Week 4 Day 1

It felt so good to sleep in, but my body is still so sore. And even though we spent a few hours at the mall yesterday, we decided to go back today! You see, we weren’t just walking any ol’ mall, we were walking the West Edmonton Mall, the (second?) biggest mall in the world. The evening before we conquered the bottom floor, and today we did the top floor. So a lot of walking was done again!

Today I had a “slip up” with my diet. I managed to make it fit my macros, but I completed decided it wasn’t worth it afterwards. I used to enjoy watching Cake Boss. His Italian family and him make cannoli for their shop. I LOVE cannoli but have only ever been able to find the pre-made ones, not the delicious homemade. And aside from them not being the greatest, they are particularly difficult to find around here. So when we went to an Italian caffe stand in the mall and I saw a cannoli, I bought one. All $5+ for ONE. The price alone should have told me no. But I ate it and it was… not good. It was starting to get soggy, the flavour was not bursting, the two candied orange slices at the end were definitely not my favourite… it wasn’t worth it.

You see, I follow a IIFYM (if it fits your macros) food plan (not diet!) because it is kind of like living on a budget. You have so many grams of protein, carbs, and fats that you have to use everyday. But in order to stay healthy or stay in your budget, you can’t go over any of those categories either. IIFYM is a type of budget where you need to use what you got or else it doesn’t carry over into the next day, but if you go over what you have, then you’ll get bad results. That cannoli was a terrible use of my macro budget.

Later that evening, we went to the gym. It was a gruelling workout (especially on already sore legs), but it was completed. The workouts this week seem to have gotten slightly harder, but only because of the types and amounts of exercises. We’re still in a 4-day a week, circuit weight training with 4 cardio sessions a week.

Shortly after the gym, we went home and went to bed. Nothing like allowing a sore body to get its rest!

Week 3 Day 7

This morning I made it to the gym! I hardly ever workout in the morning (I have to be at work at 7:30) so this was a treat!

I finished catching up on my workouts for the week (such a good feeling). I’m completely caught up! Yahoo!

I was so exhausted by the end though. My legs are KILLING me! That’s what you get for doing leg exercises three days in a row…

After working out, my husband and I decided to go shopping in the evening. This meant a ton of walking. Although I was sore, it actually felt good to get out and stretch.

We spent a few hours at the mall, and naturally we got hungry. So we opted for Jungle Jim’s. Fortunately, they have a “slim” menu that I was able to pick from. I had “slim” taquitos (baked, low fat cheese and chicken) with a jungle salad that consists of so many different vegetables. As a slight indulgence, we ordered some boneless wings and I had a few of those. As long as it fits my macros, I am ok with doing this once in awhile!

We ended the day well, had a lot of fun, and looked forward to rest that night. I can hardly believe it’s the end of week 3.

Celebrate Your Successes!

I’ve been working out fairly seriously for about 2 years. It actually has probably been 3 years, but there were periods of time where I took breaks (later regretted). In those two years, I have changed my view on so many things.

At first, I just wanted to be thin and worked out in so specific routine, but whatever I felt like for the day.

My next phase involved my husband introducing me to structured workouts. This was a bit of a battle at first, but I came to appreciate and realize the potential of structured workouts. This is the stage I also realized that I could not even bench press the 45-lb bar! I honestly couldn’t do it!

The next phase involved my diet and changing what I ate. I was still in the mindset of not wanting to look muscle-y but wanting to be thin. There were a few arguments involved in this stage as well and I’ve “wobbled” on this a few times.

After that phase, I think it finally became serious. I no longer thought that having some muscle was anti-feminine. In fact, I’ve grown to love the look. I would never compete in women’s bodybuliding as that is not the amount of muscle I would be comfortable in. But a shapely body with muscle is very beautiful on a women, and that’s been a total mind-change.

I had a 2-month phase where I was actually tired of working out. I had a rough year and just wanted to have a break from everything (except my marriage). I was on vacation, didn’t want to be so structured, and totally rebelled. This of course led to some awful weight gain and I kicked myself about it for a long time after.

But after that 2-month period, I’ve been in my final phase, and that is dedication. I’m dedicated to my workouts because I want them. I’m dedicated to eating clean and fitting my macros because I want to. Nobody is forcing me to do it. It’s all me and I love it. I have goals, I have an ideal body look, and I’m going to continue to fight day after day to get there!

When I look at how far I’ve come, it’s incredible. I’m nowhere near my end, quite close to the beginning. But the funny thing that I realized tonight was my success with that bench press. You see, I mentioned I couldn’t lift the bar because when I started, I honestly couldn’t. I was so much weaker than I thought. Tonight I was able to bench press 70 lbs for 5 sets without help. I hope to bench press much more than this, but just the fact that I’ve not only become strong enough to lift the bar but to go above and beyond that is something to celebrate.

Celebrate the successes. Make the successes and progress your own. Don’t do it for someone else, do it for yourself. When you want it, and you own it, you will do that much better.