Getting ready for the big burn.

I'm surrounding myself with the right tools to start the big burn this weekend. I am still working out and monitoring my food intake. I have been consistent on doing things to get to where I want to be and now this big burn is the ultimate motivational tool to keep me going.

I'll stay in touch...

Thursday March 4, 2010

"You gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face. You must do that which we think we cannot."

Eleanor Roosevelt

I really feel I am getting stronger, and I mean this in a state of mind way, like this was the right time for me to start this journey. This is my journal entry for Mar 4:

I got up and did my morning workouts. Meals 1 and 2 were OK. I changed meal 2 for today and increased the calories a bit. I had a turkey sandwich and I put some cheese and avocado in it. It was absolutely delicious. I ate an apple with it. Meal 3 was a little delayed because I had to leave my current office to visit the new site where we'll be working starting next month. I really didn't like it, not because of the building, the location is terrible. I don't know how will I get there (I'm new to this area), there is even more traffic on that area, oh dear! It's bound to get interesting.

Oh, by the way, for this visit I had to put on my Personal Protection Equipment. My overalls are hughe. I was depresed when they ordered them for me because I was at my highest high in weight terms so they ordered a very large size since they have to fit you right and not tight. I wore them and they don't seem hughe now, they are ENORMOUS! hahahahaha. It was great to see it! I looked really funny in them, I have a picture in my cell phone, I'll try to upload later...

I arrived back at the office ant 2:30 and had meal 3. Meal 4 was OK too. I got caught up with work and left the office later than usual. This caused me to get home just in time to my zumba class. I changed and went in a hurry. It was a hectic evening. After the class I had an online reunion with some coleagues to discuss the future plans for our starting company. Meal 5 got even more delayed. I arrived at home at 9:20 and was already late for the meeting. I loged in and greeted everyone, then ran into the kitchen for half a cup of yogurt and some seeds, but it was nearly 9:40 when I got around it. It was all I ate, I knew I shouldn't eat more because I was extremely hungry and could overeat and at a late hour. I was strong and kept the meal small. I could have included a carrot but I just thought about it now!

I went to bed at 10:40, I have to stick to this time because if I don't I'll be too tired to get up early and exercise. One of my goals for everyday is to prepare my meals in advance for the next day. I didn't do this, but very few times in over 8 weeks is not killing my results. I feel awesome. It is great I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Greetings,
Vania.

Tuesday March 2, 2010

"One half of life is luck; the other half is discipline - and that's the important half, for without discipline you wouldn't know what to do with luck."

Carl Zuckmeyer

Since I decided to focus on discipline for today I am really happy to share with you that for this day I had excellent actions towards my goal. I completed 5 meals with perfect nutrition, everything as I had planned. On the workout part I did my best at both workouts, in the morning and at night.

At the zumba studio one of the teachers called me aside to measure my progress. They use a digital scale that also measures your body fat %, your water % and your LBM %. The results were strange. In the scale nothing changed, absolutely nothing, which I find very rare but I decided not to worry about it. At the studio they mark the progress every month and not every week and the scale that I use at home has shown me some progress so I'm gonna go with the changes I see at home. I won't let these readings get me down because the measurements say otherwise.

When she took out the measuring tape it was a whole different story. I lost 1 cm in my chest and 6 cm in my waist. She couldn't believe my loss, actually she measured me twice because she thought she had done it wrong but oh no! It was correct, I was extra happy and energized when I came back to the class after seeing such wonderful results.

Thing at works started to look better too, I received good news and that made my day. I am really happy and extremely filled with gratitude because I completed a whole day of 100% compliance to the programme I have outlined for myself. The results haven't stopped coming and I am super excited to see the end result and start living a new lifestyle in a new body. It is all turning out to be awesome and I am determined to continue down this road that is taking me to so many levels I didn't know I had.

I am becoming more disciplined, I never thought I'd be, it always seemed so hard, but it isn't at all, not if you have the right reasons and the right beliefs to make you stronger.

I enjoy exercise, same story. I never thought I would. It implies effort and discipline and I was not a big fan of either one. Little by little I have started to see that they have their way of paying off your effort and determination and it is wonderful. I enjoyed very much watching my body in the mirror in class and see muscle definition in my arms, it looks so much different when you start modifying your physique with exercise and the proper nutrition instead of just winging it and resorting to large calorie deficits and no activity.

I am becoming a positive role model. Today I arrived at home after work and I saw my sister was playing with her ball, she loved the exercises I showed her and does them almost everyday and all the time.

I am enjoying the journey. I appreciate the comments and visits I get. Thank you.
Have an awesome day!

Monday March 1, 2010

"We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained."
Marie Curie

This past week and days have been filled with astonishing results and that makes me really happy. I have begun to see some great changes and improvements. For example, yesterday I got a haircut, and my hair reacted to it wonderfully, my hair is even more curly and it looks better. Also, my nails have grown stronger and healthier, you just know when they have been made of the right ingredients. I look better, I feel better and my clothes fit better.

I am now in the weight and shape I used to consider "mine". There is a lot of room for improvement still but I am now a different person than she who would believe it is OK to be a little overweight as long as I'm comfortable and have people around me who love me. Now I want to be around longer for the people I love and I want them to be around for long too. I want to have the best impact I can have on the people that I love and help as many people as I can. I believe I can do it, I have a gift and now I am prepared to nurture it so it can begin to help others become better versions of themselves.

I got up at 5:30. It still feels like something incredibly crazy. There are days when I just want to kill the alarm and continue sleeping, but like I read in Scott Tousignant's book, how much are you really going to enjoy the sleep you take after ignoring the alarm clock? Usually it has a lot of downside effects, you may oversleep, or be late or even skip breakfast, and let's not talk about skipping workouts. No, no, no I will not allow a warm, cozy bed to stand between me and my ideal body.

I weighed myself again. I thought I was not going to loose any weight (I have to stop this limiting belief) but I did! I lost 200 grams. In the last week these are the results:

Lost weight: 300 grams
Lost centimeters: 5.5
Lost bf%: 1%

I ate properly until meal #3. After that one of my co-workers offered me a piece of cake and I just couldn't resist it. It was delicious. I have a weakness for sweets, specially chocolate and cakes and this time I fell right into temptation. I congratulate myself because I did not finish the whole slice. I did not want to kill myself after eating it and I knew I had to work harder at my zumba class at night and the effect could be minimized. Sadly, after work I went to the super market because I really needed to go and buy things for the week. I couldn't have been done over the weekend because of payroll issues. The thing is I took it very slowly, too slowly and by the time i had left the supermarket it was too late to arrive to my class, I was not going to be able to make a 40 minute drive in 10 minutes.

I had to cut calories. Lucky me, I did not get hungry and, as I was preparing my meals for the next day I took a bite of the chicken and ate some cheese and the piece of jicama left from the 3rd meal.

I went to bed at the usual time, around 10:40. I love making progress. I am inspired. another celebration. I am 2 days away from breaking my 2 month marker (calendar month). I am currently in week 9 and that's the longest I have ever endured so commited, so motivated and so strong.

Journaling is awesome. Too bad I did not have the courage to take before photos and measurements but there have been a lot of resources like weight and # of ill-fitting and not-fitting pants.

Update:
In my suitcase there were 5 pants that fell into the previous categories. Now there are only 2 and really soon they will be gone from this list and thankfully move to another list, the too-large pants list! I-m looking forward to starting that list. Currently all my pants fit, except for those 2 and they are starting to be a little loose around the waist! awesome.

Thank you for reading.
Enjoy a great day.

Sunday, February 28 2010

Ok so today I had set my alarm clock to go off as it usually does on weekdays to weigh myself at the same time of the day. I thought I would see no change in my weight, but I did, I had lost 100 grams! LOL! Well, every small step is a step towards my goal.
I went back to bed after being completely satisfied with what I saw in the scale. A couple of hours later I got up and did my workout. I prepared Tom Venuto's oatmeal pancakes for breakfast. This was the first time I prepared them and they were awesome! I loved them. Since I had still some calories to spare I spread some low/sugar jam on them and they were delicious.
When my family came back home we shared lunch together. I continued to watch some more T.V. In the afternoon, around 5 we all ate. I have to admit that I overate, I had more food than on my normal meals, but I was starving. I cannot seem to get a hold of keeping my meal schedule for weekends. What I have done succesfully is control the calorie intake, that is great. One step at a time.
Since I was so full after dinner I decided to go for a walk. My sister came with me. We were out for a little over an hour. A lot of our walk was up-hill because that's the way the streets in this town are, so it was really demanding. We had a great time, we did some story telling and took pictures together. I loved it. It was a great weekend.
I am excited, next weekend will be coldplay's concert...I can't wait.

Saturday February 27, 2010 Awesome results keep coming...

Today was an absolutely awesome day! I woke up later than on weekdays, that's my first highlight of the day. When I woke up I decided to measure myself since I couldn't weigh nyself I would at least record some progress. This are my new measurements:

Waist: 76 cm (minus 1 cm)
Hips: 93 cm (minus 1 cm)
Arms: 31.5 cm (minus .5 cm each)
Calves: 41 cm (plus .5 cm)
Tighs: 66.5 and 67.5 cm (minus 1 cm combined)
Hips (around thighs): 109 cm (no change)
Below bust: 83.5 cm (minus .5 cm)
Neck: 36 cm

Awesome! another change in bf%. Today I am 24.9%. 1% less than the last time. I know that this might not be the actual number but, since I cannot find my calipers because all my stuff got moved around at home, it is the formula I am going to work with until I find them again or order some new ones. I am extatic!

I was really hungry and everyone at home was hungry too so I prepared the breakfast. After being properly fed I uploaded my progress from the day before and changed into my workout clothes. I invited my little brother and sister to join me in my workout. Only my little sister did. She has a big yellow ball and she used it as her stability ball. the workout rocked, she was really excited and enjoyed it a lot. At the end she was exhausted, but I encouraged her to finish, we only had a couple of minutes left.
The rest of the day was just another normal weekend. I did not do much and enjoyed myself a lot. It was a quiet afternoon.
I'll post some more exciting news tomorrow.

Friday, February 26, 2010 Fear...dominated

"Our doubts are traitors and make us loose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."
William Shakespeare

Ok, so today was challenging. I woke up at 5:30 and found it really hard to get myself out of bed. I seriously considered not working out, it was the usual monster that attacks me everytime I start getting great results, it whispers "what harm is there in not working out today? you are starting to look great!" but this time it couldn't get to me, I didn't let it. It simply took me a little moment to think about that I had to do it later in the afternoon, was not going to be able and then I knew I was't going to do it. after that guilt would kick in, making me feel miserable for letting myself not workout, guilt would take me to conmfort eating and after that it was all downards spiral and probably falling down the wagon and into a puddle of mud! hahaha I'm a little over dramatic but painting this picture was like fire in bed and I immediately jumped out of it. Problem solved. I now take inmmediate action and have no fears. It is great!

Meal 1 OK. My morning milkshake.
Meal 2 OK. A small apple, 1/3 cup of oatmeals and yogurt.
Meal 3 a total challenge. I had a training session at work and they offered snacks. since I left my food at the office I ate what they served. I tried everything but only once. A gain for me was that I did not eat cookies.
Meal 4 OK. cottage cheese and jicama and almonds.
Meal 5. Beef stew with carrots and avocado.

I went to my zumba class and found it challenging but gave it my best. there are certain days when I feel the zumba class is challenging and I attribute it to the morning workout. I'll track which body part is the one that gives me trouble.

At night at home they cooked one of my favourite meals. I called my brother to keep myself busy so they didn't call me for dinner. It was a great strategy. I went to bed after 3.5 lt of water and 5 succesful meals!