Falling off the Bandwagon

My life, like so many other's, is cyclical. Mine just happens to be in rhythm with the dance season. Here is how it goes: August: You feel your best and look your best for all those new families you meet at the beginning of the dance year. November: You are running out of juice and you desperately want a vacation. December: Xmas vacation couldn't come soon enough and you gorge on all the holiday goodies you receive from your students, then gorge some more on all the holiday foods that your friends and family have prepared. January: New Year New YOU! Working out as much as humanly possible because you feel refreshed and revived after that 2 week break.  April/May: Competition Season has you slipping a little. May/June: RECITAL SEASON in full swing.....your eating habits and sleeping patterns are thrown right out the window! SUMMER: AHHHHHHH! Thank God its over....Now back to your regularly scheduled life.

Back when I started this blog (In January...time coincidence...I think not!) I had more than one goal. First and foremost was to see how all these crazy workouts really worked on my body. Second was to be in shape for a surprise gift for my husband on our anniversary. I wanted to be in the best shape of my life for a boudoir photo shoot. Since deciding we were going to try for a baby this year, I knew that this might be the last opportunity to look this way. My Grandma stayed tiny after she had 4 kids, my Mom has insane stretch marks after birthing my brother and I (Battle scars...thanks Mama). I have NO idea what my body will do and I wanted something to remind me and my husband what perfection (yeah I said that) looked like on my body. I didn't achieve the look I wanted in the time I had......So I crash dieted. I eat very minimal calories, workout like a dog, and BOOM - after 2 weeks of a little suffering, I get the results I want. It has never been a big deal to me to cut weight this way until now.  Those pounds I took off came crashing back after Recital season and now I feel huge. Here we are in summer and I am back to normal.

I don't like these cycles. I want to be able to eat clean and workout throughout the year regardless of what season it is. How do I make this happen? I have no idea but I'm going to attempt this season. My husband and I have a tropical trip planned for August and I would like to get to a better place before then. No crash diets, only goodness and workouts until then. I'm starting today, with my Spirutein shake (made with lactose free organic fat free milk, a banana and a handful of strawberries) and a Pilates class this morning. Will I wake up sore tomorrow--OH YES..but I look forward to it.

A Bad Week

I was very much in love with the 300 abs routine I was supposed to do this week, but I ran into a bit of a snag. My husband and I have decided that we should try to have a baby this year. I have been on birth control for 14 years with only 1 six month break. Needless to say, I went off of it 2 weeks ago. This week I began to show signs of withdrawal- nausea and headache at the same time each day for 4 days, followed by dizziness and absolute loss of appetite. I wanted nothing to do with food for 3 days and barely ate. Yesterday (Saturday) was the very first time that I ate three square meals and a snack! I didn't realize how much I missed food! Monday was the only day I did exactly what I was supposed to do- Full 30 min cardio on the elliptical and weights for my arms and the 300 ab workout. Wednesday I snuck in 30 min of cardio and leg work before the nausea kicked in. I'm disappointed that I was unable to follow through.

I have decided to restart this program beginning tomorrow and I am happy to feel like myself again. I found a new app on my phone called "Lose it!" It tracks the calories you eat every day as well as your workouts and helps you to achieve your weight loss goals. Its so cool, I made my husband download it as well!  -J

300 abs- Day 1

Food:
Breakfast- Bagel & Cream Cheese
Snack- coconut LaraBar
Lunch: Organic MacNcheese and a jello
Snack: Apple
Dinner- Chicken cutlet and pasta aioli

Went to the gym this morning and did 30 min of cardio on the elliptical on a random setting (it increases and decreases resistance at random) then did a killer arm/chest workout. I weighed myself and I'm down 2 lbs!! 3 weeks and 2 lbs...I'll take it. Like I said, I don't have much to lose, so with muscle swapping out with fat my numbers are not going to be huge. Tonight I came home and did the 300 ab workout---killer! Toe touches and reverse crunch really did the trick! I am pretty sure I'll be sore tomorrow!

300 Abs!!

 

You remember the movie 300 don't you?? Every man's abs are a perfect specimen of strength and power? Newsflash---the majority had some awesome airbrush work done. However, the idea of this workout is to create some killer looking abs. I LOVE how at the beginning of this picture it says to do this workout with cardio and/or strength training. YES!! Every workout should have cardio and strength training. The more muscle, the more calories burned. My plan is to get my cardio and strength training done in the mornings and hit this ab plan MWF nights for 2 weeks. Off to the gym!

Summer Butt Challenge 6 and 7

Excited to be done with the Butt Challenge. Day 6 and 7 went off without a hitch. I found the exercises to get easier after the first two days. I did this practice at home and do not have weights. So I could have increased the intensity and made it more challenging. 7 days is not enough to see any real results. While I know this workout shred my muscles, there is no real change visibly. I also really felt this workout in my hip flexors (Probably from all the dang lunges!). This workout should be paired with cardio training and continue for more than 7 days for actual results.On to the next workout!

Butt Challenge Day 4 and 5

Yesterday was my day of rest--I wasn't very sore and I honestly wanted to do some cardio, but after finding out about the death of a student of mine I could barely even stand to eat. I had to tell each one of my coworkers 1 by 1. Not because I wanted to, but because that is what time allotted me to do. This little girl was like sunshine- always smiling, always happy; it is so devastating.

Food:
3 bites of cereal (this is when I read the bad news)
1/2 a grilled cheese and steak fries
Coconut LaraBar
1 White chocolate Macadamia nut cookie
And I couldn't stomach dinner.

Thursday:
I woke up feeling dizzy and wondered why...OH..no dinner! I held it together for most of the day, but as soon as I got in the car to go home, I had to break down and cry. I posted a message and picture of our sweet dancing angel and got an immediate thank you from her mother.She was grateful and said she would come take yoga with us soon. She was amazingly positive and strong---admirable while we are still all falling apart. Despite my unwillingness to move, I did all my exercises like a good girl.

100 Prisoner Squats
30 Side Lunges – 15 reps each leg
30 Walking Lunges – 15 reps each leg
50 Side-Lying Leg Lifts – 25 reps each leg

This was a piece of cake today--- 100 squats is like nothing!

Food:
Breakfast: Multigrain wrap with banana honey and cinnamon
Lunch: Baked Ziti and rice cakes
Snack: Peanut Butter Cookie LaraBar
Dinner: chicken soup

Day 3 Summer Butt Challenge

I woke up this morning and thought, "Who slammed me into a brick wall butt first?" I'm pretty sure nothing can prepare your rear for this workout...matter of fact my right butt muscle is so inflamed, its pinching a nerve. I really wanted to get some cardio in too, but the shooting pains down my leg warned me against it. After work I got home and did my workout-

100 Butt Burns (50 each side)
100 Prisoner Squats
Glute video (90 Bridges; 40 forward lunges each leg; 40 leg extensions each leg)

Leg extensions were the absolute worst feeling today....I did every single bit though. If my butt doesn't look good by the end of this, I will be shocked.

Food:
Breakfast: Honey Nut Cheerios w/ organic skim lactose free milk
Lunch: Baked ziti and an apple
Snack: Coconut LaraBar
Snack: Yogurt
Dinner: Brown Rice/ground beef/potato mix up

Tomorrow is a rest day, and I'm pretty sure I need every bit of it as well as an Epsom salt bath!