Failure, lifestyle change, and not giving up

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Jackie

Do you ever have days or weeks when you feel like a total failure and that giving up would be a lot easier than continuing on? It’s sort of a silly question because my guess is that most people will answer yes, they feel that way once in a while.

That was me last week. I don’t know what brought it on but changing your lifestyle is hard and it’s so incredibly easy to fall back into your old ways and think that it’s so much more comfortable there.

For me, I’ve decided that I am not dieting. I am making a lifestyle change because once I reach a goal weight I’m not stopping and going back to eating what I want all the time. I can’t. At this point in my life I have to fully accept that I am not that 20 something (or teen) that used to eat a king size Reese’s for breakfast with a bottle (yes, a glass bottle) of diet coke. I am 40 years old with 4 kids and my metabolism isn’t near what it used to be.

Changing my lifestyle isn’t just about losing weight and getting in shape though. It’s about my health, living a long active life, and being there for my family whenever they need me. Heart disease, diabetes, and a variety of other health issues run in my family and I don’t want to be a candidate for any of them… I don’t want to take pills daily to keep my cholesterol in check, or insulin shots because my body can’t handle it on it’s own.

I started the Revolt program because I need to tone up all the flab from losing weight in the past year, lose that last stubborn 10lbs, look amazing, and learn better habits.

Well, last week I kind of fell off the wagon. I was craving sweets, breads, and all the bad crap! I ate it too and I won’t lie… that elephant ear was freakin’ delicious people! The homemade ramen stir-fry was tasty too and the no bake cookies that my daughter made.

Anyway, I think that it simply comes down to being human. I don’t believe that anyone can change his or her eating habits and lifestyle overnight. It takes weeks to make that change permanent but even after you’ve got it down and are doing awesome life happens and you eat a piece of cake … or two. And some chips.. whatever.

This week is a new week and I am committed to trying harder to really push myself with the Revolt workouts and sticking as close to the meal plan as I possibly can. Besides, I have a couple short-term goals to reach! One is to look as good if not better than my sister when she comes home and two is to look awesome at BlogHer!

How have you been able to reach your goals?

Have you made a lifestyle change like this? How did you achieve it?

Disclosure: I was chosen as a Revolt Fitness Program blogger and received free membership to try the fitness program out and share my thoughts on it. All opinions expressed are my own.

Fitness Friday – Revolt Update

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Jackie

Well, it’s been 2 weeks since I started the Revolt program and I won’t lie…. it’s been really hard. Of course I knew that going into it because no diet and/or workout plan is ever easy, especially if you want to see results, right?

So the big news this week… I’ve lost about 5lbs total! Not ideal but it’s a start and it can only get better from here. I will admit that I have not stuck to the diet 100% and that I sometimes skip the icky green smoothies. I tried… honest I did but I just could not do it. It tasted and smelled like grass and was thick and clumpy. I’m sure that there are much better uses for kale than a smoothie no matter what the health benefits are.

Something I have noticed is that I’m getting stronger (and sore some days) and that means that I am building lean muscle which will help fuel the calories being used. The workouts are 5 days a week with Monday, Thursday, and Saturday being giant cardio circuits and Tuesday being lower body sculpting and Friday being upper body sculpting (Wednesday and Sunday are off days).

Exercises that I have learned to hate but that means they work.

Planks. The first 30 second plank is easy peasy… the 2nd… it’s starts to get a little challenging, the 3rd… my muscles are shaking and it takes a lot of focus to stay in place…. the 4th… well, lets just say that I don’t always make it to the 4th one.
Stability ball pass through. The first time I did this I could not keep my legs straight and move them slowly down to the floor because my core was/is just not strong enough. I had to pause the video because Nichole can do them at an unnatural rate of speed and has 10 or 12 done before I’m on to number 4. But… slow & steady wins the race! Today I was actually able to do them (my legs weren’t totally straight) but I didn’t have to pause in between each one.
Wall squats. 30 seconds. I needn’t say more.

The exercises are broken down into level 1, 2, and 3 and level 1 does 3 circuits and 2 and 3 do 4 circuits. I do the level 2 exercises but I’ll admit that there are times that I’ve had to stop after 3 circuits because I simply can’t do anymore. To make up for that and to help speed up the changes in my body I head out for a run or a walk in the evenings.

My goal is not have a baby belly or thunder thighs! I don’t expect to walk away looking as awesome as Nichole but I do want to look good in a swimsuit again.

What exercise or weight loss goals do you have? How are you achieving them?

Why yes, this is a sponsored post. I am a Revolt blogger and have been given access to the meal plans and all the workout videos for free in return for my honest thoughts and opinions about the program.

Growing Old Gracefully

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Jackie

Okay… growing old gracefully. What does that really mean? Is it a real thing? Can it be avoided? I wasn’t really sure what it meant so I asked Google and this is what I learned.

Being accepting of your age and keeping a youthful spirit. Watching your diet and exercising, maintaining your looks the best you can, keeping your style of dress suitable for your age. Staying interested in life around you and people of all ages. Not getting stuck in a rut and learning new skills, developing new interests.

Embracing your age– accepting gray hairs and wrinkles.

Letting your hair go gray, or away, starting to wear sweaters more, eating the early bird dinner at Denney’s and quietly proceeding to the nearest retirement home for BINGO and early bedtimes.

Growing old (or growing older) gracefully means accepting the past as the past; a place to remember, nut not a place to live in. And it means accepting the place God has put you in, as the place you are meant to be.

Hmm….

This is a list of a few of the things that I’ve noticed about growing old.

Wrinkles are inevitable no matter what lotions & potions you slather all over your face. I’ve tried a lot and those damn wrinkles never go away.
Your metabolism takes a major nose dive. This means that when you’re young you can eat anything you want all day (like a king size Reese’s peanut butter cups & Clearly Canadian water or Diet Coke for breakfast) and it doesn’t do anything whereas when you get older you have to merely lick a Reese’s and there an extra 5 lbs on your thighs.
Femstache. Yes, it is a real thing and it’s terrible. I’ve often seen women out there who have a stray hair or more and wonder what was up with that… did they shave it or something? What I didn’t realize is that it’s part of getting old! Yea… I’ve found one of those stray, dark hairs! It scared the hell out of me too.
Dressing suitable for your age…. this makes me very sad. I realize that I’m not a 20-something anymore… hell, I’m not even a 30-something. But I can and should still be able to wear what I like as long as I don’t look like a street walker, right? I kinda like those Miss Me jeans but my kids told me I can’t wear them…. those and a few other things because I’m too old. I’m sure not ready to turn in my regular jeans & pants for the high-waisted, elastic at the waist, no back pocket grandma jeans! I don’t think I’ll ever get to that point… and if I do I would hope that one of you would would shake some sense into me.
Gray hair is also inevitable and with dark hair it really stands out. I will admit that I am vain and will color my hair till the end of time to cover it up! My hair is thick and course and if I let it turn gray I’ll look like that crazy witch with the bobby pins flying out of her hair in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.

I’m not really clear what it means to grow old gracefully still but what I do know is that I have experienced everything in that list in the past couple of years and it sucks… big time. I hate the idea of growing old, turning gray, and letting things just go their own ways because I know that if I try hard enough I can hold it off for a while long or at least hide it really damn well.

What do you think about this growing old gracefully thing?

Are you just accepting all the things that come with age?

How are you battling age?

A week of anger

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Jackie

My first thought was to just skip the post for today and play around on Pinterest for a while. It mostly made sense since I hadn’t been there in a while, but the post won for a few reasons. 1) It’s been on my mind and I really think I’ll feel better if I write and 2) Pinterest will be there waiting for me as soon as this post is finished.

Last week was a bad week for me. Really bad and I don’t know why, what caused it, or how to prevent it from happening again.

It was all me. 100% me.

I was angry at everything and everyone and I knew it… I was able to see it but I couldn’t make it stop.

I was in a terrible mood. I recognized this as well and as hard as I tried I couldn’t shake it or keep it from affecting everything in my life.

I was very low on patience. This is a bad thing when you have a very busy toddler who barely slows down when he has a double ear infection AND pink eye.

There were highs and lows all week long and I had a dull headache for more than half of the week from it all. Maybe the headache was the root cause of my bad week or the constant state of cold, wet weather. PMS? Possibly, but my good friend Mirena has blocked our dear Aunt Flo from visiting so it’s hard to tell anymore. I honestly do not know what it was.

The littlest things would set me off and I’d snap at someone or worse yet I’d yell at them, especially when my patience wore to thin. It was something that I didn’t feel like I could control no matter what I did. And I tried…. but I don’t think that it was enough.

The worst part about it was that I knew I was in a bad mood and feeling angry… I knew it. I could feel it’s grip on me all day long. All I wanted was to be left alone… totally alone. I didn’t want to go anywhere, help anyone, make dinner, or even go to work. Alone with my Diet Coke or any other pop (soda) and my books.

My books were the one place I could get lost and mostly forget about the anger that encompassed me all week. Books were the place that I found some bit of solace. I was alone in my books where nobody bothered me or wore my patience thinner than they already were.

To say that I felt terrible was an understatement. Feeling like you’re that angry and in such a bad mood makes it a challenge to be a good parent… hell, it makes it hard to me a mediocre parent. I feel like I let me kids and family down because I wasn’t the person I should be… I wasn’t the person that they deserve.

This is the first time that I’ve felt like this… my hope is that it’s also the last.

Courtesy of Pinterest

This week has been better. A lot better.

I’m tired though and there is a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders. It’s like the weight of the anger & the bad mood has been lifted and my body is now bearing the marks that are left behind from the previous week.

Did writing this help? A little. I will tell you that I have not gone back to edit this at all for fear that I’d change it to much from my original thoughts and feelings as I wrote. It’s better this way I think.

Linking up with Shell for Pour Your Heart Out.

In a slump… Cinch Update

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Jackie

I’m trying to remain positive and I’m still following the Cinch plan. No, I’m not following it 100% and maybe that’s the trouble but I have upped my workouts and no matter what I do I can’t seem to shed these last 10lbs! I’ve been stuck for a while it seems… funny thing is that the weight went down for a while and I was super close to my goal but it managed to get right back up. It’s like my body thinks it has to be just under 160lbs but not at 150!

I’m in a slump. I almost feel like giving up really… but I know that I’ve come really far in the past 6 months and that giving up should never be an option. So I am reaching out to all of you.

This is what I need…

Help getting out of this slump.
A stalker of sorts to make sure that I’ve been to the gym (3 times/wk) and to make sure that I’m not eating a bunch of crap.
A cheerleader to push me.

This is what I’m going to do…

NO MORE Diet Coke. I’m quitting again.
Workout 3 days a week minimum.
Cinch shakes twice a day.

I am so close to succeeding that it’d be such a huge win for me!

I love the Cinch program and have never had such good success with losing weight before ever! It truly has been life changing for me… want an example?

Okay, I joined the YMCA and with that membership came a free month to all of the aerobic classes that they offer. Nice, huh? So I decided to do the HIIT (high intensity interval training) class one morning before work (it’s at 5:30am that alone should show some dedication to wanting to lose the weight). Here’s a bit of info about the class, it’s a timed interval class that focuses on 1 to 2 minutes of high energy movements with 30-second recovery. It increases your energy, strength and endurance. Doesn’t sound to bad, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that it was HARD. I somehow managed to keep up without stopping and finished the class, but… by the end of the day I was starting to feel it. It was good though because I knew that I finally had a good workout. The following day came and walking after sitting for a while hurt like hell! The day after that it still hurt but I went back to the gym and got in almost 3 miles on one of the elliptical machines and a few weights. Then the weekend came and I was back to normal!

I’m going back to the class on Wednesday morning. Why? I need to. I have to. I found something that finally worked that jiggly part of my arm! The ab workout was freakin’ amazing. Best of all… the instructor took her time and came over to work with me directly and show me how to do things right so the workout was effective.

This month my numbers haven’t changed at all. The weight and measurements are exactly the same! Good news is that I’m maintaining… bad news is that I’m not losing…

October & November measurements

Chest: 32
Waist: 30.5
Hips: 40
Thighs: 24
Arms: 12
Weight: 157
BMI: 24.0

Gotta start somewhere… so to the gym I go!

I would love to hear what your ideas are! How do you get past the slump? What have you done to lose those last few stubborn pounds?

Anyone want to be my helper/stalker/supporter?

You can also check out my video update too! It’s not that good… I suck at videos.

I do highly recommend the Cinch program and would more than happy to answer any questions that you might have about the program or how I’ve done with the program.

UPDATE!! I wrote this on Monday (11/19) and as of Tuesday (11/20) the scale moved a bit. I’ve managed to get down to 154.

This is a sponsored post as part of the Shaklee Corporations’ Team #Cinchspiration Campaign. I have received free products, online support and incentives for my participation. However the opinions and pics are my own!