12 Week Challenge!

Friday, January 04, 2013

So Gold's gym sent out an email about a 12 week challenge. They are challenging people to transform themselves in 12 weeks and then they pick male and female winners in each category to win cash prizes, etc. I do not feel like paying to join this official challenge, so my friend from college and some coworkers are doing our own 12 week challenge. I thought I would share with you in case you are interested in giving it a try.

Each of us picked 4 goals that we would like to accomplish by the end of the 12 weeks (April 1st is our goal assessment date- the challenge officially starts this sunday).

My goals are to go from 144 lbs to 132 lbs, to go from 25% body fat to 21% body fat, to go to the gym an average of at least 4 times a week, and to improve muscle definition and appearance in thighs, butt, stomach, arms, and back.

Some of the other goals people used were to do a crunch routine an avg of at least 5 times a week, to eat a salad daily, to cook dinner an average of at least twice a week, to train for a race an average of 4 times a week, not drinking soda daily, taking a 10 min walk each day, getting a certain number of hours of sleep each night, etc.

I made a spreadsheet for each of us to help us track these items. You put a 1 in that spot on the spreadsheet if you did that item (for example, if you worked out that day you put a 1). You put a 0 if you did not do that item/task (for example, if you did not eat a salad you would put a 0). The spreadsheet adds up your totals for each week and then averages them at the bottom of the document so that you can compare your overall averages with your goals.

I am really excited about this. I know that SO much can happen in 3 months. My weight has kind of been lingering around the mid 140's and I want to jump start things again. I also haven't been eating as well and not going to the gym as much as I was over the summer. I want to change this. I would love to get rid of some of the fat that has stuck around and tighten up my skin. I also want to have muscle definition.

So far there are 5 of us doing the challenge. Let me know if you would like to join. There aren't prizes and everyone chooses goals that work for them. We are just there to cheer each other on. Think of how much can change in 3 months! That is still 2-2.5 months before summer break gets rolling. What would you like to accomplish by then??

P.S. I took "before" pictures for the challenge and HATE how they look. lol. I think the style of underwear I was wearing didn't help either. BUT, I think that'll make even better "before" pictures, so I didn't try to make the pictures look better. You will see them on April 1st:) I know you're excited.

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Holiday and 2012 Update (pics)

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

So it's back to work for me. My body is usually really amped up when I come back from a break. I was laying there awake from 3:30 AM. I got up at 4:45 AM. I feel pretty awake, but I'll probably crash later lol.

Xmas and New Years were awesome. My break was very relaxing. I bought a few more things and have been very proud of my outfits. I did my hair the majority of break and I put together outfits basically every day. I received a great deal of compliments on my outfits and hair, so that's always nice.

For this new year I am really looking forward to making even more physical changes. I decided that my goal is 128 lbs. I'm not really sure what that would look like or if it's even possible for a 5'7" girl, but that's my goal. I am 144 now and know that I could make muscle improvements. I want to have definition and be toned. I am ready to make the commitment and start sculpting my body. My boyfriend joined my gym yesterday and today after school is going to be our first visit. I am very excited! Since the gym is around a half hour away from our house it'll be really nice to have company.

bracelet and make up my bf's mom got me



My friend when we went to the mall and when we were out for new years eve



My 5 siblings and their husbands/bf's/babies on xmas




The bf and I on xmas


The dog and I snuggling


I did my nails for NYE


Oatmeal I made over break


Spinach, beef, noodle soup I made over break. It was very low in cals (I put the recipe on SP)




New sweater/cover up bf's mom got me for xmas.


New shirt and yoga pants my bf got me for xmas:)




New sweater one of my stepsisters got for me and a purse my other step sister got me from Guatemala




Playing around with new makeup




New hair cut


New dress I got at Forever 21. It's a small!




New shirt and skirt I got from Forever 21 and H&M





Going out with our friend from Puerto Rico for latin night




Going out with my friend for NYE



UPDATE: I feel like I should add how my month of Dec and holiday eating went. I lost 2 lbs over the month of Dec, which I'm not mad about. I started the month at 146. At some point I was around 142.6, but ended the month at 144. My food was not the best. I tracked everything, but there were high days. I had cookies for the first time in quite a while. I noticed that when I ate one it was really difficult for me to stop and I had more than I should have. I think it is better for me just to avoid them all together. I didn't eat too terribly at xmas dinner wtih my family and with chris's family, but I did notice that sweets were worse for me this month. I still haven't had a drop of soda since Feb 2012 and I want to continue with that. I drank a few times during the month. Usually I have my lemon vodka with water and I add blueberry lemonade mio. When we went to latin night I forgot it, so I got vodka and cranberry. I did not like this as much. The cran was too much for me since I only drink water now. We also had beans and rice and chicken that our friend from Puerto Rico made for us. I was really low on my calories the rest of the day in preparation, but I still went over for the day (by a pretty good amount). I did not like this! I felt really angry about it. I know one day won't make you fat just like one healthy day won't make you skinny, but I've worked really hard to go from 215 to 144. I want to keep going and don't want to stall now. Since I've started I have NEVER had a month that I didn't lose something by the end of the month, which is fantastic. I've had no gain months and I want to keep that up.

I also looked over the past year and wanted to analyze my exercising...

Number of Days... Number of mins... Number of cals... Lbs lost
Feb... 2... 90... 501... -8.4
March... 3... 100... 589... -10.8
April... 12... 740... 4513... -6.6
May... 15... 956... 5903... -8.8
June... 14... 999... 6949... -7.2
July... 19... 1404... 11901... -2
Aug... 5... 424... 4048... -6
Sept... 2... 125... 1573... -6.4
Oct... 4... 400... 4816... -6.6
Nov... 10... 646... 4465... -4.2
Dec... 10... 670... 5442... -2

Obviously over the summer I worked out much more than when school started, but I am pretty happy with my amount of exercising over the last two months. I felt like I really needed to go to the gym more this month, but looking back it wasn't terrible.

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New measurements

Thursday, December 20, 2012

This week has already been a long week, but I guess the week before Christmas break is always long lol. I have had a lot of meetings with parents and for school, but something exciting happened yesterday. Teachers have coach class after school 1 day a week (which is almost like an open study/tutoring/help session). Three males in my coach class asked me to help them sign up to track their food. Two are wrestlers and are watching what they eat/wanting to eat better food and the other is in the obese BMI (but he is tall so it isn't like he looks incredibly unhealthy). I signed them up for teens.sparkpeople.com. They were pretty excited, so that's cool.

Yesterday I had some 15 bean and ham soup that I made. Quite tasty. My bf and his grandfather don't really do bean soup so for their dinner I made velveta shells and cheese with ground beef. I gave them a smaller portion than I normally would and made a salad and a plate of blueberries, apples, strawberries, grapes, and bananas cut up. It looked pretty nice. I made some pillsbury precut sugar cookies as a treat for them. However, I am seeing how difficult things are around the holidays. Since I am closer to my goal weight and I have been doing SP again since last february it's harder for me to avoid certain foods. I admit that I did have the left over pieces of cookie dough. It was fantastic lol. However, I know it's not worth it. I feel like I probably won't lose much weight during Dec. and I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. I have made a lot of progress so I am doing what I can and being the best I can be. I didn't throw the day away and didn't eat a lot for the rest of the night so I don't think it was too bad. I also bought myself some sugar free pudding cups at the store yesterday so I can avoid cravings in the future.

My bf went to the mall last night and is really excited about the things he picked out for Christmas presents. He wanted to exchange gifts last night, but we decided to wait a few days. We usually do gifts early. lol. I'm terrible at waiting. I think he might've picked out some fun clothes, so I can't wait to see how everything is:) I think this is the most excited he's gotten out of picking out gifts. It seems like he put a great deal of effort into it. That means so much to me:)

This morning I took my measurements. Here they are

In the last month...
Hips- 1
Waist- 1.5
Neck- 0
Stomach- 3
Chest- 2
Ribs- 0.5


Overall inches lost since February...
Hips- 9.5
Waist- 10
Neck- 2
Stomach- 14
Chest- 9.5
Ribs- 7.5

I am very happy about this. My exercising has definitely declined this week, but I am doing what I can. We shall see how these holidays go. Hope everyone else is getting through this week and has some fun plans in the near future:)

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Weekend updates (pics)

Monday, December 17, 2012

Had a great weekend. Went out with a friend on Fri. Saturday I ran some errands and my bf and I went to Panera. That night I went out with that friend again and then we had a girl sleepover. I love hanging out with her. Sunday we hung out for a while and then I brought my cat to a friend's neighbor who might be interested in adopting him. Cross your fingers. I think it went well. Here are some pictures from the weekend. I felt great about my outfits and got some attention, which was amusing. It is just so nice to feel free and to go out confidently and to enjoy being with a friend. My bf is great that he is so supportive of my girls nights and encourages it. We didn't spend as much time together this weekend, but the time we were together was great. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I did my hair saturday and liked how it turned out. I need to get my hair trimmed (it's been a year... oops lol). But I was happy at how it looked. It also didn't take as long as usual. I know I say this a lot, but I really need to keep doing my hair regularly versus wearing a ponytail everyday. That's one of my goals. I didn't work out as much this weekend as I wanted to and I didn't track my food over the weekend, but surprisingly my weight was down this morning. I'll take it! I am looking forward to doing weights again tomorrow and to keep working on this body. Hope everyone has a great week!! Friday my xmas break starts:)


My friend when we went out and her new red hair:)


Outfit I wore when I ran errands and went to lunch with my bf. He suggested we take pics:) I loved my new tights.





Friday's outfit




Saturday's outfit

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Gross stomach pic update

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Sunday I went to the gym and did weights ALL BY MYSELF! I have done them with the trainer, but this was the first time that I tried it on my own. It was fantastic! The gym wasn't super crowded. There were a handful of guys in the weight section, but they were all nice. When they wanted to jump in on a piece of equipment they would ask if they could jump in and if I was done with it. I felt like an equal. I have to say I LOVE looking at myself in the mirror while I was doing the weights. I can do the bicep curls standing tall and firm. When I first started doing weights a few times at the end of last school year I was struggling with 5 lb weights and I would lean over to the side trying to curl the weights. I am up to 10 lbs and up on all of the exercises and I look super official doing them lol.

I have found that I really love doing weights. I like being at the brink of giving up and settling for not completing the whole set, but pushing through and doing it. I like feeling like I've pushed my body to the limit and my muscles wanted to give up but I don't stop. It is almost a high! I feel accomplished when I finish and I have a lot of energy for the rest of the day.

Monday we had Zumba at school again and I sold grilled chicken wraps, granola bars, fruit snacks, and waters to fundraise for the Health and Wellness Club. I am trying to get more money to pay for Zumba. I am expecting that once it warms up and we are past the new year then we will have more people come out, but right now I am in the hole. The sales went pretty well. I pretty much paid off the cost of the food. I still have a case of tortillas (around 60 wraps), 30 lbs of chicken, around 60 slices of american cheese, etc., so the next time I sell wraps it'll all be profit. We shall see. Just trying to hang in there and keep it going as long as I can.

Yesterday I walked with a teacher on the track. We have been doing it after school 1-2 days a week. The teacher I walked with is still really excited about the fact that I got this exercise thing going. She is very energized and said when she missed exercising over the past few days due to car troubles she had felt like something was missing, like if she missed church. It is great to see the spark spreading:)

Here are my pictures from what I wore over the weekend. There are also pictures of my outfit today (I am wearing two jackets because it is cold in here... please don't think I teach at a high school in a tank top lol). I am also excited to share that the weird alien skin and fat that was on my stomach when I bent over is slowly shrinking!!!

Sept 22nd- stomach pic


Dec 12th- stomach pics



Pics from weekend





I liked how my legs looked when I was driving lol (the car was stopped when I took this pic)


Pics from today

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