hard times.

Sometimes you go through a moment that just kind of sucks in life. A breakup, a loss, a disappointment.

This past week I was in the middle a time like this. My beloved pet was in ICU very suddenly, and then she died. it sucks and really makes you lose your motivation. I ate really bad food for a few days and definitely was way over calorie.

It;s ok to get down sometimes, to fall off the wagon. The important thing is to get back up. I fed my pet only the best grain free food and she was super active and rambunctious- so naturally she was fit and in really great shape. All vets were impressed when they saw her. So I'm go back to doing the same for myself. Only good, nutritious food with no bad additives, Gym, so I can be active and functional and so that  my doctors can be pleased with my health. 

With that, here is yesterday's WOD:

warm up- walk/jog 1.5 miles

5 rounds for time:

20 inverted rows

20 squats holding 15 lb kettle bell

20 15 lb kettle bell swings 

20 20 lb good mornings 

5 tricep dips  (I know weird only 5 but my triceps are super weak and I needed a number that I was able to keep doing in rounds) 

My thights were on fire by round 3, and today I feel the full effects of "leg day". I was focusing too much on running lately, and not enough on weigh.... as you can see my weights were very low. have to take a day for strength measuring and go from there with lifting. 

besos

Intermittent Fasting and why I like this idea

Good morning!

I have been ferociously youtubing, web md'ing, article and personal story reading on this topic. I like it. If you want to learn more about it from people who have been doing it longer, check out the Hodge twins on youtube.

In essence, intermittent fasting is not a diet... it's about giving the body extra time to deplete itself of energy to burn in the form of food and searching for more energy in fat stores. it makes sense. Also, the body does not enter starvation mode until a much longer fasting period occurs (36 hours give or take). this debunks the slowing of the metabolism because of extended periods of time without food (starvation mode) and consequential burning of muscle instead of fat (also, starvation mode)

For the past few days, I have been eating in a 8 hour time window. This means that I do not have anything besides tea, water, and coffee for 16 hours. I am sleeping for 8 of those- so basically I wait 4 hours after waking up to have my first meal (around 11:30 or 12) and have my last bit of food around 7:30-8pm. All in all this is a fancy way of saying I will not snack before bed and I will skip breakfast.

It feels really nice. Truthfully, the calories I eat above my desired limit happen as a result of late night snacking, which is abolished using IF.Quality of sleep on an empty stomach is much better, and having a flat, empty belly when I wake up in the morning instead of bloat is nice too!
My skin is clearing up as well. This probably has to do with more/better sleep though.

As with everything else, 30 days to put it to the test. November is intermittent fasting month. 

Sidenote: In my sept. 29 post, "if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you" I was raving about eating all day long to keep from being hungry.... This works, I stand by it. What I don't have is the patience to prep several small containers of unfilling portions of food every day. I need practicality and flexibility. If it works for you, stick to it though!!!

Adding weight

It's time to add weights to my workouts again.

I have managed to faithfully show up for almost 2 months. Some days lacking intensity, some days giving it 100%- but NEVER MISSING!! I really want to cultivate that need, that addiction to  being at the gym.

I also joined Amanda's running group on Tuesdays, they do a 5k walk/jog/run. It's free, fun and no pressure on time.

This past week the kettlebell and barbell have become part of my life again. Here's a peek at those workouts:

Happy lifting !

remember:
1 lb of fat burns 2-3 calories per hour just by existing. 1 lb of muscle burns 7-9 calories per hour, just existing.

What do you want to be made of, fat or muscle ?

A world of Octobers

the first 30 days are up ! arriving at 250 squats a day was no easy task.

As per the last post, my progress has been pretty good, not outrageous- but that's the goal. Slow and steady wins the fat race. Slow... Like a stampede of turtles knee deep in peanut butter, but still moving forward.

SO FOR OCTOBER!!!! Here we go! Le Amanda, Le bf Fritz, and possibly Le Amanda's bf Nate will be teaming up for this one... We are in a couple vs couple challenge to lose 20 lbs- and this is one of the activities:

On Oct. 31st I will plan some sort of big physical challenge to measure the progress of the past 2 months. Maybe like a "Flora's version" of a triathlon or a 10k... Something cool. 

For now...Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... 

if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you

well... how do you like that.... 28 days in and I feel great ! Check out my short n' sweet slideshow.... I am currently on day 28, those pics were snapped this morning.

No shame, no shame...

So the process has been good! I hate to say that since my mom has been here to visit (past 2 or so weeks) My morning workouts have suffered. Well... they have stopped happening. One one hand I love having her vegan magic around. I eat really well balanced meals and never gain weight... But her bohemian staying up late watching movies and talking about life makes it impossible to hop out of bed at 4:50 am. So the workouts have migrated to the evening, for now. Next week, sadly she goes back to her house, and my evenings will go back to being void and boring so I can go to bed early. Bittersweet.

On the food topic, I have discovered something amazing. In order to stay within my calories for the day and not nom down gigantic portions, the trick is to eat ALL THE TIME. Seriously. All day long. For example, drinking the protein shake before work, getting to work and eating an apple, then a rice cake at 9:30, another rice cake at 11, salad for lunch, yogurt at 2, protein bar at 3:30... Another shake before gym, and then a modest dinner (which I have not yet decided on) notably, before leaving work I will have consumed less than 700 calories !! This makes sense because eating often keeps the metabolism moving, while eating fewer calories when I am least active sitting at a desk also makes sense because the burn rate is at a minimum. between these snacks I have at least one glass of water, therefore I am never full or empty, just optimal :D

On the squat front, I am up to 235 squats, 45 pushups, 150 crunches and the planking is more like a downward dog+plank for as long as I can take it... Will have to work on my core for the next month because planking is pitiful. Knees have been very sore especially in the past week, and I have upped my CLA intake to 2 capsules to help with that. No sharp injury pains, just a lot of soreness.

Also, this weekend le bf, le friend and le friend's bf and I engaged in a "lose 20 lbs" challenge. This makes it fun! Along with that, new 30 day challenges to come. I will talk  about the new one on Oct. 1- Halloween body ftw!!!

Early to bed, early to gym

Good morning !

In my last post  I made quick mention of how wonderful going to bed early has been for me.
I feel like expanding on that... I recorded a quick video of myself last night at around 9:50 pm looking absolutely dead... hehehe... Which is awesome because in the past, that was party time.
It does change your social habits quite a bit, but it is so worth it. Averaging 7-9 hours a night is restorative. I have a consistent look at work- no one ever asks if I am ok, or if I am sick on the days makeup is not worn.

I confess I did not make it to the gym in the morning today. yesterday, I was there from 6-8:30 pm and when the alarm went off at 5am, it was a conscious decision to stay in bed for another couple of hours... I'll go earlier this afternoon so that there is ample recovery time until tomorrow's morning workout.

With that being said, yesterday's workout kicked ass.

1. 30 min walk/jog on variable incline
2. 185 squats 
•  40 25lbs backsquats
• 40 10 lb medicine ball in hand
• always alternating between narrow, wide, sumo and plie squats
3. 150 crunches
• 15 up and side to side twists with 10 lb medicine ball
• 25 holding medicine ball above chest
4. 3 min plank 
• I still can't hold it that long, so I'd shift into downward dog yoga pose for 10 seconds when needing a break... 
5. 10 min row machine, moderate effort
6. 15 min elliptical on variable incline
7. 10 min sauna
8. 3 min ice bath 

FOR A TOTAL OF 784 CALORIES BURNED !!! As my bf would say... I love seeing those high numbers.... 

2 months in the making.

The past couple of months have been kind of hard. 

Right around the end of July I was kind of horrified at having lost all of my progress, slowly and surely. The mirror told me, the scale told me, my hatred of jeans told me... And sudden love of skirts... So I painstakingly got back on the horse. It has not been without struggle though. That horse is hard to ride. 

Getting back into the swing of showing up at the gym is a  trial all on its own. First off, you have to prioritize it again. You've convinced yourself that time allocation is at max capacity... So some days you go, most days you don't... But you HAVE TO make it the most important part of your day. I was on the master cleanse for about 10 days- so avoiding social food situations was a great excuse to be at the gym. I'd do some light cardio and the full body challenge from Pinterest (squats, plank, push ups and crunches) and it kept my mind busy for a while. The sauna aided in detox as well. 

By the time the 10 days were up, I had lost some weight (albeit water weight) but the desperation to keep it off was enough to get me to keep showing up. Then a miracle happened... I started going in the morning !! This has quickly become my new favorite endeavor. Going to bed early enough to wake up at 5 am has obliterated the permanent dark circles under my eyes, and really helped my skin look fresh. The gym is a really nice place in the morning- you can watch the news whilst on the treadmill and it is never full. The people who are there at that time mean business- so no barbies pretending to sweat through their makeup or douches making eye contact through the mirror. 

It's a good vibe, and after a week or two the "morning rats" accept you as one of them and you start getting head nods of acknowledgement. You get pretty good at packing your entire day into a work bag and a gym bag. But the best part....

MORNING WORKOUTS YIELD RESULTS! Seriously. Putting your body in burn mode early in the day changes the way you lose weight. So.... though the amount in pound sis not that huge (8lbs) the visual difference is pretty noticeable ;) Without further ado, here's a picture.... 

Full body challenge day 1+2

Buenos dias !

Yesterday I did the first set of exercises in the challenge:

50 squats
5 pushups
20 second plank
25 crunches

So far, not bad at all. Paired with an intense 30 minute elliptical workout, an ice bath and 15 mins in the sauna, felt great. 

Late last night this video was created, it's the short version of the plan.... 

Soooooo yup! Just have to stay motivated!! Got turned down in a job "interview"(more like a promotion interview) today but I'm trying to see the silver lining and not drown my wounded pride in pizza. 

This afternoon apres le travail I'll be back at the gym for the next part of the challenge (55sq, 5pu, 20s plank and 30cr). I'll add 30 mins of the row machine and try to squeeze in the ice bath and sauna- don't know if I'll get to the relaxing part because I must be home by 6. 

Onward!

When you put your foot down

Good evening, my darlings...

Seldom am I ever online at this time of night. Tomorrow (or shall I say today) is Labor Day- September the first.
I have made some big decisions for the upcoming portions of my  life. It all started when my bf gave me a whiteboard calendar, because I am always forgetting his ever changing schedule, so he can write it in for me... And that tabula rasa gave me some ideas. Here is what it looks like currently :

 The daily scribbles are a 30-day workout challenge I stumbled across on pinterest- squats, pushups, planks and crunches. I am excited about all except the squats because of my poor knees. However, how can I get strong knees without working on them right? So, today this begins whenever I wake up.

This will be exciting. When attempting the squat challenge alone, by week 2 I could see my lower body changing. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED !!!

And the next order of business is... the MASTER CLEANSE. I have done this before, don't need any negative commentary. But I purchased a case of mixed meyer and eureka lemons and limes from localharvest.org and as soon as it gets here, we are in business !! From what I understand my girlfriends Ryan and Stella will be joining me, we have a group chat support system going. The most successful master cleanse I ever did was partnered with Ryan, and stella is the queen of flavored waters and juicing so I feel like we are the A team for this !

Started the juicing prep today... here's a visual of the purple kale/parsley/apple leftover I have...

It was nasty letsbehonest. But I am reintroducing the juices so that I am not completely shocked by  the lemonade diet. I do have another blog where my very first experience with the master cleanse was journaled in detail, and I'll be journaling the next one there too, feel free to  Click here for the blog.

Also I have shared that gross picture of myself for a reason. I feel that way lately. Fat, fugly, tired, discontent and needing a life boost.

Motivation comes from within and happiness will not be found in my job, a clean house or the pursuit of more money... But to tell you the truth I saw some wedding pictures of an old college colleague. She was fat for her wedding. Her groom was slim. It was horrible... Not dogging on her she looked gorgeous and happy but that is my biggest fear!!! to be a FAT BRIDE!!! Although I am not engaged, no wedding in sight, I have to make sure I am ready. I have to be happy with myself before I can make my man completely happy (though he claims I already do )

With all of this said, in the morning I shall take before pictures and post them on the other blog linked above.... And start the body challenge. When the lemons arrive, the master cleanse begins. Wish me luck, I'll blog about the life side of it here and maybe add some pics. Here is one of me and the love in case you got curious ;) <3

Good night erry'body!!! Hanve a great labor day !!

Become Your Result

There is a common underlying reason why people who have struggled with their weight for the better part of their life don't lose it.

Comfort. You are comfortable being a big girl/guy. It's your normal. 

You are used to not finding clothes at most stores. It's normal to layer-dress so that you look smoother. You've always been larger than most of your friends, so you've adjusted your personality to fit. You soapbox-preach that someone ought to love you for who you are, not what you look like. Maybe your yearly physical comes back with good levels of cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar- nothing negative besides the recommendation to lose weight form your doctor. You are the king/queen of face selfies. You focus on other areas of your life. You can blame your shortcomings on being fat.

You ignore the discomfort. 

The discomfort of sitting on an airplane with the arm rests digging into your hip bones. The discomfort of ignoring fashion trends out of habit. The snoring. Low blood sugar headaches. Swollen feet. The way spandex free clothes and wicker chairs make imprints into your flesh. Flatulence.  Being ignored/patronized in social situations. When doing anything that involved straps/belts/harnesses/suits (like rock climbing, scuba, or dressing for snow sledding) you have to get the "extension belt" or borrow the parachute sized suit that belongs to someone's 400 lb uncle. Overhearing comments about you. Hating spontaneous pictures.

The truth is, losing weight for the long term is about becoming a bit of a different person. Nutrition, exercise, motivation, and determination are very important of course. But it’s all for nothing if your prize at the end is just a trophy and not to become your result. That’s just it. You have to become your result.

Understand that you will have to adopt new habits and like them. Believe in them. Surround yourself with people (significant other, family, friends, social network connections) who support and participate in these changes. You are a caterpillar and you have to put in a lot of work to weave that cocoon! The achievement of being a butterfly is amazing! But don’t forget that butterflies don’t eat the same as caterpillars. They are more active than caterpillars. They hang out in different places… They go farther.

Step 1: Start kissing yourself goodbye. You’re going to embrace changing who you are.