Week 5 of Revolt

Last week, Stephen and I were on vacation so needless to say, we didn't follow our diet AT ALL. We also didn't exercise. Well, we did exercise some by paddle boarding and hiking, but not enough to make up for all the junk we ate. I have to admit, I had some tummy issues with all the rich food and carbs. My, er, potty breaks were more frequent and unpleasant. (sorry, too much TMI?)

This week though we have jumped back on the wagon. We have had a few slip ups (Chinese for my sisters birthday) but were trying our best to keep up with the meals plans from Revolt and the exercises. I am also trying to get back to speed on drinking water. I love water but after drinking pina coladas all last week, water is a bit of a let down. 

I'm somewhat sore getting back into the workouts too. All the squats have taken their toll on me this week, but it does feel good to get back to it. I like doing physical activity, and the 20 minute workouts are challenging and fast - two things I like in my exercise regimen. 

Last week I mentioned I'm not going to weight myself and you can see why here. I have no idea how much I gained from our vacation, and I feel relieved not knowing. Weighting myself made me so upset that I just decided its better not to know. Its just a number anyway, right? My goal: If I stay below a size 6 (right now I'm a true 4), then I am happy. I want to continue to gain muscle and lose the fat in my tush, hips, thighs (where I carry the majority of excess weight) I will be a happy camper.

I just realized too that I haven't taken any pictures of my body's changes (if any) from these past 5 weeks except right before I began. Maybe at the end of the 12 weeks I will take a picture and see the difference. I praying for some type of positive change!

I'm done with the scale.

I've been very relieved this week that our scale is far away from us (it's in Alabama and were in Hawaii). Sounds strange I know, but do you know why?

Because I think scales are the meanest piece of equipment ever and no one should own them. My mood can be severely effected with the number that shows up. 

I get tempted by it sitting in the corner of our bathroom., It looks at me longing for me to step on and when I do, I feel like I am a complete and utter failure. 

Do you ever feel this way?

With our fitness program, Revolt, I have had great days and some terrible self loathing days. I've gained 6 pounds of water weight in one day (after our free day of eating whatever we want)  and been at a happy weight a couple days later. And it all has to do with a stupid number looking back at me.  

Well, I'm fed up. I'm not going to let that number control how I feel about myself. The number doesn't accurately reflect how I look or feel about my body. I need to love the person I am despite that larger or smaller number beneath my feet.

I loving that we are eating healthy and exercising. The Revolt workouts are great, eating clean is doing wonders for both the hubs and me, and my jeans are fitting better. I like looking in the mirror. So what if the scale says I haven't lost or up a pound or two? I am starting to see definition in my tummy, I am not craving bread and salt. I am working out without being exhausted and feeling invigorated afterwards. I am becoming a healthier me and I love that. 

Forget the scale. I'm taking a better and smarter approach to getting healthy and it doesn't have anything to do with those bright red numbers screaming at me. My body is happy that I am putting good fats, fruits, veggies, protein into it. Its loving that I'm gaining muscle weight instead of blubber. Im building it up instead of tearing it down. I am finally treating it like the temple God made it to be and Im very excited about it. 

Revolting (diet and exercise)

Sup peeps?

Today starts the weekend, yay! Tomorrow we leave for Maui and I.CAN'T. WAIT. :) Sunshine, hot weather, beach, here I come. 

Anywho, 

I'm going to give you a recap of my second full week on Revolt, the healthy eating and fitness program Stephen and I started following. We started this program to be healthier all around, not just lose weight, but gain muscle and stop eating foods that are bad for our bodies. You can check out the start of the program here and our first week here. 

The second week eating plan was WAY better than the detox week. We actually got to diversity our food. We added fish (which we both love), more veggies and fruit! 

The workouts got more intense too, which I actually really enjoyed. I felt like I was starting to push my muscle to start shaping up and that made me feel good. I like a good workout where I sweat and walk away hurting. (muscles here I come)

On Wednesday, I headed out of town to visit my sister in law and nieces' while my brother was out of town for work. I really didn't want to fall off the wagon, so I precooked all my meals and took them with me. Thankfully, my sister in law was so supportive on helping me stay on track. I didn't get to do 2 days of the exercise plan, but we did walk a couple of miles one of the days and she ate the same stuff I ate (because lets be honest, seeing different foods makes me want something sweet). I only cheated a tiny bit with bagel chips and a little cream cheese. 

Saturday we didn't do the workout for the day, BUT we helped move friends from their apartment to a new house, so we got fresh air and worked our muscles! 

So far, it hasn't been too tough to eat well, but on our "free" day, we might have gone a little overboard - eating out for lunch (pizza) and a wedding shower (lemonade, tea, cheese, pork, dips, banana pudding).

Thankfully, I didn't gain as much water weight as last week and it seemed to come off a lot quicker too. Before free day, I weighted myself and I was sitting at 133.8! That's a total weight loss of 2.2 pounds in 2 weeks. I tried to weight myself this morning again, but sadly our batteries in the scale are dead. Maybe sometimes its better not to know anyway. 

Next week will be difficult though as we will be on vacation. We plan to do a lot of physical activities - hiking, swimming, zip lining, etc. so we wont follow our workout chips, but we will be getting plenty of exercise - I just wont be doing push ups. :) We will try to eat smart for the most part, but we plan on having a nice meal out once a day, soooooo I'm hoping I just maintain. 

Here's to continued progress and healthy living!

Revolt, Week 2

Hey all,

What a difficult first week if I do say so myself.  If you missed my post last week , my hubs and I started our new Fitness/lifestyle change called Revolt.

Revolt was created by Nicole Huntsman, who wanted to lose weight, eat right and live a better life for her and her kids. She created this program and offered bloggers a chance to try it free.

Last week was our first week. We had whats called the detox week where we ate no sugars, flour, sodas - the stuff bad for you. We ate a TON of eggs, chicken, spinach, brussell sprouts, broccoli and more eggs. Did I mention we ate lots of eggs? I would say between Stephen and I, we ate well over 100 of em. Sheesh.

The first couple of days eating were the toughest, mainly because I was craving a Coke and something sweet! I didn't realize how addicted I was to some bad food and how much I missed it over the week.

I drank about a gallon of water a day and went for a potty break every hour. Good thing I like water otherwise it would have been awful. 

 Saturday was our "free" food day. You could eat whatever you wanted.
I have to admit, I was so glad when our free day came because I was all over the junk food! We actually cheated a bit too because Sunday was our one year anniversary and I had ordered 2 types of cakes and had a wonderful dinner at The Melting Pot. I did try to behave on Saturday, BUT we had our second blate (blogger date) and ate incredible food, including Whoopie Pie!

I just had to throw in a picture of us at The Melting Pot.
How cute is my hubby?! I just love him to the moon and back!!

Ok, sorry, I digress....

Well, after eating all the sugar and salt, I felt HORRIBLE. I over ate, felt ill and wanted to vomit up what I had eaten.  I guess it really makes a person think about what they are putting into their body when they feel as bad as I felt.

  After cheat day we were told not to weigh in because we would gain some water weight back from all the salt and carbs. We silly me decided to rebel and step on the scale. Dumb idea!!!!!!!! (I cant express this enough)

I had gained almost 6 pounds back in water weight!!! I started off at 136 and dropped down to 133 and went to 138. WHAT THE HECK!!!?????

Today and stepped on the scale and I was down again by 3 pounds so that was good, but that water weight will get you. I also am blaming my hormones and being almost that time of month. Thankfully, Stephen's weight didn't fluctuate like mine did and he has lost 5 pounds overall! I haven't taken any of our measurements again but will probably do that sometime next week.

The workouts have been just the right amount of intensity. I sweat and am exhausted while doing the workouts, but can bounce back pretty quickly after it. Each day has a different workout - either cardio, weight or a mixture of exercises. We use dumbbells and kettle bells and our own body mass. The workouts last about 20 minutes and give you the good burn. I have noticed some toning in my legs already, but its going to take a lot more to get my flabby arms into shape.

My goal this weekend is not to over eat on my free day and not overdo the salt and other carbs.

This week has been much easier than detox week and I feel great overall. I have ore energy and don't feel as tired as I used to.

Tomorrow will be a challenge because I am heading to my sister in laws to hang out for a couple of days. Cross your fingers I stick to eating well and not skipping my workouts!

Happy Wednesday!

We're starting our Revolt

With a new year, comes new changes. 

This March, Stephen and I are starting something new - a better, healthier lifestyle. Normally, we go back and forth between eating really well and not so good foods. 

Well, I'm tired of all the crap. We want to change our lifestyle, not just temporary fixes. By most, I'm considered skinny. I am 5'8 and weight around 135, but I have NO muscle and DON'T exercise. I don't want to by skinny, I want to be healthy. Same with my hubs - we want him to be healthy and fit - because one day we will have kids and we want to keep up with them and be healthy/fit for them too. 

This week, Stephen and I started the Revolt Fitness Program. 

What is Revolt? In a nut shell, its a combination of meal plans and work outs that are geared towards building muscle, becoming lean and eating healthy. 

Each week, we get videos to accompany our workouts and meal plans to follow. We follow these 6 days out of the week and get a freebie day on Saturday. Our meal plans are easy to follow and delicious. They make it simple by having one meal plan a week, and following it all week. It's simple and I feel like we can follow it well. 

We also have a list of foods we shouldn't eat. We are knocking out the processed foods and junk, and going to eat smart. Below is the food were knocking out of our pantry. 

Sugar

White Flour

Bread & Baked goods

Pasta of any kind

Potatoes

Corn and corn products

Pizza

White Rice other than approved

Rice Cakes (except for Post

Workout, if on diet)

Sugared cereals

Fruit Juices

Sodas

Candy

Bananas & dried fruits (unless

on meal plan)

Chips

Pretzels

Anything made of flour, sugar,

potatoes, corn, corn syrup, etc

Seems like a tough list to follow, but I think this will be easier than I think because we WANT to be healthier.
 There are also substitute foods I can eat as week. For example, this week we are eating a lot of skinless chicken, but I can substitute with salmon or turkey breasts. It even gives me the ration of chicken to salmon I can have for my portion control. Pretty sweet. 

I know at times, this is going to be really tough - were about to have our 1 year anniversary, were going to Maui on vacation, I am going out of town to see my brothers family - basically a lot of challenges. 

BUT

To keep accountable, here is my starting measurements as of Sunday, March 3, 2013

Weight: 136

Bicep: 11.5

Triceps: 9

Chest: 34

Waist: 27

Hip: 39

Thigh: 23

Calf: 13

Neck:12

(Ok, I'm officially mortified)

I want to be open about my challenges, struggles and triumphs. I figure, if I can do this, so can anyone else. I will be posting once a week on my progress. I will share with you my weight loss, muscle gain (hopefully), my eating and everything in between.

I would LOVE to hear your healthy journey story - I will need encouragement and strength these coming weeks to continue on a good path!

Wish me and Stephen luck - here is to healthier living.