My get up and go got up and went.

Ok, the reason I haven't posted in a week is because I have been SUPER blah. I have an upper respiratory infection, and the doc gave me some hardcore cough syrup that would make an alcoholic tipsy. I feel like I've been sleeping non-stop. When I do workout, I cough my insides out. It's annoying, but I've still been doing combat. Needless to say, I haven't started the Wild Card Workout Jar, but I promise I'm going to as soon as I'm up to it!

I also changed my weigh-in days to Tuesdays. There are younger people in that meeting, and I just feel like I can relate better. Plus, the leader is the lady who signed me up and she's hilarious. So, I went to the meeting Tuesday and gained 0.6. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but it really pissed me off. I guess I saw it coming... I mean, I haven't been nearly as strict. I haven't gone off the deep-end, but I haven't been by-the-book either. It's just been really hard for me to eat "filling foods" lately. I don't know why, but the thought of veggies make me feel just... ugh. I know I need to cut the crap and get over my excuses, but I'm stubborn. I just feel kinda stuck in a rut. And I REALLY need to drink more water.

But what I really need is inspiration, people! This is what you're here for, right? When I can't inspire you, I need you to inspire me. So... what have you been doing to stay on track? What do you think I should do to get me motivated again? I knew there would be ups and downs on this journey, but this "down" has me feeling jaded. I need you to light a fire under my ass.

Huh?

Heeeeyyyy team! How's it going? Ok, so today was weigh-in day for me, and I have to say that I wasn't expecting any weight loss. Not only did I go overboard this past weekend at the concert, but I just haven't been as strict from day to day. I didn't go crazy with food or give up or anything, but I was about 9 points over my weekly points, including the activity points I could've traded in. SOOO, I figured I would've maintained or even gained a little. But somehow, I still lost 1.2 lbs? YES! Not that I'm complaining - just shocked. So, that's a total of 7.8 lbs :) Yay! I only have 1.2 more lbs to lose, and I'll reach the 5% mark... so, that's my goal for next week. 5% of my body weight, GONE. Can't wait!
Moving on, my friend, Paige Varner, sent me part of an article she read that is a really freaking cool idea. I know I'm not the only one who gets super bored with working out after I do the same thing for a while. Here's a fun solution:

"When you’re bored, so is your body—and your fitness level can reflect that mental ennui. To keep things fresh, create a Wildcard Workout Jar: Jot down 20 different routines on scraps of paper—from skipping rope with your kids to a specific interval walk. Pull one from the jar each time your workout starts to feel ho-hum."
Cool, right? I'm gonna start doing this on the days I don't have Combat. Here' s the list of possible exercises I'm gonna put in my jar:

1. Jog to the dog park instead of driving. Walk back. (Don't forget dogs)
2. Dance in the mirror for 30 minutes. (Make sure to close the blinds)
3. 50 box-jumps.
4. Wiggle while you do mindless tasks, like brushing your teeth or cooking.
5. 50 burpies. (No complaining)
6. 10 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes treadmill. Repeat.
7. Take the dogs for a run around the apartment complex.
8. 20 squats, 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups.
9. Stretch for 20 minutes. (Easy day. Enjoy)
10. Go to the gym for a total-body workout. Make sure to warm-up/cool-down.
11. Floor abs for 10 minutes.
12. Alternating jumping jacks and mountain climbers for 10 minutes.
13. 20 pull-ups. (Let’s be honest, jumping pull-ups)
14. Alternating lunges across the apartment 10 times. (We have a small apartment)
15. Try a class at the gym you haven’t taken yet.
16. Hardcore clean the house. Scrub! If you don’t break a sweat, do it again.
17. Go outside and throw the football with Chase.
18. Hand-wash your car.
19. Do a mile on the treadmill. (Try to walk as little as possible)
20. Whenever you walk, do so on your tippy-toes. (Your calves will scream)

What do y'all think? Anyone else gonna give it a shot? Let me know if you do, and what different workouts you decide to do. I tried to do mostly moderate workouts, with a few easy ones and a few intense ones. I'll let ya know how it is. I'm always down for a challenge, and I LOVE trying something new - especially when it comes to working out.

Keep me updated, and let me know how you're journey is going! I love hearing from you!

Slackin'

Hey, kids! Man, I am SO sorry I've been slacking like crazy when it comes to posting. I guess the break from school just has me being a lazy POS. It won't happen again. And to make it up to you, here's something to make you giggle.

*snort*

Sooo, to update you guys, my last weigh-in went well and I lost 2 more pounds! YEET! So, I'm down 6.6 pounds in all. I was pretty surprised cause I just felt blah all last week and I had a little too much fun last Saturday and drank all my extra points :/. However, my body forgave me and still allowed me to drop a couple of pounds. I'm kinda nervous about this week's weigh-in, though. We went to a James Otto/Trace Adkins/Toby Keith concert Saturday... of course country music concert = BEER. And tailgating. And grills. I tried not to do too bad, but I still went WAY over my daily points, and used all of my weekly points. And then some. *cringe* It was SO worth it, though. We had a blast. I'm going to the gym for the rest of the week, so hopefully I'll work it all off.

I've also been freaking sick the past week. UGH, it's such a pain. I have a sore throat/cough/headache and it's just annoying. It makes me not want to work out at all. In fact - I am ashamed to say - I literally did not leave my apartment yesterday. I laid in bed 90% of the day reading a book. The only time I stepped outside was to walk the dogs before we went to bed. I was such a piece of crap. I thought with all the rest, I'd wake up feeling good, but NOPE. Guess I just gotta suck it up and get off my ass.

So, I'm curious to know how all of y'all have been doing? We talk about me too much, I wanna know how YOU are. Share. I miss you guys. Anyone have scale victories? Non-scale victories? Stories? Catch me up!

Can I get a WHAT WHAT?!

What's up, y'all? Usually I don't fly off the handle and jump to the most exciting part of my day, but I am just SO freaking stoked. I had my weigh-in today and...........................................................................................................................


I lost a whopping 3.4 lbs in the last week! YEET! That's 4.6 lbs in 2 weeks, and I'm very proud of that :)
This plan is really working for me. It's sensible and I'm learning how to eat like I'm supposed to. I think before WW I was almost starving myself, and when I did eat it was never anything good for me. So my body held on to every last calorie it could. This equation equaled me being fat. But snacking on healthy stuff throughout the day is keeping me satisfied AND keeping my metabolism truckin'. Win/win. Also, you know what I learned in the meeting today? If you were to eat one - ONE - m&m, you'd have to walk the length of a football field to burn it off. Depressing, right? Man, I wanted to get up and leave when I heard that. I'll be thinking twice before I eat m&m's again. Some things just aren't worth it. The good news is, you're burning calories just by sitting there and reading this, so don't think what you do eat is just going straight to your thighs. Unless you eat too much. Or not enough. It's a bitch, ain't it? So simple, but so difficult. Not trying to be Debbie Downer, but just thought it was a fun fact that I'd share.


Moving on...So, I've officially been doing this blog for a month. It's July 29th, and you know what that means. Bikini photo time. I've been dreading this day since June 29th, but I promised myself whether I lost or not, I'd post pictures. It's holding me accountable, that's for sure. So... here we go.



*holds breath*





*exhales*


Ok. It's not a huge difference, but it's there. Small victories. I'm keeping promises and staying strong. Next month will be better. Then the month after that will be even better. Stick around, and you'll see.

Have any of you been keeping a photo diary? Lost anything? Gained anything? Talk to me.

Moto.

What's up, team? Seems like it's time for some motivation.

I've got a feeling some of you are losing steam... well you better get some fire under that ass! I'm not kidding! I'd just like to inform you that my size 14's are getting a little loose on me. YAY! However, I refuse to be the only one that's successful on this journey. I've made up my mind to succeed. Have you? I promise you that I know how easy it is to slip up once, then again, then to say "oh, hell, might as well just stuff mah face for the rest of the week. I'll start over Monday." Well, stop! You're worth more. So, hmph!

Thursday is my next weigh in, and it marks the 1 month anniversary of this blog. So that also means that I post another pic update. AGH! I'm sure there won't be a big change, but I'm looking at the big picture here. And I promised myself I'd post them no matter what. Even if it looked like this:




But anyways, Like I've said, this is a place to share your triumphs, as well as your trials. Where have you slipped? Lost motivation? Done well? Maybe you haven't been eating right, but you ran further than you have in years? Hey, I'm all about small victories! Talk to me.

By the way, if you need an extra push, watch this video. My friend Kris over at World Camp Crossfit is the best trainer in Albany. If you wanna get fit, he's the guy to see. Check him out at www.krismorrill.com. Get inspired. Tell him I sent you :)

Untitled from Kris Morrill on Vimeo.

Crazy Week!

Man, this week has been INSANE! Workout with The Biggest Loser stars Wednesday, saw 4 of the stars from The Expendables up close and personal yesterday (excuse the photo quality... all I had was my point-and-shoot camera :/) , plus got a pre-screening of the movie. And it was AWESOME! AND I had my weigh-in day Thursday... dun dun duuuuunnnnn.

So, I lost 1.2 pounds. I was really bummed. I mean, I've been hitting it hard and eating as close to perfect as I could. I never went over my weekly points, and I worked out 5 days last week. So after I weighed in I was close to tears. I asked the lady who weighed me what the deal was. I just didn't understand. I told her I'm a kickboxing instructor, and she said "Bingo!". Apparently, when people drop 5-10 pounds in their first week on the plan, it's pretty much all water weight. Those were the numbers I was looking for. But, she said that since I already work out a decent amount, that gets rids of my water weight. So the weight that I lose each week is actual fat. When I look at it that way, it's acceptable. Once you start losing fat, .5 to 2 lbs a week is healthy. So I'll take my 1.2 pounds with pride! She also said that what with working out, I need to pay more attention to inches and how my clothes fit, rather than weight. I won't lose as much in numbers as people who don't work out intensely, but I'll tighten up and be more lean and have more muscle, which is fine with me! I'm going for that Jessica Biel bod, remember? :)

How have y'all been doing? Any updates? It's almost been a month since we've started. Are you still with me?

The Biggest Loser

Woo, what a fun day! The workout with Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper was AMAZING. They were so fun, and REALLY intense. By intense I mean, they were freaking crazy. Nuts. Bonkers. They were actually filming an episode of Season 10 of the Biggest Loser. I'm not sure what episode, but we got to meet the contestants, and they were SO nice. One of them even fist-bumped me after the workout. So, I'm practically famous now. No autographs, please.





Anyways, we started out with jumping jacks. I was like, "ok, this won't be so bad." Then we did push ups. LOTS of push ups. And squats. And mountain climbers. And planks. And sit ups. And something called low-jacks, or "smurf jacks", where you're squatting down and doing jumping jacks. It effed up my knee, but it was SO worth it. Although, I have to admit there were plenty of times I stopped to watch Jillian and Bob. They were walking through the crowd of us, picking certain people to critique and push. They walked by me a few times, and they were close enough to touch. I had to refrain from grabbing her butt. Can you blame me? Oh, and Bob too. Meooowwww. Chase was taking pictures in between reps (haha), which was so sweet of him. All in all, it was a really bad ass experience. I wish I could've taken a picture with them, but Jillian and I will have plenty of pictures taken at our wedding :)




Soooo, tomorrow is the weigh-in day. Eek! I'm nervous, but I'm trying to mentally prepare myself to not get too let down if I don't lose much. Wish me luck! And let me know how y'all are doing!