November Challenge

Hi everyone.

I have just started my 4 week November challenge and I thought that maybe some of you wanted to join me in it. For the months of November and December it is not very wise to have a food restriction challenge, due to the upcoming holidays. But what about a little exercise challenge?!

For 4 weeks ONLY this is what I want you to do EVERY DAY (or at least that is what I will do):
Week 1 - 25 pushups + 20 min Cardio + 100 situps
Week 2 - 50 pushups + 20 min Cardio + 100 situps
Week 3 - 75 pushups + 30 min Cardio + 100 situps
Week 4 - 100 pushups + 40 min Cardio + 100 situps

This will add up to:
Total Pushups - 1750
Minutes of Cardio - 770
Total Situps - 2800

Let me know if you are GAME by commenting below. 

Week 3 update - Miss my BFF

As you already know I forgot to give you a week 2 update... so here comes the week 3 instead. Last week I was still experience my lower back pain and after every session on the elliptical I curve myself up like a ball and roll my back on my yoga mat for probably 10 minutes to stretch and massage that area. I truly miss my best friend who is a fabulous massage therapist, she has helped me with some of my worst pains but she is on the other side of the Atlantic...

Weight: 75.75 kg / 167.2 lbs [78.0 kg / 172.1 lbs]
Fat: 21.10 kg / 46.5 lbs (27.9%) [22.45 kg / 49.5 lbs (28.8%)]
Water 52.6% [51.9%]
BMI: 25.0 [25.8]

Chest: 98 cm / 38.58" [101 cm / 39.76"]
Waist: 78 cm / 30.71" [82 cm / 32.28"]
Stomach: 91 cm / 35.83" [97 cm / 38.19"]
Hips: 107 cm / 42.12" [111 cm / 43.70"]

[original/starting measurements]

Like mother and child

Our mind is one of our strongest tool to use when we want to accomplish something, but it is also our greatest enemy! How can one thing be both those things? 

Our mind makes us stronger or weaker, our mind makes us do, or not do, and our mind makes us grow no matter what roads we chose to travel on...

First there is you telling yourself what you want, but it is not until the brain understands it or want it too that you actually do. I sometimes feel I have two people inside of me - like the mother and the child. The mother tells me what I should do and the child usually rejects it with some great excuse... I hate it. I want to do what momma tells me - that is why I am telling me to do one thing in the first place! What is stopping me?

Do I have communication issues? Do I need to explain things better to my inner child?

Yesterday when I was on Facebook I noticed one of my friends saying "step 3" and she explained what it was, after someone asked what she was talking about, that she had reached her 3rd step in accomplishing something she wanted to accomplish. I thought that was great - maybe that is exactly how I need to do it too. Define my steps. When am I done with step one, step two, and so on... I thought that was so great!

Off course that is how I would advise others to do, but with myself I usually skip a few steps since my head is already at the finish line thinking that the work is done. Funny and frustrating how I don't walk the talk.

No... I am not a complete failure - I am still loosing weight and I am still learning about real estate investing, and I am still planning for a life in freedom away from the 8-5 job day in and day out... but there are still things missing... Things I need to figure out.

Are you arguing with your inner selves too?

Overcome - don't give up!

After my almost two weeks into my new life I have noticed a few things:
Sugar/Carb cravings are not as hard as you think to overcome, I haven't felt it at all, except for at one point when I drove by a Dairy queen and said 'ohh a Blizzard would be nice' and then I remembered that I don't eat that anymore...

Second thing is that you can see improvements so fast! I teach dance and on Thursday I have an adult class that I dance with, not only teach. Yesterday I noticed that I didn't get as tired as I normally get. I think I have the elliptical to thank for that (or myself for using it, haha).

But I have also noticed that new things can hurt you a little. Yesterday I started to feel that my lower back and buttocks were getting tighter and very sore, today they are even worse. So this morning I dedicated on some well needed stretching and self massage. I have a feeling I am going to need more.

So what I really want to say with this is that unexpected things can happen and it is important to take them as challenges and try to overcome them rather than give up. You still have to focus on your goal, it might slow you down a little bit, but don't let it stop you!! You will grow even stronger by stepping over some hurdles you didn't count on.

Be strong and focus!

Energy

It is interesting how your level of energy can vary so much on a daily and weekly basis. Last week I was high, this week I am getting by. And I off course start to wonder what the reasons of it are... Could it be that my body is getting used to the amounts of Kelp I am feeding myself and want more in order to feel what I felt last week? Or is it that last week I was so high on knowledge and what a great opportunity I had in my hand that made me stronger than superman? Or is it something else?

Can my decreased energy be because I have drained my body a little bit and it is not used to it?

I am unsure, all I can say is that I see a difference. After working out for 45 minutes this morning I took a 30 minutes nap before getting ready for work. That was not the idea! The idea was for me to have that time for myself, not for sleeping a little bit extra. That is not going to get me anywhere!

Just have to get through it and go for it stronger tomorrow!

Week 1 Update - It looks like I am doing something right!

Weight: 76.35 kg / 168.4 lbs [78.0 kg / 172.1 lbs]
Fat: 21.50 kg / 47.4 lbs (28.2%) [22.45 kg / 49.5 lbs (28.8%)]
Water 52.4% [51.9%]
Bone 9.6% [9.6%]
BMI: 25.2 [25.8]

Chest: 99 cm / 38.98" [101 cm / 39.76"]
Waist: 79 cm / 31.10" [82 cm / 32.28"]
Stomach: 94 cm / 37.01" [97 cm / 38.19"]
Hips: 109 cm / 42.91" [111 cm / 43.70"]

[original measurements]

I don't know if I can see that much yet but my stomach feels skinnier and not as 'prego' but I have a few more weeks to go ;)

Day 4 to 7

The rest of my first week has gone pretty smooth. I have been able to start reading while on the elliptical and it saves me so much time, or even better - I can get in more than one hour of reading every day! So my road to my financial investment education is going even faster.

It is always harder to follow a certain diet over the weekend. You are used to having a drink or going for a nice Italian dinner... you have to be strong and keep reminding yourself why you are doing it! But I can also tell you that re-fueling your body with some extra carbohydrates one day a week is not bad, but can actually be beneficial. I am not saying to eat that whole pizza you have been craving for the entire week; that would be counter productive for you. I am talking about eating more fruit one day, or have sushi or similar. I am still saying no to wheat and sugar.

So some new meals I haven't mentioned so far are:
Ribs with steamed veggies - so so so good!!
I had chicken with mozzarella and eggplant on Saturday evening, it was hard to say no to the pasta that comes with it, but I survived!
Friday night I had sushi with some friends and it was very good. I also had two glass of Merlot.
Even though alcohol is something you should try to eliminate, I don't see too much harm in having it every now and then. We don't go out that often so when we do I don't feel bad about having a glass or two.
I also had a salmon lunch with green beans

My exercising have been the elliptical. I have increased the minutes to 45 minutes per session and hope that I can manage 60 minutes next week. I have also counted my dance class I teach on Thursday nights my cardio for the day. It is not as easy to give a value of lost kcalories but it is more than sitting in the office, that's for sure!

As a summary I can say that my mind is still focused and I feel good about what I am doing. I feel more awake during the day and my mind is much stronger than it has been in a long time. I know I will accomplish the results I am looking for here.

How are you guys out there doing?

Day 3 - Ohhh... my body is TIRED

The third day of my new life and I was very sore waking up. My back felt stiff and my legs felt like they were made out of lead. The exercise for the day was yoga/pilates/weights and I did a shorter yoga session by myself. I focused on a lot of stretching so some might say that it was not really yoga. But to get started for real with my yoga I need to warm myself up for it. It is not easy!

After work I went to a workshop that I signed up for over the weekend as a part of my new life achievements and have gotten one step closer to that airplane ;) The workshop was so exciting that I was literally bubbling inside; I just wanted to stand up and scream!! It is like someone just opened the door to a better life and I have not hesitated to step through.... inside the doors there is this stairway and I have just started to climb them. I signed up for a class about Investing in Real Estate that is going to be a 3 day course in the beginning of June, trying to get my hubby to come with me so we can learn together and be Powerful Together!!

30 minutes yoga and stretch - ??? kcal burned

Food
Breakfast - One Fage Greek Yogurt 2% (I really like the regular one but they don't have that one at the grocery stores around me) and some organic crushed rasberries
Lunch - Salad with Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, swiss cheese and ranch dressing, diet coke
Snack - strawberries and cashews on my way to the workshop
Dinner - Fried mozzarella cheese. (Buy the nicest mozzarella you can find and slice it, rinse with cold water and roll them in crushed almonds, fry in pan with butter on both sides for a little bit. Eat right away) with tomato and extra virgin olive oil. Delicious!!

Supplements
Are same as always just go back to Day 1

Day 2 - Not as energetic

After doing my last pole dancing class on Monday night I was pretty sore and tired on Tuesday morning. I had planed to do 45 minutes on the elliptical but ended up not getting out of bed until 5:15 so I had only time for 30 minutes. At least I made sure I got to 400 kcal on that thing, but it wasn't as easy as the day before.

30 minutes elliptical - 3.6 km / 2.24 miles - 402 kcal burned

Food
Breakfast - One Fage Greek Yogurt 2% (I really like the regular one but they don't have that one at the grocery stores around me) and some organic crushed rasberries
Snack - 8 unsalted cashews
Lunch - 2 hard boiled eggs into a sallad with mayo, relish, and Dijon mustard, lettuce with tomato, swiss cheese and balsamic
Snack - 4 strawberries
Dinner - LCHF pancakes with organic heavy whipping cream and blackberries, 1 glass of organic whole milk

Supplements
Are same as always just go back to Day 1

Just a few tips

To be successful in weight loss there is a little more to it than to eat less and exercise more. We also have to make sure that the body is prepared for the sometimes big changes we will be going through.

So there is generally four things that you should NOT ignore:

• Exercise - this is very personal to us all depending on how much we are used to move around. For some a walk in the park could be hard and for some a 5k run is like warm-up. Normally best result is achieved by doing 60 minutes of cardio per day, 5-6 days a week. (you need a day of rest per week too). Make sure you are breaking a sweat! When you get the hang of it - interval training will boost your metabolism even more. So vary your training so your body does not get used to it and need more in order for you to loose weight.

• What you eat - The first and most important step in changing your diet is to get rid of your carb-cravings. This is easiest achieved by having regular meals, and rather eat too much than too little or eat more often than not, just so you don't get to the point where you just have to have that snickers or something similar. Normally it takes between 2 to 3 weeks to get rid of the cravings for sugar and other carbs so hang in there and don't give up! After you have stabilized your blood sugar and your cravings you can start putting up a good meal plan, with regular times. Some people say that more meals with less food is good, and others say that less meals with more food is ok too. I have tried them both and find that eating 6-7 times a day is hard - I just can't get it all in a day with everything that has to get done. I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and will have two snacks during the day - that should do it for me. If you like protein shakes eating 6-7 meals might not be that hard but I can't stand them!

• Water - I am sure you all know to drink lots of water. But in a weight loss process the water is a way to flush your system and is crucial for success! If you aren't already drinking at least one gallon (4 liters) a day start NOW! If you have a hard time doing it get into the habit of drinking a large glass before every meal (it will not equal up to everything you need but at least it is a start). 

• Supplements - Our bodies need to stay healthy in order to achieve our goals. If we don't take supplements we are bound to quit before we are done because we get sick... A cold or even sore muscles can make people quit. So supplements are more important than you would think. And I am off course NOT recommending a multivitamin or synthetic vitamins and minerals. All natural please! I will provide you with what I am taking in my first update. 

Any more tips out there?

Airplane teaser

Funny things happen when you notice it!
I wrote down my goals or visions last week and all of a sudden I am standing there next to a private jet. Talk about great teaser!!! I want one - or at least have one available for me when I need to go somewhere.

"...I want to show them why I no longer fly commercial but private..."

Now I have an even better vision of that dream. I almost can't believe what is happening to me right now. Faith, is it you talking to me???