Day 6 - My First Dessert

I woke up early today to attend a workout class at the gym. I actually woke up before the alarm and didn't feel like going back to sleep! That's a good sign! So I got up and got dressed after Facebook scrolling for a few minutes, and actually had time to make myself breakfast. 

Pinapple, mango, coconut milk, and ice to make my smoothie. I wish I had some Protien powder to put in there. I seen this Chai Protien powder on the Bob's Mill website. I wonder what that tastes like because I like Chai! I haven't looked up any benefits associated with that either so much to look into. And my side of banana. I've been trying to keep those in my diet, and I've had less foot cramps because of it. Bonus!

Attended this class and it wasn't too bad. Even though I got up early, I still managed to be almost late. So I didn't get to pick the weights I needed, just enough time to get my step and get going. So this class is 50% cardio and 50% strength. It's a pretty fun upbeat class, teacher was well informative with the moves also so it made it easy to follow. Not like my feet were but my brain was. I worked it and thought I was done with that half, and I shouldn't even have looked at the clock because it actually had only been 15 minutes. Ugh! I continued to muscle through the class even though my legs were jello and the weights weren't heavy enough, and the squats were definitely not low enough. I finished and on my way to the day. And that's why I like early morning workouts. 

I get home an nuzzle into the couch with a grapefruit and almond chips to continue season 6 of The Walking Dead marathon. I managed to take a break later in the afternoon to make some real food, eggs and bacon, and finally a chance to make a dessert!!

Paleo Triple Layer Chocolate Caramel Layer Slice. And man that top layer made with avocado was sooo good! I only made half a batch - which was 4 bars - but I will definitely consider making these again. 

That's the beautiful thing about Paleo, I can still have all the good stuff - just made without all the bad stuff. 

Day 5 - My Healthscore

I had my Healthscore assessment today. Lucky for me, as a new member it's free, but if I want it again it's $100 - eek! So what they do, is take your blood pressure, prick your finger and do a blood analysis, have you stand of that machine to measure body fat, and then put all the results together and give you a score. 

So the only thing I got docked for was percent body fat. No surprise there. He was alarmed at my glucose level which was 42, and apparently normal is 60, even though my mom said 70, but people only get docked if it's too high, not too low. But the number makes sense, since I'm not eating grains and sugar. My mom said my glucose level is similar to someone in a coma, so I better figure a way to get my levels to normal while keeping my dietary lifestyle. 

So here's the body fat, no surprise here. I'm at the very top of average. But I need to get it down to 16-20. Sounds easy enough. I'm sure I'll get there. 

Here's this screen again, looks a tad bit different than the other day, but not so different that it makes a difference. But I just found out a little more this time. And the number I'm focusing on is the 19 lbs if fat, and the PBF (percent body fat). As long as those reduce then I'll feel much better. 

Just a couple of other number I'll be watching. Maybe in a year I'll do another assessment. Should be interesting.

No exercise for me today. But I did buy a fabulous black dress and now I have the motivation I need. I look good in it already but I know I can look better! So excited to show you in a few weeks!!

Day 4 - On My Own

So I tried working out on my own today. And by that I mean not attending a class. It's not as fun and motivating as one would think.

I started out thinking I was going to do an hour on this contraption. I wasn't but 10 minutes in and decided to switch up the routine. My thighs and calves here on fire! And because I was by myself, it was easy to give up, or maybe something to build up to. Maybe I set my goals too high. None-the-less I stayed on the machine for 15 minutes.

And then I did 6 reps of 15 on these two Free Motion machines. 

And then I set out to do 1/2 hour on this machine, but again only ended up doing 15 minutes. And that is what I discovered about working out by myself. Even though I keep busy, it's much easier to move around. After this it was hot tub and steam room! Ahhhhh - how blissful. After all that I didn't really feel like I did a whole lot, and almost felt bad about it. That is until I left the locker room and my whole body felt like jello. Then I felt a lot more satisfied with what I had done. I don't want to burn myself out, and I won't start off being work out champion of the year, and I will achieve my goal so it's all good!  

But man was I hungry today!! I started work at 3am, and as soon as I got there I ate my chili, couple hours later I had an orange. When I got home, more eggs and chorizo, with a few of these bad boys:

And I must say they aren't bad. I know I'm trying to stay away from processed foods, but sometimes a girl needs a little something crunchy in her life!! And dispite what they say they're made of, they taste nuttier than I imagined. And then came dinner - the masterpiece of them all:

Fried zucchini in ghee with some salt and pepper; salmon with ghee, lemon, salt &I pepper, and thyme; and a grapefruit (not pictured). It was SO good - I'm definitely making it again. Zucchini had a little too much salt but other than that I was a perfect dish:) Mmmmmm.

Day 3 - Work-It Session

My new membership at Lifetime came with a free "Move-It" session. I used that today. All it was is a session with a personal trainer to discuss goals, my achievement plan, an overview of some of the newer machines, and she showed me a couple of techniques I could use on some of the machines and equipment to target some of my problem areas. Which are: my back fat of a muffin top, and my lack of booty. I know that all in due time, especially if I keep it up. But who's gonna hold me accountable? Can I have a few volunteers please?

So while I was there I stepped on this machine that ran electrical currents through my body and read my body mass ratio fat ratio stuff. So here it is - to no surprise. I'll be doing this once a month to map progress. I'm so glad they have this machine. Back many years ago, I joined Golds Gym, and to measure body fat, they physically pulled the skin in various parts of my body and measured it. That was so embarrassing. This was much easier to intake. Probably because I don't really understand the numbers, it just looks cool. 

I probably should have taken the picture before I ate two of these bad boys today but I didn't think of it, I was too hungry. I had a banana and a coffee for breakfast at 8am, and didn't get back home to eat until 2. I definitely wasn't going to spend money on eating out so I thought I'd wait. Which I feel pretty good about:) I ate one of these with some plain scrambled eggs. And then had a grapefruit a few hours later, and for dinner had a sweet potato fries in sugar free bacon grease and another sausage.

So yummy! And yes it's on a paper towel to soak up the excess grease. And yes I said fried in sugar free bacon grease. Don't you keep your bacon grease for frying? If you don't you should. Fry potatoes, chicken, anything really. And since I use that sugar free bacon now - all the better:)

Like the trainer said today - take it all in small strides. Mmmmm......bacon. 

Day 2 -Tried Yoga

My bestie Angie and I went to Slowburn Yoga before church today. I'm not the best at yoga but it was a nice start of the day/week. I wasn't feelin too sore from the two classes yesterday - well that was until she had us do some kinda squat pose and my thighs started yelling at me. So needless to say they weren't the lowest squats but I did them none-the-less. And the back bend, which I once did so easily, wasn't feeling the greatest either, and I don't know if it's because of the lower back exercises from the TCX class or because I'm just not as limber as I used to be. We shall see because I think I'd like to continue with this routine, but we'll see if it works out. It did feel nice to stretch everything out.

Tried the protein shake at the Lifetime Cafe today after Yoga. Whey Protien, coconut milk, strawberry, and Pineapple. Tasted more Protien then anything else, but it was good. Probably not part of the routine, but I remember the P90X system always had a protein shake after the workouts. So probably not a bad idea if I made them myself though. 

I always thought whey was a grain of some sort, but when I looked at the menu I saw "grass-fed whey" and I was confused so I looked it up:

Whey protein is a mixture of globular proteins isolated from whey, the liquid material created as a by-product of cheese production. Whey protein is commonly marketed as a dietary supplement, and various health claims have been attributed to it in the alternative medicine community.

By product of cheese? That's sounds nasty. Also another reason I won't be having them too much - I cut out dairy. 

But I did have a delicious first meal after church. Eggs with green pepper, onion, and garlic; sweet potato fried in ghee, sugar free bacon (my fav!!), and OJ. Hopefully I'll cut done on the portion one day, but I was starved! And with this dietary plan I'm on, I can eat as much as I want.

What dietary plan you ask? No dairy, no sugar, no grains. Easy enough:)

I did happen to sneak some chili in that I made later that night, which was actually very fabulous. This dietary plan usually is without beans as well, but I think they're actually good for you in moderation. 

So here's the before picture. I thought I'd save you from having sore eyes and kept my shirt on - but I'll continue to give updates with these same exact clothes and you can see the difference in how they fit - and maybe some day I can take a bikini picture of the actual final results! Yay! 

Day 1 - Yes, I'm back at 1

So last year didn't turn out so well. Same ole story. Lost weight - Gained weight - lost - gained - then gave up. So here I am again to give it another good try. Hopefully I find something that finally sticks. I would love this to be a lifestyle change and not a this year change. That's why I'm starting before the new year because I don't want this to be a resolution. I'm starting now - and there's no time like the present. I don't have any day 1 body shots - but if you remember last year - it pretty much looks just like that!

My main focus is strength training and endurance. I'm going for the Spartan Ultra Beast challenge this year. It's in August - so that gives me 8 months! The regular Beast was exhausting enough - I have to come fully prepared this time. 

So here's what my day 1 was like:

I started my day in a cycle class. Mind you, the last time I tried to ride a bike in the morning, it proved to be a painful experience. I already had it in my head that I was pushing it, but hey - let's give it a whirl. I soon discovered it wasn't any less painful then I remembered, only this time, there were a room full of people judging my every move if I stopped - awesome. So as I cycling away, my thighs on fire and my crotch numb as heo TCXll, I look at the lady in front of me. Now her intbutt is way smaller than mine and I see what it looks like compared to the small bike seat and I can only be thankful that I'm in the back row because I'm sure the seat has been swallowed up in my if ol butt at this point. I finished none-the-less but I really don't know if it's for me. Maybe every once in awhile.

I moved from that class and straight TCX - which isn't a very good idea following a cycle class by the way. And that class was more difficult than the first TCX class I took. But it's one I really enjoy. After all that I was done for the day.

Got home from the gym and grocery store and I was starving! Time to get to work on a poor mans paleo diet. Eggs, with oinon, garlic, green pepper, and tuna. So yummy! Probably gonna eat that a lot!

I also found and tried these bad boys today. Don't get too excited - they tasted like tomato. I was expecting a wow factor and just got blah.

So all in all it was pretty successful day 1.  But then again - aren't they all?