Day 21....almost there!! Great day today. I had lots of energy today.
Weight training went well - still tough and kickboxing class today was killer today. Ingrid really brought the pain today...in between each drill (kick/punch combination) we did 10 push-ups/crunches or jumping jacks!! The warm up alone practically killed me today. It was a pyramid style warm up. It was 10 Jumping Jacks, 10 Pushups, 10 Crunches...then 9, 8, 7...all the way to 1!! It was sick! I wanted to puke (AGAIN)!!
Food was on point today - ate very well, drank lots of water. It was great. For supper, I actually went to subway. I had a 6 inch oven roasted chicken breast sub on whole wheat with lettuce, lots of cucumbers, green peppers, onions and black pepper. No cheese, no dressing. It was pretty tasty!
CELEBRATION!!
I am 10 days away from my year mark!! 10 DAYS!! JUST INCREDIBLE. I was going to wait til February and combine this with my birthday but I have decided to have a little mini celebration now (well probably the 11th or 12th of December). I'm thinking of a restaurant (Italian or Cajun). Open invitation to all who want to come...I will provide more details in the coming days!! AS ALWAYS, your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated...Any ideas to make this a special night!!! let me know
Thanks guys!!
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Weigh-in Saturday ~ Week 50
Starting Weight: 258 lbs (Dec 10/08)
Last Weigh In: 177 lbs (Nov 21/09)
Current Weight: 175 lbs (Nov 28/09)
This Week: 2 FABULOUS POUNDS GONE!!!!
Total Loss: 83 pounds!!
Wow!! Week 50!! Only 2 official weigh-ins left!! Incredible! This week, I lost another 2 pounds and I'm thrilled!!! It's just awesome. I weigh 175!! I don't remember ever weighing 175. I feel amazing. I'm at about a size 14 right now, even 12 in certain clothes. I think I look really good. I'm not super thin or anything....just healthy which is all that matters to me at this point.
With only 2 official weigh-ins left, I know that I will not hit the "101 pounds" mark and I don't care. I remember at the start of the journey, I was doing some research to find out what I "should" weigh for my height - my ideal weight. I found out that for my 5'5 frame, being female, I should weigh 136 pounds!! 136 pounds!! I remember thinking to myself, "yeah right, 136 pounds!!" So I then just decided I would try to lose 101 pounds - why 101? I have no clue....there was no logic or strategy - it was literally the first number that popped in my head. Losing 101 would take me to 157 pounds.
Now that I can look at my body after losing 83 pounds, and assess how I feel, strength and health wise, I think I would be fine with maintaining a weight ranging between 145 and 155 pounds. This will be my lifelong goal. To be consistent with my training and nutrition in order to keep me at a healthy 145 to 155. That would give me 10 pounds to play with. I will be turning 36 on February 27, 2010 and I am now setting a new goal of weighing 150 by that date. That's 25 pounds away - I CAN DO IT! This will give me the incentive I need to stay motivated and focused. After that, I will be setting new goals, different goals that do not center so much on weight, rather on fitness and health. I think my first non-weight related goal will be to start training for a triathalon (a mini one - i think they're called "Try-a-Tri") and then possibly a 10K run - who knows?? The sky's the limit! :)
I was in the mirror flexing my arm muscles today and laughing at how silly I looked.LOL! But I've gotta tell you - I feel SO STRONG!! I have some loose skin on my arms (and tummy and legs) BUT, that strong rock hard arm (and abs and legs) is under there and you can see it!! Pictures in 2 weeks...
My journey will not stop after the next two weigh-ins. I have totally changed my life and lifestyle for the better and have done so many wonderful things because of it...AND WILL CONTINUE to be able to do even more wonderful things!! Can't wait for tomorrow, and the day after!! :)
Have a great weekend!!
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Day 19 of My 30 Day Countdown - TGIF!!
I am tired y'all! Tough week!
Had an awesome day of exercise today. Weight training session was really tough especially when working my arms as my shoulders were so sore from the day before (Jiu-jitsu class). However, I pushed through. My arms are still a bit sore right now. Sensei Derek taught my kickboxing class this evening and wow - excellent workout. We did quite a few "Derek Pushups" (slow and painful, each pushup lasts for a 10 count). I work so hard in that class and although I am cursing Sensei Derek's name for most of the class, it's so much fun and I get such an amazing sweat/workout!! Love it!
I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I earned my second stripe on my white belt at the end of yesterday's jiu-jitsu class. I am just so proud and still can't believe that I am doing this. It's just amazing. My break falls are also getting much better! Practice, practice, practice. I'm really enjoying it now. :)
Food
B- bowl of oatmeal, 2 egg whites, boiled,
Sn - protein drink
L - steamed broccoli and grilled chicken brochette, 1 litre water
Sn - handful of almonds, 1/2 litre water
D - small grilled steak, steamed asparagus, 1 litre water
Sn - small green salad with 1/2 can tuna, 1/2 litre water
Drank approx 2 additional litres during workouts
So tomorrow is another weigh in...hoping for at least a 2-3 pound loss this week. Will post tomorrow! That's it for now
Had an awesome day of exercise today. Weight training session was really tough especially when working my arms as my shoulders were so sore from the day before (Jiu-jitsu class). However, I pushed through. My arms are still a bit sore right now. Sensei Derek taught my kickboxing class this evening and wow - excellent workout. We did quite a few "Derek Pushups" (slow and painful, each pushup lasts for a 10 count). I work so hard in that class and although I am cursing Sensei Derek's name for most of the class, it's so much fun and I get such an amazing sweat/workout!! Love it!
I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I earned my second stripe on my white belt at the end of yesterday's jiu-jitsu class. I am just so proud and still can't believe that I am doing this. It's just amazing. My break falls are also getting much better! Practice, practice, practice. I'm really enjoying it now. :)
Food
B- bowl of oatmeal, 2 egg whites, boiled,
Sn - protein drink
L - steamed broccoli and grilled chicken brochette, 1 litre water
Sn - handful of almonds, 1/2 litre water
D - small grilled steak, steamed asparagus, 1 litre water
Sn - small green salad with 1/2 can tuna, 1/2 litre water
Drank approx 2 additional litres during workouts
So tomorrow is another weigh in...hoping for at least a 2-3 pound loss this week. Will post tomorrow! That's it for now
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Day 18 of My 30 Day Countdown - OH MY SHOULDERS!!!!
OMG!!!!Have you every worked out so hard that your body was shaking uncontrollably??? Your arms felt like jello? And everything in your rational mind was screaming, "What the hell are you doing?" WELL, I did TODAY!! Holy mother of ALL crap!!! Sensei Derek is CRAZY!! But I love it - so maybe I'm the crazy one!! LOL!! He destroyed us (well me for sure and the majority of the class, even the more advanced ones - I heard them huffing and puffing, I saw them giving it their all) at Jiu-jitsu today!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the end of Sensei Derek's "warm-up", which btw, I have no clue of how long it was - assuming 20 mins or so!! No clue of the time - that's how hard we were being pushed today!! NUTS!!! We started off with a leg stretch which wasn't so bad until Sensei kept saying, "a little bit further, a little bit further!" every couple of minutes or so. We would then have to extend the stretch further and further each time. Then he had us cross our arms and we were NOT allowed to touch the mat as we pushed and held the stretch to our max - PAST OUR MAX!!!! I tried to find a picture and this is the closest I could find. In the pic below, instead of the hands being on the floor for support, our arms were crossed as we leaned forward -strength and balance- that made it just a weeeeee bit TOUGHER!!!!
Anyway, Sensei Derek started walking around the classroom as we were all DYING in pain, he kept pushing us. It's amazing how much harder you push yourself when you have someone pushing you - someone who knows what they're doing, that is! He walked around saying, "who will be the first to touch the mat, lets see who it will be?!?!!" as he grinned and smirked in pleasure!! I was shaking and sweating profusly...gritting my teeth as I struggled to hold the stretch (it's more commonly known as the "Jiu-jitsu smile"). I so desperately wanted to hold on but I couldn't!! Boom!! I was down!! Sensei Derek laughed and said, "oh, Joania's down, now we have to do something harder!!!" as if that wasn't hard enough!!! His comments were followed with moans and groans from the class!! He took pure pleasure in our pain!!
He had us elevate our arms. We were going to do the rest of our "work out" with our arms up and if we dared to drop our arms it would be push-ups and not just any push-ups......it would be DEREK PUSH-UPS!!! That's where each pushup is held for a 10 count, slow and painful!! I was determined (as was the rest of the students in the class) to keep our arms up even if it killed us!! Sensei bombarded us with a ray of exercises....wall to wall lunges, with our arms up; wall to wall squats, with our arms up; wall to wall lunge and kicks, with our arms up; 100 snap kicks with our arms up and finished with wall squats with our arms up!!! THE PAIN WAS INTENSE....I thought my shoulders would fall off!!! I looked like someone dumped a bucket of water on my head. It was F'ing AWESOME!!! None of us quit...we all got through the drills and Sensei was genuinely impressed. PAIN IS TEMPORARY, QUITTING IS FOREVER!!! My arms are KILLING me right now.
It was an amazing workout!! I'm telling you, I am really loving the workouts I'm getting at this place. it's phenomenal!! Therien Martial Arts, I WISH I STARTED YEARS AGO!! But I'm here now and it's NEVER too late!
Anyway, food was good today, I stuck to the plan. I ate exactly what I had yesterday. Sometimes it's easier instead of trying to plan my meals every day, I just double up when I prepare and I know I'm good for two days! :) I drank 3 litres of water today.
That's it for now...tomorrow is weight training day and kickboxing class!
Until next time..
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
At the end of Sensei Derek's "warm-up", which btw, I have no clue of how long it was - assuming 20 mins or so!! No clue of the time - that's how hard we were being pushed today!! NUTS!!! We started off with a leg stretch which wasn't so bad until Sensei kept saying, "a little bit further, a little bit further!" every couple of minutes or so. We would then have to extend the stretch further and further each time. Then he had us cross our arms and we were NOT allowed to touch the mat as we pushed and held the stretch to our max - PAST OUR MAX!!!! I tried to find a picture and this is the closest I could find. In the pic below, instead of the hands being on the floor for support, our arms were crossed as we leaned forward -strength and balance- that made it just a weeeeee bit TOUGHER!!!!
Anyway, Sensei Derek started walking around the classroom as we were all DYING in pain, he kept pushing us. It's amazing how much harder you push yourself when you have someone pushing you - someone who knows what they're doing, that is! He walked around saying, "who will be the first to touch the mat, lets see who it will be?!?!!" as he grinned and smirked in pleasure!! I was shaking and sweating profusly...gritting my teeth as I struggled to hold the stretch (it's more commonly known as the "Jiu-jitsu smile"). I so desperately wanted to hold on but I couldn't!! Boom!! I was down!! Sensei Derek laughed and said, "oh, Joania's down, now we have to do something harder!!!" as if that wasn't hard enough!!! His comments were followed with moans and groans from the class!! He took pure pleasure in our pain!!He had us elevate our arms. We were going to do the rest of our "work out" with our arms up and if we dared to drop our arms it would be push-ups and not just any push-ups......it would be DEREK PUSH-UPS!!! That's where each pushup is held for a 10 count, slow and painful!! I was determined (as was the rest of the students in the class) to keep our arms up even if it killed us!! Sensei bombarded us with a ray of exercises....wall to wall lunges, with our arms up; wall to wall squats, with our arms up; wall to wall lunge and kicks, with our arms up; 100 snap kicks with our arms up and finished with wall squats with our arms up!!! THE PAIN WAS INTENSE....I thought my shoulders would fall off!!! I looked like someone dumped a bucket of water on my head. It was F'ing AWESOME!!! None of us quit...we all got through the drills and Sensei was genuinely impressed. PAIN IS TEMPORARY, QUITTING IS FOREVER!!! My arms are KILLING me right now.
It was an amazing workout!! I'm telling you, I am really loving the workouts I'm getting at this place. it's phenomenal!! Therien Martial Arts, I WISH I STARTED YEARS AGO!! But I'm here now and it's NEVER too late!
Anyway, food was good today, I stuck to the plan. I ate exactly what I had yesterday. Sometimes it's easier instead of trying to plan my meals every day, I just double up when I prepare and I know I'm good for two days! :) I drank 3 litres of water today.
That's it for now...tomorrow is weight training day and kickboxing class!
Until next time..
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
An Article on My Journey
Hi everyone,
I received an email from a writer/journalist, a few days ago requesting an interview with yours truly. The topic would be health and fitness, my journey etc.
I responded to a series of questions and the article was written. Please check it out here:
http://hartwellsottawa.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/joania-burnett-blogging-for-weight-loss/#more-308
I really like this article and the way it was written. Thank you Britt! :)
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
I received an email from a writer/journalist, a few days ago requesting an interview with yours truly. The topic would be health and fitness, my journey etc.
I responded to a series of questions and the article was written. Please check it out here:
http://hartwellsottawa.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/joania-burnett-blogging-for-weight-loss/#more-308
I really like this article and the way it was written. Thank you Britt! :)
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Day 17 of My 30 Day Countdown - Kick Ass Kickboxing
Hi guys,
Well I am totally over the peanut butter and I'm actually quite grateful for the full day of rest yesterday. I woke up this morning feeling awesome and immediately got my weight training done. I mentioned before that it was a bit heavy on the leg workout (lower body) - lots of squats and lunges. I really pushed through this morning and felt great after.
I walked into the dojo (gym) at around noon today for my regular Wednesday Kickboxing session! Our teacher Ingrid, AKA "INTENSE" was ready and waiting!! Little did I know, she had something extra planned for the class today!! The focus was LOWER BODY today !!! OMG!! MY LEGS!! She had us complete numerous leg drills with various kicks repeatedly and in between sets, we were required to do FULL SQUATS!! My thighs were burning!! It was crazy INTENSE (hence her nickname)!! She pushed us really hard!! We were spent after wards and DRENCHED!! Awesome class!!
FOOD:
I ate very well today. I found that for whatever reason, I didn't drink enough water today. I had about 2 litres (I regular aim for 3 to 4). It just didn't happen today but I'm drinking some as I sit here typing so that should bring me up to 3litres for the day!
B - 3 boiled eggs (whites), warm cabbage salad (blanched cabbage and onions, garlic, pepper)
Sn - protein drink
L - 1 can tuna, green salad
Sn - small baked sweet potato
D - roasted chicken breast, steamed broccoli
Sn - a small yellow bell pepper
Today I was having a discussion with a few of my colleagues about what I plan to do after the journey!! There is no "after the journey", the journey continues. But I understood what they meant. I have been thinking, even planning on taking the week after the 10th of Dec to eat whatever I want, just no restrictions - only for that week, HOWEVER, today, my boss (who I also consider a friend) actually said to me, "Joania, can an alcoholic take one drink, can an addict do just one line of cocaine??" Shit! It really got me thinking. I don't believe I'm as bad as an alcoholic or drug addict, and he wasn't insinuating that, however, there was a lot of value to what he was saying. There I was just planning to eat (more like pig out) everyday for that week, not even thinking of how that may affect me or what that would mean for my new lifestyle!! That is no way to start my new lifestyle, right??
So I have now decided that I will have a few cheat MEALS during that week and not a cheat day, each and everyday!! I may have a pizza lunch one day, and even then not go overboard - moderation!! I've got to cut myself some slack because I've really pushed myself to the limit, especially in this home stretch but I do want to maintain this way of living!
In my heart, I truly believe that the maintenance of this new lifestyle will be equally or maybe even more difficult than the weight loss journey itself!! I need to give myself a fighting chance and find that balance. I am not going to deprive myself HOWEVER, I am also not going to go back to the way I used to be. No more sabotaging! So thanks for that lesson Bossman!! :)
Anyway, that's it for now. I'm still trying to figure out how I am going to celebrate this achievement! I'm leaning towards the birthday-journey combo celebration in February (my birthday)! I'll keep you posted.
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Well I am totally over the peanut butter and I'm actually quite grateful for the full day of rest yesterday. I woke up this morning feeling awesome and immediately got my weight training done. I mentioned before that it was a bit heavy on the leg workout (lower body) - lots of squats and lunges. I really pushed through this morning and felt great after.
I walked into the dojo (gym) at around noon today for my regular Wednesday Kickboxing session! Our teacher Ingrid, AKA "INTENSE" was ready and waiting!! Little did I know, she had something extra planned for the class today!! The focus was LOWER BODY today !!! OMG!! MY LEGS!! She had us complete numerous leg drills with various kicks repeatedly and in between sets, we were required to do FULL SQUATS!! My thighs were burning!! It was crazy INTENSE (hence her nickname)!! She pushed us really hard!! We were spent after wards and DRENCHED!! Awesome class!!
FOOD:
I ate very well today. I found that for whatever reason, I didn't drink enough water today. I had about 2 litres (I regular aim for 3 to 4). It just didn't happen today but I'm drinking some as I sit here typing so that should bring me up to 3litres for the day!
B - 3 boiled eggs (whites), warm cabbage salad (blanched cabbage and onions, garlic, pepper)
Sn - protein drink
L - 1 can tuna, green salad
Sn - small baked sweet potato
D - roasted chicken breast, steamed broccoli
Sn - a small yellow bell pepper
Today I was having a discussion with a few of my colleagues about what I plan to do after the journey!! There is no "after the journey", the journey continues. But I understood what they meant. I have been thinking, even planning on taking the week after the 10th of Dec to eat whatever I want, just no restrictions - only for that week, HOWEVER, today, my boss (who I also consider a friend) actually said to me, "Joania, can an alcoholic take one drink, can an addict do just one line of cocaine??" Shit! It really got me thinking. I don't believe I'm as bad as an alcoholic or drug addict, and he wasn't insinuating that, however, there was a lot of value to what he was saying. There I was just planning to eat (more like pig out) everyday for that week, not even thinking of how that may affect me or what that would mean for my new lifestyle!! That is no way to start my new lifestyle, right??
So I have now decided that I will have a few cheat MEALS during that week and not a cheat day, each and everyday!! I may have a pizza lunch one day, and even then not go overboard - moderation!! I've got to cut myself some slack because I've really pushed myself to the limit, especially in this home stretch but I do want to maintain this way of living!
In my heart, I truly believe that the maintenance of this new lifestyle will be equally or maybe even more difficult than the weight loss journey itself!! I need to give myself a fighting chance and find that balance. I am not going to deprive myself HOWEVER, I am also not going to go back to the way I used to be. No more sabotaging! So thanks for that lesson Bossman!! :)
Anyway, that's it for now. I'm still trying to figure out how I am going to celebrate this achievement! I'm leaning towards the birthday-journey combo celebration in February (my birthday)! I'll keep you posted.
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Day 16 of My 30 Day Countdown - Oh, Peanut Butter!!!
Hey guys,
Day 16 wasn't a great day for yours truly. Today was supposed to be rest day which is no weight training, just Jiu-Jitsu (JJ) class. Well, unfortunately I had a meeting today and missed JJ class. I was pretty busy today and a bit bummed out for missing the class - but sh*t happens. I figured when I got home, I would get a quick cardio session in but I DIDN'T!! I just wasn't up to it today. I guess we all have those days! I'm not going to beat myself up about it, I'll get right back into it tomorrow morning. This was a full day of rest for me and I guess my body will thank me for it later :)
On the eating side, everything was perfect, all day!! Breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner....EXCEPT, I HAD A TEASPOON OF PEANUT BUTTER!!! My son kept asking for a PB sandwich and of course I made it for him. The bread (ww) was really fresh and that just made the PB smell AMAZING!! I knew I was in trouble once that aroma lingered in my head!! LOL!! I made his sandwich and put the PB away. I continued about my business but could not get that PB out of my head! I went to the kitchen, opened the drawer, pulled out a teaspoon, grabbed the PB and took a spoonful!! IT was DELICIOUS!! I then put it away. I don't feel guilty just a little sneaky today! LOL
Back on track tomorrow :)
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!)
Day 16 wasn't a great day for yours truly. Today was supposed to be rest day which is no weight training, just Jiu-Jitsu (JJ) class. Well, unfortunately I had a meeting today and missed JJ class. I was pretty busy today and a bit bummed out for missing the class - but sh*t happens. I figured when I got home, I would get a quick cardio session in but I DIDN'T!! I just wasn't up to it today. I guess we all have those days! I'm not going to beat myself up about it, I'll get right back into it tomorrow morning. This was a full day of rest for me and I guess my body will thank me for it later :)
On the eating side, everything was perfect, all day!! Breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner....EXCEPT, I HAD A TEASPOON OF PEANUT BUTTER!!! My son kept asking for a PB sandwich and of course I made it for him. The bread (ww) was really fresh and that just made the PB smell AMAZING!! I knew I was in trouble once that aroma lingered in my head!! LOL!! I made his sandwich and put the PB away. I continued about my business but could not get that PB out of my head! I went to the kitchen, opened the drawer, pulled out a teaspoon, grabbed the PB and took a spoonful!! IT was DELICIOUS!! I then put it away. I don't feel guilty just a little sneaky today! LOL
Back on track tomorrow :)
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!)
Monday, November 23, 2009
Day 15 of My 30 Day Countdown
Halfway there!! Today is Day 15!
Very quick post today
EXERCISE:
1.5 hour weight training session which was awesome...my legs were on fire this morning
45 minute kickboxing class - high cardio today. It was awesome.
FOOD:
B - 3 boiled eggs (egg whites only), grilled tomato slices (medium tomato), 1L water
Sn - protein drink (vanilla whey powder, water)
L - grilled chicken breast, steam mixed veggies (spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms), 1L water
Sn - handful of almonds, water (1/2 L)
D - roast beef, green salad (lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers), 1L water
Sn - 1 small baked sweet potato, 1/2 L water
All in all a very good day today both on food and exercising! I'm still pushing through but I'm a bit tired today so I'm turning in shortly. Tomorrow is a new day.
Also something I'm thinking about is to have to a big celebratory party at the end of this. I was thinking sometime in December but since it's so close to the holidays, it might not be a good time. My birthday is the end of February - I could hold off until then and just have a HUGE BIRTHDAY-END-OF-JOURNEY-BASH!!!! And that will give me a little extra time to REALLY tone up!! I would love to hear what do you guys think...any suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks :))
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Very quick post today
EXERCISE:
1.5 hour weight training session which was awesome...my legs were on fire this morning
45 minute kickboxing class - high cardio today. It was awesome.
FOOD:
B - 3 boiled eggs (egg whites only), grilled tomato slices (medium tomato), 1L water
Sn - protein drink (vanilla whey powder, water)
L - grilled chicken breast, steam mixed veggies (spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms), 1L water
Sn - handful of almonds, water (1/2 L)
D - roast beef, green salad (lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers), 1L water
Sn - 1 small baked sweet potato, 1/2 L water
All in all a very good day today both on food and exercising! I'm still pushing through but I'm a bit tired today so I'm turning in shortly. Tomorrow is a new day.
Also something I'm thinking about is to have to a big celebratory party at the end of this. I was thinking sometime in December but since it's so close to the holidays, it might not be a good time. My birthday is the end of February - I could hold off until then and just have a HUGE BIRTHDAY-END-OF-JOURNEY-BASH!!!! And that will give me a little extra time to REALLY tone up!! I would love to hear what do you guys think...any suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks :))
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
A Letter of Gratitude to My Trainer & Friend, Rob Lagana
Dear Rob,
Wow!!! Here we are, less than a month away from Dec 10, 2009!!! This year has truly flown by. I have so much to say. I did not want to wait until the end of the journey (or what I am calling "the beginning of my new and permanent lifestyle), to write you this letter. Expressing gratitude has always been significantly important to me and I really want to do this one right. Rob, I know you would be perfectly happy with me just saying, "thanks a lot Rob, we did it!" but I wouldn't be. So here goes...
Even at my heaviest weight, I was never one to be low on confidence or self-esteem, but where I lacked strength was in believing in my ability to lose this weight. I just lived with it and for the most part, wasn't overly bothered by it until I reached my breaking point. That's when I contacted you. From the moment I met you and we discussed the plan, I felt an immediate energy - it was strong and it felt right. I knew then and there (I really did), that you were the person that would help me achieve this goal; you were the one that would provide me with the tools that would not only work for me, but FIT with the person that I am. Your confident approach, awareness of self and confidence in your knowledge and abilities was evident from day one. I knew that if I really wanted this, it could be mine and you would be right there supporting and pushing me along.
I stepped on the scale yesterday and dropped another 3 pounds and that took me over the 80 pound mark! 81 pounds GONE!! That is a HUGE, personal victory for me. I feel like a WINNER!! I did it!! I know that my initial goal was to lose 101 pounds and even though I don't lose that amount come December 10th, I FEEL LIKE I'VE WON!! WE WON!! WE DID IT!! The journey continues, I WILL continue with my lifestyle as well as achieve and maintain my ideal weight in the near future - whatever that weight might be!!
I am on a new and exciting path. I am healthy and strong and day by day, my body represents those feelings!! It's incredible all of the wonderful things that have happened to me since embarking on this journey. Most importantly, I am healthier and stronger AND my quality of life has and is continuing to improve.
So, with all that said, I wanted to THANK YOU!!! Thank you for your time, your support, your knowledge, your encouragement, YOUR PATIENCE, your sincere and genuine caring nature! Thank you for helping me to save my own life!!! Thank you for believing in me from day one and NEVER ONCE judging me for how fat or unfit I was. When I first saw you and how physically fit you were, I wondered if in your mind you thought to yourself, "how could she have let herself get so out of shape!" But never once did you ever make me feel that way and I appreciate it! You were one of my loudest cheerleaders and I truly thank you for that.
Thank you for all of the kick-ass routines and meal plans. I have cursed your name many, many times in the wee hours of the morning as I pushed through the training but it was all worth it! LOL!! Thank you for answering ALL of my NUMEROUS questions, regardless of how silly they were! THANK YOU!!
You are so good at what you do. Your obvious passion for fitness is contagious! This is what you were born to do! Really!!
I know that the best way that I can repay you for all you've done for me is by continuing to live this healthy lifestyle and taking care of my body, respecting my body. I promise you Rob, I WILL!! You've shown me the way and I will always appreciate you for it! I just took my measurements and when I post the results, YOU will be blown away and I know that will make you happy!
I don't know what else to say, except, thank you!
Thank you for changing my life. Thank you for the wisdom and confidence you have shown while training me to be the best I can be. Your influence on my life is immeasurable. The knowledge and skills you have taught me will stay with me for my lifetime. Your presence and guidance in my life eternally holds a place in my heart as trainer and a friend.
Thank you!
In health and friendship, always
Joania :)
Saturday, November 21, 2009
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!!!)
Friday, November 20, 2009
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!!!)
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!!!)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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!!!)
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!!!)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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!!!)
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!!!)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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!!!)
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!!!)
Monday, November 16, 2009
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!!!)
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!!!)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
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.
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!!!)
Friday, November 13, 2009
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!!!)
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!!!)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
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
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.
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!!!)
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.c
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!!!)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Day 3 of My 30 Day Countdown
I had the day off today but you'd never know it!! This is the first real moment I've had to sit down today. I woke up at 5am to workout (weight training), made breakfast and got my son off to daycare. I then took my husband to a dentist appointment. By the time I dropped him off at work, it was time for my lunchtime kickboxing class. It was a great class - good workout!! Before I knew it, it was time to pick up my son from daycare, prepare dinner, take him to his Jiu-jitsu class and come home. Just finished cleaning the kitchen and will soon be off to bed! Busy day!!
I FEEL great, I'm a bit tired but, I had so much energy today. I'm so excited!! I was just thinking and so far this week, I have TURNED DOWN so many bad foods - resisted so many temptations. I'm so proud of myself. At a team meeting, there was a package of the most decadent looking and smelling chocolate truffles. I could have had as many as I wanted, yet I refused. I'm not going to let a stupid little truffle get in my way!!! I also turned down oatmeal raisin cookies and chips!!
Bottom line is so far (an I intend to continue this way), I have been eating like a champ - clean and healthy while exercising proper portion control. I know I still have about 30 days to go but I'm taking it one day at a time and I will make each of those days the best that I can! I'm making sure that I consume enough water throughout the day (approx 3-4 litres)! I have been on point with working out. I am hoping that translates well on the scale come Saturday!! :)
Anyway, that's all for tonight, I really need to hit the sack, because as my trainer Rob says, getting enough rest each night is a very important part of the successful fitness/weightloss process!!
Today's breakfast - 3 boiled eggs (whites), sliced small tomato, water
AM Snack - Protein shake (whey protein powder, water)
Lunch - garden salad (from Subway) with, lettuce, extra cucumbers, green peppers, onions, grilled chicken breast, pepper and a bottle of water
Afternoon Snack - 1 small baked sweet potato with 1/2 can of tuna, water
Dinner - Dinner was great y'all. I made a curried shrimp and cabbage stirfry (with left overs for tomorrow's lunch). I took pix which I'll post tomorrow.
I'm have a cup of green tea (unsweetened) right now!!
That's it!! until next time...
Joania (2MINE!!!)
I FEEL great, I'm a bit tired but, I had so much energy today. I'm so excited!! I was just thinking and so far this week, I have TURNED DOWN so many bad foods - resisted so many temptations. I'm so proud of myself. At a team meeting, there was a package of the most decadent looking and smelling chocolate truffles. I could have had as many as I wanted, yet I refused. I'm not going to let a stupid little truffle get in my way!!! I also turned down oatmeal raisin cookies and chips!!
Bottom line is so far (an I intend to continue this way), I have been eating like a champ - clean and healthy while exercising proper portion control. I know I still have about 30 days to go but I'm taking it one day at a time and I will make each of those days the best that I can! I'm making sure that I consume enough water throughout the day (approx 3-4 litres)! I have been on point with working out. I am hoping that translates well on the scale come Saturday!! :)
Anyway, that's all for tonight, I really need to hit the sack, because as my trainer Rob says, getting enough rest each night is a very important part of the successful fitness/weightloss process!!
Today's breakfast - 3 boiled eggs (whites), sliced small tomato, water
AM Snack - Protein shake (whey protein powder, water)
Lunch - garden salad (from Subway) with, lettuce, extra cucumbers, green peppers, onions, grilled chicken breast, pepper and a bottle of water
Afternoon Snack - 1 small baked sweet potato with 1/2 can of tuna, water
Dinner - Dinner was great y'all. I made a curried shrimp and cabbage stirfry (with left overs for tomorrow's lunch). I took pix which I'll post tomorrow.
I'm have a cup of green tea (unsweetened) right now!!
That's it!! until next time...
Joania (2MINE!!!)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Final Countdown!!!!
♪♫♪♪Ta-da-da-da♫ta-da-da-da-da♫ta-da-da-da♫da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-d-a♪♪♫♪ the final countdown♫♪♫♪♪-- you get the picture...lol :)
Today is NOVEMBER 10, 2009!!! We're in the home stretch baby!! Exactly 30 days away from my one year anniversary on this journey!!! 5 WEEKS left to go and let me tell you, I'm really pushing it! I'm going to make every day count!! I'm going to say this everyday so that I do it, EVERYDAY!!! :)
5Weeks to Go - Day 2 - DONE!!!
Today again was awesome!!
I woke up at 5am to get a cardio session in. 45 mins of running on the treadmill.
Breakfast was a 3-egg white omlet with onions and a little more than a litre of water
Morning snack was a protein shake (vanilla whey protein, water)
Lunch - steamed spinach with 2 turkey sausages, water
Afternoon snack - a few Brazil nuts, water
Dinner - WILL BE ....grilled salmon, asparagus, small baked sweet potato, water
Evening snack - WILL BE.... sliced cucumbers, water or maybe a green tea!
As I sit here typing, I am so full of energy. I know there's a kickboxing class at 745 this evening - my husband is home tonight so I may just go - haven't decided yet! :)
I'm feeling good overall - a little bit of a scratchy throat today, but I'm trying not to focus on it and hopefully I could sweat it out!
That's it for now - until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Today is NOVEMBER 10, 2009!!! We're in the home stretch baby!! Exactly 30 days away from my one year anniversary on this journey!!! 5 WEEKS left to go and let me tell you, I'm really pushing it! I'm going to make every day count!! I'm going to say this everyday so that I do it, EVERYDAY!!! :)
5Weeks to Go - Day 2 - DONE!!!
Today again was awesome!!
I woke up at 5am to get a cardio session in. 45 mins of running on the treadmill.
Breakfast was a 3-egg white omlet with onions and a little more than a litre of water
Morning snack was a protein shake (vanilla whey protein, water)
Lunch - steamed spinach with 2 turkey sausages, water
Afternoon snack - a few Brazil nuts, water
Dinner - WILL BE ....grilled salmon, asparagus, small baked sweet potato, water
Evening snack - WILL BE.... sliced cucumbers, water or maybe a green tea!
As I sit here typing, I am so full of energy. I know there's a kickboxing class at 745 this evening - my husband is home tonight so I may just go - haven't decided yet! :)
I'm feeling good overall - a little bit of a scratchy throat today, but I'm trying not to focus on it and hopefully I could sweat it out!
That's it for now - until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Monday, November 9, 2009
5 Weeks to GO: DAY 1
Well the 5 week countdown has officially begun!! Day 1 done and let me tell you, it was AWESOME!! I started off the day with an early morning kick-ass weight training session!! I still can't get over the fact that my legs are still sore!! I'm doing 3 sets of 15 repetitions of quite a few killer leg exercises (squats - numerous variations, lunges, deadlifts, leg bridges). I think when I'm all done, I've done about 300 repetitions of leg exercises!! It's insane!!! But I love it!! I feel awesome and strong!!
Breakfast was 3 boiled eggs (whites only), warm spinach salad, protein drink and water!!!
Mid-morning snack - was a small baked sweet potato (the orange ones). It was really good and felt like I had a sweet treat!! And water!!
Lunchtime - I DID 45 CRAZY MINUTES of KICKBOXING!! I was breathing so hard...it felt great. My arms were burning with the barrage of punches thrown. The instructor did a lot of arm work today so it was all good!!
Lunch was steamed broccoli and a broiled chicken breast, water!!
Dinner was a green salad with cubed chicken breast!! WATER!!!
So overall, an awesome day!!!
Day 1 down, 29 to go!!!! I'm really giving it all I've got!!
until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Breakfast was 3 boiled eggs (whites only), warm spinach salad, protein drink and water!!!
Mid-morning snack - was a small baked sweet potato (the orange ones). It was really good and felt like I had a sweet treat!! And water!!
Lunchtime - I DID 45 CRAZY MINUTES of KICKBOXING!! I was breathing so hard...it felt great. My arms were burning with the barrage of punches thrown. The instructor did a lot of arm work today so it was all good!!
Lunch was steamed broccoli and a broiled chicken breast, water!!
Dinner was a green salad with cubed chicken breast!! WATER!!!
So overall, an awesome day!!!
Day 1 down, 29 to go!!!! I'm really giving it all I've got!!
until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Weigh-in Saturday ~ Week 47
Starting Weight: 258 lbs (Dec 10/08)
Last Weigh In: 187 lbs (Oct 31/09)
Current Weight: 185 lbs (Nov 7/09)
This Week: 2 more pounds Down!!!
Total Loss: 73 pounds!!
I lost 2 pounds this week!! Yeah!! Next week I KNOW that I will lose more than two pounds!! I'm going to WILL it and put in the work to make it happen. This was my first week with the new weight training program and although I gave 100%, it's a new program so I was focused on ensuring that I had the correct form and adjust my weight as necessary. I've done it 3 times now, so I'm GOOD TO GO for next week!! I'm going to ROCK it out!! I'm excited!
ONLY 5 Weigh-ins LEFT!! 28 POUNDS TO GO!!! 5 Weeks of intense, hardcore, bad ass training and clean eating!!!! 2 more pounds to shed until the big 75 pound loss!!! This is awesome! This journey is almost over, but the lifestyle has JUST BEGUN!! :)
WOW!! I am truly amazed at how quickly this year has gone by, especially the last few months!! It's incredible how far I've come on this journey and all the amazing things that have happened to me!I still can't believe I got to work with ParticipACTION and it's amazing staff (especially Katherine)!!! I met and hung out with an Olympian (Sue Hollaway), ParticipACTION President and CEO Kelly Murumets and Vice President of Sun Life Financial (Josée Dixon)!!! Insane!! I'm starring in a national television commercial that's running currently!! Crazy!! I've been featured in several major newspapers (see links on the right side of my blog - under "I Made The Papers")!!NUTS!!! I made the list for Ottawa Life Magazine's TOP50 People in the Capital!!! I've been on the radio (Live 88.5) talking about ME and MY journey!! Madness!!!!!
Most importantly, this blog/website has afforded me the opportunity to "meet" so many wonderful and inspiring people who have shown me such immense support over the past 10 months - it's just amazing!!In my wildest dreams, I never anticipated all of this would happen, just by me making the decision to get healthy!! I can truly say that I am different person and well on my way to continuing to do great things!
I am so pumped...had an amazing workout this morning...tons of squats and lunges. I'm really working hard on trimming my thighs as they are my most "troubled" areas! My trainer ROB really put together a great routine that will not only strengthen my entire body, but targets my legs as well!! I'm really going to push my body to the max the next 5 weeks!! Leave everything out there. I don't want my last weigh-in to come around with me regretting that I hadn't pushed myself hard enough in some workouts!! THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!! I plan to make EVERY WORKOUT COUNT!!!
For breakfast this morning, I had a soft boiled egg, a medium tomato (sliced), two turkey sausages and an 8oz protein drink (8oz of water & 1 heaping scoop of vanilla whey protein) right after my workout!! Also drank about a litre of water! For lunch, I'm having a cucumber and tomato salad with sardines for lunch and about a litre of water. Not sure what's for dinner as yet, but I'm leaning towards roasted chicken breast and roasted veggies (broccoli, zucchini, sweet potatoes and onions). YUM!!☻
Tomorrow is my "rest day" but I'll probably get a yoga session in, just to help relax the muscles or take a nice walk with my son.
That's it for now...hanging in strong!
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Create A Morning Routine That Helps You Lose Fat!
A Post from my TRAINER, Rob Lagana
If you eat a decent breakfast and lunch, with perhaps a nutritious snack in between, you should be taking in enough calories to function properly throughout the day and feel alert until dinnertime. After dinner, many of us stop eating and do not eat anything at all until morning, while some of us snack once or continuously. However, throughout the evening and night, the body continues to function and burn calories, even when sleeping. After six to eight hours of sleep, we awake with a need to consume more calories to get through the day.
If you eat a decent breakfast and lunch, with perhaps a nutritious snack in between, you should be taking in enough calories to function properly throughout the day and feel alert until dinnertime. After dinner, many of us stop eating and do not eat anything at all until morning, while some of us snack once or continuously. However, throughout the evening and night, the body continues to function and burn calories, even when sleeping. After six to eight hours of sleep, we awake with a need to consume more calories to get through the day.
Morning is the time of day when the body is most depleted of calories. This is a great opportunity to burn fat from the body. Instead of the exercising at night to burn excess calories left over from your last meal, experts suggest a morning workout of the same intensity and length will burn three times as many calories as the afternoon or evening workout. This is simply due to the fact the body will expend the existing calories in the body then will dig down to use excess, stored fat to produce energy.
To get the most out of your morning workout, health experts recommend working out for at least thirty to sixty minutes for optimal fat burning results. Prior to working out, avoid consuming calories of any kind, as the body will use these before they begin to burn the body fat available for energy. Do not worry, however, as a good breakfast is part of a fat burning morning routine when consumed after the morning workout. Exercising in the morning kicks the body’s metabolism into high gear, burning many more calories throughout the day than if you wait to exercise until nighttime.
Of course, part of a fat burning ‘morning routine’ is...well... the routine. By consistently working out each morning, your workout for the day is complete, you’ll be better equipped to cope with the day’s stresses, and you’ll enjoy better impulse control over your food choices throughout the day. Choosing healthy breakfast foods, rather than skipping breakfast, and eating after your workout will significantly curb food cravings throughout the morning until lunch time. When that morning donut cart rolls through your office, you’ll be able to smile confidently and say “No thanks.”
Starting the day with a healthy workout and a nutritious breakfast is your best opportunity to commit to burning fat and getting into serious shape. Fitness expert Rob Lagana is available to help you, and will customize a nutritious, fat burning meal plan to help you reach your goals.
Thanks for this one Rob, very useful information! For more info and useful tips, visit Rob's website http://www.laganafitness.com and sign up for his newsletter!
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!)
To get the most out of your morning workout, health experts recommend working out for at least thirty to sixty minutes for optimal fat burning results. Prior to working out, avoid consuming calories of any kind, as the body will use these before they begin to burn the body fat available for energy. Do not worry, however, as a good breakfast is part of a fat burning morning routine when consumed after the morning workout. Exercising in the morning kicks the body’s metabolism into high gear, burning many more calories throughout the day than if you wait to exercise until nighttime.
Of course, part of a fat burning ‘morning routine’ is...well... the routine. By consistently working out each morning, your workout for the day is complete, you’ll be better equipped to cope with the day’s stresses, and you’ll enjoy better impulse control over your food choices throughout the day. Choosing healthy breakfast foods, rather than skipping breakfast, and eating after your workout will significantly curb food cravings throughout the morning until lunch time. When that morning donut cart rolls through your office, you’ll be able to smile confidently and say “No thanks.”
Starting the day with a healthy workout and a nutritious breakfast is your best opportunity to commit to burning fat and getting into serious shape. Fitness expert Rob Lagana is available to help you, and will customize a nutritious, fat burning meal plan to help you reach your goals.
Thanks for this one Rob, very useful information! For more info and useful tips, visit Rob's website http://www.laganafitness.com and sign up for his newsletter!
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!)
Monday, November 2, 2009
New Month, New Program, New Energy
Happy November everyone!!! Approximately six weeks left until December 10th!! I think I'm going to put a countdown timer on the blog!!! 30 pounds left to shred and by the latest routine my trainer put together, he wants it to happen and SO DO I!!!!!
This new program is awesome!! Intense and just awesome!! It's brought a renewed sense of energy to me!! My thigh muscles are quite sore today...I've got quite a few squat variations, deadlifts and lunges in this routine - MY LEGS WILL BE SMALLER and STRONGER following this routine for sure. My thighs and booty have always been my problem areas! Even now, after having dropped a lot of weight, my thighs are still significantly bigger than the average woman, but they're strong!! As for my booty, well, I like to think that I am and always will be bootilicious - J.LO has nothing on me y'all!! Well, I'm certain I will be trimming these legs over the next few weeks with this crazy, intense routine that Rob put together and not to mention the kickboxing classes for cardio!! Yeah baby!!
My arms are also started to take shape, definition you know? - I can't wait to show them (in pix). Soon - I really want the pix to have impact!! :) I'm doing a series of tricep and bicep circuits and push-ups right now and wow does it ever burn!! But it's a good burn!! I am shaping my arms. All the "boxing" moves in the kickboxing classes are also helping!
I feel good y'all...looking forward to really pushing myself to the max each day for the next 6 weeks! I want to make each session count!!
On another note, I'm super swamped on the home and work front, so I apologize for my infrequent posts. I will really try to not let more than a couple days go by without an update!
That's it for now...
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
This new program is awesome!! Intense and just awesome!! It's brought a renewed sense of energy to me!! My thigh muscles are quite sore today...I've got quite a few squat variations, deadlifts and lunges in this routine - MY LEGS WILL BE SMALLER and STRONGER following this routine for sure. My thighs and booty have always been my problem areas! Even now, after having dropped a lot of weight, my thighs are still significantly bigger than the average woman, but they're strong!! As for my booty, well, I like to think that I am and always will be bootilicious - J.LO has nothing on me y'all!! Well, I'm certain I will be trimming these legs over the next few weeks with this crazy, intense routine that Rob put together and not to mention the kickboxing classes for cardio!! Yeah baby!!
My arms are also started to take shape, definition you know? - I can't wait to show them (in pix). Soon - I really want the pix to have impact!! :) I'm doing a series of tricep and bicep circuits and push-ups right now and wow does it ever burn!! But it's a good burn!! I am shaping my arms. All the "boxing" moves in the kickboxing classes are also helping!
I feel good y'all...looking forward to really pushing myself to the max each day for the next 6 weeks! I want to make each session count!!
On another note, I'm super swamped on the home and work front, so I apologize for my infrequent posts. I will really try to not let more than a couple days go by without an update!
That's it for now...
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
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