I Feel Like A Failure.

I have not been posting as I should, and I have not been exercising as much either. My eating patterns are so poor that you would be disappointed in me If I gave details. The last few months have been stressful in many aspects. Unfortunately, my exercise and diet regime suffered as a result. It's a wonder that I haven't gained so much weight. 

Thankfully, I am stopping myself RIGHT NOW, before things go way out of hand. Under normal circumstances I would immediately post my weight but since I want to start a new week with measurements, I will post my details on Sunday. My plan is to go on a detox for three days to reboot my system. So much junk has been going down these fast few months and my system needs a thorough cleanse.

To those that I've disappointed, I'm so sorry. Not only do I want to lose weight, I want to be a motivator to you; my friends. I promise to try harder to stay on track.

Here's to better days. Bless you all.

Cheers.

I'm Still Here

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. Life has been crazy. Will get back to posting regularly from tomorrow.

Cheers guys and gals.

Today's Eats....

I realized that I hardly post food pics so I decided to give you guys a feel of what I eat. I'm on some medication today so I'm actually eating more than I usually do. Thank God I managed to exercise this morning to balance out my food.

Breakfast:

I never thought that I would be a fan of almond milk but, when I finally tried it with cereal I totally loved it. I use the unsweetened version which has 40 calories in each serving of 240ml. How awesome is that? It even has less calories than skimmed milk which is 80 calories per 250ml. I had it with Fit & Active Vanilla Almond cereal. Have any of you tried it? You should. Calorie-wise it is around the same value as Special K for a cup.

Breakfast: 343 calories (2 cups cereal + 300ml almond milk)

I almost forgot to show you how it looks out of the box. See the little almond pieces? I love cereal that has nuts and fruits (It is no wonder that I'm a huge fan of muesli ;)) 

Lunch:

My yummy lunch (Chicken breast, spaghetti and mixed vegetables)

I love stir-fries. I can eat any vegetable you put on my plate if it is stir-fried with the right spices. Today's lunch is a simple Chicken, mixed vegetable and spaghetti stir-fry. It had green beans, carrots, sweet corn, green peas and cabbage). Does that look like a lot of food? Guess what? That's 548 calories only.

Like I said, spices makes it possible for me to eat any vegetable. I however an careful not to do the sodium bit. See the main additions to the meal.

Spices + Olive oil cooking spray

 I still haven't decided on what I'm having for supper. It may be a sandwich with some tea or a smoothie.  

How about you folks? What are you eating today?

                                

September Squat Challenge...

I started the squat challenge yesterday with 50 squats and I must say that my heart was beating like crazy after I was done. I try as much as possible to do these workouts in the mornings because knowing the kind of person I am, the probability of me not working out later in the day is quite on the high side.

Anyways, this morning I did the 55 squats that Day 2 requires. I'm feeling really good about this. I hope that I notice some changes in my thighs by the end of this challenge. 

On other matters, I am still journaling at MyFitnessPal (user name ameryati for anyone who wants to add me). I think it's become a habit now :).

Was August A Successful Month?

Most definitely! I'm really glad that I decided to reboot my weight loss efforts in August. The month was a good one as far as eating well and exercising were concerned. I lost 9.3lbs just because of the following:

• Exercise
• Healthy eating
• Journaling on Myfitnesspal
• Most importantly, God's grace

So, now that August is done. I have another goal for September; continue losing. I'm not going to set the number of pounds that I hope to lose. I'm just going to continue doing the right things. 

Oh and I'm thinking of trying this. Couldn't do it in August so I'm gonna try it this coming month.

Anyone want to join me?

18 Days Later.......

It's been 18 days since I rebooted my exercise and diet habits (Clapping and dancing). I must admit that it hasn't been a total breeze. In the last few months I've realized that I'm more committed to a morning workout   rather than an evening one. This therefore means that I have to get up at 3:30am everyday in order to leave for my morning jog at 4am. Thankfully, my body clock has gotten used to it so waking up is not a problem.

So, I try to jog/brisk walk everyday. On days that I don't feel like it I just climb onto the elliptical in my bedroom and pedal away. To anyone who likes to have time alone to themselves, let me suggest this; workout! It really helps you organize your thoughts.

On the food front things have been good. I've been journaling regularly on MyFitnessPal and that has really helped me stay within my calorie limits. I've also changed my dinner habits since I go to bed early to get enough sleep before 3am. Instead of having a heavy supper, I take fruits or cereal (Who knew this would ever happen?). Now, lunch is when I get to eat whatever I want, as long as it is within my limits.

These habits must be working because I weighed in at 216.3lbs on 3rd August and, this morning the scale read 209.8lbs, showing a loss of 6.5lbs in 2 and 1/2 weeks. 

500 Calories....

When I bought my Garmin FR70, the first goal I set was to burn at least 500 calories through exercise daily. There were days that I ended up burning about 1000 calories and more but, the main goal has been to ensure that I get at least 500 calories burnt everyday.

If you are like me who bores easily, then you would definitely be looking for a variety of exercises to achieve your calorie burning goals. Here are a few exercises I do to ensure that I blast those 500.

1. Jump Rope

This was the only tool I had when I started at 242 lbs. I jumped rope twice a day till I lost 20 lbs. It is fun and burns a lot of calories quickly. However, I must warn you that it can be quite merciless to the knees. My advice would be that once you feel any kind of pain you need to take it easy.




2. Elliptical

It is very easy to blast 500 calories on this machine within 30-45 minutes. This is the exact brand I have in my bedroom. It's a Trojan Image 350. What I love about it is that I can workout at any time; be it at three am or ten pm. I don't have to worry about safety outside since it's an indoor machine. Oh! and I sometimes watch episodes of Drop Dead Diva or Teen Wolf when I'm on this baby....

3. Hip Hop Abs

Who knew that I would fall in love with Shaun T? lol! I love to dance and the fact that I don't even notice the minutes as I tilt, tuck and tighten away makes this a great tool for me. As you watch the video for the first time it may seem like a very simple workout but once you begin, the sweat just begins to drip. Try the Fat Burning Cardio and Total Body Burn and see how many calories you would burn.

I actually plan on starting his Rockin Body program once I'm done with this and who knows, maybe when I'm fit enough I will give Insanity a go. :-)

4. Jogging

Like I tell my Mom anytime we go out jogging/walking, "It doesn't matter if you are as slow as a snail, as long as you are not walking it's jogging." It can be a slow jog for beginners and as your endurance and fitness levels increase, so can your pace. Jogging burns a lot of calories too. 

5. Walking

Now, this is something we all do everyday. On days that I am too tired to do anything intense, I walk. It could be a brisk walk around the neighborhood or a 60-minute session on the treadmill. 

SO there you have it. These are the main exercises I do in addition to lifting weights and other strength training exercises. What exercises do you enjoy?

A Good Week!

The previous week was a successful one as far as diet and exercise goes. Between last Sunday and today, I burnt 5,672 calories, according to my Garmin HRM. A good achievement, right? I think so too. I think using the HRM has helped me make careful choices when making food decisions. After burning all those calories, the last thing I want to do is go eating beyond the allotted 1,200 calories a day as prescribed.

Besides, like they say......

I sure as heck don't want to be doing all that hard work and messing it up because I can't seem to be disciplined enough to avoid that extra piece of cake or extra serving of rice. Thankfully, my hard work was rewarded. I saw a loss on the scale. I'm creating my workout plan for the week and will definitely share it with you guys as soon as I'm done.

How was your week? What are your plans for this week?

I Love My Garmin!

It's only been five days and I'm still getting a hang of all the functions but, as far as the basics go, I'm so in love!!! I must confess that having the heart rate monitor has changed the way I look at crappy food. Of course there are days when you just can't resist the cravings but, having this has really sent the "Weight loss is 80% diet" message home. 

I remember looking surprised when after a 6km walk I realised I had burnt 493 calories, Lol! I was actually expecting more. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I did not want to spend all this time working out only to be negating my progress by going beyond my 1200 calorie a day limit. So, I'm revisiting Myfitnesspal and logging in my food intake. Also, I'm going to try writing in a food diary too; tried so many times and failed :-(.

Wish me luck. I'm  hoping to hit Onederland and stay there by the end of this year.

I Got A Heart Rate Monitor......

Hurray! I've been trying to get one for ages. I even asked a good friend to get me a Polar FT7 way back in December 2012 but she's not been able to send it to me due to a number of issues.

Anyways, I was window shopping at the Game Stores yesterday afternoon and for some reason, as I was leaving the place I felt this sudden urge to visit the watches section. Lo ad behold, not only was the Garmin FR70 available, it was reduced to clear! It cost way less than the original price of $129; I got it for $50. I was so eager to use the thing that I got it set and working when I got home.

My new heart rate monitor.

ANT* stick, watch, chest strap and transmitter plus foot pod in the box (messy huh?)

                                     
I like that I get more accurate readings with this since it takes your age, height and weight into consideration when calculating calorie burn. Hopefully this would help me monitor my fitness progress. Also, I would know the distance covered when I go jogging. Yay! I'm so excited!

Let the games begin. I'm attacking August with brutality.

Early Bird....

It's 4:55am and I just finished working out. Finished my schedule and decided to do an additional 10mins of Shaun T's Total Body Burn which is in the Hip Hop Abs program. Gosh! I'm dripping in sweat. I wish I had a big mirror in my room so I could see what I was doing. Even with the confidence I exude when doing the workout, I'm sure I look way different from those on the screen. Lol! 

I wasn't able to workout yesterday because my right eye hurt so bad and the last thing I could think of was exercise so, there goes my rest day. I'm going to have to exercise on Sunday.

Stepped on the scale this morning and let's just say, I've got tons of work to do if I want to hit my goal for the year. Really need to eat clean. Saw this on Pinterest and it really got to me. Why eat certain foods and punish yourself later?

 Guess my problem has always been dinner options. Any tips guys? Would love to read your suggestions.

Motivating Myself & Ab Sculpt....

I got home yesterday evening feeling tired, sore and in no mood to workout. Then, I remembered this picture I saw on Pinterest and that was enough to push me onto the elliptical.

I did the whole 60 minutes as planned and felt really good afterwards.

The machine says I burned 676 calories and I covered 15.6 kilometers. I must admit that it always feels great when I'm able to achieve my daily workout goals. Planning really helps because I don't have to waste time deciding on what workout to do when I wake up at 3:30am or get back from work at 6pm. 

This morning I did Shaun T's Ab Sculpt workout from Hip Hop Abs and my.... it was difficult. I was struggling at some points and my soreness didn't help. Guess the elliptical workout from the previous night played a role in this since, I love to do all sorts of stuff like posing in a squat and pedaling backwards to work my thighs and glutes.

Anyways, I'm taking things one day at a time.

How was your workout today? Do anything fun? 

Shaun T Rocks!!!

Dayum! I love that man! It's 4:39am and I have just finished doing Hip Hop Abs and I'm dripping in sweat. What I love about this workout is that you really don't realize that you've been working out for 30 minutes. How cool is that? 

This morning was the fat burning cardio workout and I must say, that even though the program is Hip Hop Abs I had an arms and legs workout too. Maybe not a full workout but generally with all those arm and leg moves, it was cardio for sure.  I had sweat was dripping down my back and it felt good. Will fill you in on the day's eats later.

Hope you all have a fun workout today! :-)

A Good Start…

So, the day went pretty well. I did the elliptical for one hour in the morning and Hip Hop Abs in the evening as planned. Who knew it could be so much fun. I didn’t even notice how time flew by so quickly. I’m definitely doing it again. In fact, I can’t wait!!!

On the food front I had a smoothie for breakfast, salad with chicken for lunch and then some boiled peanuts for dinner. I can’t wait for tomorrow. Hopefully, I stay on the wagon this time.

Hip Hop Abs....

Hey people, after trying to figure out a workout schedule I decided that I will revisit the twice a day workout. I will be alternating between Hip Hop Abs and my elliptical for now. Perhaps when I get back into my regime I will add Insanity to the mix. Did I forget to mention that Shaun T is a total definition of HOTNESS? Wow! I wish I had the female version of his body. 

So, I have drawn up a plan to guide me and prevent unnecessary guesswork when I wake up in the mornings.

Day	Morning	Evening
Monday	Elliptical workout	Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio
Tuesday	Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio	Elliptical workout
Wednesday	Hip Hop Abs Ab Sculpt	Elliptical workout
Thursday	Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio	Elliptical workout
Friday	Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio	Elliptical workout
Saturday	Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio	Elliptical workout
Sunday	Rest	Rest

So, let's see how this week goes. Enjoy your week.

Getting My Act Together….

As I said in my previous post, things have not been so good in the eating and working out departments. I however have found a way to solve both problems (hopefully). Planning!

Yes, I’m sure some of you are rolling your eyes and saying “Didn’t she already know that?” Well, maybe I did, but I haven’t been consistent with that as far as my healthy regime is concerned.  Thank God for the numerous opportunities to try till I succeed. Anyways, I have decided to go back to the food journal since it does help me check on my junk intake.

With the exercise bit, I’ve decided to exercise at least four times a week. That would be my major goal till the year ends. I still have five full months to lose some weight and I’m going to try my possible best to do that. In addition, since I’m a serious series viewer, I’ve decided to kill two birds with one stone by watching my favorite programs when I’m working out. And boy, are they many! Here’s a list of what I love to watch at the moment:

• Drop dead diva
• Rizzoli and Isles
• Luther
• True blood
• Teen wolf
• Hit the floor
• Franklin & Bash
• The Haves & Have Nots
• Ray Donovan
• Suits
• Extreme Weight Loss
• Private Practice
• Person of Interest
• 2 Broke Girls

Here are the others that I can’t wait to watch when they resume a new season:

• The Vampire Diaries
• The Originals
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Game of Thrones
• Mike and Molly
• Hart of Dixie
• Nikita
• Arrow
• Beauty and the Beast

Wow! They are so many that I won’t be surprised if I have left out some. It’s a wonder that I even read!

What series do you guys love? Share some of your favorites… Please?

A Deal Worth Taking......

Wow! It's been over a month since I last posted. Life has been crazy busy. I wish I could say that I've been faithful with my eating and exercising but, all I can say is that those two aspects of my life has been experiencing a yoyo journey.

Anyway, someone actually made me a deal last month to spur me on in my weight loss journey. It's a good deal. I will give you the details later this week. 

Gotta go now.

Cheers.

Redeveloping Good Habits...

After the heartwarming discussion I had with my Dad concerning my weight loss efforts things have sort of fallen into place. My exercising has been consistent and I'm really paying attention to my food intake. I measure my food and make entries on Myfitnesspal. It really helps because I at least, have a fair idea of how many calories I'm taking in. 

I also started doing squats. Trust me when I say it's no joke. Doing overhead squats with the exercise ball helps me work my arms, back and thighs at the same time. I love that cos even with exercise I love to multitask ;-). 

My water intake has also increased significantly. It's not even noon and I've almost finished the 1.5L bottle of water sitting on my desk.

My desk is always a crazy mess; no matter how much I tidy it up.

And my veggies intake has increased significantly. In addition to the cabbage, lettuce and peppers, I've discovered these.

They consist of peas, carrots, green beans and sweetcorn. I use these because it is more affordable to buy  as compared to getting the individual components separately. I do plan on trying the oriental mix version too. 

I also decided to take it easy on the scale. I know I said I would post my weekly weigh ins before but, I don't want to discourage myself with a number. Imagine how crazy I would go if after all the hard work the scale doesn't budge. The muscle theory does not really stop me from feeling bad and I would hate to do that to myself. I may weigh in monthly but for now I would like to focus on the good habits I'm redeveloping.

Change Is Coming....

Wow! Didn't realize that so much time has passed since I last blogged. Work has been crazy, life has been crazy and, as if that wasn't enough, I came down with Malaria on Tuesday. It was just awful lying in bed as I kept being hit with dizzying headaches. Made me realize that I need to take better care of myself.

That being said, I've decided to reboot my weight loss engine. After months of consideration, I've decided to give up meat for a while. I may eat meat once a week or fortnightly; haven't really made a final decision on that. I also realized that my weight loss has stalled for a while due to my bad eating habits so I'm going back to the starting point. Thankfully, I've been keeping a food journal so I'm going to do all the good things that had the weight coming off.

I guess my decision to do this came at the right time because I actually had a very serious discussion concerning my diet and weight this morning. I was glad we did because it reminded me that I will always have the support of family no matter what.

And I guess the weekly weigh-ins are going to be making a comeback on this blog. :-)

Gotta go get on the elliptical now. Have a great weekend my friends.

In Love With Green Smoothies....

After reading so many articles on the health benefits of green smoothies, I decided to give it a go. Yesterday I passed by the vegetable market on my way home and got some spinach, beetroot, cucumber, pineapples and bananas for my little green smoothie experiment.

This morning's breakfast consisted of spinach, pineapple, banana and orange. Mmmmmm.... it was totally awesome!

This is enough proof that I enjoyed it, right? lol!

Recipe

1 cup of pineapple

1 cup of banana

1 handful of spinach

Juice squeezed from two medium-sized oranges

Blend the ingredients with ice in the blender, serve and enjoy. :-)

Getting Back In The Game...

These last few weeks have been crazy for me. The power outages have made me lose my running rhythm. I'm too scared to go running in the dark and the elliptical isn't really a fun workout for me anymore. So, over the weekend I decided I was going to have to find alternatives to prevent me from falling totally off the wagon. I've had these Jillian Michaels and Billy Blanks workouts on my laptop waiting to be used. Perhaps it's time. 

This morning everyone at the office seemed to like my appearance. It's amazing how they seem to think I've slimmed when I still think I have a long way to go. This is what I looked like (forgive the photo, not all phone cameras are equal. lol!)

Have a great week folks!

I Started Skipping Again!

I have not blogged about my weight for  a while because I just couldn't do it. I couldn't put up a number that would disappoint all those who look up to me. I've been on this journey for more than three years and been only able to lose and keep off 33 lbs. To some of you that's a lot but to me, it's not enough.

These past few weeks we have been experiencing a lot of power cuts in the country due to certain reasons I don't even want to get into. That has sort of put a stop to my morning jogs since I can't be sure of my safety. So, after not working out for almost two weeks it hit me " Why the hell am I not jumping rope?" That's what helped me lose those 33 lbs anyways. So, I resumed my skipping yesterday. Did 1000 jumps in the morning and another 1000 in the evening. :-)

This morning I did another 1200 jumps and I'm hoping to top it up with another 1200 in the evening. All that's left to do is to watch the things I put into my mouth. That has always been the damn problem. lol!

Weigh In No.6, Clean Eating Challenge....

I feel so ashamed that I gained another pound this week. It's my fault. I ate too much junk and even with exercise, diet still accounts for 80%. Dammit! Why did I eat that pie? Was the Chinese takeout really necessary? I won't beat myself up about this. It's a new week and I just got back from my walk/jog. I plan on challenging myself to a clean eating week. And to make it even more interesting, I'm going to give myself a reward for each day that I am able to eat clean. Will give you the details on that later. So this week's rules are as follows:

• No diet soda
• No processed juice
• No pastries, pies, white bread
• No fried plantain chips

These are my major vices. If I can conquer these I can do anything! Wish me luck folks..... I need it!

Weigh In No. 5, January Recap.....

January has been a great month. I exercised on 26 out of 31 days. Yayy! I also ate more vegetables than ever. I realized that my love for jogging has increased. There's no stopping me now. Even if the weight loss process is a slow one for me, I will persevere to the end.

Previous Weigh In: 207.5 lbs

Today's Weigh In: 207.9 lbs

Gain: 0.4 lbs

Am I surprised? No. Am I upset? No. I'm not surprised because the previous week was very stressful and I think I overdid the carbs a little bit. I'm glad that I did not gain a pound. That would have pissed me off. Lol! Not to worry though. Next week would be better. Besides, I have lost 5lbs in the month of January. That's an achievement for me. Here's to another 5lbs in February.

February, here we come!!!!!

Have a great week folks.

Weigh In No.4, Butt Pain and Exercise Frequency.....

Yeah, you read correctly. My butt hurts like hell. I don't know if it's because I used the elliptical after such a long period. Could it be the cause? Or perhaps I'm building muscle there. lol!

My week was a great one. I exercised throughout; all 7 days! Yayy! I even went out with dumbbells on Thursday and gave my arms an additional workout. Talk about meaning business! My eating was also very interesting. I realized that I'm needing less and lesser food by the day because I'm eating more vegetables than ever. Once I kept in the mind the servings of carbs I could consume, everything else went fine.

So, I guess it's time to see if all the hard work erased the previous week's gain.

Previous Weigh In: 209.4 lbs
Today's Weigh In: 207.5 lbs
Loss: 1.9 lbs

I'll take what I can get. After all, it's a journey.

Have a lovely week folks.

Brisk Walking WIth 3lb Dumbbells Is No Joke!

I'm telling you! It was quite a task but I loved it. Truth is, if I were to have been in the gym I would have dropped the damn thing after 10mins. Thankfully, that's the advantage of working out outdoors, you have no choice but to carry everything that left the house with you. So, I walked with my two 3lb dumbbells and climbed two hills with it. It felt good afterwards but one thing's for sure. I will stick to just walking on my own for a while. I don't think I'm ready for that combined cardio/weights exercise yet. 

On the food front things have been great. I've eaten more salads than I ever thought possible in less than a week. I hope that this shows on the scale at Monday's weigh in. :-)

Have a lovely weekend y'all and don't get carried away with the calories. :-)

Weigh In No. 3, Jogging, Life.........

Last week was full of events. The company I work for celebrated its 20th year in the Advertising and Public Relations industry so we had to organize a party. I also ended a long exhausting relationship that I had been in and out of in the last three years. Phew! I was so relieved when it happened. No tears were shed, I must say. I was actually happy it was over. To be honest, I don't even miss him :-).

Anyways, I'm still alternating between jogging and walking. I walk briskly on days that my knees feel tired. It feels really good to be consistent though. I'm actually making friends on the route I use. Seems everyone is realizing the benefits of exercise, right?

TOM came knocking over the weekend so I wasn't surprised when I saw a gain on the scale this morning. Oh well, the scale won't discourage me though.

Previous Weigh In: 208.3 lbs

Today's Weigh In: 209.4 lbs

Loss: None

Gain: 1.1 lbs

Have a lovely day.

Weigh In No. 2, Still Jogging...

The past week has been a very busy one. I resumed work after a well deserved two week vacation and things continued from where they paused before the break.

Have I mentioned that I'm still jogging? Well, I am! And I'm doing more jogs than walks as the days progress. I still think I can do better with my eating. Don't get me wrong, I am eating healthy. It's just that my supper options still worry me. Perhaps preparing meals ahead would solve the problem? Let's see what happens.

Anyways, let's get down to business. It's time to see if I've been doing something right.

Previous Weigh In: 210.5 lbs

Today's Weigh In: 208.3 lbs

Loss: 2.2 lbs

Enough said. I'm off to work.

Weigh In, Falling in Love With Jogging....

It is amazing how easy it is to acquire a habit. Despite my foot sprain, I managed to walk and occasionally jog throughout the Christmas period. Since January, I've been jogging frequently. I find that I prefer this to actually going to the gym. I wake up at 3:50am and leave the house by 4am. Today I increased the distance and it took my 1hr 20mins to complete my walk/jog session. I feel so good about this.

Anyways, I said I was going to resume the weekly weigh ins so here we go:

Previous Weigh In: 213lbs

Today's Weigh In: 210.5lbs

Loss: 2.5lbs

Well, I guess I'm going to continue doing this.