10 POUNDS!

I woke up this morning with a really good feeling. And then, BOOM, the scale showed me that magic magic number. The number that is exactly 10.0 pounds lower than it was on May 10, 2013 when I started this crazy journey! 

I may or may not have done a weird jumping dance move on the way back to my room.

Seeing this number did wonders for how I feel about myself. Not necessarily my appearance, because, as I've stated, it's hard for me to personally see any differences in how I look. But it helped me realize that I can literally do ANYTHING! I can lose weight. I can climb mountains. I can be a superstar. YEAH.

And here are a couple of stats that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside:

• Upon losing this tenth pound, I took my BMI from the Overweight range to the Healthy/Normal range. That is a huge deal because it means that now I'm in an ideal weight range and have the capacity to lead a healthier, happier life!
• I've lost 6.27% of my total body weight!

 So, anyway, hooray! I've got two more weeks of my plan, so maybe I can go back to school 12-13 pounds lighter! :)

-Ellen

Gloomy Saturday

 When I woke up this morning, I was annoyed. I thought: Ugh, great, I woke up at like 6:30. Gotta go back to sleep. But when I checked the clock it was 10:30! It just happened to be a dark, gross, gloomy day.

Luckily, I was able to pry myself out of bed and do 30 minutes of P90X plyometrics. And you know how I feel about plyo. PLYO MAKES ME WANNA DIE-O. But I got through it and I was fine :)

Oh wait! Forgot to tell you what happened before that! I weighed myself. And guess what. I'm down another pound! Woooooooot! This diet/exercise plan is hella dope. If you're looking to lose a few before going back to school, DO THIS PLAN. (I posted about it last Sunday. Sorry, too lazy to include the link :))

Other events of the day: Watching Les Miserables in a dark basement (I managed to only cry twice, but felt the need to express my attraction to Aaron Tveit at least six times); Going on a stroll after the rain stopped; Ending the day with Project Runway and House Hunters (I'm addicted to TV).

Tomorrow I hope to do some more shopping! Yay clothes.

Happy Saturday!
-Ellen

Cake Fast

It's not really a fast when you eat cake, is it.

(No.)

I made it til 6pm without eating anything except a couple Cuties and some celery. And then I was like, okay well I have a horrible headache so I should probably have dinner. Can't hurt. And oh there's cake so I should probably stuff my face with that because I totally want to weigh 8956 pounds when I wake up in the morning sounds like a GREAT PLAN

o________o

Anyhow. I'll get back on track tomorrow. (I HATE saying that.)

There are only FOURish weeks until I move back to Btown. I need to lose a pound a week if I wanna go back 10 lbs lighter. Can I do it? Yes. I think. Will I? It's up to me now.

No more foolishness!

Cake? Laziness? NO. Cardio? Lemon water? YES.

On a happier note, I spent the day crafting with Josh and made this lovely piece of art for my college house:

 

Like it?!!! I was so proud :) If you wanna know how to make it, here are the instructions.

-Ellen

On the "Fast" Track

 Today I decided to do a cleanse/fast type thing, hoping to balance out the horrid week of eating I had. As you can see, I gained a little weight. I'm very disappointed in myself and worried about the short amount of time I have left this summer to look my best.

Basically, I only took in about 800 calories and I burned about 400. [DON'T DO THIS. I'M NOT A DOCTOR.] I would never recommend this as an everyday system for weight loss, because that's unhealthy and hard to maintain and bordering on anorexia. BAD.

But, I read that one-day fasts can be beneficial because they help you drop excess weight more safely than starving yourself for long amounts of time. If you consistently don't eat enough, your metabolism slows down. And, although you would lose weight, as soon as you started eating normally again, you'd gain it back.

Here's a great article about the health benefits of intermittent fasting. According to the author, who is a doctor, fasting helps our bodies clear out unnecessary waste, improves brain power, and fights harmful diseases like cancer and diabetes. Who knew abstaining from food every once in a while could be so shockingly healthy? (Please note the following warning from the article: "I don't recommend IF for everyone. Children under 18 should not fast, nor should diabetics, nor pregnant or lactating women. Some health conditions -- such as severe gastrointestinal reflux disease, or GERD -- are easier to manage when food intake is more regular.")

I've also read that shifting your calorie intake on a regular basis (For example: eating 1300 calories Monday, 1500 Tuesday, and 1250 Wednesday) can boost your metabolism by preventing it from "getting too comfortable" with one specific caloric intake. This is the same with exercise. If you do 100 crunches every day, it may not be as effective as doing 20 reps of a different type of ab exercise each day.

All of that said, I didn't really "fast" today because I did take in 800 calories. The only real meal I ate was dinner, but other than that I just had a banana, green tea, and some rice cakes. We'll call it a "baby fast."

If I ever feel like I need a cleanse, I will definitely try a full-out fast next time. Comment and let me know if you have any experience with cleanses or fasts!

Hope you enjoyed the post. Just some food for thought. Or, eh, lack of food...for thought...? ;)

-Ellen

:(

Guys, I had a fun day. I really did. I worked at a special event where I supervised kids playing on giant inflatable water slides (AND I GOT TO GO DOWN THEM!!) Josh and his siblings even came!! And I got to go out to dinner and ice cream with my coworkers, who are all really awesome! Though I did get these sunburns:

But, all of that aside, I suck and you should all hate me because I just went crazy with my eating and it's not okay. I don't even wanna get into the details of what I ate, but it's shameful. I haven't eaten like that since my diet started 43 days ago. And I had no time to exercise. So, basically, I'm the worst human in the world.

I'm literally so mad at myself that tomorrow I'm eating nothing but the following:

• Breakfast: 1 egg + 2 egg whites, scrambled
• Lunch: Whole wheat wrap with turkey and Laughing Cow + Apple
• Dinner: Salad + Chicken
• Snacks: RICE CAKES ONLY. 

Yeah. That's it. And I'm going to do Level 3 along with 30 additional minutes of cardio.

It's getting down to the wire. No more mess-ups.
-Ellen

 

My Spice-it-Up event of the day was seeing a new movie with Josh: Man of Steel!

I've gotta admit, this movie was...not my favorite. 90% action, 5% aliens, 5% plot. Not so Ellen.

Also today I worked on some homework, did a workout, and got some healthy food from the grocery store! Thrilling, right?

I'm pretty sleepy, so I'm going to bed early. Looking forward to Father's Day fun tomorrow :)

-Ellen

HAPPY 2000 PAGEVIEWS! :) Glad someone out there is enjoying my blog!

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I suppose you can say I "spiced it up" today by trying a new cookie decorating technique I've been wanting to do for ages.

Tah dah! Those are the best of 'em. Lots are not quite as pretty. But I will tell you, it was hard work! Not too shabby for a first attempt, but I will definitely be trying it again soon and improving as I go :)

The bad part about making cookies, even if the intent is to feed them to other people, is: you always end up nibbling on them yourself! Tiny bits of dough here and there, one or two "sample" cookies. You get the picture. Not easy to estimate calorie-wise. I was worried about going over my limit so I went on a brisk evening walk to (hopefully) burn off those extra few calories...

I also made a really yummy lunch that I thought I'd share. However, I should note, this isn't a normal lunch. It's definitely more of a breakfast. But it worked for me, and it was so packed full of protein that I was seriously too full to finish it. And this was before the cookies! :)

 

This is just 1 cup Kashi Go-Lean, 1/2 cup blueberries, and 1 container Yoplait light vanilla yogurt. Delicious, healthy, filling, and great for a sweet tooth!

Yours truly,

Ellen

Back on that workout, protein shake grind :)

 

This is the DVD that I tried today in order to spice it up :) Sadly I didn't love it. I got it on Amazon for like $5, which was awesome, but then I read the reviews. (That makes a lot of sense, right? Reading the reviews after you've already bought something...) All of the reviews say that this is one of the worst BL DVDs. Everyone agreed that Anna (the girl trainer) really sucks, so I didn't do her circuit. I just did Dolvett's, then Bob's, cause I've seen them both on the show and I like them. In total, I did 30 minutes of cardio.

Dolvett came off as drill sergeant-y and cold and I wasn't very motivated by his "tabata" workout. It was 20 seconds of intensity, followed by a 10-second break. But he gave you three choices for each move: easy, medium, and hard. That was something I liked and disliked at the same time. Everyone in the video was doing different stuff. It was good because I could choose my appropriate level, but it was bad because I like to see the people on the screen pushing themselves and then I'm motivated to do exactly what they're doing. When half of them are doing the easy step touches, I start to think it's okay for me to do that, too, and it's not.

Bob's circuit was alright but not very fun. It was intense. Very very hard on the legs. There were definitely some moves I liked. But Bob wasn't as nice, fun, and motivating as he usually is. He just seemed very harsh and unforgiving. (Is it weird that I focus so much on the trainer's attitude in each video rather than the moves? Ha.) 

My grade (just based on the 2/3 of the DVD I did): C.
It was a meh workout. I might do it again but maybe not.  

Have you tried this vid? What do YOU think, o random reader? Leave a comment and brighten my day :)

-Ellen :) 

Spice it Up Saturday: Meal Times

 Howdy :) Today's Spice it Up Saturday was kind of a minor change, but definitely impacted my workout!

I've been reading a little bit about how the timing of your meals affects your weight loss. I'm not totally sure if anything has been 100% proven here, but apparently, if you workout on an empty stomach, your body has to dig into it's fat "reserves" and burn an extra amount of body fat/calories. (If you're interested in reading more about this theory, here's an interesting article.)

I figured it couldn't hurt to switch up my eating times a little bit today. So I decided to workout before breakfast. But the thing is, I'm not really a normal person who gets up at a decent hour to workout and start the day. I got up at 11:30, worked on a paper for an hour or so, then began my workout. I figured since I was going to be awake for a while before my workout, I'd need just an itty bit of sustenence to get me through my paper writing. So, first thing in the morning I drank a glass of water and ate an ounce of mixed nuts.

When I was ready to workout, I was definitely hungry. My tummy was grumbling a little bit. I did a new 10-minute cardio video from YouTube that was very disappointing and probably burned like 70 calories. Boo. Then I did my regular 20-minute cardio video and 15 minutes of abs/arms/legs/random calisthenics. And I will tell you, I was sweating way way more than usual. But I was also getting tired way way more quickly than usual. I still did what I needed to do, but it took a lot more out of me. After I finished, I rushed upstairs to make a protein shake because I was sooo hungry.

Based on my experience today, I would say that yes, working out on an empty stomach probably does burn more fat. However, I prefer working out when I'm not on the brink of starvation because that way, I feel more energized and motivated to complete my workout.

Oh, side note. It's Memorial Day weekend. One of those food-based weekends where potato chips and burgers on the grill are the norm for most families in America (or at least mine!). It's really going to test my abilities to use portion control and to say no to foods I don't need! I already told mom I'd like a chicken breast while the rest of the family eats burgers. But I really can't go a full Memorial Day weekend without indulging in some of her amazing pasta salad! Maybe I'll step up the cardio so I can have a little more than two bites ;)

Balance + Moderation!

Enjoy your long weekend :)

-Ellen 

P.S. Here's the recipe for my protein shake if anyone is interested:

• 1 scoop Right Size lean cocoa bean powder
• 1 banana
• 8 oz. skim milk
• 1/2 cup ice

(221 calories, 12g protein)

Spice it Up Saturday: Kettlebell

Today, after reading this article, I decided to switch up my workouts and try kettlebell. It apparently burns 400 calories in 40 minutes? I'm skeptical. I didn't really like it and it wasn't very fun, but it was a very intense, good workout. Here's one video I did. (I did another 20 minute kettlebell workout as well, but it was super weird and I wouldn't recommend it.)

I tried extremely hard to stick to my diet today, and succeeded in not eating too many calories. May have gone overboard with the sugar, but nobody's perfect. Don't feel like blogging much this evening. And feeling very down about this whole healthy thing. But I can't give up now.

 

-Ellen

Spice it Up Saturday: 1st Workout!

 
Well, since today was only the second day of my new, healthy lifestyle, there wasn’t a whole lot to spice up. It was, however, the first day of my workouts, which certainly added some spice to my life. I planned to follow the “Summer Workout Plan” I found on Pinterest, which requires cardio 6 days a week in addition to various arms/abs/legs workouts:

 

 I didn’t realize how intense this workout plan actually was! Long story short, I got through about half of the workout I intended to do. But, in retrospect, the workout I planned to do was a little intense for my very first day. Baby steps. But I loved the ab workout I did (a modified version of the one above). I've never done side crunches before and they're seriously awesome.

In the eating department, I'd consider today a great success. My diet philosophy is to snack often and eat something sweet after every meal. Thanks to my recent trip to the grocery store, my kitchen is full of fruits and vegetables to snack on, as well as individually wrapped dark chocolates. One of those after every meal and my cravings for sweets usually diminish. I use an app called Calorie Count to track my progress. Here's my analysis for the day:

 

Don't worry, I finished the day with an apple, so my calorie count was actually a little over 1200. I'm trying to aim for around 1300 daily, but just wasn't super hungry today. Can't wait for Fun in the Sunday tomorrow :) Let's hope we actually get a little bit of sun instead of the dreary rainclouds we've had for the last few days!

Til tomorrow,

Ellen ♥