Weigh-in Saturday ~ Week 49

Starting Weight: 258 lbs (Dec 10/08)
Last Weigh In: 180 lbs (Nov 14/09)
Current Weight: 177 lbs (Nov 21/09)
This Week: 3 FABULOUS POUNDS GONE!!!!
Total Loss: 81 pounds!!

Day 13 of the last 30 days brought another awesome loss this week!! 3 POUNDS!! I have lost 81 pounds since starting this journey! Incredible. ONLY 3 WEIGH-INS LEFT!!! 20 pounds to go!! I don't think I will lose 20 pounds in the next 3 weeks but I will do my best to lose as much as I can and honestly at this point, the number really no longer matters! I am feeling and looking amazing and strong and healthy! I'm just in a great place. Plus, the journey doesn't end in the the next 3 weeks.....THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!! :)

I got a chance to sleep in a bit today (until 730), then was awaken by my 3-yr old. I put him in the stroller and went out for a nice jog this morning. I had planned for 45 mins but made it 30 minutes instead. Today, we're hanging out and doing some fun stuff just me and him (husband is working today)! We may even take in a movie today! :)

That's it for now...hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Day 12 of My 30 Day Countdown

Sorry this post is a bit long...I have a little mini rant today...sorry guys! :)

Wheew! TGIF!! What a busy week! I'm tired. Tomorrow, my plan is to sleep in (hopefully my 3-year old will oblige) until about 830 or even 900 if I'm lucky. All week, I've been up at 500/530 so this would just be heaven - I will even take 730!! :) As far as exercising - I'm going to go for a 45 minute run (about 5K) and that will be it for the day...my body needs to rest.

TODAY'S EXERCISE

Today was awesome (again)! I started off with my 1.5 hour weight training session...which, after 3 weeks of doing it, is still incredibly challenging and gets my heart pumping like crazy! It's fabulous - a total body workout and I get both strength and cardio conditionning from each session!! I'm loving it!! It really is the perfect way to start my day and it keeps me going throughout the day! I work on the 4th floor of my building and went up to the 6th floor on 2 occasions today - both times I hopped up the stairs! I know it's only 2 flights but I always took the elevator before. The best part is that there was barely a change in my breathing when I got upstairs - just fantastic!

Later in the day (430), I attended an hour long Kickboxing class at Therien Martial Arts! WOW!! Sensei Derek killed it today! I still can't get over how much fun I'm having as this man punishes me regularly with crazy exercise moves!! I always feel like I gave 100+% at every class because Sensei Derek really pushes me to my limits - and I get the same sense from the other people in the class. It's a really friendly atmosphere where everyone is working hard! Do you know how hard you have to push yourself to actually want to puke? IT'S FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!!! I am really loving it - more so at the end of class than during!!LOL! This is such an incredible workout, you really get a high from it. It gets you in shape and we get to do some really cool stuff, totally different (and more effective, in my humble opinion) than the regular aerobic classes or treadmill.

Today's class was awesome...my friend Coco actually came tonight and boy were we ever breathing hard! Sensei Derek had us do a special drill today. He called on one of his pro-kickers (Nathalie) to help him demonstrate the exercise. We were paired up in two's. One person would straddle over a kicking pad and throw a non-stop barrage of punches until he said stop (about 1 minute, which seemed like forever). In the mean time the other person held a rope (actually one of the martial arts belts) around the other's waist - almost like a harness. When Sensei Derek said, "GO!", the person punching would jump up and sprint to the other end of the dojo (gym) and back ALL WHILE the partner is holding on to the rope/belt applying resistance (their body weight)!! Picture the sprinter trying to pull the other person along as they sprint to the other end of the gym!!! OMG!! It was super tough, but awesome. I was so winded and yes, the feeling of puking appeared once more... BTW there were a couple other people in there tonight who felt the same way!! :)

Sensei Derek is tough (and crazy) and fun and I mentioned before about him taking pleasure in inflicting pain, well tonight he proved that once more! While demonstrating this exercise with Nathalie, she was running, pulling him along...and he's yelling, "let's go!! move!! move!!!" and she's pushing it and then, you know what he did???? Well, let's just say he had some very interesting motivational techniques and if you want to know what those are, you need to come to the class ;) What happens in the dojo, stays in the dojo! (Some things lol).

Oh you guys!! I'm just really having a good time right now with this new lifestyle. I look forward to getting the workouts in and feel so good when it's done (and proud)!!! I'm in a really good place and I don't ever want to leave!

TODAY'S FOOD

Before I go over what I ate today, I have a few things to address (it's not a rant - well maybe a mini-rant). I just want to clear this up because at this point in my life and this journey, I want to maintain all the positivity that I can and just keep moving through to get to my goals!!

In yesterday's post, I addressed a comment that I received from my friend Nia (who's been following and supporting me from the beginning) about the food I'm eating and whether or not I felt hungry. Well, that seemed to open the door for a lot more comments on this issue...some not so nice comments. What amazes me is that these people always choose to send me an anonymous email. I don't have a problem answering questions or comments (to the best of my ability and based on my personal experiences).

Anyway, I received one email where the individual went on and on and said, "I don't think you're eating enough and from what you list, it seems like you're starving yourself to lose weight!" This one bugged me a bit!But I was determined not to let this bother me and thought I should address it. I know that obviously this person had not been reading my blog all along to understand the PROCESS that I went through to get where I am right now!!

I just want to say for anyone reading my blog who is wondering

I AM NOT STARVING MYSELF!!!! THAT IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING AND IF YOU KNEW ME OR FOLLOWED MY JOURNEY, YOU WOULD ALSO REALIZE JUST HOW RIDICULOUS THIS IS!!

My diet plan over the past 11 months has been developped specifically for me by a certified nutritionist after a very thorough analysis of my eating habits, body composition, health, blood type etc. etc. It is adjusted on a regular basis as I go through the various stages of progression on this journey. My diet consists of nothing but foods from the WHOLE FOODS group. I do not consume ANY processed foods. Only natural foods!!

After cleansing my body from all the unprocessed foods I used to consume (and trust me it was bad), I found that as I ate healthy foods, everything changed including the quantity of food necessary for me to feel FULL or SATISFIED!! I am eating 6-7 small meals on a daily basis and keeping properly hydrated by consuming between 3-4 litres of water, EVERY DAY!!! I don't count calories so I have no idea how many calories I'm eating.

I wake up in the morning and have 3-4 eggs (mostly eggwhites) with some sort of vegetable and water or a bowl of oatmeal or grapefruit.....THAT FILLS ME UP

Three hours later, I have a snack. Sometimes it's a heavier snack, sometimes lighter - all depends on how I'm feeling!! When I'm hungry I eat....what makes a difference is WHAT I choose to eat. Sometimes, half a cucumber sliced up does the trick, other times it's a can of tuna and some broccoli, a small baked sweet potato or a piece of chicken breast, some almonds an apple or just a protein shake!! It all depends!! Plus water!!

Two to three hours later I'm having lunch. Again, healthy. Usually a chicken/shrimp/beef stirfry, a salad with some form of protein (tuna, eggs, poultry), sometimes soup plus water!!

Three hours later I'm having another snack - see above, plus water

Three hours later, it's time for Dinner - this is where I'll have ww pasta, brown rice, quinnoa, sweet potato with some form of protein and vegetables, PLUS WATER

Two hours later, i have another snack, plus water!

That's it!! Trust me I am satisfied!! I eat when I am hungry! I do not starve myself! I am getting all that I need nutritionally to sustain and fuel me as needed.

Oh, another thing, when I increased my exercising, I did notice that I felt a bit hungry, I simply added another meal!!

Anyway, that's it for today. I hope I don't get any more "you're starving yourself" crap!!!

I ate really well today....I'll just jot it down quickly:

B - 3 boiled eggs (whites) with a warm tomato and spinach salad, 1L water
Sn - protein drink (vanilla whey protein, water)
L - Grilled chicken breast, romaine lettuce, bacon (one strip,crumbled), small pita, water
Sn - tuna and broccoli
D - baked salmon, steamed mixed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, green peas), baked sweet potato and water
Sn -10 almonds and cup of green tea.
After Kickboxing class, I had another protein drink!

That was it today! Sorry for the lengthy post. Day 12 is done...almost to the end, until then I will be PUSHING THROUGH!!!

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Day 11 of My 30 Day Countdown - AWESOME!!

Hey everyone!! Today was one of those days that I will remember for the rest of my existence!! You know, this journey has opened my eyes to so many new, wonderful things! I've been able to try so many new things!! Things that I never dreamed that I would be able to do! It's been incredible. Today was such a fantastic day for me.

Started off this morning, feeling great. This was after all my "rest" day! When I say rest day - I mean a rest from weight training....not from exercising. Tuesdays and Thursday are the days when the only form of exercise I do is my Jiu-Jitsu (JJ)class. It's a one hour class of the martial arts technique! DON'T GET ME WRONG, it's not like this class is easy, it's tough and at the end, I'm usually drenched in sweat! Some days we have a very vigourous workout with a stronger focus on cardio, however, most days it's a light warm up and straight into learning the techniques. It's awesome. This is one of the things I would have never imagined that I would even attempt in the past!! Anyway. This class is always taught by Sensei Derek (I've mentionned him in previous posts - he teaches some of the kickboxing(KB) classes as well and he takes pleasure in inflicting pain! :)

Anyway, Sensei Derek has been reading my blog including all of the things I wrote about him, specifically, the "he worked us so hard, I almost puked" part! So today, he started the class by mentioning that he was doing some "reading" on the computer last night and read all I had written about my experiences with KB and JJ classes!! Then this huge grin appeared on his face. I knew at that moment, that this class was going to kick my ass....real hard!!

He set up 8 different stations around the dojo (gym). Each station represented a different exercise that we would have to perform for 30 seconds each, then rotate to the next station and repeat! "How long will we be doing this for?" someone asked. His response, "As long as it takes for Joania to puke!!!!" OMG!!! I was so scared y'all but I had my game face on!! Not even, I think he saw the fear in my face!! LOL!!!!

These stations were no joke y'all. I'm talking dips (triceps), medecine ball squats, kettlebell swings, crunches, step ups, knee on belly punches and my least favorite of all - running and jumping over a high stack of blocking sheilds, landing on a mat!!! I was DONE, y'all!!!! After one round of this torture, the sweat was just running down my body, my heart was in over drive, my lungs were screaming, "WHAT THE F*%K ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME?" It was nuts plus we had to this 2 more times!!!!!!!!! Sensei Derek walked around pushing us to get it done!! It was intense!! When we were done that part, I went for a couple of sips of water...it did not go down right and feared that this would be the day that I puked!!! This would be it!! I could feel it! I was really pushing myself and the crazy thing is that after all that, we weren't even a quarter of the way through the class!!

We were called back to the mat where the torture continued, kicks, squats, lunges, lunge-kick combo's, knee-ups, OMG he threw everything at us today...EVERYTHING!! At this point, and I'm sorry to be so graphic here, but the vomit was sitting on my chest and moving upwards..I grabbed some water and just chugged it!! It was awful, but great at the same time (I'm I nuts??)LOL!!! We were now half way through the class!! :)) We learned a lot of cool JJ moves and techniques today and even grappled (wrestled) a bit - which I really enjoyed! My partner pinned me with a head lock type submission move...IT WAS AWESOME!!! (Therien Martial Arts offers grappling classes as well, I think I might just take it! :)) I had an awesome partner as well, which I think helped - she was giving me tips as we practiced, it was great.

NOW, HERE'S THE BEST PART OF MY DAY....

We finished up and knelt to the mat as normal as we listened to Sensei Derek ( this is normally where we cool down, perform a quick breathing/meditation exercise as well as where he makes any announcements etc..) before he officially ends the class. He then started talking and called me up to the front for a presentation of my very first stripe on my belt!!! I was so thrilled and proud. I walked up, bowed and he proceeded to affix my stripe on my belt as the class applauded - it was awesome!! I wanted to just hug him and do a happy dance - this, the same guy who just made me swallow my own puke!!! Anyway, this is something I never thought I could ever do especially when I weighed almost 300 pounds!! And here I am doing it!! Crazy!! So I now have my first stripe....I need to get 3 more stripes before moving up to a Yellow Belt!! It just felt awesome (I will take a pic and post it soon)!!

So this totally made my day today! That class was insanely nuts!!! It was such an awesome workout - just thinking about the amount of things we did in that hour is crazy!!

Food was on point today ( I ate very well - pretty well the same as yesterday but instead had some of the frittata for lunch!) I consumed about 3.5 litres of water today!!

Oh, I almost forgot...I had a comment on yesterday's post that asked, " how do you keep your energy up eating so little?"

I'm actually eating quite a bit of food throughout the day, just smaller meals and frequently. I'm eating every 3 hours. I don't usually feel hungry after I eat however if I do get hungry, I have another snack - but it has to be healthy (like a boiled egg, some cucumber slices, sometimes I grab a chicken breast, cut half and eat it - that's why it's good to have it pre-cooked and just ready to eat)!

Anyway, that's it for today. Signing off a very happy girl today. Tomorrow back to the weights for some Rob Lagana-style pain!!! :)

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Day 10 of My 30 Day Countdown

Quick post today..

Still on an awesome roll!!

FOOD!!!

Breakfast was 3 eggs sunny side up (only used one yolk, 3 egg whites) and 1L water

Morning Snack - protein drink (vanilla whey protein powder, water)

Lunch - Shredded grilled chicken breast with about 2 cups of spinach, 1L water

Afternoon snack - small handful (10-12) almonds, 1/2L water

Egg and Chicken frittata with veggies ( like a crustless quiche - beat 6 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 2 cooked chicken breasts cut in cubes, chopped zucchini, onions, broccoli, red and green peppers, seasonned with black pepper, thyme, garlic. I mixed it all in a casserole dish and baked in the oven - pretty yummy!! 1L Water

I'm having a cup of tea right now (green tea - unsweetened)

EXERCISE!!!!

1.5 hours of weight training (full body)

45 minutes kickboxing

I wasn't able to do a second KB class today. My husband had to work. That's okay, I gave it 110% today!!

Tomorrow will be Jiu-jitsu for an hour but I think I may add an evening run to that, I'll let you know!! :)

I'm feeling great y'all and hoping I can pull off another nice loss at this weeks weigh in!! Only 3 1/2 weeks to go!! 3 1/2 weeks!! That' s INSANE!!!

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Day 9 of My 30 Day Countdown - Oh oh, Out to Dinner with Friends!!

Today was a good day! Not nearly as tough as yesterday (2 kickboxing classes and 1.5 hours of weight training)!!!Today was my rest day - now just because it was my rest day, doesn't mean that I would not be moving!!! :) I had an hour long Jiu-Jitsu class today at noon. It was great. Some cardio, a few body-weight strength moves and lots of self-defense techniques including 8 variations of breakfalls!! It's a very good workout! I burn between 450 and 600 calories with that workout! It felt good! I got a good sweat!!

Eating was perfect today!! 2 turkey sausages and one soft boiled egg for breakfast with 1L of water, morning snack was my protein drink (vanilla whey protein, water) and lunch was mixed veggie and chicken breast (cut in strips) stir fry, 1L water! My afternoon snack was 1/2 a baked sweet potato 1/2L water!

Then a few colleagues invited me to join them for dinner. One of the colleagues was from out of town and I really wanted to visit with her as well. I could have said no, but I wanted to go for the whole social aspect of the evening! I was a bit nervous about the eating and temptations - let's just say this would be another test for me.

So we decided that we were going to The Big Easy!! It's a cajun style seafood and steak restaurant. I took a peek at the menu on-line and saw that I could make healthy selections. I sent an email to my colleagues telling them that I would be coming HOWEVER "I WILL NOT BE DRINKING ANY ALCOHOL OR EATING ANY UNHEALTHY FOODS!!" No sharing of deep fried, battered hors d'oeuvres or dessert!! Those were my rules and I had all intentions of sticking to it!! It can be done and I was going to prove it to myself today!!

We got to the restaurant, the waitress came over, with the standard small glasses of water, placed them down on the table and said, "can I get you some cocktails?" with a very pleasant smile and friendly personality (she was really good, actually)! I asked for water and quickly advised her that I will be drinking nothing but water for the entire evening!! I thought this would prevent me from having to say "no, thank you - just more water please" each time she returned! And it worked....she returned with a nice tall glass of water, even decorated it with a lemon wedge. It was perfect! She came by frequently and refilled my glass without me even having to ask as my colleagues enjoyed their yummy looking drinks! :)

Then came the food!! Everything on the menu looked amazing!! My mind started straying a bit and I started getting excited reading all the yummy things on the menu. I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse and stared at the screen for a few minutes. Before I left, I had typed a message to myself which I had planned to read if I got weak. It said, "Joania, don't even think about it!!! Stick to the plan, you've got 3 and a half weeks to go!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!" I read it three times, returned my phone back to my purse and proceeded to order. I had a grilled salmon fillet with a double order of vegetables!! This is what it looked like:
It was delicious and very light, non-greasy. I was quite impressed with the flavor and it was quite filling as well! I was so proud of myself for sticking to the plan! Then came dessert!! I was dying inside as the waitress described all the desserts they offered and made fresh daily at the restaurant!! The one that stuck in my mind was the "sweet potato, chocolate pie" Oh MY GOD, can you imagine...everyone at the table reacted very well to it. One of my colleagues ordered one to share. Oh goodness...I so desperately wanted to have a bite! Would one little small nibble really hurt??? YES IT WOULD!! SO I REFUSED!! That was the toughest part of my night! My colleagues got through most of the dessert and there was still some left!! I kept staring at it thinking, just take a small taste!! I pulled out my phone and read my message once more!!

Then i was good!! I paid my bill and went home!! When I walked out of that restaurant, I FELT AMAZING!!! SO PROUD of myself for getting through it!! It CAN be done, you don't have to sacrifice your social life...this is my new lifestyle!! THIS IS MY NEW LIFESTYLE!!

That's it for tonight! Have a good one

Until tomorrow...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Day 8 of My 30 Day Countdown

Hi guys...hope everyone is well today! Here's a little update/recap on the weekend (Day 6 & 7 on the 30-day countdown to the end)!!!

Day 6 (SATURDAY) was one of the best day's I've had on the journey. I woke up early anticipating my loss on the scale. I stepped on and to my surprise, I had dropped 5 pounds for that week!! That was awesome!! I'm still on a high and trying to keep that momentum going!!!

Day 7 (Sunday) was pretty much a day of rest! I wanted to do a Yoga session but just didn't have it in me. I've been fighting off a cold/flu for a few days now and Sunday was the worst! I couldn't stop coughing, had chills...it was awful! I stayed home under covers trying to sweat it out, took some Cold FX and one small shot of cognac and did nothing but watch NFL football ALLL DAY!! It was just what my body needed! The rest did me some good! Still not 100%, but I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to let this stinking cold get the best of me, or even slow me down for that matter! I can't be sick now!! NOT HAPPENING!!

So here we are today...DAY 8 - Monday!!

Today was PHENOMENAL!!!! I woke up at 5am, and got right into my weight training session. It's 1 hour and 35 minutes of pain!! But good pain....those squats were killing me this morning, and the lunges - even worst- but I pushed through! I'm telling you, I don't know what it is, but I am feeling invincible!! LOL!! I picture this fit body (in my mind - I'm thinking like body builder, fitness model type of body) just pumping those weights and pushing through the routine. Yes, I know I'm nuts but for whatever reason, it works, especially at 5 in the morning! This new routine is tough....Rob really took his Lagana-Kick-Ass pills when he put this one together!! If you want one like it, check him out. He'll send it to you electronically:) (http://www.laganafitness.com)

So when I was done, I had a protein drink (whey protein, water) for breakfast (more to hold me over until I got to work). I got my son ready and all the usual routine and went out the door. I got to work and about an hour later, I had a 3egg white omlet with spinach..I made it in the microwave at work! It turned out pretty well! I'll be doing that again - it saves time!

Before I knew it, it was noon and I had a Kickboxing class at 1215...rushed out to make it (the dojo(gym) is just across the street from the building where I work so it' like a 3-5 min walk! That class was tough. The teacher (Ingrid) really gave our legs a workout and the heart was just pumping! 45 minutes goes by so quickly in kickboxing class, it's amazing! I was drenched and winded ..it really is a great feeling because you know you've pushed yourself to the max! The drills were great!

I took a shower, went back to work and had my lunch (a grilled chicken breast, steamed broccoli). It was delicious, really hit the spot. By lunch time, I had consumed about 3.5 litres of water (including what I drank during workouts). Pretty good day so far, RIGHT?? NOT FOR ME!!! My crazy ass decided that I would go to the 430 kickboxing class!!!! It worked out that my husband could pick up our son today, so that gave me the option and I took advantage of it!!!

I walked in to the Dojo (gym) and of course the first person I see....SENSEI DEREK!!! He looked pleasantly surprised to see me AGAIN!! He smirked and said, "Oh, good luck today, I have something special planned!!" OH Great!! What have I done - it's not like I could turn back. For a quick second, I thought about pretending I forgot something earlier and I just came to pick it up - but I didn't. I went to the changing room and put on my gear - thankfully, I had extra workout clothes in that bag because the ones from earlier were soaked!!

This class was LIVE y'all!! Sensei Derek is a maniac!! After his warm-up, I wanted to just pass out!! Today, he pulled out the quotes! "EXCELLENCE IS A HABIT, NOT AN ACT", "THE ONLY FAILURE IS QUITTING" and one of my fav's, "THE BEST WAY OUT, IS THROUGH!!!!" Who's gonna want to quit after hearing those read out loud with the amount of passion he had!! NOT ME, man! I took my place on the mat and thought to myself, "BRING IT!!!" and GOD did he ever!! I think this man is on a neverending quest to make me puke!! There were drills and circuits and reps and squats and kicks and punches!! It was INSANELY INTENSE!! Just Awesome!! So glad I went.

I gotta tell you, I have taken cardiokickboxing classes at regular gyms in the past and THIS IS NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENT, in terms of EVERYTHING!! I know I said it before, but if any of you are looking for a GREAT WORKOUT, intense and just different than the regular stuff, look into kickboxing at a martial arts studio...and not just any old place, check out Therien, especially if you're in the Ottawa area! They have a few locations. Check out their website for more information, if you're interested (http://www.TherienMartialArts.com).

Dinner was Chicken and spinach caserole ( I just cut chicken breast in big cubes/chunks, add spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic, black peper and stuck it in the oven to bake! It was just okay - nothing special! Hey, I gotta be honest! ;)

Anyway, so I am wiped right now. Plan on turning in early tonight! I sent Rob(my trainer) and email asking him if it was okay to workout as much as I did today! If he gives me the okay, I will be doing this every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday for the next few weeks (AT LEAST!)

Until next time...signing off happy, tired and pumped!!!
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Weigh-in Saturday ~ Week 48

Starting Weight: 258 lbs (Dec 10/08)
Last Weigh In: 185 lbs (Nov 7/09)
Current Weight: 180 lbs (Nov 14/09)
This Week: 5 FABULOUS POUNDS GONE!!!!
Total Loss: 78 pounds!!

"A" for EFFORT, BABY!!! :)))))))
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYONE ON THE PLANET HAPPIER THAN I AM THIS MORNING!!!! 5 POUNDS!!!!! NOTHING BUT SCALE LOVE TODAY!! ALL THAT HARD WORK PAID OFF BIG THIS WEEK!! YES!!YES!!YES!!

This is frigging awesome!! I must confess to you that mid week, I took a peek on the scale and I had noticed that I was down 3 pounds and wanted to do back flips (wouldn't know how if you paid me - that may be my next goal)!! I did not want to get excited because we all know how that dreaded scale can be, so I just made up my mind to keep the intensity up and push through the rest of the week hoping to maintain that 3 pound loss BUT to my delirious delight this morning, it's 5 POUNDS!! I am over the moon today!!! Over the f-ing MOON!! !:)))))

78 Pounds in total gone!! That's a new reward level! I'm getting a new BIKE!! yeah!! When I wrote out these rewards, I wasn't thinking about the weather! :) Living in Canada, I can tell you I may only have one or two weeks of bike riding weather left, unless I want to ride in the snow!! So instead, I think I'm going to look into purchasing one of those spin bikes and keep it at home or pick a new reward - I'll keep you posted!! Either way, those 78 pounds are gone!

I am just thrilled that the scale reflected the effort I put in this week with my training and eating and I'll tell you this is some crazy motivation for me to keep up the pace and intensity AND I WILL!! I'm super pumped right now!! My plan is to keep up this momentum right through to the end (AND BEYOND!!)

Here's what I think I did RIGHT this past week:

• Clean eating each and everyday!! No excuses! No cheating! Resist all temptations! Made certain to eat 6 small meals each day. Kept all foods from the whole food group - nothing processed.
  
• Drank at least 2-3 litres of water each day! Stayed properly hydrated throughout the day, especially during workouts.
• Didn't miss/skip one workout session (weight training and cardio) and more importantly, I made each session count - effort was high to excellent for each session. It was tough but worth it!
• Tried to get at least 5-6 hours of sleep each night. Ideally, I should be aiming for 8 hours each night. That's my plan for next week.
• I planned ahead. I made all my meals ahead of time so they were ready when I needed it, didn't have to think about it. I packed my lunches and snacks ahead of time.

That's what I planned and did this week and it worked so this is what my plan will be for next week as well. I have to try to get a couple more hours of sleep at nights and that should be good.

Today, I have a cardio session. I was going to go to a lunch time kickboxing class but unfortunately my husband has to work, so I'll just hit the treadmill for a run and that will be it for exercising today. My son and I are going to do some house cleaning and then grocery shopping and later, some sort of 3-year old type, fun activity! :) Hubby and I are going out to dinner this evening - no worries, he's a vegetarian so I'll have no troubles keeping it healthy tonight. We'll more than likely go to a vegetarian restaurant - btw, I have a new found respect for vegetarian restaurants!! :)

Today's breakfast was three soft boiled eggs (I ate two egg whites and one whole egg) with a warm spinach salad - yum, and 800ml of water.

Snack will me a protein drink (vanilla whey protein, water)...I'm thinking of mixing up a batch and freezing it in popsicle containers - make some homemade protein pops. That way it will feel like a treat when I'm having it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lunch will be a grillled salmon fillet and green salad plus water

Afternoon snack will be 12 almonds, water

Dinner - that, I'm not sure yet (something from the vegetarian restaurant) - it will be healthy

Night snack - green tea or maybe a boiled egg and cucumbers (it will depend on if I feel hungry)

So that 's it for now... I'm on a fabulous high and feeling great y'all!!! HAVE A FABULOUS WEEKEND!!! :)))

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Day 5 of My 30 Day Countdown

Hi everyone!!!

The week is over! Day 5 is done!! Whoohoooo!!!

First off, thank you so very much to all of you for the wonderful and supportive comments this past week (and always). It really keeps me going!! Thanks :)

Okay so it's Friday already!! I had ANOTHER FABULOUS DAY!! This is amazing...I am in such a good place. This week, I just proved that I can stick to a plan, once I make up my mind, stay focused and JUST GET 'ER DONE!!!! I don't know just what it is, I just feel great!! I'm FULL of energy and all I want to do is workout and eat right!! Who would of thunk it??? I look forward to my weight training sessions - it makes me feel so powerful!!! And kickboxing and Jiu-jitsu have just brought out a new person in me altogether!! I don't know if it's just exhilaration from realizing that I've stuck to this for a year!! I gave it my best and I just want to give it even more than that as I push through!! I'm just happy and proud of myself!

Okay, so this morning I slept in!! I didn't hear my alarm and missed my regular 5:am wake up!! CRAP!!! It was 6:30 in the morning, there's no way I would have time to do my weight training session and make it to my son's daycare on time or make it to work on time for that matter. I would have to do the weights in the evening!! I was a bit worried, I'm usually so wiped by the time I get home that I just wasn't sure I'd have the energy to get the job done tonight. Plus, I had a 4:30pm Kickboxing class today!! I'll just DO IT!! I'LL JUST DO IT!!!

So I got to work this morning and couldn't wait for the day to be over to get my workouts in! Can you believe that? It's true. Finally, the day was done. I headed off to Kickboxing. Sensei Derek's first words to me were, "Oh, have I got something planned for you guys today!!" as he smirked and walked away. That meant only one thing......PAIN!!!!! He hit us real hard today, drill after drill of punches and kicks and core work. He split us up into groups of 4. We were doing 30 second intervals of a particular exercise - each person did something different - from holding the plank position for 30 secs, to non-stop jumping jacks, non-stop crunches, jack rabbits/mountain climbers (you're on all fours taking giant strides - it sucks) then we'd rotate every 30 seconds. I think we did that 8 times!! We were dead after! He was just smiling!! Evil!! Evil but awesome! I am really enjoying his class and feel great...AFTER!! Once again, I was drenched in sweat and just ran out of there at 530 as my husband and son came to pick me up. We headed home.

I literally got in the house, changed my clothes, it was just soaking and went to my basement to get my weight training session in. I could do every exercise but one at home - which is what I did. There is a ton of squats and lunges in this routine (don't worry upper and total body is covered as well)!! I really pushed through and got such a great workout - it was incredible!!! I was amazed at my energy level. My son is really cute! He came downstairs and counted with me as I did reps - it was sweet and he sat on my back as I did push-ups!!He's almost 40lbs, that wasn't sweet!! :) I came upstairs after and had a protein drink (whey protein, water). I feel good

So tomorrow is weigh-in Saturday!! I can't wait to step on that scale, I really gave it my all this week so I'm hoping the scale will cooperate!! I will be a bit disappointed if it doesn't but it won't be the end of the world! I'm down 73 pounds and I feel fantastic - so that's all that should matter!

Food was great today.

I tried something new ( I mixed tuna and broccoli together, sprinkled some black pepper, sliced some red peppers and wow!!) It was actually really good!! That was lunch today. Breakfast was a 3-egg white and mushroom omlet. Dinner was a roasted chicken breast and steamed veggie medley (cauliflower, onions, spinach and zucchini - basically whatever veggies were left in the kitchen). I'm off to the grocery store tomorrow! :) Snacks were brazil nuts and a protein drink. About 4.5 litres of water today - the extra 1.5 litres was because of the workouts!! I just couldn't get enough water today.

So that's it for today... I'll be posting the weigh-in results tomorrow..a bit anxious to see!

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Day 4 of My 30 Day Countdown

Another fabulous day today!

Quick post today because it's late and I really should be sleeping! Anyway...i feel like the seconds and minutes and hours of the day are just flying by!! I can't believe it's already Friday tomorrow. This was one of the fastest weeks of my life and it was awesome!!

Jiu-jitsu class was amazing and tough, and hot and hard!!! I was drenched in sweat after!! Sensei Derek seems to take pleasure in inflicting pain when he teaches! He's good - really good! Today, he had us do a drill of kicks all while putting our arms up to the sky...we had to keep our arms up for the whole thing as he walked around taunting and teasing us, saying things like, "who's gonna be the first to drop their arms? who? Joania, is it you? who? C'mon?" I thought to myself, NO WAY IN HELL I'm I dropping my arms, they're gonna have to fall off....YES, i am a bit stubborn!! The thing is, if you dropped your arms, then it's push-ups...can you imagine doing push-ups after holding up your arms in the air for what seemed like an hour????? HELL NO!!! I kept 'em up and so did the rest of the class - he was proud of us!! Then we learned some amazing self-defense moves! I'm telling you, if any of you live in the Ottawa area, and you're looking for a great, challenging workout that teaches you skills as well as gets you fit, you need to check out Therien Martial Arts. Check out the website here http://www.therienmartialarts.com

Today at work, there was some celebration of some kind and wouldn't you know there was left over CAKE!! A huge slab of half chocolate/half vanilla cake with thick icing. It just happened that it was placed directly in front of my office where me and that damn cake had a stare down ALL DAY !!! I watched the whole day as colleague after colleague walked by and stopped suddenly, smiled and got almost giddy as they cut a piece!! I have come so far because Joania of the past would have probably (okay, definitely) eaten 3 large pieces and taken and extra piece home for later!!! That cake was calling my name!! There were moments when it was screaming at me!!!

I felt like I was going nuts!! Just kept telling myself, "you can do this, this cake is garbage, I'm not throwing away this fabulous week of clean eating and workouts for a stinking piece of cake." I drank so much water today just trying to fill my stomach!! At one point, I couldn't take it anymore, I wanted a piece....I started to rationalize in my mind, "I've been good all week, a little piece wouldn't hurt", or "I'm going to Jiu-jitsu at lunch time, I will work it off!!" NO!!! I dug around in my lunch cooler (which is huge and FILLED with nothing but HEALTHY options). I pulled out a small bowl - tuna and spinach. "NAH, that won't do right now!!" Pulled out another container - two boiled egg whites. "Nah, that's not what I want!!" I stared at that cake again - maybe if I just swipe a little bit of icing, maybe that would satisfy the urge, "NO WAY, there's is no way I'd stop at a "swipe" of icing once that sugar hits my tongue!!"

I looked up at that cake, pushed my swivel chair away from my desk and walked out of my office, straight to the cake and said "f- u, u sweet bastard!!" LOL!! I really did!! I walked back to my cooler, grabbed a small sweet potato and went to the kitchen, stuck it in the microwave and 5mins later, I was eating a warm and delicious sweet potato! It really hit the spot and was exactly what I needed to get through the day! This was definitely a test and looking back, I'm glad it happened. At first I was going to give the person who put that cake outside my office a piece of my mind but tomorrow, I will thank him because this made me stronger and showed me I CAN DO THIS!!! I WON"T LET FOOD WIN ANYMORE!!! I feel good y'all!! Really good!!

Food and water consumption was awesome today

Breakfast - small bowl of unsweetened steel cut oats with 2 egg whites, water

Morning snack - small baked potato (saved me from the cake!!)

Lunch - curried shrimp and cabbage (last night's dinner left-overs), water

Afternoon snack - Protein drink (vanilla whey protein, water)

Dinner - baked chicken breast with steamed asparagus

Evening snack - green tea

Awesome day

Reach Your Goal Fast and Avoid Pitfalls

Hi guys,

A post from my trainer, Rob Lagana.

The importance of periodization training: Training too often and trying to adapt in too many different ways all at once (power, strength, hypertrophy, endurance) will result in overtraining.

A smart approach is to use periodization training. Periodization training is simply a planned training program.

You can have weekly, monthly and yearly exercise training plans.

It has been shown to be an effective form of program design.

The primary benefit is to allow for maximum levels of adaption and minimize overtraining.

You can train different forms of strength and control your volume of training. With periodization training you can write down your progress and then reassess your training either on a weekly or monthly basis.

This can help you avoid stagnation, training plateaus, overtraining and assist you with reaching your goal faster.

Overtraining is like an overload to your system. The body can't keep up with the adaptations your trying to meet in your fitness, bodybuilding or sports training.

If your using periodization training for sports, you will greatly benefit by progressively adapting to increased levels of volume training and avoid overtraining.

Some symptoms of exercise overtraining are:

Loss of appetite
Headaches
Depression
Decreased Immunity
Sudden drop in performance
General Irritability
Insomnia
Gradual Increase in Muscle Soreness

By using the a planned program such as periodization training, Overtraining syndrome is easily preventable. Unfortunately, most athletes avoid periodaztion training because they rely too much on their instincts. By design your instincts tell you to remain comfortable or ignore the above symptoms because when you start reaching an over trained state, your instincts which are your internal feedback mechanism will not give you an absolute accurate decision to treat and avoid overtraining.

Robert Lagana
http://www.laganafitness.com

Robert Lagana has been weight training and helping people for over 16 years. He has competed in numerous bodybuilding competitions and is a multi-title winner. He currently holds the 2006 Mr. Canada Natural Bodybuilding title in the NFSO & IFSB. Along with experience, He teaches natural muscular development as a therapeutic approach.

Great info...thanks Rob!!
Joania (2KMINE!!!)