April Progress Report

It's that time again!
Lots of pale flesh on the interwebs!

Tracking day.

Overall, I lost inches everywhere except my arms.
Why?
Because this girl has GUNS!

BOOM!

I can see the difference this time, I'm a few pounds down and I've really toned up. Comparing the way before and the now is HUGE!

And now for a peak at the new bathing suit from the drawer that I picked for tracking for this next round. I start tomorrow with the TurboFire/ChaLEAN Extreme hybrid schedule. It will be exciting! I know that I'll tone up a ton and also shed some of this fat that's staying on me. Why? Because it's more cardio intense. Looking at the schedule between now and September, it's a huge amount of ab work, cardio, and with some of the weights still thrown in there. Not too much, but enough to keep me on track.

Push-ups: 7 continuous on toes followed by 7 continuous on knees before I felt I needed to pause.

Squats weights: 30 lbs

Biceps: 17.5 lbs

Triceps: 10 lbs

Delts: 10 lbs

Row: 22.5 lbs

Shoulder Press: 17.5 lbs

Woot!

~Katie

Changes, All the Little Changes

Before I get to the actual post, today, I slept in. So my workout will be between work and girls night. It will be Push Circuit 2, so it's 35 minutes and weightlifting-focused, so I think I can do that, shower, and walk to the restaurant in time after work today. The front room rearranging has taken a toll on my bedtime.

Okay, on to the Changes.

I've been documenting the daily stuff on here, but sometimes, I like to make a retrospective.

Today, I realized that there are a lot of little changes that have been adding in to the big changes.
And some of them aren't so little. But all of these changes have been since the beginning of this year.

• I see a therapist every other week. We are evaluating different possibilities of the root of my high anxiety issues & panic attacks as well as my scatterbrained-ness and overall mental health. I want to be able to have a plan of attack that is appropriate to what my brain is doing rather than guessing and worrying about it. 
• I am following the ChaLEAN Extreme 90-day Challenge. I'm following the schedule, and while I may have missed a day or workout here and there, I have been very good about giving it my all every day. I'm glad that I chose a program with workouts close to 30 minutes each day rather than over an hour. It's manageable, and I can fit that in to my schedule. It's a small commitment, but I'm seeing the results. (Dude! I have BICEPS!!!!)
• I'm taking a daily multivitamin.
• I'm drinking Shakeology every day, which I didn't quite realize until yesterday how much it has been working for me. When you drink something that filling every single morning and then you have to fast until 11 am one day, let's just say that my sweet cravings were off the charts yesterday. I wanted to eat everything in sight! I have really been loving the chocolate flavor with a healthy dash of Cayenne Pepper added to it.
• I am attending Weight Watchers meetings and tracking my intake as well as my activity. We'll see how ActiveLink works for me once I get past the assessment phase. This has been a really good change. I've been dropping pounds since starting this. It has been the impetus to cooking at the house more, drinking less beer and alcohol, and focusing on fruit, vegetables, and protein sources to fuel my workouts.
• I'm cleaning things up. I'm making places for everything. I'm getting rid of clutter. I'm removing the excess (but I'm not getting rid of my jeans. My jeans will stay in my closet forever. I think I still have maternity jeans somewhere.)

So lots of little and big changes. They are all starting to add up. I can see muscle in my body. I feel better. I feel happier. I feel less like the world is going to crash in on me. I am getting stuff done. And I am moving forward. Little changes. They make for big leaps.

~Katie

Cardio-O!

Today's schedule was Burn It Off & Recharge. I am doing so much better at Burn It Off! I did almost all of the Burpees with good plyometric form! Yay! I'm really curious to see what my heart rate gets up to. I think I have a heart rate monitor around here somewhere, I just have to figure out how to use it!

The Recharge is nice to do right afterwards since My heart stays pumping just a bit higher than normal throughout, I'm continuing the cardio.

I'm considering getting the ActiveLink from WeightWatchers because I do so much moving around during the day since I CAN'T SIT STILL! I've never been able to. Actually, I take that back. A bath is where I can sit still.

Oh, and I went grocery shopping! And the only prepared foods I bought were pickles. Who doesn't love pickles?

But I am prepared now! Lean chicken! Fish for Friday! Fruit for when James has low blood sugar or I am wanting dessert! Veggies for accompanying meat! Flowers! Because, flowers!

Also, I jumped the gun and decided to up my BeachBody involvement. Since I am planning on doing
TurboFire after ChaLEAN, And both James & I are drinking Shakeology, I decided the 25% off was worth being a coach. So, if you are also interested in joining in these types of programs, or just want an extra cheerleader to give & get encouragement, just follow the link up at the top and go on over to my BeachBody page.

Jennifer has been such an encouragement to me, so I'd love to pass on the love. Even if you're not interested in the BeachBody programs, just a bit of exercise goes a long way!

Okay, schpeal over!

~Katie

Jeans

I love clothes.

Really. A lot.

So much so that I spent 2-3 years taking near-daily photos of my outfits & posting them to the wardrobe_remix group on Flickr.

And I love a pair of great-fitting jeans.

And right now, I have a single pair of jeans that fits & doesn't give me too much muffin top. I bought these & another pair last year when I was tired of never wearing jeans because none of mine had fit for a year. The other pair is too small right now.

The current pair? I realized this morning that it has a hole in the crotch because my thighs rub together. Hoping I can slim down enough to wear the smaller of my two large jeans before the hole gets to a noticeable size and/or position.

I still have about 7 pairs of size 31 jeans that I'm dying to wear again. Like old friends waiting for some love.

~Katie