Total Exhaustion

My body is tired. I have over done it again. I can feel it in my knees and ankles. Right now my life is getting a little crazy. Luckily I'm on summer break. I can only imagine how much harder its going to get once school starts again. I will just have to take it one day at a time. Lets see how it tomorrow goes.

For my aches, I take two Tylenol and lay down with my feet up. I also do some meditation breathing. I learned it from my sports psychology class. Lay flat on your back, in complete silence. Take a deep breathe in so your stomach gets fat, then as I release it count(from 1-20). If once I get to 20 I don't feel relaxed, I try it again. You have to let everything go, that's going on in your life. Don't think about anything, complete blankness. This works for me. Give it a try.

The end of recovery week

Well, excuse my absence. This is the end of my recovery week. This week consisted of the same work out everyday. Boring..... So I didn't want to bore you all. On Monday I will begin the second month of the Insanity program. This upcoming month is to be more intense then the first!?! Yikes, what am I to expect? The first month was hard enough. The only thing is to keep my goals in tact. Remember why I want to do this.

FYI.. Calorie counting is working! I always make sure to check it. It has become second nature. Everywhere I go eat, whether a restaurant or fast food, I limit the calories. I've been able to keep the pounds off! Hooray!

Listening to your Body!

Lately, my husband and I have become tennis fanatics. We would workout hard in the morning and then play tennis at night. He has been complaining about his back. It has been hurting. Also, it had been hurting during the morning workouts. Yesterday I had to play care giver because he was in pain. All yesterday we rested and did absolutely nothing. I made sure he took a lot of advil pills and those heat patches on his back. Today is our off day so he really gets two days off. It is important that we listen to our bodies. Make sure you know your limits and that you don't over do your exercise. Be patient with yourself and let your body adjust to one workout before you add another. Plus, if you do add another work out, do it slowly. Add a little bit at a time.

The most important thing is to take care of your body. You only get ONE!!

The first month is almost done.

The first month of the Insanity program is almost done. Next week we will begin the recovery week. That week will be a slower workout but still as hard. Its a good way to prepare for the second month, which will be hard. Today I felt pretty good. I re-weighed myself yesterday and I am now down to 157. I calculated a total of 3 pounds, so far. That's a pound a week. Not bad for starters. I am still going strong because my goal is getting closer and closer. We have to stay focused and mentally strong to continue to push forth with the program. It is good to have someone workout with you, that way you can push each other. I know there are days that I don't feel like working out but my husband pushes us. And then there are days where I push him to continue. The only problem, is that you must make sure you find a partner who has the same drive as you do. If not they may bring you down instead of pushing you up.

Overwhelming Days

I have been overworking myself all summer long. And it all finally caught up to me. I did the ultimate sin. I didn't do my work out today. But it doesn't have to sound all that bad. One day is not a big deal. However, the mentally to continue is what I need to work on. I haven't had any time to myself. So I think I will treat me to some down time. Of course this down time will not include greasy foods. Remember that we all need to relax at times. We need to re-charge our battery. If we become mentally weak, our work out program will slowly diminish. Of course I feel guilty at the moment, but I will make up for it tomorrow. Today's advice: It's okay to mess up every now and then, just make sure it doesn't become a habit.

Rest, Rest, Rest......Take a deep breathe.....Then start all over again!

Still going- still aching

Today was tough. I just realized that no matter how far into the program I get, I will continue being sore. No one ever said it would be easy. The only good thing is that once I get to where I want to be, I will just need to maintain. Currently, I am working exceptionally hard to lose weight. So eventually, it will get easy.

Today's advice:
Having kids is distracting when you are trying to work out. If at any time during your work out you need to stop and attend to anything, do it will jogging in place. Don't stop moving. The goal is to keep your heart rate up.
Also if at any time you feel that you can NOT do an exercise, substitute the exercise by jogging in place.

Another Off-day!

Today is my "off-day." Again, I headed to play tennis. I found this website that tells you how many calories I burned while playing tennis. You put in your weight and it tells you more or less how many calories you burned. The website is:

www.weightloss-hq.biz/weight-loss-tools/calories-burned-playing-tennis.html

The only reason I found this website, is because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't eating more calories than I was burning. The internet is a great tool to find out some information on everything. The calories of foods that you eat can be found on the internet. Everything has to have a label, FDA requires it.

Tomorrow starts another week of work outs. I will keep you posted.

Dealing with the cravings

During the past three weeks, I have been doing the Insanity program and eating the right amount of calories. I based my calories on the 2,000 calorie diet. I try not to eat over 2,000 calories a day. However, if I burned 600 calories doing a work out, then I allow myself 2,600 calories for that day. I eat three meals a day each meal containing 600 calories. 600 X 3=1,800. Then I snack in between meals or whenever I feel I'm getting hungry. I make sure that I don't snack on things that have too many calories. Usually something like cheese sticks or peanuts. I know sometimes it can be a pain watching what you eat, but if you just study the foods you like then it becomes less of a hassle. For example, I hate fish so there is no need for me to find out how many calories it has. I could care less.
Looking at your everyday eating habits can help you stick to an eating routine. This routine can be done everyday (which I know can be boring) and then if you stick to it, treat yourself to a great meal (preferably lunch) at a restaurant. Of course look at the calories and just splurge a little. Instead of a 600 calorie meal, eat an 800 calorie lunch. If you overdo a calorie meal, make sure it is at lunch so that way you still have the rest of the day to burn off the extra calories.
Sweets! What a major problem in life. I am a major chocoholic. I can crave chocolate every minute of everyday. But when I am calorie counting, I limit myself. I do not, and repeat do not ever eat that healthy chocolate. It has a nasty taste. The best candy to eat when on a diet is M&M peanuts. Now, I'm not talking about an abundance of peanut M&Ms, but a small bag. I use this once a week. I know its hard to just eat one bag, but you will get use to it. This helps get rid of the craving for sweets. I love cake, and haven't eaten it for weeks. Not even at birthday parties.
Its more than just stopping the cravings, its will power. Everyone has a strong person in them, they just have to believe in themselves.

Today's advice:
1. Count calories.
2. Do NOT exceed 2,000 calories a day
3. Check out your favorite food's calories
4. Make sure you burn more/equal calories than you consume
5. If you want to eat or splurge on, let's say cake. Adjust your calories to make room for your craving.

Work Out Recovery

I'm back. Please excuse my absence yesterday. My area was effected by hurricane Alex.

Always, today's workout felt good. I was tired during the work out but have noticed that my recovery time is shorter. When I first started, I felt tired after my work out and for almost half the day. I never felt relaxed. This being my 3 week, I have noticed that it only takes 20 minutes before I feel "normal." My body recovers much faster which makes me feel like I have lots of energy. I also link it to taking a shake after-wards. I'm not talking about those "muscle" shakes that body builders use to bulk up, I'm talking about meal replacement shakes. I bought some at our local grocery store. They are chocolate flavored, but the taste still needs some getting use to. It has plenty of vitamins. Sure you can drink water, but the water does not replace everything you work off. Water just keeps you hydrated. Of course there are many different ways to replenish your nutrients, just shop around and find the one that best suits you. For example, if you can't drink these shakes, buy them in pill form. If you can't swallow pills believe it or not, they make vitamin gummy bears for adults. Look through your vitamin aisle to see the many varieties they have. Which ever one you choose, make sure they have vitamins you need. Make sure to always check the labels.