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

Happy friday!

First things first - my thighs are on fire. I dunno if it was the boot camp class or the elliptical that mashed me up but my thighs have been ablaze since monday! I literally have to toss myself out of bed in the mornings. Thankfully it feels like the worst of the pain/soreness is over. I feel better today than I did all week. Last week it was my abs, this week its my thighs. Go figure.

I did the bootcamp class last night. I actually got this text yesterday afternoon



Well damn, I hadnt planned on going to class last night but I was glad to get the encouragement from the instructor. Class was pretty intense and I can honestly say that I'm embarassed with my fitness level. I used to be a tomboy. Very athletic. If I wasnt playing tag, throwing a football around with the boys or relay racing with my friends I was jumping double dutch from sun up to sun down. My legs are still muscular from all those years of double dutch. A few weeks ago on my way home I saw some girls playing and I asked them for a jump. I was wheezing and my damn knees were on fire. Not cute. I'm only 24. Not even 10 years ago I was light on my feet with tons of energy.

So last night's class was super challenging and I could barely complete all of the sets/reps of ab work he had us doing. I couldnt even lift my hips off the mat. I felt my thighs burning when I had to use my core and do sit ups. I want to be stronger so I'll keep going to class. I guess this is a real wakeup call.

I'll also confess that I smoke (not just cigarrettes, either) and I'm starting to see the effect that has on me. I smoked on tuesday and wednesday night. I definitely felt it the following morning. Aside from the fact that the munchies made me completely fall off the wagon both nights, I didnt like the sluggish feeling I had in the mornings. Last nights workout shouldnt have left me feeling that drained but I felt horrible. I'll have to make a promise to myself that I will not smoke during the week. I read an old interview with Missy Elliot and she said in order for her to lose the weight and keep it off she had to stop smoking altogether. I can totally see that happening. I really need to think about why I smoke and is it really all that necessary a habit to maintain in the long run.

planning works!

My excitement has me posting like crazy. Hopefully I wont lose focus or momentum. I got the meal planning down for this week so I can start planning my workouts. I have a membership at my local YMCA and the facility is really, really nice. They have a full schedule of dance classes, yoga, pilates, water aerobics. There's a swimming pool, top notch equipment and weight room. The locker rooms are nice too - clean showers, steamroom and a sauna. I definitely don't take advantage of it like I should so I want to turn that around.

I've taken some dance classes there before. Caribbean dance was grueling but fun. African dance and belly dance were nice too. I've spent $15 on a african dance class before at a dance studio and the class at the Y was just as good. I'm interested in doing the boot camp fitness class too but I'm scared. I've always wanted to try boot camp fitness so I think I'm gonna go ahead and say eff it. There are two morning classes on mondays and wednesdays. 6:30AM-7:15AM. Thats super early but if my meals and gym bag is packed and my clothes are laid out the night before I really could do it. It's all in the planning. Tonight I'm going to caribbean dance then I'm going home to change and hang out with my friends. I seriously have to think about what drives me and what will get me to the gym when I dnnt feel like going.

Here's what my ideal workout schedule is looking like for next week

Mon - Boot Camp 6:30AM-7:15AM
Tue - rest
Wed - Boot Camp 6:30AM-7:15AM
Thu - Caribbean Dance 6:30PM-7:30PM
Fri - African Dance 6PM-7PM
Sat - rest
Sun - Belly Dance 2:30PM-3:30PM

I know half of my workouts are gonna be very demanding (boot camp, caribbean dance) but at least I know once I got the hard stuff out the way that I'll be able to have more fun with the other classes. The first week is always the hardest anyway so I'm glad I'll be home for most of the week. I'll have time to juice up something for my sore muscles. I need to find a recipe for that right now.

Planning is really giving me the edge I need. While food shopping last night it felt good to have a list to refer to. Even this morning it helped because while the food was prepared I was in a rush so I couldnt remember off top what was in the fridge. Having the meals stuck on the fridge made it simple to pack and get moving. I'll be planning all of my meals from now on.

Goals

weight goals

current weight - 242 lbs
short term goal - 227 lbs by 1/31/11
mid term goal - 200 lbs by 3/31/10
long term goal - 180 by 9/5/11

fitness goals

run 3 miles in 45 minutes - by 3/15/11