sunsetlove

I’m so depressed. I have fallen off the wagon and it is so challenging to get back on!

I have regained every ounce I lost earlier this year. In July, when I moved back to my parent’s house, I still weighed 200lbs. It’s been 4 months now, and I have gained 13lbs due to a poor diet and inactivity.

Life is so hard living back at my parent’s. For starters, I don’t have a room or a closet! And it’s so hard having all of my stuff stored in the garage. I am sleeping on a couch in my little brother’s room and feel so tired and stiff when I get up in the morning!! My brother spends a lot of time playing video games with his friends and I cannot go to sleep early like I did back at my apartment. I have to literally wait around until they all leave. Since my brother’s illness got a little worse, it’s harder for me to come around telling him not to play with his friends. I want him to distract himself with his friends.

OH GOSH, don’t get my started on my diet, cause it’s out the door! My mom cooks the best Mexican food and it’s so hard to eat healthy. Too much temptation at home!! I do buy healthy foods and snacks but they get eaten by other family members or sometimes go to waste because I eat my mom’s food.

As for my exercise, that’s been thrown out the door as well. Initially, when I had just moved into my parent’s house, my bf and I would go run at the park, but then it started getting harder for me to find the energy to go run. We stopped going to the park after I got a really bad cold and felt so weak.I did manage to buy an elliptical machine but since I have no room…it’s now stored in my parent’s carport, all covered up to avoid it getting wet.

I can’t explain it, but I have been so depressed ever since I moved back into my parent’s. I have told this to my sister and boyfriend repeatedly…I feel trapped. The reason I moved back to my parent’s was because my sister and I decided to enter the real estate market and try to buy a house. We moved out in July thinking it wouldn’t take long to get a house. However, around that same time, the govt offered the 1st time home buyer’s credit and the market got flooded with buyers. The housing prices are still relatively cheap, however, since there are so many competitors, it’s been so difficult to get a house. We have fallen out of Escrow TWICE because the properties are not appraising and the sellers are not willing to lower the price.

My sister is actually going house shopping with our realtor today. And while we keep on searching, I have nearly given up on this buying-a-house business. I really don’t care if we buy a house at this point, all I really want is to MOVE OUT of my parent’s. —Which brings up yet another issue. My parent’s own a second property which they rent out. They are having problems with the current tenants (always late with the rent and have brought-in additional tenants!!), so they are  considering asking for the house back and allowing my sister and I to move-in and rent it out meanwhile we find our first house. Well, this has been the topic of dinner talks, but no action has been taken.

As you can see, my life has been a whirlwind. I  feel that I have no control over my life and it’s so stressful. And yes, I wish my family was more considerate, but that’s not the case. I have hope that either 1. My parent’s kick out the tenants and my sister and I move-in or 2. We buy a house soon. I am certain that once I am on my own again, it will be so much easier to get back on the wagon.

I need support….

Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

You don’t want to spend long hours at the gym, but you want to get stronger, fitter, leaner, and just plain look good. It’s possible that you’re not getting the most out of your workout time.

It’s possible to get a super-effective workout in 30 minutes, and only do a few workouts a week, if you maximize your workouts.

Disclaimer: First, I’m not a certified trainer. These are tips I’ve read elsewhere that work well for me. Second, you should always get a doctor’s approval of any new workout plan. This plan is especially intense, so if you have a heart condition or other condition that might be affected by heavy exercise, you should definitely refrain from trying it until you’ve gotten checked out by a doctor.

And even if you have gotten checked out, or even if you don’t bother doing so, it’s still important to start out an exercise program slowly, until your body has the chance to adjust, or you will face burnout or injury.

Don’t dive right into this program — it’s designed for people who have already been working out but want to see better results, quicker, and spend less time doing it. Here’s how to do it.

1. Limit your workouts to 30-40 minutes. Though the tendency of some people who really want to get a lot out of their workouts is to spend a lot of time at the gym, the truth is that after 30 or 40 minutes, the benefit isn’t as great. To go that long, you’d have to lower the intensity of the workout, and that means that you’re spending too much time working out. It’s better to work out at a higher intensity for a shorter amount of time.
2. High-intensity workouts. If you’re just starting out with exercise, it’s best to take it slow. If you’re running or cycling, for example, build up your endurance for at least a month before you get into anything more intense. That means going at a rate where you can easily talk without being out of breath. However, once you have that base of endurance, step up the intensity to step up the effectiveness of the workout.
3. Protein. Many people don’t pay enough attention to getting the protein their muscles need to rebuild. If you don’t, you are going to get very little out of your workout, as both cardio and strength workouts require protein for building muscles. I recommend either whey or soy protein shakes.
4. Water. Be sure to hydrate throughout the day. It takes a couple of hours for your body to absorb the water, so you can’t just drink right before exercise. Make it a habit to drink water regularly throughout the day.
5. Carbs. Although the low-carb craze might say otherwise, carbs are our body’s main source of fuel. If you do intense workouts, you will need carbs, or you won’t have enough energy. If you do a shake, be sure to include carbs — or a banana is a great source of low fiber/high glycemic carbohydrates that you need for exercise.
6. Shake before and after workout. It’s best to take a protein/carb shake just before your workout and then just after. Taking it before your workout increases the flow of amino acids to your muscles during training, giving them the building blocks they need. After the workout, the shake stimulates muscle growth. Also take a small protein/carb meal 60-90 minutes after a workout — a meal replacement bar would work fine.
7. Slow lifting. Many people contract their muscles slowly and then release more quickly. But if you lift slowly in both directions, you are maximizing each move. Lift and lower to a 5-second count in each direction.
8. Heavier weight. When you’re starting out, it’s best to start with lower weights so you can focus on good form. But once you’ve gotten your form down, it’s best to lift the heaviest weights you can lift while still keeping good form. Don’t sacrifice form for heavy weights — that is ineffective. But heavy weights, with good form, can give you better results in a shorter amount of time. Heavy weights are not just for those who want to bulk up — that’s a common misconception.
9. One set, to failure. Instead of doing 2-3 sets, as many people do, maximize your effectiveness by doing just one, with heavy weights, until you can no longer keep the proper form. Lifting to “failure” doesn’t mean that you should lift the last few times with a wobbly or inefficient form.
10. Compound exercises. Instead of isolating your muscles with exercises such as the bicep curl, you can maximize the time you spend in a workout by doing exercises that work out multiple muscle groups at once. With just a few exercises, you could get a full-body workout. Another benefit is that your muscles are working together as they do in the real world, rather than alone. Some great compound exercises include squats, deadlifts, good mornings, lunges, pushups, bench presses, military presses, rows, pullups, dips, and more.
11. Balance lifting. Instead of having exercises where you’re sitting down or holding on to something or otherwise stabilized, it’s more effective to do them standing up, or on one leg, or on a Swiss exercise ball. These types of exercises force you to balance yourself while lifting, which brings your core muscles into play. This gives you a stronger overall body and allows you to lift more over time.
12. Pick a cardio exercise you enjoy. It’s no fun to exercise if you hate it. And you won’t keep it up for very long. Pick something that’s fun — running, walking, swimming, biking, hiking, rowing, stairmaster, etc. After the initial phase when you’re getting used to exercise, you’ll start to have a blast and look forward to it.
13. Mix it up. Don’t stick to the same workout routine for too long, or your body will adjust to the stress level and you won’t be getting an effective workout. For strength training, change your routine every few weeks. For cardio, it’s best to cross train rather than, say, to run every time.
14. Good form. For strength training especially, and swimming, form is very important, but it’s also important for other types of exercise. If you’re strength training, start with lighter weights so you can work on your form. It’s good to have an experienced spotter or trainer who knows good form to help you for the first month or so. Never sacrifice form for heavier weight. For swimming, you’ll need to get a coach to teach you form.
15. Hills. If you run or bike or walk for cardio, you’ll want to incorporate hills (after the first month or two of doing it at an easy pace on flat ground). These will make you stronger and make your limited workout time even more effective. Take them easy at first, but once you’re used to hills, you can get a good pace going. Either use a hilly route or do repeats on one hill.
16. Circuits. One mistake that people make is to do multiple sets of the same exercise without rest between the sets. This doesn’t allow your muscles to recover and it’s a waste of your workout. But instead of doing a set, resting, and then doing your second set, it’s more effective to move on to multiple exercises in a circuit, so that you don’t rest between exercises but do rest each muscle group. This will give you a good cardio workout while you do your strength training.
    

The ideal workout plan
If you take all of these tips into account, the ideal plan would be to alternate 2-3 days of high-intensity strength training with 2-3 days of high-intensity cardio. You could get by with 4 days of exercise if you do them at high intensity.

The high-intensity strength training would be 30-40 minutes of circuit training, with no rest or little rest between exercises within a circuit, and a short rest between circuits if you do more than one. The circuit should work out your entire body, using compound exercises such as the squat, deadlift, pullups, good mornings, etc., and either standing or using a Swiss ball so that you are working out your core. You should use heavier weights, one set for each exercise, doing them slowly (5 second up, 5 seconds down), and to exhaustion, making sure to have good form on each exercise.

You would have a protein/carb shake before and after the workout, and a small meal of protein/carbs within 60-90 minutes of the workout. Water is also important for both types of workouts.

The high-intensity cardio would be something you enjoy doing. You would do interval training, at a rate where you couldn’t talk, with short rests in between intervals. On some workouts, you would incorporate hills.

Remember, these high-intensity workouts are not for people just starting out. You should build up an endurance base before doing the high-intensity cardio, and start the weights with lighter weights, stressing good form.

Source: http://zenhabits.net/2007/06/16-tips-to-triple-your-workout-effectiveness/

Hey Buddies,

Sorry I have gone missing for a few weeks now!! I have not been doing that well. For these past three weeks, I have not been doing much exercise and have not been sticking to my diet. I know for a fact I gained 2lbs a 1 week ago, but have not weighed myself since… too scared!! I have been overly emotional about this and super depressed about “falling off the wagon”. I was doing really well before falling off the wagon…it was actually a new intense workout that I tried that got me really sore, to the point that I had to stop working out for three days, then after that, it went downhill…I had to travel to another state for a few days (for work) and I was eating irregular and working late hours. When I got back, I felt out of shape…I hadn’t eaten healthy and hadn’t worked out in two weeks. I am starting off my my third non-healthy week (this week) and I feel horrible. I don’t know how to get back on the wagon. I don’t feel motivated and feel a little stressed that I cannot get it together. I am the kind that freaks out without a game plan. I am OK now, but last week I was worse…I cried for two days straight…I looked like a frog at work with my eyes really puffy from the crying. My bf tried to console me and tried to keep me positive, but it’s just really hard to see the light when you think that losing weight is impossible. I don’t think it’s impossible now, but I think it’s really hard. I feel like I am doing this on my own, and it’s so hard. I FEEL SO ALONE! I really need some motivation…or a shove!! Thanks for hearing me out!

OH NOOOO!!! My body took a huge toll on this new diet and completely broke down!!! I have a full-blown cold! This really sucks!! I know it’s really because of the lack of nutrients in my diet that come from good carbs. Well, I’m now taking a multi-vitamin and Vitamin C with my diet, to support my immune system. I can’t lose weight with a low immune system!!

After work, I went to Walgreens and I bought Ketostixs (~$10) to measure the amount of ketons in my urine—ultimately, to tell me if my body is already in Ketosis and if it’s now burning fat for energy. The strip came out 80mg of Ketones, it was a dark rose color. Zero mg of Ketones in your urine is normal (which means your body is not burning fat for fuel, instead it’s breaking down all the carbs you eat and turning them into the glucose your body needs for fuel) and 160 is heavy (which means your body is really breaking down a lot of fat for fuel; your kidney converts your stored body fat and ketones are produced during this process—eventually all the excess ketones end up in your urine, so this is how you can tell if you are in Ketosis: by doing a Ketostix test). Anyways, it’s good to know that this hard work is actually getting me somewhere. Aside from my cold, I feel great. Really light and I do not have stomach aches like in the past (when I was not taking care of myself!!)

The great news is that I weighed myself and I am NOW under 200lbs!!! I am at 198!!! I cannot believe it! I see no difference in my body…between now and when I was 220 or 214. But I do feel so much better (!!!), which is what really matters, right?!!

Okay, so I survived Day #3, just 7 days to go…

Okay, so I survived a second day on Turbo Slim!! I am so excited I’m hanging on in there!! I am definitely motivated to continue on and finish my 10-days!!

OMG, I am definitely starting to feel the Ketosis state, guys. I am serious!! I felt so lightheaded, cold/clammy, metallic breath, and I feel like I’m catching a cold but it doesn’t come!! These are all symptoms of Ketosis. I also don’t feel hungry as I thought I would!

Okay, so yesterday I ate: Breakfast-3 egg whites and one whole egg with 1 cup of broccoli. For snack I drank a raspberry-whey protein & flaxseed smoothie. For Lunch I ate a turkey-alfalfa-sprouts half whole wheat sandwich. For snack, I had 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese and 1 tblspn of paprika (not a good combination!!). For dinner I had salmon with asparagus, cucumber and romaine lettuce. I also did 40 mins of cardio and the 20 min ab workout.

You know what? After doing my workout, I felt sooo energized. I actually felt really light and great!! I told my bf I’d weigh myself 5 days into the program, but couldn’t help it, so I went to weigh myself!!!! I weighed 201!!! I could not believe it, so I had to weigh myself a few times over to make sure the scale was “working”—hahaha!! This was definitely a motivating factor to continue on the 10-day and not give up!!

The only sadddd part is that I feel like I’m first losing weight from my chest!!! I don’t have much to begin with and that is just wrong!! lol I wish we could pick and choose what places we should lose weight from!!

OK, Just 7 days to go!!…

Wooo-hooo!!

My first day on this 10-day slim fast was okay, overall. In the morning, I ate my breakfast, which consisted of cottage cheese, strawberries, a strip of turkey bacon and one slice of whole wheat bread. I felt great! 2.5 hours after breakfast, I drank my strawberry-whey-protein smoothie and I, again, felt great. By noon, I was eating my tuna salad (sooo good!!) and didn’t feel so bad. I actually felt full. However, after my food intake got burned up by my body…I started feeling really lightheaded and I had a faint headache. I needed sugar or carbs!! I kept working and trying to forget about food, but it was HARD! I guess once you know you are on “diet” mode, you tend to somehow think about food the MOST!! And to make matters worse, my cubicle is close by a conference room, so yesterday, there was a meeting going on and they had stocks of muffins, cookies and coffee sitting on a table outside!! I had to pass by that table every time I needed to go to the restroom!! :-O 2.5 hours after lunch, I had my second snack—celery and peanut butter. I’m glad I like celery, otherwise this could have been hard!! After getting out of work, I went to the grocery store and bought some more ingredients that I’ll be needing in the next few days. Once I got home, I went directly to change in to my workout clothes and began my Turbo Jam Cardio workout (43-45 mins). After working out, I ate my dinner—1/4 cup brown rice, 4 oz of chicken, 1/2 cup of onion and 1 cup of snow peas (it smelled and tasted so good!—maybe it was hunger. haha) After eating my dinner, I got a burst of energy and didn’t feel lightheaded anymore. I went to bed feeling my muscles relaxed, my stomach satisfied and happy that I survived DAY ONE of Turbo Slim. Just 9 more days to go….

Okay guys, so I ordered more of the Turbo Jam DVDs I am already working out to…I got different DVDs from the ones I have, of course. I got my package on Friday! It only took 2 days to receive my order, which was really great!

So, one of the things outlined in the program is to try the 10 day kick-start, called “Turbo Slim”. They outline what you should be eating—breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner and tell you which DVD to workout to, everyday, for those 10 days. This Turbo Slim is essentially a cleanse and literally a kick start to a lifestyle change. The meal plan consists of a low-carb, high-protein diet. I’ll be drinking whey protein every other day and eating stuff like Halibut (fish) and drinking flaxseed every other day, as well. After the 10 days, I’ll re-incorporate complex carbs and all the other healthy stuff—fruits. By the end of the Turbo Slim, they say I should have boosted up my metabolism and have dropped a few good pounds!

Today is my 1st of 10 days and so far …so good!! I have eaten my breakfast, snack and right this second I am eating my lunch….and…HONESTLY…I am not hungry at all. I thought I wouldn’t last through the Blueberry Whey Protein Smoothie, but I don’t think it’s bad at all, and it def filled me up. I am drinking 60+ oz of water everyday, including green tea.

I will definitely post my progress along the way and will give a small summary of my 10-day experience and results on Thursday, March 26th—the day after finishing the Turbo Slim. I already took my measurements, weight (203 lbs) and have taken my “Before” pics…I did this last night before bed. If all goes good, I’ll definitely recommend it to you all and give you an outline on how you can also do this kick-start!!

If anyone else has tried this, please let me know how it went for you!!

Best wishes to all and may this new week be off to a great start!!

I think any girl’s dream is to burn fat and gain LEAN muscle.

Last night, as I finished my 20 min Ab workout and my 40 min cardio, I began to think about how strong my calves are getting everytime I finish a workout. It got me paranoid as I began thinking that I will bulk up!! I am afraid that I will not become leaner but will only tone… I’m afraid of staying thick!

I told my bf all my concerns and he assured me that I wouldnt’ bulk up. He says all my body is really not all muscle, so I’ll eventually lose the fat. He said I would have thinner but not skinny legs. I don’t want skinny legs. I don’t want thick legs. I just want regular, toned women’s legs, people!

I have been eating really healthy, have been working out 40-60 mins every day (sometimes only 4 times a week), and would like your advice on this!! My bf says I’d have to do a lot of weight lifting and protein drinking if I want big muscles….so, since I am not doing that, he says I am def not going to build up, he says, “It would take you a whole lot more to actually build up body building muscle.”

I know he’s right, but do you guys have any advice for lean muscle?? I am doing a strenght training 3 times a week and want to know what else I can do. I heard pilates is good for that, but I don’t really like Pilates that much…it’s too slow for me, I need to move around and listen to upbeat music.

Help!

Hi y’all, things have changed since my last post. Instead of giving up because I was back at 207, I worked harder to get closer to my desired 200. I am currently 202lbs, OFFICIALLY–THANKS DO DIGI SCALE!!—and I am super excited I am only 2lbs close to 200lbs. I haven’t been 200lbs in about 2 years. I haven’t been 180 in 3.5 years and under 185??—feels like since forever!! I have been telling all my family about my exercising and eating habits and they have been sooo supportive. Yesterday my mom and sis (who both weigh about 220 each) said that I am motivating them to make a change in their lives too—which is exciting!! I want them to have the same happiness and energy that I feel!!

You bet I will make it known on my blog and page when I reach 199!! It’ll just be one word for me:

C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E!!!

So I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and got myself a digital scale!! I got a pretty cool digital scale that measures your total body fat, muscle mass, bone mass and even predicts how many calories you’ve consumed!

Well, this new gadget made me feel very sad yesterday!! The digital scale ADDED pounds for me. Soooo depressing!! After calculations and weight comparisons between the two scales, I discovered that my old scale was 7lbs off. Which means that when I started off at 210, I was actually 214. I am now really 207 and not 200. I’m soooo sad about this!! I know it’s only 3lbs difference, but I’ve been trying so hard looking sooo forward to hitting my 200lb mark!!!

I felt so sad that I almost gave up!! Last week I was working out every other day and this week, I have been working out 40mins every day. I’ve been eating my small portion meals and drinking tons of water!! I almost didn’t work out yesterday but I talked it over with my bf and he motivated me to work out…he said, “Well, just do 15 mins”… and once I was working out, I decided to do the full weight training — 40 mins. My legs were so hot and shaking with all the squats and lunges!

Anyways, I am feeling bummed out and need some support and love!!

I am officially 207.