STATurday

Wow, I'm really awful at this.  I thought I had at least posted daily during week 1.

While I've faithfully been working out and tracking my nutrition (not quite as faithfully).  However, I haven't lost anything.  Or, hardly anything.  It's a little discouraging; however, I notice a difference in how I'm performing, so I'm holding on to that.

I also recently got a fitbit blaze, and I love it.  It's pretty amazing, and I think it's a little more accurate than my HR (don't get me wrong, I love my HR too).  I'm stoked and excited to use it to take my fitness to the next level.

I'm setting goals this week so I can hopefully SEE results.
1. 10,000 steps everyday (except Thursday...cause it's really hard for me on Thursdays)
2. Log every bit of food that goes in my mouth
3. Shakeology and vitamins EVERY DAY
4. Blog EVERY DAY

I've got this, and I'm going to do great

Focus T25 Week 1 Recap

I know I haven't been keeping up with my blog like I want to, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been doing the work, because I have been.

Tuesday

Day 2 was Speed 1.0.  All I can remember in my head is "front, center, back, center, out wide."  This was the cadence to the speed and agility move.  Keeping up on this one was difficult, but I feel like I did a really good job with it, and I look forward to improving.

Lunch was this salad, that was really yummy.  I was surprised by how good it was.  There is a lot of sugar in in (or more than I want), but it was (surprisingly) really good.  I like that it's organic and certified by the NSF.  I'm not putting anything gross in my body and am truly eating clean. 

This was dinner; Greek Feta Zucchini Turkey burger.  The zucchini is actually in the burger, and it is topped with a greek salad.  I roasted some green beans.  This was delicious.  It's a recipe I found on skinny taste, and I have rarely had a bad meal from her. It was really yummy (and healthy).  

Day 3

Today's workout was total body circuit, and man was it difficult.  I barely survived this one; I swore Shaun T was trying to kill me.  It worked out everything...lived up to it's name.  Craziness is what it should be called.  I know this workout isn't as difficult as insanity, but it was pretty hard. 

Dinner this night was a loaded taco salad.  It was deliciousness.  It had chicken, back beans, corns, doritos, tomatoes, avocado, and greek yogurt dressing.  Even my wife liked it, and my wife usually doesn't like it when I make salad for dinner.  

Day 4

This was Ab Interval day.  Just because I stayed mostly in fat burn does not mean I didn't get a good workout.  Holy George do I need to work on my abs.  I have virtually no core strength.  I'm hoping that changes with this program.  

I didn't eat well this day.  I had another elevate salad for lunch, and we ate Arby's for dinner.  Not the best decision I ever made.  

Day 5

 Yesterday was doubles day.  I did Lower Focus followed by Cardio.  After lower focus, my legs were JELLO.  I would go down in a squat or a lunge, and I didn't think I could get back up.  Then, I had to do Cardio.  I did pretty good the first half, then the second half I had to switch between going all out and modifying.  However, I got all the way through it. It was amazingly hard, but worth it. 

Day 6

Rest day and STATurday.  I gained some weight, but I lost some body fat, and my measurements have stayed the same.  So, it's not ideal and I'm trying not to get discouraged.  I haven't been drinking my Teami tea, so I have have put on some water weight. 

Here it is: 

Weight: 256.6 lbs

Body Fat: 48.3%

Chest: 45 in

Waist: 40 in

Arm: 15 in 

Thigh: 29 in

Next week is a new week!

Focus T25 Day 1

Today started with my workout. CARDIO!!  I knew that if I didn't start my day with the workout I wouldn't have done it.  So, that was what I started my day with, and it was awesome.  I feel like I did awesome in this workout.  I had to stop and shake it out a couple times because my hips and legs are tight.  Every once and a while I slowed down to follow the modifier because I was getting tired, but I am pretty damn proud of myself.  I've been amazed at what my body can do lately.  I've been doing really well in my workouts and pushing myself.

7 minutes in peak?!?!  That's amazing for me.  I was super impressed my how many calories I burned, too.  I've been logging my food in order to keep track of everything in my Fitbit app.  This way, I know when I have been hitting my target calories.  I've also been trying to eat cleaner.  Today was not a good example, I ate oatmeal from mcdonalds, Chinese food (moo shoo pork), and Mexican (grilled chicken quesadilla with grilled mushrooms).  It hasn't been terrible, and I have stayed within my caloric limit, but it hasn't been as natural or clean as I would like.  

My biggest problem today is I'm exhausted!  I did some work from home this weekend to get caught up since it was such a crazy week last week.  I finished it all, but I think I wore myself out.  I really want to get back into reading at night and going to bed at a decent hour so I get all of my sleep.  I know that's important too.  

Overall, I want to be more balanced.  I think I'm on my way there, I just have to keep at it and be more disciplined.  My challenge to myself is to get 10,000 steps everyday this month as well.  We are going to see how that works out for me.  usually I get close, but I don't quite hit it.  So, we are going to see how that goes.  

well, I'm going to enjoy the Game Show Network for the last day I have it, maybe get some reading in, and hit the hay super early.  It's back to work tomorrow.  

Focus T25: The Beginning

I've officially ended 21 Day Fix Extreme.  All in all, I lost 7.3 pounds, which is nothing to shake a stick at.  That's a pretty awesome weight loss, especially since I skipped a week.  I didn't expect to get such good results since I was pretty lax on the meal plan and missed a whole week of workouts.  Now, I am on a mission to complete all of the programs I have purchased.  I'm not turning in my pictures to beach body for this one because I did not complete the program.  My goal is to turn in pictures and get the swag for all the completed programs.  Then I'll have a whole collection.  To see my workout schedule for the year, go here.

I'm starting with Focus T25 for two reasons.  First, I think it's a better program for beginners.  Second, I have completed the program before.  I did Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.  it was awesome, but I don't think I got the results I wanted because I ate like crap (although I did get some results).  So, I'm gonna make sure I eat pretty clean and do well so I can get maximum results.

Focus T25 is 5 workouts a week for 25 minutes a day.  Well, really that's kind of a lie because on Fridays you do double workouts, so really it's 50 minutes of Fridays.  Saturday and Sunday are rest days or you can do stretch on Sundays.  The stretch DVD in this program is the BOMB.COM.  It's awesome!!  You will feel so good after you do it, especially after a grueling week of workouts.  I'm so glad I bought the program (the first time I did it a friend bought the program and we liked it so much I bought gamma) just for the stretch DVD.

I'm hoping, after the Alpha round, to be in the 230s.  I've never been able to break the 240s.  Really, I've never been able to break 245.  So, I'm excited to try this and get some good results.  I know that nutrition is the key, and it is my weakness.  Therefore, I have to plan for it in order to get results.  But, results I'm going to get!!

Final Days of 21 Day Fix Extreme and STATurday

I know I haven't posted in a while.  I usually won't post on Thursdays because those are my long days.  Yesterday, I was so stinking tired I hardly did anything. However, I have kept up on my workouts!

Thursday was leg day (Lower Fix Extreme).  This was squats and lunges, squats and lunges, and more squats and lunges.  This killed me, especially the sumo squats with plyo followed by the back lunges with plyo gets me every time.  It's craziness and completely burns out your legs.  Then, Friday you do Cardio Fix Extreme.  I was sweating up a storm.  It's craziness.  Today was Dirty 30 Extreme. I don't think I have ever sweated so much in my life.  I mean, holy moly...I've workout out hard these last couple of days.  I'm pretty proud of myself, to be really honest.

My nutrition has been on point as well.  This latter half of the week, I've been trying to track my nutrition in My Fitness Pal.  Lately it's been about eating the rest of the leftovers in the fridge so we can restock for this coming week.  Thursday lunch I finished off the turkey stuffed zucchini, and that night I finished off the salad.  I also took a better picture of it.

Yesterday for lunch, I ate at Arby's.  We've been seeing commercials for their Bourbon Brisket bacon sandwich, and it looks really yummy.  So, I had one.  I calculated it within my calorie intake, and I made sure to take the dogs for a walk too to help burn off what I ate.  But, it all worked out for me. Dinner was grilled chicken tacos and green beans.  Yum Yum. 

Today I weighed myself and lost 8 pounds from last week! I was pleasantly surprised.  I forgot to take my other measurements, so I will have to do that tomorrow, especially in anticipation of Focus T25.  This was my lunch today.  I took my mom out before we went grocery shopping. 

I have more carbs in this week's meal plan, so we will see how that translates on the scale and in the measurements.  I'm excited for Focus T25.  let's hope next week is as good as this one!

21 Day Fix Extreme Week 3 Pilates Fix Extreme

Today didn't start off so well. I was exhausted, but I dragged my butt out of bed anyway to find my dogs had chewed my resistance bands.  Grrr...they're acting out since my wife is in Africa.  I cleaned it up, got out my other resistance band, pushed play, and was so tired I turned it off 10 minutes in, and I went back to bed.  I know sleep is an important part of this process, so I went ahead and took some time.

Because I slept in, I didn't eat breakfast.  I know...that's bad. I meant to drink my shakeology at work, but I just got busy and forgot about it.

My mom joined me for lunch, which was great because I was in my office most of the day.  We ate a grilled chicken quesadilla.  I put a little salsa on it, and yum yum.  I did indulge in the chips and salsa, but I didn't eat the rice or beans that came with it.

Dinner was this beauty.  They are Turkey Stuffed Zucchini from my favorite healthy food blog, skinny taste.  This is so yummy, and a great way to get your veggies as you put the guts of the zucchini back in the stuffing.  Yum Yum

While I didn't do pilates, I did take my monsters (I mean girls) for a walk tonight.  We go out and got our steps in.  The plan is to go to bed early tonight so I can kill leg day tomorrow!  

21 Day Fix Extreme: Week 3 Upper Fix Extreme

Today's workout was Upper Fix Extreme.  Can I tell you, I did not get my ass out of bed.  I even thought about not doing my workout because it's "only upper body."  Once I got up, dressed, and was ready to workout, my wife called from Africa.  Her first question was if I worked out yet, then she made me hang up until I worked out.  Even from Africa she was super supportive. So, I got it done.  Push ups and dolphins killed me.  I cannot plank to save my life; it is really hard for me.  However, I was super excited when I could hold myself up and do tricep dips.  These are so hard for me, and while I couldn't lift my leg, I could at least keep my butt in the air. Definite win for the last time I'm doing this workout in a while.  I'm pretty sure tricep dips are going to come back in before I revisit 21 Day Fix Extreme though. 

Breakfast was the same as yesterday, but I added a banana.  It was just as good as it was yesterday.  I don't know how I feel about microwaved eggs, but it is good that I'm eating a nutritional breakfast before I go to work.  

Here's a picture of the salad I talked about yesterday, and it was just as good today as it was yesterday.  You can't see a whole lot of what's in the salad, but at least you get a decent idea.  It's super yummy.  

Dinner was Honey Lime Sriracha Chicken with green beans and yellow squash.  It was also super yummy.  The chicken was excellent, but it was not as spicy as I thought it would be.  We think that maybe it needed to be marinated overnight and eaten right off of the grill.  The squash is also grilled, but the green beans are roasted.

For dessert, I had reese's peanut butter cups.  Yes, I had a treat, but I was also spot on with my nutrition throughout the day.  I go by the 80/20 rule; otherwise I'm going to crash and burn.  So, today was a good day.  Now, to do it again tomorrow.  I'm hoping by the time I complete Focus T25 Alpha, this is a habit and it doesn't become so hard to get up in the morning.  

Here's to hoping!!