Tag: transformation

3 month progress update

The Appalachian Barbie4 Comments

As of June 22, I have been on my healthy life track for 3 months.  Honestly, I am shocked and very proud of myself for sticking with it like I have.  With everything else in my life, when things got tough or I didn’t receive immediate gratification, I would just blow it off and slip back into my old habits.  And while the changes aren’t as dramatic as I had imagined, I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come.  My expectations were set pretty high, and I guess I was imagining myself in a whole new rock hard bod at this point.  But life is not a hydroxycut commercial.  In real life, your before and after may be a little more subtle and take more time.  The toughest battle for me has been the constant self-comparison to Mitch’s progress.  We both started dieting March 22, he for his body building show in August and me because, well, if you can’t beat ’em join ’em.  His progress is astounding.  A weight loss of over 30lbs, hardly any body fat, cardio improvement.  His body is a 10!  And then here’s little ol’ me–womp, womp.  But I’m not going to belittle my success.  Mitch has always been an athlete who was able to modify his body quickly.  He wrestled through high school and college and has been body building for years.  He has “muscle memory,” so when it’s time for him to pump it up before a show, his body is like “Oh I remember this!  Let’s bring those muscles back! We’ve missed them!”  Whereas me on the other hand, I did nothing but drink competitively through college.  My idea of working out was taking the stairs instead of the elevator.  Muscle memory my ass.  My body says, “Muscle???  What’s this muscle you speak of??  Where’s the vodka?! We miss vodka!” So it has been a struggle.

With all that being said, I am so proud of my progress to date.  My arms have actual definition!  I am improving in weight each week.  The biggest thing is that I go to the gym 5 days a week without fail.  I now feel bad if I DON’T go, and I don’t hate it!  I am still holding all my weight in my midsection, (thanks mom, for that awesome gene.) but after seeing my photos side by side, I can really see a difference.  And this is the first time I’ve ever posted full photos of myself in a swimsuit in a public setting, so please be kind.  I am so excited to see how things are come September 22!

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STATS:

March 22, 2014                                                                               June 22, 2014

Height:   6’0″                                                                                       6’0″

Weight:   161 lbs                                                                                   148 lbs

Chest:      36″                                                                                             33.5″

Waist:     32.5″                                                                                         29.5″

Hips:       38.5″                                                                                          37.5″

Thighs:       22″                                                                                             21″

BMI:   21.8                                                                                                 20.1

Body Fat Percentage:    27.6%                                                            22.7%

So there you have it.  I am  most impressed with my body fat percentage.  When I first bought my caliper, I was shocked at how high my body fat was.  Dropping that number by 5% has been a better indicator than the scale of what kind of shape I’m in.  My goal is to lose 10 more lbs of fat and lower my body fat to 17%.  I am going to stop taking so many cheats now that vacation is behind me and really go hard on my diet.  My diet plans are pretty good right now.  I’ve started eating carbs again, but they are strategically placed and only come from ancient grains and fruit.  I aim to take in 150g of protein a day, but usually fall short of that goal.  As long as I break 100g I’m happy.

DIET:

Meal 1:  6oz Egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2c of plain oats, coffee with almond milk and stevia

Meal 2:  Protein shake (1 scoop vanilla whey, 1/2C berries, spinach, 2 tbsp PB2, 1/4 avocado, 1/2C liquid egg whites, 1/2C almond milk)

Meal 3:  1C fruit (melons or berries) and 4 oz lean protein

Meal 4:  1 serving of quinoa, 4 oz lean protein

Meal 5:  1-2C greens (spinach or broccoli), 4 oz lean protein

Snacks:  1 daily (piece of fruit, coconut milk ice cream, 2 tbsp peanut butter, Luna bar, dark chocolate…)

EXERCISE:

Monday:  Legs + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Tuesday:  Back and rear delts + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Wednesday:  Chest and biceps + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Thursday:  Glutes + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Friday:  Shoulders and triceps + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Saturday:  1 hour steady state cardio

Sunday:  REST!!!

*Please remember that I am  not a physician or anything close to one.  I am not encouraging anyone to follow this because if you hurt yourself I would feel hella bad.*

Is this what it’s like to have “haterz?”

The Appalachian Barbie3 Comments

I’m just gonna throw this quick little update out there because not only are my feelers hurt, but im also honestly pissed off.  And now I’m even more livid because I felt forced into using the term “hater.”  But what else do you call someone who pisses on another’s parade??  Since I have gotten my life together and started losing weight and making improvements in my life, I have had a few people who have made my life their priority and decided to tell me that what I was doing was unhealthy or abnormal.  Or “unreasonable.”  I have one question–where were you people for 10 years when I spent 6 nights a week in a bar, in an unhealthy mutually abusive relationship, overweight, and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day??  Not one person except my mother ever questioned  my behavior then when I was the most self-destructive human being I’ve ever known.  Now I have people coming out of the woodwork questioning my actions, saying that it’s unreasonable for me to spend the time I do at the gym, or that I eat clean and that’s not normal.  NOW people are “worried” about me.

I don’t need to justify my life but just for fun here ya go.  It has taken me 2 months to lose 10 lbs.  I consume 1200-1500 calories/day.  I workout 6 days a week for 1.5-2 hours.  30 minutes of that is HIIT cardio and the other time is spent on weight training.  I eat organically as much as I can afford and I go out on the town about once a month.  If this is an unhealthy lifestyle then so be it.  I feel better than I ever have.  Look better than I ever have.  Have money in the bank and someone great at home.  If you don’t like it, I honestly don’t care.  I’ve never been one to try to please anyone but myself and I don’t intend on changing that any time soon.

I'll take the girl on the left over the one on the right any day.
I’ll take the girl on the right over the one on the left any day.