January results . . . finally . . .

Okay, I apologize for the delay. This bug I had was a nasty one, and I ended up going an entire week with no exercise at all (bleh!). It seriously knocked me flat! Definitely no fun. I am sure, however, that this came about as a result of stress and over training, so I am approaching my workouts a bit differently now that I am back on my feet. More on that later (i.e. in another post).

Anyway, I promised to post my January results so here you go:

Measurements (as of 1/1/2014):	Measurements (as of 2/4/2014):
Weight: 179.2 lbs	Weight: 172.8 lbs
Body Fat: 43.3%	Body Fat: 41.1%
Waist: 41.5”	Waist: 40”
Hips: 44”	Hips: 42.2”
Chest: 42.2”	Chest: 40.5”
Right Arm: 13.8”	Right Arm: 13.2”
Left Arm: 14.5”	Left Arm: 13.8”
Right Thigh: 22.5”	Right Thigh: 23.5”
Left Thigh:  22.8”	Left Thigh:  23.5”

These results are a combination of eating well (I will post my eating guidelines in the very near future), exercising regularly, getting plenty of sleep, and hoping for the best.

So here are a few tips that are working for me. Perhaps they will be helpful to you as well:

1. I have not starved myself or deprived myself in any way. I will talk about this more in my "eating guidelines" post, but suffice it to say that any kind of deprivation diet is not sustainable. If this is what you are using to lose weight, I wish you the best, but I do not believe you will be successful. In any case, I have never been successful (in the long term) losing weight with a severely restrictive diet.

2. I eat healthy, whole foods and keep processed foods to a minimum. This one is pretty self-explanatory. In general, if the food is packaged, and especially if it has a long list of ingredients, it is not good for you, no matter what it claims. Keep these types of food to a minimum.

3. I go to bed as close to 10PM as possible and I aim to get up around 6AM. A good night's rest is crucial to weight loss as well as to your overall health and vitality and mood. Don't skimp on sleep, even if it means missing your workout that day. Your body needs that time to repair and regenerate. So if something from your to-do list has to go, don't let it be your sleep.

I am happy with these results, and I am on track to reach that goal of weighing less than 120 lbs. by the end of the year. Yee-haw!

Some days are harder than others...

Why is it that one day you can feel completely wonderful, on top of the world, and the next you feel like you just want to go back to bed and sort of skip the day? Today is one of those 'skip' days for me, but I can't just go back to bed or I'll have to deal with the consequences tomorrow, and we all know that's not pretty. So I just keep trying to plow through the day, doing my best to get something productive done, but not feeling great about anything I spend my time on. "Should I work on that? Nah. Maybe I should try doing a little work here? No, I don't really feel like it today." Why am I feeling this way? Let's examine the evidence.

Exhibit #1: I stayed up a little too late last night and got up a bit earlier than usual this morning. Okay, so I am a little tired. That definitely contributes to the low energy. Sleep is so important, and I suffer every time I don't get enough sleep on a consistent basis. So tonight I will get to bed a little earlier, and I will sleep in a little later tomorrow if I feel the need. Done.

Exhibit #2: I have been fighting off a cold. I do feel like I am winning the battle, with the help of Dr. Christopher's herbs plus lots of herbal tea and OnGuard softgels (of course, I ran out of the OnGuard capsules yesterday so I don't have that extra boost anymore). However, perhaps the combination of not enough sleep and trying to fight off this bug is causing my energy to flag somewhat. Okay, so I will continue to pound the herbs and the herbal tea, and I will pick up more OnGuard softgels tomorrow. And I will get more sleep. Check.

Exhibit #3: It is snowing outside. NOT IT!!!! I love snow and it makes me feel happy and peaceful watching it fall. Maybe I just need to spend a little more time enjoying the falling snow to boost my energy. (:

Exhibit #4: I have exercised every day (except for Sundays) since December 30th without missing a day. So here's something interesting. When you move your body less (on a regular basis) your cells produce less mitochondria, which are your energy super factories, because you don't really seem to need them. I mean, why maintain a super factory if you aren't using up all the output, right? Up until December 30th, my exercising was very sporadic, to say the least ("I hope not sporadically." --name that movie). Plus, I was in school full-time, Monday through Thursday, from January through October. It's probably safe to say that I was living a rather sedentary lifestyle for most of the year, so my energy factories were shut down and the workers were all laid off. Now that I am moving my body again on a regular basis, they are busting their buns trying to get those factories rebuilt and all the workers re-hired, but they are having a hard time keeping up with the demand. I am doing pretty well fueling my body with sufficient amounts of nutritious food, but my cells can only build so fast. However, because I knew this was going to happen, having experienced it many times before, I called in reinforcements this time. I have been taking DoTerra's Mito2Max capsules to help my body build those factories more quickly and efficiently, and let me tell you, they work!!! I have suffered none of that typical fatigue and lethargy that I am used to feeling when I start trying a new workout regimen (yes, it's that same fatigue that has undermined my workout goals--and yours???--many, many times in the past). The thing is, though, I ran out of my Mito2Max capsules about 2 days ago. Hmmm.

Well my friends, based on the evidence I think we might have found our guilty party (lack of Mito2Max supplementation) and his accomplices (lack of sleep and cold bugs). Yea! I feel better already. I will get that Mito2Max tomorrow and I will continue to fight the good fight. (: For today, just know that I did get my workout in, despite the sluggishness, and I am happy for that. Now, back to trying to be productive. Well, maybe I'll go enjoy the snowfall for a few minutes first. (:

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the uber-long post, but it was really therapeutic for me today.