Season is coming

If you're a GOT fan, you're familiar with "Winter is coming."

Well in my world, Season is coming. Which is the same thing as winter but... in the sub-tropics and we're mainly affected with massive amounts of traffic on the roads and in stores, as well as our workload picks up about 600%. So the main purpose of me telling you this? Blog posts will probably go on the back burner.

So while I have time, I will recap last week...

My weigh in Monday was... ok I'll just say it - TERRIBLE. A gain of over 5 pounds is just terrible.

I'll tell you what happened though, I completely went off plan.

Ok I still worked out last week and I did eat good for MOST of the week, but then my BFF showed up on Friday and everything went out the window lol

I account most of my weight gain to the following:

- I am not a drinker - at all - but the BFF and I had a steady diet of coconut rum mixed with pineapple vodka all weekend. Kudos that we mixed it with a zero calorie coconut pineapple sparkling water. (you can roll your eyes at me now, I would). Lots of drinking means lots of dehydration, even if I did alternate every 2 mixed drinks with one bottle of water.

- Lots of drinking usually means lots of mindless eating! Cheese and crackers were always available, and I also happened to eat bagels with cream cheese for breakfast all weekend? Guess it was my hangover food... We also went to a BBQ and instead of me eating the healthy chicken and veggie kabobs, I indulged in the jambalaya and mac and cheese (you can roll your eyes at me again. that alcohol just took over!)

- I could have fixed myself up when we went to Universal Studios on Sunday, but I started my day with a bagel with cream cheese (like I already told you), then I NEEDED (yes it was a necessity) a Monster Rehab, and apparently I still wanted hangover food and got these fried chip things with cheese and bacon at a restaurant we stopped at. I also shared a Butterbeer with my BFF (hey she wasn't going to drink the whole thing by herself, I had to help!) and then Joshua and I got Tijuana for dinner. And I STUPIDLY got a chimichanga!

Yes. The alcohol took over all weekend. BUT - I had a fantastic time, AND I actually didn't get sick or have a hangover, so I still see that as winning.

The obstacle to overcome...

I now have some serious poundage to drop by the 24th, but I know I can do it.

Oh, another thing that happened while the BFF was here, I RUINED my myfitnesspal streak and forgot to log onto it on Saturday and it completely reset my days :( I was so close to a year straight! But I got over it quickly.

My new goal is to keep a new streak, with actually logging all my food and STICKING TO THE PLAN!!!

This has been working well thus far. Just another thing to keep me focused.

I also started back at the gym first thing Monday morning, and yes, I smelled the coconut and pineapple pouring out of my sweat. Yuck lol

The good news is that the number is already going down, and I have over a week to get to my DietBet goal.

This weekend will be dedicated to getting my meal plan together, as I've been flying by the seat of my pants all week since I partied all weekend instead of prepping.

I should also be getting a shipment of supplements soon from my Mom/Brother, so that will help as well. This will also help my wallet since I've had to buy smoothies every morning from Tropical Smoothie. Mind you, they are DELICIOUS! But just kill my wallet unfortunately.


Cheers to a better weigh in on Monday!
(I'm toasting with lime perrier by the way haha)

XOXOXO

Transformation Challenge: Week 1 Recap

I'm trying to get this post in amidst a busy Monday at work (which I will [hopefully] get to at the end).

Let's just say that the Challenge came at the perfect time. I was "testing the theory" the week before, which really just mean CHEATING and I definitely needed something to get me back on track. The challenge definitely did it for me.

What's constantly motivating is that there are ongoing goals. I'm really loving them. Just when I finish one, I get another that I need to do and it keeps my focus.

Just a little overview of the things that I have done pertaining to the challenge:

Exercise

I decided to go with the Intermediate workouts through the challenge. I will say this, I WAS SORE ALL WEEK AND STILL AM!

But... I love it!

When I'm sore, I know that it's working!! The workout has 3 strength training days laid out, in which you also have to do either endurance cardio or HIIT cardio on those days as well. I choose HIIT cardio on those days to save on time. On my non strength training days, I do 45 minute spin classes. Spin is my new favorite cardio workout! I'm very intrigued to see just how much my stats improve by the end of the challenge!

I did take one day off in the past 7 days, and that was Saturday. For days I went back and forth about adding a workout that day or not. I ended up not making a decision, and therefore not doing a work out that day. I did however help a friend move, although this did not get me many steps nor much of a sweat. I should have planned for something, and will have to for Saturdays in the future.

I've also been "rewarding" myself after all of my weekday workouts by spending about 10 minutes in the sauna at the gym. It's been very nice to kind of "finish" sweating it out, and take some rest time before I have to get up and start getting ready for work.

Food

Nothing has really changed with my food intake (other than the fact that I've stopped cheating *yay*). I am finding that I get a little hangry in the afternoon sometimes, but have purchased some deluxe mixed nuts (no peanuts) and have a small handful if I need something to tide me over.

I did purchase some frozen dark chocolate covered bananas last week, but decided that once the box was empty that I wouldn't be purchasing them again. While they're terrible for you, I did notice that they have peanut oil in them, and I think that if I'm wishing for something sweet, a blended frozen banana will do fine and come out just like ice cream! I could even put some nuts on it, or drizzle some almond butter. 

Future Planning

I spent all day Sunday prepping food for the week. Today and tomorrow I will most likely be staying late at work; so in addition to my usual prep of lunches, I also prepped all my dinners for the week. I will reassess at the end of the week how much this helps, and consider possibly doing it every week.

This weekend I am going to Disney to meet my best friend and her two boys. I will be leaving Friday after work to drive there, and then will return on Sunday in the early afternoon. I have planned out every meal that I'm going to have, and got extra apples and some raisin/nut mix to have while at the parks. I will also be bringing my coconut oil to put in my coffee. I even prepped an easy "finger food" dinner for Friday that I can munch on while driving (will heat it up before I leave the office).

In order to stick to my workout plan, I have decided that my workouts each day will be walking around the parks. I am also considering waking up extra early to walk/jog around the resort before our park plans. The only reason I have not set these plans in stone is because I have to consider that I will be staying with other people that will most likely want to sleep... I will bring it up to them when I get there on Friday.



That's all for now!
XOXOXO

Recap w/ a Smoothie Tip!

A large update due to my lack of commitment to writing.

Would say I'm sorry but I'm really not, because I've been going to bed early instead of writing.

I write wherever I can find time. "But there was an entire weekend!" you say. I say, I had issues. hahaha

I had all wonderful intentions of writing over the weekend. Then, the washer happened.

Brockton, my pup, had gotten sick in his crate, on his bed and blanket on Friday, so we threw them in the washer.

Saturday morning, I went to take them out of the washer and the water had not drained.

To make a long story short (cause I do want to get to the good stuff today), I tried to fix the water all weekend and my boyfriend ended up fixing it by banging on it a couple times on Sunday evening.

It was a funny story. You can check it out on www.facebook.com/melfredo7 - if I don't have you blocked of course.

Recap of the first week

I thought the first week was going to be difficult, but it ended up being easy. Maybe a little too easy?

Looking back, I was very focused on my food and exercise, as well as taking all of my supplements.

I had good energy throughout the day, and tried my best to get to bed at a reasonable hour every night. This is not a usual problem for me, but I was trying to get to bed even earlier, due to the change of extremely early mornings at the gym.

I did 3 days of strength training/interval cardio, as well as 4 days with lighter cardio workouts at home (yoga, walking the dog, and exercise videos).

I followed my nutrition plan completely, and didn't stray at all. I actually found it strange that not once was I craving any non-quality foods, and not once was I starving, or even hungry.

I'm pleased with the results from my first week, but don't plan on getting such large results in the future. To keep up with my results, you can click here.

Smoothie Tip!

Smoothies.

They're SO SO SO SO good for you, but man, can they be a pain.

Not to mention that the blender makes so much noise at 4:30 in the morning when your partner and roommate are sleeping!!

I started to make my smoothies the day before, right when I get home from work. I put it in a travel mug, and then throw it in the freezer for the night.

This ACTUALLY makes the smoothie easier to eat if you're a little skiddish about the taste.

When I go to take my smoothie out at 4:30 in the morning, it's frozen, but not too frozen to scrape with a spoon and eat somewhat like Italian ice! Plus I don't have to put too much effort into it because I only eat 1/4 of it before the gym.

Then the smoothie sits in my car and starts to melt while I'm working out and getting ready for work. By the time I sit down at my desk, it's usually this fantastic consistency that resembles ice cream or a slushie!!!

Trust me, this is the way to go. I've tried to make smoothies in the morning, then choke them down because the taste was just meh. Eating it like Italian ice, there is hardly any taste at all. Then when it's milkshake/slushie consistency, for some reason the flavors of the banana and blueberries totally overtake the kale, and it makes it so much more enjoyable!!

Try it out and let me know what you think!!

XOXOXO