Countdown to 2014~

Hello everyone!!!


Now that Christmas is over, the next big deal is the new year, which happens in five days from now!

So, I am thinking of a challenge. I don't really want to put a number to it, like lose x amount of pounds, because if, by chance, I fall short then I will feel really bad even if I do make a huge improvement. 

It's coming~ Time for the parties, drinking... and resolutions!

So I have the following for ideas for a New Year's 2014 thing!

1. Become a vegan by the end of the year

2. Become 100% gluten free and paleo by the end of the year

3. Have a habit of working out at least five days a week by the end of the year

4. Become better at cardio by the end of the year

It's really had to come up with non-scale goals... If you guys have any ideas too (such as what you will be aiming for this next year) please feel free to post!

Merry Christmas!!!

Hello everyone!




I just want to take a moment to with everyone (whether you celebrate or not) a very safe, happy, Merry Christmas! 

Don't worry too much about your diet today.  Take time to spend it with  your loved ones and just enjoy it.  Christmas only comes once a year, after all.

I am going to spend today at home, nursing my arm (I fell on it yesterday, see my previous post!) and cuddling with my dog. I really hope my arm is better soon, I can't work out with it like this. (It hurts all the way into my chest and back)

If it's a white Christmas where you are, like it is for me, please be careful on the ice.  Don't be like me and slip and fall! 

Have a very happy holiday!

A Not-So-Merry Christmas Eve

Hello everyone!

It's Christmas Eve! 

I can't believe the year is really almost over.  This time of year means family, friends, love....


And ice. 

Today, I was having a very nice Christmas Eve, until it happened- I slipped and fell on some ice and landed right on my butt.   

Dramatization

What made this whole thing painful was that on my way down, I instinctively tried to stop myself from falling by grabbing on to something, effectively pulling my shoulder muscles.   The part I actually landed on took no damage, also I did not hurt my ankle (which is USUALLY what happens when I fall) but my arm and shoulder is killing me, all the way into my chest and back. 

So, what does this mean for my workouts? On hold. Rest.  I do not want to do anything that involves me using that arm (even TAM legs are a no go because I have to use that arm to grab onto the chair) so I am going to rest it until it no longer hurts and I can do things with it.  Hopefully that time comes before New Year's Day.   I want to start working out January 1, at the latest.

So the moral of the story: Be careful on that ice! Please! And go to bed early, Santa is coming tonight!

I Survived the Holiday Party!

Hello everyone!

Today was the big company holiday party/lunch!

I skipped breakfast because I knew there would be a lot of food, not including the candy and chocolates, etc.

So yes, I indulged. I had chocolate, chocolate with liquor in it. And it was delicious. 

The Chinese food we had was also amazing- I still kept grain free even though there were many of my old breaded favorites- egg rolls, orange chicken, etc.  My Mongolian beef was also very good.  No MSG, no wheat, no tummy aches!  

Like this, but with Chinese food.

For dinner, I was pretty full still and ended up just eating the leftover Mongolian I got to take home. 

Now next week begins my break from work and school! I am very much looking forward to it!

Gluten Free Madness- Day 3

Hello everyone!



As you can see, I have been at this for three days now, and while it doesn't seem like a long time, for me it kind of is. 

This morning, I decided for shits and giggles to take one of my keto test strips I had laying around and see what's going on.


I am actually in a slight state of ketosis being grain free, even though I am eating sweet potatoes and drinking coffee with carbs in it (like my almond milk latte).  Interesting.  

I am not consciously trying to be keto or paleo but it's just sort of happening that way I guess.  Take grains and dairy out and you're not left with a lot. 

That said, I am noticing more changes in how I am feeling. 

1. I feel slightly more energetic than before. Even with not a whole lot of sleep. 

2. My appetite is very LOW.

#2 Is not concerning me too much yet, a few low calorie days isn't too bad, as long as it's not ongoing I guess. But yeah, major 180 from this time last week where I wanted to eat everything. 

I ate some sausage and eggs for breakfast, and a little bit of beef I cooked for dinner. Picked at it, wasn't too interested in food. 

I'm sure my appetite will come back. I have read up and seen others have had similar things to how I feel and that this is totally normal.  Well then. 

Short post today, but thought I would give everyone a little update. Tomorrow is my last day of work for a while (I am very excited about that- I look forward to spending more time with my dog too).

Gluten Free Madness - Day 2!

Hello everyone!


Today is my second day of being super-duper-careful gluten and grain free, and already I am noticing some things happening (in a good way).


1. No stomach issues- no gas, no poop problems, no bloating!
2. Almost no joint pain at all
3. I slept a little better last night than previously
4. I already see my belly deflating. 
5. I am going pee a lot more (but that could be also related to my increased water intake)
6. Less hungry and less of an appetite *in a good way!*


Today what I ate-

Breakfast:

Sausage and eggs again, like yesterday, again with the iced coffee with no milk.

Mid-morning snack: Terra vegetable chips

Lunch: Chicken Limone and olive oil-sauteed green beans.  This was super decadent and super delicious so I only took a little, but damn, was it good!

Dinner: TBA, I actually still feel satisfied from the foods I already ate today. If I eat something later, I'll touch on it in tomorrow's post. 

Exercise: running around doing Christmas shopping. I am not sure if I have time to get a workout in tonight. Again, if I do, I will mention it tomorrow. 

I am actually very proud of myself, at lunch today it was actually set up more like a buffet, we got the gluten free chicken I wanted, just a lot of it, haha (to share).  The hard part was resisting the stuffed pasta and chicken parmigiana.  

Yup. I said no to this. It was so hard but I did it. 

I am having really high hopes for myself eating like this, I am curious on something- I wonder how much I can lose being grain free for this week WITHOUT exercise.  I think I will make that an experiment. No real exercising until Monday, after I do my next weigh-in. 

Gluten Free Madness- Day 1!

Hello everyone!

Today I began eating absolutely grain/gluten free, because as I mentioned before, I have been dealing with a lot of physical symptoms and just a general feeling of crappy unwellness.

I am not a vegan yet, by the way, not even close, but it is my goal one day.  Today did not reflect that.

I got my starting weight, and it was higher than it's ever been, which I actually expected since I have been feeling so crappy.

Here's a breakdown of my day today:

Breakfast: Sausage patty and scrambled eggs, with iced coffee (no cream, just sugar free sweetener)

Lunch: Homemade sliced beef and a can of green beans, and 1 serving of Terra sweet potato chips 

Dinner: Grilled pork belly meat and onions

8 cups of lemon water

As I said, not vegan, but I am working on one eating issue at a time, starting with grains since they make me feel the sickest aside from lactose. 

How did I feel today?  When I woke up, I was exhausted, achy, and tired.  I felt like crap like any other morning.  As the day progressed, I felt slightly less bogged-down.  I didn't find myself as ravenous as I did when I ate too much starch, I ate 3 meals until satisfied. That's it. No snacks, nothing.  And yes, there were lots of goodies at work that I just said no to. 

And being that the holidays are coming, there are two work luncheons coming up (one is tomorrow!) and thankfully, we all ordered what we wanted on our own, allowing me to pick my grain-free stuff.

Tomorrow's lunch will be Italian, I put in an order for Chicken Limone (in lemon butter and capers) and they do make it gluten-free, the menu specified to tell the person taking my order not to use flour. 

Chicken Limone- I hope it's as yummy as it looks. 

Thursday is another work lunch- Chinese this time. I almost gave in and put in an order for Orange Chicken (that fried, bready, sweet deliciousness from heaven that sadly doesn't agree with my tummy) but changed my mind and ordered Mongolian Beef (basically beef and onions, it's not breaded to my knowledge. Other Mongolian Beef I've had was NOT breaded in any way).

As for working out, I had an incredibly busy day- originally I was supposed to be off this week, however due to circumstances I am putting in a lot of hours this week.   I did walk for 15 minutes running errands at work, not including walking around grocery shopping later and other little trips I made (like taking out the trash). 

So, thankfully, I am surviving the dietary holiday onslaught just fine. (Unlike last year!) If anything, I plan on starting TAM workouts on Friday when I do not have to go to work. 

Starting to Re-Inspire Myself to Get Back to Exercise

Hello everyone!


Turns out I will likely be able to start working out as soon as Friday! *Yay!*

Today I had one of my final exams, so I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for much.  I did, however, watch some of my thin/fitspiration videos in between studying.


If I had to name one person who is my number one thinspo, I would have to say Madonna is the first to come to mind, followed by Tracy Anderson and Gwyneth Paltrow.

So, here was my playlist for today!




Also, I still do have the Addicted to Sweat DVDs.  I gave the preview for those a watch too.  Of course, I can't do them yet, they are really more for more intermediate/experienced exercisers but they inspire me just the same. 

What are your inspirations for being healthy?

Planning ahead- Preparing for my Next Semester of School

Hello everyone!


After this week, I will be off of school for a little over a month and I have taken a look at my schedule for next semester and... I am a lot busier.

This means the only time I would have for a work out is early in the morning.  Like 5 o'clock in the morning. 

I start work at 8 am, so perhaps that could work for me.  

The hard part for me is- getting up that early to exercise.  

So, I am thinking and looking up ways to change my  habits so that I have an easier time in the morning to get my workout done.

The most obvious (and hardest) thing that I will have to do is start going to bed earlier.  And that means unplugging from my precious social media. I have a very bad habit of checking my Facebook all the time, and I have that nagging feeling that I am missing something or hurting someone's feelings by not being online. Yeah, I am crazy.

That kind of thinking has to end and I need to start putting myself and my health first.  I will be going to school at night several times a week and I really do not want that to be an excuse to not work out either. 

I am also coming up with ways to save time on making meals that are also, importanly, portable. I think I will be eating a lot of sandwiches in the future.  An inexpensive way I found to make gluten free sandwiches is to use corn tortillas in place of bread.  

I only need to make it through this week and I can start doing what I need to, and also my Dance + Cardio should be here by the end of the week too!

Coming Soon: Tracy Anderson Dance + Cardio DVD Review

Hello everyone!


I found out that I do not have to order Tracy's new Dance + Cardio DVD- I am getting it for Christmas~ (Yay!!!!)

I should be getting it in the mail sometime next week- of course after that, I will do a review of it for you guys!

I have been looking forward to this for a really long time, I am really excited for this!  I have heard bits and pieces from people who already have it (It came out on December 3rd), and that makes me even more excited. 

Here is a preview of it from Total Fitness DVDS.

Any of you guys have the DVD yet?  Do you want it? Any thoughts?

Gwyneth Paltrow and Tracy Anderson Releasing New Reality Show

Hello everyone!



A long, long time ago, I heard something about Tracy Anderson coming out with a reality show at some point, but nothing was really available on the subject, so I chalked it up to mainly being rumor.


Rumor no longer.  

Tracy and Gwyneth Paltrow will be coming out with a show called "The Restart Project" due to come out on December 16th online via AOL On.

This is not another "Biggest Loser" ripoff, or anything similar to that.  Instead, they are focusing on women who have "restarted" their lives using health and fitness.   

The series will be airing online, I really look forward to starting to watch it. Have you guys heard of this before this post? Will you be tuning in?

To see the trailer to "The Restart Project", click Here.

Last Minute Goals

Hello everyone!!!


Again, I am sorry it's been a while, but I have been pretty busy with school- finals are next week and then I am DONE!  Lots more free time to blog and lots more free time to finally, FINALLY get back to working out. 

My winter break will involve preparation for next semester, being home more meaning eating better and more Tracy time involved.

My plan is to spend my winter break with all the time I will have off to work out at least one hour a day.  Not sure if I could handle two hours but it would be nice, right?

Also being home more = more cooking. I will do my best to eat better and make more home cooked meals. I have been so busy that I had to rely a lot on shitty fast food to get something to eat. Not good.

I guess this is sort of like a pre-new year resolution.   In the meantime until next week is done, I will try to eat well during my busy end-of semester schedule.

Anyone else have a last minute 2013 goal?