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!!!!
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:
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
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.
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
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:
Things I had a difficult time adapting to:
Things I’m still struggling with:
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
Hi there 🙂
Most of you know by now that I’ve been working with my old buddy old pal David from Chape Fitness, to shed this extra winter blubber that’s been keeping me warm this year. Things have been going great! With the daily workouts, the nutrition help & knowing that my trainer is keeping a veeerrrryyyy close eye on me – I really have no choice but to succeed. That being said, its on to the summary of my week.
I hit under 70 kgs! This was my first goal, and the most difficult thus far. But I reached it and I’m SO HAPPY! YYYAAAYYY!!! 😀 😀
This week, was the week of weight fluctuations. That’s right, you guessed it! I am losing my mind. Not a little bit either. Full on panicky emails at 6 in the morning asking David what I did wrong. To which he replies: ‘I told you about the weight fluctuations. Check it again tomorrow. You won’t believe it, its weird.’ I didn’t believe him. But you know what? He was absolutely correct. And it is WEIRD! I’m not kidding. I hit under 70 at 69,9 kg, then the next day I weighed in at 70,6. The day after that? 69.5 kg! Thats a 1,1 kg or 2,5 lb weight loss in one day!
That made me very happy, but I’m still so worried that I’ll wake up and all the weight will be back. This fear is my nightmare. It’s like I feel so out of control of my own weight that I’m afraid it will all just pile on me while I’m sleeping like hair gel on a girls night. So odd. I know that if I am just able to maintain good momentum, I will get to a point where I know that I will have had to do something really spectacular & totally irresponsible to fear instantaneous weight gain. Honestly? I cannot wait until that day comes!
This week, I ate well…for the most part. For the rest of it, my diet was shit. Apparently, I have loads of self-control when I’m at home & surrounded by people who respect what I’m going through. I could not be more grateful for this! However, when I am out or with other people – well, I succumb to temptation. This weeks temptation was a coffee party. Basically, a group getting together for ‘coffee’ which also involves copious amounts of home baked goods, pastries, cakes, cookies. *Drool, drool, drool….. I think you know me well enough by now to know that I would never be so rude as to turn down a fresh baked good being served to me by the chef! Of course not! Never! Instead, I scarfed them down like the little piglet I am and went back for more. I mean, David did say ‘Lay off the industrial baked goods!’ – these weren’t industrial, they were homemade! 😉
Exercise. The workouts are going well. This week, I was thrilled when my hubby shared his observation that my hips seem to be getting a teensy bit smaller! Happy Happy, Joy Joy! 😀 Mondays are leg day, which means I’m sore for at least 2 days after that. This week, I thought I would have a leg up (haha, pun intended) since my body went through its healing process last week. But Nooooo, somebody increased my reps. So, I’m still here, being an amateur. But I’m loving it. Really. If my guy is noticing a difference, then something wonderful is happening!
This is my least favourite, yet highly effective exercise of the week: The forward lunges with hand weights. It’s basically impossible for me to get all the way down & back up without doing that geriatric grunt. You know the one, ‘uuuuhhhh oooohhhh – ow’. Here’s the video for my weeks’ most hated.
My goal for this upcoming week is to settle into the weight loss. I really REALLY want to see something under 69 kg. But speaking the truth, if I can just stop yo-yo’ing and land on a smaller number, it would be great. I’m also hoping to get my body somewhat used to the exercises so I can not only push myself a bit further, but also enjoy a brief moment of ‘Oh yeah, I got this!’. David said he’s also working on finding me healthy alternatives for my baked goods habit. Good thing he also serves as a therapist, because there will be tears.
How’s your New Years Bod coming along?
-Mliae
Also, I wanted to share with you that David is having a Fitness Meet & Greet with a link share, so if you feel like doing a bit of networking or dropping your link, you can find the post by clicking here.
This is pretty cool. I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that Chape has just started this contest. Basically, all you need to do is follow THIS LINK and sign-up. The contest runs for the next 30 days.
Its a great deal, as 3 months is valued at 450 Euros!
Please let us know if you win!
-Mliae
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:
And this is where I am after the 1st 7 days:
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:
(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!)
Technically, these aren’t rule breaks – but I couldn’t do exactly the regime, so I’ve included them.
Lessons learned this week:
Great changes that happened this week!:
What do you think? Going well, or not?
I’m off now, gone to my days’ weight workout 😉
-Mliae
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
OMG, OMG, OMG…
I am SO MAD at myself right now! It’s been 6 weeks since major surgery and I am still not allowed to do anything. Seriously, nothing. At least until my physician gives me the green light. And with 6 weeks of minimal movement & the food that accompanies, I’ve gained at a rate of 1 kg (about 2 lbs) per week. 6 kg’s total. I cannot fit into my dress. My beautiful dress.
I spent almost a year last year, fighting to slim down and fit nicely in my swimsuit. Which I finally did, thanks to David. (who is going to be sooooo disappointed). If I could exercise, this would go away, I know it. But what does a person do when they are unable to run, lift, stretch, squat – and the like? I don’t want to go all eating disorder diet, but that baby food & cabbage soup diet is looking pretty good right now. Help!
What do I do now?
-Mliae
This is awesome! Check out this post by http://www.chapeblog.com and get yourself synced with this! Very cool, David! 😀
Hello, dears!
Thirteen months ago, I received one of the most exciting emails of my life, from Stanza. Long story short, after an interview they invited me to use their app and get involved in Nike´s 21-day challenges. Since then, I´ve been thinking, overthinking, and working on my own calendar, trying to find a way to make it helpful and easy to use (myself included).
Thirteen months later, I think I´ve found it! And it feels REALLY good 🙂 If “Get in shape” is one of your resolutions, you don´t want to miss this!
In a single category, you have three daily events with different goals. Each event has multiple routines, you only have to choose the one you want to do. Circuit training to lose weight, strength training, back pain relief, and so on. Currently, there are 17 different routines, but the number is going to get much bigger. Organized…
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Hi all! I wanted to share my guest post that I wrote for Chape Personal Trainer. He’s got a great site, full of motivational posts and some super workouts! I recommend you give it a look-see, you’ll love it 🙂
I hope you enjoy his site as much as I do and I truly hope you enjoy the read!
Hello dears!
For those who haven´t met Mliae yet, she´s an awesome blogger from North Europe, who writes about her experiment, so called “life”. Fashion, recipes, travel, book & product reviews with her personal style. Take my advice and follow her, thank me later 😉
When we met, she was on a weight loss journey and she was having some issues to reach her goals.
Maybe you remember we reached her goals before summer. I´m delighted to have her here today, talking about her experience and how she keeps the results.
I hope you enjoy the reading as much as I did 🙂
I really must say that David has been a lifesaver for me! I was so frustrated with my weight and physique that I just didn’t know what to do.
Starting out at 76 kilos (168 lbs), my goal was to get under 60 kilos (132 lbs). Now…
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That would be….um…ME! WOOOHHOOO!!! I was so happy when I woke up, stepped on the scale and saw this number! I definitely had a special coffee to celebrate my new weight of 58,3 kgs or 128.5 lbs. Yeah Baby!
I haven’t been as militant about losing the weight as I was when I was fighting so hard to reach my goal of 60 kgs. But I have been utilizing healthier eating habits, and sticking to the teas and water, and maintaining some of the exercises and habits given to me by David at Chape when I was on the home stretch to my goal. So imagine my delight when I’m not even really trying to lose weight and I got this little surprise victory! 😀
I have to tell you though, it’s perfect timing – as I’m going soon to try on some wedding dresses! Feeling more confident will help me in every way, and this was -just an AWESOME start to the day!
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
After a very long battle with my weight…I’VE DONE IT!!
This has really been some sort of journey! I started out at 76 kgs (168 lbs) and more than 2 yore than a year later, I’m now at 59,9 kgs (132 lbs)! I picked up on my attempt at shedding those last stubborn 20 lbs of weight while blogging. Those were absolutely the most impossible and stubborn to shed! But today, I’m here to celebrate meeting weightless goal! I’ve tried and failed, tried and succeeded with so many different things and I’d like to go over some of those now.
To recap some of the alternatives I tried:
Moments when I went totally off the rails:
Some of the exercises that worked really well for me:
Some of the exercises that were difficult:
In addition to all the exercises I received from Chape (there are many), I also go on several dog walks daily, which aids in burning some calories. I have been intermittently trying to conquer the kettle bell swing. I look like Mr Magoo trying to do it, but I will nail it down eventually.
Although I have met my weight loss goal – YYYYEEEESSSS!!! – I do plan to continue eating well and utilizing these exercises. I would like to at least maintain my weight and would be very happy to take up more! Besides, I want to look fantastic in that bikini and I have a wedding dress to fit into! I will, of course keep you updated on my progress and pitfalls.
I am SSSSOOOOOO HAPPY! I was seriously starting to doubt that this milestone day would ever come! Just consider me living proof that a woman metabolism does not come to a screeching halt in her 30’s 😉 Thank you all so much for following me and my journey, for all the support and ideas, suggestions, encouragement and motivation! Thank you David, for all the time, effort and energy you put into getting me into good shape! And a special Thank you to my fiancé for putting up with my whining about sore muscles, midnight rampages about being hungry and not having suitable food, and for laughing at me when I’m acting like a total psycho. We did it!!! 🙂
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
I’m BAAAAAAACK! Thank you all so much for your get well wishes! I am feeling better from the sinusitis. Much, MUCH better!
For most of last week as well, I really just relegated myself to fruit and soups. Then the sleep. Its bad enough being really sick, but add to that codeine based prescription cough medicine, and I was snoozing away close to 20 hours of my days. Apparently antibiotics and additional medications serve to place one in a near coma until recovery is complete. Whatever works.
I’m back on the exercise train as of Tuesday morning. As opposed to my every-other-day workout regimes, I opted for the fast revival approach of every day beginning Tuesday so that I could get back on track from all the days of barely eating, and a couple days of eating everything in sight to make up for it. On Tuesday when I followed my daily regime given to me by Chape Personal Trainer, David asked me to fill him in on how I felt afterward. Needless to say, although not appearing to be a super strenuous regime, I felt like I was going to puke and collapse – or vice versa. I reported, and was greeted with a hearty laugh and a welcome back 🙂 I guess I deserved that since I was given a reprieve from any sort of physical activity until I felt better. So here I am: Feeling better and exercising harder. Today, I worked a lot on arms – even though its a break day.
That’s another thing I’ve learned when on the receiving end of a friendly lecture regarding my overzealous attempt to dramatically reduce my calorie intake which resulted in the ‘nacho incident’. Why didn’t I just exercise harder, instead of eating less? Wow, logic, who would’ve actually thought about that?! Well played David…
So this coming week (hopefully my last until I hit my under 60 kg goal) I’ll be focusing on real food. Still fresh fruit and veg, taking it easy on the breads and pastas and maybe trying some actual cooking instead of my usual salads, or just eating raw whatever I manage to grab. As for exercises, I will be sticking to my regime. So whatever Chape sends my way is what I’ll be doing. This dumbbell shrug, for example, is surprisingly effective!
Here’s to hoping next weeks update is my WWWOOOOHHHOOOO moment!
Thanks for reading 🙂
-Mliae
This week, I have accomplished absolutely nothing. 😦 Good news: No weight gain, no binges…I’m still at 61 something kgs. Bad news: No weightloss either. Not too big a surprise, since I’ve basically just been in bed.
I was doing well until the weekend hit, although I was dragging a bit for more than a week now. And then it hit…the flu, or so I thought. I haven’t been able to do just anything as far as normal day-to-day goes. After about a week of feeling totally defeated, I went to the doctor today and found out I have a raging case of sinusitis.
David, from Chape Personal Trainer who has been coaching me (something Awesome!) and helping me to stay on track, told me with quite loud voice, to take a rest from the workouts until I can breathe and eat properly again.
Fortunately, I now have a stock of antibiotics and cough medicine so I should be feeling much better in a few days, I expect. We are so so so soon close to my under 60 kg goal and I’m not doing anything to compromise it – even IF convenience food is the tempting option.
We got this 😉 I’ll be gradually re-introducing exercise starting with this dumbbell shrug.
I’m looking forward to an update post next week in the 60,? Kgs!
Don’t give up!
-Mliae
More good news this week! I’m back down to the 61’s! After my nacho incident(s) last week, I thought it would be a major setback. But…nope! This week I managed to get down to 61,2 kgs (134 lbs).
I’m so close…SSOOOOOO CLOSE to reaching my goal of under 60 kgs. 1,3 kg away. The day I reach 59,9 you can look forward to a huge WOOOOHOOOO post!
Thanks to the new exercises David from Chape personal trainer has given me, like this bicep curl, my arms are starting to really look like – oh yea 😉
I’ve been doing A LOT of toning exercises this week. My shoulders, middle back and backside are killing me! But *Ow in a good way 😉 I’m really loving the outcome so far of all the work David has put into helping me shed the weight and I CAN’T WAIT until I hit that 59,9 kg level!!
I did really well on the eating front this week. Only one tiny little thing. We have fresh rhubarb! And we make rhubarb juice! Aaaaannnddd it has a TON of sugar in it. We found a way to reduce the amount of white sugar needed by substituting a tad of vanilla sugar instead of a couple scoops of white sugar. We even further reduced the amount by adding half water because it tastes concentrated when it is fully cooked. But alas, still there is quite a bit more sugar involved than I am comfortable with. Anybody have some suggestions on this?
Otherwise, business as usual. Trying to at least be cognizant of my calorie intake, exercising like a mad fiend and hoping – hoooopppiiinnnnnng that I’ll be looking ah-mazing in my suit this summer!
Thanks for reading 🙂
-Mliae
This week I write to you in hopes of forgiveness. I started out sooooo GOOD and ended up sooooo BAD. Long story – short: I gained almost a lb. Reason: Nacho night x2. Preventative measures: Exercise, sweat, more exercise. Guilt factor: 8 / Anger at self: 10.
I’ve been doing so great and here I went and blew it…big time! GGGRRRRR…
OK, so this is how the whole thing went down: Firstly, I have to give myself kudos because I’ve been really good about following my workout – even when I realllllyyyyy don’t wanna. Which, I think was my saving grace this week. That and the fact that David from Chape, seems to know me well enough to know that if I get a day full of ridiculously strenuous exercises, it’s just not. going. to. happen. So, fortunately I have between warm up and strenuous. Its do-able and more importantly, effective! (Otherwise, there’d be so much more additional weight). Okay, as most of you know, I’ve been trying …REALLY TRYING to kick the sugar habit. It’s making me insane. I’m actually craving candy and crap food more than I ever did when I allowed myself to eat it, even if I didn’t have it. All in the mind. Right, got it. So I had a lightbulb moment. I’d gotten my little grubby hands on some farm fresh rhubarb. And ate it…raw. It was so bitter I thought my face was going to turn inside out. And then I realized that it tastes exactly like the extreme version of those super sour gummy candies. Problem solved. I’ve been gnawing on rhubarb like a grazing horse. (Its a lovely sight to see…really. Ha!) Actually, it doesn’t really curb the cravings so much, but it keeps me from rummaging for something sweet and ingesting 2 days worth of calories on the journey. Plus, at 27 kcals a stalk, I can eat rhubarb all day long and not feel guilty. The rhubarb isn’t the problem. In addition to that, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to try to cut my daily kcal intake to 1200. I was so close to my milestone goal of under 60 kg (132 lb) that I figured one extra little push was all I needed. Bad idea. Do you know that 1200 kcal is like 12 potato’s, or a handful of biscuits?! So, after 2 days of really watching what I put in my mouth and exercising, I was starting to feel pretty good! And then, I went to the market. I went straight to the produce department. Stocking up on items such as aubergine, mushrooms, apples, satsuma, leek, potato, carrot, micro greens, tomato, etc. I was on my way to check out when I realized that my basket was absolutely heaping with tortilla chips, salsa, cheese dip and all the other crap that is absolutely required for a devilishly delicious nacho dish. So I bought it. And made it. Then devoured it (finger licking and all)…two unbelievable nights in a row. It was so tasty, and I felt like crap afterward.
I actually almost cried when I stepped on the scale. And I have nobody to blame but myself. This, of course, was followed by a full confession and a bit of a whine to David, who inevitably has to fix the damage I’ve done to myself. Luckily, he understood. And I woke this morning to find an entirely new set of exercises awaiting me on the pc. A workout designed to get me back on track!
Here are two such exercises that I will begin doing on workout day tomorrow!
Let the games begin! My hope is that this week, I will get back down to where I was prior to my feeding frenzy and that I will return next week singing David’s praises, as well as my own! Fingers crossed this goes the way I want it to!
Just for your information, I’m adding a small list of foods in 100 calorie increments, for any of you dieters out there who take the time to do the math.
Some foods in 100 kcal servings:
So, on a calorie restrictive diet, you don’t actually get so much. On the other hand, I don’t think we need as much as we usually eat. Its absolutely shocking how many calories we actually ingest on a daily basis…especially when it comes to rubbish or ready made foods!
Any thoughts?
-Mliae
Oh yea…somebody has been working hard this week! I am down to 61,4 kgs (135 lbs) and holding this week. I also nailed my step goal of 15 000. I am literally inching my way towards my milestone goal of 59,9 kgs (132 lbs) and I CANNOT WAIT!
For those of you who are just joining me on my weight loss journey; I started shedding weight when I looked in the mirror one day and realized I was 76 kgs (168 lbs)! It’s been a really long road. This last 10 kgs has been by far the most stubborn. So much so that I actually put on more weight! Luckily, a fellow blogger and serious workout master- David, from Chape Personal Trainer allowed me to enlist him into my weight loss drama and I’ve been making him regret it ever since! Joking aside, I have to say that I am absolutely thrilled to be able to report good progress on a weekly basis now! Seriously could not have done any of it without all the help, workout routines and diet lectures from this guy. 🙂
This week, I utilized the same exercised from last week, but the sequence is switched up each routine. I think this wise, because I easily fall into routine and I assume my body does as well and it seems to work well (Ie; feel the burn!) when its in different order.
My diet this week- consists mainly of fresh fruit and veg. As a matter of fact, I ate almost an entire raw head of broccoli (is that what its called? A head – or like a stem? Anyway, I digress…) with yogurt for dipping. I was so full, I couldn’t even finish it. So – a tip: raw broccoli is seriously filling! Who knew? I’ve been doing a lot of steamed mixed veg, and (unfortunately) pastas. But not with heavy sauce, just mixed in with the veg and maybe some light olive oil and yogurt with tons of chilis. Protein shakes, flax (keeps me from starving) and satsumas and apples for snacks. I did buy a chocolate peanut butter (to turn my celery into dessert) but I’ve been a good girl and haven’t opened it…yet. As far as liquid refreshment is concerned: Mainly mineral water, some pineapple juice and ok- 2 beers (not on the same day).
Next week, I think I’m keeping good progress so probably more of the same. Unless David throws me an exercise curveball and I check in barely able to blink. It’s possible…
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
Drumroll please…. Here it is! My first publicized photo of myself since I began this long and tedious weightloss journey. I have to tell you, that when I began (I’m talking from the very beginning) I weighed a whopping 76 kilos (168 lbs). I looked like a short blueberry with limbs. I’m now approx 61-62 kilos (134-136 lbs) and I feel great! Its the last 10 kilos (or 20 lbs) that have been proving themselves the most stubborn to shed. I mean…really!
I happy to say that I am now at a BMI of 24.1 (normal body weight between 18.5 -24.9).I’ve been sneaking to check and until this week, I’ve been in the overweight range. Health wise apparently, I’m just fine if I maintain this weight. Wooohooo! So, something else to celebrate.
I have to say a HUGE ‘THANK YOU!’ to David from Chape! I’m about to put a public picture of my unshapen self on the internet, and had it not been for this guy getting me into good enough condition to post a swimsuit pic (physically and mentally), well..
So here’s the pic (header image). I know that there is toning up to do, but shedding the weight has been the most horrific part, so I know I can do this. And now that I’ve posted myself in the most vulnerable picture yet, I can say that there will be more updates with accompanying photos. I have to say that until today, I was really nervous about being in public where my body showed. I love to dress prettily, but I still carry that fat girl mentality that screams in my head that I look huge and unkempt and unworthy of my pretty things. I now know that this is untrue, and its just a matter of shutting that bitch up.
Today, I ate tofu…and it was delicious. Then I realized that I still shouldn’t be. Buuuttt, with every victory comes a tiny reward – and tofu was its name.
This week, my workout routines are having a bit of a switch-up. Some days are more physically challenging than others, but if a shapelier and less robust figure is the outcome, with a side of self-confidence; I’m game!
Some of my incorporated exercises (click on the name and view the exercise):
Lateral Plank (This is still not easy)
and Dumbbell Triceps Overhead Extension
Diet? Still trying to eat more fresh, leafy, nature grown things and less sweet, chemically, lab made foods.
That’s my story- and I’m sticking to it!
What do you think?
-Mliae
#weightloss #diet #excercise #blog
I’m happy to announce more weightless this week! I’m finally under 62 kgs! Weighing in a 61,9 kgs (136 lbs) -down from more than 66kgs (145 lbs). I’m sure I might actually weigh less than this at this point, but I’ve been told not to weigh so often lest I make myself absolutely insane.
I had a few indulgences this week, as there were many celebrations and my sweetie brought heart-shaped marshmallows for me to celebrate the beginning of May Day (pictured) and all the Mothers Day weekend happenings. So much for the no sugar plan. However, I will try to climb back on the fresh food wagon this week. Aside from that, I’ve been pretty good. It was GREAT to have some tofu this week again! I missed it…I mean really, really missed it.
As most of you know, I got so frustrated not being able to manage this last bit of weightless myself that I called in the big guns. David, from Chape Personal Trainer has been a Godsend. He keeps challenging me with new and difficult exercises and longer sets. One of my exercises, the one-arm dumbbell row, can be found here. Last week I was a bit grumpy because I just wanted to be lazy. But this week I’m feeling a new sense of renewed motivation. I’m starting to be able to see a noticeable difference. Not only my arms (which are starting to look soon much better!) but also my belly is starting to flatten out a bit. A noticeable bit. Granted, I don’t exactly look like a 20-something in a bikini. Still some flab to fight. But I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and think to myself: ‘Not looking too bad!’ and that makes me EXTREMELY happy!
I have actually been thinking about taking a swimsuit pic for you all to see my greatly reduced flab. Although I still hesitate because I’m not there yet… I’m quite a perfectionist, so you understand. But I’m so close to there that I’m just so ready to do all the work involved to get where I know I’m going! In hindsight I wish I’d taken a starting picture so you could have a visual of a round belly, huge hips and flabby arms to compare it to. We’ll see…
This week, the plan is to cut the goodies back again and continue my every other day workouts which include new exercises such as the one arm plank (ummm..yea, about that…so difficult to do this properly, but I know if I just keep at it, I’ll stop crumbling before times up). Also, I’m back on the optiMSM daily supplement.
Wish me luck!
-Mliae
As most of you know, I’ve had such a difficult time managing the weight loss myself…so I called in the BIG GUNS! David, from Chape has been helping me so much! Seriously, this guy is AWESOME! So I wanted to share one of his exercises that continues to baffle me. It’s a good one, for sure..but I still can’t get up to 15! Give it a try!
The Reverse Crunch is the opposite movement of a Sit-up, which means: we will approach our pelvis to our breastbone contracting the abdominal muscles. This exercise strengthens your abs and causes less strain on your back and neck than a regular crunch.
Lie on your back and extend your arms out to the side. Raise your knees and feet so they create a 90-degree angle.
Exhale and contract your abs lifting your hips off the floor with control; your knees will move toward your head. Try to keep your knees at a right angle.
Inhale and slowly return to starting position. Don´t swing your legs up and down. Focus on your abs and try to lift your hips off the ground.
I’m happy to report further progress this week! I now weigh in at 62,7 kgs (138 lbs) so I’ve averaged a weightless of one lb. The progress is slow-going, but I know that more will fall off and also that since I’m losing the weight slowly, there’s a higher chance that it will stay off. I’m also happy to report that I nailed my steps goal…exceeded it even (as you can see above). My steps goal was 12000 but I managed over 14000 and that too makes me a happy girl!
What I did this week: I maintained the new exercises that I’ve been doing this month as suggested by David at Chape Personal Trainer. He has been pushing me – especially as far as arm strength goes. I suck at push-ups, these one arm planks are so not-easy but they are definitely working, and this reverse fly move with the weights I wrote about last week – ouch! But no pain, no gain…am I right? And I can see the definition starting to come out in my arms…and some in my back too. Those wiggly bits under the arm aren’t so wiggly anymore. THANK YOU, DAVID! I’ll be able to wear sleeveless in the next few weeks without totally worrying about flabby arm syndrome.
I also ate mainly fresh fruit and veg and cut out most of the processed foods I eat. (Only partially by choice; I wanted to eat more fresh foods and cut back on all the hidden evilness in my easy-to.prepare processed foods but I wasn’t planning to do it so quickly but my card was stolen and my account is all but frozen so fresh fruit and veg is what I have accessible in the house. Just the push I needed apparently because I want to continue this!) Something interesting happened though and I’d like to share it. I was hungry for like the first 2 days. Snacking constantly on fruit and veg. I was CRAVING SUGAR. I’m not talking ‘a cookie would be nice’, I mean flat out, ready to gulp down syrup-honey-agave anything sweet by the mouthful, craving sugar. It was insane and I looked like a crazy woman. At one point, I actually caught myself wondering if I could smear syrup on sunflower seeds and bake it and would it turn into something resembling peanut brittle. This was early in the evening Wednesday, and NO, I didn’t do it. And then it hit… The absolute worst headache I’ve ever had. (I get migraines occasionally, but in a very specific place and that wasn’t it.) It was like a front of the skull in a vice kind of headache. I was like ‘ Wo-aw!’. I took something for it and hit the bed. Yesterday when I woke up, I felt like a different person. Less lazy and more motivated- plus an upgrade in the energy department. It’s like my body was going through some serious withdrawal and then it just kind of- broke through. I feel much more human than I have in weeks and this is what’s going to keep me at it. If sugars and preservatives have that kind of effect on our bodies, thats just scary.
What I’ll be doing this coming week: I’ll be sticking to the fresh and fruit and veg as best I can. Since I went far more than the recommended week without tofu, I don’t feel bad about having a bit of that. I’ll be adding a new set of additional exercises, which I will incorporate into my next post.
Looking forward to fitting into that bikini!
-Mliae
Hello again all 🙂 I’m happy to report another successful week of weight loss! I am now down to 63,2 kgs or 139 lbs 🙂 🙂 I am very happy with this, because I had an indulgence at a pizza buffet and thought surely I had sabotaged all my hard work. But, I weighed in at 63,2 the next day!
I’m quite proud of myself, because as you can see from my feature photo, I’ve broken my steps record. New goal is 12000!
I have been following the guidelines set forth to me by David, at Chape Personal Trainer and so far its been working well! I must admit that until now, I always carried the misimpression that personal trainers had to be in person, yelling at you at the gym. But as we have been working by food journaling online and exchanging workout techniques and my ability to do them, it has worked out great!
This week, I will be adding in this crazy exercise (not sure how successful I’ll be at doing this move); The Standing Dumbbell reverse fly. I’ve been informed that it’s the best keep your shoulders in proper position while working with weights. And who doesn’t want to have nice posture? So, I’m giving it a go 🙂
I will also be focusing on eating more raw fruits and veg. Not because of any specific diet, but because I’m starting to notice that although I’m eating healthy, home cooked meals, I’m also eating a lot of ‘diet foods’. Meaning packaged and marketing as diet, low fat, low sugar. What I’m noticing is however, is that these prepackaged foods and bars are leaving me hungry and feeling run down. So I went on a spree at the market for green leafy stuff, paprika, tomato, cucumber, potato, carrot and red cabbage. I also got a few bags of apples and satsumas. So my weeks experiment is to see if reaching for that as opposed to a protein bar or diet soup, will fill me up faster, give me more energy, keep my brain from slumping and keep me going longer. More on this next week. Also, I don’t have much of a choice now anyway because some very nice person stole my card and wiped out my account completely (plus some), so I don’t exactly have the option to buy myself something else that isn’t available here. Really crappy about the account, I hope they get that fixed. But the ‘bright side’ of this is that I really can’t go running for a bag of crisps. Kind of like being locked away in my own weightless camp. I think this will turn out well.
Any words of wisdom?
-Mliae
I have a confession: This week, I have been soon lazy. I’ve been doing my prescribed workouts and dieting, of course. But otherwise, just feeling kind of – blaaaah. So even with all the dog walking and yard work, every other day workouts and otherwise normal movement, I still feel like I’ve been super lazy although quite productive. Is that even possible?
As you probably well know by now, I’ve been relying on David from Chape Personal Trainer to get me into shape because I got so discouraged not being able to do this on my own. This guy, has worked wonders!
I haven’t weighed this week, and I’ve basically been living in comfortable clothes so I can’t attest to weight loss. However, I can say that with a small tweak to my previous workout routine, I can tell that the focus this month is more on toning my muscles. Hence, the one hand tap planks which are an absolute KILLER! You know what I mean, when your holding, holding…and shaking, shaking. Its all I can do sometimes not to go flat on my face. But I can tell its working. (Buh-bye batwings!) If you’d like, I’d love for you to try this Superman move with me. It’s not too bad, but it definitely helps 🙂
I’m really looking forward to next weeks update after I weigh in and measure up again!
How’s your prep for summer clothing going?
-Mliae
My apologies for a belated update this week. There’ve been some pressing family matters which needed attending to.
OK, so here’s the lowdown: You’ll be so proud of me! I kept myself solid over the holidays, and with 2 days of eating whatever was available this week (as I was in a situation where my control over what I put in my mouth was quite limited), I still managed to weigh in this morning at a steady 63,8 kg again this morning. Yay me! The super cool thing; I’ve lost INCHES! Off my waist, hips, backside 🙂 WWOOOOHHHOOO!
Again, David from Chape has been an absolute hero. Another win, David! Looks like you’re GREAT at what you do!
This previous week, I stuck to my workout regime (which I’ll be adding to this week – kettle bell swings and farmer carry). I do feel like I can take it up a small notch, and I have to anyway because I live on a decent plot of land which needs a LOT of work and upkeep (You will start seeing home reno and landscaping posts) starting, like…3 days ago. Take my word for it, its a cardio regime all on its own. Also, now that the ice has melted, I can take the dogs for longer walks, so I’ll be increasing that as well.
As for the diet; I’ve been downing lots of shakes (Protein and Spiralina / Chlorella), eating tons of beans, legumes and barley. We experimented with bean burgers (made our own) which tasted delicious, just like in a restaurant and with zero of the guilt. And drinking liters of matcha and green tea. I did make myself an albacore tuna salad and it rocked 🙂 I cheated, but not too badly while out with a veggie and marinated tomato burrito (petit), hand sandwiches, waffle fries and a lime soda. (Not all at the same time – varying occasions over the 2 days I was in another locale). I’ve made an effort to keep apples, mandarins and pear on-hand so I can snack on fruit instead of waiting until I’m ravenous and eating everything I can just get my hands on. More of the same this week, because it seems to be working well and is keeping me quite full. 🙂
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
Hi all! Sorry I wasn’t able to post this earlier this week. Apparently I needed to do an operating system update on my PC before I was able to post a new entry. All taken care of now…thanks 🙂
Good news this week! As you all know, I started this whole thing weighing in at 64 kilos (or 141 lbs). I did great the first few weeks. And then…the holidays hit. And they hit hard! I gained all the weight back, plus some and then managed to yo-yo back and forth over the same 3 kilos or so. At my highest point, I reached just over 66 kilos (146 lbs). At this point, I whimpered, whined and complained so much that I actually got some really good advice.
Then…I called in the big guns. I’ve been blessed with some awesome friends on this blog and one of them is David, from Chape. This guy has given me so much help, a few lengthy explanations as to why everything I thought I was doing correctly was actually dead wrong …and some seriously effective exercise ideas. By the way, if you are looking for some of these, he now has his own youtube vlog where you can get some good ideas for stretching at the office, at home or in the gym. You can check those out here.
I am, I’m thrilled to say, now back under my starting weight. But this week, I managed to melt down a surprising 63,8 kilos (or 140.5 lbs). Since I started so close to this weight, it may not seem like much. But you must keep in mind that I spent the past few months trying to get back down to anywhere close to this weight and now that I have, I have a renewed energy and motivation to keep up the pace! This week alone, I manage to drop 1,8 kg (or 4 lbs)! It took about 2 solid weeks before this one to get my body used to a new regime of tons of water, eating more often & dropping the dairy plus an every-other-day exercise routine. I had my doubts, but…IT’S WORKING! And I couldn’t be happier!
This week, I’m sticking to the same. 3 solid meals per day + 2 small snacks of fruit or protein. No cheese, no tofu, no tempeh, no milk, no fizzy drinks. 1 coffee in the mornings (black if I can manage), matcha or green tea during the day and tons of water. Lots of green leafy stuff, protein shakes and chlorella smoothies. 3 times weekly workouts and exercising a bit of willpower when it comes to the holiday. Easter is great, but watching myself turn into food baby belly barbie over Christmas is still fresh in mind and I’ll just ‘no, thank you’ to all those goodie this time around.
Looks like this lady will be rocking bikini season after all!
Hope you all have a lovely holiday!
Mlle
Yes, this is still happening. Although, progress is being made. I know because my pants fit better. I feel like a post make-over victim standing blindfolded in front of a mirror waiting…waiting for that big reveal!
My daily weigh-ins are a thing of the past. I was told sternly that my weight would fluctuate and I am just torturing myself with the scale every morning. Ok. I’m staring at it, but not jumping on it. Much like a cupcake.
I was also told – ok lectured with quite loud voice, that I’m actually not eating ENOUGH! This I found incredibly hard to swallow (no pun intended) but after some convincing, explaining and cajoling I accepted this possibility with a reasonable amount of hesitancy and have now been eating 5 variable sized meals a day. I was instructed to eat more protein (in the form of vegetable and legumes…I’m mostly vegetarian), less fatty stuff (bye cheese, butter, tofu and tempeh) and to drink more water. I’ve been cheating a bit by combining all of this into protein or chlorella/spirulina shakes chock full of mandarin, banana, green leafy stuff and topped with chia seeds. (Pictured)
Incorporating my diet and doing a 180 with an every-other-day workout routine which has proven vigorous, to say the least. Along with a ton of cardio, stretching and strength training, David from Chape has me doing forearm planks and glute bridges at 60 second intervals. At first progress was slow…or even reverse. But as of today I am starting to see a glimmer of hope that this bus will turn itself around and start heading in the right direction.
And here we are: embarking on week 22 with hopes of fitting into last summers shorts without crying when I see myself in that mirror. Two more weeks on this specific routine until I can take off that blindfold and gaze with wonder at what I will look like for my Spring debut. 🙂
Wish me luck!
Hows your slim-down going?
-Mliae
Buh-bye cheese, tofu and tempeh. I love you…
This is the start of week 21, and Spring. Yet, I’m still at the same weight as when I began this journey. I didn’t just not shed the weight. I shed the weight, gained it back over the holidays, then fought like hell to just fluctuate back and forth between a couple kilos.
Now, I’m calling in the big guns. I’ve begged for advice and help which has come in many forms and I am so very grateful! This is my last ditch effort to get in bikini condition. I should have already started the cellulite cupping that I was so excited to try, but I cannot until I really lose some of this fat.
I’ve been told to cut out the tempeh, tofu and cheese this week. Which I am doing, starting today! Please keep your fingers crossed for me as these are my favourite foods to eat on the regular. Here’s the killer though: When the amounts of this stuff I’m eating several times a week was looked into, it was discovered that I’m ingesting 10 times the fat than I should be! OK, so I understand. But still whining. Absolutely.
So, protein in the form of peas, beans, legumes and broccoli.
Water. I’m still having a difficult time downing 2-3L of water a day. I can barely drink more than 1L and even then, I’m running to the loo all day long!
Exercise. Starting a whole different routine, 3 days per week. More on that when I can move my arms again.
Lets see how this goes 😉 Whats worked for you?
Wish me luck!
-Mliae
This week. Holding at 65 kgs and sadly, nothing new to report. Same frustration. I have been making my friends nuts asking questions and demanding answers. So far the options range from ‘there’s 1000 times the sugar you expect in that one-time splurge’ to muscle weighs more than fat and that I’m not drinking enough water. So, I’m going to do a little experiment and see if its one or more of these.
I can tell you that I am now walking at a fast pace with both dogs at the same time now, attached to a running belt. (For those with dogs: the running belt helps, but it does nothing to stop the freight train of tangled leashes which always results in the 3 of us miraculously tied in knots together. However, I swear by this thing because between it and new harnesses, I can manage the constant pulling which had me on my hands in knees in less than a minute, several weeks ago.) With 3x daily walks of 30+ minutes, I’m averaging 10,5 hours of cardio a week by dog walking alone. Not too shabby! Theoretically, this should result in a good weight loss. Not yet though.
Every morning, I have 1 cup of coffee with stevia and soy milk, a half serving of protein shake and some roasted flax with dried blueberries. This keeps me going until at least early afternoon.
Lunches vary, but I can tell you that in many cases, lunch is my biggest meal of the day. Although, some days I do skip lunch entirely and then have an early dinner. I do get busy, but thats not why I skip lunch somedays. I try to only eat when I’m hungry. So if hunger doesn’t strike until early evening, then I just heat some veg and call it a day.
Dinner around here is usually something light like soup or a sandwich. When I was doing intermittent fasting, I learned that to eat after 6 in the evening your body does not have the time to reset itself. (So to speak. I’m sure I’ve said this incorrectly).
This week, I will try to drink more water and eat smaller, more regular meals. I will also try, try, try to reduce my mint intake and *shiver – my rare indulgences 
What are your experiences?
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
Here we are again, my weekly diet and exercise update. I must admit that when I find myself typing ‘week 19’ into the header, my confidence sinks a bit. With 10 kgs to lose from the start, I was certain that by week 19, I would uploading photos of my newly discovered abs and much diminished hips. It is discouraging that this is not the case this week.
I have been doing well though. 🙂 I’ve been moving…a lot. (As you can see by my exercise step count) This dramatic increase in steps is due to the exuberant additions from last week. These two have been keeping me running, jogging, dragging, or at least at a fast crawl in the mornings.
This combined with my existing regime, did show some great initial results. But then…after a few days of weight loss, I again gained back another 2 kg. How is this possible? My dear friend at Chape recommended that I take my measurements. (Which I have done and will again in about 4 days) Because apparently the measurements can go down but not the weight. So I’m really hoping that this is the case. By the way, Chape now has their own youtube channel and I’ll be following it. You should give it a look too!
This upcoming week, I will continue doing more of the same. More fresh fruit and veg, less sauce and mints, same exercises and I am (although slightly) increasing the length speed of my walks with my buddies as well as increasing reps on the daily exercises.
Fingers crossed that next week I have centimeters less on the waistline to report!
Any words of wisdom?
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
This week, I seem to be holding strong at my same weight. This doesn’t actually bother me so much as I know why it is.
Valentine’s weekend was wonderful and I ate A LOT of delicious yummies! Guilt factor: zero. I was also fortunate enough to have an S.O. who allowed me to lounge around all the weekend while the cooking, housework, dog work was handled for me. It was AWESOME!
My routine has changed a bit as the doggies arrived (YEAH! Intro post will be forthcoming!) so I have been taking many multiples of walks on a daily basis and since I am not used to this particular activity (one of them is a real puller), my arms and back are quite sore so I have basically just been lazing around when I have the opportunity. Although I have been continuing my regular exercises, it has been sporadic, at best. See; doggie yoga.
As of today, things are already starting to get settled again. So this week should resume as normal with lots and lots of extra walking, jogging, and finagling the giants 🙂
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
Good day, everyone! I am in a great mood, as this morning- I realized that I have lost 1,6 kgs (a bit over 3 lbs) this week! WWOOHHHOOOOO!! So even though I had come to a standstill and even fluffed back out a little, now I feel that I am leveling out and am ready to continue battling to lose these last few kilos.
I’ve been given some really great advice, support and workout skills that I have been trying to stick to like glue this week.
What I’ve done differently this week:
This upcoming week, week 17, I think I’ll stick to what I’ve been doing and see if I continue to see good results. I will be weighing more of my food. This proves complicated at times, but it will be easier now that my guy is taking the lead on measuring and weighing. Always better to do things together!
Also…I’ll be upping the ante on my speed walking. I’m so happy to tell you that there will be 2 sled dogs joining the family this week! Finally!! We adopted them and the adoption process has taken months. Siberian Huskies need an incomparable amount of outdoor exercise, and yours truly will be going along on that drag….several times daily. I’m so excited! I’ll introduce the new additions to you when we get them settled in 😀
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
This week has been a bit different, as I was advised to start measuring food (no easy task when cooking for more than myself) and measuring my own body. I have, however been trying. I downloaded a food journaling app that my guy recommended. (actually, 2 – my net diary for my phone -free & helpful, and perfect diet tracker for my pc…then linked up) Although not steady about inputting entries, am starting to see what a few of my diet killers are as far as calorie intake is concerned. It’s good that I’m able to see what these are because seriously, I actually gained weight this week!
At this time, I have been unable to locate my measuring tape. It’s not anywhere near where I thought I put it, so I fear its still in one of the few moving boxes we have left to sort. I won’t stop looking for it until I find it. Then I’ll measure several times per week as was recommended by Chape.
In my mind, it has to be the diet that’s causing the largest problem. I continue to exercise, and my outdoor treks alone range from 3 000 – 8 000 steps. This combined with squats, all 6 reverse crunches I can manage, planks, kettle bell and hand weights and carrying should be helping drastically.
The supplements I’ve been taking several times per week are: 1 g MSM, the 25 vita green stuff I listed off last week, Vita C, the beer yeast for all the B vitamins, flax (omega 3), vita D, cranberry and potassium.
This upcoming week, I plan to eliminate the sugar from certain areas (hello black coffee), incorporate more leafy greens into my diet, utilize my protein shakes more often, snack on apples -oranges-celery when I’m having a mint attack, cut back on the sauces (*sniffle, whine, groan) and up my workout reps.
Any words of wisdom?
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
It’s official…I’m frustrated. I’m finding myself really stuck at 63 kgs (139 lbs). I’m not sure if it’s normal to reach a point where you just stay at that weight for awhile, or what.
I’ve been eating vegetarian sushi (with tofu and veggies), steamed vegs and rice, steamed vega and pasta, tofu egg salad on whole wheat tortilla wraps, green pea soup, miso soup, protein shakes and only once this week did I have the nutrilett diet soup. I have been doing daily planks, prisoner squats, leg lifts, kettle bells and hand weights with some random cardio mixed in for good measure. This week I’ll be adding in these reverse crunches for good measure.
So…what is going on? I’m going to give myself another week like this, and if I still haven’t managed to drop any weight or at least shape up a bit, then I’m just going to have to find something different that might be more effective.
Anyone have any insights as to why this is happening like this? Am I missing something?
Thanks for reading!
-Mliae
