Weight-Lifting with the Bae and Bro

I'm terrible about consistency. I make promises and promises to myself and to anybody who even reads this blog, but I just never carry through with it.

I try and try and then life gets in the way.

Ugh.

I'm still not where I want to be yet with my physical appearance but I'm much closer than I was. I'm looking hella good compared to where I was 2 summers ago.

Recently I've started weight-lifting out with my boyfriend Stephen and my older brother Eric twice a week. Our workout primarily consists of bench, squats, shoulders, and auxiliaries. When I started working out with them about a month anda half ago I was benching and squatting 70 lbs. This week I benched 80 lbs and my squat was 90 lbs. I still haven't focused on what the best auxiliaries for me would be, but that's happening tonight! I've got my workout tomorrow and so I wanted to get down some of this info.

I even have pictures for you!

Here's the bae :) <3


Here's the bro


And here's a few pics of me now :)

On my way to 160!

Hey I'm gonna make this quick because I'm just all over the place right now.

I missed blogging on Friday. I went on down to Muncie to visit some girlfriends for the weekend. Then shortly after that I contracted a cold.

Who gets a cold in July?!

It's just rude that's what it is....

Anyway, I weighed myself today and...

TADA! I weigh 168.8!!!

I am well on my way to reaching 160 lbs and then I'm gonna push myself to reach 150.

Woot woot!

Take Shape for Life-Starting Over

Well 'ello there! Long time no see!

I've been struggling with my weight loss over the past year or so. It's something that I've really wanted to work on, but I just lack(ed) the dedication and discipline. I heard from a friend, a Miss Stephanie Smiley, about Take Shape for Life. It's a program where they help you to lose the weight and then keep it off. So many diets help you to lose the weight, but then after you've lost it you gain it right back. That's what happened with me. I saw results when I was working out with Insanity and doing the Advocare, but I never saw a way to sustain my healthier lifestyle. 

With TSFL I feel like I've got more energy throughout the day because I'm grazing rather than having my 3 meals. I like that I can have snacks throughout the day and then I can still have my meals. It helps keep my metabolism up and keep those calories burning. 

I've been struggling with a few things though when it comes to eating all the meals and what we're not supposed to eat. I would still go out to eat with friends and when I went out to eat I wasn't exactly getting the healthiest foods. Plus the real kicker I think was the fact that I was still drinking wine and beer. That's a no-no. 

So new game plan! I've sworn off wine and beer. And my amazing awesome supportive boyfriend has also said that he would stop drinking beer with me :) 

Let's take a look at where I was at the beginning of this blog way back in June of last year....

Summer of 2014

Weight was: 188.4 lbs

Waist measurement was: 36"

Hip measurement was: 43"

Thigh measurement was: 27"

When I started TSFL in February 2015

Weight was: 184.2 lbs

Right arm:14.5
Right leg: 26.75
Waist measurement was: 34

Hip measurement was: 42.5

Bust measurement was: 38.5

Alright now we get down to it. The crux of the whole thing, at least at this moment. Let's see how much I've lost since February 2015...

My current weight loss

Weight is: 170.2 lbs

Right arm:13.5
Right leg: 24.75
Waist measurement is: 32.5

Hip measurement is: 39.5

Bust measurement is:37

How much have I lost with TSFL???
Weight: 14 lbs
Right arm: 1 in
Right leg: 2 in
Waist: 1.5 in
Hip: 3 in
Bust: 1.5 in

Look at me go!!!


Now you may be asking, or you may not, what is your game plan? Well since I have an issue with commitment and keeping things organized...I decided to get organized. I've got a hell-of-a-lot of reminders on my phone thanks to my handy-dandy Google calendar. What I'd like to try doing is updating this blog every Friday with a Weigh-In count. Then at the end of the month doing a full on measurement jamboree. 

You may also be asking, "Well Amy you're doing this weight loss program/healthier living, but what is your end goal? How much are you wanting to lose? What are you wanting to gain from this program?"

Both are excellent questions. Thank you for asking.

I've thought and thought about this since I was really a senior in high school. I was starting to get uncomfortable in my body as I gained weight. I gained the Freshman 15 and then some in college and was never really able to get it off. My weight goal is to be at 150 lbs. Once I'm there I'll see if I can/want to go any more than that. 

According to the BMI index: 

BMI Categories: 

Underweight = <18.5

Normal weight = 18.5–24.9 

Overweight = 25–29.9 

Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

With my height at 5'6" and weight at 170 I am 27.4. This puts me in the overweight category. If I weighed 150 lbs that would put me in the normal weight category. Now I know that the BMI index doesn't account for everything seeing as how everyone has different body types. It also doesn't take into account for muscle mass, which is something else that I plan to work on. 

STILL! I want to aim for 160 lbs. When I attain 160 lbs I want to push myself to get that 150 lbs so that I can actually be more physically fit. 

Being physically fit: I want to participate in a Color Run this coming September with a few friends in South Bend. It's a 5k and it's a load of fun! This means that I'm going to have to make time and the effort to be running/exercising during the week. I still need to figure that out. To be honest, it frightens me a bit. Along with more cardio, I want to weight lift with my brother and cousin during the week. They already have a system set up that works for them and I'm hoping that I can meld myself into that system. 

I was told by my OBGYN that women in their 20s and 30s need to be more physically active and working to create stronger bones because they start deteriorating at an alarming rate. SO! I need to get active!

Wow this turned out to be a long blog post. Hope it was as good for you as it was for me ;) I'll see you again on Friday!

In other news

I probably should have posted this when I started running, but whatever!

Mkay so if you go way back in my blog you'll see that I was keeping track of my weight and hip to waist measurements. Well I was doing that every week and it got a lil tedious. So what I was thinking of doing is keeping track of my hip and waist measurements every month. I feel like if I do it every week or even every other week there's not going to be a lot of change to monitor.

But I would just like to say that when I started working out this summer I weighed 186. And even though I wasn't eating as well/ drinking more mtn dew than I should have, I came back from summer vacation weighing 180. Well I just spur of the moment checked my weight before taking a shower this morning and I'm down to 177.

Yay!

I know it's small, but it shows that I'm making progress. My long-term goal is to lose 40 lbs. I don't remember the last time I weighed 140....Probably back in junior high? Idk. I've always looked ok because the weight is all displaced well across my body. I'm thankful for that. I don't have a huge pudge in the middle of my stomach to work around. It's just all in that lower ab/thigh area for me. 

But yea my goal is to eventually lose 40 lbs. I'm thinking of doing something for myself each time I lose 10 lbs. I dunno :) 

Oh! and my roommate got me this dress last year that buttons from top to bottom and it was too small :/ The top part buttoned fine but it was too tight around my middle and thigh area. Well last night just for shits n giggles I tried it on and it buttoned! There was some room to move in it, but it still puckered a bit where the buttons fastened. But hey! I could wear it :) So that dress is gonna be my milestone marker. I'm gonna keep checking myself in it from time to time to see how it fits/how much weight I've lost. 

I guess I could post a pic of me in it....I'll do that later lol

New plan of action

My original plan of action had been to get up at 7 every day, which I do, and then go for my run before my first class at 9. That would give me just enough time to run, shower, and get out the door. But.....the problem has been that I'll wake up to my alarm and then proceed to hit snooze again and again and again until it's like 8:30 and I've got just enough time to put on pants and hop on my bike.

Today followed that same suit. Wake up at 7, stay in bed til 8:30, and then class. But then as soon as I got home I put on my workout clothes and got out the door. I went for my run, took a shower, and had enough time to lazily put on makeup and fix myself my meal replacement shake from Advocare.

The new plan of action is to wake up at 8 and go to class then come back and run, shower, make a shake, and go to my next class. It's still early enough to kind of be considered morning. But really what I'm looking at is I don't want to run in front of people. Yes, I'm insecure. I'd just like to not really be judged for this and so I don't want to run in front of a lot of people. Today there were a few people out but it wasn't that bad because it was still morning and no one likes morning classes.

So I'm gonna try this out and hopefully this should work fairly well.

Breaking in my running shoes

Got up and ran another 2 miles!
Woot!

Making sure to take my Advocare products. I'm through the Cleansing Phase and into the Max Phase. I really like the meal replacement shake. Tastes like chocolate!

Breaking in my running shoes :)

Dealing with Reality

(heavy sigh)
Coming back to school has been so hard for me. When I was taking classes over the summer I was in a regime. I had class. I did my homework. I worked out. I ate healthy (ish). Then I go home and I'm not gonna lie I drank a lot of mtn dew. I'm a sugar queen :/ I was still eating pretty healthy. But I was out of sync.

I had thought that once I got back to school I would get back into a regime. I would wake up early. I would work out. Hell I even bought this product called Advocare from my cousin and I thought I would really give this a try.

All I ended up doing was not doing my homework, spending my excess time on imgur, and watching movies.

I've been using the Advocare products albeit inconsistently.
I've been eating out more than I should.
I've been slacking when it comes to doing my homework.
And I've been hitting the snooze when it comes up to getting my ass out of bed and running in the morning.

Now I could try and do my exercise later in the day, but if I'm really honest with myself I won't do it. I'll get to busy with other things that are going on in my life. I just won't do it. So it's either morning or late at night, which is when I like to hang out with my friends.

But this morning I woke up anxious, again, about how I have no traction right now. We just finished the 3rd week of school and I'm floundering all over the place! I haven't been doing my homework for my practicum classes (important classes for my teaching degree), I haven't been using the product that I spent over $100 on, and I'm not happy.

So this morning I kicked myself in the ass.

I wrote a letter to myself saying how I know that I'm pretty but I'm not comfortable. I at least have some self-esteem, but I'm not comfortable in my own body. I look at myself and I see a smaller me just wanting to get out. Kind of what I'd said in previous entries. But yea, it's really been bothering me that I've been so lazy! And my lil brother is really my idol through all this. I mean he used to be so introverted and so shy and he just flipped a switch and now he's a catalyst and just amps up everything that he's involved in. He's been unhappy with the weight that he gained his freshman year and he's taken it upon himself to go work it off. He's done a Tough Mutter and he's run in all these races. Even when he was in Washington D.C this summer for his internship he found the time to run. He's just all around amazing and my role model right now. And I feel like I'm letting him down.....

I want to change. 

No one else is going to get me to do it.

I have to do it. 

And I'm definitely getting angry enough with myself for being lazy

I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines.

I need to get the fuck up and do something about it.

So today I ran 2 miles.
I'm gonna run another 2 miles tomorrow.

And the day after that.

Until it becomes a system.

When I go over to Germany I'll find something to do so that I stay on track. I will. But this is the present and I need to get my shit together because frankly I hate dealing with all this anxiety. I can't. I need to get my life together. 

So before I could talk myself out of it I did something about it this morning. Now I just gotta do it again tomorrow and the day after that.