The Winter Blahs: Fighting Back

It's very easy to get down in the dumps in the winter time. In addition to whatever life problems may be weighing you down, add to that the bitter cold and dreary weather and God forbid - SNOW and in no time at all, all meaning and purpose in life seems gone.

Ok, that may be a bit extreme, but I definitely get more easily bummed out when the weather is dismal than  I do in the bright and shiny summery sunshine rays. Or the bright and shiny rays of the West Coast. *sigh, someday* All I want to do is stay and my nice, warm, comfy, cozy bed and press the "off" button on real life and responsibilities. Unfortunately, that's just not an option.

So what's a girl to do, eh? Here are just a few of the ways I shake off the winter (or any kind of) blahs.

1) Put Some Pep In Your Step

Not everyone is a caffeine addict, but everyone likes some kind of warm beverage. One of the best things to do when you're cold - ingest some delicious warmth! Weather it be coffee, tea, hot chocolate or you favorite latte, sipping on something delicious and warm can definitely be a great tool to help you face the day ahead. 

2) Get Glammed Up

Even if you don't make a big fuss of what you look like on a day to day basis, I'm sure you still have some go-to pieces that make you feel like a rock star. When I'm at home, I like to just be comfortable. But when I go out, I like to look good! When I take the time to do my hair and makeup and put on a cute outfit, inevitably I feel better about myself and life in general throughout the day. For you, this could mean wearing your comfiest pants, showing off your snazzy new spectacles or throwing on some lip gloss just for the hell of it. Whatever - if it makes you feel good, do it! 

3) Don't Focus on Your Problems, Focus on Solutions

If you have something specific that's causing your mood to be gloomy, it's natural to put a lot of brainpower to it. Instead of feeling bummed about whatever the issue is, try to brainstorm ways to fix or at least work on the issue. Focusing on the problem itself isn't going to help anything and will only make you feel bummed out longer. Working towards a solution, even if it's only in your head for now will bring about a better mindset, a better mood and will help you take action towards solving your problem. 

4) If All Else Fails, Pretend

You've heard the term "fake it til you make it." Well, that holds true here as well. You don't have to pretend you're the happiest person on the planet. And you don't have to lie and tell people you're doing great when you're not. But even if you don't feel like getting glammed up or being super positive, just don't wallow constantly in gloom. This doesn't mean you can't take some time for yourself to just feel what you feel - but don't stay there. Don't live in the dreary parts of your feelings. 

These are my go-to tips for fighting the winter blahs. What are your suggestions?

xoxo, 

Sweet C

Talk Yourself Into It

      Yesterday was a bad day. You know how some days your life feels like a country song? Not one of the adorable ones where some hot stud wants to make you feel "Wanted", but one where everyone including your dog has left you and life in general seems to be imploding on you? That was yesterday. Needless to say, at the culmination of all of such events, the last thing I felt like doing was working out. And I almost didn't.

     It's very easy to give yourself a pass when you're having a crap day. When you're choking back tears from all the various BS you're dealing with, it's not usually something you want to deal with in a public place. The thing is, I already had my workout scheduled into my day. I was wearing my workout clothes, it was next on the agenda and the gym was right down the street. I would have had to deliberately DRIVE PAST the gym to get home. And believe me, I wanted to. I almost did. I started taking a different route home telling myself that it was ok to skip today because seeing as how my life sucked, it was totally acceptable to go home and cry for a million years instead of working out. I was approaching the last turn that would have put me on the road to the gym. I was not in the turning lane. The light was red in the straight lane and green in the turning lane. The turning lane (next to me) was empty.

And I had a moment.

     Yes, today (and this month) in general are pretty horrendous for me. However, one of my goals in my bigger plan is to achieve a certain body aesthetic that I haven't yet reached. It is very possible, but I keep sabotaging myself. I workout, but haven't been as consistent as necessary. I eat pretty healthy...some of the time, but have also been a little more lax in that area than I need to be to achieve results. Yes, there are times when your workout is not the end-all-be-all to your day - but if every time my life isn't going right I use it as an excuse to skip the gym, I will never see the inside of a gym again.

     In a split second decision, I moved into the turning lane (I looked first!) and headed to the gym. I told myself that I could sit in the parking lot until I was ready to go in, and if I still wasn't feeling it - I could just drive home. I sat in the parking lot and thumbed through my ipod for what I wanted to listen to while I made the decision to stay or go. I chose one of my favorite motivational phrases that happens to be from a song. The song is from a musical from which I get my namesake: Sweet Charity. It's called "I'm The Bravest Individual". Without getting into crazy detail, the reason I like Charity is because no matter how bad things get for her and no matter how poorly she's treated by people she is a genuine sweetheart to, she believes that at any moment, things can turn around. If not today, then there's always tomorrow. And when you get to the end of your rope or when you're really scared, just tell yourself that you're the bravest individual you know. You'll calm down and be able to face whatever is coming at you.

She's the bravest individual she has ever met.

    After crying all the frustration that I had out while listening to the song in the car. I wiped my eyes, sucked it up and went into the gym and completed my workout. Because in the grand scheme of things, if I don't do all I can to accomplish my fitness goals - that will just end up something else that adds to the list of "things that suck right now." I have some degree of control over this specific situation, which is not the case for other things on the afore mentioned list. It's up to me to do all I can in this area.

   The takeaway is this: Even when it's hard, do it. Unless it's impossible, do it. If you don't feel like doing it, start doing it anyway and give yourself the option to stop or continue. Your ultimate success lies with you and whether you decided to suck it up and do it or to go home and cry.

xoxo,
 SweetC

You're Allowed To Feel Good About Yourself For No Reason At All

        It's funny that I always seem to have my "skinny days" on the days leading up to that time of the month. You know a skinny day - when for no particular reason at all, you are just feeling like "hey, maybe I'm not such a whale after all!" Well, I noticed something interesting on my most recent "skinny day." I walked past a mirror (not even a skinny mirror) and thought "Wow, I look better than I expected considering I ate oreo ice cream last night. Wonder if I'm actually losing weight or if I just dressed well today. I should get on the scale to see...."

        Seriously people? Am I the only one? I know I'm not. WTF is wrong with us? Honestly, re-read that situation and really take a moment to think about the nonsense thinking that can happen inside our heads. I looked in the mirror, I felt good about what I saw - but somehow needed to validate that I was allowed to feel that way by backing it up with proof. It wasn't enough to just feel great about myself. Nope. Only allowed to feel good if you actually lost a pound! Not to mention that I was probably heavier than normal due to my impending menstruation. Most likely bloated too. However, I clearly didn't FEEL that way at that moment. I felt great! So why was my first thought that I HAD to verify that by checking the facts?

       It is so easy to make getting fit a numbers game. Counting calories, measuring inches, pounds on the scale... these are all important aspects, but why are they the end all be all? News flash: they aren't. Having a skinny day and feeling great about yourself is an awesome accomplishment in and of itself. It doesn't need to be proven by numbers on a scale or a tape measure. I am learning now to appreciate my "skinny days" and just be happy that I'm in a place where I feel good about myself more often than I feel like a whale. And no, I don't need anything outside of myself to validate that feeling - and neither do you.

xoxo,
 Sweet C

What YOU Want

Because of my interests, I've amassed a large amount of social media contacts in the fitness field. Some of them more knowledgeable than others, and many of them, like me, still figuring things out. A lot of these people can be very intense at times. They set very lofty goals and go full throttle after them. That's great. I have nothing against people attacking their dreams with all they have. It's important to remember though that their goals and their methods to achieve them are just that - theirs.

I am bombarded daily with posts about double workouts, number of calories burned, number of calories eaten, temptation foods avoided, clean diet modifications and motivational sayings. I constantly see pictures of women with flat and defined abs, very little body fat, big boobs, tight butts, toned arms, glowing skin and shiny hair. Every day I read about the newest supplement, the newest diet, going gluten free, eating organic, plant based diets and cleansing. And admittedly, I'm a part of this. I talk about this stuff frequently as well. So I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with these sort of posts - there's not. But when it's the majority of what you see every day, it can definitely start to warp your thinking.  It just leads me to remind everyone, including myself to

Make sure the body you're working to achieve is the body that YOU want. 

At least once a day, I will see someone post a motivational picture of a woman with toned-to-the-T abs. You can see each and every defined section of her stomach and it looks as though her waist is actually too tiny to wear even a size 0. And that's wonderful that she worked to achieve that body and completely fine that someone else wants to work to achieve the same results. Personally, I don't want defined abs. I like a softer look on women. I like the look of being toned but still having a little fat to squeeze. That's my preference. I can't let what other people see as the perfect body affect how I feel about my own results.

 

   All of these tummies look great to me!



For those people who have the time, energy and willpower to do two-a-day workouts - that's amazing. I've done it for short periods of time before and it is certainly tough. My hat goes off to that kind of dedication. But just because they are down on themselves for not getting to their second workout of the day, I'm not going to feel bad that I worked out once. For 30 minutes. And that I may not get to a workout tomorrow because I have work and have school for 14 hours out of the day and sleeping is more important to me than cardio. It doesn't make me a bad person if I only do 5 workouts a week and if I think that that is a perfectly fine number of workouts to complete on a weekly basis. It also doesn't make me a bad person if I decide that instead of lifting today, I'm going to stay home and study for my test on Friday because at the moment, that is a bigger priority for me. And that's ok, it's allowed to be.

When it comes to achieving your perfect body, it does not need to be what other people think it should be. It should be where YOU will be happiest. If getting down to a size 10 has been your lifelong goal and you are in a healthy weight range with a clean bill of health from your doctor, then who the hell is anyone to tell you that you don't look good enough? Not everyone was made to be a body builder and it's not in the cards for all of us to have a washboard stomach. Is it possible? Yes. Of course if that's what you want to achieve and are willing to work for, it's definitely possible. Is it necessary? No, it's not. Not if that's not what you in your heart of hearts want for yourself.

Thank God we live in America. A free country. Where you're allowed to want what you want and feel what you feel and for the most part do what you like. If you want abs, go get 'em. If you just want to drop a few pounds, then lose 'em. If your idea of fit doesn't "fit" with what everyone else seems to think, so long as it fits with your medical stats, then eff 'em.

Focus

Something occurred to me during today's workout. I took a break from regimented workouts over the summer which means I haven't seriously lifted weights since, hmmm... March? Lifting weights is ESSENTIAL to weight loss. Lifting builds muscle, muscle burns fat - even when you're just chillin', the more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn. But that's not all lifting weights does for you. It also makes you strong. I remember finishing my second round of P90X and how strong I felt. I felt like I could move mountains or hold my own if some creeper tried to mug me. It was this great sense of fitness and power.

Now, I'm just starting to lift again and I'm really upset at myself for waiting so long to get back to it. My strength level is not where it was at the end of my last round of the X. The good news is, I know from experience that it will come back quicker than it took me to build up. I'm not at the level I left off at yet, but I will get there pretty soon and hopefully surpass it. What I realized is this - I think I need to change my focus.

I spend so much time worrying about why I'm not losing any more weight and what I need to do to lose it. The reality is that figuring that situation out is gonna take a while. Any new thing I try will take at least a few weeks to show if it's working or not and if I'm stressing out over that entire time, I'll just be miserable. My workout tonight was actually fun. I did a HIIT from Turbo Fire and some lifting from P90X. If I just focus on enjoying my workouts and giving it the best I have, at the very least I'll just continue to get more fit. Being fit and feeling fit makes me feel good and EVENTUALLY that fitness has to lead to the weight coming off.

Thankfully, we're entering the cooler months and I don't need to worry about showing skin. It's the perfect time to relax my attitude (not relaxing the workouts). I can still bust my butt and work super hard, but I don't need to worry quite as much about seeing those ab muscles just yet. I have quite some time before they need to be seen by others. I really want to focus on getting in the best shape that I can and let the weight loss come as a result of that.

If anyone has not signed up to join my September fitness challenge, you must do it now! You don't want to be that person making resolutions YET AGAIN on 1.01.11. Why wait? Why not have the body you want BEFORE the new year rolls in? You have nothing to lose but the weight!
Click Here To Join The Fitness Challenge!

Trust Me - It Ain't Worth It

So far, I have done three programs and gotten a few supplements from BeachBody.com. I ordered all of my workout programs, Slim in 6, P90X and Insanity directly from the website. I paid full price for them, got my deliveries within a week of ordering with everything that I needed for each workout. My DVDs are all functional and have given me no trouble. Were some of the things I got a little pricey? Yes. Absolutely. But to me - it's worth it. Losing weight is a big priority for me, so I'm willing to make investments where needed. I literally had to save up money from a couple of paychecks to get some stuff - but I haven't been disappointed. I like getting the full fitness and nutrition guide books and also having the support of Beach Body.

I can totally understand and appreciate that there are some people out there who are not willing to make the same kind of investment. Some of the programs may be a little more than you can/are willing to invest in at this time. Now, my intent is not to offend ANYONE. But as per usual, if you take offense to what I say - then you're taking that on yourself, and you probably wouldn't be offended if I wasn't right - so that's really your issue. But just let me explain what could happen if you decide to go twenty bucks cheaper and get the programs somewhere else.

If you find it cheaper than the Beach Body website, it's illegal. Period. Amazon is licensed to sell Beach Body products, but it's more expensive there AND does not carry the Beach Body guarantees. DVD skipping? Take it up with Amazon. 90 day money back guarantee? Amazon doesn't offer that. Bought it from an Amazon e-store or e-bay? You're screwed - neither Amazon nor Beach Body can help you.

I'm not sure who else is a licensed retailer, but rest assured if it's cheaper - it's not licensed. Yes, they are very good copies. They look just like the real thing. If they can duplicate an iphone that's not really an iphone, I'm sure that DVDs and books are not really a big challenge. And perhaps the pirated copy you receive will work fine, I can't really say. I'm just saying that I have heard TONS of complaints from people who received a faulty product that they could not return or get help with because they decided to risk problems buying an illegal copy. Now which one of us wasted their money? Honestly, I'll pay the extra bucks just to know that A)my DVDs won't skip or be missing B)if they do, they'll be replaced and C)my products will stand the test of time and I can re-use them.

I just find it baffling how many people say they care about their fitness and really wanna lose weight, but "oh, I can't afford that". Really? Cuz I certainly saw you afford that last cheesesteak and fries you ate and that night out at the bar. If you stopped spending so much money on being un-healthy, you'd have plenty left over to get fit. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I work too hard to sugar coat it for you. If you wanna get fit, you'll do it. If you don't, you'll make excuses.

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

Step Outside Your Little Box

I think it's easy for us to get so stuck in something, that we are very relectant to change. Even when we complain that we don't like the way things are going, we don't always want to switch things up because "what if it starts working?" I recently had a friend help me change my resume since I've been getting very little if any response to what I've been sending out. For the most part, it was more format changing than content. I liked the new look and everything, I was just kind of being lazy to use it. I already had my old one saved to my computer and in my e-mail. It was just "easier" to continue to send that one out. But I finally sucked it up and made the necessary changes to start using the new one. To my surprise, I actually heard back from a job I applied to. Was it the new resume layout? Who's to say? The point is - I wanted a change, I asked for and accepted help and gave the change a try.

I find a lot of people are in the same boat. They don't like the way things are going, they ask for help and feedback and suggestions - and then don't make any changes. Because they're scared, lazy, or want to wait until what they're doing works. How stupid is that? I can't tell you how many people I know have had diet/exercise questions ~ I have given them advice of things that have worked for me ~ and they respond with "well this is what I'm doing so I'm going to stick with that for a while." I'm thinking "hello? Did you not just say that wasn't working? Why would you continue to do what you know isn't working?!" But in the end, I can't change things for you. If you want to continue on doing something you yourself said wasn't doing it for you, that's up to you.

The thing is, most adjustments aren't permanent. Why don't you just try one of the suggestions you've been given and if after a week .... two weeks it doesn't work, then don't do it anymore. What have you got to lose? If you've already conceded that what you are doing isn't working, what will it hurt to try something else? It's certainly a better idea than continuing to complain and ask for advice that you will never take.

xoxo,
sweet charity
<3

"I Don't Wanna Get Too Bulky"

I just gotta get this off my chest - because it makes me crazy. I hear SO many women say they don't want to lift weights or do P90X because they don't want to get too bulky. Honestly, how many fit and in shape women do you know PERSONALLY that you would describe as bulky? Ok, how many have you seen - outside of fitness magazines and competitions?

I personally know 2 women who compete professionally, and they are the closest thing I've seen to "bulky". Ladies, you're not going to pick up a weight and all of the sudden turn into a professional male wrestler. It doesn't work that way. Our bodies were not made to get large like that. There is so much work and effort and supplements that you would have to purposely invest to manipulate your muscles to a point that could be described as "bulky". It's not gonna happen by accident. It's certainly not gonna happen by you picking up a 15lb. dumbbell.

Excuse #2 - I don't really need to build muscle, I just want to lose weight

Guess what? Muscle burns fat. Yup, you heard me. So when you're sitting at your desk at work, doing nothing - your muscles are burning fat. The more muscle you have, the more efficiently that fat is burned. That's why lots of women who are slim also have very toned muscles. Those muscles helped them get slim. And how do you get toned muscles? You need to lift weights. Or - use your own body weight as resistance.

Take it from someone who knows.

www.beachbodycoach.com/sweetcharity

Personal Best!

I did not feel like working out tonight. I felt tired and stressed and bloated and I really just wanted to curl up in bed and watch TV. So I hemmed and hawed and procrastinated, but I finally got my butt out the door and to the gym.

I've been working on improving my cardio-vascular endurance. It's one of my weaker points and I'm especially trying to prep to start Insanity. There's a couple ways to work on your endurance - the method I'm going with is just trying to jog/run for long periods of time without breaks. I remember the first time I managed a 15 minute jog without stopping. At the time, it was the longest I'd gone actally jogging and not stopping and it was AWESOME. More recently, I've been able to get up to 25 and 30 minutes of continuous jogging with no breaks. Improvement is happening.

So tonight, I figured I'd just do a half hour on the treadmill and then a half on the elliptical. The elliptical is way easier and I don't count it towards endurance because it's too easy to vary speed. I do ten minutes of walking on an incline as a warm-up, then bring the incline down to 2.0 and jog at around 5.0 speed, increasing by 0.1 every 5 minutes. The last 5 minutes I go up by 0.2 every minute so I end with a "kick". Knowing I was doing less than my usual 45 minutes - I started the jog at 5.3. By the time I hit 29 minutes and 5.6 speed, I felt really good. I decided to keep going and upped the time to 45 minutes. Well, at 44 minutes and 5.9 speed, I thought "How awesome would it be if I could make it to 60?" So that's what I did. At 45 minutes, I upped the speed to 6.0, at 50 minutes to 6.1, at 55 minutes to 6.2 and knowing that I've done a kick of at least 7.0 before - at 55 minutes I started upping the speed in increments of 0.1 every 30 seconds. In the 59th minute, I upped it every 20 seconds.



I didn't stop or slow down once in the entire hour! I started running at a 5.3 and ended the run at 7.2! This is a new personal best for me. The fastest and longest I've EVER run. And that includes doing the mile run in high school. I'm kind of in shock and disbelief. Like, I don't know if I could do that again. I don't know how I did it in the first place! I'm hoping I can be consistent, and of course get better. So maybe I'll make it past day one of Insanity.

No Muffins For Me, Thx

So I noticed something today, or should I say I've been noticing something lately. Though I am still disappointed with my reflection and the scale - I must admit I have passed a milestone. One of my major issues is that my thighs are industry-standard one size larger in proportion to my waist. This means, in order to find pants that fit me - they have to fit my thighs and not so much my waist, making them one size too large for my waist. The only realy way to fix this is belts. Wearing the belt tight enough to keep the pants up creates the dreaded muffin top. Unlike some women, who are completely oblivious to this ridiculous orb of fat that sits on top of their jeans - I am ever concious of my muffin top. I can feel it sitting on top of my pants especially when I'm wearing a belt. I can usually strategically have my pants sitting in just such a way, that the muffin top situation is avoided. However, when I sit down for long periods of time (which is all the time at my stupid sit down do nothing job) the strategic placement of my pants shifts. So every time I stand up, I have to re-adjust to hide the muffin top.

My office is covered in mirrors at every corner - so there's no forgetting to cover the muffin top. This week - I have not had to adjust my pants at all. Today, I'm wearing one of the most epic examples of pants that fit my thighs and not my waist. (Side note - American Eagle pants fit me HORRIBLY! I should stop buying them. Lucky Brand Jeans come the closest to a real fit - particularly the Lolas. Anywhoo......) I kind of had to double check a couple times so far this morning. I just can't believe that I don't have to re-adjust to hide my muffin top! Don't get me wrong, it's still there. I absolutely still have a spare tire of flab that NEEDS to go, but since it's smaller it's not noticeable under my sweater. That's the advantage to cooler weather.

So, while I'm still not where I want to be - I will fully acknowledge this as a milestone in my journey. Or a pit-stop, on the way to banishing the muffin top for good.

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

"Magic Pills"

Some people have asked me about taking weight loss supplements and here's my take. Firstly, I want to make the distinction between weight loss supplements and diet pills. As someone who's tried both, this is my opinion.

Diet pills are crap. Diet pills are those things that say you take two of them a day and don't diet or exercise ever and you'll lose weight. They say they make you feel fuller or expand in you stomach or some crazy crap like that. These kinds of things work for 2% of the population and those are the people that will basically starve themselves with or without the pills - so it's not the pills making them lose weight, it's them deciding not to eat. I would never take a diet pill that "made me feel fuller" because I know the key to long lasting weight loss isn't simply eating less. It's eating the right amount of the right things.

Weight loss supplements are those classified as ones that help you lose weight by boosting metabolism - so you burn more and increasing energy - so you can do more. Two popular supplements are Hydroxycut and Xenadrine. I have taken both of these in different generations of their conception. I'm pretty sure the kind I used to take have since been re-called, but hey - I'm still here. Do I think these pills help you lose weight? For me personally - no. I do not. What these pills have done for me is boosted my energy level enabling me to have killer workouts. I have never been someone who was drastically affected by sugar. Aside from too much of it hurting my teeth, it doesn't make me hyper or keep me awake. But nothing else in my body works the same as it does for everyone else, so I'm not surprised. I'm not really sure of caffeine's affect on me because I don't drink coffee or dark sodas. However, taking hydroxycut before a workout definitely gives me a huge boost of energy. Their new formula has done away with all the harmful, sketchy stuff that got it pulled from shelves.

Now - I'm not saying these supplements are for everyone. Some people can feel very jittery and on edge with these pills. I used to feel that way when I would first start taking them, but now I avoid that by starting with one pill at a time and working my way up. They can also make you feel nauseous or give you the runs. The latter is not a problem for me and I only feel sick if I take them without working out - which is why I ONLY take them before a workout. I pretty much have to work out once I've taken them because I have all this energy which will build up in my stomach if I don't get it out on a treadmill.

So am I saying you should take these? No, I said it's not for everyone. Am I saying that I've lost 20 pounds in 10 weeks using Hydroxycut? Absolutely not. It doesn't work that way for most people. What I am saying is that I use it as one of the many tools in my fitness journey. I drink protein to help maintain my muscles, I take a multi-vitamin to aid in overall health, and I use hydroxycut to help me have energy to do a really awesome workout. I don't like to use them for too long a period of time. A)I don't want to become dependent and B)I think they stop working after a certain period of time. Then I'll stop taking them, forget they exist and re-discover them a couple years later when I need them.

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

"Into Each Life

some rain must fall. Some days must be dark and dreary."
The Rainy Day, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


This was the quote I had printed with my Senior Portrait in my yearbook 11 years ago. It still holds true and still means to me now what it meant then. Obviously, not much in my life has changed. I remember someone commenting on how depressing the quote was and remember being surprised by them feeling that way. Depressing? That wasn't how I meant it at all. It's a fact of life. If calling it to your attention is depressing, you must live a very happy, blessed and trouble-free life. Some days must be dark and dreary. Not every single day of your life will be perfect. Sometimes, bad things happen that make you sad. Fact. If anything, I found it to be a hopeful statement. If you take the quote in the context of the poem it was written in, it's making a universal statement. The line that precedes this famous quote is "Thy fate is the common fate of all." Basically saying that - you know what, you're having a bad day. Everybody has bad days sometimes and it's o.k.

I'm having one of those days today. Everything seems to have been going to crap for me since I woke up - late, this morning. I keep trying to stay positive and move on, but with every positive thought comes another negative thing happening in my day. I'm just not strong enough to shoulder all of the outside forces affecting my reality. It's too much.

What I really want to do is eat a big bowl of ice cream and chocolate and peanut butter and lay in bed and cry and watch movies. And add popcorn while you're at it. In reality, would one day of binging on sweets completely kill my diet? Well, speaking long term - no. Would eating and watching movies do anything to help my mood? MMM, it might - but then again it might not. Would it fix any of the problems that are causing my terrible day? No. But will sticking to my diet and working out fix any of those problems either? No. It's kind of a draw there.

I'm having a horrible day. And I really want to make myself feel better with dairy and chocolate and salt. But I have the presence of mind to know that those things ultimately won't make me feel better. Or will only do so temporarily. And that though unconnected to my current state of mind and my current issues, sticking to my diet and working out today will be better for me in the long run. I'll be happy at the end of the week that I stayed the course, even if I may not feel like it today.

I certainly hope tomorrow is a better day for me.

I Challenge Myself

So, I am starting Phase 3 of P90X. This phase is 5 weeks long. So far - on this round of the X, I have lost 6 pounds. But really, most of that has come from the change in my eating habits. So for this last phase, I am really trying to "bring it" in the kitchen as well as in the workouts. I'm still kind of trial and erroring with how many calories I should have a day, but we'll see what happens.

Here, for your viewing pleasure and for my accountability is what my meal plan will consist of for the next five weeks. This is my own personal food challenge, but I invite ANYONE to join me if they'd like :) The calorie intake can be anywhere from 1500 to 1700, depending on the number of workouts that day and on how I feel. When my body tells me I'm truly hungry, I listen to it.

My P90X Phase 3 Diet
All food must be from the top two tiers of Michi's ladder
No dairy
No salt
I get one cheat day per week to eat what I want (I wouldn't make it without this)

Pre-Morning Resistance Workout: Banana with almond butter

Post-Morning Workout: Whey protein, blueberries & flaxseed oil
(OR Shakeology if I order it anytime soon)

Breakfast: Scrambled egg whites with spinach, corn, onion and pepper ~ either on tomato, mustard and veggie chicken pattty
OR
on tomato, avocado and whole grain flatbread

Snack: rye crisps with hummus
OR
veggies and hummus
OR
brown rice cakes and peanut butter

Lunch: stir fry veggies, brown rice, black beans, protein (chicken, tuna, salmon)
OR
protein (chicken, tuna, salmon) broccoli or green beans, sweet potato

Snack: brown rice cakes with peanut butter
OR
carrots with peanut butter or hummus

Dinner: salad greens, green pepper, hard boiled egg whites, olives and protein(chicken, tuna, salmon) with fat-free, sugar-free, everything free dressing

Post-Evening Workout: Casein protein with almond milk and strawberries

Quick-Grab Options: whole wheat bagel, oatmeal, veggie burger, peanuts, apple


Well, there it is folks. My food layout for the next 5 weeks. As my coach says, if you fail to plan - you plan to fail. Let me know if you have any questions/suggestions.

www.teambeachbody.com/sweetcharity

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

You Need A Mantra

Recently, I've been waking up at 5am to fit my second workout into the day. I am NOT a morning person. Not in the slightest. In fact, DO NOT attempt to conversate with me before I've had breakfast or before 9am, whichever happens first. You would think that after 29 years, my mother of all people would have realized this about me. And yet, she repeatedly attempts to start conversations with me at 8 am and then wonders why I'm so pissy. I remind her of this constantly, and yet...no change. I hope it's not Alzheimer's.

Anywho, I do not enjoy waking up early - but I do it. I'm not the hugest fan of not being able to eat what I want, whenever I want and instead counting calories and tracking carbs - but I do it. I don't neccessarily want to work out every day, twice a day - but I do it. Is it because I'm crazy? Perhaps. But more because I know what I want and I know what it will take to get there and I'm willing to work for it. It's worth it to me.

What's it worth to you?

I have several phrases, sayings, "mantras" if you will, that come to mind during my fitness struggles. Some of them may seem corny to you as other people's seem to me. That's ok. Get your own. What phrase is really gonna hit home for you and cause you to work harder? "What's it worth to you?" Is one of my favorites. Is it worth me waking up at 5am and working out twice a day if it will eventually get me in a size 4? - YES. Is it worth forgoing that piece of chocolate that I will literally remove my left arm for if I can drop an extra pound? - YES. This is what it's worth for ME. It does not have to apply to you, but when it comes to the amount of dedication you're willing to put in, ask yourself - What is achieving my goal worth to me?

You don't have to like it, you just have to do it.

It's a misconception that I love working out. Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, I really enjoy being on the treadmill or kickboxing. Sometimes - I hate it. Sometimes, I want to rip Tony Horton's head of his muscley body and frequently, I'd like to punch Debbie Sieber's in her rock hard gut. You can bitch and moan and whine as much as you want to. You just have to do the work. You don't have to be happy about it all of the time, but you have to do it regardless. Think about it as when you were young and your parents made you clean your room. Whether you agreed with them or not - it had to happen. Then once it's done, you get your allowance and everyone is happy. Only instead of an allowance, you get an awesome body - WIN!

"You gots to work and deserve it, earn it to own it."

That one's from G. Love and Special Sauce. That's for when I sing to myself. It's pretty self-explanitory.

"Change is a process."

This one is from my BeachBody coach and I love it. You are not going to go from a size 10 to a size 2 in a month. Not healthily and not permanently anyway. It takes time. You're also not gonna go from a sedentary lifestyle to the workout and diet queen/king in a week. Just do a litle at a time and always do your best.

If you put in the work, change will come

So many people kid themselves as to the effort they're making. They'll say things like "But I worked out and stuck to my diet this week and saw NO results! I mean, I missed ONE workout and I cheated on my diet here and there, but STILL $%#$^" I hate to break it to you - but to a certain degree - that skipped workout and those litte cheats count! They don't count to a degree that little slip-ups will kill your results. But if you're on a steady regimen that your body is used to, every litte thing counts. You probably still made progress - just not as much as you would have if you hadn't cheated. And one little slip up is not gonna stop your progress. If you are constantly working, refining and putting in the effort - it's not possible that you'll see no results. But you have to be honest with yourself and you have to put in the work.

I hope this helps. I hope that finding a mantra will do as much for you as it does for me. Often, I'm the own voice inside my head guilt-tripping myself to do better, to do more, to try harder, to work harder and to push farther. After all,

No one else is gonna do it for you.

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

Still Fighting It

I have been overweight my entire life. I was a chubby child, a fat teenager and an even fatter young adult. It bothered me a little bit when I was young, a lot more when I was a teenager, and finally became unacceptable when I hit college. I started working out and dieting. In the begining it was easier. When you first start working out, the weight drops off like "that"! (See: Biggest Loser) It's when you've been doing it for several years and your body adjusts that it gets a little more complicated.

In recent years, it has been next to impossible for me to drop pounds. I would kill myself with cardio at the gym. Hit the gym twice a day, eat minimally and then - only eating fruits, veggies, fish and chicken. All of this and nothing has given me the results I'm looking for. Now, staring down my 30th birthday on the horizon, I refuse to not reach my weight loss goal by that birthday. It's ridiculous and unfair how hard I have to work to acheive what seems to come easier to other people, but those are the breaks. That's just the way it is. My only other option is to stop trying, and I just don't consider that an option. I know I can reach my weight loss goal, I just have to keep going.

I'm currently doing a workout program called P90X. You may have seen the infomercial for it. It's a workout-at-home program that utilizes weights and a push up bar to get you in great shape in 90 days. This is my second time through the program. I did the full 90 days already. I didn't see the results that I wanted, but it is a fitness program and not a weight loss program. For people who have weight to lose, it may take more than one round to see results. It was nice to see that one of the guys in the infomercial actually went through 5 rounds before he got a killer bod. I just really need to see some results soon or I will lose my mind. I don't know what else to do to lose these pounds. They say the last ten to fifteen are the hardest and man they ain't lying.

I'll keep you posted on how this round is going. In addition to the regular workouts, I'm also doing another program from Beach Body (the same company that makes P90X). The other program is Slim in 6, which is supposed to help you slim down in 6 weeks. I also did this program already and lost a few pounds. I'm hoping that combining the two will give me some stellar progress.

Wish me luck ;)

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

Week 4 - If My Body Needs Water So Badly, How Come It Doesn't Hold On To Any Of It?

I've been trying to get 8-10 glasses of water a day. Seriously, I have to pee about a million times a day. It's so annoying. And my skin doesn't look any better, but whatever. So, I'm proud to say that all of my meals this week were prepared ahead of time! Yay! No last minute scrambling for me. It seriously made things so much easier. I'm also doing an eating clean challenge that has me stapled to the top two tiers of Michi's ladder. No more little cheats here and there. I am allowed one cheat meal, and I haven't taken it yet. I saved it for saturday, so I've been eating clean alllll week. I know when most people start eating better and drinking water - they comment on how much better they feel! I can't really say I feel that much different on a day to day basis. My body doesn't feel thinner, I don't feel lighter. Aside from having to pee a lot and being super regular, I don't feel too different. Well, I guess that's not entirely true - I have been sleeping better and not feeling as tired when I wake up. Even on the nights I wake up at 3am to pee (and yes that's happened a few times) I still don't feel exhausted when I wake up anymore.
I've also got my motivation back. I mentioned how hard it was before to get on a routine, and I think I've done it this week. Ate clean every day, had my meals prepared before hand, worked out at least once if not twice every day - that's routine baby. And I'm happy to have it back. It's much easier when it's like you don't have a choice. Kind of like a job - whether I want to or not, if I want to pay my bills, I have to go to work. Well, like it or not - if I want certain results with my body, I have to eat right and work out.
I'm still frustrated that all the strength I built up from P90X seems to just have gone away. I had awesome guns at the end of the summer that are currently nowhere to be seen. I could do at least 25 for real push ups with no problem, and now hitting 20 from my knees is a challenge. I guess maintenance is more important than I realized. I miss my arm muscles, they were cool - I'm gettin those suckers back. Phase II of the X starts on Saturday. I'm going back to Classic with a little Slim in 6 thrown in too. I need to conquer that leg workout since I currently epicly suck at it. Onward and upward. Well, downward on the scale hopefully...

Patience

I'm super frustrated to realize that I currently weigh the same as I did before I started P90X. I remember running every day this summer in addition to my X workouts. How in the hell am I still having weight problems? What's it gonna freekin' take? I can't believe that this many years later I'm still having to work this hard to drop pounds. I can't believe I'm not at my goal already. Frankly, this is bullshit! I'm on day 3 of this Michi's top tier challenge. It's just so depressing being obsessed over calorie intake. Am I taking in enough? Too much? Am I working out hard enough? Am I doing the right workout? There's so many freaking questions and honestly - with the work I've put in, I ought to have seen better results by now. It all just feels so completely unfair.

Week 3 - I thought I was tired of Tony Horton, but Debbie Siebers is an evil mastermind

So I'm definitely starting to feel like all this working out might start working for me again. I've added in an additional cardio workout on some days along with doing P90X lean. It's another program called Slim in 6. For some reason, I always think that the Si6 workout won't be as hard as the X one. Perhaps because the X is so heavily emphasized as one of the hardest workouts, it seems like anything else would be a cake walk. And Debbie Siebers with her cute little body and big, welcoming smile and moves that look pretty easy - well, she can't be that bad, right? I don't know how I always manage to forget just how much cardio those workouts are. They LOOK easy. It doesn't seem that my heart-rate should be as high for the moves that seem so simple, but in reality - she's kicking my ass. And my sides. And my abs. As is evident from the body soreness that follows in the days after. I like the soreness - because it means I actually worked hard, but in the moment - I kind of want to punch her in her smiling face.

My diet is gradually getting better and better. I've had my meals prepared ahead of time all week long. There's just a couple more things that I need to filter out, which will happen as I run out of supply of them. My struggle this week (and always) is looking at other people's results and being insanely jealous. Why can't I be where they are right now? Well, it takes time. It sucks, but that's just the way it is. People with rockin' bodies didn't get them in 4 weeks. You have to get there by several months and maybe years of commitment to a goal and focus on getting it. I didn't go from eating fatty and fast foods often to eating high fiber, low calorie stuff in one day. I used to be able to down a 20-piece chicken Mcnugget and a large fry in one sitting, no joke. Now - a six piece and medium fry would be plenty. It took steps to get to this point. So I'm still taking the steps it will take to get me to the next level in my fitness. So you can't beat yourself up if you missed a workout, or if you allowed yourself that hamburger. My diet is not going to be 100% perfect as of tomorrow - but it's definitely something I can keep working on as I push toward my goal.

Week 1 Back On The Workout Wagon: I Sincerely Don't Want To Do This

So, after several false starts - I've finally managed to get through a full week (well almost - full week tomorrow) of my 2nd round of P90X. I realize now how much easier it is to do this when you just stick with a routine. When I had my workout & diet routine going - it was a lot easier to stick with it and not cheat. Going off of it and trying to get back on - not so easy. So for this first week, I eased my way back into it. It's always so tempting to go full throttle right away. "I'm gonna have a perfect diet! I'm gonna work out every day, twice! I'm not gonna cheat ever!" These are all great goals, but going straight into all of this at once can be overwhelming. I thought since I had done all of these things before, I should be able to fall right back into it. Wrong. It's almost as though I'm starting from scratch. So, while I am mostly back to my diet of eating from the top two tiers of Michi's ladder - I did allow myself a few cheats this week. My main goal for this week was - do a workout everyday. Every other day - I was fine, but those days in between... I laid in my bed or huddled on the couch, freezing and complaining to myself: I sincerely do not want to work out right now. However - the goal this week was a workout a day, so I would just somehow convince myself to get up. What worked the best for this week was the thought that once I started working out, I wouldn't be freezing anymore.

I also bought a new pair of jeans that are too small. For as long as I can remember, I've had clothes lying around that I purchased becaused I liked them - but they didn't have my size, or I figured I'd be able to squeeze into them eventually. Well, as of Novermber - I fit into all of those clothes. I think that's part of why I lost some motivation. Now, with a shiny new pair of Lucky Brand Jeans hanging in my closet just staring me down everyday - it's a little bit easier to get up and do cardio, or resist that piece of chocolate cake.

Each week, I'll set a new goal and carry over all of the goals from the previous weeks. I think next week's goal will be having all of my meals prepared the night before work - so I don't have to worry about buying breakfast or lunch. I am not a morning person in the slightest, so I really have to have breakfast and lunch ready to go the night before. Because given the choice between more sleep and fixing breakfast - I will always choose sleep.

It still feels unfair that I've come so far and yet still have so far to go. Especially when some people are just born thin. I mean wtf is that? That's the way it goes, I guess :-/