Weights! A Lesson Learned..

What an amazing week it's been since my last post!

First of all, my hubs blew me away with his progress! I posted a pic of my gap in my jeans last post and he's been having great success so I had to of course take and share a pic of his gap!!! He's been using Vemma now for a little over 3 weeks and look at his pants!!! These are size 34 waist and they fit great 3 weeks ago! Building some lean muscle baby!

My hubs gap!

I started weight training sessions with my trainer this week. I've been super pumped about these sessions for a while now. So when Tuesday came, I was ready to go! We started our workout and I felt fantastic. I was pushing myself and watching my HRM.. only I wasn't watching it inbetween sets. I was maxing at 186 bpm and probably only recovered to about 160 before beginning next set.. Well, it caught up to me. The room closed around me.. I saw black spots.. My ears were ringing.. I felt like I was in a box. I ended up on the floor with my feet up.

I ate breakfast, had drank plenty of water... I was so embarrassed.

Hard lesson to learn, but it's been learned!

Once I did recover, I was done for the day. I went home with a massive headache and took a 3 hour nap. Later I found out that I needed to watch HRM and wait til my HR recovered to about 120-125 bpm before beginning next set.

I am determined to do this so on Wednesday morning, I was ready to try again.

We began our workout and my HR jumped to 181 bpm. I cautiously waited til my HR recovered and then began next set. I did this for every exercise and lemme tell ya... SUCCESS! I burned a ton of calories and never got light headed! We went through 8 different exercises and I completed all of them. 3 sets of 15.

There's a lot of science to weight training and I'm eager to learn! I don't have the most accurate HRM right now for calorie burn readout, but it does measure my HR an I know from wearing it that it does give me a good idea of how hard I worked by the calorie burn readout. Yesterdays burn was 880 calories. I've had a few people tell me that can't be right. Well, maybe not, but it does tell me I worked super hard when compared to readouts for other workouts! I have ordered a Polar FT4 with chest strap and it'll be here next week! I'm super excited to try it out!

it will be here Wednesday! Can't wait!

Tonight I'm going to outdoor bootcamp that my gym is doing for free for the community through the summer. It's such a great time!

Weight: 132 lbs
Total lost to date: 46 lbs !

Woohooo !

This is my back currently... I am hoping to see more definition in 8 weeks!
I dunno if I'm flexing right... Gotta work on that too. Looks much better in the mirror...  

I have taken some weight training before pics and will take new ones mid July at the end of the 8 weeks. I can't wait to see the changes! I am sooo excited about building lean muscle and taking it to the next level. I'm recording my weight sessions with reps and weight on myfitnesspal and I'm also excited to see the difference in #s there. There is no where to go but UP !

Do you weight train?

Tell me about your experience! :)

Persistance + Dedication = Results and Happiness

     Today was pretty crazy.. My son graduated Kindergarten this morning and I walked around in heels for over 4 hours.. OUCH.. my daughter had a zoo field trip and then a Girl Scouts Fly Up ceremony where she earned her one year pin. I also had repair men here for hours trying to fix my sprinkler system.. I'm just about zonked, but had to get this blog updated.

Mr Kindergarten Grad and me

Last week I hurt my knee while running laps around the fitness room. I was almost worthless in Tuesday and Thursday workouts, but I wrapped up my knee and hit the gym anyways because it was upper body days. My trainer helped me to modify some of the moves as to not irritate my knee. I still got in a great workout and poured some sweat. I was determined to still make it happen and I did ! I did ice and compress and elevate as much as possible over the weekend and then by Monday.. BAM! Ready to go!

Monday we showed up to class ready for a tabata workout. Trainer posts what she's planning sometimes on Facebook and it's sooo funny sometimes to see who shows up and who doesn't! haha So anyways, she really gave it to us on Monday. I don't remember everything we did, but there is one thing that REALLY stands out in my mind....

PULL UPS ON THE BAR !!!!!

My husband can hammer out some pull ups like it's the easiest thing on earth and I stand there in awe of him... he's buff and strong ;) I set my mind to it that I would one day be able to do a pull up. My first attempt was almost pathetic and I realized I had my work cut out for me. So I pushed on. I've been steadily moving up in weights in class and really pushing myself to get stronger. I see the progress I've made in pictures and when I flex and things are really happening for me. Ridding the fat and building lean muscle. Omg I have wanted this ! And here I am ! Doing it !!!!!! Persistance people :)

So when she announced on Monday that we'd be "getting up on the bar, pull up, then jump off bar, do a squat jump, then get back on the bar and pull up again" ..repeat as many times as possible during the 20 seconds on..  I was stoked! I was ready to give it a shot again. We did pull ups about 3 weeks ago and I got in a few good ones, but the arms we did previous to the pull ups that day really killed me and I just didn't have enough UMPH.

Timer beeped.. Here we go!

I got on the bar and pulled myself up. ALL.THE.WAY. Whole head over the top of the bar!!! Are you freaking kidding me! I did it again... and again. By the time we got done with the total Tabata session, I had completed 15 nice unassisted pull ups. Absolute excitement happening for me at that moment. This is something I'd worked towards and finally seeing the progress made me almost want to jump for joy! There is always room for improvement and I will continue to push on and work towards the next level :)

I also need to go shopping for some new clothes. My closet is just about bare. I have one pair of shorts that are too big and my 2 pairs of jeans are too big also...

These are my favorite Rock 47 jeans, size 5. Time to get a smaller size.





I am on Day 44 of the Vemma nutrition and am currently doing two bode burns a day. I feel great and happy to say that I've lost 5 lbs and over 5 inches since starting Vemma. I'm also not sleeping on the couch in the afternoons anymore either. Life is absolutely GRAND !

Picture Diary

wow. just wow. I honestly don't remember being that person on the left. I do know I was miserable and looking for a way out but it just hadn't hit me yet. I guess it was right after I saw that picture I finally realized that my body had taken over and I was lost somewhere inside. I had to get out. I have fought my way to be the person on the right and it's the best thing I ever did for myself. I'm stronger now that I ever was and it sure feels good to know that I am in control of my life now and living a healthy lifestyle feels like it's exactly what I was meant to do. It isn't always easy, but when you want something bad enough, you make it happen. That's me on the right.. Happy and strong! And I will never go back to being that weak and sad person on the left. Never.

Back fat. I despised those two handles hanging there under my sports bra. That pic on left was right after beginning my journey and they were actually worse.. Getting my back to be how I'd like it to be has taken some time, but slow and steady and it's happening!

My stomach. I def had the 'pouch of skin' in front from having kids.. It was something I thought would never go away, but I proved myself wrong. It has slowly (and I mean slowly) shrunk significantly!!!!!

                                                   ---This pic taken April 22, 2012---

I had a friend message me the other day about saggy skin... "What cream would you recommend for saggy skin?" When you lose weight, your skin that has been stretched sags after the fat is gone from underneath.. BUT skin is elastic and it will get back to where it needs to be for the most part. You don't need cream, you just need time. The point is: work hard and replace the fat with lean muscle and never give up!!!! "You didn't put it (the weight) on overnight and it isn't going to come off overnight"

I had just begun my journey in the picture on the left... I was happy I was on the path to success and was taking pics to document my journey. It sure is a wonderful comparison to the picture on the right.. Look at my face!! I actually have a shape to my face besides ROUND. The smile is a little more genuine on the right also.

I was getting ready for church this past Sunday and decided "Heck, I'll try on my khaki pants and see what they look like. {{{BLOWN AWAY}}} They were actually a little too big!!! What??? The last time I wore these pants was a few months ago and they fit pretty snug. They were tight on my waist and butt and really tight on my thighs.. I always had a slight muffin top in them. 

Well not anymore! I can't tell ya how excited I was to put these pants on and see the difference... !!! If only I had a before pic when they were tight.

No muffin tops here! Cha-ching!

I've been working on a new banner for my Facebook page and can't come up with anything spectacular.

Time to get ready for the gym!

Pumped! Always Moving Forward....

     Since my last post about the Spartan Race...... I SIGNED UP FOR NEXT YEARS RACE!!!!! Ohhhh yeah! My gym put together another team and this time I didn't hesitate! The Spartan Race is May 4th, 2013 and I'll be there ready to get down and dirty! My hubs is also signed up and I'm positive it's going to be one helluva awesome experience!!!!

     Things have gone well this week with workouts and eating. Monday we did full body strength, Tuesday was upper body pull, and I took yesterday off. That mid week break helps me out so much!

     I have noticed lately some really nice changes in my upper body lately and I'm loving it!! I had no idea in the beginning of my journey that I'd be where I am today... I'm proud of my achievements and so thankful for all the supportive people in my life. I was taking new comparison pics yesterday and was blown away at the newest pic... I sat there staring at the pic thinking: Omgosh, I'm doing this! I work hard in the gym and it's showing! Absolutely exciting!!!!

may 09, 2012

I'm about to dive into some heavier lifting with my trainer to take it to the next level. I can't wait to get started!!!

The journey proves to me over and over that with a positive attitude, anything is possible! I will continue to move forward and make it my own. Ahhh it's an amazing journey! :)

Wild Weekend! Spartan Race and Patio Time! :)

What a wild weekend, but so much fun! The Military Spartan race was held this last weekend in Fort Carson, CO. There were over 30 people from the gym I attend sign up.. I debated for months on doing it, but something inside of me held me back. I don't know if it was the "unknown", the running between obstacles, or just my fear of being left behind to croak or what, but I didn't sign up... I really regret it now. **BUT there's always next year!!!** It was really cool to go and show support to my awesome friends who DID take the challenge head on and see what the race was all about. They so rock! I've never done a Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, or Spartan.. They all look like a blast! I am really drawn to the obstacle part of it and don't mind getting dirty, the 5 mile length of the Spartan really scared me off.. So anyways, I got up early and packed snacks and water for the kiddos and myself and we drove up to Fort Carson.

We had to take a bus from the parking lot to the actual race and along the way, I saw some of the obstacles and the distance between them.. oh my goodness.. I did feel some slight relief that I wasn't doing it and my nerves were all over the place for the people who were doing it! Talk about flood of nerves! What the heck!?!

I found the group I was going to support and snapped a pic 1 min before they started their race! Look how clean they all are !!! haha

They are bibbed, tattoo'd, and ready to rumble!

There were lots of burpees going on .... Fail or skip an obstacle, automatic 30 burpees.

This one looked hard! 3 feet of muddy water, get on your rope, climb to the top, ring the bell ! ...
or 30 burpees!

.. not so clean anymore!!! What an awesome shot!!!

Jumping the fire!!!

last obstacle before you cross the finish line.. Fight off the Spartans!

The day was hot ... around 90 degrees, but the water was free and there was plenty to do while waiting for my friends to finish. I bought some BioFreeze and the kiddos jumped in the bouncy house and did the kid friendly spartan. Had a great time ! After everyone got all cleaned up and all that mud off, we all went out for dinner... Wonderful company!

Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day as well and I took full advantage and hung out in the backyard most of the day.. Mowed the yard, ran the weed eater (i HATE that thing), watered the grass.. Then I decided I'd light the grill and cook some chicken for the week's meals. Sooo glad I did that. I've been following the Bod-e Trainer meal plans that call for carb cycling and I absolutely LOVE it! I really like the Chicken Caesar Salad meal. It's quick and easy. I had it today for lunch.

Caesar Yogurt Dressing
1 serving: 2 tbsp; 40 cal, 2g fat, 2g sugar
I used 1 tbsp.
Reg caesar dressing has 150 cal/serving
Read and compare labels before you buy!!!

I turned my Caesar salad into a wrap today..
organic romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, sprinkle of parmesan, caesar dressing, low carb wheat tortilla
Delish!

I also kicked back with a Michelob Ultra... or four. It was hot! They went down pretty easy. It was an awesome day though to just chill and hang out on the patio. No regrets! :)

Got my workout done this morning .. Full body strength. We used the TRX, fitwall, ropes, dumbbells.. It was a great workout! 45 min 621 cal burn. My legs are pretty heavy this evening and sure tomorrow they'll be super sore! Good thing tomorrow is upper body.. but if I know my trainer, she'll sneek legs in! ;)