Pay Off

Nothing feels better than moving towards your goals. Period. Especially when it's required hard work, endless moments of motivating yourself, time, and dedication.

I got my body fat tested back in September and was finally able to get it tested again to see my measurable results. At EXL Fitness, they use the most accurate manual form of body fat/muscle mass testing by using calipers. Essentially, the calipers pinch your fat in 4 or 7 different areas and it shows in millimeters how much fat it can pinch...best way to describe it haha. I have been anxious/scared to get it retested because of the nervousness it stirs inside me to want to see great results, but knowing I had been slacking off quite a bit for the last 3 weeks because of the holiday treats and other health issues that made it impossible for me to exercise. Not a good combo to happen right before body fat testing to say the least. So, onto the exciting and fun stuff! I took a picture of the paper we wrote it down on, although looking at it meant nothing to me until I understood what it all meant. I won't bore you with what each thing means, but spotlight the important ones and celebrate it, because after all, it is something to celebrate. Being proud of my accomplishments is a new thing for me - and it feels good.

9/8/12 

Weight - 144.5 lbs

Body Fat % - 26.08%

Fat Mass (lbs) - 37.69 lbs                                                       TOTALS

Lean Body Mass (muscle) - 106.81 lbs                                    -6.5 LBS

                                                                                                 -8% BODY FAT                      

                                                                                                 -12.91 LBS OF FAT

                                                                                                 +6.41 LBS OF LEAN MUSCLE

1/7/13                                                      

Weight - 138 lbs 

Body Fat % - 17.95%

Fat Mass - 24.78 lbs

Lean Body Mass - 113.22 lbs        

I was SHOCKED when I saw these numbers! To lose almost 13 lbs of straight up fat while adding over 6 lbs of lean muscle is not what I was expecting at all! It's practically a given that when you lose weight a portion of that will be a loss of muscle as well, but the fact that muscle was actually gained while losing that much fat is incredible, especially while breastfeeding because that definitely does not build muscle. I couldn't be happier and more proud of the results I'm seeing at EXL . Their methods straight up WORK. They are doing a team 2013 Contest that starts on January 14th that's a killer deal and awesome motivator to get you fast-tracked to your fitness goals. You do it with a team of 4 and it's 6 weeks long. I would be more than happy to do it with anyone who is interested! Or if you just wanna go try it out, go to their homepage and click the "FREE TRYOUT" button to go in and get a real feel for what you can expect there. Let me know if you're going and I'll plan to meet you there!    

Flashback

Flashback to my first time back in the gym after having Norah...I wrote this right after coming home that day, funny to remember all those feelings and how it seems so long ago. So proud of myself for sticking to it and accomplishing what I was telling myself back then. 

First time back Saturday May 26^th

Ok…so today was so hard. Nick and I have been work out buddies for years now and I’ve always been able to keep up. That was not the case today! And it was beyond annoying and depressing. It was so crazy to do exercises and being all pumped to do them again, and ended up not being able to even do 1. Even though my mind wanted to do it 100%, my body was physically not able to. Exercises I used to be able to do 15+ reps, I couldn’t even do 2. My strength has not just dissipated, but GONE! Talk about seriously depressing! And on top of it all, I looked like a workout idiot for looking so weak and uncoordinated. I was in shock how much my strength had decreased! I left the gym feeling very defeated and annoyed. Annoyed at the fact that working out used to be fun because I could push my body to it’s limits without hurting myself, being able to not only complete the workout, but surprise myself and N by doing more than I had set out to do. It was fun being strong! Now, realizing it is going to be real WORK to get there again. Losing the baby weight is one thing, but regaining that muscle and endurance is TOUGH!! It’s annoying how you can be so disciplined for days, weeks, months, and lose the majority of that hard work like 75 times faster than it took to get there. Tangent:Like how you can be so good all week with the basics(eating and exercising) then give yourself a whole free weekend and whatever weight you lost magically reappeared on the scale Monday morning (reason why you don’t weigh yourself everyday and that weight is not how to measure health. More on those topics in their own posts later) 

It can all be very frustrating, so how do we make it fun again? How do I not want to kill myself before thinking about working out? How do I not let overwhelming feelings and frustration take over my emotions that lead to poor decisions? 

Ready for it…..?

Look at the positive! Sooo not what you wanted to hear, I know.

Focus on the exciting parts of starting fresh! Now there’s so many milestones to hit and look forward to! The feeling of a sprint not being 7.0, but 8.0..holding a plank for a minute easily and not for barely 30 seconds…busting out 20 pushups instead of a struggling 5…crushing your cardio time vs miles. Those accomplishments are what will make working out fun again! Set your goals and actually accomplish them! There’s nothing that feels better than achieving goals you set for yourself! Make mini goals every workout and day that will boost you! Let’s call them boosters instead of goals, because that’s what they do. They boost your self confidence, your day, and your drive to keep going! Come up with a boosts for yourself this week. Mini boosts for everyday, then a big boost to accomplish by the end of the week to propel you into the next week! 

via Pinterest

5 1/2 months post baby...

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

It's an amazing thing to start to see your hard work pay off. For most of us, we are our hardest critics, the same couldn't be more true for me! Nick kept telling me how I was looking different, but every tie I looked at myself, i still saw the flabby tummy skin, stretch marks, and what wasn't how I wished it would be. The day of these pics was the day I finally gave myself some credit and saw a difference. Then, looking back at my 10 week photos, I was really blown away and was proud of myself. I don't know if there's a better feeling in the world than working toward a goal, making the sacrifices to get there, and then making yourself proud. My waist up has always been my 'problem' area so adding the whole pregnancy thing to it, I was pretty surprised that I actually could see definition. This was also the day I weighed myself and was pleasantly surprised by actually being under my pre-pregnany weight by almost 7 lbs! Cheers to goals and taking steps to reach them!

The frist time I looked in the mirror and really noticed a difference