Goodbye 2018!

Crazy to believe that 2018 is almost over. I'm ready to move forward to 2019 for sure, but moving forward always makes me nervous. Some big things happened in 2018: I turned 30, which was a huge and kind of scary milestone for me, I really struggled with some dark depression there for a few months, the house caught on fire, and I spent the half half of the year living in a hotel (which I'm still at; more on that later). The idea of turning 31 is just as startling as turning 30, and hotel life is still kind of difficult for me to get used to. I'm not here on vacation!! But some days, it sure feels that way, especially with so many vacation days that happen at the end of November and around Christmastime. All the baking and iffy eating has caught up to me. While I was gaining weight according to the scale, my clothes fit the same, and I could see positive changes in the mirror. I got some of my clothes back and a couple pairs of pants are really difficult to button. Others still fit well. I'm not sure what's going on. I'm trying to remember if some of these pants were tighter before, but to be honest to myself, even if these clothes were tighter before I know that my nutrition has not been that great. It's a work in progress. I'm making sure to try and clean it up a little (now that Christmas is over, I'm hoping that will be easier, but being out of your home and having limited fridge and freezer space makes it all way more difficult than I thought it would!) and I'm confident that even if I can't get the weight off, I can at least get my body back to where I was! We were moved to a different place in the hotel; we're now in a two bedroom, two bathroom suite. So the whole family is together (previously we were spread between two rooms) and the living room area is large enough that I can do Body Shred without any space issues! In our previous room, I had about a 3.5ft by 6ft space to do it. I made it work, but this is much easier! I'm on the second week of workouts 3-4, and I move to 5-6 tomorrow. Workouts 3 and 4 are really tough! Burpee and planks galore. I'll give a good review on them soon.

I'm not sure if there is anyone who actually reads this, but the idea that someone may be reading makes me happy. The idea that I may inspire someone to do their best when they've been faced with a big tragedy or adversary (such as a house fire) is exciting too. I just want to inspire others this year! I want everyone to know that they CAN do it. If anything, I have confidence in you.

Entering Body Shred

Hi everyone! Hotel life is going all right. I could get used to having breakfast cooked for me every morning. ;) That makes it hard in a way though, it's so easy to pick the wrong choices OR eat too much. Would it be weird to take my own measuring cups down to where breakfast is served to get the right portion size? Yeah, didn't think so! I'm trying my best to make healthy options. Being stuck in a hotel without knowing if you'll be moved to another hotel or moving to another more permanent, yet still temporary home makes it difficult to really make plans, work out a schedule, and even just liven up your room. Christmas is 15 days away, but I've not done much about it, except bake. A lot. Chocolate and peanut butter fudge, cookies, brownies... the sweets seem endless! I'm really struggling with eating healthy right now. I can't say I would struggle like this as much at home, but I don't know. At home, I can at least go to another room or do something. Here I'm a little stuck.

Current workout is Body Shred! I started yesterday after inquiring in a Jillian Michaels group on Facebook how much space one really needs for it. I thought why not!? I was looking into some BeachBody workouts such as LIIFT4, Core De Force, or even 80 Day Obsession. 80 Day Obsession says you need a 6x6 space. I have about a 4ish by 6ish space. I noticed a lot of the workouts for Beach Body are longer, but have a few minutes where each move is explained. In some moves I'm grateful fo that, but in others I've done it so many times I don't need an explanation. I'm hooking my laptop up to the tv and playing workouts through a flash drive as it's all I have right now, and it's difficult to fast forward. I'm familiar with Jillian so I thought, why not? Body Shred always intimidated me, but I've got the first two days done and tomorrow is the cardio day. So far I enjoy it a LOT. Phew! It's Jillian's classic 3-2-1 style that 30 Day Shred and Ripped In 30 has, but in a group setting like Body Rev. And some of my favorites are back! Kenta, Jamie, Omar (!!) and more! So that's cool. Like I said, only in week 1, just started yesterday. Hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew!

Checking in again

Hello to anyone who may be reading this! Thanks for dropping by!

Sorry for the lack of posts here lately. Things have literally been CRAZY! I want to go into details, and I promise I will, but here are some highlights.
- Summer came and went. I got a lot of Stand Up Paddleboarding in, which was great! I love being out on the lake and exploring new places on the water.
- I went on a vacation for the first time in years - first time going anywhere with my new body! I went to Washington DC, which is one of my favorite places to travel to. I can't say that I didn't spend all of my vacation recreating photos, but, uh, I spent some time taking photos so I could compare. I mean, I know I've changed, but it wasn't until I saw a side by side photo that I realized that I'd really changed. It was amazing. My my vacation was filled with lots of activity that I'm not sure I'd have been able to do before my weight loss. On our last day there, I walked almost a half marathon around that city AND rode a bike.
- My house caught on fire. I'm currently living in a hotel. I'm not sure exactly how long I'll be here, but our home won't be livable for at least another six months. Everyone was safe, including our little dog, and that's all that matters. But with that, I'm still trying to eat healthily (or as healthily as possible with limited kitchen space, kitchen utensils, and more) and get my workouts in. Our hotel does have a lovely fitness center and our rooms are VERY solid. I've done several Jillian Michaels workouts the last two weeks and I've had no complaints from neighbors. Family members (my parents) are in the room above me, and they let me use their room to work out in if necessary. It just usually depends on where my weights are. This has been a major challenge to me and I've been so nervous that this may be my downfall to weight loss. I'm not exercising nearly as often as I was, and diet and nutrition is tough. But that said, I'm hard on myself with all that. Sometimes I wonder if I was overtraining and restricting calories too much. My clothes fit the same (or well, still in the same size; I've had to buy new clothes) but I just feel like there is so much more I could be doing. I'll elaborate more on this in another post. I hope that I'll be able to talk about my issues more and actually use this blog more!
- I have learned that I REALLY LOVE to run outdoors. I used to be a mostly-treadmill only girl. A run outside was a rarity. We did a LOT of walking in Washington DC, and every time we were out walking, it didn't matter the time or weather. There was always someone out running. It inspired me to give it a try. It didn't matter if it was rainy or really hot or what, they were out running. They were going somewhere instead of running on a treadmill. I wanted to give it a shot! While we were there, we'd watch their local news stations, and I heard about a woman who running and when was randomly stabbed. She passed away and I was really sad to hear it. It got me thinking again about running outdoors. This woman I never knew, never met, never heard of until she passed away and possibly wouldn't have heard of inspired me. Her story inspired me. So I decided to try something new in honor of someone whose story touched me. I got to explore places around my home that I never knew about and I've lived in the area for almost 30 years. I climbed up hills that at first felt like mountains that now I am able to run up no problem. (Well, we'll see what happens. In the hotel we're at, it's elevator only. I can't believe how much I miss stairs!)

So that's been a condensed (although it doesn't seem like it!) version of life lately. I hope to elaborate more on all of these in the near future and keep blogging about living in a hotel and still managing my workouts and healthy eating. This may be the biggest test of my fitness journey so far. Current workout: Killer Body. I was doing Body Rev again but I've done Killer Body so many times that I can remember it by heart.

Love to everyone, especially if you're reading this. <3

You are worth more.

YOU ARE WORTH MORE. 

You are worth more than the steps you take or your killer or not-so-killer workout. You are worth more than the calories you ate or didn’t eat. You are worth more than the size of your jeans or the number on that scale. You are worth more than what someone said to make you feel anything less than your worth. And what is that, by the way? It’s not a number. Your worth surpasses all numbers, even the infinite ones. No. Your worth is that you are you. You are the only one who is you, and that makes you powerful. That is your worth. 

Checking in!

Hey guys! How's everyone been? It's been a while since I've written something other than a DVD review and I wanted to check in. I think my last check in was more of a whining post about how I had been busting my butt with workouts and with my diet, but the scale was going up. Unfortunately, I think that's still the case, but I'm not sure. To be honest, I avoid the scale these days and try not to identify myself with a number. My pants size is still the same, so I'm guessing my measurements are staying the same also. If they have, it's only been a slight difference and I'm okay with that. I can't say that I'm not curious, but I'm also not interested in having my day ruined by a number because that's how I am. I'm still working on trying to find that balance of eating healthy but living a little, workout and rest, and everything in between. It's a work in progress! I never thought it'd be this tough. I did take a lovely rest week. I made sure to get all my Fitbit steps in, but I took a week off of all my two a day, intense workouts for more fun ones. It was so nice. I took several baths, I tackled my Amazon watch list and got to watch several movies I've been wanting to see, and truly enjoyed my week. Getting back on the wagon wasn't difficult at all and I was glad to be back. I was really burned out there, and that was definitely what I needed. :)

In other news, I've upgraded my Fitbit. I went from the Charge HR, which I had a lot of problems with, and went with the Versa. I was a little nervous sticking with the Fitbit brand after all the issues I've had it he past, but I ultimately decided to stay because the Versa is water resistant up to 50 meters and you can swim with it. (Or more accurately wear it while you're paddleboarding, or going up five stories to go down your favorite waterslide!) So far, I'm really happy with it. I've had it for a little over a month and I can't think of any major issues yet.

Did anyone capitalize on all the Jillian Michaels' DVD's at the Dollar Tree? I sure did! Right after Christmas, someone posted on Facebook that there were a ton of Jillian DVD's being sold at Dollar Tree. I went and lo and behold, there were an absolute ton of them, each for $1. I was so excited! I got Hard Body, Extreme Shed and Shred, Killer Cardio, Killer Arms and Back, 10 Minute Workout 1st Edition and 2nd edition, Beginner Shred, and Hot Body Healthy Mommy. I think that's all. I got the Beginner Shred and Hot Body Healthy Mommy simply because I didn't have them. I know Beginner Shred is awesome for beginners, and I am hoping I can get my dad or my brother to workout with me with the BegShred. I thought that the pregnancy one might be good for when you're coming back from an injury, but it's nice to have around just in case. ;).

I turned 30 in February! That is kind of weird to say. Turning 30 bothered me a lot, and still bothers me, to be honest. But I can say that at 30, I am the healthiest that I've ever been physically! :) (Well, physically if we ignore my hips and joints, haha.) And that's a wonderful feeling! August makes it six years that I've been on my health journey. I saw an old picture of myself from 2010, while on vacation in Washington DC. After maintaining this weight loss for over four years now, I don't always realize the changes, because I've gotten used to my face. I sometimes get discouraged now that I don't see major changes as often, but when I saw that picture, I thought: WOW! That my face. And my face is significantly thinner now. I see all the changes. I see it from point A to point... J (because at the end of the alphabet is the end of my life. I'm hoping I'm only 1/3rd of the way through!) I shared the post on Facebook after hemming and hawing for a couple of days. I really don't like old fat pictures, but I remembered again that the Julie from years ago deserves the ultimate celebration and the utmost respect. SHE is the one who got off the couch, started to play DDR, and then changed her life and grew into me. :)

Current workout is Killer Body. It's one of my favorites and I went back to it back in March, I believe. I have a confession. I didn't completely complete Body Revolution. I had four days left! FOUR DAYS! And then I caught the awful flu that went around. It knocked me out for three weeks in January. By the time I finally got my strength back, I felt like I couldn't do Week 11 and 12, and definitely not Cardio 3 with all I had lost while sick. I started back into fitness with some Youtube workouts. I found a lady named Pahla Bowers, and I really like her running in place workouts. I started 10 Minute Workouts, both editions and really enjoyed them, and then I started back up with Killer Body. So while I'm a bit bummed that I didn't quite finish Body Rev, I did do every single workout. It's not a huge deal, but 86/90 days. Booo. It'll happen though. :)

I'm going to start winding down now. Thank you so much for reading! Coming up. I'm hoping to have more reviews on some new DVD's I've tried recently, such as both 10 Minute DVD's, and Killer Cardio. I'm seriously considering trying 80 Day Obsession by Autumn from Beach Body. I love Country Heat, and if I do, I will talk about it as I go. Thanks again for reading!

Body Revolution - Phase 3, Cardio 3

Phase 3 cardio takes you through all four weeks of Phase 3, just like with the previous two phases. This one is pretty simple in which you do the circuit three times over, but the moves in general are HARD. Even Jillian herself says that this was probably the most vicious workout she's created and she wasn't lying. By the end of Cardio 3, I was dripping in sweat. It is the toughest Jillian cardio workout I've done personally (Workout 11 and Cardio 3 are about equal).

So, there are several different moves that last around twenty seconds or so. You start with windmills, and you quickly move from that to fast feet, knee thrusts on both sides, double jump jumprope, and jumping front kicks. She also has you drop down in plank for plank moguls. Then you do a purely evil few minutes of rockstar jumps, squat jumps, jumping lunges, and squat jacks. She has you do four high knees and then an up down/burpee. Standing mountain climbers, high knees with a rotation, long jump forward and two jumps backward, cannon balls. She has you drop down on the floor for plank taps, crab kicks (which I hate with a passion!), knee thrusts in plank, down dog thrusters, zig zag jumps, side burpees, single leg hops, and then finally, back in plank again for plank punches.

And you get to do this two more times!! 

It is tough. A ton of plyometric moves, lots of planks, lots of burpee variations. I did this workout in the summer months and also in the winter months when my home was pretty cold at night, and it didn't matter. I was dripping. But it's still a great cardio workout a super effective!

Body Revolution - Phase 3, workout 12

THIS IS YOUR LAST WORKOUT!! WOO HOO! You are a force to be reckoned with!

I'll be honest, after workout 11 I was scared for workout 12. Phew. But I really enjoyed it! Your warmup consists of plank taps, long jumps, and donkey kicks, which you do on each side.

Circuit one has you doing a lat pull on a one legged bridge, alternating plank rows, a tuck to a sprawl (which reminds me of boat pose spraws), and then alternating popups, which reminds me of surrender lunges to a degree. You repeat all this after doing your cardio, which is cannonball jumps.

Circuit two is a bit tough. She has you do what's called wheel pushups. I've never been able to get in wheel pose, let alone do a pushup, so I definitely modified. Then you do alternating dumbbell rows, which is sounds easy, but you go so fast that you definitely get your heart rate up and going! Next, get in plank, and get ready because you do reverse flies in plank, and then you do tricep kickbacks in plank. Repeat after zigzag jumps for cardio.

Circuit 3 has you doing sit up flies with your resistance band. Next you stand on our resistance band and go into a backwards lunge and then stand up and and do a shoulder press with your resistance band. You do that on the opposite side after you do squat jumps holding weights, which is super tough. You get to do it all again after you do your cardio interval, which is speedbag with kickouts. 

Last circuit in this last workout. I almost cried! Circuit four has you doing single leg squat jumps, and then bicep curls. Just simple bicep curls. Single leg squat jumps on the other side, and then dancing crab. Your cardio interval is side to side hops with weights. And then you repeat on the opposite side!

And then you cool down. What I loved about the cool down is once you're finish, Jillian bring the entire cast up. Everyone is clapping, and she congratulates you on completing the 90 days program, and reminds you that they're there whenever you need them.

I really love Body Rev. I loved seeing lots of Jillian 'regulars' in there like Natalie, Anita, Mimi, Kenta, meeting some new ones (I loved Teri Ann and Omar!) and just the whole workout in general. And to complete something that is three months long and build every week was great. I was never bored with Body Rev (except maybe the cardio's, since they did last the whole month, but that could be easily rectified) and while some of the workouts were SUPER TOUGH, it's my favorite program so far of it's caliber.