Week 7...YEAH BUDDY!

So my bad, I haven't posted recently. Yes, I have been slacking on my blog, but I am on my A-game as far as my diet and exercise goes. I started using Cathy Savage fitness for online coaching and I am soooo much happier with them. I get to eat a variety of food so I am never bored and it doesn't feel like I am dieting. And while the workouts are challenging, I am actually having a lot of fun on this program. So know that I am sticking with it. But my post today will be about when you can't actually stick with it...what about when you fall off?

This past weekend, I was going strong as usual. I woke up Saturday. I got my workout in before I started training clients, and I was feeling good. Life is was butterflies and flowers. Then alluva sudden, my little perfect journey got detoured. I had to up and go out of town Saturday night for an emergency. I didn't have the time to pack up all the little meals that I would have eaten if I were home. And once I got to my destination I still was not able to eat according to my diet...I even missed 2 days of my workouts. I was stressed out, not about the workouts or diet, but what was going on in real life. So sometimes life does happen. Instead of beating myself up for things out of my control, I assessed the damage, and just jumped back on course. (Family and loved ones are much more important than a diet any day!)

Monday I spent the day drinking tons of water, thinking I could wash the bad stuff out of my body. And today I am doubling up on my workouts to make up for my missed workout. I let my coach know everything (good and bad) and if she has to adjust my regime, she can. The thing is, you gotta put it all out there if you are gonna correct things. Overall, I didn't do any damage over the weekend. I just didn't make any gains. I will say that is a success considering life happens and can easily divert your journey. But it is up to YOU to get back on the road!!

Week 5...results!!

This whole diet process has been a roller coaster. I will tell you that results are helping to keep me pumped. Some days are better than others, but as the days roll by it is getting easier. I even signed up with an online transformation coach. Basically it is challenging all by myself...even super motivated, super women need a little coaching too.

Anyways, the results (in inches):

Neck - 11.5 (loss of .5)

Chest - 32.5 (loss of 2.5)

Shoulders - 39 (loss of 1)

Waist - 28 (loss of .5)

Hips - 33.5 (loss of 1)

Bicep (R) - 11.5 (loss of 1.5)

Bicep (L) - 11 (loss of 1)

Thighs (R & L) - 22.5 (no change)

Calf (R) - 13.5 (loss of .5)

Calf (L) - 14 (loss of .5)

I am looking leaner and stronger. But I gotta start building more muscle. I haven't lifted weights consistently this year. But now that I have melted some fat, I wanna build my muscle mass back up...especially since I have decided to compete this year. Competition date: May 14th! Y'all gotta keep my accountable.

One month in...

I should have had my measurements taken on Monday, but my buddy who is supposed to take them was not at work. I will measure in next time I see him (you wanna use the same person to maintain consistency.) I am down 5 lbs as of this morning. On Jan. 3rd, I weighed 135 lbs. Today, Feb 2nd, I weigh 130 lbs. (I'm 5'1.) Five pounds in a month is pretty good, especially since I am losing fat. (I use a body fat tester to test my fat percentage.) Last time I checked I was at 22.4%, which put me at 5 pounds of fat lose, while maintaining my muscle. Sometimes when people lose weight, they also start to lose muscle. So I have to walk a delicate balance because I actually need to put on more muscle mass.

After this month of going at it alone, I decided that I needed some help. I am doing OK by myself, but I need someone who has been through this process. I went ahead and decided on a May 14th competition. Now all I gotta do is register. I have 3.5 months to prepare. I will keep sharing my ups and downs.

Last week was a awesomely clean week...

I had to regroup and reset on the diet. The one that I had at first was just too restrictive, and I just kept thinking of all the things that I could not have, instead what I could. Well, I added a little fruit to my diet to tame my sweet tooth, reminded the people around me to not eat scrumptious chocolate around me, and now I am good. I was good all last week and lost another pound. I am down 4 pounds in total, (after having a small weight gain.)

Eating clean is not about being perfect. There are so many temptations out there. It is about making the best decisions possible and mitigating any diet damage through exercise. Also once you do clean up your diet, your body will start to reject the bad food. You will (or should) feel so awesome about your results that you wouldn't want to revert back to your old ways. My dad asked me just yesterday, "how do I know that I won't gain the weight back?" I had to remind him that I hadn't gained back 40 pounds in 2 years, and my body won't accept anything but real food right now...anything less makes me sick...literally.

I'm back!

Okie dokie, this past weekend, I had a little mini breakdown. I was like "EFF this diet. I change my mind." I just threw my hands up and threw in the towel. I had only been a week and a half and I was freaking out. Well the great thing is I have an awesome support group. And even though I am the one who is usually motivating others, sometimes I need a little push myself.

I have not given up, I revamped my diet instead. You know, I am extra honest because I want people to know that it is OK to have slip ups and minor set backs. The important thing is to not just through in the towel and say "to hell with it." You have to recognize the long term goal...keep the big picture in mind. If you do this, you will have more successes than failures and come out ahead regardless.

I didn't take pictures today. Maybe I should have as a kind of punishment, but no need to punish myself more than the 1.5 lb weight gain over the weekend o.O

Make it a fabulously healthy week...that is my game plan also.

Ima be honest...

So I have been on a diet for going on 2 weeks now. My brain after 2 weeks of restriction (and some cheating) that this whole diet stuff is not for me. Now I am not saying I just want to start eating all bad stuff and completely reversing everything I have done. But I was ONLY eating a breakfast of oatmeal and eggwhites, and lunch and dinner was chicken or fish with a green veggie. I mean, I cannot live like that for an extended period and keep my sanity. Competing is not worth my sanity.

What I have decided is to stick with Operation "Fat Smash" for the simple purpose of getting ridiculously hot for my photo shoot and getting my body fat percentage down. I MAY try and wrap my brain around competing again, but for right now that is put on the shelf. I want to be healthy, but I can do that without severely restricting myself. I will still use my blog as a way to track my progress so that it is more applicable for real life folks wanting to be healthy.

A friend of mine who has competed told me that I may get emotional like this, And maybe I will change my mind next week...who knows? But these kinds of things, you are either in it or you are not.

LaQuesha

1st week down, 5 to go

I'd grade myself a B+ for my diet and workout plan for the first week. I had a couple of breakdowns, a couple times that I was just way too tired to eat, and a few times where I questioned why the heck am I doing this again, but overall I am doing OK. I am still keeping with the plan this week and hope to do better than I did last week.

By Wednesday, I thought that I had lost more than 3 lbs, but when I weighed in this morning (which is my official weigh in day), I had lost 2 lbs. I am 133 lbs, which is good for a one week loss. I really need to stop obsessing about the scale. Obviously there will be fluctuations and tracking my weight daily is probably not the best idea for me.

Temptation is a biyotch :/

I straight BLEW my diet yesterday. It is amazing some of the choices you can make when you are starving and faced with temptation. So just a little back story. Right now I am staying with my boyfriend's parents. My apt lease was over and our new place was supposed to be finished sometime last year. (It still isn't finished.) His mother is a GREAT cook and she buys stuff that I would NEVER stock my fridge with. Of course I have no control of what others bring into the house, I just have to do my best to avoid temptation. Monday through Thursday of this week I was strong. But yesterday I was so tempted by her turkey spaghetti. I tried to walk away from it, but the aroma kept calling me. There was no one at home to stop me. Hell no one would have even known except me. So I happily (and guiltily) ate that spaghetti. (A dieters portion of course...I didn't completely lose my mind.) That was mess up number 1.

Mess up number 2 came later on that evening. His mom ALWAYS cooks pizza on Fridays. This is without fail...unless she buys a pizza. I started daydreaming about pizza while driving in traffic, imaging the wonderful toppings and fresh crust. Man I love her pizzas. Clearly daydreaming and feening for pizza didn't make me real excited about eating my chicken and veggies. Actually after that there was zero chance that I was eating my meal...I would just deal with the repercussions later. It was kinda funny, because I walked into the house and declared, "I am having pizza tonight! Don't judge me!" And I happily smashed on that pizza.

Ok, so I kinda failed yesterday.Today, I have been good and on course. People mess up, no one is perfect. You just gotta right the ship and keep it moving. I could not use yesterday's failure as a reason to blow my whole weekend or this whole diet. I just know for sure that having temptations all around is quite a challenge. I cannot wait to get into my own space again so that I have control of my fridge again. It is challenging (sometimes) to make good decisions when there are tasty (but fattening) options abound. I gotta stay strong...we all have to be strong.

...and hunger strikes

Today is Friday, the 5th day of my diet and this is the first time that I got hungry...ridiculously, can't do too much moving right now, hungry. I kinda thought that I would have cravings or get hungry being on a diet, but I haven't before now. Today was different and I figured out why. The other nights (M-W) before I went to bed, I would have a can of tuna...(great snack, I know.) But yesterday I was too tired to be hungry, so I just went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I was lethargic and had no motivation to do more than 25 minutes of cardio. At first I just thought I didn't get enough sleep, so I grabbed a black cup of coffee (no sugar, no cream...gross.) I got a momentary pep. Then 10:30 am came, and it was time for some protein, and I was still hungry with no energy. (Typically getting some calories in me perks me up.)

And after great deliberation, and talking to former competition dieter, we figured out why I had no energy...that forgotten tuna! It is amazing how your body works, and mine works like clockwork. I changed something up in my schedule, and my body reacted likewise. It didn't want to cooperate with me today, because I changed the routine. I went home and ate my last night's tuna and learned that I have to stay on my eating schedule. I don't like not having energy...actually I kinda felt like crying (but I didn't.)

My Transformation

172...That is how much I weighed 2 years ago. I was a "thick" size 12 and 172 lbs. Today I weighed in at 132 lbs. I have lost 40 lbs in a little over 2 years and I have successfully kept it off. I know some people see me now (who didn't know me before) and assume that this came easy for me...or that I am an athlete...or that I am just "different." Well that is not true, there was nothing special about my journey or my transformation. I just have a little more dedication. I dig a little deeper. And I want "it" a little bit more. And when I want something, I figure out how ima get it. I don't allow obstacles and setbacks and pitfalls to completely derail my whole journey.

There will always be reasons (*cough*excuses*cough*) for why people are overweight/fat/obese. We live in a society that champions choices and having "more" and excessive behaviors. And this lifestyle is just assisted suicide...each little morsel of cake, each piece of pizza, each fistful of M&M's is bringing people closer and closer to death. I made the decision to NOT live like that. I cannot allow food, which is supposed to be fuel, to kill me. I wanna be healthy in my old age. I don't want to survive on medicines and doctor's visits and I can see that that is exactly where our society is going. Make a different choice and make sure that you bring someone you along with you. The only way we are gonna stem this obesity trend is to actively change things...you just gotta get ACTIVE!!

(pics from June 2010 and Jan 2011)

Day 3

I woke up this morning and weighed myself...132.4 lbs. Today is Wednesday, on Monday I weighed 135 lbs. I have lost more than 2 pounds in 2 days! Now that is kinda crazy. My body is probably just confused because I am not eating any sugar or fat, oh and must mention that I am burning tons of calories. Both Monday and Tuesday I had 2 cardio sessions and I weight trained. So my body is using only the fat that I have as fuel...which is cool, because I don't particularly need a bunch of fat.

So far, I am not craving anything. I thought that the first couple of days would be hard, but this isn't that bad. I may get kinda hungry, but once I start getting hungry it is usually time to eat again. I have to eat every 2-3 hours otherwise I would be a mess. I am very excited to see what my first week results will be. I also hope that this first couple days is a precursor to how the rest of my diet will go...smooth sailing :)

Day 1: Operation "Fat Smash"

Starting weight: 135 lbs

Body fat %: 24.8

Lean muscle: 101.5 lbs

Measurements (in inches)

Neck: 12

Chest: 35

Shoulders: 40

Waist: 28.5

Hips: 34.5

Bicep (R): 13

Bicep (L): 12

Thigh (R): 22.5

Thigh (L): 22.5

Calf (R): 14

Calf (L): 14.5

So as of right now, (it is a little after noon), I am not craving sugar. Hopefully I won't start going through serious withdrawals. I will make sure to record my mood and attitudes as this diet progresses. I did get my workout in: one hour of cardio and a workout of chest and back. I am feeling good and confident about today.

LaQuesha

PREP!

So today is the day before I officially start my diet. I spent a good 2 hours prepping food and cooking. A couple of my food options include 4 ounces of chicken or 6 ounces of fish. You would not believe how big (or little if you ask me) 4 oz of chicken looks like. It is literally the size of my palm (no fingers.) I was able to cut up 4 chicken breasts and have enough chicken for 7 meals. That really goes to show how we can overestimate a serving of something. I would have thought that 1 breast was a good portion. Now I have to reprogram my brain for this transition because this diet is based on accurate serving sizes.

Today, I prepped 3 meals and put them in containers for "grab and go" convenience. I cooked more food that will be ready to go "straight to plate" at dinner time. And I have already gotten myself mentally prepared for a "diet." I am good to go and am excited to see my changes. Tomorrow, I will take "before" pics and post them and my weight on my next posting. We can all watch my transition together.

LaQuesha