Week TWELVE (omgz!): My Diet and Exercise routines

Can it be true??  In just 7 short days, I will have completed 3 months on this diet and exercise plan.  I consider this a pretty major milestone, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that I have kept the momentum going.  I continue to research more, learn more, change more and grow more.  What an incredible experience!

I have quit a bit of excellent news to share today.  As the DON'T QUIT saying goes...

Prior to this weekend, I honestly wasn't sure about my progress.  It kind of didin't matter if I was seeing results or not, because I was committed to seeing this thru 6 whole months regardless of what kind of results I saw.  And deep down, I knew I was approaching my fitness goals with honest, all natural, non-gimmicky science.  It was simple:  Eat clean, make sure I was meeting my caloric needs based off of my BMR and AMR, making sure those calories were composed of the correct percentages of fat, protein, and carbohydrates, and exercising intensly and smartly.  Given this approach, results weren't a matter of "if", but rather "when".

That said, however, I won't lie that I was hoping I'd see results quicker than I was.  I think by around week 10, I was beginning to wonder just how long it would take to start seeing ab definition - or at least a noticeable decline in abdominal fat.  Not that I had a lot, but it certainly was there in an unsatisfactory quantity.  But I held fast to the knowledge that while the scale hadn't budged in a while, I was still down 8lbs and clothes were noticeably fitting me better.

But then last week, in Week 11, a BIG thing happened - I was at work and running around to the printer a lot and my clothing was bothering me.  Not enough for me to think about it, until finally I was like WTF?  And then I noticed what it was that was bothering me - my underwear was slipping off my hips.  Something I never even thought to have to deal with!

And then it was yesterday that I consider the REAL moment that I got to see that things really are happening, really are changing.  I went into a sports store to buy some new bikini bottoms.  I had noticed several of my go-to's were a bit too baggy on me.  Granted, they always kind of had been - in order to find ones that fit my hips without giving me a muffin top, they typically were a little loose in the caboose-area, if ya know what I mean.  Also, I used to only buy my bikini's at Target.  So I felt I was ready to try out some new looks and possibly buy some more quality swimwear.

I walked into Pacific Sunwear and was feeling ambitious - I picked out styles that normally would have looked hideous on me (string bikinis, as opposed to the ones with thicker waistbands).  And, I chose one full size smaller than I have been my WHOLE. ENTIRE. LIFE.

The result?  $100 of purchases of bikinis that confirmed in the mirror what I've suspected the past couple weeks:  I have trimmed some serious inches off of my midsection. !!!!!!!!!

In other news, I have made some more changes to my routine.  I am going to start working out in the mornings at the gym instead of after work.  I find my workouts are better, and I can enjoy my day so much more by just getting it out of the way with first thing in the morning instead of wasting all of my post-work day in the gym battling lines for equipment.  Further, I'm adding a pier-to-pier sand run to my training schedule.  So here's what my current training schedule looks like:

Monday: 

Cardio

-Free-float Elliptical for 60 minutes

Weights - Back and Chest

-Seated Row (4 sets / 10 reps / 60lbs) with 12 Eagle Crunches in between sets

-Assisted Pull-up (4 sets / 10 reps / 60 lbs assisted) with 12 balance ball crunches in between sets

-Chest fly (4 sets / 8 reps / 40 lbs)

-Posterior delt Flys (4 sets / 8 reps / 30 lbs)

-Cable Machine chest press (4 sets / 10 reps / 40 lbs)

                           

Tuesday:

Cardio

-Ramp Elliptical for 60 minutes

Weights - Lower Body

-Smith Machine Squat (4 sets / 10 reps / 60lbs) with 30 leg raises in between sets using a 25lb. dumbbell

-Incline Leg Press (4 sets / 12 reps / 75lbs) with 15 cross-over crunches between sets

-Abbducter machine (4 sets / 15 reps / 60 lbs)

-Adducter Machine (4 sets / 15 reps / 60 lbs)

-Hamstring Machine (4 sets / 10 reps / 70 lbs)

Wednesday:

Cardio

-Stair Elliptical for 60 minutes

Weights - Shoulders and Biceps

-Shoulder press (4 sets / 10 reps / 30 lbs) with 15 bicycle crunches in between sets

-Bicep curls (4 sets / 10 reps / 40 lbs)

-Shoulder Fly while doing a one-legged squat on a bosu ball (4 sets / 12 reps / 5lb weight in each hand)

-Rotator Cuff exercises using cable machine (4 sets / 8 reps / 10 lbs)

**On wednesday, I also do a 90-minute class of moderate-level yoga after work**

Thursday:

REST DAY

-I will sometimes play a couple hours of volleyball at the pier after work on this day

Friday:

Cardio 1

-2 hour lesson in volleyball on my lunch break

Cardio 2

-10 sets on the santa monica stairs.  At the base of the stairs, 25 curbside tricep dips, and at the top, 25 crunches.  This usually takes me about 45 minutes to complete, and depending on my energy levels, I may round out the hour with 4 more sets on the stairs

Saturday:

Volleyball all day - 4 to 6 hours

Sunday:

Morning run on the beach (5.5 miles)

Volleyball rest of the day - 3 to 5 hours

As for diet, my general weekday routine is as follows:

Pre-workout

One Trader Joe's Apple Cranberry Fibercake Muffin

One 11.4-fl oz Zico coconut water

1/3 Promax Bar (Lemon-flavored)

Post-Workout

20 fl. oz. water

(1) Clif's BUILDER protein bar (Mint Chocolate-flavored

2 hours later

(1) package of Trader Joe's plain-flavored Complete Oatmeal with 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal

1/4 cup nonfat milk

2 hours later

20 Fl. Oz. water

1 cup nonfat cottage cheese with a LITTLE bit of Stevia for sweetness

Lunch

20 Fl. Oz water

6 oz. poached boneless skinless chicken breast

1 cup organic peas

1 piece of fruit (lately - Mango)

2 hours later
(1) package of Trader Joe's plain-flavored Complete Oatmeal with 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal

1/4 cup nonfat milk

2 hours later
20 Fl. Oz. water
1 Fage 0% yogurt w/ honey
2 celery stalks
1 individually-wrapped portion of raw unsalted almonds

Dinner
1/2 cup egg whites, scrambled
1 whole egg, over-easy
2 cups spinach, sauteed with some garlic in 1/4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup roasted carrots

Now, depending on my work load - especially on Wednesday with 2 workouts - I'll throw in more fruit or sometimes a whole extra protein bar.  On Saturday and Sunday, if I have played an extraordinary amount of volleyball, I may end up doubling a whole meal or throw in a protein shake on top of everything else.

To end this blog, I shall depart with a screen shot of today's weight in at the gym.  In a word:  PROGRESS!