LIVE FIT TRAINER- Week 1

Week 1 COMPLETE. It's been a really great week. I have much to share. Are ya ready?? :)

Well, it started off a bit rough. I spent a bit of time watching the videos by Jamie Eason on the bodybuilding.com website. Obviously there is irony in this next pic.

M&M's as I watch video's about changing my habits. HA..well, we all have to start somewhere. At least it was a mini bag...?? yes??  YES! :)

Anywhoo, One thing I've learned with my years of weight loss efforts is that Planning is key to success ESPECIALLY at first. It just so happens that Jamie Eason agrees. She recommends taking one day to meal prep for the week. So that's what I did.

I started by making her Carrot Cake Protein Muffins (click link for Recipe)

These are super Delish! Only 93 calories, FULL of protein and a great snack that includes a serving of Vegetables because they are made with pureed carrots. I know, I know..when I read that on the recipe I thought..."EWWW nasty". BUT they are actually really tasty. I take these with me on the go in a baggie. They are the perfect portable snack.

Then I decided to make up lunches for myself for easy grab and eat. I know myself, and if I wait to make lunch when I'm hungry and in a hurry to eat I end up making a grilled cheese sandwich or a pb&j. This way, I have meals with protein, healthy starch AND veggies easily accessible in the frig. Lunch has seriously never been so easy.

To make meal prep easier, I just made extra items while making dinner. It worked our great, then I packaged up the extras.

I had some roast left over so I portioned that out as well. This way I had a little variety.

Dinner usually consists of some type of chicken..we like chicken at our house. My favorite this week was Parmesan baked chicken, spaghetti squash with cauliflower garlic cheesy bread. *YUM*

The workouts this week were WAY different than I'm used to.

WEIGHTS! Lots of WEIGHTS!

Let me be clear that I'm not a weight lifter. I'm a cardio girl. I get on the elliptical and go, I LOVE doing step classes and zumba. I can do cardio ALL day long no problem. Weights have been a different story this week.

But surprisingly, as hard as it was..I enjoyed it. I felt really accomplished after doing three reps with a heavier weight than I thought I could lift.

My body has mildly ached in area's I didn't even know had muscle. But it's been good.

I even had to go buy some snazzy weight lifting gloves to avoid more blisters. The first full day with weight machines and my hands were not feelin so hot. 

I feel pretty hard core with my lifting gloves...hopefully when this is all done I'll have the body to match. THAT would be AW-SOME sauce.

After my 4 workout days I am down 1.3lbs.

Unfortunately, Saturday and Sunday have not been great days of staying on track with my diet. I intended to, and I tried. But quite a few things came up that got me a bit off course. BUT that's ok. I'm starting fresh tomorrow(Monday) morning. Another week. Well, sort of. I'm heading to Mexico for a missions trip on Thursday. But I plan to stay on track til we leave.

So, over all. Loved Week 1. Stayed motivated all week and I'm feeling stronger.

1 down, 11 more to go. :)

Ok- This is Happening

Well, It's February 2014 and I found a journal I started from January 2013. Guess what???? I basically weigh the same amount I did A WHOLE YEAR AGO!!!!!!! *sniff sniff, tear tear*
And my goals for 2014 (for weight loss anyways) look strikingly similar to that of last years.

Here's the deal. I pretty much spent all last year trying to lose more weight. Getting rid of baby number 2's initial abode has proven to be WAAAAAAY harder than I thought it would be. Anyone who knows me knows I make an asserted effort CONSISTENTLY to lose weight. I go to the gym and do several classes per week. I eat pretty healthy almost 80% of the time..I have tried Afterbaby weight loss, Trim Healthy Mama, clean eating, calorie counting and weight watchers all within the last year and I'm  only down 4 lbs from where I was this time last year.
THAT'S DISCOURAGING YA'LL, really discouraging.
I had great success losing weight with Weight Watchers before, I'm baffled as to why it's just not working this time. When I ask a WW leader why I'm not losing their answer is to just eat less.
Well, IDK if you've ever done WW but I can't eat less than I already am. In fact after much reading about metabolism and fueling your body I'm pretty confident I've lived with my body in constant starvation mode. Sure you lose weight initially when you lower your calorie intake but over the long haul all it does is slow down your metabolism...and a slow metabolism does not a fat burning machine make (thanks yoda, ;)

I feel like it's time to figure out my body and what really makes it healthy. I know eating less is NOT the answer, I know working out more is NOT the answer. To be honest...I'm not sure what the answer is. But I know that I have to figure it out if I'm ever going to get to my goals. Sure, I know I could just be content and happy where I am..it's not like I'm obese or anything. I'm not even that over weight. But I have higher goals than just giving up and being happy where I am when I know it's not my best. There is a reason why my body has stalled and isn't releasing the excess and I'm determined to find out why.


So, for the next three months I'm going to be doing, (drum Roll PLEASE)

Jamie Eason's Live Fit Program 

It's a 12 week program that focuses mostly on strength training and healthy eating. I love to exercise..however weights have never been my focus. Sure, I do them in my cardio combo class, or I add some in after 45 minutes on the elliptical. But a lifter, I AM NOT. However, that is going to change. This program starts off with NO CARDIO AT ALL. AW, LORDY.

I've been doing so much reading about how building lean muscle mass aids in weight loss as well as over all fitness and I'm all about that. PLUS, learning to eat better is always a plus. This program is FREE! YES, FREE and lays out all your workouts and meals for you. It really doesn't get any easier. All, I have to do is find the will power to follow the program. I'm praying for the Lords strength to do that.

C'mon Ya'll it doesn't get any better than FREE!!!!!

I don't know if this is going to solve all my weight loss problems. But I am going to give it a shot and see what kind of progress I can make in 3 months.

I will be blogging about my week each monday just to keep me accountable and motivated to keep going. It might even be motivating to you. ;)

I can't wait to get to week 12 and see progress.

Today was day one and the workout wasn't bad. Today was Chest and Triceps so I spent 45 minutes working out those areas with weights. I used 12lb dumbbells for all the exercises and it was tough. When I told my hubs that I was proud of myself for using 12lb-ers he said..."12lbs?? that's like a can of soup".....I don't know what kind of soup he's been eating, but MY cans of soup do NOT weight 12 lbs each. SHEESH! That's ok..we'll see who's laughing in 12 weeks. ha

 I admit that after I was done I felt kinda weird like I should be hopping on the elliptical for a good sweat session. I'm so used to measuring a good workout by not being able to breath and sweat POURING from ever pore. But I resisted and just did some average pace walking to loosen up my muscles.


Jamie Eason says that she doesn't want us using the fuel we are eating to fuel cardio sessions, rather she wants us using the fuel we eat to rebuild our muscles and create lean muscle mass. I'm gonna trust her, she's the expert.

As far as eating goes, I've done pretty well, except for the mini bag of m&m's I had after lunch (thanks mom and dad for sending a whole box full to the kids for valentines day) ;) ha.

So, there ya have it. I'm going after this thing as best I can. I'll hit ya back up next monday to give you week 1's progress.

FINGERS CROSSED~ Wish me luck. :)