August 7th 2014

After being MIA from working out for a week and a half, I am finally back! I did a quick workout this morning and instantly felt great. My stomach is still weak and my energy is low, but I felt great to get the endorphins flowing.

I joined the Walgreens fitness rewards program. Still not sure what will come out of it, but hey, can't hurt right? Lol.

I am finally down one pant size. I can fit into my size 12s now and it feels great. I am slightly annoyed because I have to buy new jeans now. I didn't really get to wear my nice jeans I bought on my Texas jeans for long. This is when consignment shopping comes in handy. Trade in my name brand 14's and get "new" Jeans.  :)

Here's more food porn!  :

Ginger Chicken with Rice noodles and lightly cooked veggies

Homemade Jalapeño popcorn

Snazzy cookies that I didn't buy. They sounded delicious though! 

stomach virus? no big deal!

So I've been having an issue with a weak stomach/ stomach virus since last week. I haven't been able to exercise properly since then and it has a bit frustrating.  I have, how ever been able to eat good.

I slipped back into eating not as healthy but staying within my calorie limit.  I switched back to eating clean and smaller portions. I feel better, and hopefully soon I will be well enough to get back into working out. I miss running and lifting.

But I am super close to my first private goal and my first over all goal!

And here's some food porn:

July 10 2014

Well, I wrote this long entry and for some reason my phone copied and pasted the last entry instead of the one I just wrote. Ack, super freaking frustrating. 

Any who, sometimes when we work hard to lose weight, it doesn't really turn out the way we wished. Skin gets loose and flabby. Sometimes we lose fat in areas we don't want to lose fat in. Like in the boobs. So far I have gone down a whole cup size. Seems like there's a possibility of going down another cup. 

September 2013                            July 2014

But on the up size I am almost down another pant size. I started this journey at a size 16, and am currently in a size 14. By the end of the month I should be able to fit my size 12 jeans comfortably.  They are currently a little tight on my thighs and hips. When I first started this journey I was wearing a size 22 and got down to those size 12 jeans. I was also almost able to fit a size 10 at my thinnest.  

I'm proud of myself for making it to the halfway point of my first goal. So far I have lost 15 lbs and I have another 15lbs to go! This time around seems alot easier. Each week that goes by, I gain more and more energy to work out.  

 Last month I bought a 1-month gym membership on groupon. In a way I felt the gym membership was distracting me from my workout routine. Its a tiny gym and there were a ton of machine hogs. No problem, I made the best of my time there by running on the treadmill.

Well, yesterday was my last day at the gym and I was a bit sad because I really loved running on that treadmill. So today I decided that I should start running at the park. I did a lot better than I thought I was going to do. I am really optimistic that adding the running twice a week to my circuit training and light weight training is going to awesome. Lol.

i am really happy with the way my weightloss progress is coming along. so far my legs are toning up nicely and my arms are starting to look better. in fact with my previous workout routine never toned my upper body and legs like this time around. 

wibbly wobbly flabby wabby stuff...

I drank a lot of coffee yesterday afternoon and now I can't sleep. So I decided to look at weight loss instagram motivation pages. It's nice to see the natural body during wight loss rather than the Hollywood version. Some bodies are flabby and some bodies get easily toned. My problem spots have always been my arms, stomach, and thighs. More so my arms. I have posted through out how I hate my wibbly wobbly flabby wabby arms! It's thinking like that, that makes me a little self conscious. Fuck that thinking. I've come a long way thus far and I've toned my arms from doing a lot of push ups and weight lifting. I wish I had kept my before pictures of my arms so I can compare them. I got disgusted at my own arms and deleted them a while back. But I did take a pic back on June 13th that a can compare to later. So here's to breaking down those self conscious walls and building a happier "me".

June 28th

June 13th

June 13th

June 13th

2014 progress

I've been pondering if I should fire up this blog for awhile now.  Since my last post I had gained a good amount of weight. I wasn't happy with the way I was looking so I decided back in late March I would get back into working out and eating better.

For 95 days I have been using the my fitness pal app. I started at 225 and I'm currently 212. This time around I am a lot happier working out and eating. I have been focusing on circuit training, weight training, yoga and some cardio. As for calories, I am consuming 1400 calories.

Late 2008/2009ish        mid may 2014

Late June 2014.    Early June 2014.  

Another photo update.

A reader suggested that I document my progress from the gym more often that what I planned. Here it goes, here are some photos I took today. The lighting kinda sucks.

@197 lbs

damn it, i forgot to crop out that bottom tool bar. oh well. lol

And here is a before picture just for comparison.

 

*ooopppps, i just realized the the date on the left if supposed to be 2010, not 2011... hot damn!*

achooooo

Improvements.... Yay!

Getting a gym membership has been the best investment my husband and I have ever made. My energy and mood has been a lot better. The endorphin rush I get is pretty addictive. This is seriously what I have been lacking from my home work outs. When I jump on the weight machines, I find myself pushing myself harder and harder. Under a week of hitting the gym, I have lost 3 lbs.

From being “hefty”, my joints were stiff. When I would go for runs in the park, my knees always felt funny. Even doing squats at home my knees felt crazy. Since I have been doing leg work outs I feel 100 times better.  I also don’t get fatigued when I go for long walks anymore. I know this is TMI, but even my love life has improved a lot. I won’t go into details, but I am very happy with the improvements on my behalf. Lol.

My eating habits have changed, yet again. I’m not as hungry as I used to be, not craving meat as much, and I have decided to cut alcohol completely out. I am starting to think I should cut dairy out. Also have been thinking about going vegetarian, but my stomach really can’t handle a lot of soy products.

I have started to take pictures of my torso, but I am utterly terrified to post the pictures right now. I have a picture from 2010 and the change is huge, but I think I am going to wait a few months before I actually post the pictures. Since I have using the tanning bed in the gym, my stretch marks on my stomach don’t look as bad. I can cope with having stretch marks all my life, but it would be nice if they didn’t look as bad. I have stretch marks on top of my old stretch marks. I seriously cannot believe I let myself get as big as I was. I hope I never let myself get that bad anymore.

|| Workouts ||

I really haven’t posted a blog with workout routine yet. I am shocked that I actually never took the time out to type it out. I honestly feel like I could be here all day typing everything out, so I will post a few of my favorite work outs. The “easy” ones. Normally I tend to alternate upper body and lower body works outs every other day. My upper body work outs just tend to deal with dumbbells and doing curls. Lower body work outs tend to deal with squats and the “mule kicks”.


I always start every work out with pushups and end the work out with a few set of crunches.

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Stretching and “warming up”

Before you engage in any kind of work outs, it’s always good to stretch. Stretching can improve your flexibility and after awhile flexibility will help prevent any injuries from working out. Below is warm up tips and stretching tips..

Stretching:

Neck: Sit or stand with your arms hanging freely on your sides. Turn head side to side, hold for 3 to five seconds for each side. Repeat 3 times.

Shoulder and back of upper arm: Stand or sit and place right hand on left shoulder. With left hand, pull right elbow across chest toward left shoulder and hold 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat on each side 3 times.

Stretches triceps, top of shoulders, waist: Keep knees slightly flexed. Stand or sit with arms overhead. Hold elbow with hand of opposite arm. Pull elbow behind head gently as you slowly lean to side until mild stretch is felt. Hold 10 to 15 sec. Repeat on other side

Warm ups:

My favorite warm ups are :

Jumping jacks


Push ups

Crab walk: works your whole back side with emphasis on your triceps

Start by sitting on the floor with your knees bent in front of you. Place both hands, palms down, on the floor at your side and lift your butt off the ground. Now start “crab walking” forwards or backwards.

I like to warm up by crab walking around the living room. It feels and seems utterly ridiculous but it really feels good to do these before I jump into the work outs below.

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Two of my favorite easy work outs are:

Mule kicks: works your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.

Get down on your hands and knees with your hands shoulder-width apart, back strait and knees bent at 90 degree angle. Slowly kick your right leg straight back and up as high as possible. Keep your hips fixed squarely in place. Hold this peak position for about five seconds, then bring your leg back down to the starting position. Then do the same with your left leg.

Do 3 normal sets and then on the fourth set hold your leg out on the last kick for as long as you can hold it. I admit, it hurts like freaking hell. It’s damn well worth it.



Squats: works your quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back and hip flexors.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. With your head up and eyes forward, bend your knees until your butt is a couple of inches above the floor. Lean your upper body slowly forward as you go down, until your shoulders are out over your knees. But be sure that your knees do not protrude past your toes. Then, keeping your heels on the floor, slowly stand using only your legs to lift you.

At first, try practicing these facing a wall with your toes 4 to 6 inches from the wall. This is a great way of correcting technique by ensuring that your knees are not going too far forward. Also if you feel that a full squat is too difficult at first, lower your body only as far as you can, until you develop strength and flexibility needed to lower your body all the way down.

61lbs gone...

Achoooo!

 

It has been pretty much over a year since I started my weight loss journey. The end of November 2011 brings my total weight loss to 61lbs gone. I have gone from a size 22 pant size to a size 14. I am really proud of myself. Not bad considering that I fell off the “diet” band wagon in the middle of the year. None the less I have met my original personal goal, fit into a size 14 jean.

I know everyone likes to start New Years resolutions. I personally don’t like to make big plans. Things can change dramatically in a year. Instead I like to set small goals that will help me meet my ultimate personal goal. For the year of 2012 I want my total weight loss to be 100lbs. It sounds like a lot to lose, but that’s only 39lbs to lose. I am already 10 lbs lighter than I was when I met my husband in 2004. I had always been on the chubby side growing up, but that’s around the time I gained a lot of weight. It was a mixture of over eating because my dad had died the year before and then it was a mixture of over eating because my husband, who has a high metabolism, ate a lot.

The first small goal is to lose 10 lbs for my birthday, which is Valentine’s Day. I plan to lose the 10lbs by ass kicking work outs and eating super healthy. I am going to cut out fried foods, cut down on meat consumption and give up the sweet delicious scones from star bucks. With Christmas on the way, I am only going to allow myself that day to eat sweets, but I also plan on doing a super duper ass kicking workout….

My work outs have been consisting on toning my thighs and butt, and trying to tone my arms. Most of the weight I have lost has been from my lower body and the chest area. I am still hanging on to the weight in my stomach and arms. I would really love a gym membership so I can get back in to weight lifting and have access to new types of exercise. I have more energy and am less tired so my work outs are more enjoyable. I feel like I can really challenge myself though, I think that’s why I have been trying to ways to feel the burn.

Almost There. Close to the first weight loss goal.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Weight Loss Tools

 

I know that I said that I wasn’t going to blog before I moved, but this is so special that I couldn’t keep it in. lol.  I just realized that I am 3 pounds away from my first weight loss goal.  To this day, I have lost a grand total of 47 pounds. I am pretty fucking happy. I can’t believe that by hopefully the end of the year I have lost 50 pounds.  

It wasn’t an easy process. I had to fight through crazy food additions, learn what to eat, and force myself to exercise.  With this big move on the way, I am a little worried. I tend to eat out of boredom. But luckily for me, my husband cannot stand fast food, hates sugar and is gluten free. we basically have the same diet, so it’ll be a lot easier to pack things to eat. 

Also because of this big move, i really haven't had a chance to work out. As soon as we get to Georgia I plan on getting a gym membership, hopefully my sister in law will join me. I am excited for what the new year brings.

Where To Start When Dining Out

 It’s pretty easy to go on a diet. It’s doesn’t have to be torture. There are plenty of good foods you can eat on a diet.  I myself tend to cook at home rather than go out. But if you are the type that love the restaurant experience or can’t cook, there are things out there you can enjoy:

Read more>>>>

Monthly photo progress November

click to enlarge

I’m really excited with the results. I still can’t believe that I am doing so well with this diet, and I can’t believe that I lost 43 pounds! It’s insane, and seeing the progress inspires me to keep going. I still have roughly 57 pounds to lose before I meet my overall goal of 100 pounds. On my post yesterday I said I was really impressed with the weight loss on my back. If you seen me right before this weight loss you know that my problem areas were my lower stomach and my lower back. Well, I still have a little bit of a gut, but my back looks amazing. I’m still a little hesitant to show my pictures, but part of this blog is to grow into a different person and gain confidence. I never thought that losing weight could be this easy. It just shows that you can do anything you put your mind to.

Read more>>>

Crash and fad diets are a piece of shit

To me a crash diet should be considered to be a type of eating disorder. The definition of an eating disorder is extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. People are constantly pushing their bodies to the point where they might be harmful. Deprivation diets and intense exercise can be extremely harmful to your heart. Why do people think that it’s okay to push your body so hard? Times have changed and food has changed.  Food portions at restaurants have tripled, which are causing people to become fatter and fatter.  People aren’t as active as they used to be. People are sitting on their asses all day watching tv, staying on the computer or staying on their beloved video games all day. Then they wonder why they are gaining all that weight. Well, since I have been exercising and changed my eating habits, I no longer feel sorry for people. It’s like they have an excuse for everything. It’s not hard to get off your butt and go for a walk; it’s not hard to give up soda or other junk food. You have to be willing to change. One positive change to your life style will reward you and will inspire you to make another positive lifestyle change.  It’s like a domino effect. 

With more and more people gaining weight, more and more crazy diets are popping up left and right. Some diets tell you to eat nothing but cottage cheese, eat cabbage soup, and just eat lima beans for a certain amount of time. Sure you’ll lose weight, but you will also make you sick. Rapid weight loss can lower your metabolism and cause you to gain all that weight back eventually. Not to mention that a long term low calorie intake (anything below 1,000) can lead to heart damage. All that “yo-yo” dieting can cause heart muscle loss which leads to all sorts of heart problems.  

People are so impatient and want rapid results. They never consider that the crazy diet they are doing can lead to death. I don’t know about you, but I am not dying to be skinny. If you really want to lose weight or be fit, you should stick to a healthy life style change and stick to it.  I know I’ve said this a lot, but losing weight takes time. 

My Experience With Weight Training

I know when people think of weight training, they think of super huge body builders.  Weight training is the use of resistance methods like free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, or a person's own weight to build muscles and strength. Power lifting tends to focus on how much weight a person can lift at one time. Some women worry that they will bulk up if they start weight training. This is false, because women do not have enough testosterone in their body.  If you lift weights day after day for hours at a time then you'll start to bulk up.

I have been lifting a little bit of weights for 3 weeks already. So far my upper body has toned up pretty good. The body fat seems like it is starting to melt away. It’s pretty awesome. I have lost maybe two inches from each upper arm and maybe one inch from my chest area.  It really feels good to see that I am starting to notice a difference in my body.  Since I've been gaining muscle, i haven't lost any weight. I've been hovering around the same weight for 3 weeks now.

10 pound dumbbell

 The benefits for weight training are:

• ·         Strengthens bones in women
• ·         Helps you raise your metabolism
• ·         Helps you with your endurance and makes you stronger
• ·         The more muscle you have the more calories you burn
• ·         Increased lean muscle mass
• ·         Helps prevent injury
• ·         Improves your balance
• ·         Improves your coordination
• ·         Boosts your self-esteem
• ·         Decreased risk of coronary disease

What i use: Gold's gym curl bar with 25lbs and 2 10lbs dumbbells
 

Mental side of weight loss

The first part of my weight loss was pretty quick. I really wasn’t expecting to lose as much as I did. My first freak out was when I realized that I was no longer a size 20, but now a size 18. Lucky for me, for the 5 years I’d been married; my pant size would fluctuate between 20 and 18. Since I can remember I wore a size 18. When I started running more, my pant size dropped down to a 16… I remember the first time I tried a size 16 jeans I flipped out. I wanted to yell up and down the store that I had lost enough weight to wear a size 16 jeans!!!!!! I really can’t remember a time that I wore a size 16 jeans.  I still kind of freak out when I pass by a full length mirror. Even when I look down at my legs I kind of freak out. I can’t believe that my thighs are smaller. To me, I still think I look like I should wear a size 20. I think it is all because I lost most of my weight in my lower body and my back (as I would like to call it, my muffin tops lol). It would be nice to just lose all the weight in my upper body. 

With all the weight lifting I have been doing in the past month, I can see that my stomach is smaller and my arms are starting to get toned. Keeping a photo blog has helped me keep track of how much my body is changing. What I really need to do is buy a cloth measuring tape to keep track with everything. I have always feared what the numbers would be. 

But as the pounds keep shredding off, my confidence is getting higher and higher and I am starting to feel like a different person and I am starting to view weight loss in a different light. I have been reading a lot of articles about how people accidently turn anorexic and bulimic. It’s easy to become obsessed with the scale and the things you put in your body, or don’t put into your body. When I was 13 I had a problem with bingeing and purging. I was always chubby and I got made fun of a lot for being a little fluffy. It’s something I couldn’t control, or at least I thought I couldn’t control. Do you even know how bad a Mexican American diet is? Horrible. Most of the food is consumed with flour tortillas and covered and smothered with cheese. ROFL. Then you have the refried beans that are most of the time made with lard. I never understood that.  Mexican cookies are even made with lard. In the menus at the Mexican restaurants, it’s mostly beef. now you can understand how some Mexican Americans can get so hefty. I grew up on this food…. and I still love it even though I can’t eat it anymore. But I always try to make healthier versions of everything I crave. I do make a mean grilled chicken tacos on corn tortillas. 

As a close to this entry, I am proud to say that my size 16 jeans are starting to get lose on me. I think in the New Year I might be able to fit into a size 14. I’m not going to worry about it, but I will be excited for that day I try on a size 14 and it fits.

 

I also leave you with a few pictures of my bird, Niko. I will post pictures of my other birds later! <3

Eating his favorite snack out my hand

 

climbing the side of his cage

he is the most photogenic bird i have