Happy Hump Day!

Hope everyone is enjoying this "hump" day. Week is halfway over. Weekend is that much closer... :]

I am still sore from my workout on Monday. After standing for at least 45 minutes to observe a demonstration, my inner thighs were straining more and sore even more so! Unfortunately due to this I am unable to make it to the gym without looking, well, freakish.

No worries! I still had a workout today! Today's lab skills were transferring patients from beds to chairs to beds again. Practicing proper lifting technique, I had my fair share of squats and arm lifts. Yes, I had a workout. But the part that will make me feel it tomorrow: it was 4 hours of transferring. So no fear I have had my workout. No lie, I even got a little "misty" with this transferring. And I still need to practice this skill.

Thank you school! Today you have provided me with knowledge, skills, AND a workout! :]

~*MaSy*~

PS. it was a nice workout considering the stress that was thickening the air today. On top of all the stress, reality hit: our class dropped from 30 to 29 today after lunch. That is right: first person to drop. No pressure at all.


Love Chocolate? Check out this article! Some of these I cannot wait to try!
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/eat-chocolate-and-lose-weight-514604/

Reading Inspiration

More Links.

Ten Ways to Create a Personal Fitness Plan:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/10-ways-to-create-a-personal-fitness-plan-518029/;_ylt=AsiSil60lDTynoC2bpMusVpqbqU5
I really enjoyed this article. It gives useful tips and I find it to be motivating. Hope it does the same for others!

6 Ways Exercise Can Cure Depression:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/6-ways-exercise-can-cure-depression-516744/;_ylt=AguoJNPFU5TbMUR9NrkIHcZqbqU5
This article hits a soft spot in everyone's heart, I think. Everyone has a down point. I mean seriously, if you are not feeling down or even depressed in this current economy when all is not looking good, you are on some fantasmic happy pills! This article explains why and how exercise works with our bodies.

5 Tips To Make the School Year a Success:
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/5-tips-to-make-the-school-year-a-success-515151/
Great tips that actually apply to all people! The five tips can be stretched and used in everyday life. I like this because it is great advice for all ages. Maybe even teach this to our little students.

Read away and be inspired, motivated, and excited!

~*MaSy*~

Monday Workout

Okay I know this post is slightly delayed, but here it is nonetheless.

Monday Monday...

Part of my dedication and motivation comes from driving my sister to school on Monday mornings. So I got enough sleep Sunday night after a late night at work. Woke up at 930 to take the sister to school at 10. Then, since the gym is across the street, headed to the gym for the workout.

How did I do? Well I tried to go gradually because I wasn't sure how I was feeling that day.

I decreased my elliptical time so that I would have the energy to do weights. (Yes I know I am supposed to do weights first, then cardio so that I have the energy... but the elliptical was open!). Set the timer to 15 minutes (ends up being 20 because of the "cooldown" which I just keep pumping through), threw my notes on the machine, and hooked up the music. I just went for it.

I find the first 5-10 minutes of the cardio workout to be the hardest. Not sure why. When I hit the 15 minutes I am good and can go on for days... seriously.

After that I did some quick leg stretches to loosen the elliptical muscles and hit the hip abductor machine. I did that for one song. Then I hit the hip adductor machine for another song. Workkked it.

Off to the Workout Circuit. I focused more on the arms here: triceps, biceps, deltoids, forearms, ... youuu know. Hit the quad machine as well.

Off to the dance stretching. I did some intensive dance stretches (most focus is on legs and core). Did the splits and really felt good.

Yet today I could not feel my thighs. Between the hips and the stretches I possibly maybe definitely over stretched my upper inner thighs. And boy does it hurt. Hence my difficulty walking.

Unfortunately I was not able to make it to the gym today. My thighs are limiting my ability to move at the moment. No worries, I have been doing wall push ups to work my arms.

One thing I am thankful amidst all this working out and soreness: my jacuzzi. OH jacuzzi I love you so! :]

I felt good being in the gym. While trying to not over do it, I managed to over do it. In my mind, I am still the fit girl I was a couple years ago with very low body fat percentage. Now, with multiple pounds, I have the cardio but necessarily the flexibility to hold my leg up next to my head or sit in splits for 5 minutes plus.

Moral of this: keep going to the gym, go softer on myself.

It felt good studying on the machines. It felt good pushing it. It helped decrease some of the stress and tension I have accumulating in my body from life.

Here is to another week. May I decrease this soreness and get back in that sweatlodge. :]

~*MaSy*~

Mais Oui...

Maybe the French have an idea...

Not going to lie... I do some of these already. And it does make me feel more motivated. :]

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/autumninnewjeans/4-ways-french-women-stay-thin-without-the-gym-515174/

Sunday Sunday...

A day of sleeping in and relaxing.

Last night I was supposed to go out clubbing-- drinking and dancing. Instead, thanks to a little inspiration from my intestines, I stayed home and watched movies. I made a homemade dinner and had homemade desserts.

It is also a day to gather one's thoughts and prepare for the upcoming week.

Today I have found several articles that I desire to share. I am thinking of the times I am going to go to the gym this week. I am also planning the exercises I would like to do at the gym as well. In addition to that, I am thinking of all the homework and upcoming activities I have to do this week in school.

A day to appreciate what you have.

I look around me and am thankful that I have what I have. Sometimes I am frustrated that my job is on weekends and I miss out on the Friday night partying. But then I realize, I have a job. I have money. I am able to pay my bills, still be in school pursuing my dream career, and have some fun cash. So as I sit here thinking, "man, I have to get ready for work in a few hours" I remember that I am very thankful that I have this job. This job is my ideal job right now: I am in a health care setting, I have amazing support from my coworkers as I pursue nursing, I see how doctors all the time (just a bonus), and I can work the hours to my desires. I am very lucky.

A day to make things better and improve. A starting point.



~*MaSy*~



Check out these links:

Butt Blast Workout:



Healthy Habits Gone Wrong:

Sleeping Poorly?

Check out this site! It has some great snacks to eat before bedtime that will help one sleep better. They are sleep enhancing and even tasty! Surprising even! Who would think that milk is not good for sleeping better?

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/38272/8-perfect-sleep-better-foods/

~*MaSy*~

The Biggest Loser League

As previously mentioned, I am a big fan of the television show, The Biggest Loser. After looking at their site today, I have managed to discover a group called The Biggest Loser League: http://tbll.nbc.com/. It is a free group that one can join. It provides a profile to monitor your progress.

Along with the profile comes motivational tips, stats, challenges, and other people who are participating. One can link up with their buddies and do group challenges. It allows for people to create their own challenges for their group as well! One bonus is that it has blogs for food, workout, and challeneges. This way you can track what you did, what works, and what does not work.

On the profiles, you can send people messages. It is a great little community to provide support. Not sure if it will work for me, specifically, but I did discover and it is worth a shot.

~MaSY~

Found Some Helpful Sites

I tend to pick and choose tips from the articles to help me and motivate me. Hopefully you find something useful from these! Thanks to yahoo again for the links!!

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/autumninnewjeans/13-habits-of-naturally-thin-people-510737/

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/tricks-to-drop-pounds/article164353.html (I practice #1, and 3)

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/easy-ways-to-lose-weight-50-ideas/article16057.html (I like the blue idea and am going to start using it)


~*Masy*~

First Blog and Its Purpose

Hello To All!

I have created this blog with one purpose in mind: tracking//motivating my progress in weight loss and physical fitness. I was at my peak physical ability in 2006, basically three years ago. I looked good, felt amazing, had confidence, and felt invincible. I played activities, led activities, hiked, and hit the gym a lot. I owe a lot to my friend Ike who was my workout buddy. Justine as well because she was my dance buddy.


(I am assuming an alias because part of the stuff I am blogging I will be embarrassed about. I do not have enough confidence just yet to let the whole world know who I am.)


Now I have gained what feels like 100 pounds. It is not actually that much, but after having been so physically fit that is what it feels like. So what changed to gain this weight? I moved home after my program in college lost its accreditation. I lost my constant access to the gym. I also now had access to real food whenever I wanted it. There was a ton of family crap that was going on as well that I had to take on. Mixed with that, slight depression (self diagnosis), and feeling of loss, I gained probably about 50 pounds. But to me, that 50 pounds feels like 100.

I have also seen a shift in weight gain to my stomach. I seriously think I look pregnant. Why is that? Because apparently the birth control I am on makes one gain weight in that area due to it convincing the body it is pregnant. And over the years, my body has thought I was consistently pregnant so I have had a shift in weight gain locations. Joyous. I have always had a flat tummy. That has made the confidence hard. Granted the chest growth has been glorious.

What I would like is to lose the weight. My weight loss will motivate my parents to lose weight. Hopefully motivate my friends to do it as well. I want to tone up. I want to get back into my dancer physique. I still maintain some flexibility (can still do the splits) but I cannot lift and hold my leg parallel to my body. I miss being able to twirl and spin and kick. I will get that back. I also want to maintain good back health. Everyone needs it.

So here we are now. I start my nursing program (again) at a new school in six days. I am STOKED for it! I have waited forever for it. At the same time, I need to lose weight and when is a better time?! My school is directly across the street from my gym. I plan on going to the gym directly after class for several hours. I also plan on doing a hike once a week. I would like to get swimming back in but it is hard to find a pool in this area that allows for it.

So next Monday I want to start. Generally speaking, I do my core/back strengthening every night routine. I found some 10 minute workouts from Yahoo (amazing) that I will start doing on Monday. Tuesday starts the intense workout. I would like to lose at least 10 pounds by Halloween so I can look cute in a costume.

I will try, keyword try, to blog every night to focus on what I did for my workout. I also want to post what motivates me, possibly holds me back, emotional struggles, and other things that might help motivate others to start their own weight loss journey.

I would like to thank my girl Mo for truly being my biggest inspiration right now; the girl tried out for Biggest Loser. She tweets her workouts and Boot Camp stories and her dedication really does inspire me. I would also like to thank the Biggest Loser television show. They also inspire me proving that if they can do it, I can do it.

Right now, I want to find a workout buddy. Hope someone else out there has a similar schedule as mine and a similar membership. Or even someone to go on a hike/walk/jog with me. I am not fast, not too slow, but definitely motivated. I have heart. :]

Goal for Gym: (build up to) 1 hour cardio; 40 minutes stretching/weights
Currently: 30 minutes cardio; 15 minutes weights; 20 minutes(ish) stretching.

This concludes my first blog post ever on my weight loss journey. If no one reads this, that is okay. It is more for myself. If others profit from it, excellent. Have a fantasmic week!

Sincerely,

Masy