Week 7: Celebrations and Perspective

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic day with your friends and family.

Well, I did it. I'm over halfway in the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution program! Here's a short summary of what went down:

The workouts: Workouts 7 and 8 are INCREDIBLY tough. In Workout 7, almost the entire first circuit is in plank/push up position. After that first circuit, things do get slightly better, but by no means easier. This was a struggle, but it was also a reminder of how far I've come since I started this, both physically and mentally. I'm becoming better at fighting through the pain, and that's important. Workout 8 is the hardest back of the body workout to date, and the third circuit is really challenging. She also introduces cardio intervals in this workout that you do with weights, which always takes things up a notch. Again, I struggled, but instead of getting discouraged I reminded myself that I should be struggling. If it's easy, I'm not working hard enough or doing the exercises right. I look forward to this week because I'm confident I'll improve in both workouts! I've also improved at Cardio 2 immensely since the beginning of the month and have even started to look forward to doing it. 

I also have to give myself props. I had my birthday party Friday night and STILL woke up Saturday morning and did my cardio video slightly hungover. Was some of it half-assed? Admittedly, yes. But what matters is I woke up and did it. Something is better than nothing.

The diet: Let's put this in perspective. My birthday, Passover AND Easter were all the same week. Needless to say, I ate what I wanted and used my daily Weight Watchers points, all of my cheat points, and all my activity points earned and just stopped obsessing over my diet for the week. I gave myself a break. A coworker put it well: I have to live. It was a holiday week and my birthday, and I should be able to cheat a bit and enjoy myself.

The results: So, I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any either! Given that I stopped dieting for the week, I'll take that as a win. One thing I did notice was that even as I was cheating, I made better food choices than I would have a month and a half ago. This just goes to show that I'm not just going on some extreme fad diet or cleanse temporarily. I'm making a lifestyle shift for the better. Even at Easter brunch today I still had dessert and ate what I wanted, but I didn't make horrible food choices. 

I really gained a lot of perspective on things this week, both personally and in my health. I posted a photo online of myself in my Syracuse jersey the day after they beat Indiana, (sidenote: FINAL FOUR. SO PROUD), and I got so many "likes" and encouraging comments saying how great I look and how skinny I'm becoming. This was so much more gratifying than any weight loss on the scale. People are noticing my hard work. It's paying off. I've also realized today that I need to stop harping on negativity and focus on the positive things in my life, so that's my goal for next week. Stop sweating the small stuff and start doing my own thing. 

Thank you all for your support and positive comments! You all have made this journey so amazing for me so far and the support is what's been keeping me going through my rough days. 

Until next week!

xo, Sarah

Week 6: We're Halfway There

Well, here we are. I'm halfway through my Body Revolution journey, and I had an incredibly successful week!

To begin with, I lost 3.5 pounds this week! I was amazed. Yesterday I had a little bit of a rough day. I was feeling like I should be farther along than I am and like I wasn't seeing the changes that I wanted to. After talking to a few fantastic and supportive friends, I felt much better. I have to remember that weight loss isn't a sprint. It's a marathon. This program is a great way for me to start exercising more regularly and living a healthier lifestyle, but I'm not going to reach all my goals through this program alone. It's going to have to continue after I'm through with it.  Seeing that 3.5 pound weight loss though really helped me and it's motivating me to start the second half of this program stronger than ever.

I stuck to my diet this week, too. I consumed all my daily Weight Watchers points and used some of my cheat points on Sunday. I've decided that if I'm going to cheat, my weigh-in days are the good days to do it because then I have the whole week to get back on track. This week, however, is my birthday so my cheat day is going to be Friday night when I celebrate. My birthday is on Tuesday, but I have to work that day and the celebration won't really be happening until the weekend, so I should be able to stick with it until then.

In terms of the workouts, I did incredibly well at workouts 5 and 6 this week. Some of the moves were still a bit of a struggle, but I modified when needed and feel that overall, I got some great workouts in this week. Cardio 2 is still a struggle for me, but I'm finally able to get through it without stopping. Now it's about picking up the pace so I can keep up with the athletes in the video.

I can't believe I've made it halfway. Honestly, I've never stuck to ANY diet or weight loss program for this long on a consistent, regular basis as I have this one. I'm so determined to prove to myself that I can be strong, carry on and do this. I'm incredibly proud of myself because I haven't missed a workout yet! I've made this a top priority in my life and it's really paying off. I feel better, have more energy and feel myself getting stronger.

What I've learned this week is not to doubt myself or my progress. I'm doing this the healthy way--by eating better and exercising regularly. This is a sustainable lifestyle change that I'm making, and I'm thrilled with it! I CAN do this and I WILL finish it, and eventually the results will speak for themselves.

I'm halfway through the program, and I have lost 10 pounds! Since I started dieting and exercising in January, I have lost 19 pounds. I'm anticipating a plateau for next week because it is my birthday and I already know I'm going to want to go out for dinner, eat what I want and have many cocktails, but I'm thrilled with the progress I've made so far and I look forward to making more.

Have a great week everyone! I'm on to workouts 7 and 8 this week. After previewing them, I'm a little scared, but I was scared of 5 and 6 too. I'll let you know how they go next post...

xo, Sarah

Week 5-Building Some Momentum

Good morning! I hope you're all having a fantastic Sunday.

I can't believe I'm another week down! This one seemed to fly by. It seems the further along I get in this process the faster it goes. Next week, I'll be halfway done!

This week was a transition week for me, both for this program AND in my professional life. I began a new job, which was incredibly exciting, as well as entered Phase 2 of the program. My first week at my new job went very well, and my first week in Phase 2 went MUCH better than I was expecting, but it wasn't without its challenges.

The strength workouts for weeks 5 and 6 are much harder than they were in weeks 3 and 4. There's a lot more plyometric training involved, which is just another word for jump training. Workout 5 is known by the people who do Body Revolution for being tough, and they're right. It is. It is, however, doable. This one almost brought me to tears Wednesday. In weeks 5 and 6 Jillian introduces "supersets", which are circuits that hammer away at the same muscle groups over and over. So instead of doing triceps, then quads, then shoulders in the same circuit, each exercise will hammer away at the same muscles throughout the circuit, even in the cardio intervals interspersed halfway through each circuit. This means that when your quads are on fire after doing jump squats, they'll hurt even more when you go in to a deep lunge and start doing tricep pulses. It definitely sucks, but I also know that it'll be effective. I can already see a change in my physique this week.

Workout 6 is slightly less painful than 5, but it involves a lot more balancing and several sets of single leg squats. For tall people like me, those are miserable! There are supersets targeting the back of the body in this workout, and there's one circuit where Jillian just hammers at your abs. I'm thankful for that because my stomach has always been my biggest problem area and this will help shred it. Overall, I love Workout 6! It's tough, and the cardio intervals are a bit more high-impact than what I'm used to, but it's fun! The one thing I wish she'd eliminate from it is the Running Man. I was hoping to see that one put to bed after Cardio 1 and was NOT happy when it popped up again. Oh well. Only two more times of doing it.

Cardio 2 is a LOT harder than Cardio 1. The exercises are much more high-impact and you have less "rest time." The first time through I literally thought I was going to die I was so exhausted, but the second time yesterday went much better. It is a fun DVD, it's just a lot more jumping around. Overall, I really like the workout. It pushes me and it'll be great for building up my conditioning. If I can get through this one without pausing the DVD even once, I'll be thrilled!

I stuck with Weight Watchers for my diet this week and saw ANOTHER loss! I lost 1.5 pounds this week, which is a great way to start phase 2. Even more exciting is the fact that I went shopping with my Mom for my birthday gifts yesterday and was able to buy clothes that I KNOW I wouldn't have been able to fit into a month ago. My legs are more toned my arms are skinnier, and my waist is shrinking. It's such an amazing feeling, and it's the motivation I need to keep going throughout this process.

As always, thanks to all of you who have been reading this. Some people think it's weird or awkward that I'm sharing my journey this way, but I think it's a great way to hold myself accountable for finishing this and sticking to my plan that I made for myself. If I need to post a blog each week and discuss my results, then I'll want to have POSITIVE results to share!

Until next week! xo Sarah

Week 4-Finding What Works For Me

Good morning! Welcome to that Sunday where everyone loses an hour of their day. This is always one of my least favorite days of the year. It's so disorienting, don't you think?

This week marked my last week of Phase 1. I ended up switching back to my Weight Watchers PointsPlus system for my diet. It's just easier for me to keep track of what I eat this way. It also allows me to eat the amount of calories I want to eat for each meal. Having to calculate exact calorie breakdowns for each meal just got way too annoying. Overall, I just feel that Weight Watchers is a more sustainable diet plan. Some of Jillian's recipes are delicous, and I will certainly include them in my  diet, but I found myself obsessing over what I was eating when I was following her meal plan and, quite frankly, I have one life to live here. I should be able to live my life day to day without harping on whether or not I ate around 400 calories for lunch. It's much easier for me to calculate points and allot for meals out, cheat points, etc.

The workouts were also interesting this week. Workout 3 was such a struggle for me on Monday, but I managed to kick ass at it on Thursday, the last time I was to do that workout. Sure there are still a few moves I struggle with, but everyone has those. I was debating whether or not to move up but was given advice to do so, and I'll be beginning Phase 2 tomorrow. I've heard awful things about Workout 5, namely that it's one of the hardest in the program, but I'll just keep in mind that I'll only have to do it 4 times and then I'm done. I did really well at Workout 4 this week and I'll be sad to see it go, along with Cardio 1. I grew to love doing this cardio workout over the 1st month, but it's time to move on to something harder. I won't be sorry to say goodbye to the Running Man exercise though. I'd rather Jillian have just given us an extra minute of suicides! ;)

This week, I FINALLY saw a loss again! Looks like switching up my diet a bit paid off. I lost three more pounds, making my Phase 1 results:

Weight Loss: 5 pounds

Inches Lost: About 10

I took more pictures today to see the progress from the beginning to Phase 1, and I could see a difference in my physique! I've heard Phase 2 kicks up the volume on the body transformation and weight loss, so I'm excited. I'll be looking to lose more than 5 pounds next month, but hey, that makes about 14 pounds since January when I started dieting. I'll take it!

Encouraging words always welcome! I struggle sometimes with bad days or insecurities and you guys are the ones who help me through. Thanks again!

xo, Sarah

Week Three-Seeing the Changes

Well, another week down! I can't believe I've been at this for three weeks. I am proud of myself for sticking to this for as long as I have. As they say, it takes 21 days to make a habit, so now hopefully these workouts will start to feel like a necessity. They already do, to a degree.

This week, I moved up to the next set of strength DVDs for Phase 1. Workouts 3 and 4 were NOT easy. When Jillian "takes it up a notch", it's more than the typical "notch." It's more like a small leap. Regardless, I stuck with it and saw improvements in by the end of the week! I'm starting to see noticeable changes in my body, as are family, friends and coworkers. That's what really matters to me. The numbers on the scale are one thing, but the actual physical changes are far more important. Next week, I continue with this set of strength DVDs and will be entering my last week of Phase 1! I have to say, I'll be sad to see Cardio 1 go too. I've come to enjoy doing that workout, even the running man, which in my opinion is far worse than suicides. I'd rather do two minutes of suicides than one minute of running man any day of my life.

In regards to my diet, well, that's a different story. I'm still struggling with the whole "self control" thing. I'll do SO well all week, and then I'll blow it on the weekends. I was on the path to weight loss until last night. I went to a friend's party and could not stay away from the snack table. It was terrible. When I got on the scale this morning, I found that I hadn't loss ANY weight. It sucked, but at least it wasn't a gain. I'll consider that a win after how I ate both Friday night AND Saturday.

With that being said, I need to reevaluate my personal diet plan. In terms of dietary choices, I have truthfully seen the most success when following the weight watchers points system than counting calories. I think I might do the weight watchers points system for my diet starting this week and continue with working out six days a week with this Body Revolution program. I'd also like to try a few of Jillian's recipes from her cookbook this week. I was at my parents' this week watching the house while they were out of town and the week before I was sick, so I haven't really had a chance to get in my own kitchen and start cooking since week 1. I think if I try to change up my approach to my diet, I might see better results.

As I said, two pounds in three weeks isn't where I wanted to be, but it's better than nothing at all, and the changes I'm seeing in my body are far more obvious to everyone in my life. With that being said, I NEED to work on my self control. Right here, right now, I'm committing to not having another drink before my birthday in three weeks and also not to have another full-blown, cheating meal that doesn't work within my pointsplus system. I didn't choose to do this program just to not get the results I want because I can't say no to chips and queso. It's ridiculous. ;)

Anyway, until next week! Thank you all for the support. I appreciate it.

xo, Sarah