I went to Disney World!!!

Hi Lovelies!!!!!!!

  So I know its been a little while since my last post, but things have been crazy on my end. Insanity Max:30 is going great I'm now officially in month two which is exciting but scary all at the same time.  I'm noticing huge differences in the pace and the movements that require a tighter core and form than in month one.  Being well aware that I know this is all part of the workout process I'm trying not to let it push me back too much haha. 

  Also I went to Disney World! Yay! We had so much fun and did alot of walking, some standing in line and just overall had a really great time there. Will admit though that coming back to South Carolina where the weather is gross right now, makes me miss the warmth haha. Here's an idea of how much walking I did.

              DAY ONE                                                                               DAY TWO

 
 We obviously got more walking done on day one, we got an earlier start to the day on Friday and visited Animal Kingdom and Epcot, lots of exploring and walking plus Animal Kingdom did have a few "hills" that would have counted towards my floors count.  Day two we got a later start not wanting to go into the parks without my mom who was doing a 10k, we visited Animal Kingdom for around an hour or so because we wanted to go on the safari, went to Magic Kingdom for only about two hours which I spent mostly in line for Pirates of the Caribbean, I used to be a pirate so it was required. And we walked around Hollywood Studios a little before the Fantasmic! show for shopping since we didn't really have time for any rides before the show.  Since we only used two of the days off of our 4 day passes we're going to go back a little later in the year before they expire and we will be definitely focusing on spending time in Magic Kingdom haha.
  So I got my shirts for this trip from an Etsy shop called, "Dollys Bow" and I really ended up not liking how I looked in my "I'd rather be a mermaid" shirt just because the pants I chose to wear with that outfit didn't help flatter my figure. I am thinking though that the next time we go I'm going to wear the shirts again so I can kind of use them for a comparison situation.

         Day one: "I'd rather be a mermaid" 02/20/2015

  I think my main problem with those pants is I just didn't feel comfortable and they did nothing to help with how I looked, and I know I'm going through this whole process and I'm not going to see a difference personally and this picture just made me feel worse. It was as if I had gone back five steps instead of forward like I know I am.

       Day two: "I can't keep calm I'm at Disney World" 02/21/2015

  Don't know if I woke up with a better attitude about myself or what but I actually loved how I felt in this outfit, I'm wearing my DANSKIN NOW fitted workout pants that I usually will workout in just because they don't move a lot when I'm working out. My mother made comments about leggings and I had to point out that they where the pants she bought me for Christmas and they where comfy for walking haha.

 I took this picture last night before I did my Insanity Max:30 Maxout Carido video, which by the way I still hate cardio haha,  This just gives you a better idea of me in those pants with a less loose tank top on, I'm also wearing a sports bra which I couldn't do at Disney World because my shirts where white and stretched to where without the proper bra I would've been showing way, way too much.

                                                                 02/20/2015    

    02/20/2015

  01/20/2015 This was the day I got my "I can't keep calm" shirt, and looking back at it I think I was filling the shirt out a little more when I bought it compared to when I wore it for Disney World. I know that I was a little further back from the mirror and that it was different mirrors but I think there is a little difference. Then again my perception of space has sucked before, but when I took the January picture I had literally just started Insanity Max:30, this was back when my times averaged around 5-6 minutes.

Either way I just have to remember this, these workouts are for me, the reward is for me and nobody else, I just have to keep remembering that I can overcome my struggles with this, the pain, the soreness, the emotional and physical stress that my journey is putting me through will all be worth it. 

Until next time lovelies

Kicking ass & getting my ass kicked!

  So! This week so far has been epic in my Insanity Max:30 workouts!!

  Monday (Cardio Challenge) I maxed out at 11:21 which was awesome considering I spent the rest of my day after that in bed with nausea, I was poisoned by Red Velvet Oreos haha. Long story is DJ was sick a few days ago, was up from 2am until around 8am getting sick and mom thought he had food poisoning but the Urgent Care said it was a virus but the evening before he ate about 5 of those oreos. I had one Sunday night, decided I didn't like it and didn't have anymore then woke up Monday feeling nauseous and drank ginger ale on my way to taking DJ to school but got sick not even an hour later and spent the rest of my day after my workout feeling awful and nauseous. So we threw away the rest of the Oreos since only two of us in the family had tried them and we both got sick.

  Tuesday (Tabata Power) I maxed out at 17:13 which WAS my best time out of all my workouts so far! Don't let the makeup face fool you, I had makeup on from doing it for work and used my really good makeup settling spray so I don't look as sweaty as I was haha.

  Wednesday (Today haha Sweat Intervals) I maxed out at 17:57!!! I managed to kick ass and push myself way further than I thought I could, I wanted to maxout earlier than I did but I managed to push and keep going until 17:57 when I had a hard time getting off the floor again haha. Could barely hold up my phone to take the pictures and when I went to pick up my water for a drink I almost had to put the cup back down because my arm said it was heavy!
  I'm so excited that this week is majorly rocking! Yes I'm kicking ass but I'm also getting my ass kicked and it's showing in my energy levels and how far I can push myself.  Motivates me to go further!

Now some motivation quotes before I go into a happy post workout sleep!!

Until next time lovelies 

Common cold curses & Shoutouts!

  I swear my body doesn't hate me, at least not completely. My first week of Insanity Max:30 went fine, I thought I did well. What was supposed to be my second week I fell down the stairs Monday morning and spent the rest of the week unable to bend let alone try to workout. Actual second week went fine, was coming back from my fall so it was basically a week of trying to loosen up what was tense from my lack of Insanity Max:30. Now this week I've caught my little brother's cold! He spent most of last week sick, coughing like a seal and poor thing was miserable, and since I was off two of the days he was sick, I took care of him while everyone else was at work or school.  

  I woke up Monday morning and I felt gross, took him to school came home and did nothing but sleep most of the day and for what part of the day I was awake I felt gross and couldn't really explain what was wrong. Tuesday I woke up, took him to school, felt miserable but decided to try to relax and see how I felt a little bit later since I had work at noon. Of course I fell asleep and woke up after 10 still feeling horrible so I couldn't call out because of the whole two hour before shift notice thing. However I went to work, my energy level sucked of course because all I wanted to do was go back home and go back to bed, and knowing I wouldn't be able to deal with it tonight I got a replacement set up for me and took today off so I could stay home and rest. 

  I am miserable.  Sore throat, aching body feeling, constantly tired, occasional awful coughing, yeah I hate being sick. But even with my feeling sick and wanting to just crawl in a hole and be put out of my misery I have been doing my Insanity Max:30 workouts.  My times where meh since my breathing sucks right now but I was able to push through and get them done everyday.

  Monday (Cardio) 10:33,

 Tuesday (Tabata Power) 7:42, 

and today Sweat Intervals  13:12

  Have I mentioned how evil Tabata Power is on your lungs when you have crap breathing? Yeah it's horrible but I managed to push through just not to max out in the first 5 minutes, and just think tomorrow is Tabata Strength, ew.  Hopefully with the humidifier and good medicine tonight my lungs won't be so crappy tomorrow and I can increase my times some more.  

  Now a shout out to my peoples on the Facebook Group I'm a part of!

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1557526487799754/  

  I joined the group looking for more takes on how the workouts effect actual people and look for more motivation and encouragement, don't get me wrong, my mom is an awesome coach and cheerleader but sometimes it's also helpful to have other people there who are going through the same thing you're dealing with that you don't live with haha.  I'm so thankful for the people I've interacted with since joining the group, all they've heard me talking about so far is being sick haha since I just joined it this week.  Most of us update with our times each day so we can motivate one another to push ourselves to that limit and max out, knowing it is not the end,  It's amazing to see these people who are so inspiring and that we all max out, we all are putting our sweat and tears into this, and we are all there for each other. So the shout out to all my peeps, you guys are amazing!!! 

 

 Also once more I will share the link to my awesomesauce mom&coach's beachbody page, if you have any questions about the programs, shakeology, or anything of the like, you can ask her here:

http://www.beachbodycoach.com/scienceesl

or go to her blog here:

http://scienceesl.blogspot.com/

 Gggguuueeesssssss wwwwhhhhhaaatttt??? I'm going to start Shakeology soon yay! My mom has been drinking the chocolate Shakeology for a while and I haven't been a huge fan of the chocolate so I'm going to be getting the strawberry! Yay! I'm really excited about this because I know it will be delicious and good for me, plus it is packed with great things that will help my workouts. Also there are a ton of recipes I can use to change up the shake if I feel the need to change the flavors a little. 

  Either way I'm so ready to be not sick anymore, I have a busy work week next week, and it'll be week 4 of my Insanity workouts before I move to the second set of DVDs eeeppp! Off to rest up, hopefully tomorrow will be easier so I can push and kick butt on the Tabata Power workout!

Until next time lovelies

The 'effed up standards of Hollywood

 Okay so tonight after I had gotten done with my Insanity Max:30 workout of Friday Night Fights, I was feeling really good about myself for pushing through and not maxing out until 11:03, that is until I stepped on the scale and realized that my week off has really pushed me back again.  But it was a good wake up call and it made me realize that I was falling off the bandwagon so to speak. Time to go back to utilizing my apps to log my food and make sure I push myself more, use my free time to go for walks (going to have to start out with small ones but still).
 Anyways, the other reason for tonight's post other than my update, after I saw the scale and came to get ready to write a new post I saw a post from one of my favorite radio stations 102.7 KIIS FM on facebook and I'll give you the link right here http://www.kiisfm.com/photos/main/slimmed-down-celebs-266623/23618907/#/0/23618907 but I was completely flabbergasted when I saw who they featured in this. The post is called, "28 Slimmed down Celebs" so I'm thinking, "Oh they're featuring celebrities that had struggled in the past with weight and over came it" and it was, BUT some of the women they feature where at healthy weights before their "slim down". Also the caption for this slideshow was "See who went from fat to fab, I would not EVER consider some of those women to ever be "fat", curvy yes but still healthy!

For example that's what they said about Miranda Lambert

 These are the pictures they used for Miranda, let me just say I would kill for her "fat" body. She's a healthy weight in that picture, just because she's not a skinny "heroin chic" weight doesn't mean she's not attractive or that she's "fat". The only real differences in these pictures is her posture is different, her hair is cut, she's obviously wearing a better bra and she's more toned. 

Raven Simone is an actual badass with her badassery

 Raven always struggled with her weight, I remember watching her on Disney Channel on "That's so Raven" but I never thought about her curvy figure, I just always thought she was amazing because her character fought for the right to have great clothes for plus size models and in one episode even fought to model an outfit of her's in a runway show rather than use the smaller model who was chosen.  She is one of the only female celebrities that they used that I could agree did an amazing job with kicking ass and losing the weight she wanted to lose,  no surgery or anything that happens in Hollywood these days, just badass natural weight loss. She is what I aspire to be like because she is amazing. she did the work for herself not for anyone else, and the results where amazing, on top of that Raven has always been honest and laid it all out there. 

 This is why I am set on not thinking I have to be Hollywood standards of skinny, because let's face it Hollywood is ridiculous.  Anyways my mom has become a "Beach Body Coach"! so if you have any questions about the Insanity Max:30 workouts, or the Shakeology drinks or anything else you can find her profile here! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beachbodycoach.com%2Fscienceesl&h=bAQHtxRb1

Until next time lovelies 

Recovering from my butt pains& finding inspiration

   So last Monday I was going downstairs and I slipped and fell, and when I say fell I also mean to say I bounced down the stairs in the process. Thus hurting my tailbone and for the first day a lot of other parts as well.  For the first two days I couldn't sit comfortably and barely could walk and don't think I even attempted to bend over.  Now a week later I can sit and whatnot, still have a hard time bending because of the pressure on my tailbone when I do but I was able to start back doing Insanity Max30: tonight.  I maxed out at 6:04 because of my luck it was cardio night and was holding on okay until they started the spider lunges.  

http://youtu.be/vCMOt_8ZSg4

  To give you an idea of what the spider lunges are I put a you tube link and a diagram of the exercise haha, basically my tailbone wasn't having it. But atleast I'm back at doing the Insanity Max30: videos after recovering this week. 

  Another thing to mention is losing track of doing my calorie counting, very bad, I know but I'm going to restart it tomorrow because it is helping me track what I am and am not doing to help with my journey. But on the plus side I still have not had any soda! Almost a month since my last soda, and yes I do see the sodas and think of how refreshing it would be but I know that quitting is much better for me.  

  Also today Buzzfeed featured an article on Tess Holliday! She is a badass plus size model who is absolutely beautiful.

This is Tess

  She's gaining (more) attention because she was signed with a major modeling agency, MiLk Model Management who found her because of her Instagram. #effyourbeautystandards has taken off and I personally love it, it inspires women to love themselves no matter what size they are. One of the girls featured in the article says, “Pretty for a big girl… Nah, I’m just pretty. #effyourbeautystandards”. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that I'm pretty for a big girl, it's slightly insulting when it's put like that. I'm not doing this path so I can be stick skinny, believe it or not I like my curves when I'm wearing something flattering, I'm doing this path to be more healthy and be able to always look in the mirror and be happy with what I'm wearing and I don't have to be a size 0 to do that.  Tess has passed a major hurtle in the world of fashion by getting signed, and it's going to press forward a major movement that will hopefully bring more options in flattering clothing to the plus size world. Before you think to yourself about how she isn't trying to do anything or she's not living healthy at all and whatnot, she actually works out with a trainer four times a week, and either way she promotes loving yourself and that is more than enough. 

  If you want to know more about Tess and her amazingness here is her Tumblr: http://tessmunster.tumblr.com/ 

Website: http://www.tessmunster.com/

Blog: http://theplussizelife.blogspot.com/ 

Instagram: @tessholliday 

Until next time lovelies 

Insanity Max:30 Update

 Today was day 4 of doing this. Ow. It took everything in me not to stop until I finally did with my mom and sister. Let me put it into a bit of a perspective,

This is Shaun T.

 Shaun T gets cussed out almost every time I work out to his videos because the man is evil, very good at what he does, but evil. Shaun T will be super encouraging and let's face it he's not bad to look at when you're wishing to throw things at him so he doesn't make you do more stuff.

I mean come on, look at that face...aaannnndddd the body, also the body haha. 

(It is really too bad that he's not attracted to women, sad day for the women of the world.)

 Anyways that is what I deal with when I'm doing these videos, that and my mom and sister's "encouragement" haha. While I follow the modified version (and sometimes modify it further) it is really hard to focus on my rhythm when my little brother is on the verge of getting slapped in the face when I'm trying to do open chest jacks. So far I have avoided smacking him so that's some progress haha.

 Luckily and amazingly my times are getting better.

Day one: 6:36

Day two:7:14

Day three: 8:55

Day four: 15:31

 With as exhausted as I am right now I do not have full belief that I will do nearly as well tomorrow as I did tonight but I have to keep a (upbeat) attitude, and try not to curse out Shaun T too much haha. Anyways I should prepare for sleep!

Until next time lovelies

Just a quickie post about "Insanity Max:30"

SO tonight was my first time doing the "Insanity Max:30" workout with my mom and sister. I'll basically put it that it is insane. The object is to go as hard as you can for as long as you can and when you can't go any longer you take note of when you "maxed out". The maxed out time is reference for your improvement and the whole workout goes on for 60 days. Also after your workout you're supposed to take a mirror picture and weigh yourself for more references after the 60 days is done. I didn't do the picture because my dear mother wouldn't let me change before the workout so I was still in my pajamas during the workout. Horrible idea really not to change because of two things that move around a lot (I should have been wearing my sports bra for that) aaannndddd I didn't have my ankle wrap on either which is why I think I had a really hard time with some of the feet movements.
Regardless I maxed out at 6:36 and I (reluctantly) weighed in mostly for myself to know what was going on and learned I've lost 6lbs since starting my journey two weeks ago. I know it's not a heck of a lot but hey it puts me on track for the weight I want to lose. It's also been about two weeks since I've had a soda and I actually am already feeling the effects from nit having it. Yes I've needed (or felt like I needed it) the caffeine boost several times but the gnawing craving for it is gone.
Anyways time for sleep, I'm going to the gym in the morning while my sister takes my brother to school and then off to work a little bit later.
Until next time lovelies

Snacks snacks snacks and apps!

 Alright so no gym today, I ended up staying late at work and by the time I left my ankle was killing me so I will just have to get up early tomorrow and go.  On another note however I got snacks at Walmart today!

 One thing I got was Veggie straws! I have had these before and they're really good, plus they have a low calorie count which is good considering I'm trying to keep track of my calorie intake.  They are all natural with no preservatives added with apparently 30% less fat than the "leading potato chip". I don't know what potato chip that is but hey at least these are healthier and yummy as well.  I bought the 6 pack so it will hold me over for a little while, or at least I hope so haha.

 I actually got two kinds of vegetable chips today as it turns out, these are not as good as the veggie straws but I was at work when I bought these so I could have a snack since I did not eat lunch before I left for work. A serving of these is 1/2 a cup and its a 130 calories in the serving, since work was really busy I only ever got to eat maybe five pieces haha, but they will come in handy as well.

 So last night I also put two new apps on my phone, one "Lose it!" and "7 Minute Workout". I already had the app for my Fitbit and for "MapMyWalk" so these two will help with my journey as far as keeping track and remembering to log my meals.

  So the "Lose It!" app is really cool as a way to keep track, based on the amount of weight I want to lose overall and the amount I want to "lose per week" it calculates a calorie amount each day that I budget to be able to eat. It shows it as making sure to exercise to burn more calories than in-taking calories, I log what I eat and certain things it actually has in it's system so it's easier to log.  I can scan the bar-code of a product and if the system can recognize it then it pops up with a page to log how many servings eaten and what calorie count it is and then ta-da! it's added. Also I can log my exercise throughout the day. To log my working activities I used my Fitbit to tell me how many calories I had burned and used that to log the exercise that way.

Now this app is really cool too, sometimes getting to the gym can be difficult with errands, work, life in general. So this will help me get in an extra workout and will explain it to me on how to do each workout so I am not confused or not really getting any progress from it because of my not doing it correctly.

That's it for now then, tomorrow I will probably go to Zumba at my gym but it wasn't been decided on yet haha.

 Until next time lovelies.