Still Going!

The Wedding and Honeymoon are over and it is time to get back to reality. That means getting back on track with new health and fitness goals. So what's my new goal? Well, it's still the damn bikini. I WILL WEAR A BIKINI! And also to get rid of those 5 lbs I found in Hawaii. But what do I do now? Oh! I know! I'll do Insanity! Yeah, I must be insane.... So I begged for it, and my amazing hubby got it for me.

Let me tell you, I was TERRIFIED to do this program. I had seen the infomercials, Googled info and reviews, and now I had gotten the DVD's and had watched some of the workouts to get an idea of what I had gotten myself in to. I was fairly certain I was going to die. Buuuut, since I AM unstoppable, I pressed on, impending heart attack disregarded.

I died.... Kidding, obviously, but I did feel like my heart was going to explode. In fact it still feels that way every time I do Insanity. But I love it. It is so hard core and you can't help but feel beastly just for completing the workout. With Insanity I hit my 60 lb mark!!! (Ok, ALMOST. I hit 59lbs. But remember, it's actually 72lbs if you go from my highest weight ever.) So I was weighing in at 126 lbs.

 

Aaaaand of course I wasn't done yet. And again with the question, "What next?" Well I had been thinking about that this time and I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to do Chalean Extreme and get some muscles. So I asked Santa for the program for Christmas. And he came through! That jolly old guy always comes through for me. ;)

 

I started CLX in January. I started seeing new muscles fairly quickly and started to "lean out" as well. I did not, however, lose any weight on this program. On the contrary. I actually gained a few pounds! Now that is a hard pill to swallow. I knew, logically, that it was muscle gain and that it is a good thing, but that did not make it any easier to see the number on the scale rise. So I stopped using the scale. I got fat calipers and started measuring body fat. I went from 24% body fat to 22% body fat with Chalean Extreme. 

 

I did join a gym at one point but found that it was just not for me. I was spending more time and getting less results. It was quite frustrating and short lived. I ended up going back to my home workouts. I started doing a Turbo Fire/ Chalean Extreme hybrid.

 

 

In March of 2013 I started feeling the need for social interaction in my workouts. I knew I didn't like your run of the mill gym, so I started researching other options. Jiu Jitsu, Kenpo, Muay Thai, etc. These all looked like fun options but none were fitting into my guidelines. I wanted something that was close to home, fairly priced and non competitive. I wanted to do this for fitness, not competition. And then, on one fateful afternoon, I found Title Boxing Club not even a block from home. They were getting ready to open in April. I slept on it for a night and signed up the next day. I am so glad I did because I am in love! Kickboxing and Boxing are so much fun and SUCH a good workout. 

 

Once Kickboxing started in April, I stopped doing Turbo Fire but continued doing Chalean Extreme four days a week. It did not take long before I got some guns. =D

 

 

 

I quickly decided that I needed another goal. Yes, the bikini was still the goal, but I needed something that was going to really make me push and work. So I decided that I want to do one of the obstacle courses coming this fall (2013) at 20% body fat, in short shorts and a sports bra. Ah, that should do the trick. No one wants to go out and run in front of hundreds of people, half naked, with a jiggly jelly belly. So there you have it. My goal is to lose 2% body fat by October.

 

I continued to do Kickboxing/ Boxing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Chalean Extreme on Tuesday, Thursday and sometimes Saturday. (I am totally inconsistent on the weekends.) In June I went to a pool party and wore a bikini! It was so liberating! I was comfortable, even! In front of people! It felt great and a life time goal had been achieved. I do not have a bikini picture of this day, but here is a clothed picture. =)

 

 

I do realize that there is not a huge difference between this picture and the one I posted last, but at this point in the journey, I just don't care. I try to remind myself that "Progress is progress, no matter how small." - Unknown (Yes, I get the Dr. Seuss reference. Lol!)

 

In July I decided to post my first ever tummy picture. I was so nervous, but here it is.

 

 

In the middle pic you can see that I definitely still have some lower poochage. Eh, what can you do. It will go eventually. This is also my first visible ab picture. I am so excited! There is still work to be done, but it is something. Something that I have worked HARD for. And I am proud.

 

I also want you to know that I am satisfied. I will continue to workout and eat well because I like the way I feel. This is who I am now and I have no reason to go back. No reason to stop. I am going to continue to set new goals and work on progressing in my fitness but if my body never changes from here, I really don't care. I have come so far and worked so hard to be where I am. I am at a healthy size, weight, BMI and I am HAPPY!

 

And here is my most recent picture. This is from yesterday, 9/4/13. I am currently at 132 lbs and a size 7 (sometimes a 9.) I will check my % of body fat tonight and add it in here tomorrow. I have been doing Kickboxing/ Boxing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Insanity on Tuesday, Thursday and sometimes Saturday.

 

 

Please continue checking back. I plan on keeping this up to date with my journey as well as sharing recipes, meal plans, inspiration, motivation and my personal tribulations.  

Now What?

Since I reached my 40 lb goal so early on I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do next. Setting goals is pertinent to success, so I needed a new goal. Of course there was the wedding gown but that came with the 40 lbs I had already lost. Hmmmm... That's it! My new goal is to wear a bikini on our honeymoon in Hawaii! So now I had to figure out the steps I needed to take to get a "bikini body."

As you get into fitness people will tell you, over and over again, the importance of building muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns naturally. So I borrowed P90X from a friend and incorporated it into my workouts. I did not follow the P90X program verbatim but was doing it 3-4 days per week to incorporate more strength training into my regimen. I did P90X and/or Turbo Fire 6 days per week.

I continued losing weight but also started building muscle and could see some muscle definition. Now that is pretty exciting. I got to the point where I started flexing every time I saw my own reflection. (I'm not gonna lie, I still do.)

When the time came for the final fitting for my wedding dress I was down 55 lbs. 55 lbs!!!! In 11 months. And I was into a size 9. I went in for my fitting only to find out that I had lost too much weight for a conventional alteration. They were a little stressed. The bust this, the decoration that. Blah, blah. They're lucky I am easy to please. I told them to just cut it up the side seems, take it in and call it done. They were relieved and my gown was beautiful! And on my wedding day everything was perfect and everybody oohed and aaahed over the beautiful, newly fit bride. It was wonderful.

 

I must admit to you: I did not traipse around Hawaii in a bikini. I chickened out. I also didn't work out much or watch what I was eating from about the week before the wedding until after our honeymoon (about 3 weeks total.) Ok, I watched it. Watched it leave my plate towards my mouth! Lol! Hey, I was in Hawaii. I was so not worried about anything other than enjoying life. Food and cocktails included. There was a price, of course. The price was about 5 lbs and feeling like crap once it was all said and done. So when the honeymoon was over it was time to get back on track.