Thursday, March 1, 2012

Exercise and Diet - Check!


Since October I've been on a health/exercise journey. I started off with a nutrition coach, then decided that wasn't for me, or she wasn't for me. So since then I've been concentrating on my eating habits and how it coincides with my exercise regime. I think I have finally found my sweet spot. 

My boss Brenda is as motivated as I am with working out, and she has been a great asset in working out. Since December I started taking exercise classes. I've never been an exercise class kind of gal. A spin class here and there but far in between. Alex and I started with a 2 hour spin class on Saturday mornings and it has naturally increased since then. The hours just fly by and I get such a good cardio sweat in. 

In January I added a Wednesday night Kick Boxing class with Brenda, a couple weeks later we added Pilates on Tuesday nights (which is now a Step class), I added Thursdays which are my weight/boot camp days, Fridays sometimes are just cardio or I just take the night off, then Saturdays are Kick Boxing mornings. 

I love food, there is no question about that. I think that's why the nutritionist didn't really work out. At first I was working out just to eat. I was starting to get toned and not loosing weight, which I understood because I hadn't changed eating habits, which is 80% of loosing weight. 

A couple of weeks ago something else clicked. I realized I am okay with eating bland breakfasts, like 4 egg whites and one whole egg along with 1/2 cup of rolled oats oatmeal with a teaspoon of honey; and bland lunches, like a 6 oz piece of baked chicken breast with a 3/4 cup of brown rice with dried figs mixed in. Of course an apple or orange for snacks in between. When it comes to dinner though, I can't play with that. It has to be flavorful. No salads, no plain chicken breast, and no brown rice. So I just keep it lower calorie and spice it up with www.myrecipes.com. I always have a couple high calorie meals throughout the week, for self pleasure and to spike my metabolism. My metabolism does well with low calorie meals and then spike it with a high one a few days later. 

I haven't lost a ton of weight, but I've started to tone up nice. For me it's not about a weight goal, it's about looks and feel. I would be very happy with a firm and solid 145, which is only 7 lbs. away, but I'll have to loose the fat and build with muscle. It just feels good to finally understand how this machine works and what's best for my mental health as well. I am finally happy with my eating habits and exercise regime!