mokin

So I have been following this guide to reaching 100 push ups. It’s a challenge, but I’m using it as a guide. I am doing it every other day because I don’t want to hurt myself (lol) so Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays I follow that. In between though I want to do something that will make me feel the burn.

So I went on About.com and found so at home exercises that should do it for me. :3 If I feel it tomorrow, I’ll report it. n____n

Question: What do you think about the Cardio three times a week? I am not really able to do that, unless Cardio is also just raising your heart rate like it does when I do squats/pushups/situps/etc. I heard that it is the only SURE FIRE WAY to burn fat and lose weight. Honest opinions/insight?

btw, here are my measurments:

Arms: 14 inch round
Waist: 37 inches
Thigh: middle: 22 inner: 25 inches
Calves: 16.5

My waist is what I am concerned about. My goal for this year is to lose at least, AT LEAST, two inches. I would like to get to 30 inches, if possible, off, but 35 is said to be the healthy mark for women.

AND. Everyone this holiday has been commenting on how it looks like I have slimmed out, and I am pretty sure they aren’t lying. If I didn’t, they wouldn’t comment otherwise. lol Gotta love family.

Just continuing with my goals.

Goal: Get healthy, and slim down a little.

I dumped my challenges and old ‘workout routines’ and started anew. I won’t be performing ridiculous workouts, trying different ‘no effort’ diets. I began this blog saying that it is a lifestyle change.

Keyword LIFESTYLE.

So my more detailed goals is this:

1. Replace most soda with healthy juices and water. Begin by: Limiting pop drinking to weekends (Saturday, Sunday) and special events. Limit 2 cans/2 cups a day.
2. Be able to complete 50 pushups/situps by the end of the year.
3. Be able to fit comfortably in a size 12/10 by end of year.

Beginning of 2010 Stats:

Weight: 178 pounds. (Isn’t that great? Only a 2 pound weight gain the whole Thanksgiving/Christmas season. :D)
Measurements: EDIT LATER (i don’t have it right now, but I will edit it in here once I do tonight, and will add it to my new blog post.)
Abilities: 7 push ups, 17 sit ups, 25 squats, 24 leg-scissors.

Happy New Year.

Here are some of my favorite recipes that I love, but are diet and healthy. n___n

I found these recipes at recipezaar.com, recipes.sparkpeople.com,or cooks.com

 Diet Crepe~ Calories: 188.9 (per serving, without fruit/chocolate/nuts, but with whip cream)

• 2 egg whites
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons water (I prefer filtered)
• 1 (1 g) packet Apriva/Spenda/Nutriva/other sweeteners
• 1 pinch salt (for taste)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together. Try to get all lumps out to get smooth consistency. If you cannot, that’s okay, just try your best. :3
2. Heat a (preferably non stick) frying pan (flat kind, the kind you make pancakes with) to medium-high heat, add cooking spray.
3. Pour the batter into the pan. Let sit for a few seconds, then spread with the top of serving spoon into a smooth, even circle. Do so slowly.
4. Cook on one side until the top is completely dry. Then flip it over. Be careful, because these are more tender than pancakes, so you might want to use a wide spatula. The flipped over side should be brown. Brown the other side until it is also brown to your liking.
5. Enjoy. :3 I prefer using whip cream (low fat) with different berries or fruit. You can also add DARK chocolate (it’s full of antioxidants), and syrups. (I avoid syrups, but it’s up to you.

Disclaimer: You can switch the substitutes to the real stuff. Some do not like the whole wheat taste. I would recommend using unbleached flour. Or white flour..:P

EDIT: If anyone viewed this before I altered the recipe, using half a cup of egg whites was too much. xD You should use two egg whites. Sorry, this recipe is being worked on. ^___^;

False Ice Cream Cookies

• Graham Crackers (I haven’t looked, but there might be sugar free, low fat etc. If not, buy the plain.)
• Whip Cream (not canned, thawed
• Optional: (Dark) Chocolate , nuts, or even fruit.
• Cookie sheet, or a flat plate.

1. Take  the gram crackers and break then into squares like you would a smore. Take the whip cream and put a dollop on the center of one of the squares. Continue to do so until half of the squares have whip cream on them.
2. Take the chocolate, break then into bits, or unless it’s in kisses (I like the mini kind), or the nuts (do the same), the fruit, ANYTHING you want to add and sprinkle onto the top of the whip cream.
3. Then set the other graham cracker on the whip cream, set on cookie sheet then cover with lid/foil/plastic wrap.
4. Set in the freezer until frozen. (Tbh, the time has been different every time for me, but at least half an hour I would guess.)
5. Enjoy. 8D

I will be adding more later on (this’ll be a series), but please enjoy these recipes if you wil.

Criticism/commentsn about the recipe is welcomed.

Every time I begin to exercise, someone is always knocking at my door.

“The dog needs to go out.”
“What are you doing?”
“____ wants you.”

They can take the dog out, none of their business, and why is it someone needs me at that exact moment!?

For the past hour I have tried to do push up, sit ups, ANYTHING but I am always being interrupted.

And it does take a toll on your motivation. At least it does for me.
Every time I am interrupted, it becomes harder for me to start again. To get back into the momentum of working out. Whether it be strength training, cardio, aerobic, pilates, etc. Man.

But the one thing that motivates me, believe it or not, is to wear this orange tank top that I have. It has thick straps, my favorite type of neck line, and I just like the way I look it in. My hope is that I’ll continually look better in it and see an improvement. So, when I change into that, that typically sends me back into the mood. n____n

Oh, and I do plan on using the exercise log. I don’t use the food one anymore, though I might start up next year when everything settles down and I have more time. The exercise log will make it easier for me to figure out how many calories I burned and etc. n___n

I don’t have much of a report, so I thought I’d share my ‘trouble’ spots that I would like to lose the weight the most.

Upper arms.
Stomach/love handles.
Thighs.

Those are my major trouble spots.

My thighs and stomach has always been a problem. I’ve been ‘chubby’ for a while, but now that I am overweight it’s obvious that I need to lose there. But in the past four years (that’s recent for me lol) my arms have been a problem. They’re freaking HUGE. So wide.

I miss having my sleeves been loose there. lol Being able to wear tank tops. I have the inches written down, but I am scared to share them. xD

Goals to reach by my birthday:

1. Feeling comfortable wearing tank tops.
2. Wearing my favorite long sleeves shirt, but not have it hang off my love handles.
3. To have space in between my legs.

I used to have all three. just earlier this year, when I tried a with little to no effort to lose weight, I was walking without rubbing, my upper arms weren’t so wiggly, and my love handles were disappearing before my eyes. Then when summer was over, I began to gain.

It really sucks, but knowing I lost without really trying is encouraging.  That if I do try, imagine what I can be.

Website to check out: mypyramid.gov
It’ll remind you how to have a balanced meal. Though you may not agree with portion sizes, for me, like today, it helped me choose what to have for lunch. Rice with black beans, mixed veggies and some pineapple. With good portion sizes. n__n

I did 10 minute cardio, and a mix of pilates and strengh training. n__n So I completed the goal I set. yay

So, I thought it’d be cool to share the challenges I have joined, so I can share them with others and to keep peope informed.

Currently I am in two challenges.

Spark People 7-day Boot Camp Challenge; Complete a 10 minute video once a day, along with 30 minute cardio 5 days a week. It seems simple enough, and it mingles in with my 30 minute cardio. So why not? :3 Oh, and it’s for 4 weeks, so it’s a Month challenge.

My second challenge also runs for a month.

30 Day Fitness Challenge. I joined this just for the heck of it. You suscribe for a daily email, and I guess it gives you a daily goal. I’ll see how this will go. n__n

Links: 30 Day Fitness Challenge
Spark People 7 Day Boot Camp Challenge

So we’ll see how it goes.

And if you are interested in a couple of Youtube challenges, you can check out Christmas Losers challenge (search it on youtube, I cannot find the video right now.) And, if i have not mentioned it before, you should definitely watch a channel called OneStepCloserTV. Full of funny people, updated daily.

That’s all I have today.

Goal for tomorrow: Complete two daily challenges w/ strength training.

(Oh, and I might try and find some old workout videos from the 80’s and try this out. I’ve always enjoyed those. xD)

I am currently (right now I’m taking a break) doing cardio, then I will be doing strength, then some pilates. n___n (I love pilates. :3)

Yesterday I did zip and ate some cookies. D: So that was a fail day. (Might start marking those on the calendar. lol) But today I plan on making up for my non-activeness yesterday. I will be doing those three exercises that I would normally spread out through the week, sort of as my punishment lol.

I’ll give an update of how I did later today.

December (and end of November) is guaranteed to be chock full of sweets and junk food for most of us.

News: I have gained weight. Maybe not so much in pounds, or maybe so (I don’t weigh myself lol) but I notice it in my clothes. Crap. Just this week. Since it came on so fast, I need to get it off so fast.

I AM going to workout everyday this week, whether it’s late at night, randomly in the middle of the day or early in the morning, I am going to to do some sort of exercise. Not only do I want to lose the weight to become healthier but

Christmas = Presents = Clothes =  me telling my grandma that the clothes she got don’t fit.

NOT THIS TIME. O____________O

So wish me luck. :3

So my last blog stated that I had a non-existed cold, well, it became ‘existed’. lol So I couldn’t workout for two days. Then, when the house got cleaned, the dust rose up and attacked me like wild boars. I suffered from allergies and couldn’t concentrate on anything. So three days with nothing done.

FAIL OF A WEEK. But I tried my best to make good food decisions. :p

This article from wikihow is also refreshing: http://www.wikihow.com/Burn-Fat-and-Stay-Healthy

Reminds you of a lot of things that you may have forgotten in your journey of weight loss.

And, here’s a weight loss/healthy lifestyle channel on Youtube that’s pretty good. They have a video everyday, a person assigned to each day of the week.

http://www.youtube.com/onestepclosertv

I like Monday and Sunday personally. ;D

Anyways, I am better and cannot wait to get back. So TONIGHT. And so on. lol

I pigged out mostly and probably gained three pounds (but not over five, I didn’t eat that much lol) and I do not feel like eating anything unhealthy at all. So sick of junk food lol. This will push me to go on track definitely.

Tomorrow will be the official day to get back on track. Nothing planned this week to disrupt it. Goal: Do everything according to schedule for a full week without fail.

I think I might be getting a cold. Having a dinner to go to later this week, (two days) I do not need this. Drank green tea with honey, 1 tsp. of pure honey (seems to help me), 1 cup of Vitamin C drink, water, boots on to keep me warm, and will go to bed early.

Wish me luck, and thanks to those commenting.

1. Yes, that ice cream does exist, and I am a sucker for it. D:
2.  At least I am not alone. xD Will try hip hop workout. lol Seems cool and doable.