Tag: diet journey

Top 100 Fitness Blogs and Websites on the planet

I am SO HAPPY to share with you that Chape Fitness has been listed as one of the Top 100 Fitness Blogs and Websites on the Planet! How cool is this?!

I feel so fortunate to have David training me 🙂 He has made wonderful things happen, always.

1001 CONGRATULATIONS, David!!!!

Source: Top 100 Fitness Blogs and Websites on the planet

Flabby-Assed to Fabulous With Chape! 2M 2W Update

Hello there, everyone 🙂

A very HAPPY Saint Patrick’s Day! I’m not sure how everyone celebrates this around the world, but I do hope that if you are celebrating, that you are careful and have a fantastic time!

Today, I wanted to give an update on how my weight loss journey is going. I’ve been working with David at Chape Fitness and he is awesome!

I am SO HAPPY to announce that I have lost 5,1% of my body fat so far in total! YAY! It’s been stubborn fat to get rid of too, let me tell you! The hormones make it sooooo difficult to shed the weight. However, David has finally managed to convince me to stop staring at the scale all the time. I realized that although the scale says my weight is bouncing close to the same numbers, I’m still losing cm. Inches, even! I am gaining muscle. So really, if I’m back in my skinny jeans soon – I don’t care what the scale says because I can SEE my body toning up.

Right now, the part of my body I am happiest with the results I’m seeing are my upper arms. David was concerned that I might be losing muscle mass, but it turns out that since my arms were quite flubby. You know what I mean – I wave and it looks like I have some sort of extra part that waves back at me from under my arms (Oh, so gross!). Anyway, that part that waves back is getting smaller – more tone. YYYIIIPPPPEEE!!!! All that weight work is starting to show, and not a moment too soon!

The challenges I’ve been facing are:

  • Peanut Butter. I know its fatty, but I was kiiiinnnnd of hoping it was good fat – like salmon. Turns out, I shouldn’t be eating it. Especially not smeared all over my bananas. And David was not very happy with me making it habit. Soooorrryyyy…. Peanut butter is out.
  • Push-ups. I can’t do pushups. Not even girl pushups. I’m doing it incorrectly, of course. Trying to use my arms and then whining cause I can’t do it. David says I need to use my pectorals for pushups and not my arms. This, I cannot seem to work out completely, but it does help. Consider this a WIP. (Work in Progress)
  • Happy Eating & Stress Starving. Some people are stress eaters. I am not one of them. If I’m really stressed out about something, I cannot possibly eat. I can go days with barely snacking, and then…..when I’m ok again, I’m starving! This is really where I get into trouble. I eat whatever reaches my hands the fastest, and that is usually not a good thing.  I had a long convo with David where he informed me (in quite strong voice) that I cannot skip meals! My body has gotten used to eating and metabolizing, and if I suddenly stop – chaos ensues. I’ve been on at least 3 meals (& working back into snacks) since then. Obviously, my response was ‘Yessir!’.

Things are going well and I’m really hoping that I can get back into that swimsuit by the time Spring is in full-swing. I’m so happy with the 5,1% body fat loss and am looking forward to hitting that next milestone!

Chape is currently running a new contest (found HERE) and this time there are 1300 Euros worth of prizes! That is HUGE! Only 19 days left, so I hope you do take the time to sign up. You pay nothing (no worries, you aren’t ask for any payment information) and somebody WILL win it, so it might as well be you!

Thanks so much for reading!

-Mliae

*Photo source: chestersflowers.com

One of my Lucky Readers is Getting Some Awesome Results With Chape!

Hello there 🙂

I pose this question to my fellow bloggers: Do you ever get the feeling that people aren’t really reading or participating in your posts??

I had this feeling EXACTLY! And then, I heard some fun news: One of my readers enrolled in the contest at Chape and won 3 months of free personal training! Glenda, I know you are reading this – please give us a wave, let people see who you are! CONGRATULATIONS GLENDA!!!

Now, I knew this lady is really fun, just judging by the comments she leaves here. But apparently she’s a hard worker too! Aside from the fact that she has managed to outshine me with a whopping 8% loss in body fat (!) I hear that she has also been quite enthusiastically engaged in the entire process. Good for you, lady! David did an entire write up on Glenda’s progress. I would love for you to read it, but since I can’t seem to manage a reblog, I’m linking to it here.

I again, would like to send a 100 Congratulations to Glenda on winning the contest and for making such amazing progress in such a short amount of time! By the way, the feature photo is Glenda’s ‘before’ photo. I can’t wait to see how she’s rocking that bod at the end of 3 months!

David is running another contest now. I encourage everyone to sign up if you are interested. You don’t have to give anything in return or sign up for anything other than your contact info for the contest. You can find it by following this link.

As for me; Progress is going well, but slow. (My fault entirely). Thursday was International Women’s Day and my husband came home with jam filled, white chocolate and cookie covered, heart shaped donuts. Sooooo….. You can guess what kind of sugar crazed animal I morphed into. That wasn’t great for the diet, for sure. But it was delicious and you all know that donuts are far beyond my limits of self-control. More to update next week (when I’ve been good again) 😉

Please visit the Chape website, if you are interested in a Free 14-day trial! There are currently only 4 places remaining.

Flabby-Assed to Fabulous with Chape Fitness: 1M 1W Update

Hello there 🙂

I just wanted to share a little update with you on how my first week of month 2 is going. So far, so good! As you know, I’ve been working with David from Chape Fitness to get me back into shape. A much smaller shape, and hopefully I won’t be resembling fruit anymore on the body shape charts. 😉

The scale is only showing a small reduction in weight, as I weighed in at 69,3 Kgs / 153 Lbs this week. However, I am actually starting to SEE that I’m building muscle. My stomach is starting to flatten out a bit! YAY! I still have a ‘pooch’ but the pregnant look is starting to slowly disappear. And that makes me Oooooohhhh Soooooo Happy! 😀 😀

I’ve been eating a lot of fish, and vegetables – with the occasional tofu dish thrown in. I’ve drastically reduced cheese (and since I don’t drink milk anyway) you can basically say I’m borderline dairy free. Keeping an online food diary has really helped me to keep track of what kind of monstrous feeding frenzies I’m having. Plus, its easier for David to correct my eating habits . I’ve nailed down the habit of drinking 1,5 L of water every day. I must admit, as odd as it is, it seems to be helping!

My workouts got a bit of a makeover this week. I have a whole bunch of new exercises (which include forms of the dreaded pushup. Uuuggghhhh….) and my workouts are now set up for circuit training sets. So, instead of doing 3 sets of 1 exercise – then on to the next, I’m doing 3 rounds of ALL the exercises for that day. Also, my warm-ups are a lot more cardio involved, whereas they were previously planks and bridges. I have not taken my measurements this week, but I will next week and I look forward to reporting some happy percentages!

Thanks for reading!

-Mliae

Flabby-Assed to Fabulous with Chape Fitness: Month One in Review

The first 31 days have passed. I wanted to review the entire month because it’s easier to see the ‘big picture’ that way. Let me begin by saying that this first month has been a rocky one. While my body was getting used to the new diet, eating schedule, amount of liquids and the exercise – there have been a few baffling days for me. That being said, my system is adapting now and I can see the progress I’m making! YYYEEESSSS!!!!

As you may now know, I am working with David from Chape Fitness. He’s been really incredible as a trainer, friend and sometimes therapist. He already know me so well. When I haven’t updated my water intake, meals or workouts by a certain point in the day – he always asks if everything is OK & sends me a friendly reminder – that I haven’t done what I’m supposed to, so get to it! – with a smile 🙂 I must admit that if it weren’t for being monitored somewhat, I would definitely not be doing as good as I am.

I am now under 70 Kgs! I started at over 71. Then I had like 2 weeks of insane weight fluctuations (which is normal and expected). But in the past few days, I can see my weight steadily dropping again, which makes me SO HAPPY! Today, I weighed in at 69,8 Kgs / 154 lbs!

It seems to me that the first couple kilos are the hardest. It’s like trying to reignite your body. I’ve been fighting for the past 6 months to get under 70 Kgs and I’ve finally done it! Next goal: Under 68 Kgs / 150 Lbs. Here I come!

This month, I have successfully shed 3,4% body fat (YAY!) & 2,9% body fat mass (another YAY!) and achieved 1,9% lean body mass. 😀 😀 😀

It has been a month of changes here. Changes to so much! For the most part, the changes I’ve been making have integrated easily. I’m listing below those which seemed quite natural, those which were ‘challenging’ and those which I just can’t seem to get right.

Changes that went smoothly:

  • The change into actually paying attention to what I’m eating. This happened quite quickly, actually. I had a few slip-up days, but in general, eating healthier became exciting. There haven’t been any problems at family mealtimes or anything. I have my food, my portions. If others want to eat something different, its fine. I’ve not been asked to adhere to others schedules. We still sit at the table together for meals (even if we’re eating at different times) and I have only had 1 moment when I really wanted something for myself. I attribute that to my well-document food envy issue though, as I had just had my own meal about 20 minutes earlier.
  • Exercising daily. This was a surprisingly easy habit to pick up! Granted, I have some scheduling issues and should probably not find myself working out late in the evening. However, laying out the mat & getting through my workouts feels really great! Who doesn’t love the feeling of accomplishment on the daily?!

Things I had a difficult time adapting to:

  • Eating 5x’s daily. I have 3 meals and 2 snacks. Snacks are basically 1 piece of fruit. I’m not accustomed to eating so frequently & my mindset has been that if I eat more, I gain weight. This is surprisingly untrue! It hasn’t been until this past week that I have been able to remind myself to grab a piece of fruit & knock it down. I can do it now. And I’m still losing weight! 🙂
  • Water. OMG, the WATER! I was drinking 1 cup of coffee and maaayyyybbbeee .75 liters of water a day. That’s it. David recommended I get up to 2L of water daily, plus green tea after meals. I finally managed to get my liquid intake up in the last 5 days. I feel like I’m floating and I’m running to the Ladies’ every chance I get. I’ve been assured that my body will adjust soon & I believe it. Still losing weight! I don’t understand it, but I like it 🙂
  • Forearm planks. These things are terrible. But I do 3, every day, as a warm up. I still can’t hold it for so long, but I can definitely feel that it’s working. And you know what? I’m noticing now that the 1st I do feels so much easier than it did just 2 weeks ago. That tells me, I’m getting in shape! YEAH BABY, YEAH!!

Things I’m still struggling with:

  • Lunges with weights. I can maybe complete 1 set of these. But I am unable to complete all 3 sets. Practice makes perfect though, so I’m still trying.
  • Dumbell overhead tricep extensions. I’m working with 5Kg hand weights. I’m ashamed to admit that I have to do this move 2-handed….still, to this day. I keep trying though and hopefully, one Thursday soon, I’ll have it down to one hand 😉
  • Craving sweets. This month I was quite bad about not being able to turn down sweets, baked goods, anything with sugar and carbs. David told me with quite loud voice to lay off the industrial baked goods, which I have actually done now. The changes of my body with the healthier food has gotten it to the place where I can see immediately (or in the same day) the effects of eating badly. If I slip up and eat junk food, or pig out on an overtly large plate full of carbs, I can see now that I’m always craving sweets or more food after 10 at night. When I don’t load up on sugar/carb laden foods, the cravings are barely there. But, I do get that stressed-out/ Netflix and chill desire for chocolate or snacks sometimes and I’m having a hard time working my way through it without relenting and then regretting it later. This is something I will need to continue working on. FYI – I would eat the entire box if someone were to walk in with donuts. That’s beyond the limits of my willpower.
  • Scheduling my workouts. My workouts are planned Monday-Friday. Weekends are free. The problem is, our house is busy. I don’t normally find the time for working out and everything until usually after 8 in the evening. By that time, I’m usually so tired it takes some effort to drag myself to do it. I know if I could manage it earlier in the day, it wouldn’t feel like such a challenge. But for some reason, it’s always nighttime. This I have to figure out, and soon!

Things are going well. I hope they continue going well this upcoming month, and now that the weight fluctuations are behind me it seems (I hope!), hopefully I will start being able to visibly see the difference soon! I’m still in the nervous range. Feeling really insecure that I’ll have rubbish food binge and wake up at the same weight I started. I’ve been thinking a lot about this and I think that once I manage under 68 Kgs, I’ll kind of be beyond the nervous area. So that’s really what I’m looking forward to next. I’m really excited, however, about the prospect of fitting into my skinny jeans again! They are at least 1-2 sizes too small now, but there will be a victory lap when I am in them again. Can’t wait!

How’s your lifestyle change going?

-Mliae

Flabby-Assed to Fabulous: Week 1 update.

Yoga dog says ‘You aren’t exercising enough, lazy girl!’…Haha, she’s my motivator. Apparently, if I’m not on the mat for too long, she makes herself a spot there. Always great to have a buddy to keep you going! 🙂

As most of you know, I’m working with David from Chape fitness to get back in shape! This is my 1st update, after my first 7 days on this new regime.

Today, I’m feeling good & I’m feeling sore! No joke, yesterday was a big time leg day after a weekend of rest and I feel like I’m walking like a cowboy. Ou, ou, ou…….

I’m not actually hungry, but I fear that I will be  this next week, when I actually do what I should be doing.

So this is where I started:

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And this is where I am after the 1st 7 days:

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800 grams down! That’s like 1.5 lbs which falls into the healthy loss range per 1 week of weight loss. YEEESSSSSS! I’m so happy, I’m really hoping to break under 70 kg next week. 🙂 🙂

I’m actually really loving this regime. The exercise is hard, at least for me when I’m starting all over again. But in 30 minutes, its short enough that I’m not having to force myself to do it. I know that if I can just get down on the mat, I will work my way through it in good time. When I’ve completed said workout, I feel really good about myself! Its like, I don’t have feel bad about not doing it right, because every time I make myself the proper food, eat my snack and do my workout, I’ve done everything David asked! I actually did it! So when I try to make myself feel bad for being lazy – I can’t! And that’s a wonderful feeling 🙂

I have also noticed (as of yesterday & Friday) that when my workout is over, I now have energy to do more…and want to! This was a huge surprise, as I thought I would be running from that mat just as fast as I could (like I was the 1st 3 days). But instead, I’ve actually asked David if it’s ok to do some extra exercises from other days. 0_O He rather that I do extra workouts from the same day set, and not from other days. I can clearly understand why, because he has it worked out & it’s a quite intricate system.

The recipes have been really great. I knew that my count of 40 was waayyyy too low, so I went back and tried to count how many recipes he really sent me. No joke, I lost count about 130 something. I went back and looked, because there are so many. 270 recipes there. 270! Yeah, with that kind of variety, I don’t think its possible for anyone to complain! So far, I’ve tried a few. They worked out really well (even if I had to substitute an ingredient here & there).

One of the recipes I really like (& it’s super easy) is the tuna salad recipe. I’ve eaten this 3 times this week. The recipe I was given, was to take 1 avocado (mash it up), add 1 can of white meat tuna & black pepper, then mix. That was actually really good & extremely healthy! For me, I’m having a hard time not using mayonnaise. But I found an egg salad recipe he sent that used yogurt instead of mayo. I added a big spoonful of Turkish yogurt to the mix and it was so creamy and good! Granted, it tasted healthy – because nothing tastes like mayo. But, it was the healthiest version of a dish I love and it was surprisingly yummy. I could get used to this! Oh, wait. I think I have to. Hahaha…Score!

I had difficulties this week 5 ways:

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(Photo above depicts my 1 cup of dried pasta – that’s my self inflicted measurement. Mainly because I really want to use those cute leaf measures we picked up in States!)

  • I stopped counting. Sort of. I didn’t count every last gram of protein or carbs.  I kind of used it as a suggestion. So, when I ate my baguette slices (Ooohh..bad, bad!) I kind of didn’t take it away from anything else. I justified it by the fact that I could eat unlimited veggies – and the bowl of spinach, tomato & mozzarella in from of me counted as veg. For the most part anyway, which brings me to >>>

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  • Cheese is not only for dessert. I couldn’t do it. I only cheated twice this week. But its still a lot. Ironically, I had no cheese for dessert. But I did have soft mozzarella on my spinach salad. Something about it being a bit taboo, made me want it more than usual. I do not understand this phenomenon. Any crazy-people doctors out there willing to share their expertise on the matter?
  • Water and green tea. I did not drink enough of either. It is a lot for me to drink 2 liters of water per day. I am trying to increase my intake, but I’m not doing very well at it. I am, however, chugging a glass of water (warm, if possible) immediately every morning to get my metabolism started. And I’m very proud of that 🙂 For the 1st 2 days, I really tried to stick to all the recommendations. On day 3, I had to ask David if I could not drink green tea after dinner. You see, I don’t drink a lot of caffeine. I was up until almost 2 in the morning, after drinking green tea in the evening, so he gave me a pass on the night time cup.
  • I could not do the full set/time on some of the exercises. Like this forearm plank. It’s a warm-up for me, but I can’t hold it for the full time. It looks so easy, but it hurts so bad. I know my bum & belly will thank me for it, but – Oooowwwwyyyy! I DID notice during yesterdays warm-up however, that I can already hold those insanely difficult planks for longer, after just continuing to try every day. Yay! 🙂
  • I could not eat 5 x’s per day. I have 3 meals, and 2 snacks – which consist of 1 piece of fruit per snack. For some bizarro reason, I could not eat the full amount. I found myself either skipping meals, or skipping a snack. Every single day. Shame on me! I have to do better next week. I was surprisingly too full to think about eating more – even though my portions are controlled. How weird is that?!

Technically, these aren’t rule breaks – but I couldn’t do exactly the regime, so I’ve included them.

Lessons learned this week:

  • You have to follow the program exactly, if you want the best results. This means; no exercising off-grid, EAT the way you are supposed to, drink the way you are supposed to!
  • Alcohol will kill progress. A glass of wine or pint of beer is okay every so often, but going out to a party and having several drinks in one day – that will kill your progress. Not to mention leading to a slightly grumpy personal trainer….
  • Don’t cross-contaminate workouts. 
  • Apologize when you screw up. I’ve done much of that this week, and yet David still continues to work with me 🙂

Great changes that happened this week!:

  • 800 g gone!
  • I have more energy! I know that this will increase even more, but in the past few days I’ve felt more awake, motivated – than before. And that, is awesome!
  • I’m already seeing results! This is a huge surprise, since its only been 7 days. But I can tell the difference, even slightly in the way my body moves & how quickly I’m adapting to the programme. (Except for leg day. That was brutal!) Best thing is: I’m so motivated now because I can’t wait to see how my body changes!
  • I’m not hungry! I don’t know if it’s all the extra water intake or what. But I’m eating at least half less of the overflowing portions I was before, but I don’t feel like I’m on Barbie sized portions. I can eat 100g of fish plus a bucket full of vegs, but I prefer to eat in proportions relative to one another, and extra later if I need it. And here’s the clincher: I don’t HAVE to east small portions. I can eat unlimited amounts of veg. However much I want to! I just…don’t need it. Not right now, anyway. How cool is that?!

What do you think? Going well, or not?

I’m off now, gone to my days’ weight workout 😉

-Mliae

 

When You Mañana Your Fitness Goals Too Much

Today I had a good long chat with David from Chape Fitness. I had a good whine about how I have managed to gain a ton of weight since my surgery last year & how frustrated I am that its obviously a hormonal thing, but that I just can’t seem to get the weight back down.

Part of my frustration comes from the fact that David had me in superb condition which stayed great for much more than the following year and had me feeling fantastic when it came time to try on wedding dresses! But the surgery, it ruined everything. Thankfully, David to the rescue! He told me that for number one: I cannot wait to begin. No more ‘Tomorrow’ ‘mañana’. If I want to get serious, I have to do it and do it today!

In case you are wondering; I run to David for my fitness/weight/diet instruction because I trust him. I have worked with him before and he knows how to get (and keep) the flab off! Most fitness bloggers only last a few months, but I have been actively following his blog for more than 2 years now. In the blogosphere, longevity speaks volumes! And finally, David has this way of insisting I do the right thing – even in a quite loud voice on the required occasions, but always with a smile on his face and a friendly pat on the back to follow.

Start Now was his big piece of daily advice, and he’s absolutely correct! That’s why I am sharing it with you now. Why wait until 1st January? Let’s start now! I’m sure we can accrue a cheat day or 2 for the holidays…right? 😀 😀

If you would like to read this inspirational post, you can find it by clicking here.

Are you starting your fitness goals today?

-Mliae

Winter slim-down week 9

Nope, mr. scale…I won’t fear you anymore! To date, in the past 8 weeks, I have lost a total of 3,8 kg or 8.3 lbs! Since 9 kgs (20 lbs) was my weight loss goal, I am more than 30% of the way there…WOOOHHHOOOOOO!!!

To those of you who read my last week update, thank you for all your support and comments! My teeth are A-OK and I’m back in the game and raring to go!

During the holiday season, I’ve decided to just enjoy myself and try to make up for my utter lack of self control with exercise. The amount, duration and type of exercise change or increase bi-weekly. I’m assuming that my appetite decreased when I was having dental issues, and just hasn’t yet fully returned. Nothing drafting, just in the manner that I can go fine-dining and not come home hungry enough to eat the couch. This combined with an increasing level of excercise seems to be doing the trick!

What I’ve been doing:

  • Vegetarian diet
  • 1 coffee daily limit
  • I STOP eating when my body tells me its full! Sometimes the plate doesn’t need to be licked clean.
  • I keep eating if I’m still hungry after 20 minutes.
  • 100 daily intermittent squats
  • Rotating hand weights, kettle bells with a day break in between
  • Using my own body as resistance with stretches
  • Walking. The weather has been really nice and getting some fresh air, enjoying the outdoors – never hurt anybody
  • Real life exercise of running up and down the stairs 30 times daily 😉

I’m also super excited because we’ve managed to adopt 2 older huskies, which will be here soon! YYYYEEEEEEEEAAAA! I can’t wait…I’m soooo excited 😀 This will require several long walks or jogs daily so a win-win situation 🙂

Enjoy your holiday season!

Thanks for reading

-mliae