Motivation

The hardest part about working out or even to accomplish any goal, is to stay motivated. Its all about the mindset. 

I have a picture in my head of how I want to look and every time I'm working out I have that in my head. I close my eyes and I think of that picture. 

I've read so many articles to try and find another way of exercising or a better work out or stretch to help my stomach get tighter. I'm fighting post-pregnancy belly, so its really hard to see the weight go, but the loose skin stay. Just as most of the articles say I get frustrated and wish I can just get a tummy tuck. However, that just isn't the way to go. Plus I've never been one to take short cuts. 

Patience is key. We aren't all celebrities that have their babies and two months later are twigs. We are real people. Sometimes that means taking the long route. Getting flat abs won't happen overnight. In fact, it can take years depending on how much you do to help. 

The power of the mind is astonishing. Having a positive attitude can make the difference between success and failure. I think of it kind of like how spells, or prayers work. Keeping that focus of what you want, and putting it out into the universe. The more you think and focus and work towards that goal, maintaining a positive attitude; the faster and easier you will find achieving your goal is. 

If it helps then try setting smaller goals on your way to reaching a big one. Or find someone to keep you motivated. Lets face it we are all suckers for compliments, and when genuinely given they boost the ego and confidence BIG TIME. Nothing is sexier than confidence. I'm lucky that I have some amazing people in my life that take notice on my hard work and compliment me. I also make it a point to compliment others on their hard work too. Always good to promote good Karma :). 

A guilty pleasure of mine is trying on tight short dresses, or different outfits and I pose in front of a mirror, for a typical "Myspace" cell phone photo. I can go over the pictures in my phone and see the progress I'm making and it just makes me feel better about me, since I'm not ready to wear them out in public yet. 

The most important thing though is to compliment yourself and be proud of every milestone that you can be. Each inch, each day that you work towards your goal is a day to be proud of. Start making a ticker and keeping track of what you are doing. Then once a month, or a quarter, measure and weigh yourself so you can see what you have done. Little things so a long way when added together. :)

Time to resurect

I figured it was time to resurrect this blog since I've been doing this exact thing over the past two months. To be honest I really owe the motivation to Amelia. She jump started this with a month long work out competition. A bunch of us all pooled in $20 to see who could loose the most weight/inches. We all met up on a day and scaled and measured. 

May 25th I started at 158.2 lbs. Ribs 37", Waist 41", Hips 41.5", Thighs 24.5", and arms at 12.5". 

Started off slow. I cut out soda and took my green tea every day, but due to my work schedule I didn't get much exercise. Halfway through the month Dave bought me a Xbox Kinect with a dance game. Hello cardio! That got me motivated. It's so much fun and I'll actually get up to work out. :)

I also visited the GNC store and got some vitamins and protein powder for females. Trying to eat more chicken and less red meat. Healthy shakes. 

We got together June 28th and I had lost 2.8lbs at 155.4. Ribs I lost 3" at 34". Waist I lost 2" at 39", hips I lost 2" at 39.5", Thighs I lost 2" at 22.5", and arms stayed at 12.5". 

Overall I beat out everyone and won the challenge. It was then that I decided to keep going. I made a tattoo appointment for sept followed by a photo shoot. Going to work my butt off to see what I can do. 

At the end of every month I'm going to weigh and measure. 

Month two has been harder on my diet, but I have more of an effort to work out. We got a weight bench for out anniversary. I'll go down and turn on a show or music and lift weights. Really focusing on the form and isolating the muscles that I want to work. Water is my main choice of drink, with cucumbers in it. AMAZING! detoxes and flavors the water, which makes you more apt to drink it. 

I need to just keep it going!

I'm not seeing any progress...

I measured again today, still 37 inches around. Its discouraging, but I had to look at the fact that I did struggle quite a bit through November. For the middle weeks I only worked out monday night. Its really only been this week that I've given a full effort.

I dedicated a full hour to my abs tonight. I shook a lot but I really think I need to work on isolating my abs. I kept feeling like I was using my chest muscles more than anything. So I need to work on that.

Also trying to eat 3 meals a day. So far I've gotten it to 2 meals. Which is by far better than 1.

I'm going to need to include more cardio in my workouts. And get some good sleep.
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Water is my friend

I've been going back and forth between Turbo scuplt and the norm... So I decided to try Turbo punch Kick jam. WOW. Kicked my bahooty. Big time. Like way big time. So that's my new goal. I need to stop being so lazy and really push myself. The excuse I've been telling myself is that I don't have a water bottle. I really don't like tap water. So I am going to the store tomorrow and I will be picking up more brita water filters. No more excuses. When I do the sculpt or the punch kick jam, I get really really thirsty. Like crazy thirsty. So I want to drink water I like.

I've been drinnking a ton of it lately too. That with the green tea pills I'm looking forward to seeing how fast I can get these inches off my middle.

Starting November

I measured my middle and I'm still 37 inches. Which tells me that I am not trying hard enough. I need to step up my game.

The past week and this week I've been doing a cleanse. So hopefully all the nasty germy sickness will be flushed out of my body. I have a feeling my lack of energy has just been dehydration....

One new thing I will be trying is workouts I see in the magazines. Of course I want to continue to set my goal and my ultimate goal of loosing inches and hitting that size 7 pant size. But now after all that still mix it up and add in an exercise that's different. Keep it loose and interesting.

I bought an issue of women's health. In it I found some big things that I think need to be taken into consideration in my overall goal planning.

The first and biggest thing is that I need to start seeing myself fit. If I start telling myself that I am a person that does this and make it a part of who I am then I will be able to stay more motivated.

The next thing it talks about is Genetics, and what I can and cannot control. Of all the factors 62 percent are ruled by genetics. So that leaves 38 percent that I can control. These include: My personal mptivation and goals, where I live (pretty locations tend to help people get out more), listening to music (boosts endurance and enjoyment), and if my friends/family are active (support).

This doesn't mean that I'm hopeless with that 62 percent. I just have to find out how to best utilize what I have.

How exercise feels for me: I have to find exerise moves and routines that feel good. Not everyone can exercise at the same pace, or the same way, and you don't want to have discomfort or pain while exercising.

Body Composition changes like fat loss: This also is a matter of figureing out what exercises trigger my body to burn fat. How hard must I work out in order to get my body to that level. This part will require more research on my part.

So that is where I'm at and thhe direction I need to go. This will be a good month. Keeping positive is an absolute must.

One More Week

One more week before I measure myself again. I really need to make this week count.

Last week started off good, I worked out Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday our water got turned off because a neighbor down the street broke a pipe. So I really didn't want to work out and then have no way to shower. Especially since I had a very important interview that day, and I had to work. Then Thursday I woke up late and barely made it to get my oil changed before work. Well worth it though, the car sounds great. I also ended up working 16 hour shifts Thursday and Friday. So I really needed to sleep.

I need to start making goals for myself. Little ones. I made a tracking sheet that goes for a week. There is a space for goals. I need to start setting them on a day by day basis.

I was talking with Karin the other day, and I have noticed that my face has thinned just a little bit. My pants are also just a little looser in the thigh area. So I have to be doing something right. I want to see if I can get back down to a size 7. Its been a while since I've been that small. I just don't know if my hips will let me go that small again. If not that's ok. I'm happy at a size 9. I just want the muffin top to go away.

Going through the Motions

Working out or "Training" is a hard thing to do in general. If your going to take the time to actually do it though you might as well put effort into it. I go through my work out routine and its hard. I get tired. I did notice though that even though I did the work out I really didn't feel different. The last time I did it, it was with weighted gloves and put a strong effort into it and I felt it. Today... not so much.


It really comes down to making it worth it. I can do the exercises all I want, go through the motions, but unless I really make an effort the effect will be minimal. Other wise what is the point? That can be applied to everything though.

So from now on I need to be making a huge effort without straining myself. Push myself, but not to hard. I want to see results, and the only way I will do that is to put my whole heart into it and push as far as I can.

Easier said than done.