Back to my Workout Routine

After about 10-day break, it feels great to start working out again. Who knew I would say such thing. But mostly it's great because I get to watch my TV shows, and I'm on my way to "Skinny Me". One day, hopefully soon, I will truely love working out, and it will be part of my life. Until then, I will motivate myself with my TV shows and goal in mind.

I'm very glad that I didn't gain back about 2 lbs that I lost since I started my journey. Right now, I'm consistently around 148 lbs. One day I was even 147 lbs. Small victories! :)

A lot of weight loss programs don't advise to weigh yourself every day. In fact, they advise to get rid of the scale and forget about it. For some odd reason, that will never work for me. I actually got a good scale about a year ago, when I reached 155 lbs. Before then, I didn't weigh myself and let myself go. Not a good thing. Weighing myself regularly helps me to know where I am at, and identify what kind of food makes me heavier. It seems like pretty obvious question. However, I'd like to find out how different food affects my body. Like I mentioned in my first post, I don't diet. Although I'm not planning to get on any diet plan, I'll start focusing on my eating habits pretty soon. I'd like to learn more about clean eating. But I don't want to overwhelm myself with huge excise and diet change all at once. It's just a recipe for failure. Been there, done that.

Speaking of baby steps, I added two new things in my healthy weight loss journey.

1. I started writing everything I eat. This will help me to learn what I need to change in my diet.
2. I added a 10-minute arm toning excise. I found this awesome website, www.fitsugar.com, with lots of 10-min workout videos. Click here for 10-min Workout for Tank Top Arms.

Road Block: Leg Pain

No, I haven't quit... But it's been a struggle. 

About 11 days ago, I got this really annoying, nagging pain in my lower left leg. It felt like my leg has been tied and released, kind of numbing feeling but at the same time not really. It's hard for me to describe this pain. It's not sharp pain, but it's nagging. Google told me it could be number of things, from a simple injury to a blot clot. I stopped working out immediately, as it was the only thing I was doing differently. 

Last Tuesday, I was planning to go to a doctor as pain wasn't going away for almost a week. Due to Thanksgiving, I didn't get a chance to make an appointment. Luckily, it got better on Thursday. Mild pain came back over the weekend. And today it is much better. I'm planning start working out slowly again tomorrow. I'm super excited because I haven't been watching my TV shows, and I need to catch up. 

I didn't gain much weight over Thanksgiving. My weight was 149.8 lbs this morning. 

I don't want to give up on my mission, and one way or another I would like to achieve my goal in healthy way. I still don't know if my leg pain is due to my workout. I'll have to keep a close eye on it.

Have you had any strange leg pains due to workout?

When you are about to quit, remember why you started.

I came across above quote a few days ago, and it motivated me enormously. So I decided to share some motivational quotes in this post. It helps me to keep going. I hope it does the same to you!

Ø  The distance between who I am and who I want to be is separated only by my actions and words.

Ø  The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen.

Ø  Do something that makes you sweat!

Ø  Think you won’t make a difference with one run? You won’t make any difference doing nothing.

Ø  Don’t lose faith, you got this!

Ø  Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire!

Ø  Don’t stop when you are tired. Stop when you are done!

Ø  You don’t always get what you wish for; you get what you work for!

Ø  It takes 4 weeks for you to see your body changing.
It takes 8 weeks for your friends and family to notice.

And it takes 12 weeks for the rest of the world to see. Keep going!

Ø  If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done.

Ø  No goal was ever met without a little sweat.

Ø  Just do it!

Ø  If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.

Here is my workout progress for last week.

	Date	Cals Burnt	Weight	Body Fat (%)
Sunday	28-Oct		150.2	35
Monday	29-Oct	623	149.2	35.4
Tuesday	30-Oct	617	148.6	35.3
Wednesday	31-Oct	591	149.2	35.2
Thursday	1-Nov	607	148.6	35.2
Friday	2-Nov		148.8	35.3
Saturday	3-Nov		148.6	35.1
Sunday	4-Nov	630	149	35.4
Monday	5-Nov	637	148	35.2

Finally, I will end this post with the following quote:

Stay motivated!

First month of my journey

Exactly one month ago I decided to start working out regularly to get in better shape. I wanted to be accountable and share this journey with others. This way it’s not going to be just a short-term fad.

I’m still trying to make excise a daily habit. It’s not going perfect, but it’s not too bad either. I’m working out most days of the week, and trying not to punish myself for skipping a day.

As far as my food intake, I eat mostly when I’m hungry. This is one of the important things for healthy eating, and I think I got this one down. However, I’m still struggling with stop eating when I’m satisfied. This is pretty difficult habit to break. My inner fat kid just wants to polish the plate.  Hopefully, I’ll overcome this challenge in the near future.

Below is my 2-week progress table. I admit it does not look encouraging. The weight has not changed; the fat percentage has not changed. But let me tell you one thing. It’s OK. What changed is that my figure, my posture, and my confidence. Clothes look better on me, therefore I’m more confident in myself. Last night, I was out with my friends in simple black turtleneck sweater and jeans. Some of my friends were asking if I had lost weight. What a great compliment, right?

	Date	Cals Burnt	Weight	Body Fat (%)
Monday	15-Oct	582	150.4	35.4
Tuesday	16-Oct	359	149	35.7
Wednesday	17-Oct	577	149.4	35.6
Thursday	18-Oct	579	149.2	35.4
Friday	19-Oct
Saturday	20-Oct
Sunday	21-Oct		149.8	35
Monday	22-Oct	627	150.2	35.4
Tuesday	23-Oct	536	149.6	35.7
Wednesday	24-Oct	364	149.6	35.7
Thursday	25-Oct		150	35.7
Friday	26-Oct
Saturday	27-Oct	570	149.4	35.1

What is your confidence booster?

How to stay motivated?

It’s getting a little hard to stay motivated these days. You know that initial motivation wears out; you start thinking to skip a day from your workout routine, etc. 

Because it wasn’t my lifestyle, it takes time to get used to it. I hope after a month or so, it won’t be so difficult to get myself on that elliptical. I try to imagine the future reward for every workout. 

Another great tip to stay motivated is to build a support network. I would like to share my experience and struggles here in hopes to find someone with similar goals and share this journey together.

Here are some pictures that keep me going, and help me to see what I can achieve.

How do you stay motivated?