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?

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?

2012 In Review.

The year has almost come to a close and I decided to review my year to see if I was really able to do any of the things I had set out to do. Did I lose weight? Did I change my eating habits? Well, let's find out.

Weight Loss

I set a goal to lose 50 pounds by this year. Unfortunately, I failed :-(. However, I realized that weight loss was a daily battle and that I would continue striving to be a better, fitter and healthier person.

Clothing

So, I was hoping to wear a UK size 14 by the end of the year. I managed to get to a size 16 for some clothes. I know it's not the same but I believe I have learnt  many lessons that will make me achieve this goal in 2013.

Exercise

I had a couple of exercise goals in 2013. And I was surprised that I was able to achieve some of them.

Complete the C25K program: I got to Week 8 and just froze. I don't even know why. After completing Week 7 I just couldn't motivate myself to continue. Will I try again in 2013? Definitely.

Walk a 10K on the treadmill or outdoors: I'm proud to say that I achieved this goal on the 9th of May 2012. It was a cool evening at the gym and it took me almost two hours to complete but, I did it and was so damn proud of myself.  

Run for 15 minutes straight: Check! Check! Check! Did this for the first time on  April 24, 2012. It felt so good. I, Enyonam, actually ran/jogged for that long without dying. lol!

Do at least one kind of exercise daily: Is there a half mark for this? I mean, I exercised at least three times a week most of the time. We'll be putting this goal up for 2013.

Do at least one type of ab exercise daily: Total fail! I'm not even going to try explaining why. 

Diet

Eat less fast food: I think I did better at this than last year. I can actually count the number of times I ate fast food this year as opposed to last year. I cooked more meals at home. 

Drink more water: Pass! I did drink more water this year. Made sure to consume at least three litres daily. There were days when I drank less because I took in fruits that contained lots of water but on the whole I think I passed this one. 

Eat more fruits and vegetables: Another pass! I took in more smoothies than anyone in my home. And before you attack, I made these smoothies with fresh fruits only. I had lots of salads and vegetable stir fries too. 

Eliminate deep fried foods for 6 months: Not sure about this one. I don't really eat a lot of fried foods but, I did eat chips at some point. I ate less of the fried foods but I can't say i did this for 6 months straight.

Drink more herbal teas and less processed drinks: Fail! I still drank Diet Coke. Reduced my frequency  of intake but still drank it. :-( And funny enough, I drank less herbal teas. 

I still ate white rice and refined carbs but, it was to a lesser extent as compared to 2011.

On the whole I can't say I'm happy with what I achieved but, I must admit that the year wasn't a total failure. There was a time when I would have taken advantage of the holidays and shoved everything in sight down my throat. Now, I actually exercised during the holidays and ate thoughtfully. I may not have lost 50lbs but I'm proud that I didn't gain more than what I weighed at the beginning of the year.

I'm off to set my goals for 2013. Don't be surprised to see a repeat of some of the listed goals since I'm not going to give up that easily.

Elliptical Fixed & Back on Track!

After calling the store where I bought my elliptical on several occasions and threatening to return the machine and create a scene, they finally sent someone to fix it. Turns out it was a minor problem. Thank God! There was no way I was going to let $450 dollars go up in smoke.

Anyways, so I'm back on track. I exercised for 30 minutes yesterday and plan on doing an hour this evening on the elliptical. I really need to hit my goal and I'm running out of time as it is.

I was thinking of restarting a journal. I've never been able to cultivate and maintain this particular habit. Guess it's time to try again. :-)

Random & Goals for June.

Show of hands, during a grueling workout at the gym, how many of you out there sometimes find yourselves thinking "gee, I must look pretty funny/silly/ugly/weird etc, right about now"? The last time I was at the gym and I happened to look at the mirrors, I had a good laugh. You should have seen my face. Lol!

Anyways, I have gained about 6lbs. I honestly don't know if it's muscle, fat or water but I do know this, if it's not muscle, it's coming off. On that note I've decided to break my goals for the month of June into weekly goals.

The overall goal for the month of June is to lose 8-10lbs. The goals for the first week in June are to:

• lose at least 2lbs
• exercise for at least 35 minutes, 7 days a week
• eat more fruits and vegetables
• note take any fruit juices and diet coke.

I can do this. I did it before and I will do it again.Sigh

February Wrap Up

So, the month has come to an end and I decided to reflect on my doings this month.

• I exercised at least 5 times every week. 
• I started exercising during lunch break. Intense 45 minute workouts baby

The bad things

• I only did the twice a day workout 4 times. I'm so disappointed. However, there were days that I was just too exhausted to go in the evenings.
• I didn't watch my food intake. With the stress of my mini car crash on Valentines Day came more personal issues that had me drinking more juices and eating out more. Hopefully that would change in March.

I'm sure many people are wondering why I didn't post a weigh in on Monday. Thing is, I only remembered to weigh in after I had worked out at the gym. Now, that wouldn't be an accurate reading since the number would definitely go down after the kind of cardio session I had. I therefore decided that I would weigh in next Monday.

Oh! and after a long hiatus I've decided to continue with the C25K program. I stopped at Week 4 and I plan on continuing from where I left off. 

Weigh In - Week 4

Last week's weight - 208.2lbs

This week's weight - 205.4lbs

Okay! I lost 2.8lbs this week! Damn the 0.2lbs that would have made it three. lol! I'm glad to say that the month of January has been a successful one in terms of exercising and eating right. I've tried as much as possible to create a balance a I think very little food fills me up. I also load up on more fruits and vegetables when I feel like snacking or heading for the sabotaging delights. :-) How was your January?

I previously told you guys about my expensive gym membership and my plan of going twice a day at least thrice a week to maximize its use as much as I can. It would be great if someone joins me in this venture. Not only would our metabolisms be elevated twice but, the rewards on the scale would be so worth it ;-). 

February, here we come. 

What are your plans for February?

Bulge Patrol!

I was just looking at some pictures that I took with friends yesterday. Everything was looking great till I came across a particular picture that horrified me. I could see my muffin top in the photo. Aarrrghhh! I always hide those very well. Anyways, seeing that made me realise that I've got a lot of work to do so I'm adding a few more goals to my goal list.

1. Do at least one type of ab exercise daily. I hate these eh.... :-)

2. Drink more herbal teas and less processed drinks. Yes, that includes diet coke.

3. Avoid highly refined carbs (pastries, polished white rice, white bread etc.)

Any other goals you want to share? What did you change in your diet and exercise patterns to ensure that you lose weight?

95.1..... Happy New Year!!

Imagine my delight when I weighed myself on New Year's Day and found that I had gained less than a kilo. Yes, I was happy because I had done bad things over the holidays... The ice cream, spring rolls, bread etc.. I had them all in moderation of course.. But, I wasn't exercising on a regular basis though.

Now, it's a new year and the ball is already in motion to achieve the goals I put in the previous post. This year is a year of action and I plan on getting my pedicure by the end of next month.....

Cheers...

Goals for 2011...

I've been very very bad these last few days... I've been exercising less and eating more calories.. Shame on me! I'm even too scared to get on the scale... Don't want to see the damage I've caused. I've therefore decided that my next weigh in will be on January 1st 2011.

That does not mean that I'm going to relax though. I'm going on the treadmill immediately after I put up this post. I've also been compiling a list of goals for 2011. They are as follows:

1. To exercise for at least 6 hours weekly
2. To increase time spent of weight training
3. To eat more vegetables and consume less junk food.
4. To reach my goal weight by 31st December 2011

This is what I have so far... Will add more goals as they come to mind.. Hope u guys are enjoying the Xmas holidays..

95.9. And I'm Back In The Game!

Okay. So last week I missed three workout days and messed up my eating pattern. So I wasn't surprised when I weighed in at 96.5kg on Sunday morning. I realised that I needed to act as quickly as possible.

So, I upped my exercise time and the intensity of my workout and voila! I weighed in at 95.9kg. I really want to reach my first goal by X'mas so I can celebrate my progress with a photoshoot at a professional studio. :-) I therefore plan on working out twice a day for 3 weeks. Now, I've talked about doing this before but just didn't seriousy consider it till now.

Hopefully I will be 5kg lighter by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

99.6

Thank goodness! I was so sure that it was going to read 100.0kg. Don't get me wrong; I did all the rights except one little mistake I made last nite. My stir-fry had a little too much salt in it.  I'm so relieved to know that the week has started on a somewhat good note. Somewha cus its PMS week. I hate this but these cramps are not gonna stop me from getting my calorie burning on.

Last week I wasn't able to fulfill my goal of exercising in the evenings. Was only able to do this on Tuesday. Maybe I'm not ready for this yet. :-(. Perhaps I should try again this week.

I'm really looking to a great week. Hope you are too...