Marvelous Monday!!

Today was AWESOME!! ! I feel fabulous.

MONDAY

Exercise
I rocked out the strength training session this morning and felt somewhat invincible. I don't know what it was, I woke up full of energy with the Black Eyed Peas song, "♫♫I got a feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night ♫♫"stuck in my head!! It was crazy and awesome....I pushed through that session this morning.

Lunch time Kickboxing session with Ingrid was fab-u-lous!!! She totally killed our arms today but it was awesome. My Kickboxing partner (and friend) Nicole, had her camera today and we took a few shots after the class, for fun!!
That's Nicole, ME and Ingrid after sweating it out...at least we're still smiling! :)

I LOVE KICKBOXING!!! This one is of me getting Sensei Derek with a front snap kick, right where it counts (he's such a good sport)!! I am not displaying the proper form in this shot, but I just could not pass up the opportunity to get him. I wish you could see his face, he's such a cutie...MEAN...but cute. BTW, this wasn't a real kick, it was done for the camera!! :) Fun times!
I also went to the kickboing class at 430 pm today, taught by Sensei Derek and let me tell you he truly punished me for that kick....well, he punished the entire class!! We did 500 situps (5 variations of 100 each!) OUCH!!! This was in between kick and punch combinations!!! It was an awesome class -I was drenched and spent!!! He was a bit disappointed after class because he wanted us to do 700 situps and we "only" managed 500!!!!! Sensei Derek...you just gotta love him. Although the class is tough as hell, he somehow manages to keep us laughing while we're in pain - he keeps it fun!! I'm sure he'll make us pay at Friday's class!
Total Hours of Exercise: 3 hours, 20 mins

Nutrition
Breakfast: 3 boiled eggs (ate whites only), 1 turkey sausage, 800ml of water. Snack: vanilla protein shake, 500ml water. Lunch: veggie & grilled chicken wrap on ww pita, 500ml water. Snack: can of tuna with half an English cucumber (sliced), 500ml. Dinner: grilled chicken breast & garden salad, 800ml water. Snack: cup of green tea (having it right now)
Total Water: 3100ml plus 1500ml during workout = 4600ml(4.6 litres)

Until next time...
Joania

Day 24 of My 30 Day Countdown

Hi everyone...

quick post today as I have to get off to bed!

Jiu-jitsu (JJ) class was absolutely PHENOMENAL today! I learned so many cool self defense techniques and JJ moves. It was amazing. Sensei Derek actually used me to demonstrate some of the techniques and let me just tell you, he had me screaming!! LOL!

Food was great today...although I was a bit late eating my lunch (about 2 hours) boy did I ever feel it!! My body was screaming at me to eat. It's really funny, because just a short year ago, I could eat a meal and not eat anything for HOURS after and not even feel it.

I had my interview with Alison Korn (the writer from the Ottawa Citizen) today and it went really well. I can't wait to read the article. Tomorrow, the photographer will be coming to the dojo (the gym where I do Kickboxing and JJ) to take some pix. They want me in the pix but I'd really like to get a shot with my trainer Rob and Sensei Derek! Unfortunately, I don't get a say in which picture (s) is used nor does the writer - it's all up to the editor. I will invite Rob and Derek to join me at the dojo and hopefully the editor might slip the shot in!!

The article should be published early next week, possibly Monday. I will certainly keep you all posted and post the link on the blog!!

In other fabulous news, I've decided on a date, time and place for my 1 Year Journey Celebration dinner!! December 12, 2009 at Big Easy's Seafood and Steak House (http://www.bigeasys.ca) here in Ottawa at 7 pm (until midnight)!! For those of you on FaceBook (FB), I've created an Event in the "Joania's Weight Loss Journey" group. Look me up on FB or send me an email for details or leave me a comment confirming your attendance. Looks like it will be about 30 or so people (so far!!) Should be a good time!

I FEEL GOOD!! Looking for a little hot black dress to wear to the dinner!!! Whoo hoo! :)

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

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

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!!!)

Day 12 of My 30 Day Countdown

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

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

TODAY'S EXERCISE

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

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

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

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

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

TODAY'S FOOD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 11 of My 30 Day Countdown - AWESOME!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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