Mamavation Monday

Last Weeks Goals:

-Walk 15 miles

-Continue Shred

-Turbo Jam 2x this week

-Add brown rice/whole grain pasta

-STRETCH after every workout!

Mon: 4.21mi -Shred
Tues: 4.08mi
Wed: 0mi - Turbo Jam
Thurs: 5.28mi
Fri: 4.36mi - Shred
Sat: 0mi
Sun: 1.91mi


Total Miles = 19.84miles

Jan 17th                     Feb 7th

Weight: 168.4             Weight: 167.4

Chest: 39                    Chest: 38

Waist: 39                    Waist: 39

Hips: 42                      Hips: 40

If you recall, last week I lost 1lb and I wasn't that excited about it, but happy to see the scale decrease. Well this week I gained back the 1 lb, which is frustrating. I'm honestly running out of workout/fitness steam, and not sure what it will take to get back on track.
I don't handle stress well, and I'm stretched so thin raising my daughter, working, Senior year in College, volunteering, blogging, dealing with absent parent, and trying to figure out life after school. When I stress, I don't think yah I should work out. I think, I need to go lay down. 

It is encouraging to see that my measurements have gone down a tad, minus that damn stubborn waist. Ugh.

I've been wanting to lose 2lbs a week since like forever, so this week, I will continue the walking and do a workout DVD everynight...which will most likely mean I'll be headed to bed an hour later everynight. Which will mean a crankier mommy. There honestly doesn't seem like there is any damn balance!

This week's goals:

-Lose 1-2lbs

-Walk 15 miles

-Workout DVD everyday!!

-Increase water intake

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by Chef’s Requested.

Question: What are you doing to keep your heart healthy? I have honestly never considered making sure my heart was healthy, and don't know how to ensure that my heart is staying healthy.

Mamavation Monday

Last Week’s Goals:

-Walk 10 miles [there is about a foot and a half of snow so hoping to get as much walking as I can]

-Pack lunch the 3 days I’m in the office

-Eat healthy snacks

-Do a workout DVD one time this week

-Limit alcohol intake on New Years

This week walking totals:

Monday: 1 mile
Tuesday: 2.8 miles
Wednesday: 2.8 miles
Thursday: 2.7 miles
Friday: 2.5 miles
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday: 1.9 miles

TOTAL: 16.7 miles

Woo-Hoo, I surpassed my walking total by 6.7 miles which is great! Luckily we didn’t have any more snow, pair that with warmer temperatures and walking wasn’t too difficult this week. This weekend my daughter and I walked a total of 4.9 miles together! That is a lot for her little legs!! This is her today on our walk:

And today I did Day 1 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. If you are unfamiliar with Jillian Michaels, she does not play around. She can be very intimidating. She means business. There are 3 levels and workouts are only 20 minutes, which is great for my schedule. But, you do not stop moving the entire 20 minutes. I literally laid on the floor for 10 minutes after I completed today’s workout. I was beat. I used 5lb weights for the arm workouts and figured that would be too heavy, but it proved to be quite hard and I know my arms are going to burn tomorrow. But no pain, no gain. I am doing the Shred with Tara over at The Young Mommy Life so we are going to keep each other motivated and accountable. I am hoping Ro over at RandomRoRo will join in as well! Let me know if you want to join in The Shred-Get it right, get it tight team! Lol

My daughter wanted to work out as well and she was sooo ready for 20 minutes with Jillian:

I did a good job at bringing lunch last week and am going to do better this week!! I made a big pot of yummy Lentil soup for lunch and look at all the yummy snacks I have for the week:

I've got: almonds, cucumbers, apples, celery, carrots, tangerines, almond butter, wheat thins, and a couple of mixes from Target

To help me with water intake I’m going to be using some Crystal Light packets [thanks ThrBabyMamaChronicles], but not the entire packet in my water bottle. Using the entire packet makes the water way too sweet for my taste.

I did great with my alcohol intake on New Years, because what I got to drink at home [Skinny Girl Margarita] was absolutely disgusting!!

So all in all I think I did pretty damn good with my goals for this week!

-Ordered a great Eat Smart Precision Scale from Amazon, so now I can get accurate readings of my weight! My scale now is old and never accurate.

-Finally went out an bought a foam roller to relieve the tension in my muscles, I’m very excited about finally using it!

-Won a Kymaro Door Trainer from Mamavation [thank you!] so excited to do some pushups, situps, and dips!

This weeks goals:

-Walk 18 miles

-Continue with The Shred

-Continue eating healthy snacks

-Increase water intake

-Become a Mamavation Mom finalist

Ok Glowicious readers, if you don’t know, I’m applying to be the next Mamavation Mom and there are just 3 more days to voice your support for me to be a Mamavation Mom. I’ve had such tremendous support and I thank you all for believing in me and voicing your opinion. Finalists are chosen on January 5^th so I am asking you to please continue the support by doing the following:

Please head over to Mamavation and tell bookieboo that you believe I would be a great Mamavation mom. Please use my twitter handle @YoungFabMama

And please keep the support going on Twitter by tweeting:

“Hey @bookieboo! I want (@YoungFabMama) to be the next #Mamavation Mom. She has my support! http://bit.ly/zqUxa”

What are ways you can work out without having to leave the house?

Now that the weather is cold, exercising inside is ideal for many people. While I dont have one [yet] I hear systems like Wii & Xbox Kinect are great interactive ways to exercise and have fun within the comfort of your own home.

I have purchased a few dvds that vary in style, and I'm able to choose which one fits my mood and workout style.

MAMAVATION TV: Join us Monday night at 7pm PST/10pm EST on Mingle Media TV. The Mamavation Mom applicants [including myself] will be special guests!!

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by GameStop.

Monday Mamavation

Last week walking totals:

Monday: 4.6
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 4.7 miles
Thursday: 4.6 [30 degrees]
Friday: 1.2 [28 degrees]

Saturday: 1.5
Sunday: 0

Total = 21.6 miles

So I managed to walk just a bit more than the previous week and that’s great!!! I wish I would have been able to get out on Sunday, but it was raining cats and dogs and I was stuck doing my finals, which I waited until the last minute to submit.

Some challenges I faced this week was the frigid temperature. Thursday as only 30 degrees and Friday was a chilly 28 degrees. It was extremely difficult to find the motivation to get up and walk instead of taking the bus. On Friday I opted for the bus, because it was just too damn cold. Though I shouldn’t complain I’ve seen the weather reports of other parts of the country getting slammed with snow!

Also on Thursday I did some calf presses while at the bus stop with my daughter. My calf was like, what the heck is going on!! I did about 20 of them, and definitely felt it most of the day Thursday.

I was too nervous-embarrassed-horrified-terrified to take ‘before’ pictures or measurements before I started walking 2 weeks ago, so I don’t really know if I’ve begun to tighten-tone-lose. I don’t see or feel a difference physically. My morning walk into work gets me more motivated than I had been before I started walking. But, I’m not sleeping better at night. Maybe once I start to shed these lbs I’ll be able to actually sleep through the night. Damn you sleep apnea.

What helped me this week was the arrival of my super comfy walking sneakers! Thank you Zappos for upgrading my shipping!! Before I was wearing my running sneakers which are a bit bulky, and they were hurting my feet. So I was on the hunt on Zappos for some cute sneakers and found these:

 

They are amazing and 100% comfortable for all the walking that I do [should be doing]. And they have definitely made for more comfortable commuting back and forth.

Snacking is something that I’m having a problem with. While I’m still sticking to smaller lighter dinners snacking throughout the day is a problemo for me. When I snack, it’s usually unhealthy stuff. So my new tactic is to put healthy snacks on my desk, so if I have a craving, I only see snacks that are good for me. See my raw almonds on my desk! Yumm. I also have to keep up the water intake, which is hard because I don’t love water. I was using a large glass, which was actually a bit intimidating. And because I like drinking ice cold water, I knew I had to change it up. So I’ve started using a smaller glass, and refilling it more often.

 

So this week I’m aiming at walking 25 miles [oh.my.goodness] and I’m going to look around for an affordable foam yoga roller, like this one:

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

My upper back/traps/shoulders are extremely tense because I’m at the computer for 8 hours a day. I do try to take frequent breaks and stretch, but my upper back is pissed. I’ve tried a foam roller before, and it took some getting used to, but it really helped isolate and loosen the tense spots. It’s also good for lower back and leg pain.

I love love love muscle! My legs have always been stronger than my arms, and I want to build my arm strength. And I want to start doing pushups [shoot-me]. I found this site online http://hundredpushups.com/index.html which helps you to be able to eventually do 100 pushups. I’m not looking to do 100, but I’d like to be able to do more than 5 without falling on my face!!!

Oh and I've also contacted my local Zumba teacher to see if I can bring my daughter into a class with me. I've taken a few Zumba classes before and have loved them! But haven't been able to go for the past 6 months because I don't have anyone local to watch my daughter. The solution? Bring my daughter with me. But see, she wouldn't just sit there on the sidelines cheering me on. She'd be up there next to me dancing too! lol. She is a 5 year old dancing machine!! So I have to see if that is ok, I'm hoping it is, because I know that she would love the music and dancing. And I'd love to be able to go to Zumba again!

I'm trying!!

Monday Mamavation

I have been slacking on my mamavation posts. What’s to blame? Well….I have awful time management. I get caught up doing one thing and forget about the whole list of other things I need to do. And I’ve been stressed. When I get home and get my daughter settled and cook and do my homework, I’m beyond the point of exhaustion. But I did make a commitment to my health, so I have to keep going, even though it’s a struggle.

This past week I officially became car-less. It was sad to sell my car, but my car lived a long life and helped myself and my daughter out tremendously. So now I am a slave to public transportation, lol. I’ve taken this opportunity to get a jump-start on my fitness, and have begun walking. A LOT. Below is the breakdown of my walking journey last week:

Tuesday: 3 mi
Wednesday: 3 mi
Thursday: 3.9 mi
Friday: 5.2 mi
Saturday: 2.4 mi
Sunday: 2.4 mi

TOTAL = 19.9 miles

When I added up all the miles last night I was like WOW. I couldn’t believe I walked that much!! So instead of taking the bus to work, I walk. And then I walk to my daughter’s school to pick her up in the afternoons and then we walk to the bus to go home. I’ve also been walking [instead of taking the bus] to run errands, like the grocery store, post office, or bank. The first couple of days my legs and thighs were well, I don’t know if they were happy or really mad lol. Now my body has gotten used to my daily walks, and I feel good about getting out to walk, and it gives me an opportunity to listen to all the new music I’ve been neglecting!

19.9 miles seems like a lot in a week, and I wonder if I keep it up [weather permitting] if I’ll be able to see any weight loss. I’m assuming I’m also going to need to pair it with some other kind of exercise routine, but I think I’m on the right track…at least I hope so!

I’ve also been eating smaller lighter meals at dinner. I haven’t been craving huge meals at dinner anymore, and have been wanting some light and healthy [yes!]. I’ve been loving greens and am currently obsessed with collard greens! And I’m also cooking more vegetarian meals and cooking with more beans [kidney, lentil, chickpeas] to get some extra protein in my diet.

This week I’m going to continue my walking and try to add in some push-ups and sit-ups at the end of every day.

I’ve never walked for weight loss before, anyone have any tips?  I’ve been trying to up my h20 intake as well, but I’m not doing a great job, and would love some tips!

Happy Monday!