Wrapping Up Week 1

     We are at the end of the first week of the 12-week transformation challenge. I want to take a few moments to reflect on what is going well and where I can improve as it goes into week 2.

     Having the fitness calendar in my dining room has been very helpful.  I can see all my fitspiration images and remind myself of my goals.  I also like only writing things down when I actually do them.  It may be very childlike of me, but I enjoy it like a sticker chart.  lol!  Finally, it is right there for my hubby to see too.  That keeps me accountable as well. 
     I have found myself continually improving when it comes to nutrition. Not only am I closer to my calorie goal at the end of the day, I also am seeing improvement in the balance of carbs, protein, and healthy fats. Even more exciting for me was the fact that I allowed myself a treat yesterday, and found it difficult to think of something I wanted. Things that in the past would have been  a temptation, weren't as appealing as they used to be. I did have a serving of dark chocolate sea salt caramel, and enjoyed it.  No guilt.  It was an intentional decision, and part of my plan. 

     An area that I am going to focus more on this week is my water intake. Some days were better than others, just not quite where I want it to be. To help with this, I ordered a water infusion pitcher from Amazon. It holds 93 oz, so if I aim to get through the pitcher over the course of my whole day, I will be closer to my goal. Plus it will be fun to have different flavors of water to make it more interesting.  I found a website that has flavor ideas, and I look forward to trying some different combos! 

     Another area that I will need to give more attention to is getting to bed at a reasonable hour.  That can be easier said than done with an almost 7 month old, and a hubby that usually gets home after 9pm.  I usually am doing my workouts when Chickpea goes to bed for the evening, and then I want to stay up to spend time with my husband when he gets home.  There is still room for improvement here, and I will be working on it.

     When it came to my workouts, I did have to battle in my mind over doing them a day or two this week. The great news is that I did them!  You can read more about this topic in my post called Bumps in the Road.    

     With each area I know there is much more to be done. The important thing is that I continue to take one step at a time. This is just the beginning, and there is still the excitement and enthusiasm of starting the challenge. To help continued progress, I will need to find ways to tap back into that excitement when more difficult days pop up. 

     I will continue to benefit from the accountability that is obtained from writing here. I will begin adding things that motivate me to the mix so that I can read through them when I need a boost. 

     Week 2 awaits!

All the best,

OkieGal

      

     

Bumps in the Road

     So far the first week of the challenge has been going pretty well. With each day, I am more consistent about making my calorie goals. I have also found healthy ways to satiate my sweet tooth. I did find that after having a rest day from my workouts yesterday, my mind wanted to skip today. It's something I've had a challenge with before, and will continue to work through it.

     It's amazing how much being aware of my mental state helps me. If I recognize when my brain is throwing out excuses, I can shut them down. For instance, I sat and thought "well the baby did get up twice last night, so if I just take today off too..."  However, I know that I feel so much better at the end of the day when I get the workout in. I sleep better, I stretch out my body after working a desk job all day, and I'll take another step forward being consistent (which will build confidence). Instead of listing excuses for not doing it, I focus in on reasons why I should do it, and think about those.

     Are there days that I do skip?  Of course.  My goal with those days is to make a conscious decision about it.  Instead of idly letting the day go by without doing the workout, I acknowledge the decision not to do it.  I may say, "I choose not to do my workout today, and I will instead make it up on what was my next planned rest day."  This approach causes me to think it through, be aware of my decision, and own it.  I also free myself from guilt.  I chose to do it, and have a plan for making it up. 
     So what if I do idly skip the workout?  I am working to not beat myself up over those times.  I'm human, it happens.  My goal in that situation is to get back in my routine faster than I did the time previously.  In the grand scheme of things, I'm working to stay on track more often than not.
     Up until the moment I started the DDP Yoga DVD this evening, I found my body and mind still fighting it.  I knew I should and I was going to, yet my mind was trying to betray me.  The important point is that I did it.  I pushed play, and I did the workout.  Today I overcame the thoughts that were trying to hold me back.  And guess what, I feel better after the workout!  Here's to small victories!

All the best,
OkieGal

     

Where I've Been & Where I'm Going

     Today didn't start out quite as planned, so I am posting this evening instead of in the morning.  We had major thunderstorms, which proceeded to wake my Chickpea up earlier than normal!  Oh well, we have made it through another day, and I'm ready to share today's topic!
     As promised, I'm sharing my goals for the 12-week transformation contest!  Before talking about where I'm going, I wanted to share where I've been.  I will say before I start, that this is just my history.  It's not right or wrong, it just is.  I have never really cared about the scale, and tend to go off of how my clothes fit to determine where I'm at physically.  The main reason I knew my weight through the years was either because of doctor's appointments or because I was tracking a starting point before a fitness routine. 
     About 2008 is where I can really remember the rollercoaster of weight loss and gain beginning for me.  I would be doing well for awhile, and then get discouraged and say "forget it" in my mind.  In December of 2010, I was preparing to do P90X with my husband.  We took before pictures and did measurements, and I weighed in at 130 lbs.  I did see some results, and then I injured my knee before I could complete the whole program. 

Dec 2010 at 130lbs vs Aug 2014 (6.5 months post partum) at 110lbs

       Fast forward a bit and I reached my heaviest of 138 lbs.  In early 2013 I got active again with more consistency.  I joined karate, and was training for the Warrior Dash 5K.  I lost weight and got down to 125 lbs.  I then learned I was pregnant in late June of 2013.  I was determined to stay fit and active during the pregnancy.  My main goal was healthy me and healthy baby, and I also wanted to do a natural, pain med free childbirth.

Dec 2010 at 130lbs vs Apr 2014 (7 weeks post partum) at 120lbs vs Aug 2014 (6.5 months post partum) at 110lbs

 

     After 2 failed glucose tests, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and put on a strict diet.  My midwife said I didn't just fail the test, my numbers were the worst she'd seen in a long time!  She was willing to let me try to control blood sugar with diet, but if I couldn't I would be on medication or need insulin injections.  Long story short, I was able to control blood sugar levels with diet alone, and maintained an active lifestyle.  I was not worried about weight while pregnant, because that's part of the deal.  They were keeping track though, so I know my max weight during pregnancy was 140lbs.  I had to be induced using a low dose of Pitocin due to low fluid levels, but was still able to labor and deliver pain med free! 

Dec 2010 at 130lbs vs Apr 2014 (7 weeks post partum) at 120lbs vs Aug 2014 (6.5 months post partum) at 110lbs

 

     The nutrition I needed to maintain through the pregnancy is part of what I believe helped in my quick recovery.  While I wasn't focused on losing weight at all, I found myself back to pre-pregnancy weight 2 weeks post partum.  This, I believe, is due in part to how my body reacted to breastfeeding.  I took before photos again at 7 weeks post partum to get ready to work out again, this time using DDP Yoga (since it is low impact).  I ran the 2014 Warrior Dash 5K at 10 weeks post partum.

Dec 2010 at 130lbs vs Aug 2014 (6.5 months post partum) at 110lbs

 

     I then decided to focus in on my transition from being a new Mom to being a working new Mom, so paused my workouts.  About a month ago I started up the workouts again and really began to think about what I wanted.  After all these years, I had gotten the weight off.  Now what do I really want?  As mentioned in previous posts, I want a healthy, strong, and fit physique.  I want to build muscle and have definition where I can see the results of my hard work.
     This brings me to why I joined the transformation challenge.  Transformation is not just about weight loss.  For some it is, and that's an awesome reason to begin the challenge.  For me, it is about transforming into the athletic build that deep down I've always wanted.  So my goals are not centered around weight loss, they are around building muscle.

Here are the 6 focuses I have set for the next 12 weeks to help me get on the right path towards reaching my ultimate goal. 
Consistently and intentionally:
     - Improve my mental attitude towards health and fitness
     - Choose healthy food options
     - Choose to complete my workouts
     - Drink water
     - Make sleep a priority
     - Thoughtfully allow myself treats.

     When the 12 week challenge is complete, I will then reassess where I am.  What is working?  What can be improved?  What more do I need to learn to help me get what I want?  Then I will start the process over again.  In short, continuous improvement.
     At the end of the day, it is about me becoming an even better version of myself.  I am proud of who I am, where I've come from, and what I've learned about myself along the way.  It takes dedication and consistency to make this lifestyle a part of who I am.  I am not perfect, and I will make mistakes.  I want to prove to myself that I am the person that can follow through and reach for what it is that I want.  It is something that I am applying specifically to fitness in this case, and the concepts will transfer to other parts of my life as well.   

All the best,
OkieGal

Food and My Relationship With It

     Today I have been thinking about nutrition. More specifically my attitude towards it. I purposely used the word nutrition, instead of diet here. For me, I feel like diet has gotten a restrictive and negative connotation in my own mind.  I realized this when I was deciding to do the transformation challenge and immediately thought I better eat a bunch of stuff I "can't have anymore."

     As that thought crossed my mind, I realized I have had unhealthy associations with food and with having a healthy lifestyle. The guidelines of the challenge even allow for 1-2 treats a week, yet my mind thought I can never have sweets again. It is simply not true, or realistic.

 

     It is about balance in life. I should be eating the healthy good for me foods more often than not, and having a treat here and there is okay and completely normal. While I'm no expert, I have read in several places that having a treat here and there actually helps keep you on track. It's when the treats are happening a majority of the time that it becomes a problem. 

     Another thing I realized is that I had been rewarding myself with food in the past. For me, this is counterproductive and feeds into the thought process that a food plan is restrictive.  I am working on ideas for rewards when I hit milestones that aren't food related.  It's important to celebrate the milestones, while keeping myself on track. 

     My focus is now on balanced nutrition, and creating a sustainable, healthy lifestyle. Good nutrition is important for me. In my last 2 yearly physicals, I was told that my cholesterol was too high. You wouldn't guess it by looking at me, yet it's true.  I want to get a handle on that now before my health is deteriorating because of it.
     The other reason it is important, is because only by having healthy nutrition will I get to my personal aspirations.  While I'll talk about my goals more tomorrow, since my overall focus is to build muscle and not lose weight, I'll have to track to make sure I am eating enough calories to support that plus the calories needed to breastfeed.  It's a lot harder than I thought.  Especially when trying to use healthy foods to reach the calorie goal with a good balance between healthy fats, protein, and carbohydrates.  I've started using the MyFitnessPal app again to help track the calories and ratios.
     When I think of my nutrition as adding more of the healthy foods instead of as a restrictive activity, it puts my mind in the right space.  Even choosing to add one more healthy meal a day is progress.     

     The good news is that I can choose to make a difference. Through the challenge my focus is to be more consistent with healthy nutrition, choosing a healthy option more often than not. Enjoying treats from time to time, and using other options as rewards instead of food.

 

All the best,

OkieGal

My Transformation is Mine Alone

     Today is Day 1 of the transformation challenge!  Last night my hubby took measurements for me and we also took my before pictures, which I am posting below with much nervousness.

 

     I keep reminding myself that my transformation is mine, and mine alone. The reminders are necessary as I keep hearing those old, familiar voices in my mind. They make me question myself and wonder what other people will think. They ask me "why are you even doing this?"  They tell me that my transformation won't be as dramatic as others', so why even try?  They ask me "how would feel if I fail, and everyone knows it?"

     I'm fighting those thoughts, and will prove them wrong. You see, my transformation is about me now compared to me in the future. I should not compare mine to others' journeys. They have their own. I will still celebrate in their successes and be understanding of their struggles. I just need to also celebrate my own successes and fight through my own struggle. A dramatic change for someone else has no impact on my transformation, other than to serve as motivation and inspiration. Someone else's journey does not diminish my own, nor does mine diminish theirs.  We all have our own journey and own transformation through that journey. 

     This point of view is what I am working toward. I still struggle with it as I type it here. I know it's true, and I believe it. I am working on shifting it from something I know, to thoughts that are part of who I am.

     There is more than a physical transformation at work for me. My mind tries to work against me. It is easier to stay where I am, and so my mind tries to trick me into staying there, comfortable.  Now is the time to make small shifts in my life to reach for what I really want, and achieve it. 

     I am taking it one day at a time. For my workouts, I am on week 6 of the 13 week advanced DDP Yoga schedule. I will also be adding in walks/jogs with my son, aka Chickpea, in the jogging stroller. The DDP Yoga plan takes me through 8 weeks of the transformation contest, so I found a 4 week program online that is patterned after what Gina Carano does.  This gives me 8 weeks to warm up for that mentally, and get any equipment or accessories (or get to the gym instead of only an at home based workout).

     The other piece is nutrition. I am not following a specific meal plan that tells me what to eat each meal. What I am doing is reaching for daily calorie intake goals, along with goals for my carb, protein, and fat ratios. My calorie goal is 1500 + 500 since I'm breastfeeding, bringing it to a total of 2,000. I will be monitoring the success of this goal and the ratios as I go, and will adjust as necessary. I track it all using the My Fitness Pal app on my phone. 

     I am excited and nervous!  I am finalizing what will be my 6 goals/focuses for the duration of the transformation challenge in the next day or so before I submit them to the contest. I plan to share them here to keep me accountable. 

All the best,

OkieGal

Creating the Fitness Calendar

     As part of the No Excuse Mom 12-week Transformation Contest, I created a fitness calendar based on the guidelines and calendar print outs provided at this link.  I loaded up my son in the car, and headed to the store to purchase a few supplies.  By a few I mean poster board, and some wall hanging supplies.  I printed the calendars and filled them in.  I then added a little color with markers. 
     Honestly the most fun was finding motivation quotes and fitness inspiration on the web.  The hubby and I found all sorts of relevant images, including those of the body type that I am going to be working towards.  I don't want to be exactly like her, I want to become my own version of what she represents.  That is the strong, healthy, and fit Gina Carano.
     Here are some pictures of my fitness calendar and inspiration board.

 



     It will be fun to see the calendar become more colorful as I enter my fitness information over the next 12 weeks.  One of the motivational photos that we found was very appropriate given the challenge.

 

All the best,

OkieGal

I'm Going On An Adventure!

     It has been quite awhile since my last post, and I now feel that the time is right for me to pick this whole blog thing up again.  You may or may not be wondering why, either way I'll explain.  While we don't have to start at the beginning, we can momentarily travel back to January 2013.
     January 2013 is an interesting time point for me, because it was at this time that I realized that there had to be something better, something more that I was missing.  I often thought about a scene from a favorite movie of mine, Beauty and the Beast.  Belle has just refused Gaston's marriage proposal, and is singing about her feelings on the whole situation.  She runs out into the field overlooking a beautiful, mountainous landscape singing, "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can tell." 

     Don't get me wrong, it's not that I was unhappy with life on the whole.  I just knew that I am capable of so much more.  My issue was that I didn't have a clue where to start.  A friend of mine gifted a teleseminar to me.  The course, Call 2 Action by Michael Bernoff, was exactly what I needed.  I got the kick in the butt I needed to unlock what I already have inside of me.  I took several more of his courses and have been to the Core Strength Experience event twice now, and would go again and again.  The portion of my journey that occurred from January 2013 to now deserves a post all its own.  I can sum it up by saying that I did a lot of soul searching and became more aware of my own wants and how, up to that point, my thought processes had been keeping me right where I was.  Which was exactly where I was trying to move on from. 
     One of those thought processes is what brings me back to the blog today.  I have decided to not only take part in a 12 week transformation challenge, but to also share my journey and transformation here. 
     This may not seem like a big deal to others.  It is for me.  I have been battling thoughts in my head that say "you're not good enough" or ask "what if you fail and everyone knows?"  Not just in the fitness realm either, in a majority of my life.
     Just last week I was talking to my husband about undertaking this transformation challenge.  It was well past midnight as I sat in the middle of the living room floor with tears running down my cheeks as we spoke.  I realized that I was afraid to say what I really wanted as my fitness goal.  I struggled to even let it come across my lips.  My mind was at war with itself.  Why?  What's so hard about admitting my desire, my goal?  If I admit it, it means it is real.  It means that someone else would know and if I didn't reach that goal they'd see that failure too.  Really, who am I to want that goal anyway?  As I had often been told in life, "you're so small, why are you worried about weight and fitness?"  Were they right?  Was I being ungrateful for what I have?

    
     We talked through it, and I realized that I needed this challenge in more ways than I knew.  It was going to have me admit to myself and those around me my fitness goal.  What is it?  I want a visibly strong, healthy, and fit physique.  I want my hard work to be visible in the form of defined muscles and toned body.  Some may still wonder why I'm worried about that, or think that I want it to look good in the eyes of others.  What many don't realize is that while in the grand scheme of things I may not have had to deal with being at an extreme weight, it doesn't always take an extreme to cause an internal struggle.  I have been heavier than I wanted to be, yet because of the way my body holds the fat (conveniently around my mid-section) I have been able to hide it under strategically purchased clothing styles.  While those around me may not see it, I do when I look in the mirror.  I have struggled with trying to lose weight and have had frustrations of no longer fitting in my favorite jeans.  I've felt like a failure and been down on myself over my fitness level.  I want to feel confident in my own skin, and I want to see evidence of the hard work. 
     I have decided to be honest with myself about what I really want and own it.  In this journey, I feel that in order to truly tackle it, I must write it out.  Not only to hold myself accountable, but to also tackle another struggle in my mind.  That's a topic for another day...
     I invite you to follow along, or even take on your own challenge.  Step by step, one day at a time, I will walk this journey. 

All the best,
OkieGal