Weightloss - Exercise - Health

Good morning beauties!

I usually post my weightloss/exercise/fitness/health stuff on my bodybuilding.com journal and bodyspace but I want to share my journer here as well. On 12/15/2012 I took some photos, made some measurements, and weighed myself. I resolved to do this once a month, every month, so that I can see my progress. I also resolved to stop cheating myself. I workout hard nearly every day... but my eating is not spot on so I was bringing myself back to stage 1 with my poor eating choices. My lack of control/will power made it impossible for me to allow myself some small cheats (like many have a cheat meal, or a treat) ...it was like I was bingeing. Since Christmas I have been able to eat better than I was. No cake, no cookies, no frozen yogurt (just because it isn't ice cream doesn't mean you can over indulge) and I've been sticking to a small piece of chocolate (just ONE) here and there. I cannot emphasize how proud of myself I am and how GOOOOOOOD this has made me feel.

January 10 I received my Polar FT7 heart rate monitor/calorie tracker from Amazon. I was SO excited to use it. I put this on in the morning so that I could track my non-working out calories while sitting on my butt at work (don't you wonder what your daily calorie burn is when you're just.... living!?) and discovered I burn around 100 calories an hour.... just sitting. Haha. However, when I wore it during my workout I discovered that the calorie counting the cardio machines do is not entirely accurate. I ran my usual warm-up mile (I start at 6.2 and usually finish around 7.5 to push myself) and it took me about 9:30. The machine stated I'd burned 144 calories while my Polar said 91. That's a 53 calorie difference... not HUGE but big enough.. when you're going over 3.2 on the treadmill you can't hang on to the hrm so that it can see how hard you're pushing yourself.. I also did not input my weight or age while all of that information is stored in my Polar.

I've never been able to track my weight lifting calorie burn... and I feel this is where I push myself the most (sweating buckets ladies!). It was great to track this. In 1hr 32mins of strength training I burned 721 calories. I'm already planning on pushing harder today to reach an even 800... and next time even higher!

I was so excited to see my burn that I joined a Zumba class to see what the burn would be for a group excercise class. In 56 mins of Zumba (sort of low key cardio for me) I burned 400 calories.

Now, I've done this regimine before (all of my "logging" is done on MyFitnessPal) and it said I burned 320 calories... that's nearly 80 more calories I burned.

Bottom line... I believe I've been mislead in terms of calories burned so I may have been overeating... or undereating even. I'm still working on my numbers but I feel that this tool will really make the difference in my weightloss journey. It will also push me to increase my fitness level and I'm so excited!

My weigh in for 1/15/2013 was 148lbs. I was disappointed that I'd only lost 2lbs in a month...but my fitness goals have been reached. I'm running a mile in almost 9 minutes flat (way better than the 10+ I WAS running when I started).. my strength is going up and I've lost inches.

On 12/15/2012 I weighed in around 150lb (6lbs down from my start in February 2012) and I was 30.6% bodyfat.
My chest went from 38in to 36...still 36 at this time.
Arms 13
Waist was 33.5
Hips were around 40.5
Thighs 25
Calves 15

1/15/2013 measurements
148 lbs and 29% bodyfat (may not be totally accurate)
neck 14 (fat lol)
chest is still 36 I believe but may be a little smaller; bras feel a little loose (could have gone down a cup size)
arms 12!
waist 31.5!
hips 39.5!
Thighs 24!
Calves 15

So, coupled with the increased fitness/strength... I'm pleased. I think I've found the correct calories I should be eating to lose... it's something that will continue to evolve and change though. Your body adapts!

Christmas Recap - Looking Forward

It's nearly the start of 2013.

Everyone is now thinking of what they should've/could've/would've in 2012 and will be restarting/restating goals for 2013 that weren't accomplished in 2012.. 2011.. 2010.

I'm not any different I suppose. I'm still struggling with losing weight despite being in the gym 4-6 days a week. My body has changed even if the scale hasn't so I guess my 2012 goals of weightloss weren't completely a failure. I may be a similar weight but there's more shape to my legs, my arms, my shoulders.. I've put on muscle. This should help me with losing weight in 2013. I have to get my diet in check.

I also have to get my spending/saving in check. I have near to nothing in the bank but nothing to show for it either. How does that happen? Where does it go? In 2013 I will NOT be asking myself that question.

I feel like my posts lately have been in the same vein but so far there is little action behind it. Apologies. Not that I'll really keep a tally on here of what I'm saving/spending but I will let you guys know, vaguely, if/when I'm successfull or not.

I also want to revisit the set up of this blog. I don't like it. I feel like everytime I change my template it doesn't look like the template when I "view blog." What is up with that? I don't know.


Changing gears:

I had a lovely Christmas with family.. my Godson is 1. He is incredible. It was truly amazing to watch him play with his new toys and take some real steps... he's very nearly walking on his own... but he rushes it and ends up taking little tumbles. Funny to remember my parents telling me not to be in a rush to grow up... and now I want to tell him the same. Take it easy little man.. before you know it you'll be wishing for the days when we carried you everywhere and would fight over who got to hold you while you fell asleep.

I know the reasons for Christmas are time with family, friends, giving thanks for everything that you have... but you can't talk Christmas and NOT talk gifts, right?

I got a Clarisonic Mia from my Aunt and used it for the first time last night. I can honestly say I already feel a difference in my face. Even today it feels cleaner (I didn't do more than a rinse this morning after waking up). However, I'm still struggling with dry skin. Around my nose and along the tops of my cheeks are so dry. I've used Ponds my whole life but it isn't cutting it right now. My Aunt got me some products to go with the Clarisonic including an Elizabeth Arden moisturizer so we'll see if that makes a difference.

I also got several charms for the Pandora bracelet my boyfriend bought me for my birthday 2012. I know have 5 charms. Anyone else have a Pandora bracelet? I was stumped at how I would add the charms as they wouldn't fit over the clasp... lol. Then I realized they screwed on AND the stoppers come off. That was a fun few hours and I'm still being made fun of for not knowing how my own bracelet works. Oh well.

I'm going to start a lot earlier looking/getting gifts for family. It was entirely too stressfull this year. I also want to start a fund for a vacation/trip. I think my Aunt will want to go to the Cape again this coming summer so that will be lovely.


What is everyone looking to do for 2013? Can be goals to accomplish, things to get, places to go.... etc.

Financials, Growing up, Life

I'm 27-years-old. Kind of crazy to think about. There are so many things these days that are weighing on my mind, stressing me out... about what I want in life/where I should be.

There's so much I want and it wars with what I think I should have. I should have more money saved. I should have more of a dent in the repayment of my loans (school&car). I should have my brakes replaed. I should have my car cleaned/get the junk out of it. I should have a clean room. I should have a furnished apartment.

I want more/expensive clothes. I want to go on a vacation. I want to travel places. I want to give my loved ones expensive gifts. I want to get fun/classy things for the apartment. I want to go out to fancy restaurants.

See the disconnect/difficulty here?

I am in the proces of creating a budget for myself and this is the first time I've really sat down and LOOKED at my spending. However, it cannot go into effect until after Christmas and there'll be a chunk immediately taken out for my brakes/excise tax so it really won't start until the end of January/February 2013. The trick is... like my weightloss... I have to stick to it.

I think the biggest reason behind this stress is the fact that I am 27. That is only 3 years away from 30. In my daydreamings about my life as an adult 30 was the time I'd have it all together (35 at the latest). I wanted to have a career, a nice place, a serious boyfriend/fiance, and maybe even a child (or a pet).

I don't have a career. I share an ok apartment with my best friend. My boyfriend, while we've been together a long time now, is not serious and I don't think he ever will be (read fiance). I also do not have a child/pet (nor do I think I'm ready for that yet.) However, I would like to be with someone for at least 2 years before thinking about marriage or a child. If we did get married after 2 years (would be like 3 by then) I'd want to experience marriage for at least 2 years to see if it would work. That's 5-6 years to have a settled relationship/marriage before a child would come along. I'm already 31 at this point. So the longer it takes me to set my financials in order the longer it will be before I can settle down. Also, how am I supposed to meet a guy that can be serious with me while I'm in love with my not-so-serious boyfriend of now?

We had a conversation along these lines in February 2012.... we actually broke up because he was adamant he did not want marriage or children. Come March/April he told me that was not true. Just what every girl wants to hear right? It's now December and ... while things are better in our relationship... they don't seem to have any future happenings. Frankly, he hasn't even made any forward progress in things he'd always stated he wanted (getting a place with HIS bestfriend.) He has my same problem with saving money... only he has half the bills.

Resolutions for 2013 and the rest of my life.... get serious about my finances, weightloss, and what I want for my life. I'm starting early on this (at least the weightloss and thinking about what I want for the rest of my life).