BBL + 6DSS Day 2 - I Dream of Pizza

I literally had a dream last night that I ate pizza and breadsticks after dinner and totally wrecked my diet.  I don't consider myself to be a prophetic dreamer, but I guess I'll stay on my toes? ;)

Today was an odd day on the diet.  I was still kind of hungry after lunch today, but after a couple hours that disappeared and I just started to feel vaguely sick.  That feeling increased after tonight's workout, and I almost couldn't even finish dinner, which was really bizarre.  I'm feeling better now that I've eaten, though.  I actually wasn't expecting dinner to be so big.  The diet let me have two pieces of fish!

I guess healthy food goes further calorie-wise

I've been waddling around all day as a result of yesterday's workout and I wasn't sure how I was going to get through today's, but somehow I managed.  It was intense, though!  Every day calls for two workouts, which add up to about an hour.  Today I did the Cardio Axe, which is a dancing workout, and High and Tight, which involves resistance bands and ankle weights.  Not that I'm using the ankle weights yet, though!  It's hard enough as it is, so I think that's something I'll have to graduate to eventually.  Like the jumping in the Bum Bum video--all in good time :)

-Stephanie

BBL + 6DSS Day 1 - Okay, I'm Hungry

I didn't start off hungry, though.  Actually, breakfast left me super full, and I was starting to wonder if this would be better than I thought.  Turns out that I tend to do most of my eating at night, though, with a small or non-existent breakfast in the morning, so I'm starting to feel the grumblies.  Still, it's not so bad.  I should be able to keep this up for five more days.

Possibly my most colorful breakfast ever!

I did make some substitutions to the diet plan, partly because I'm a picky eater and partly to save on money.  For instance, breakfast was supposed to have 1/2 a grapefruit and 1/2 a whole wheat English muffin, but I don't really like either of those things and it seemed silly to buy a whole bag of English muffins when the diet plan never calls for that again.  So, whole wheat toast and chopped strawberries were my chosen replacements.  I also had a glass of warm lemon water before breakfast.  I've read online that it's a good thing to do when you're trying to lose weight, so why not?

For lunch I subbed zucchini and celery for the cucumber and tomato that the salad called for (picky eater), and for dinner I had a cup of onions, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower mixed instead of the snap peas.  I also messed with the chicken recipe a little.  Plain lemon chicken sounded boring, so I added some garlic and Italian seasoning to the marinade and cooked it on top of onions, and it worked out decently.  I have leftovers, too, so I might use chicken instead of turkey in my salad tomorrow.  It just doesn't make sense to waste food, you know?

Look at all those veggies!

My workout today called for the Basics DVD and the Bum Bum workout, but since I've seen the Basics DVD before and it's basically just an explanation of how to do the moves correctly, I went ahead and skipped it.  I'm feeling pretty good after that workout... just don't ask me to do anything that requires, you know, standing or walking.  That was intense!  I definitely feel it in my legs/bum bum/core, so hopefully I'll eventually see some results in those areas!  It didn't do much for my arms, but if I remember correctly the Sculpt DVD covers that pretty well, so I'll reserve judgment until I've gone through them all.

I am proud to report that, despite having leftover pie in my fridge and being offered Oreos at school today, I did not cheat at all.  I also managed to drink four water bottles full of water, not including the lemon water this morning. 

Also as a side note, I did weigh myself again this morning and came up at 145 pounds, so I think I'll use that for my starting weight instead.  Yesterday I weighed myself partway through the day so it wasn't quite as accurate, and as much as I'd love to claim those extra 2.5 pounds as weight loss due to exercise and dieting, I probably shouldn't ;)

That's all I have to report for the day, so I'll see you tomorrow!  Time to do some homework, and maybe go to bed a bit early so I don't think too much about my stomach XP

-Stephanie

Plan of Action

Happy Easter everyone!  You know, it only just occurred to me that I'll be starting this whole weight-loss dealio on April 1.  I guess I could always make tomorrow's post say "April Fools!!!" with an attached picture of me gorging on chocolate... but on second thought, no.

Anyway, onwards to business.  My starting weight is....

147.5 pounds.  Not awful, I guess, but nothing to write home about, and not where I want to be.  But it's okay, because this number's gonna change!  All I need to do is exercise, eat right, and use my... Booty Makeover Guide.  Ahem.

But seriously, the Brazil Butt Lift package does come with a useful pamphlet full of advice for using their program.  This includes four possible schedules for you to follow based on what your booty needs.  I spent an inordinate amount of time today staring at my butt in a mirror as I tried to figure out exactly what needs to change.  Is it too big?  Too flat?  Too pear shaped?  After maybe ten minutes of inner turmoil and struggle, I eventually decided to follow the Slim & Lift calendar, which is the "too big" solution.  My bum bum is definitely not too small, so it can't hurt, right?

The program gives you four weeks of specialized scheduling, and then recommends that you switch to the Combination calendar for the next four weeks for a "classic solution appropriate for all booty types."  I plan on completing at least the first four weeks, but I think I'll decide from there whether I want to continue with this program or switch to something else.  It might be cool to go for the whole eight weeks, because then I could have before/after photos for the entire program, so who knows?

Until then, I'm setting up a motivational reward system to keep myself on track.  Here's what I have so far:

 Target weight: 125 pounds

Awesome weight: 120 pounds (not sure if I'm capable of reaching this, but I'd like to!)

Weight-based goals:

130 lbs = awesome new pair of jeans from Buckle

120 lbs = awesomer new pair of jeans from Buckle

Time-based goals:

Two weeks exercising = pedicure

Four weeks exercising = massage

Every week I meet my exercise goal = Sunday afternoon playing the Sims :)

By having two types of goals, I get to reward myself both for losing weight and for sticking to the program.  Once I hit four weeks and finish with the first part of the BBL program, I'll get to decide where to go from there!

Well, I have my calendar, my food, my goals, and my rewards, so I guess I'm as ready as I can be.  I'll just leave you with my measurements and be off.  I really am looking forward to working off all the Easter candy and cookies I ate today ;)

Waist - 30"

Hips - 41.5"

Bust - 35.5"

Thigh - 24"

Arm - 11.75"

-Stephanie

Good Beginnings

Last week, for the first time ever, I inched into the "overweight" category for my height.

This is how I feel about that

 I should preface this entry by saying that last week was also ridiculously busy and that by the time I made it through to the weekend, my blood was 50% grape-flavored 5 Hour Energy.  Concepts like "exercise" and "healthy eating" were about the furthest thing from my mind... but if I'm being completely honest, I haven't paid them the attention they need for awhile now.  My weight has been hovering at the high end of "normal" for the past few years, and none of my occasional, half-hearted attempts at exercise have done much to change that.  But last week, for the first time, that bathroom scale hit the big 150.  For a 5' 5" woman, that's .4 pounds into the overweight zone, and even though that's barely anything and my weight's gone down a bit since then, it was enough to make me stop and think.

I'm not happy with how I look, and most importantly, I'm not happy with how I feel.  Even when I get enough sleep, I'm low on energy, and I just feel generally rotten.  My skinny jeans don't fit like they should so I've had to set them aside recently, and I feel uncomfortable when I'm not shrouded in my hoodie (which is unfortunate, as it's finally started to warm up around here).  On a practical note, I'm visiting Ghana later this summer to study African dance, and I'd like to be in shape when I get there rather than spending my time in extreme physical pain.

So, this blog is to help me get in shape.

Because I am a budget-minded college student, I'll be starting off with a system that I bought a couple years back and never took full advantage of: Brazil Butt Lift.  Although it has a name that I can't quite say aloud without snickering because I have all the maturity of a ten-year old, I have tried all of its workout DVDs at least once, and they were fun, challenging, and (I can only assume) effective.  Also, because I want to jumpstart this whole process while I'm still feeling motivated, I'm going to start with the 6-Day Supermodel Slimdown Plan that comes included with the Brazil Butt Lift (pft) package.  The food for next week is sitting in my fridge at this very moment, and though I've made a few substitutions because I am both low on funds and a picky eater, it should hopefully work about the same.

Hello healthy food :)

I'll try to make this blog as interesting and entertaining as possible, complete with before/after pictures, witty anecdotes, and tips from the trenches.  Tomorrow I'll be posting my beginning weight and inches along with a schedule and reward system, and the war starts on Monday.  In the meantime, it's about 1:30 am where I am right now, so I'm gonna peace out.  Catch you on the flip side ;)

-Stephanie