My Bikini Ready Workout

Ugh, ok, so lately I've been slacking off and feeling like a total blob. Remember back when I was all gung ho about health and loosing weight. Yea that didn't last too long did it? What 3 weeks and 5 pounds? Fail.

And then, I was secretly working out (averaging) 3 times a week. (By secret I mean, I didn't blog about it. My friends and family knew) I lasted at that pace about 10 weeks.

Then my husband came home and I'm all "who wants to go to the gym, I want to snuggle on the couch!" and boom just like that I've gained like 5 pounds back. I did lost 10 pounds with him gone and did tone up my midsection a bit. So, I know I can do it.

It's Monday, and a brand new week, and I'm ready to get serious about this. I bought The Women's Health Big Book of Exercise and I'm doing the 6 week Bikini-Ready workout. Starting today. Matter of fact, I'm probably at the gym getting my sweat on as you read this. I know you're jealous (snort!)

And of course I have to keep a record of this, so I can look back and see how far I've come and all.

I'll be back in a week or 2 with measurements and a before/after pic hopefully.

I'm also loosely going to be modifying my diet. Less carbs (sorry pastas, I'll always love you) more veggies and of course more protein. And more water, duh. I think all of us could drink more water everyday. So I'll check back soon and we'll see how everything is going.

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(This is going to suck) No it's not, it's going to rock.

See my power of positive thinking working right there!

*photo source*

Becoming A Healthier Me - week 3

Is my scale broken? Because, I didn't loose a single pound this week! Was it something I ate, or the fact that I didn't work out as much as I should? Super bummed, but I'll keep charging forward. I won't give up that easily. But seriously, is my scale broken?

Healthy Foods:

1. Guacamole and chips for snack

2. Tomato soup with a sprinkle of cheese and chives

3. Peanut butter and banana smoothie for breakfast

4. Parmesan crusted tilapia, peas and pasta

Spinach salad with tomatoes, cucumber and toasted almond slices with poppy seed dressing.

- Still drinking more water, but I could be doing better.

- Had a few glasses of red wine this week.

- Drank chocolate milk once this week after a pretty intense work out. 

Exercise: 

Went for 1 walk. Pretty sad.

Did Pilates once. My abs were killing me.

Danced around the kitchen for like an hour one night with my ipod playing haha! Zumba style!

Burned 250 calories on the elliptical. I hate sweating.

I did start doing push ups this week. I can only do 25 "girl" ones. Those things are evil. 

Planks. I can do it for 20 seconds.

Goals for next week:

Drink more water.

Do the plank for 30 seconds.

Burn 600 calories on the elliptical. (combined)

Do Pilates twice.

Eat more fruit.

I'm feeling a little less motivated. One more week and I'll be hitting my one month mark, and I want to try to burn 2 more pounds off. 

Any suggestions for food, workouts, a way to burn calories that doesn't suck so much?

Becoming a Healthier Me - week 2

This week I was afraid I wasn't going to loose any weight. I wasn't feeling the workouts as much and I think it's because I added 4 lb weights to them and those make it THAT much harder. I ate some good meals but felt like I ate just as many bad meals. But, I did loose another 3 pounds! I was shocked when I got on the scale this morning!

Exercise:

I did my Pilates and Get Your Body Back video that I mentioned in week one. I tried the Cellulite Blaster which is basically 10 minutes of squats and kicks and I barely made it through it. Afterwards my legs were so weak I thought I was going to fall down the stairs. I went on a couple walks this week too.

Healthy Foods:

1. Tuna salad and sliced cucumber with a few cubes of dutch herb cheese

2. Cajun chicken breast and sauerkraut sandwich with veggie straws

3. Roasted red pepper hummus and pita chips for snack

4. Baked salmon filet, broccoli and herb angel hair pasta

I feel the need to point out that not ALL my meals are healthy, this week I had pizza, ice cream, chocolates and chef boyardee ravioli. It's not like I'm dieting, it's just little tweaks and trying to make some of my meals healthier. This week I know I didn't do as much healthy snacking as I should. Next week I'm going to try to eat more fruits for snacks and with my meals.

This week I've also been drinking lots of water, chocolate milk and wine. Water is obviously good for you, but drinking milk after working out provides your body with good protein and the Ovaltine I add to mine helps adds in extra vitamins. Red wine is also good for your heart so I've been having a glass of wine a couple nights this week.

Next week I hope I can add in some new workouts and hopefully more walks.

A few of you posted on last week and said that you were getting healthier too, how did your week go?

Becoming a Healthier ME - part 1

That's it, time to get healthier. And what better time then while my husband is away. We've all done it from time to time, "let ourselves go" a little bit. Well, I'm ready to change that. Since moving to Germany I've let the weight creep up (about 15 pounds this past year). Ouch!

I decided to post about the healthy changes I'm making to my life.

Feel free to follow along, get tips, or totally ignore these particular posts. It won't hurt my feelings, I promise. I'm not doing this for anybody but myself. But since it's something I'll be striving to do better, I'll blog about it to help myself stay motivated. It's harder to quit when you have someone watching you and cheering you on.

So, let's start with my goals.

Goals:

My goals so far for this challenge:

- Loose 20 pounds before Rich gets back

- Loose a few inches off my waist

- Drop a pants size

- Feel healthier

- Have fun while doing it!

I've added a few healthier meals and snacks to this week. 

Healthy Foods:

1. spinach salad with chicken, strawberries, poppy seed dressing and roasted almond slices

2. red grapes as snacks

3. pistachios as snacks

4. baked salmon filet with sauteed spinach and yellow rice

Exercise:

Also, I started doing these 2 workout videos. I did one every other day so I think I did each twice this week.

1. Pilates for Every Body - I LOVE this pilates video! It starts with a warm up and then focuses on all the areas of your body. The ab and leg workout are killer! My butt is so sore, in a good way! I'm not using any resistance bands right now just doing the motions, I'll add more later as I feel stronger. (45 mins)

2. Get Your Body Back - this is fun because it's a little cardio added in small segments and Ariana likes to try to do this with me. It's broken up into several short segments which is helpful for short breaks in between when I'm starting out.  Right now I'm only doing Phase One. (27 mins including warm up and 2 minute stretch)

Please note: I'm not a workout guru, nor do I want to turn my blog into a fitness/weight loss blog, but I'm going to take this opportunity to share with you the healthier changes I've made, whether it be workout, food, or anything else that helps me be a healthier me! These are not sponsored posts. I'm not following any set exercise program or diet routine. I'm not taking any weight loss pills or drinking meal supplement shakes. I'm just doing what feels right for me. And maybe they will work for you too.

I know I can do this! I already feel a little better!

*** AND I just weighed myself and I lost 2 pounds this week!