Journal Entry – January 27 – 31

January 27 thru 31 – Days 22 thru 26 

Burpees!

I can’t believe that my fourth week is almost done!  When I first started this program I told you how I couldn’t do a Burpee and if I did one it would be worth videotaping. Well, it’s not worth videotaping yet, but I will say that I have made some pretty good attempts and doing them.  If that’s not fitness progress, then I don’t know what is. I have to be getting stronger or else I wouldn’t be able to do it at all. So that’s some good news for you.

Coffee May Have to Come Off the Menu Again

Why?  Well, I like my coffee delicious with creamer and sweetener.  I was really good for a bit with drinking it near black with a splash of fat-free milk, but the creamer has inched it’s way back into a few cups, so has a sweetener or two.  If I find that I can’t keep to the ‘no sweetener, no creamer’ deal, then I’m straight up eliminating it.  I feel like it’s my gateway drug (FOR NOW). Oh no!  We’re not doing that.

Still Need Rest

I didn’t have a complete rest day last week and I felt it on Tuesday when I did my workout.  I was really dragging.  My workouts have gone better (even double day Friday this morning), with an amped up pep talk, but I probably need to go to bed earlier to get in at least 8 hours.  Right now,  I’m averaging between 5 and 7 hours sleep.  No bueno.

Weigh in is tomorrow.  I’m relaxed about it because I feel more fit.  With this northeast weather I’ve been taking a lot of Emergen-C .  It’s sweet and I don’t really know if it affects my caloric and sugar/sweetener intake, but like I said before, I’m doing my best to make it through the 10 weeks without getting injured or sick.  So I’m taking it.

Water, Water and More Water

I’ve also upped my water intake, rather I have just been more conscious of my water intake.  I have one of these large water container that I got from Wal-Mart.  It’s about a 72 oz container.  I make sure I drink at least one of those a day in addition  to the water and coconut  water I drink for my work out, so I’m probably having 100 oz of water a day on average.

Last week I don’t think I even came close to that.  I remember reading somewhere that it is a good idea to drink have your weight, in ounces, of water a day. This may be overkill, but I think it’s good to stay hydrated.

Week four will close out with my stretch on Sunday and then it’s one more week before going into the Beta phase.  I’m going to watch those video to see what pain Shaun T has in store for me.

Have a good one guys!

My Music – Zendaya

“Replay” is the most popular song on this album on Zendaya’s self titled album, but I like EDM so “Fireflies” is one of my favorites.

When I want to complain about my love life I listen to “Cry for Love.”  She reminds me of Cassie especially in the video for “Replay” but I can see her swag is a little different.

She’s a Disney kid so you know their legacy:  Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears.  Just sayin’.

Plus my Godson loves “Replay” and he’s only 2 years old so I smile every time I hear it.  That kid knows his music, just like his Madrina.

Have a listen.

Journal Entry – January 25 and 26

January 25 & 26 – Days 20 & 21 

Weekly Weigh In

I took my weight and measurements and this is what it’s looking like for this week.

Weight: 1 lb. loss

Chest: 1/2 inch gain

Waist: 3/4 inch gain

Arm: 1/4 inch gain

Thigh: no change

I lost 1 lb.  Yay!! However, I’m a little bit confused about my inches gained.  It seems counter intuitive to believe that I could lose weight yet gain inches especially since I’m working out harder than I ever have. My first inclination was to panic.

I did speak to a friend who teaches Zumba and my sister who is a health nut.  They both believe that I need to give it time.  I have been doing this intense program for only 3 weeks so my body could be making all kinds of adjustments so some fluctuation should be expected.  I wonder what the science and physiology is behind that though.  I also visited a few forums on the subject and most people (fitness fanatics, trainers and the like) say not to panic and give it time.  There can be many factors as to why this happens.  For example:  measuring error (holding the tape too tight), sodium intake (I did have miso soup which was a bit salty) and for women, their cycle could have impact as well.

I’m not defeated.  I will watch this closely over the next few weeks to see how things change, but I figure a month is a good evaluation point to see how things have gone overall.  I must say that I did do another Zumba class on Saturday morning, which is normally my rest day for the week, to motivate myself to move and not get upset about it.

Sunday, I again did the stretch and I am getting more flexible.  It actually feels good to do the functional training stretch.  I took it easy the rest of the day to get ready for my week given my no rest day this week.

Daphne Oz’s Chicken Paillard – Photo by Jennifer Welsh

I’m settling in and still motivated to move my booty and get this weight off.  Part of me of course wishes that the weight would just come off faster, but slow and steady wins the race. Here comes week number four.  My form is improving, I’m getting more flexible and I’m still conscious about what I put in my mouth (probably a little obsessive about it actually).  Like the delicious Chicken Paillard (above) I got from Daphne Oz on The Chew.  The meal is delicious and under 300 calories.  Click on the picture to get the recipe. Check it out.

Journal Entry – January 20 -24

January 20 – 24 – Days 15 – 19 

Third Week and Still Going Strong

Monday was an exceptional day.  I had gone to a Disclosure concert the night before and if you know me you know that I love my music (all types) and especially most of the genres in Electronic Dance Music.  When I hear the music I can’t stop dancing.  Such was yours truly on Sunday night for Disclosure (see my blog about that awesome show!).

However, the next day I was sore and my legs in particular were very fatigued.  That didn’t stop me from getting my ass up and doing Total Body Circuit. It’s the toughest workout in this Alpha Phase of Focus T25.  I was really sore after that workout.

Apparently, Monday was overachievement day because I then had the nerve to go take a Zumba class the same night!  I had lots of fun but I felt I had over done it – BECAUSE I DID!  I stuck to my regular planned workouts with the exception of all the snow shoveling necessary here in New York Tuesday and Wednesday.  My result will be interesting on Saturday.  I do hope I stay on the decline track but you never know.

The Introduction of Stimulants – Coffee is Back 

So on top of having no added sugar, no alcohol, I had also inadvertently stopped drinking coffee and caffeinated tea.  Why?  Because I like my coffee delicious with a flavored creamer and some sweetener (which I have also eliminated).

I know I’m on crazy withdrawal, but I think that the Pre-Cleanse helped because I didn’t got through a really awful withdrawal with headaches and obnoxious irritability.

So coffee came at the birthday party I told you guys about on Saturday the 18th.  I think the pull was that I was tired.  I really needed rest not coffee, but because I couldn’t rest that day I went for the ‘pick me up.’  However, I had 2 additional cups this week.  I want to see my results at the end of the week to evaluate if I am helping or hurting myself with the addition.  Maybe it has no effect at all.  I’ll let you know.

And….Here Come the Cravings

Now that I’m three weeks into this program, I suspect that it would be around this time that a craving would re-introduce itself to me.  I think it was because I was looking at so many different websites about food in my search for 300 calorie meals.  I have used almost all of the recipes in the nutrition guides and figured I’d get a head start by looking for some other recipes to have on hand.  It just made me hungry because I had to bypass the delicious looking, maybe not so healthy recipes.  Memories of chocolate chip cookies, pasta, chocolate covered almonds and my favorite bottle of red wine popped into my head.  At which point I promptly went to my blog to write about it.

I’m eating really good, healthy and wholesome food, so this could all just be a cranky habit that needs to be broken down!  The cravings have dissipated and I’m ok, but there was a bit of reminiscing going on. 

Tomorrow I weigh in and I hope I have another good week.

Page 45 – Bared to You by Sylvia Day

“Page 45”  is a new category that I added in addition to my blog’s new look for 2014.  I’m an avid fan of Books Rock My World.  If you haven’t liked them yet, you should totally check them out on Facebook.  One of their posts a couple weeks ago was to turn to page 45, read the first line and it would describe your love life.

I have been doing it ever since and thought it would be fun to post them and also hear from you out there reading.    Today, I chose Sylvia Day’s book Bared to You.  This is a highly sexual romance novel, I should add.

It reads.

“…been craving since I first laid eyes on him.”

Seriously?  Being single him could apply to a model in a magazine or that guy at the gas station.  So, it’s kind of true!  🙂

Journal Entry January 18 and 19

January 18 & 19 – Days 13 & 14 

Weekly Weigh In

So we’re all caught up now and just in time for some fairly realtime results.  Take a look.

Weight: 1.5 lb. loss

Chest: 1/4 inch loss

Waist: 1 and 1/4 inch loss

Arm:  1/2 inch loss

Thigh:  1/2 inch loss

Less weight loss this week but more inches lost.  Yay!  Not bad at all, right?   I think these are pretty typical results.  I’m happy that the weight and inches keep going down.  LOL.  Once Alpha Phase is over I will put up a 4-week tally summarizing all the weeks from my day one start

The Cheat Day Dilemma

I went to a birthday party on Saturday and it was pretty challenging. There was so much good food: pasta, rice, roast pork, chicken, salads, pastilles, chips, ALCOHOL and lots of cake (red velvet and Dominican cake).  You should have seen people’s faces when I told them I wasn’t drinking until March!  Hahaha!  Now, I’m no alcoholic, but I like my whisky and red bull and my wine pretty regularly.

I zeroed in though.  I planned to have cabbage salad that was similar to one of Shaun T’s recipes and I love the roast pork so I picked a small portion of the leaner cuts (no crunchy skin or fatty bits – my latinos know what’s up).  I decided to have a slither of the Dominican cake and all I drank was coffee black (no sugar or sweetener) and water.  This was a whole day event so earlier in the day I stuck completely to my prepared meals and snacks.  I think I did well and gave myself 10 pats on the back for it, but it was hard.

I had considered just having a cheat day, but those are such big triggers for me.  It calls for flexibility and ownership of will power to get back on track  fast.  I don’t think that’s where I am now.  I am in severe need of self-control and strict commitment to the meals as they are.  So what if I don’t go out for 10 weeks?  It’s not going to kill me.  So I have to say no to people and events sometimes?  The circumstances are not accommodating to my training program.  OH WELL.

I’m the one who has to live with myself once all the fun and celebration has been done and I alone am sweating off the the calories and obsessing over meal planning and nutrition. So I have to do what I have to do. 🙂  Thanks for putting up with my guys.  The support is well-received. xoxo

My Music – Disclosure at Terminal 5 – Jan. 19 show

What better way to debut my new category entitled My Music than with a really cool group.

I got turned onto Disclosure this summer while at Scratch DJ Academy in the city. Everyone was banging the tunes off their debut album, Settle, all summer long from “Defeated No More” and “You & Me” to “White Noise” and of course “Latch.”

I went  to see them with a friend and let me tell you, they gave an awesome show. The brothers Guy and Howard Laurence, did their thing and their light show was amazing.  I love that they sing and play instruments as well as add their take on the EDM scene. They had the crowd dancing all night.  However, they totally brought he house down when they brought the legendary Mary J. Blige on stage!  It was such a surprise that I think the brothers were even overwhelmed that they were sharing the stage with Mary! LOL 

Disclosure @ Terminal 5 – NYC

If you like house music or even electronic dance music in general, you probably already heard of Disclosure, but if you haven’t yet put this in your playlist, I highly suggest you do.

So glad I went to see them.  They did their thing while in NY this weekend from Terminal 5 to Webster Hall, they gave us love and we gave it right back.

Journal Entry – January 15, 16 and 17

January 15, 16 &17– Days 10, 11& 12 

Feeling Pretty Good

I am working out a little better and my energy is still going up.  I approach my workout as if this is something that I have to do; like waking up, brushing my teeth, having breakfast.  I’m sure that there may come a time when I have to talk myself into it, but right now I’m kinda looking forward to the next days.  The calendar changes from week to week so that it keeps confusing my body. There are also more of the harder workouts as the weeks progress.  It’s gonna get scary next week!

I Need Some Sleep

I had my afternoon snack and then I swear it was like night and day.  I crashed like I had just come down off of some sugar.  I was so tired that all I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep for HOURS!  Maybe I should have gone to sleep, but I didn’t because I really have to start forcing myself to sleep a little bit earlier.  I am a child of the night, when darkness falls, my creativity rises and that’s where I do most of my work.  My friends know that I have always complained about fatigue. They ask me what time I go to sleep and I’m tell them 2 or 3am.  They honestly comment “and you expect to get up early and not feel it?”  True are the words.  I need to focus on this and get it right this time. Yet another challenge area…lol.

My Sneakers Have Got To Go

Why? because they are so worn that they slant to the outside.  It’s not because of T25, but those movements did push them over the edge.  They are worn from working out over the last 1-2 years.

So, I have moved to the Vibrum Fingers and…

VIbram Five FingersKMD Sport

… I LOVE THEM!!!

Back in 2009,  my friend Rachel and I went to New Mexico. As we sat at Kakawa (which I highly recommend if you are in Santa Fe), for some drinking chocolate, we saw a young woman wearing these “toe shoes”.  It was the first time we saw them and asked her so many questions about them. The woman educated us about Vibram Five Fingers and how they came to be. When I came back home, I wanted to get them but they were so new that there wasn’t a dealer close by and I didn’t want to buy them online because  the makers really suggest that you try them on (which is soooooo true).   I abandoned my search for them over the years and then would see other sneaker brands come out with their versions.  I saw people in the gym wearing them and even my friends had them, too.

So, when I needed a new workout shoe for Focus T25 I went online to see what was out there.  What was everyone else wearing?  Shaun T said he does his workouts barefooted  and in his thread on the subject many of the people doing his workouts recommended the Five Finger because it spreads the toes.  If you ever do this workout,  all Shaun T talks about is spreading the toes for balance and stability.  So I settled on them.  I spoke to some people about this shoe and some people say that they are comfortable and others say that they are not built for comfort.

My take is that they are comfortable. They don’t hurt my feet, they feel pretty natural and I’m not dying to take them off.  In fact I could wear them all day.  I really feel the difference in my workout, too so I’m REALLY happy with them and mine are cute too.  🙂

Page 45 – The Two Swords by R.A. Salvatore

I have been reading R.A. Salvatore’s fantasy novels for years.  I love his Dark Elf series.  I simply can’t get enough of his characters especially my beloved Drizzt Do’Urdin.  

If you life fantasy novels with dwarves and elves, orcs and goblins, then this is a MUST read but start from the beginning with Homeland. Whaaaaat?!!!  Amazing! 

So, I thought, why  not give Page 45 a try.

It reads…

“…ray of light on that dark day.”

So too, will that love be on the day of its arrival. 🙂

Journal Entry – January 13 and 14

January 13 &14 – Days 8 & 9 

Week Two is Here!

What a warm welcome for my second week of working out hard, eating right and working toward my goals.  Yes, I feel good and I’m more active.  I am still not “nailing it” as it relates to the workouts, but I’m not “barely making it” either. I have always been somewhat active, but now, I’m in training. BIG DIFFERENCE!

I am continuing with the nutrition plan as I mentioned but I wanted to let you know that there are two nutrition plans in this program; a 5 Day fast track and a The “Get It Done Nutrition” plan.  I may have mentioned in my “New Beginnings” post that the daily calorie intake for the 5 Day fast track is 1,100 calories (3 meals and 2 snacks).  I decided to continue with the  5 Day Fast Track meals and snacks until Wednesday the 15th just because I liked those meals and already had experience preparing them .  On the “Get It Done Nutrition” plan, the snacks go from 100 calories to approximately 15o.

Focus T25 Nutrition Guides

You have to calculate how much you should be eating; either a 1200 or 1600 calorie plan.  My suggested intake for weight loss falls somewhere in the middle. They give you a neat little quiz to figure all that out.  I try to stick to 300-325 calorie meals and 100-150 calories for snacks.  The quality of the meals and snacks are very balanced (proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, etc.) and they give you the nutritional value for all of it.  So helpful!

Planning is Key

This is so true.  I left the house to got the market for some additional items I needed for my nutrition plan.  This whole experience was supposed to take me an hour.  I got the bright idea to go make an appointment to get my tires changed.  I looked at the tires and there was so little traction left that I wondered if I would even make it to the mechanic.  I was going to just go to the market as planned, but thought it was better to be safe than sorry and got the tires done. Cut to THREE hours later.  I’m at the market (Fairway to be exact) and I’m starving with goodies everywhere.  Had I planned just a bit better I wouldn’t have been in that situation.  I got what I needed and split.  I persevered!  However, my meal schedule was now three hours behind and I ended up eating a snack for dinner and missing dinner because it was just too late.  Planning is so key.