Happy 2014!!

Okay, so I've started a 6-week challenge and have come up with some goals that I wanted to post here as well. Since I don't have the time to type up different posts for each site, I'll just be copying information between posts so all the info is everywhere :-)

Main Quest: Get my health back. I love being active - running, CrossFit, lifting, kettlebells, boxing/kickboxing, dance (I'm a former Zumba instructor)....you get the idea....if its active, I enjoy it. Well in July 2013, I hyperextended my knee in a boxing class and had to stop my level of intensity for the past 6 months. No running, no jumping, no dancing and (almost) no walking. I tried modifying my workouts but because I was used to higher intensity, I didn't feel like I was getting anything out of it. This was absolutely devastating to me. I let my eating get out of control over the holidays and now I feel like a chunky munky. My knee is still improving, so I've gotta take things slow - but overall I need to get my diet & fitness back in line

Supporting Quests: I've come up with a few supporting quests to help me get things rolling.

1. Get Moving More (at least 2 miles a day): Since I am still recovering from my knee injury, I've gotta take things slow but I work a desk job, so I need to get more movement in my days. I figure this 2 miles can either be walking, running, jogging or any combination of the above. I will track the time it takes me to complete the 2 miles each day and the max pace I was able to reach - this is just so I can track progress made over the next 6 weeks and ultimately over the coming year

2. Get My Nutrition in Line: ultimately, eating out is expensive and not beneficial to my goals....so prepping food in advance & packing lunches is gonna be key to my success   I really don't eat a lot of processed junk, I love fruits, veggies, fish & chicken - so I just need to get my butt in gear and prep my food so that I always have healthy options without having to eat out. As far as drinks go, I only drink tea, water & sparkling water. I've already cut sodas & sugary drinks out of my diet in 2013, so keeping that up is part of the plan

3. Start a Solid Lifting Plan: this one is easy - with the cardio that I'm doing in Quest 1 and the nutrition I'm doing in Quest 2, I need some strength training. I'm looking at a few different lifting plans right now, but will post workouts once I start them (which will probably be January 6th). I have a membership to an MMA gym as well as a full Olympic gym at home so I'll have access to free weights no matter where I am.

SINCE TODAY IS DAY ONE - here's today's post as well: 

My weekend was totally crazy. The hubby and I set out to make sure the garage was ready for me to start lifting today (since that's where my bench & rack are) and it turned into an entire weekend of "we will NOT be hoarders!"...not just in the garage....but in the whole house!

We went through boxes of stuff we haven't seen in months, took over 200 pounds of stuff (cardboard boxes, etc) to the local dump, a truck-full of stuff to Goodwill and we're STILL working on everything. Now we're mainly in the cleanup phase though so hopefully we'll be done sometime this week. So - needless to say....I got a lot of "functional" strength stuff done this weekend but I didn't have time for much else. There was lots of lifting boxes, climbing ladders, cleaning, etc - so my calorie burns were up there (and I have a lot of mystery bruises) but I didn't get my 2 miles in either day. I'm planning on doing 3 miles for 4 days this week to make up for it. 

So - all that being said...we are still working on getting the house perfect and the bench & rack still aren't quite ready for me to start lifting BUT I'm not going to let that derail me. If I'm not able to organize everything this afternoon, I will knock out kettlebell workouts until I am able to get the rack set up. I have kettlebells of various sizes so I can definitely give myself a good workout with those if I'm not able to use the rack just yet. Its important for me to have a clean & un-cluttered house, so if I need to take this week to do that with my hubby, then I can start the lifting plan next week. Either way, the goals of "moving more, eating better & lifting consistently" are going to be met....plus I'll have a clean house....I totally see all the perks here  

Also, since I had to be at work by 6am, I didn't have time to take new progress pics and measurements this morning before work, so I'm going to be using the measurements & pics that I took last week. They're scary (and I'm totally a pale, white girl) but it will make the progress & changing that much sweeter when I see changes  

So this is me - as of last week. I gained some pudge because of my knee injury in July as well as other medical issues that happened at the end of 2013 (I was bedridden for about 4 days right before Christmas so I'm still trying to recover from that) Since dropping some water weight, my midsection is already looking better so I'm anxious to see what happens in the next few weeks. 

Measurements:

Neck: 14.5 inches

Shoulders: 43 Inches

Bust: 44 Inches

Chest (under bust): 38 Inches

Waist: 39 Inches

Belly Button: 41.5 Inches

Hips: 47 Inches

Upper Thigh (right/left): 28 inches

Mid Thigh (right/left): 25 inches

Mid Calf (right/left): 17 inches

Bicep (right/left): 14.4 inches

Forearm (right/left) 12.25 inches

Wrist: 7.25

Current Jean Size: 12

Honestly - I'm not going to post my weight and BF% and its changes until the very end of the challenge. I really want to focus on measurement changes and how my body is feeling overall and really not focus on the number on a scale. 

End of the Year Update - 2013

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I'm doing really well, but I can't believe that Christmas is only 12 days away! EEP!

So I know I've been scarce, and with the holidays coming I'll probably be scarce until January - but I've felt the need to update on how things are going. First and foremost, my 18 credit hour semester is OVER!! I ended the term with 6 A's and one C (considering it was the hardest class I've ever taken, I'm thrilled I passed - but I've never failed a class before and I wasn't about to start now!!) I'd say that is pretty darn impressive considering that I am also working full time, married to an amazing man & parent to an awesome 11 year old. I think I did a good job juggling everything.

Due to scheduling conflicts at my current school, I am transferring to another school and I had to take an entrance exam in the middle of November. We only needed a 60% to pass, but my goal was an 80%. With some hard work (and a lot of stress considering I was in the middle of my 18 credit term!) I passed with a whopping 82%! Out of about 24 people who took the exam that day, I was one of only 2 people that passed! WOW! My advisor said he rarely sees scores that high so I'm thrilled! I am still working with him to get all my credits transferred over and I should be finding out today or Monday when my start date is.

The one thing that I've slacked on is my diet & fitness. Since I hurt my knee in July, I haven't really been able to do a whole lot and most days I feel like a chunky munky. I've maintained my weight throughout the year, but really haven't made much progress with the weight loss or training goals. Its really hard to maintain the level of fitness I had with a busted knee but I'm hoping to slowly make progress over the next few months to get myself back into shape.

Once I start classes again, I'm already working a solid routine into my schedule - woot! I'll be going to school at night 3 days a week and working in the earlier mornings, so in the gap between work & school I will be going to the gym 3 days a week. My plan is to lift for about an hour and then do one of their MMA classes for an hour before going to class. I'm also going to be buying a cooler to keep in my trunk so that I will be able to pack food with me each day. That way I won't be eating out & I can stay disciplined.

Okay - so that being said, how did I do on my 2013 resolutions?? Well some of them I met, while others I didn't (due to injury, etc)

Here's my resolutions from January along with my updates for how I did on each of them:

~ Continue to read for sanity - I love my books and can't wait to read (or re-read some favorites) in 2013
So far this year, I've read 308 books and over 59,000 pages (this does NOT include any reading I had to do for school) This is all "fun reading" which has definitely helped me maintain my sanity. Now that I'm done with school for the year, I'm sure I'll knock out even more books in the next 2 weeks

~ Set small & attainable goals - sometimes the grand scope of HUGE goals overwhelms me and I find I lack motivation to get started (or keep going)
This was the one mentality that got me through my crazy semester. I took each of my classes on a week by week (and sometimes day by day basis). Learning to slow down and not get overwhelmed by everything helped me survive many things this year & I couldn't be happier!!! 

~ Run a Half Marathon later this year - okay I know this isn't the "small & attainable" thing I was talking about, but this is the ultimate goal & I'll make little goals to get there :-)
Okay - so due to knee injuries, this one obviously didn't happen. I still want to run a half. I'd love to get back into running shape - but the health of my joints needs to stay a priority for me. I'm going to slowly work myself back up to running shape in 2014 and hope that I can keep myself there from now on. I desperately miss running and find that I can be a cranky b*tch when I can't get a solid workout in

~ Continue to get a better relationship with myself & food
The hubby and I have both made amazing progress with this. We have cut out sodas completely from our diet as well as any drinks with processed or artificial sugars (so no crystal lights, etc). We drink bulletproof coffee, teas and water....that's it. We've found if we drink anything else, we get sick. We've both stayed away from cigarettes for a whole year....I know this has nothing to do with food, but its still something to be very proud of! We have discovered a way of eating that makes us feel amazing and now we just need to be able to stick with it on a consistent basis! 

~ Accomplish new & amazing things - I need to work on not being afraid to try something new even if there's the possibility that I might fail or might not be good at it :-)
So this one is a big one. I went back to school in January and have survived some of the hardest classes I've ever taken. When I hit a roadblock, I didn't give up or get whiny - I took the initiative to get my butt transferred to another school WHILE still maintaining my grades at my current school. My current GPA is a 3.71 (and it will go up as more grades are being posted to my college over the weekend)

I joined a fighting gym. I never thought that I'd love that kind of a workout, but it makes me feel amazingly powerful and was one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

The hubby and I became full-time parents and we love it! Being able to see the changes and progress in our kiddo has been amazing and we can't wait to see what the future holds for all of us. 

So - I think that even though I might not be exactly where I wanted to be at the end of 2013 - I've accomplished a lot of other goals and proven to myself that I am capable of handling anything. I look forward to everything that I can do in 2014 and can't wait to see all the adventures that await!!! I hope you all have a happy holidays & I'll definitely start updating more as I get back into a regular routine!

Happy Food = Happy Self!

Okay - I know I've been scarce recently but I've got a lot going on. School is giving me a hassle about continuing with the program I've selected there, so I'm actually in the process of transferring to another school. Meaning I've got to have admissions interviews, transfer transcripts, prepare to take placement exams, take prior mentioned placement exams (which is on the 16th), etc - on top of my already crazy busy life of working full time, managing 18 credit hours and keeping up with my family. Needless to say, workouts haven't really happened.

BUT - hubby and I have totally overhauled our food and we feel amazing! Right now, we're on day 2 of a nutritional detox and we feel really really good. Yesterday, day one - we felt a little junky, foggy & slow most of the day. But today, I am feeling super good & have boundless energy today which is awesome!

Now - before ya'll get on my case about "detoxes are bad for you & you're starving yourself for days for no reason!" - let me show you something.....

You see this....yes....ALL this.....In case you can't see it well, let me further explain. This is HALF of my kitchen counter and its filled (from left to right) with a flat of tomatoes, chamomile tea, organic baby kale, celery, lemons, french green beans, organic carrots, avocados, alfalfa sprouts, chia seeds, toasted sesame seeds, raw almonds, fresh parsley, cilantro, 2 packages of nori, unsweetened almond milk, 8 zucchini, 10 cucumbers, tamari sauce, fresh ginger, garlic, raw honey, apples, and some random other stuffs

Okay - now that I've explained how much food we have...let me tell you that this is enough food to feed my hubby and I 6 times a day for 6 days!! Trust me....we are FAR from starving!! In this case, the word "detox" is mainly meant to be a removal of overly processed foods & unnecessary sugars from the diet - and not some evil diuretic diet that could potentially harm us. 

Back to the original point - basically, we've made the shift to an 80% plant based diet, with the other 20% allowed for higher quality meats & dairy products. We both feel amazing and not deprived at all! In fact, last night it was almost a push for us to eat everything that we needed to before going to bed. I dropped 2 pounds overnight and feel really good today. My skin is already starting to look smoother/clearer & my hair is super soft today. Hubby is adjusting as well and is feeling better today than he was yesterday. 

My other test was making sure that we could maintain this diet/lifestyle change on the current budget we have. All of this food (trust me, it filled BOTH of our fridges!) cost about $100 (but I had to buy some one time things too)...so ultimately that's pretty good for a week's worth of food. We usually spend about $80 a week on food, so I think its all gonna balance out well. 

Anyways, that's about it for me. I'll update sometime this week with more information about how our new foods are treating us - but overall, we feel amazing and we're definitely gonna stick with it! I hope you all have a great day! I'll try to remember tonight & tomorrow to take pics of what I'm eating. I've totally spaced it so far, but I'll do my best to remember :-)

I finally got a lifting workout in! YAY!

Okay - so this past week has been a little crazy - its midterm time in school so I've got lots going on, but I've been really good at making time to workout this week  

Monday we all made it to the gym & did a kickboxing workout which felt really good. We ended up doing over 100 burpees and 400 high knees (while pressing dumbbells) over the course of the workout, so we got our butts kicked!

Yesterday, I forced myself to not be lazy after class & I did a lifting workout in the garage. It felt good, but I'm still experiencing pain in my left knee so some of the moves had to be modified. I did chair squats to ensure I was getting low enough on my squats and had to do elevated pushups because my knee didn't like the strain of holding plank

I know that I can lift heavier than this, but considering I haven't lifted in a while AND I have a knee injury, I kept the weights lighter than normal. Hopefully within a few weeks I'll be able to raise the weights back up

NROL Workout A:

Chair Squats: 15 X 45lbs, 15 X 45lbs

Static Lunges (slightly modified): 15 X 25lbs, 15 X 25lbs

2-Point DB Rows: 15 X 12.5lbs (each arm), 15 X 12.5

Elevated Push Ups: 15 reps for 2 sets

Swiss Ball Crunch: 20 reps X 25lbs, 20 reps X 25lbs

Overall not a bad little workout - took me about 45 mins. I'm still miffed about my knee & its lack of motion, but I figure I can keep modifying the workouts and I should be okay. Nutrition has been okay the past few weeks but weight has been steady & not moving downward so I'm hoping adding in the workouts will help. I changed back to an IF schedule since I find I sleep better if I don't eat heavy at night - so hopefully I'll start seeing some changes there

Today is a cardio day - either running or something else, not sure yet. Anyways, I'm just trying to get a balance between work, school, family time & working out. 

Hope you all have a great day! 

OMG I Ran Again!!!

So after months of being unable to run, I decided to brave the treadmill today. With a heavy duty knee brace, I managed to keep the runs slow but steady! I'm so happy! I'm gonna stick with this workout for a few weeks just until I feel strong enough to progress safely, but until then I'll be happy to just run!!

All walks done at 3.0 and runs at 4.5 - slow but steady :)

Where the HELL have I been???

Oh lord its been a busy month!! I'm sorry that I totally just dropped off the face of the planet for a few weeks, but now I guess I'm WAY overdue for an update. I'm gonna give you the Cliff's Notes version because I don't want to type a novel  

~ School is taking up most of my life right now. I'm managing a full 18 credit hours (as well as a full time job, full time marriage & full time parent!) and all of my class grades are currently A's or B's. I've got a demanding workload this semester: Microbiology & the lab, Anatomy/Physiology & the lab, Analytical Writing, Interpersonal Communications & French 1. It took me about 6 weeks, but I finally feel like I'm finding a groove with all my class work 

~ my knee has hit a major speedbump. All the progress that I was seeing before - well, that's all I saw. It stalled in its healing and is about the same as the last time I was on here. I have visited an occupational therapist who agrees with the hyperextension diagnoses as well as a tear in my lower quad (which caused all the initial bruising). Currently, my new best friends are painful deep tissue massages (to break down scar tissue in my quad), RockTape to support it in my normal activities and an uber-heavy-duty knee brace to support it when I work out

here's a pic of my super sexy black skull RockTape support (and the inside of my car) - oh, and if you wanna make a comment about my pale white-ness, go ahead, I know its blinding but trust me - I've probably already heard it  

~ we've been working to overhaul our house. so far we've attacked the office (and made it a comic toy display room, yeah....we're nerds), the living room, the home gym in the garage, the master bedroom & the inside gym.

Okay - I think that's about as simple as I can make things. Overall, life is stupid busy, but we're finding a rhythm with it all. Workouts have been scarce due to my pesky knee & lack of free time, but overhauling of the house has allowed for some functional strength training  

Now that we don't feel like we're scrambling, we're able to incorporate workouts into our schedule. Nutrition hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been on point either. I've maintained my weight over the past few weeks (which I'm honestly happy about!) but am ready to get back on the losing streak. I'm gonna figure out a schedule of workouts that will be able to fit into everything else. Right now, I'm working out whenever I can, but I need something a little more solid than that

Given how busy things are, I'll hopefully get updated progress pics and measurements up in the next 2 weeks or so *fingers crossed!* my wedding anniversary is coming up next week, so I might be a little busy, but I'll do my best to get them up ASAP  

OH - and I realized that I haven't posted a pic of myself on here in a while! So here's a recent pic of me with a friend - we went to Chippendale's & oogled the pretty men all night (I'm the one in the red top on the left)

Okay, that's about it for me! Have a great day everyone! 

Yesterday's Workout

So yesterday was a good day! Hit my calorie goals, had a killer workout & finally got a decent night's sleep last night. Now I just need to do that every day (mainly the sleep part) and I'll be good! 

Yesterday's Warm Up:
Pyramid Medicine Ball Jacks 14 lbs - 25 to 1
25 Jumping Jacks with OHP of 14lb medicine ball, then 24 reps, then 23, then 22, etc all the way down to 1
Bodyweight exercises done in between sets for 60 seconds: Squats, Burpees, Sit-Ups, Push Ups, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers (standing due to knee tweaking)

TOTAL: 325 Jumping Jacks with 14lb OHP

Workout:
30 mins of Kickboxing with calisthenic drills in between rounds

Abs: 10 mins followed by Cool Down


Note: The sleep listed here is not from last night, but the night before



Otherwise things are going well. Today is boxing with one of our fav trainers and trying to keep disciplined today at work. They're feeding everyone from a local BBQ place & I was a good girl and packed my own lunch instead. 

Have a great day!