don't feel as tired.
On my days off from boot camp, I focused on yoga to eliminate some of my wedding related stress. It worked well, because I'm feeling more rested and quite slim!
I had a rough work week, standing all day is a bit tiring, which might be part of the reason I'm feeling run down lately. But on a positive note, I'm halfway through my contract with this company. Then I'll have a little rest for the month of my wedding before proceeding with a new work contract. Life is about choices, and I am glad to be able to choose many things, including incorporating exercise into my life forever!
Friday night boot camp in Scripps Ranch was especially good.
Sarah included a lot of running in the workout and it just felt plain good. It was a great way to start off the weekend.
On another note, I am cutting out alcohol for "Lent", so that is a no-brainer calorie reduction! Two weeks left then my final dress fitting, I need to burn every calorie possible and stay focused!!
Starting our dance lessons in March too, which will be a fun way to exercise together AND work towards some of our wedding goals. Looking forward to spending that quality time with my fiancee.
See ya in Bootcamp next week!
I'll be attending Hillcrest Wednesday and Friday morning and Mission Bay on Saturday. Thank you for your continued support! See ya in class!
I am loving my new size. All my really small size clothes fit (on bottom). The only things not really fitting correctly are my suit jackets (not like I wear them much, anyway). My new muscular shoulders are a little big for the jackets. I don't mind. My lean and tone shoulders will get to make an appearance at my wedding!
I have to plan my boot camp workouts better
I feel a bit disappointed that I was only able to get to Bootique Fitness boot camp on Saturday. I should have planned this week better instead of realizing on Wednesday and Friday that traffic was going to be too awful and I wouldn't make it from Carlsbad to Scripps Ranch boot camp in time. Ughh! San Diego traffic between 5 and 6 pm is pretty horrendous. Anyway, I am going plan ahead to fix my routine this week. I will map each week out individually on Sunday night so I know where I am going each day to ensure I get my Bootique boot camps in! I did have good workouts alone (using their online videos), but I really missed the trainers at Bootique. Next week works out perfectly for Wednesday and Friday at Scripps Ranch. I just have to decide on a third day that I can make work somehow. It'll happen!
Dealing with cravings
I've been craving a lot of sweets lately... I wonder if it has anything to do with stress? I don't feel stressed out, but I know wedding planning is stressful and each person 'stresses' differently. I know that I can focus on my results and that will help me keep the sweets to a minimum. I'll also focus on knowing that my dress fitting needs to be done in only a few weeks. Then I can focus on maintaining until the big day.
The big day
April 27th! It seemed so far away when I started with Bootique Fitness. Its amazing what a few months can do! I hope other brides are encouraged to start bootcamp. Take it one day at a time, don't give up, and just keep going! The days will pass anyway, you might as well be working towards a new fit body for yourself!
Thanks for your continued support and encouragement!
It's really getting down to the wire. I have approximately 1 month until my alterations appointment. That means, I have 1 month to get to the weight I'd like to stay and maintain until the wedding! I am already really close. (yay!)
I don't want to get to an unrealistic or unhealthy weight for maintenance. Throughout this whole process, I have been in the mindset that everything I do needs to be something I am comfortable with keeping as a lifestyle change. After 5 months of San Diego boot camp, I am pretty used to the idea of strength training now and I'm confident I can continue to do my boot camp workouts to keep these great results and get even stronger. I know that its essential to keep lean muscle in order to keep my physique. Muscle requires more calories than fat, too, which makes it an obvious lifestyle choice.
I'm not eating in black and white anymore
I am also happy that I have learned to eat in a moderately healthy way. What I mean is, I used to look at it in black and white terms. When I was dieting, I wouldn't even eat from a restaurant's low calorie menu if the sodium was too high. I wouldn't dare touch a dessert. On the other hand, when I wasn't trying to lose weight, I'd eat dessert every day and drink frappucinos. Neither of these scenarios are realistic long-term.
I did my monthly assessment yesterday. I'm excited to report that I'm down to 140.5 lbs and 21% body fat. I haven't been this low in body fat since college - and I've never gotten below that! Further goals for February: I'd like to get to 19% body fat and I plan to get down to 135 lbs. I'd also like to get some friends to join me for boot camp in February!!! Any takers?? Come with me!
Staying fit while working full time
This week end marks the end of five months with Bootique. And less than three months until the big day! It was a little tougher this week. Mainly because I started a typical "job". You see, all this time, I have mostly worked small projects, promotional or in-store (3-5 days a month) and projects from home. Most of my work is done online - which doesn't even require me to leave the couch. This has been my life for over a year and I've gotten used to NOT working the 9-5 hours.
Well, I picked up a bigger, longer-term contract this month. It's for a cosmetics company the need me 4 days a week, on my feet, and in Costco stores (ugh... all those tempting food samples... well not really, most are pretty gross). So, the first week my body was like, "WHAT ?? I am not used to standing for 6 hours and talking all day." I know, its crazy. I was so tired my first day, and traffic was horrible. However, by my third day, I managed to feel more energetic, with a zumba session before work and boot camp after. It kind of revived me. I did still manage to take 3 boot camp classes this week, even while I was adapting to new work hours and conditions. I have to say, its a little tougher, but working out makes it better because once its done, it actually recharges me!
Got my Bootique Fitness tank top
Yesterday I made it to Super Boot Camp. It was gorgeous out and very sunny. Fortunately, I was had on my Bootique Fitness tank top which kept me cooler. It looks great and I feel proud to represent such a great company when I wear it!
Staying consistent with Boot Camp, Nutrition and Cardio
Wow, January is flying by. I am continually making progress and sticking to my workouts the majority of the time. I am consistent with my nutrition (healthy with some allowances for chocolate here are there), and consistent with my bootcamps (2-3 times per week - but mostly 3) & cardio (5 times a week). It's obvious to me that consistency and the ability to stick with a routine such as this is the healthy way to go. I've lost on average 1 pound per week (16 total as of today), which is healthy and safe. Most importantly the rate of weight loss and methods used are realistic to maintain.
As I get closer to my goal I start to think about how I will maintain this. I definitely don't want to just go back to my sporadic strength training and "cardio-binging". I call it that because I used to "feel fat" and then that week do cardio everyday for over an hour. Then if I felt "thin" I would skip it. Definitely NO BUENO! I think 16 weeks is enough time to break a bad habit.
My wedding dress is TOO BIG
Got my dress in.... and it's too big in the hips! I have the corset back tied as tight as possible and its still loose. But the top is just perfect. I am going to change a couple things about it because I don't like the belt on it (that wasn't there when I tried it on originally...) I'm happy that it's too big! I didn't take the leap of faith enough to order two sizes smaller back in September, but only one size too small (at the time). Now its too big! Crazy how the body changes with great workouts from Bootique Fitness!
Anyway, thanks for being a part of my journey! I invite you to leave some feedback or tips for me. Especially those of you who have lost weight and maintained, I'd love to hear how you maintained!
Hey folks!! Had a great week, feeling great and getting compliments on my weight-loss! This week I jumped right back into my workouts and had success on the scale too! hit the 15 pound weight-loss mark and I'm getting into some of my smallest clothing. I had a fun day on Saturday trying on every single pair of pants I own. All fit except for 1 pair. Woohoo!
Planning ahead to stay on track for my goals
Didn't have an overly tempting week (aside from my fiancee putting cheese bread in my face while I filmed my video). It was a BUSY week though. Starting a new job and tying up loose ends on all my projects took up most of my time. I had to really focus to get things organized too. Now I am organized and feeling ready for the next challenges: Valetines Day and working 4 days a week. I'll have to really plan ahead when I'm working so that I dont get tempted.... My job for February and March is working for Borghese cosmetics/skincare inside of 4 different COSTCO stores. I will have to avoid all those greasy samples. Just think of how many calories are in each sample!!?? Wish me luck.
So I turned the big 3-0 on Wednesday. When I say "fell off the wagon," I really just mean that I ate a slice of cake and skipped a couple boot camps this week. I didn't go crazy or skip my workout altogether though! I started the week with every intention of attending Monday-Wednesday-Friday boot camps, but when my friends planned surprise birthday activities - well, you know how it goes... I kind of knew that sort of thing might happen so I made sure I did extra cardio and strength training before my 'big day'. I was able to get a great yoga session in as well.
Getting Right Back On Track
Sometimes things come up in life that prevent people from working out or completely sticking to the 'plan'. For me, the most important thing is to make sure to always jump right back into the workouts and don't dwell on any unhealthy behaviors. Sure, I had a piece of cake, but that doesn't mean I will have one tomorrow and the next day too. It is tough, since sweets and salty food are highly addictive, but not impossible. Instead, I'm going back to boot camp and salads and fresh veggies!
Things are coming right along with the wedding too. I sent out my invitations on Friday, my engagement photo session is on Tuesday (which I am so happy to be 14 pounds lighter for!), and the florist has been hired! All that is left is making money to pay for all this stuff. Yikes! I will be working a contract job during February and March, Wednesday through Sunday 10:30-5. It's great because I'll make money, and the hours don't interfere with boot camp and all my workouts! I can't let anything stop me know. A few pounds to go, a couple inches here and there. I'm so close!
How are you doing on your goals? Share your progress in the comments below.
Celebrating the new year with 3 Boot Camp workouts
Ringing in the new year nicely with three solid workouts at Bootique Fitness! What a nice way to start the year. While workouts remained consistent throughout the holiday season, little salty crunchy things called tortilla chips tempted me on New Years. Normally, I count out 5-8 chips and stick to that. Unfortunately I didn't use that tactic on the last day of 2011. But that didn't mean I was going to slip up MORE than that. I ordered a salad with boiled chicken and limited the champagne intake. However, I warn you salt fiends... Its tough not to crave it once you allow a little into your life. This week has been all about battling cravings. On the up side, the hot weather allowed me to wear shorts all week and I fit into EVERYTHING. It was super exciting since I didn't get to wear any cute summer clothes in 2011 due to annoying weight gain. Another upside is that kumquats are back in season. These are super healthy tasty snacks. A great thing to replace evil chips with.
Wedding planning is going well.... SORT of.
I'm super behind and if I didn't have my lovely sister, Ali, to keep me on track I might end up with a huge mess where nothing is actually planned except the wardrobe. LOL.
Loving boot camp...
and loving my cardio routine, but know I need to step something up. I think I need to step up my "bringing a friend to bootcamp" challenge. It's been fun having Irene and Kim come to bootcamp with me. I want to have more of you see what its all about. Its GREAT, you'll get addicted. I am. So, want to try it out with me? Just leave a comment below for Jaylin to contact you or call her at 619.602.8087 to try the boot camp that is getting me into the best shape ever!
Life is about choices, and I am glad to be able to choose many things, including incorporating exercise into my life forever!
