30 Day Flat Abs Challenge

I must be feeling really inspired and motivated this year because for the month of January I have signed up for another fitness challenge called the 30 Day Flat Abs Challenge (I am doing two challenges at the same time).

The 30 Day Flat Abs Challenge is hosted by http://www.blogilates.com

Can I just say that the Blogilates website is one of the most fun, colorful and inspirational fitness sites I have ever come across! On the Flat Abs Challenge printable it includes a checklist for each day and also includes a picture of the exercise moves so no guess work is needed. I must add that on the printable, it also includes little water cups for each day as a reminder to drink more water (I'm guilty of needing more water intake)!

Below I will document my progress and thoughts through each day of the challenge.

Starting Stats:

• Weight = 162 (I know, I know... I gained all my weight from last year plus additional pounds... I am ashamed and determined to try harder this year!)
• Waist/Mid Section Measurement = 40 inches (Ugh :(    actually being aware of what the number is makes me feel terrible... I measured the biggest part of my belly which is the spot between my belly button and belt line. )

Day 1

Today's Challenge - 5 Roll-Ups/ 5 Ankle Reaches / 5 Leg Lifts

Its day 1 of the challenge and I have the best attitude going into this. I can already tell that this challenge will be a true challenge as my abdominal muscles are very weak. It was only 5 of each exercise but I can already feel my mid section working. Looking at the printable I can tell that this will really push me, but you know what,  Bring it! Challenge ACCEPTED!!!

Day 2

Today's Challenge - 6 Roll-Ups/ 6 Ankle Reaches / 6 Leg Lifts

Day 2 and I am still feeling excited about this challenge. I can already tell that I will soon hate those ankle reaches the further we get into the challenge. I was feeling so good today I even hit the gym and did 35 min of incline walking on the treadmill and one set on the leg machine. If I end up weighing more after this challenge (and the other arms challenge I am doing simultaneously) I am going to take a pregnancy test and if I'm not pregnant (which I should not be) I'm going to be so pissed if I weight more after these January challenges! I'm looking forward to day 3.

Day 3

Today's Challenge - 7 Roll-Ups/ 7 Ankle Reaches / 7 Leg Lifts

You know what I noticed today? This challenge has no rest days! My attitude towards health and fitness is still positive so this does not bother me at all. So far the challenge is still "easy" but I know down the line I'll be very sore as those repetitions increase. After doing my abdominal exercises I was still feeling great so I went down to the gym and did 30 min on the treadmill and a few sets of arms exercises. I can tell my muscles are starting to feel sore between the two challenges I've committed to and the extra time I am spending in the gym and you know what? It feels amazing! Starting strong is the easy part, I hope I can keep it up as we continue to progress throughout the month.

Day 4

Today's Challenge - 8 Roll-Ups/ 8 Ankle Reaches / 8 Leg Lifts

The roll-ups are super easy, its the ankle reaches and leg lifts that you really feel in your abs. During my fitness research, I read online that you should include rest days in your routine to give your muscles a chance to heal. Today is technically my "rest day" so I took it easy and only did my abs challenge and 13 minutes of butt toning exercises. I'm still feeling eager and want to workout hard tomorrow. Maybe its just me, but it feels really good having that muscle soreness feeling. Its as if my body is telling me that I'm doing a good job.

Day 5

Today's Challenge - 9 Roll-Ups/ 9 Ankle Reaches / 9 Leg Lifts

My abs are really burning with those ankle reaches and leg lifts and I haven't even hit double digits yet! Overall great fitness session today, after doing the reps for the flat abs challenge I dedicated some time to my arms today. I did Blogilates video called "6 min to sexy arms" and can I just tell you that in 6 min your arms will feel like they are on fire (no weights are used)! I also hit the gym today and did 30 min on the treadmill and a few sets on the machines focusing on the arms. I also did a couple sets on the ab machine which I will admit I'm not entirely sure I did it correctly, but then again, I'm not entirely sure its possible to use the machine incorrectly.

I really feel like I worked out hard today, I am looking forward to feeling sore tomorrow and I hope I start seeing results.

Day 6

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts

My abs are hands down my weakest muscle group. I could really feel the burn today on my leg lifts but I pushed to complete them in one go. I dedicated the rest of the days workouts to legs and abs. During lunch I did the "Perfect Legs Workout" by Blogilates. The exercise moves look easy but when you actually do them it feels like your legs are constantly on fire! I'm not going to lie, I had to hit pause a few times on the video just to rest my legs briefly.

After work I hit the gym and did some leg focused exercises with weights. I also did some extra abdominal work using a 10lb medicine ball, stopping often between reps. One thing that I am proud of today is that even though it was hard I finished a whole set of each exercise I set out to do.

Day 7

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 5 Reverse Crunches

Today we have a new move which is the "Reverse Crunch". I am thankful that we only had to do 5 reverse crunches because after the roll ups, ankle reaches and leg lifts my abs were struggling. For the rest of today's workouts I focused on the back muscles and did Blogilates "Back on Fire" video. The title of the video does not lie, the workout will absolutely make you feel like your back is on fire! I struggled hard during that workout, my 5lb weights felt like 10lbs. When Cassey would call out "5 more" my eyes bulged and filled with horror. I don't know how Cassey can stay so up-beat and beautiful during the entire workout but her up-beat spirit is so welcoming it makes you want to succeed.

Day 8

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 6 Reverse Crunches

I mentioned this in another post so I apologize if this part is redundant but this morning I was awoken by a terrible stomach ache lasting 4.5 hours. It was most likely the result of something I ate the night before which was painfully passing through my system. Thankfully, after some time the pain finally subsided.

During the day I took things easy and only did my two 30 day challenges (arms and abs). I figured that I would at least attempt my daily abs challenge and if I felt any unusual pain I would stop and just call it for the day. Fortunately, while I was doing my daily ab workout everything felt fine, I think if anything my mind was just being overly cautious. I was pleasantly surprised that I had more energy than I was anticipating as I only got about 3 hours of sleep. I don't know where all my energy came from but I was able to do all the ab exercises in one go, only stopping to change positions. I hope that's a sign that my abs are getting stronger!

That's it for today, fingers crossed that I'll be able to get a solid nights sleep and feel strong and healthy enough to hit the gym tomorrow!

Day 9

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 7 Reverse Crunches

Good news, I woke up and felt great today (albeit some diarrhea from whatever atrocity I ate yesterday, which I expected). I was healthy enough to hit the gym today and did a few minutes on the treadmill and a few sets on the machines focusing on arms. I did my ab exercises after the gym and out of the 4 ab exercises the ankle reaches is at the top of the list for making my abs burn.

Day 10

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 8 Reverse Crunches

I did my Roll-Ups in the gym today using the incline bench which were surprisingly easy. The leg lifts and reverse crunches felt easy today as well, maybe its because my body has caught up on rest. I didn't want to go to the gym today because its cold outside but I told myself that was just an excuse and made myself go and I'm glad I did. I did 4 sets focusing on legs today.

Its day 10 so of course I've been checking myself out in the mirror looking to see if I can see any difference. I feel different but I don't think I look any different. It's only day 10 so I know I shouldn't obsess over it.

Day 11

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 9 Reverse Crunches

Today is one of my official rest days so I took it easy as far as workouts. I did my ab challenge and I was feeling a little ambitious so I did some extra crunches and added on a few reps to workout the obliques. Things are going well but today I felt the urge to want to snack. I was really good and ate healthy but I am thinking of trying to meal prep so I don't have to think twice about food and what to eat.

Day 12

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 10 Reverse Crunches

I got my ab challenge reps out of the way early today and did them while I was cooking lunch (yay, multitasking!). The challenge is getting tougher and we are only 12 days in. Tomorrow we include a new exercise, my abs are going to be screaming for mercy by the time this challenge is over.

Other than my usual daily ab reps I hit the gym and did 30 min on the elliptical and also did 4 sets on a group of arm focused machines. I was feeling lazy today and didn't want to workout very much but I'm proud of myself for not giving into laziness and ended up working out hard today.

Day 13

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 10 Reverse Crunches/5 Criss-cross

Its day 13 and we have a new exercise to add to the mix. After doing those criss-crosses I curl up into a ball like I'm having labor pains. I didn't have the chance to go to the gym today due to a long work day but I did try to fit in a few extra ab exercises and some butt exercises. I know I need do more sets of the ab exercises to really see results. I'm hoping that I'll be able to motivate myself to step-it-up!

Day 14

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 10 Reverse Crunches/ 6 Criss-cross

Four days ago I complained about how I thought I felt different but didn't look different. Well today was a good day because it was the first day where I looked in the mirror and thought that I did look different. Even though I haven't dropped a lot of pounds on the scale and of course I still have a little belly I feel like I'm starting to look stronger. Well, its only been 14 days so I'm not expecting any drastic changes but I feel happy!

As far as today's workouts, I hit the gym, did my 30 min on the elliptical. I did a few sets of leg focused exercises and I even added a few extra ab exercises while at the gym. I even tried out some leg raises on that machine/device at the gym, I don't know what its technically called so I'll just call it a torture device (its effective, but it burns so bad).

As far as my daily ab reps for the challenge, I'm still feeling the burn, you would think after 14 days my body would be used to it by now. Those criss-cross crunches are still killing me!

Day 15

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 10 Reverse Crunches/ 7 Criss-cross

I did not go to the gym today but I still did a few home workouts on top of my daily abs (and arms) 30 day challenge. As far as the reps for the challenge, while doing the last two exercises I tried to fight through the burn and do the crunches and criss-crosses in one go. I think I made it to the 5th criss-cross before crumpling into a ball. I also added on a few arm exercises and made myself do a set of burpees. Burpees just suck, don't get me wrong they are very effctive but they just suck! Does that make any sense?

Day 16

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 10 Reverse Crunches/ 8 Criss-cross

I got my daily abs challenge reps out of the way and ended up doing two Blogilates workout videos. I did the "Victoria Secret Model Ab Workout" and the "Victoria Secret Angel Arm Slimming Workout". Both of these workouts were tough and I have to admit that I'm proud of myself for doing two. Cassey with Blogilates in her videos has the ability to make every workout look so simple and easy. But do not be deceived, these workouts are tough! In the middle of the workout while doing reps Cassey starts talking about music play lists and banana pancakes and I'm just over here with a pained expression thinking "I hear words... about stuff... but I'm just trying to focus on not dying!" I feel really good after finishing two tough workout videos.

Day 17

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 10 Reverse Crunches/ 9 Criss-cross

I had a great workout today, I did my reps for my daily abs challenge and I was able to hit the gym. I did 30 min on the elliptical and 5 sets of leg focused workouts (one set more than I normally do). I did a few sets on the dip machine for my 30 day arms challenge. But what I am most proud of today is that I did 5 sets of leg lifts using the captains chair at the gym (I googled what it was called). The first time I did leg lifts using that machine I was struggling but somehow today I felt like superwoman. It must have been the nap I took before going to the gym.  More than half way through the challenge and I'm still going strong!

Day 18

Today's Challenge - 10 Roll-Ups/ 10 Ankle Reaches / 10 Leg Lifts/ 10 Reverse Crunches/ 10 Criss-cross

I'm updating the days blog entry a little late. After my workout, dinner and watching my shows I fell straight asleep! As for Day 18 I did my reps for the abs challenge and even did a few extra reverse crunches. I was able to go to the gym but I only stayed for 30 min to do cardio. Earlier in the day I had received an email alert from Blogilates that there was a new video out called "Intense Inner Thigh Challenge". I was not quick to click on it because I knew it would be tough, but throughout the day I convinced myself to just suck it up and feel the burn. I did it! It was soooo hard and the 3 min workout seemed like 10 min with all my pauses in between but I did it!

Day 19

Today's Challenge - 11 Roll-Ups/ 11 Ankle Reaches / 11 Leg Lifts/ 11 Reverse Crunches/ 11 Criss-cross

I knocked my reps for the abs challenge out of the park today and even did a few extra exercises. The gym was a little more crowded today than I liked so I didn't get to have the best gym workout I had in mind. I did sneak away to the captains chair and went beast mode on my abs before I left to finish my workouts at home. I know my abs are getting stronger because the reps and exercises I feel are becoming to some extent easier and I'm able to push myself further. I know I have lost a couple inches on my belly but I just hate looking at it, still flabby! I know it takes time and that if I keep it up I will achieve the look that I want, its just my own impatience I'm battling.

Day 20

Today's Challenge - 12 Roll-Ups/ 12 Ankle Reaches / 12 Leg Lifts/ 12 Reverse Crunches/ 12 Criss-cross

Out of the two challenges I am doing, I have to say that I'm physically seeing most improvement in my abdomen. The reps are increasing and I'm still going strong and I'm actually enjoying it! I went beast mode in the gym today and did a full body workout (sounds like I'm a go-getter but really I just used a little of every machine that was free in the crowded gym). I did extra sets of leg lifts using the captains chair and it feels easier, I easily  can do more than 1 set. Even though I know I'm getting stronger and I've lost a couple inches on the mid section, I don't see any drastic results on the scale. Whats up with that? I mentioned this in my other post for my arms challenge that I'm doing I've come to the conclusion that I most likely need to up my cardio. Maybe the next 30 day challenge I tackle will be cardio related (no promises... I hate cardio but I'll try to convince myself...).

Day 21

Today's Challenge - 13 Roll-Ups/ 13 Ankle Reaches / 13 Leg Lifts/ 13 Reverse Crunches/ 13 Criss-cross

The reps for this challenge are increasing quickly! I guess we are at that part of the challenge where we are going for broke. I did my reps for the challenge and then I went to the gym. I did my cardio (only 30 min but I know I need to do it for longer) and I did a full body workout. I really worked my abs hard in the gym today, I think losing a couple inches has inspired me and fueled my motivation.

Day 22

Today's Challenge - 14 Roll-Ups/ 14 Ankle Reaches / 14 Leg Lifts/ 14 Reverse Crunches/ 14 Criss-cross

No amazing updates today. I worked hard in the gym yesterday and my muscles were feeling a bit fatigued today so I decided to take it easy and only do my reps for my daily abs and arms challenge.

Day 23

Today's Challenge - 15 Roll-Ups/ 15 Ankle Reaches / 15 Leg Lifts/ 15 Reverse Crunches/ 15 Criss-cross

I apologize for the late blog entry, after I completed my workout routine last night all I wanted to do was go straight to bed. For day 23 I completed my reps for my abs and arms 30 day challenges. Those ankle reaches were killing me but I strangely enjoyed it. For the rest of my workout I wanted to do full body so I tried Blogilates video "The ULTIMATE Hot Body Workout for Flat Abs, Slim Inner Thighs, Perky Butt & Toned Arms". It was a 17 minute video and it will nearly kill you. The strangest exercise Cassey has us do is what I call the 'pretzel crunch', you twist into a pretzel and try to do crunches. The hardest exercises for me was the bridge (I have a weak ass, weak back, weak legs, weak everything) and the cobra pushups. The cobra pushups absolutely killed my arms but if that's what it takes to get them slimmer I'll do it!

Day 24

Today's Challenge - 16 Roll-Ups/ 16 Ankle Reaches / 16 Leg Lifts/ 16 Reverse Crunches/ 16 Criss-cross

For day 24 I did my reps for my arms and abs challenge. For my additional workout I was inspired by the Hot Body workout I did the day before and decided to do a couple of the same exercises. I ended up doing the cobra pushups for one whole song (Shake it Off - T.Swift), it was difficult but worth it! I also did additional ab exercises for another whole song (He Said She Said - A.Tisdale).

Day 25

Today's Challenge - 17 Roll-Ups/ 17 Ankle Reaches / 17 Leg Lifts/ 17 Reverse Crunches/ 17 Criss-cross

For some reason I feel extremely tired today (can I blame it on the blizzard we are having?) so I decided to take it easy and just do my ab reps today for the challenge.

Day 26

Today's Challenge - 18 Roll-Ups/ 18 Ankle Reaches / 18 Leg Lifts/ 18 Reverse Crunches/ 18 Criss-cross

I've fallen behind on my daily blog posts so I am playing catch up. Although, I have not missed one day of my workouts! Out of all the 30 day challenges I've done, I have to say this one that has been hosted by Blogilates has been the most effective. I really feel like it doesn't push me too hard to the point where I don't want to do it, but it does push me. Does that make sense?

Day 26, I honestly can't remember all the details of this day but I do of course do the reps for my two challenges (abs & arms) and I did Blogilates video 6 min to a Sexy Little Waist.

Day 27

Today's Challenge - 19 Roll-Ups/ 19 Ankle Reaches / 19 Leg Lifts/ 19 Reverse Crunches/ 19 Criss-cross

Did my reps for my challenges and the only thing I can remember from this day is that I did Blogilates video "3 min thigh challenge". Don't be fooled those 3 min will take you to hell and back!

Day 28

Today's Challenge - 20 Roll-Ups/ 20 Ankle Reaches / 20 Leg Lifts/ 20 Reverse Crunches/ 20 Criss-cross

When I first started this challenge I thought 10 reps was tough, but now we are here at 20 reps! Wow, I'm proud that I stuck with it, I'm proud that I challenged myself beyond the box by doing additional workouts, I'm proud that I'm still happy and fitness motivated!

As for today, I did my reps for the two 30 day challenges I am doing and for the remainder of the days workouts I did found some intense workout music. I did a few exercises focusing on abs, back and a little bit of arms.

Day 29

Today's Challenge - 21 Roll-Ups/ 21 Ankle Reaches / 21 Leg Lifts/ 21 Reverse Crunches/ 21 Criss-cross

Day 29 down! Today was the last day for my abs challenge and the end of the flat abs challenge is just a day away. I need to start searching what challenge I will tackle next. I did my normal challenge reps today and I did additional abs and arms workouts. Tomorrow I will do my weigh in and measurements for my arms challenge, I'm not expecting any miracles but I am proud that I'm on my way to successfully completing two challenges this month. A song that I found that I have been enjoying working out to lately is called "Round One" by the Kray Twinz, it will seriously get you pumped for your workout.

Day 30

Today's Challenge - 22 Roll-Ups/ 22 Ankle Reaches / 22 Leg Lifts/ 22 Reverse Crunches/ 22 Criss-cross

Day 30 is complete! This has by far been one of the best challenges I have done. There were no rest days for abs and I'm proud that I did not miss one day of the challenge. I'm still excited and motivated to keep going, keep working out, keep losing weight!

End of Challenge Stats

• Weight = 158
• Waist/Mid Section Measurement = 37 inches 

I'm very happy with my end of challenge results, I lost 4lbs which is 1lb a week, a healthy and steady weightless goal. I lost 3 inches on my mid section (the space between my belly button and waist line) and it visually looks flatter and slimmer. No miracles occurred during this challenge but I'm extremely proud and happy with the results! If I continue to lose 1lb a week, by summer I'll have a banging body! I'm motivated, what challenge shall I tackle next?

30 Day Arms Challenge

Happy New Year! Its the very first day of 2015 and with that comes along a new set of yearly goals. To start the year off right I've decided to get back into my monthly fitness challenges. This month I am taking on the 30 Day Arms Challenge by a site called 30dayfitnesschallenges (see link below).

http://30dayfitnesschallenges.com

Below I will document my progress and thoughts through each day.

Starting Stats:

• Weight = 162 (I know, I know... I gained all my weight from last year plus additional pounds... I am ashamed and determined to try harder this year!)
• Arm Measurement = 13.75 inches (this is all fat, I measured the thickest part of my arm - I have had chubby arms my whole life and I hate it!)

Day 1 

Today's Challenge - 6 Tri Dips/ 4 Push Ups / 8 Mountain Climbers

Like all challenges, Day 1 is the easiest day! It felt good getting my sedentary muscles moving again and I have to admit, I wanted to do more (maybe its the new year talking). What I hope to gain from this challenge (and through some additional exercise) is to get slimmer arms.

Day 2

Today's Challenge - 6 Tri Dips/ 4 Push Ups / 8 Mountain Climbers

Day 2 of the challenge was the same amount of dips, push ups and climbers as yesterday. Pretty easy day and I'm still feeling like I can do more which is why I have signed up for a second challenge, 30 day flat abs challenge.  I don't know if I am biting off more than I can chew but I feel inspired and motivated and want to take advantage of this feeling. I will post my flat abs challenge on a separate post from this one.

But as far as the 30 day arms challenge, its only day 2 so I am feeling really good!

Day 3

Today's Challenge - 6 Tri Dips/ 5 Push Ups / 10 Mountain Climbers

Its only day 3 and the challenge still feels easy, I even did a few extra pushups today! As for doing two challenges at the same time, so far I do not feel any soreness but I know as we get further into the challenge that will change. Looking forward to day 4!

Day 4

Today's Challenge - 6 Tri Dips/ 5 Push Ups / 10 Mountain Climbers

Between the two challenges that I am doing (arms & abs) as well as the extra gym time I have been putting in, the 30 day arm challenge is still very much doable. Today I went to the gym and put in some time on the treadmill and did a few sets of arm exercises. I just pray that if I stick with my daily regime that I will see results. At the end of all this, if I am still going hard and end up having no change what-so-ever to my starting stats I will be very sad. That's just the truth. If I get brave, maybe I'll post some progress pics (still working up to it, but insecurities get in the way).

Day 5
Rest Day

Day 6

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 6 Push Ups / 10 Mountain Climbers

I got the arms challenge out of the way early and did my reps in the morning. As for the rest of the day, I considered it arms day. I did the YouTube video called "6 min to sexy arms" by Blogilates (it was a no weights needed video but it was deceptively hard and you really feel the burn!). I also hit the gym after work and spent 30 min on the treadmill (fast walking).

One of the best things about today is that it was a snow day and on those days no one is at the gym! I had the whole gym to myself and I was able to use whatever machine I wanted to. I did 3 sets on 3 different machines focusing on the arms.

Day 7

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 6 Push Ups / 12 Mountain Climbers

I was checking out my arms today in the mirror and I have to say they do feel more solid compared to prior to the challenge where it was mostly squishy. But as far as the width, I have not measured them but they don't look any slimmer [insert sad face]. I know that its only been 7 days but I am just eager to have that day where I can look into the mirror and see progress.

Aside from my daily arms challenge I dedicated the rest of my days workouts to my legs and abs and I know Ill be feeling it tomorrow! I'm planning on going to bed early tonight to give my body a chance to recuperate.

Day 8

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 8 Push Ups / 12 Mountain Climbers

Today was more challenging than usual, I had to take a mini-break when doing push-ups. My biceps definitely have a more solid feeling (in comparison to when I started) but my triceps are still squishy like a marshmallow. For the rest of todays workout I concentrated on my back muscles and it was tough. I'm still going strong and my attitude is still positive, bring on day 9!

Day 9

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 8 Push Ups / 15 Mountain Climbers

This morning I woke up at 1am having a lot of stomach pain and it lasted 4.5 hours. I was starting to think that maybe I had appendicitis because normally stomach aches don't last very long for me. Thankfully after 4+ hours it started to feel better and I was able to get some sleep. I think it was most likely something I had ate the night before and it was painfully passing through my system. I will NEVER eat at this place ever again!

As far as today's arms challenge I didn't want to miss a day so fortunately late in the afternoon I started to feel better, if anything I was just overly cautious and didn't want to eat anything big. The tri dips were no problem, the push ups went surprisingly well, I was able to do them in one go which is an improvement. The mountain climbers I took slower than usual today because I wasn't in the mood to have my stomach contents jiggled (but i still did them).

Hopefully tonight I can get a full nights rest and get back to my normal self and hit the gym tomorrow!

Day 10

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 8 Push Ups / 15 Mountain Climbers

I did things a little backwards today and ended up going to the gym first and did my daily challenges after. At the gym I did a few minutes on the treadmill and then did a few sets on the machines focusing on arms. I had the gym to myself so I did my dips on the dip machine (using the assistance pad) and it was a lot tougher than doing them at home. Once I got home I did my push ups which was a struggle considering I had just gotten done doing a few sets in the gym and I also did my mountain climbers. Day 10 and I'm still going strong!

Day 11

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 8 Push Ups / 15 Mountain Climbers

I started my days fitness routine in the gym and focused on leg exercises and a little bit of abs. My 10 dips I once again did in the gym using the dip machine. I finished at home doing my push-ups and mountain climbers. I really do not like mountain climbers but they are effective. I know I sound like a broken record but my arms feel like they are getting stronger but they don't look any slimmer, whats up with that?

Day 12
Rest Day

Day 13

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 8 Push Ups / 12 Mountain Climbers

I was a little surprised that the reps in the challenge decreased today, if anything I thought they would increase. I hit the gym today and this time did 30 min on the elliptical. While I was on the elliptical I was debating whether or not to workout on the machines (in other words, I was feeling lazy). In the end I told myself that if I wanted to see results I have to work hard for it.  I ended up doing 4 sets on the group of arm focused machines I normal use. I was really proud of myself for not giving into laziness today.

As for the reps for the arms challenge, I did my dips on the dip machine and pushups/mountain climbers in the comfort of my own home. I'm feeling really good, I hope I start seeing obvious results soon!

Day 14

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 8 Push Ups / 12 Mountain Climbers

I'm pretty sure my arms are getting stronger, even though I worked out hard yesterday I didn't really feel any soreness today. That means I'm getting stronger, right? It was a long work day, I worked 13 hours and did not get a chance to go to the gym but I did  do my reps for my arms challenge (and my abs challenge) and also got in a few butt exercises.

Day 15

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 9 Push Ups / 12 Mountain Climbers

I am half way through the challenge! I was able to make it to the gym today and I did my 30 min on the elliptical. The hardest thing for me at the moment when I'm doing cardio ( I consider the treadmill and elliptical machine cardio) is that I get bored. If my mind is not actively entertaining itself the minutes feel long. I also did a few sets of leg workouts and got brave and tried out the butt machine while other people were present, lets just say, I had to use the lowest weight setting. I'm sure this machine has a technical name, I just know that it works out my butt muscles so I've labeled it "the butt machine".

As far as the reps for my daily challenge, I did my dips on the dip machine at the gym and my pushups and mountain climbers at home. Still not liking those mountain climbers, but I still do them.

Day 16

Today's Challenge - 8 Tri Dips/ 9 Push Ups / 15 Mountain Climbers

No impressive updates today, its Friday and the start of a three day weekend! I know I should have gone to the gym today but I didn't. I did try to make up for it and did a few workouts at home so I was not totally stagnant. I did my daily 30 day challenge reps (arms and abs) and I also added on a few extra home workouts doing extra sets of pushups, dips and ab exercises. I even did a set of burpees which I just hate but I did them because I know that they are effective.

Day 17

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 9 Push Ups / 15 Mountain Climbers

I did my daily reps for my 30 day arms challenge (and abs) and ended up just rounding the Push Ups to 10 reps. For my extra workout I did Blogilates videos "Victoria Secret Angel Arm Slimming Workout" and "Victoria Secret Model Ab Workout". During the arms video I just about wanted to die, it was tough! I thought that since I've been going to the gym and working out on the machines which I lift more than 5lbs it would be easier. Oh no-no-no... during the workout video we only had to use 5lb weights but by the middle of the workout those 5lb weights felt like boulders. Am I the only one that looks at a video and checks how long the video is before deciding to do it? The arms video was 17:11 minutes long which I was not enthused about but you know what, I hit play anyways!

Day 18

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 9 Push Ups / 15 Mountain Climbers

I took a nap before my workout today and I think it gave me extra energy because I was able to accomplish a lot in the gym today. I did my normal daily reps for my arms challenge, I did 30 min on the elliptical at the gym and I did my round of leg focused workouts adding an extra set on top of what I normally do. I did my dips on the dip machine and instead of doing just one set, I did 3 sets which is a major improvement for me! I'm proud of myself today :)

Day 19
Rest Day

Day 20

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 9 Push Ups / 18 Mountain Climbers

Those mountain climbers only increased by 3 reps but it felt like a lot today. Maybe it seems that way because I hate mountain climbers. I did make it to the gym and got in some cardio, I wanted to workout my arms today but some dudes were on the machines I wanted to use. I wanted to use the dip machine for my dips, but of course some dude was using it as an arm rest as he texted whoever. I should have told him to move out of the way but I didn't. I look like a small little mouse compared to his gorilla sized stature.

I ended up finishing my workouts at home but instead of focusing on arms I instead worked on my butt and did the butt workout from "BeFit" on youtube.

Day 21

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 10 Push Ups / 18 Mountain Climbers

I did my dips on the dip machine at the gym today and I struggled with just the 10. The strange thing is, some days its easy and I can do more than one set, then the next day it feels harder. Even my pushups felt more difficult today...

I went beast mode in the gym today and did a full body workout mostly because it was crowded and I used all the machines that happened to be free. My arms are getting stronger (more solid feeling) but not any slimmer. I want slimmer! So most likely I need to start focusing on dropping lbs on the scale if I want to see the results I want. So that means, more cardio...

Less than 10 days left in the challenge and I'm still going strong!

Day 22

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 10 Push Ups / 18 Mountain Climbers

Every day I do my reps for my challenge and every day I make a face when it comes to doing the mountain climbers. I still do them but I just don't like them. I made it to the gym today and to my delight there were only ladies in the gym so I felt very comfortable. I know I shouldn't care or feel insecure but I have a small gym and when there are guys in there I feel a little more timid sharing the machines with them. They have the machines set on 100+ lbs and I come along and change it to 15-20lbs lol. I know the guys in the gym don't care and don't give it a second thought but I'm still building up my gym confidence. I worked out hard today and might need to take it easy tomorrow but I'll see how my muscles feel in the morning.

Day 23

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 10 Push Ups / 20Mountain Climbers

No great updates today, I was feeling a little fatigued from yesterday so I decided to take it easy today and only do the reps for my arms and abs challenge.

Day 24

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 10 Push Ups / 20Mountain Climbers

I got a little lazy updating my blog last night but what I did remember to do was my workout. I did the reps for my arms and abs challenge and for the rest of my workout I decided to do Blogilates video "The ULTIMATE Hot Body Workout for Flat Abs, Slim Inner Thighs, Perky Butt & Toned Arms". It was exhausting but I felt really good completing the 17 min video. Cassey had us do cobra pushups which killed my arms!

Day 25

Today's Challenge - 10 Tri Dips/ 11 Push Ups / 20 Mountain Climbers

For day 25 I did do my reps for my arms challenge and for the rest of the days workout I ended up doing similar workout to yesterday. I did cobra pushups which hurt like hell but honestly it feels so effective like my fat is melting off and I also did extra ab focused exercises.

Day 26
Rest Day

Day 27

Today's Challenge - 12 Tri Dips/ 11 Push Ups / 22 Mountain Climbers

I've failed to update my blog post entry for three days, now I'm playing catch up. But I am proud that I have been working out daily and have not missed a day of workouts! On day 27 I of course did my reps for my arms challenge (and abs challenge). Feeling inspired to murder the fat on my arms I've been including those cobra pushups into my daily routine. As for my remainder workout for the day I did Blogilates video called "6 min to a Sexy Little Waist".

Day 28

Today's Challenge - 12 Tri Dips/ 11 Push Ups / 22 Mountain Climbers

Day 28, every post I have to resist going on a rant on mountain climbers, I just hate them so much. Did my reps for my two challenges, I can't remember what else went on this day but I did do the Blogilates video "3 min thigh challenge".

Day 29

Today's Challenge - 12 Tri Dips/ 11 Push Ups / 22 Mountain Climbers

Day 29, wow the days really feel like they went quickly! One more day of workouts and my challenge is over, I feel great that I accomplished a lot and didn't give up on either of my two challenges. If anything I pushed myself during the two challenges to do additional workouts. As for day 29, I did my reps for my challenges and for my remanding workouts for the day I found so intense workout music on YouTube and did a random variations of abs, butt and a little bit of arms workouts.

Day 30 is actually today, once I finish my days workouts I'll post my 2nd to last entry for this challenge!

Day 30

Today's Challenge - 12 Tri Dips/ 12 Push Ups / 25 Mountain Climbers

Day 30, I have successfully completed the 30 day arms challenge! I seriously feel like I need to signup for another arms challenge, my arms is one of the areas I just hate, I wish they were slim and dainty. I'll post my final stats tomorrow morning, not expecting any miracles...

End of Challenge Stats

• Weight = 158
• Arm Measurement = 13.75 inches 

Overall I lost 4lbs which is 1lb a week which I hear is a good goal to achieve. As far as my arms getting slimmer, there was no change to the measuring tape! I know I have muscle because I can feel them, they feel more solid. I have been researching online and have learned that just because you are targeting an area during a workout does not mean that area will automatically get slimmer. You have overall lose weight to start seeing the slimming results across all areas of your body. This makes total sense but a part of me is a little disappointed that I'm still far off from having slim arms. 

When I look in the mirror I overall think I look great, I do look slimmer in my waist section and I still feel motivated to keep going and keep working out. I know its not realistic to workout for a month and poof have a beautiful sexy body but damn, I wish it happened faster. But faster does not equal healthy. And you know what,  losing 1lb a week is really good! If I keep it up and continue to lose 1lb a week, by summer I'll have a banging body!

What challenge shall I tackle next?

Selecting the Best Blender for Smoothies

Whats an easy and healthy breakfast you can take on the go? Smoothies! 

If you have recently gotten into health and fitness or are a seasoned pro, chances are you've come across countless smoothie recipes on the Internet. 

When selecting a blender, you'll need to ask yourself two important questions:

1. What do you plan on blending, will you solely be making smoothies?
2. How much are you willing and/or can afford to spend?

Of course in an ideal world we could all afford a Vitamix Turbo Blender but seeing how the Vitamix runs close to $400, many of us may need to take our wants down a few notches. 

When I chose my blender, I knew that I would be using it to make smoothies 95% of the time. I also chose one that received good reviews, was easy to use and reasonably priced.

In the end I selected the 'Oster My Blend Personal 20 oz Blender. 

 

This blender more than exceeded my expectations!

• Very good price in comparison to other blenders: $20 (found on sale at Target)
• Great Reviews: 4 out of 5 stars (946 reviews) on Amazon.com
• Easy cleanup, blade and container quickly rinse clean
• The container comes with a lid making it easy to take on the go
• Its portion controlled to only 20 oz so you won't accidentally make too much!

George St. Pierre - Rush Fit - 28 Day Challenge

I'm back! I took an unintentional 3 month break but now I'm back and ready for a new fitness challenge. Over my 3 month break my weight has fluctuated down to 153 and back up to 157.

This month I will be taking on George St. Pierre's "Rush Fit - Beginner Level" (28 days). I have tried Rush Fit in the past and I quit after two weeks. It's both tough physically and mentally (at least for me) but it does honestly work at shedding the pounds and building muscle.

It's a new month with new goals and I really want to challenge myself this month and see what I am truly capable of. I can't guarantee I will make it through 28 days or the first week for that matter but I'm going to try.

Per usual, I will document my journey through each day below:

Day 1
Today was the Strength and Endurance DVD. Don't be fooled, this series will make you sweat but its absolutely doable. Going into the first DVD of day 1 I automatically started feeling skeptical as to how long I will last. More than anything I know it will be an uphill climb mentally. You know what you're going to be in for each session and its so easy to talk yourself into skipping days and before you know it you stopped altogether. All I can do is take it one day at a time.

Each session starts out with a warm up which is nice especially for me as I haven't done any major physical activity as of late. One of the hardest things for me was holding that chair squat. After the first few seconds you feel the continuous burn! What I like about the series is that George does the workout with you, its not like other DVD's where you can see a scene break and the person on the screen never breaks a sweat. George was sweating up a storm and I won't lie, he was nice to look at! Onward to day 2!

Day 2
I woke up sore today but its only day 2 so I still feel determined. Today is Cardio day and I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and made sure to get my heart rate going. Lettuce wraps and pan seared tofu for dinner.

Day 3
Today was the Abdominal Strength & Core DVD. Is it a problem that I get winded during the warm up? Ab/Core day wasn't too horrible but it all depends on the size weights you use. I stuck with 5lb dumbbells because mainly those are all I have. All was well, that was until I reached round 5. It was terrible, I was tired and the last thing I wanted to do at the end of round 5 were those damn mountain climbers. As far as today's meal, for dinner I had pasta which I know I shouldn't have. I'm just hoping today's workout burned it off.

Day 4
Today was cardio and the Stretch for Flexibility DVD. Starting off the day I was feeling sore from yesterdays session and was not looking forward to today's session. This morning I did my 30 min cardio at the gym with the elliptical and it felt like the minutes were dragging on. Before dinner I did the Stretch for Flexibility DVD and to my pleasant surprise it was very easy. The stretches felt good on my sore muscles, some of the moves were the same as the moves in the cool down. I'm proud of myself today for not giving in to laziness.

Day 5
I took one look at the calendar and knew that I was going to be miserable during today's workout session. Today was the Fight Conditioning Workout DVD. It started out easy enough but soon got harder and there are no breaks. Be glad that you can do these DVD's in the privacy of your own home because today's session requires a lot of coordination. I know I looked like a total moron as I fumbled through a few of the moves. I pushed through this session and I feel good afterwards.

Day6
Today was cardio, I did 30 minutes in the gym and the Balance and Agility DVD. Today's session was a different kind of hard. I feel live I've been sore every day this week and the jumping moves in the DVD did a number on my calves. The balance moves were not too bad for me but the jumping and crawling moves made me sweat. Tomorrow is a rest day, yay!

Day 7 
Rest Day!

Day 8
The week starts over and we are back to the Strength and Endurance DVD. I worked a very long day and I was not in the mood to workout but nonetheless I was able to do it. Compared to the other DVD's I had to do last week today's DVD was surprisingly pleasant. I grumbled during the squats but still did them. I know what you are thinking, that I complain a lot which I do not deny but the difference is, I'm still doing the workouts and haven't given up yet. One of the pro's of today is that I did my daily workout, one of the cons of today is that I had take out for dinner which was a lot of carbs.

Day 9
Cardio day. 30 minutes of Cardio seemed easy today.

Day 10
We are back to the Abdominal Strength and Core DVD. It was apparent today that my core needs a lot of work. I had trouble with those glute bridges and near the ending rounds I was starting to wobble when doing anything plank related. I was feeling good in the beginning of the session, I had a lot of energy and was able to keep up. Near the end I continued to push through but Im pretty sure I went into survival mode, my mind kept repeating Eric Thomas quotes, "don't cry to give up, cry to keep going..." and "pain is temporary..." I felt the pain today!

Day 11
Rest Day!!

Day 12
I forgot to update my blog entry last night! But yesterday was the Fight and Conditioning Workout DVD. I looked at the calendar yesterday and was disappointed it wasn't something easy like stretching. I procrastinated my workout the entire day but finally about 3 or 4 hours before bed I put in the DVD and did the workout.

Day 13
Day 13 was Cardio and the Balance and Agility DVD. For my Cardio I swam laps in the pool, as for the DVD session of the workout, I multitasked and ran the DVD on my laptop and watched a rerun episode of American Ninja Warrior at the same time (I was still able to follow along without hearing commentary). The session was at a slow enough pace in the beginning for me to watch American Ninja Warrior (and to the guy who wore the skin tight gold outfit, we could have done without seeing your penis more or less flapping in the wind, thanks). Once we got to the ground work and the crawling, I was not able to multitask any longer. But that was okay because it was a rerun episode of my show. As far as eating healthy I am doing terrible! But at the very least I have not missed a workout session on the calendar.

Day 14
Rest day!

Day 15
I worked a 12 hour day and right after work I put it the DVD and did my daily workout. Today was the Strength and Endurance DVD, which wasn't too bad at all. One of the things that I still cannot do is the pop-ups and so I end up doing some variation during that part. One of the improvements is that I was able to keep up with most of the push-ups. That chair squat is still extremely tough, I can only hold it for a few seconds at a time.

Day 16
Cardio day - 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.

Day 17
Today was the Fight Conditioning Workout DVD and today my heart wasn't in it. Everyone has those moments when their life feels like its on a downward tailspin. That is how my week is feeling. I did the workout but I did it half-hearted. My squats were robotic, my sprawls and my jabs were lazy. I probably moved 10 times slower than I did on my other days. I'm trying to keep my chin up during the bad/stressful times. All I can do is work harder tomorrow.

Day 18
Today is not a rest day but I am moving my rest day to today. I need a mental rest day due to life stress.

Day 19
Picking up where I left off, due to my unscheduled rest day yesterday I am doing the Abdominal Strength and Core DVD today. It went well, taking a rest day yesterday, today's session felt easier and I felt well rested before hand. One of the hardest things still for me is the glute bridges. The backbend I do a variation, I can do a backbend but I don't like to, it feels like all the blood rushes to my head. The mountain climbers were slow going, those really make my legs burn.

Day 20
Today was cardio and the Stretch for Flexibility DVD. I did 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and the DVD was very easy. The stretches felt good like an "Ahhh... that hits the spot" type feeling. I skip the cool down because a lot of the moves of the main workout were the same and I felt the workout was slow paced enough to not need a cool down.

Day 21
It was an exciting day, I got to unwrap another DVD, the Full Body Strength and Conditioning DVD. But unwrapping the plastic is where the excitement ended. Once Eric said that you will feel lactic acid throughout your entire body my eyes got wide and I could already feel the pain that was to come. First five minutes I was getting winded and my arms were getting wobbly on the Hindu Pushups. It was go-go-go throughout the entire workout and my 5lb weights were starting to feel like mini boulders. But I'm not going to lie, this DVD is tough but it feels good afterwords. One of the pros of today's session, lots of close ups of Georges biceps!

Day 22-28
I absolutely fell off the wagon after day 22 and I feel terrible about it. There are many things I can say  that contributed to me dropping off on the last week but truth be told those are just excuses. All in all, I lost a total of 4 lbs, keep in mind I did not eat healthy at all. I did feel like I was getting stronger and my husband said I was looking trimmer.

I am planning on trying the next calendar of Rush Fit, weeks 4-8, but will most likely have to start that at the beginning of the week.

30 Day Squat Challenge

Happy New Year!

You know the drill, new month new challenge. This month I plan to tackle the 30 day squat challenge. I have started this challenge previously in the past but only made it half way through week two.

My intentions of taking on this challenge is to not obtain a huge ass but simply to work towards a goal and keep active. Do I think I'll lose weight doing this? I strongly believe I will, it all depends if you put your all into it or if you do it half-assed.

I will be using the chart I found online from somastruct.com

Below I will document my progress of each day. I'm a little worried my entries might be somewhat redundant, "I did squats, my ass hurts." But lets see where this goes...

Starting weight: 154.2

Day 1

50 Squats today - I did all 50 without stopping and did them in from of a mirror to keep my posture in check. I did not feel any strain in my ass I felt all the strain in my quads. Day 1 feels easy but I do not want to get too confident. From looking at the chart it looks like it's going to be an uphill battle.

Day 2
First off, day 1 was deceptively easy, that is until I woke up this morning. When I woke up this morning the first thing I noticed was that my thighs were on fire! Who would have guessed that 50 simple squats would have such an impact the next day. Day 2 is 55 squats, starting was mentally difficult because I was sore. Once I got to number 30 I was starting to feel it but I pushed through to get all 55 done in one go.

Day 3
60 squats today - when I was doing my squats my lower half was cracking, not in a bad way but as if it was using muscles that haven't been used in a long while. In Lord of the Rings when Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard in the forest and that cracking sound Treebeard made when he moved, that is what the lower half of my body was sounding like when I was doing my squats! My body was screaming, "why are you doing this!" I've also been walking around like a penguin carrying an egg these past couple of days. It's pretty sad that after 3 days my body feels this sore. Guess what tomorrow is, REST DAY!

Day 4
Rest Day

Day 5
Feeling rested and ambitious. Today was 70 squats and I did them all on the Bosu ball. I felt it all in my quads and my calf muscle from trying to balance on the Bosu. Is it bad that I checked the chart to see when my next rest day is?

Day 6
75 squats today - Whats great about squats, you can pretty much do them anytime anywhere. It was my lunch time and out of the blue I decided it was squats time! I did all 75 of my squats wearing jeans. Not the most ideal pants to be wearing doing squats but I was not deterred. My legs were not at all sore from yesterday, does this mean my muscles are getting stronger?

Day 7
80 squats today - I glanced at the chart and thought the chart said 85 but it actually said 80. I did 5 more than I needed to. Feeling like an over achiever right now. Did my squats while wearing pink house slippers and waiting for my dinner to cook.

Day 8
Rest Day

Day 9
100 squats today - I procrastinated all day and didn't do my squats until after dinner. It's a lot harder and probably a little counter productive to do squats on a full stomach, but I did it! I had to take mini breaks in between my counts. I'm convinced my legs are getting stronger because in some ways it feels like doing squats is easier than it used to be.

Day 10
It was a long day at work. Once it was over all I wanted to do was curl in a blanket and lay in bed. What I want and what happened are two different things. After work I ended up cleaning and cooking dinner, scrubbed paint from my kids latest art project off the floor. Right when I was getting my blankets and pillows fluffed I did my squats, all 105!

Day 11
I was hoping today was a rest day but it wasn't. I did my 110 squats today before we started Saturday movie night and cuddled next to a bowl of popcorn.

Day 12
Rest Day

Day 13
130 squats today - seeing the number of squats I had to do today seemed a little intimidating. Although, once I got started it went by pretty quickly. I was able to do 70 squats without having to pause.

Day 14
It's been 14 days! I have not missed a day yet and I feel proud of myself. 135 squats today and it goes by pretty quickly while watching TV.

Day 15
140 squats today! Unfortunately at the end of the night I got into a horrible mood. I still did my squats but it felt like it took forever. It's funny how being in a bad mood can make the simplest things seem so difficult.

Day 16
Rest Day

Day 17
150 squats today - these squat sessions are getting tougher. I can feel the burn in my legs and my heart rate starts to pick up. A good sign is that even though I am doing more squats and it burns at the time but the next day I feel pretty good and not too sore. I remember on day 1 after 50 squats I was waddling.

Day 18
I almost forgot to do my squats today but I remembered just as I was heading to bed, 155 squats today! I was in a good mood and was not feeling overly tired so my squat session went by pretty quickly.

Day 19
160 squats today! I got my squats out of the way early this morning so I can spend the rest of the day being a lazy slug. It was 160 squats and I felt it! My muscles must have been tired because I had to stop and take many frequent mini breaks.

Day 20
Rest Day

Day 21
180 squats after a rest day is torture! I put in a 12 hour work day today and afterwords I just wanted to be lazy and watch my TV shows. I didn't cave, I did all 180 squats. I felt the burn and I feel relieved and accomplished that I'm done with squats for the day.

Day 22
185 squats today! By this point I know the number is increasing so I try not to think about it. my technique is to just randomly start the days squats and once I start just plow right through. I have yet to feel any muscle strain in my glutes, it's still all focused on my quad/thigh muscles.

Day 23
190 squats today and I'm so thankful for a rest day tomorrow. The first 100 is more-or-less easy, it's that last 90 where you feel the burn after every 10 squats. The end of the 30 days is approaching quickly and now I have to research which challenge I'll take on next after this one.

Day 24
Rest Day

Day 25
220 squats today! Ouch... my legs are sore! It is a little mentally difficult after doing the first 120 realizing that you still have 100 left to go. I completed my squats successfully today but I won't lie, it was tough. I also had a horrible day binging on carbs! Not only did I eat lots of bread, I had top ramen which is sooooo bad for you. I feel like I gained 20 lbs today with how bad I ate.

Day 26
220 squats today and I am sweating! These were one of the days I was a little skeptical that I would make it all the way through. I feel glad that I didn't give up and I still have not missed a day of the challenge. Feeling proud of myself and giving myself a pat on the back.

Day 27
230 squats today. It didn't feel as difficult as yesterday but it wasn't exactly fun to do. I was taking a break in between squats to catch my breath and my kid said "Mommy, keep exercising!" I'm very skeptical that I lost any weight, if anything I may have gained back a few pounds. I have been on a total carb binge. Even though I know its bad for me, I keep eating more and more carbs. I have been feeling low energy the last couple of days and I'm thinking my diet may be the culprit. It seems I need to go back on my healthy eating challenge, that's how bad I feel I'm doing as far as food (carbs).

Day 28
Rest Day

Day 29
Only one day left in the 30 day squat challenge!!! Today was 240 squats and it wasn't as painful as I anticipated. Does anyone else do their workouts in front of the TV? I seriously think it helps take your mind off the pain.

Day 30
Day 30 has arrived, last day 250 squats! I'm very excited to have successfully completed another challenge. The days of the challenge past by quickly and my greatest accomplishment is not having missed a day. I never felt my ass muscles getting a workout and honestly think you would need to squat using weights if your goal is to get a bigger or firmer ass. My legs without a doubt have gotten stronger. I do not feel I lost any weight and most likely gained some but that was mostly due to inability to restrict my carbs this month. At one point in the month my weight dropped down to 152 but I got lazy on my carbs and gained it back. Ill post my weight tomorrow morning. Everyone who completed the challenge, give yourself a well deserved pat on the back!

What challenge should I tackle next?

Update (Day 31):
Ending Weight - as suspected I gained weight. But I'm extremely happy that it was only 1 lb  (right on the dot!)which can be reversed with a  good week of healthy eating.

30 Day Healthy Eating Challenge

Hello Friends,

Its a start of a new month and a start of a new goal. For the month of December I am issuing myself a 30 day healthy eating challenge. I am one of those people who struggle to eat consistently healthy. I always end up caving and saying "F*@# this, I'm eating cake!"

The things I know:

• Processed foods are bad.
• The more fruits and vegetables you eat the better. 
• Sugar feeds cancer ( that white stuff in your kitchen that's as addictive as crack)

My Challenges:

• Maintaining motivation.
• Stress eating. 
• Saying no to sweets. 
• Limiting my carbs.

My goal is to lose weight by eating healthy and having most of my meals look like this.

Join me on my self issued 30 Day Healthy Eating Challenge. Below I will document my thoughts, feelings, successes, struggles and end results. 

Starting weight - 158

Day 1 - December 2nd

Right off the bat I realized that lack of planning will surely be my downfall. I woke up on Monday and thought, "Hey, lets start a new healthy eating challenge." I ended up scrambling every meal figuring out what to eat. As a result my meals turned out healthy but boring and bland. My goal for the day was to at least plan what I would eat on Tuesday.

Not only was my lack of meal planning a challenge but since deciding to do the challenge was spur of the moment I had temptation everywhere. Cookies on the counter, cheeze-it snacks near by. When I was watching my nightly show before bed my kid was eating a small bag of Doritos chips. I just wanted to eat one and I really debated with myself, "its just one Dorito it wont make a difference". I am proud of myself that I didn't cave. It was day 1 of the challenge after all and didn't want to be a failure from the starting line. I ended up going to bed, albeit a little cranky.

If this is how day 1 was like, I'm a little skeptical in how far Ill make it into the challenge.

Day 2 - December 3rd

Day 2 was a lot easier than day 1. Planning my meals for the day helped a lot. The meal I was most proud of and surprised by was tuna pancakes. Who would have guessed something so simple and healthy would be so delicious! I did notice I was frequently hungry through the day. It seemed like I was constantly in the kitchen whipping up a meal. Not in a bad way necessarily as I enjoy tinkering in the kitchen but more of a surprising way, "Didn't I just eat, why am I hungry again?"

One of the things I did notice on Day 2 was that my stomach never felt heavy. Before the challenge, after I would eat I would have that feeling like I was carrying a bowling ball around in my stomach. Day 2 even though I had frequent meals my stomach still felt light.

My challenge for the day, near bedtime I had the strong urge to eat something crunchy and something sweet. I ended up eating a few mixed nuts but still had that craving feeling. Like an itch I couldn't scratch. I'm hoping that I can come up with some sort of healthy snack that with satisfy those cravings in the future.

Day 3 - December 4th

Day 3 wasn't too bad. For the most part everything went smoothly and I didn't feel much temptation but I have to admit that none of my meals today blew my mind. I ended up making a late night grocery run (which I normally only shop when there is sunlight) because I ran out of healthy food options. Last night before bed I researched a few recipes which is a double edge sword. I'm able to get ideas for different types of healthy meals but I start to get hungry watching all those cooking videos online.

Day 4 - December 5th

Day 4 was a very successful day. I did not have any temptations outside the normal healthy food I've been eating. I threw some chicken breasts into a crockpot which turned into a healthy meal for me and even my kid had fun sprinkling seasoning on the chicken. During dinner I had lettuce wraps which turned out amazing. I was surprised at how filling and satisfying it was.

Day 5 - December 6th

Day 5 was overall a good day as far as maintaining my motivation. I did have a few food recipe fails. My version of banana peanut butter ice cream was a fail. It did not taste good enough to fool my mind into thinking it was real ice cream and I didn't particularly enjoy the texture. It went into the trash after a couple of bites. For dinner, I was trying to prepare poached fish, something I have made many times before. When I went to taste it, it tasted off. I was worried maybe the fish might have gone bad so out of paranoia it also went into the trash. I ended up having a big salad for dinner (which tasted delicious).

Day 6 - December 7th

Another successful day down in the books. We purchased a Costco rotisserie chicken and not only was it delicious it was cheap and hassle free. I even have enough left over for a whole meal for the next day. Another success is that I was able to find something that satisfied my sweets craving, pineapple! The one I purchased was so perfectly ripe and was as sweet as candy. Another success, my husband offered me M&M's and I shot him down without even having to think about it twice. Its days like these where it doesn't even feel like a challenge.

Day 7 - December 8th

Its the end of my first week eating healthy. For someone who was skeptical at the very start of the challenge I am proud that I made it past week one. I know it will get harder to maintain the motivation to keep eating healthy as the days continue but the most I can do is take it one day at a time.

Today was another good day. My husband bought a whole box of doughnuts and offered me one and I once again turned the temptation down. Why my husband keeps offering me junk food when he knows that I'm trying to eat healthy is beyond me. If he keeps it up surely one of these days I'm going to punch him in the balls. Recipes I want to try in  week 2 is Korean bulgolgi from scratch and a healthy version of stuffed green bell peppers.

Day 8 - December 9th

Day 8 was a long and stressful day at work. I'm happy to report I did not binge eat but I did end up skipping breakfast which I know is not a good thing to do. For the most part I managed to be on point with my meals.

As it was a cold day I wanted something warm so I ended up eating some Miso soup (the brand I use contains no MSG). I suppose we can debate whether or not Miso soup is considered healthy. But given the grand scope of all the unhealthy things I used to eat (i.e. chocolates, doughnuts, pizza, potato chips, french fries etc.) I'm going to go ahead and place Miso soup in my healthy category.

I am losing weight but as far as the number, I want to keep it a secret until the end of the challenge and as a side note, I do try to do moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes a day (walking, yoga etc).

Day 9 - December 10th
Day 9 was a pretty straight forward day. One thing I did notice is that I did not have  much of an appetite. Maybe its all the snow that's making me want to curl under a blanket and hibernate. For dinner my husband was craving lasagna so he purchased a pre-made one from the store. I created his dinner plate and told him I was going to eat something else because lasagna is not healthy (the pre-made processed frozen section stuff). He looked at me surprised and said, "Lasagna isn't healthy?" [sigh....Men....]
I ended up having vegetable stir fry for dinner which was perfect as I wasn't overly hungry in the first place.

Day 10 - December 11th

Day 10 was a good day although I still didn't have much of an appetite. One food I am absolutely getting tired of is scrambled egg whites. It's getting to the point where the texture starts to disgust me. Instead for breakfast I'll eat cottage cheese with strawberries. During dinner I wasn't in a meat mood, is that weird? So instead of a portion of meat I replaced it with a baked sweet potato and my sides were green veggies. It sounds so simple but at the time it was extremely satisfying.

One important thing I do want to mention is that ever since I've been making an effort to eat healthier, I no longer have stomach pain. Before my challenge it was normal for me to feel stomach aches often after I would eat and I just blamed it on IBS (don't we all?) I am so amazed at how great my stomach feels lately, it must be a good sign!

Day 11 - December 12th

Day 11 was an overall success. Its getting easier to eat healthy I don't feel the same snack temptations as when I first started the challenge. I'm hoping this is a sign of a possible permanent lifestyle change. But I shouldn't jump the gun, short term goal, just get through the challenge. Permanent lifestyle changes I'll deal with after.

Tonight I made Korean bulgolgi. I cant say that it came out authentic but I can say that it came out delicious! I'm thinking of trying the same bulgolgi marinade with tofu instead of beef. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lately I've been researching healthy holiday treats. Christmas is coming after all and I want to have a healthy festive snack. If I find any good ones, I'll be sure to post them!

Day 12 - December 13th

Day 12 was overall good but I did hit a couple speed bumps emotionally. It was a stressful day and my husband has a talent for saying the wrong things at the wrong times. Normally when I'm upset I would emotionally eat all the junk food in sight. What I am thankful for is that even though I was upset I was still able to remember and recognize all the hard work I've put in so far and I didn't want all that to go down the drain. So what I did instead was headed to the bedroom for some 'alone' time.

Other than that my meals were pretty straight forward but I am experimenting a lot with vegetable pancakes. It probably sounds disgusting but its actually really good!

One of the things I've also found is if you are craving juice instead try drinking coconut water. It's good for you and has a subtle sweet taste.

Day 13 - December 14th

What a day... For breakfast I had my normal cottage cheese and side of fruit. For lunch instead of chicken lettuce wraps I made tofu lettuce wraps and it turned out pretty good. After lunch, this is where my day starts to go down hill.

My husband once again buys doughnuts because he is craving doughnuts. I look at them and they look pretty, red with colorful sprinkles, it reminded me of Christmas. So in passing I say "those look good!" I was not at all tempted by the doughnuts I was just making a general statement that they looked good. My husband says that I should eat one and I decline saying I'm trying to eat healthier. He says I should just at least have half of one and I once again say no. This is where he starts to give me attitude and says, "Just eat one! It's not going to make a difference after 30 days your just going to get fat again!" This is where I'm about to lose my sh!t and wanted to eat a doughnut so he'd shut the f*#ck up but thankfully I just removed myself from the situation and went into the bedroom. What a jackass. Maybe in the end he ends up being right and after the challenge I end up gaining 500 lbs and start looking like Jabba the Hutt. But what a f*#ked up thing to do to sabotage someone whose making an active effort to be healthier. In attempt to not fill up this blog entry with expletives I will summarize and simply say that it was very hurtful.

But I made it through the day, sticking to my goal. For dinner I ate my stuffed bell pepper and excluded rice because I'm trying to minimize carbs.

What will tomorrow bring?

Day 14 - December 15th

I completed week two of the challenge and my motivation to complete all 30 days of the challenge is still high. Every once in a while when I hit an emotional low I think back to that Disney movie Meet the Robinsons and decide to "Keep moving forward".

One of my huge food finds in week 2 is that I came across a green smoothie recipe I really liked. You cant taste the spinach at all and its extremely easy to whip up.

This recipe came from the website minimalistbaker.com

Green Smoothie
1 medium banana peeled, quartered and frozen
1/2 c mixed frozen berries
1 tbsp flaxseed
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
2 cups fresh spinach

Onward to week 3!

Day 15 - December 16th

Day 15 was a straightforward day. Now that I have found a tasty green smoothie I am so tempted to drink it all the time. The only thing stopping me is that I read eating too much spinach and foods that are high in oxalate's is bad for you and can create kidney stones. That brings me to my question, exactly how much is too much? I couldn't find a clear answer.

One of the foods that I'm absolutely in love with eating at the moment is avocados. I know that eating too many will have the reverse effect in what I'm trying to accomplish so I try hard to eat them in moderation but they are just so darn tasty!

Day 16 - December 17th

I am half way through my challenge! Temptation is at a all time high with the holidays looming. We just received an assortment of cookies in the mail and I want to eat all of them. Let's see how long I can hold out.

I'm still experimenting with smoothies. Instead of a green smoothie I tried a red smoothie which mainly consisted of strawberries, almond milk, touch of honey and water. It actually turned out pretty good. Still in love with the pre-made rotisserie chicken from the store. On my lazy days it is my go-to meal.

I don't know if its just mental, but I feel overall different, healthier and thinner. I feel like I have more energy. I bought a top from Gap before I started the challenge which was a little tight around the arms and when I put it on the other day it felt loose on me.

So the real test for the last half of the challenge is if I can raise the bar and up my exercise. Why not go out with a bang?

Day 17 - December 18th

I'm back to my breakfast of strawberries and cottage cheese. As far as my other meals of the day I've been eating left over chicken I had. Now I do have to admit, I had a cookie! I had one 100 calorie chocolate chip cookie and it did not taste as good as it looked. Would I call this a total fail? Not necessarily, I think it would be a total fail if I quit and stop trying. I did up my workout yesterday and made it more high intensity (hoping to counter that cookie I had). I do hope I don't relapse completely and have cookies everyday. My overall goal is to still eat healthy and be healthy. Considering I found my first white hair on my head the other day, its just a reminder I'm not getting any younger. It important to me that I continue to try and start making investments in my health.

Even when you hit bumps in the road, keep moving forward!

Day 18 - December 19th

Day 18.... In previous posts I expressed how great I felt and how my stomach didn't hurt like it used to. Day 18 was a bad bad day. My stomach felt off and uneasy all day. In the back of my mind I blame that 100 calorie cookie I ate on day 17!  See that, cookies = poison! I also think it's a combo of my workout on day 17, I did some tough ab exercises. Nevertheless, on day 18 I didn't eat much but I did drink a few cups of chamomile tea.

In my mind I keep asking myself questions, am i allergic to something in cookies, gluten maybe?

Day 19 - December 20th

It's that time, the time when all the Christmas parties start to hit. I attended a Christmas party that had lots of food but what was nice is they had chicken and grilled vegetables. It was delicious and healthy. The hard part is trying to say no to all the yummy stuff, ice cream, pie, cake, fried chicken, punch, cheese and crackers.

On a different note, I keep finding myself at the grocery store. I have gone to the store 3 times this week and I normally go only once a week. Is it just me or is produce prices inflated? It cost more money to eat healthy! It's a conspiracy....

Day 20 - December 21th

We're getting closer to the holidays and my mind is going on vacation mode which means I want to be lazy and watch TV all day. I did manage to go to the gym and had a good workout. As far as food, I noticed that my watermelon I recently purchased has a suspicious hole on the rind (green outside part). I'm now paranoid that when I cut into the watermelon I'll find a worm or some sort of disgusting parasite that has burrowed its way in there. I also made one of my green smoothies which I've decided to have once a week. For some reason today my smoothie turned out to be brown instead of green. I am in love with strawberries at the moment. Why do they have to taste so good but be so expensive?

Day 21 - December 22th

Earlier this week I was at an all time high and doing great. At the end of this week I feel like I'm at war with wanting to eat healthy and be healthy but want to over indulge in and eat all these delicious holiday treats. Is the holidays my kryptonite? Through the day I've been eating healthy but I had a treat and ate some cheese cake :(  I just hope that all the hard work I did the first three weeks is not erased. Next week is my last week, I hope I can hold it all together. At the end of this challenge I want to weight less than what I started at!

Day 22 - December 23th

I did not document this day right away and I am unsure what went on. I have not gained or lost any weight so any slip ups I have had at this point currently are not showing.

Day 23 - December 24th

Day 23 Christmas Eve, this day had its ups and downs. I ate healthy, had my chicken (I am always eating chicken!). Made my strawberry smoothie (healthy version).  The only down side is that I made and decorated cookies with my kid and I ate 3 huge frosting filled cookies. I have not worked out for 2 days because I'm in la-la-land being on vacation.

Day 24 - December 25th
Merry Christmas! Unfortunately for me, this is going in the books as one of the worse days ever. From the moment I opened my eyes the day quickly spiraled into a black hole of despair. I did not eat anything until about 8pm. When I'm sad and depressed I tend not to eat  :(  but when I did finally eat I did have a chicken sandwich with avocado, a small bag of potato chips and a side of pineapple. I wanted to end the challenge going out with a bang but its quickly turning into a tragic tale.

Putting one foot in front of the other... onward we go....

Day 25 - December 26th
Still didn't workout today I hope I get out of this rut very soon. I know it's all a matter of just getting up and doing. The hard part is the "doing" part. Today i did eat the most delicious mango I've had in a long time. It seemed so perfectly ripe and sweet. The only thing I dislike about mangos is that the little fibers get stuck in my teeth. I did eat steak for dinner with a side of mashed potatoes. I've been eating more carbs than I normally do which is a problem especially if I haven't been going to the gym/working out. My immediate goal is to change my mind set and push harder.

Day 26 - December 27th
The morning went well, I had some eggs and avocado for breakfast. My mood shifted to being a little happier than I was the days prior. But in all honestly everything went to hell during dinner time, I ate pizza. It was so bad for me but it tasted so good! This challenge is spiraling out of control, I could have lied and said I didn't have pizza but this is real life and ups and downs happen. My goal for tomorrow is to have a hard workout to cancel out any damage that pizza did. Only a few days left in the challenge but I hope in the long run I can make a mostly permanent change and eat at least 80% healthier than I did before starting the challenge.

Day 27 - December 28th
I can't remember if day 27 was a good day or a bad day. For breakfast I had a mango. and it wasn't as delicious as the previous mango I had. It is sort of hit and miss when it comes to having it as ripe as I like it. Fo lunch I did have about a cup of rice, my favorite carb is rice. It goes with everything but it has nothing to offer as far as nutrients. I ate a very late dinner, I created my simple version of okonomiyaki.

Once in a while when I'm watching TV I see these celebrities who have personal chefs. Sometimes I wonder if I had a personal chef if I would have less temptation as far as food. I wouldn't have to cook anything because I wouldn't be in the kitchen, I could just tell the chef to only prepare healthy meals. If ever the day comes where I have loads of money to waste away I will definitely hire a personal chef for a month to see if it makes a difference.

Day 28 - December 29th
We are coming down to the last couple days of the challenge. Im doing really well when it comes to eating a healthy breakfast and lunch. Where I am falling off is during dinner time. Im failing to meet my low carb rule and ate some white rice. Day 28 my kid also has come down with the flu and I am feeling somewhat stressed about that.

As far as the challenge ending, I have become a huge fan of these 30 day challenges as it helps me strive towards some sort of goal and its fun! I am toying around with the idea of starting the 30 day squat challenge in January. This is not to obtain a huge derriere (which is impossible for me) but to simply keep active. If I keep doing these 30 day challenges, losing a few pounds during each challenge, eventually I will have lost a large amount of weight :)  Is this too optimistic of me?

Day 29 - December 30th
Day 29, it feels like these days have gone by really fast. It was a cold day today and my kid is still sick so I made a beef tomato stew which we ate for both lunch and dinner. The stew is actually healthy the only downsides to it is that it does have white potatoes and we did eat if over rice. Carbs have been my down fall this last week. What happened? I have totally gotten lazy restricting my carbs. I do weigh less than what I started but in the back of my mind I know I could have lost a lot more if I would have stuck to my guns the whole 30 days.

Day 30 - December 31th
It’s the last day of my 30 day healthy eating challenge. During the first few weeks I did really well fighting off temptation. It’s during the last week where I fell off the wagon. My overall successes, I weigh less than where I started at the beginning of the challenge. I learned how to cook a lot of healthy meals and found a lot of favorite healthy foods (avocado, mango, tofu, my vegetable pancakes, etc.). I have experienced first hand that eating healthy has a huge impact on how my body feels.

I plan to continue to incorporate healthy meals as part of my regular routine and I will always continue to work at bettering myself. Thank you for all of those who have kept me company during my journey.

My ending weight is 154.2 I lost about a lb a week, even with slip ups near the end.