changes

my skin has been going crazy this week. I get these hairbumps on my inner thighs around my period. Well I need to check when my cycle is due because I had a bunch of them the other night. My face is also breaking out and looking disgusting. I rarely get pimples but this week has brought out scaly rough skin and lots of white and black heads. My body is flushing out the toxins so things have no where to go but out. I'm already a little short on my rent but I'm going to get some kale, spinach, carrots, apples and celery from the supermarket tonight. I need to do a heavy green juice tomorrow and give myself a facial. I'll do a video of me doing the facial and stuff tomorrow. Everyone needs to take time to take care of their skin.

I havent been wearing foundation all week and I'm really paying attention to whats going on with my face. By months end my face will be looking different.

I Used To Be Fat

I just watched an episode of 'I Used to be Fat'. It was okay. It just reminded me of how much I kicked ass back in 2008. I lost 30 pounds between January and March by eating better and working out 4 times a week. I wasnt even doing anything crazy at the gym; the treadmill and the elliptical machines. Last year when I did my stint at the YMCA I took different classes and got to feel the power of weight lifting. I receently started cooking again. I ordered a copy of 'The Womens Guide To Weightlifting' and I love it. All of these little things that I've been learning in the past 2 years are all pushing me in the right direction.

This week I didnt workout as much because I wanted to get into the groove of eating better. I think I did pretty good. I could stand to eat more veggies and fruits so I think I'll do only veggies one day next week and increase it to 2 days a week in February. I have a lot of OT scheduled in the coming months but I def want to make sure I plan my meals and workouts. I miss my bootcamp fitness class but I know I'm not ready to go back yet. I think the last week of the month I'll be ready to tackle bootcamp in the mornings again.

I want to be 180 pounds. Solid. I want my legs to look like they were carved from kenyan ivory or some shyt. A flat stomach and toned arms. Seriously. I'm sketching clothes that I want to wear in the spring and I dont want to feel like I cant wear whatever I want. Over the years I have definitely gained a lot of confidence in my body - thats only gonna skyrocket once I start releasing weight again.

My coworker bought in her exercise ball to the office and today we took turns doing crunches. I did 30 crunches this morning and before I leave I'll do another 30. The 200 squats challenge is a good one too. I can do that at work. I need to do a log of all the exercises I do at the office. I was on bodyrock.tv last night looking for a simple routine I could do before I left for work in the morning. I'll do another post on my workout plan for next week as well as my fitness goals for January.

LONG TERM GOALS:look sexy for Jamaica in March
create a new wardrobe for the summer
go rockclimbing in July
go white water rafting in July
weigh 180 lbs by Labor Day
wear a size 12 in the hips and a 10 in the waist

I made chicken to take to work this week. I dunno but the taste of the chicken is a little off. I know its not spoiled but I think I need to start buying halal meat from now on. I ate the chicken but I really dont like how it tastes. Maybe I didnt clean it properly but I shouldnt have to clean the meat so harshly. If its gonna be all that then I just need to buy halal.

Im doing great on the no dairy thing. My almond milk tastes great and its good in my oatmeal. Yesterday I ate so much but I guess it wasnt really that much because by the time I left for work I was hungry. I had oatmeal with almond milk and creamed honey for breakfast, a handul of raw almonds and cranberries for a midmorning snack, stewed chicken with lentils and okra for lunch, lentils and flaxseed chips as a mid afternoon snack and hummus and flaxseed chips right before I left work. I was eatin good! When I got home I played Just Dance 2 and the Michael Jackson dance game for about an hour. Then I ate baked bbq chicken, lentils and broccoli for dinner. I did mess up a lil cause around 2am I found myself in the kitchen eating tortilla chips and cheese sauce but I'm not gonna beat myself up about it. I feel good today. My body is a little sore from the dancing but I feel really good.

this might be TMI but I think the beans are starting to do a number on me. Number 2. I went like 4 times yesterday. Its healthy to go right after your meals but I didnt think it would be that soon! I did take some psyllium husk on tuesday evening so that must be it. Plus I'm drinking 2 liters of water a day. The best part is nothing seems forced and I dont feel overwhelmed with changes. I feel confident in being able to stick to my guns. I'm not obsessing over food and I feel free to focus on other areas of my life guilt free.

Food for Thought

I went food shopping on monday night. After spending a week with my aunt I kinda had an idea of some things I wanted to make to start off my year of health in 2011. I went to Trader Joes and I went to my local supermarket. Here's what I purchased:

Trader Joes (14th Street Union Square)
Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 containers of Organic Oatmeal
Kashi Go Lean cereal
Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
2 bags of Veggie & Flaxseed tortilla chips
Almond Butter
Raw Almonds
Dried Cranberries
Creamed Honey
Trader Joes Spring Salad mix

Total: $35.88

Food Dimensions (Myrtle Ave & Broadway)
Red Pepper Hummus
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
10 lbs Chicken Quarters
Onions
Garlic
Lemons
bag of Frozen Okra
2 boxes of Frozen Corn
1 can of Diced Tomatoes
1 bag of Dried Lentils

Total: $25.00

Cooking is not really my strong suit but I figure if I batch my cooking it wont be as bad. So on monday night I cooked brown stew chicken, lentils, okra corn and tomato succotash and a small pot of white rice. Next time I'll pictures, for now you'll have to use your imagination. I really wanted to make the brown rice I had but I didnt have 45 minutes that night. I'll probably make a small pot of brown rice to carry to work. I took caution not to use too much salt and relied on the fresh onion, garlic and herbal seasonings I had in the house. I packed a bag to take to work so I don't have to worry about breakfast, lunch and snacks. 3 tupperware containers with chicken, lentils and succotash (no white rice). I put the almonds, cranberries, cereal and creamed honey in smaller ziploc bags. The oatmeal, flaxseed chips and a few bags of frozen veggies were packed up and I poured half of the almond milk into a plastic container to take as well.

My desk and the office fridge are fully stocked. I have loose chinese green tea at my desk. Its cheaper than the tea bags and it tastes better. I buy mine from Pearl River Trading in Soho for like $2 or $3. They have different flavors - I like the peach one. Green tea is great for your metabolism and you can drink it without sugar. It's nice to have a cup before lunch and one in the midafternoon.

I'm registered with 111Days and the Fierce Fit Fab forums. A good support system is vital to staying on track with any goal - your fitness goals are the same. Its nice to be able to share information with other women who are like me and are striving towards a common goal.

I'm feeling great and you should be too :)

Happy New Year

Bonne Annee!!

Happy 2011, I hope the holidays were pleasant for you and that the New Year will bring you peace, prosperity and health. My horoscope for January is pretty inspiring. Here's something that really stuck out to me

The meeting of Jupiter and Uranus on January 4 will also be superb for starting a new exercise / fitness and nutritional program, or for learning a new sport. So many people have lofty New Year's resolutions, but few see results. If YOU get started on January 4, YOU will see results and everyone will envy you in time! In astrology, it matters when you begin. Start NOW!

Well, alrighty then! This doesnt shock me. Over the holiday break I took some time to listen to my body and think about what changes I want to make. I had a lot of red meat and pork on Christmas - my body didnt like it. I also had an uncomfortable experience with dairy.

So I need to set some goals. I haven't stepped on a scale in months so I'm going off rough guestimates. I have a few events this year that I want to slim down for. In March I'm going to Jamaica and I want to be 30 lbs lighter and In June I'm going to Amsterdam - I want to have a flat belly by then.

Okay so for January I want to take it easy on the red meat, pork, dairy and sweets. I want to lose 10 pounds and get moving 30 minutes a day at least 3 times a week. Thats it. Starting as simple as possible. I joined 111 Days and Fierce Fit Fab. I'll also be posting in the weight loss forums on NP so I think I have all the support bases covered.

Tomorrow is a new moon so I'll be doing a vision board today to keep me focused.

I got that text at 10PM last night. This was after I came home from my training session and bootcamp class. I never made it to the gym or the skating rink on wednesday so I did the extra workouts without complaining. This morning's session wasnt bad. I like that Gary switches up the exercises. This morning I did a 10 minute warm up on the treadmill (4% incline, 3 MPH) followed by some interval training in the gym (2 rounds of jumprope and leg lifts/hip raises). Then we hit the weights. Pull downs and chest presses. Those were rough but I liked the pull downs a lot. I need to master those if I ever want to be able to do chin ups and pull ups.

Yesterdays workout was on the legs (10 minute treadmill warm up, seated lifts, kick backs and weighted squat presses) and bootcamp was a bit easier than usual. I can feel myself getting stronger though. I was the fasted runner in my group last night. That made me feel good. I still have a way to go but I feel good doing this!

Come December I'm gonna look amazing. I cant wait to go back to Jamaica - I'm gonna need a bat to beat them off, forreal. lol I still need to take my full body shots for the records. I'll do that this weekend.

I took yesterday off to recover. up until 1AM this morning I was stretching my quads in bed and praying for the best. My legs feel alright today. I woke up and drank 2 cups of water and 3 psyllium husk pills. That extra fiber really makes a difference. I need to get another bottle of psyllium today. For breakfast I had blend of raw oats and almond milk. Right now I'm eating a delicious ripe peach :)

Last night I got this text from Gary (my bootcamp fitness trainer):



YAY! Its crazy because in mondays class I was thinking "when should I start weight training?". I ordered "The New Guide to Lifting for Women" and I'm waiting for that to come in the mail. I'm super excited to start weight training because I know that will be what really sets everything in motion. I want to be strong.

My cousin told me about a rollerrink in our neighborhood. $10 on wednesdays if you bring your own skates. I'm hype! I'll be hitting the gym and the elliptical machine before heading to the rink. Rollerskating is a treat and if I give the elliptical 30 minutes of my time I can reward myself with a few hours on my skates :)