Jan 25, 2014

At It Again...and again....and again!

Yet again.....I am trying to get into the best shape of my life! :)  My baby is now almost 17 months old, and I'm finally feeling ready as far as energy goes.  He just barely started sleeping through the night last month!  He still gets up every now and again....but mostly he sleeps.  Hallelujah!  Last year around this time, I took an 8 week challenge with a bunch of friends ($20 buy in) and the winner takes all.  I lost every "baby" pound during that challenge....but interesting enough, my waist was still 2" bigger.  I didn't do a lot of lifting...mostly cardio and diet.  Even though I was down to my pre-baby weight, I despised my body.  Then in August, I scaled back to 2 cardio sessions per week and stuffed my face with sugar and carbs like there was no tomorrow....for 4 long months.  Put on 10 lbs.  Ouch! 
Well enough is enough.  I finally hit the point to where I wanted to do something about it.  So, as of January 6th, I went off of sugar!  Oh my GOSH.  The headaches that followed were unbelievable!  I never knew a person could have withdrawal symptoms...but low and behold....I did.  It made me think about how horrible sugar actually is for the body.  I'm so glad I am off it now.  That first week...I dropped 5 lbs.  Insane.  You can only imagine how much sugar I was consuming.  I'm pretty sure that I have a very fast metabolism.  I should be obese from the amounts I was eating.  No joke.  Anyways, after that first week, I put a pound back on.  So after 3 weeks, I am down 4lbs.  I know that is not amazing.  I also know that you shouldn't lose more than 2 lbs/week.  So I'm okay with my progress.  I've been lifting weights (I know this will truly transform my body because I've done it before), which is probably why I am not losing as fast.  I'm following the plan I always follow, and my body responds incredibly to it:

5 meals a day at approx. 300 calories a pop (in these meals I make sure to have protein, complex carb (like brown rice, sweet potato, whole wheat tortilla, ezekial bread, whole wheat past, oats), and either fruit or vegetables.
If I feel really hungry, I'll eat a little more (maybe 200 cals more).
If I don't feel hungry, I eat anyways.  It's super important to fuel your body for the workouts, to grow your muscle and have the energy to workout.
I'm working out 5 days/week.  For the first 4 weeks, I am doing 4 days of weights (2 upper body, 2 lower body), and then 5 days of cardio for about 20 to 30 mins. 

I already feel so much better at only 3 weeks in.  I've lost a lot of bloat in my tummy (although it still looks atrocious), and the foods I eat don't make me feel sick or bloated.  I've found so many delicious healthy recipes on pinterest and instagram, and I've been LOVING the food I'm eating.  I still crave chocolate and sweets, but I keep it at bay by eating fruit, or cocoa powder mixed into banana, and oats and a little water.  Tonight I'm about to eat this:


It's not pretty (but of course you could make it look edible...I just didn't care), but it is divine!
Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream!  Yummm!  Recipe is as follows:

1 frozen banana
1 Tbsp of natural organic peanut butter (I used Trader Joes)
1/4 cup of skim milk

Put all ingredients in blender, blend until smooth,  then scoop into a bowl and freeze for 15 mins.  Easy, delicious, and yet still healthy.

I forgot to take "before" pics of myself at the beginning....but finally did today.  It is not pretty.  So, I'm not going to show them yet.  If, or actually....WHEN I make some serious progress....I'll think about posting them, just so you can see how much weights and the proper nutrition can transform ANYONE's body!
Hope you try the dessert recipe.  Also, I'm going to try and post more healthy recipes as time goes on.

xo,
Amber