Hi My Name is Shan and I am addicted to Junk Food

I don't know when I became addicted to junk food but I know that it is a problem and it's an addiction that is keeping me overweight. I have tried going cold turkey but that makes me want to have it more. I notice that I can go months without eating it as long as I don't think about it being on my off list. I also notice that I don't crave junk food once I eat on time. Which makes me wonder why is it so hard for me to eat on time and stay away from the junk food that has no nutritional value? How can I know what I need to do to be where I want to be but not take advantage of it? 

Seriously it is not like I am going to die if I don't ever eat junk food again! Giving up drinking soda is not going to cause me to have a heart attack! It is actually the reverse eating those things will KILL ME! They are unhealthy and lead to weight problems which translates into health problems. I definitely need to stop saying I will change and actually change. This is the only life I have and I want to be able to enjoy it. Starting right now I am not eating Junk Food for the rest of the year. Now all that is left for me to do is to actually do it. They say the first step to getting over an addiction is admitting that you have a problem. Well I just admitted that I have a problem now what am I going to do about it???? CHANGE IT! If I believe it I can achieve it! I have to stay focus because my life depends on it...(I shouldn't type this cause Sir will probably take it too seriously...lol) But anyways I am just trying to tell myself how important it is to for me to lose weight. I can do this because I am Committed. This is my new chant for whenever I get a craving. Wish me luck...

Getting on Track/ Challenge Update

This week was not my best week. I think I only worked out three times this week. Part of it was out of laziness I just didnt want to put on my workout clothes and my tennis and exercise. The second part of it was that I kept putting off my exercise time. I agreed (with myself) that I would exercise when I got up in the morning, then I said well I will wait until after breakfast then after lunch (I think you are getting it.) so yea I just kept putting it off until it was night time and I said I am too tired I will just do it in the Morning. Today Finally I am making myself get into it again. I just did Turbo Fire 20 minute workout. 

Due to fatigue and the pain in my knee I only did 11 mins of the workout but I am sweating a whole lot and I feel good again. Which makes me wonder why is it such a hassle for me to work out? I can honestly say that I enjoy it I just dont't like preparing to do it. I feel like I am getting back on track regardless. I have no idea what day I am on for my 30day challenge. I think I am supposed to be on day 12 or 13??? I don't think the days matter anymore though because my main goal was to develop a habit for exercising twice a day. I am still working on it and to me that is all that matters. Once I have rested my knees some I am going to do the 2 mile work from Leslie Sansone Walk away the Pounds DVD. 

I am going to start planning my workouts the night before because that helped me a lot to stay on track and be honest with myself. 

Reasons Why I Won't Lose Weight!

1. I don't eat on time. I think the key to me losing weight is eating a balance diet at a set time everyday. I have found that when I do this I snack less. Whenever I wait too long to eat I always make the wrong choices. I grab junk food over a healthy snack and I choose soft drinks over water. 
2. I spend way too much time on the computer of watching tv. I am not active enough. In order to lose weight I have to burn calories and be active. That doesn't necessarily have to be exercising it could be simply taking the stairs instead of an elevator, it could be go to the mall and window shopping rather than looking at things online. There are a lot of way I can incoporate activity into my day. 
3. I don't want it bad enough. It is obvious that i don't because I keep doing things that I know will hinder my journey... Self Sabotage SUCKS! 

I think those are the three main reasons why I won't lose weight

What can I do about it???

1. I can stop being lazy and make three meals a day. Prepare my meals before I get hungry and make healthy choices. It is sounds simple doesn't it?
2. I could spend less time on the computer and spend less time watching tv. Or I could work out while i am watching tv. I can use my idle time to clean or just do something that requires me to do something and burn some energy
3. I have to stay focus and keep in mind why I am doing this. My reason for doing this is simple I want to live a long, healthy and active life and the only way I can do that is if I get fit. I can't make that happen if I don't do what I need to do to loss the weight. Note to self: Stop Sabotaging Yourself!

15 in 15 Challenge

I have joined MsHaneefa's Challenge which essentially encourages us to lose 15 pounds in 15 weeks (the 15weeks takes us to the end of the year). So that is 1lb a week, sounds simple right? I KNOW!!!!!!! I am so excited about it because I think it is realistic, and being 15 lbs lighter would be such an accomplishment and a great start for the new year ( I will be under 200lbs for the first time in 2/3 years). I am definitely on board. I weighted myself on thursday and i was 209 I weighted myself this morning and I was 212 (yea i don't know) So my official weight for the start of this challenge is 212. Did I say already that I am soooooooooooo excited???? Well I am anyways I have to get my workout in for Day 9 I think of my 30 day challenge. 

Day 9 Of Challenge

I only worked out once yesterday but it felt like a great workout, I was sweating my heart was pounding in a good way and I felt exhausted.  I did Turbo Jam Cardio Party.  (Why does feeling exhausted equal a great workout? Anyways, thats another story.) Today I dont have a busy schedule so I am going to do as much working out today as i can do. I am finally starting to enjoy  working out. And another please I am able to fit into some jeans that I haven't wore in a year because it was too tight. I found that to be kinda of interesting because I only lost two lbs since I been working out but its obvious that I lost enough inches to be able to fit into these pants. I am sooooooooooo motivated again. 

Todays Workout in no particular order:

Turbo Jam's Ab Jam

Walk Away the Pounds 2mile walk

Turbo Jam's Fat Blaster 

I will update later how I did with the workouts

Me and Exercise...

I seem to be stuck on day 8 of my challenge. Today I did the Biggest Loser workout, I read some reviews on slim in 6 and they were mostly all negative. What I didn't like most about it was that it was the same workout everyday the only difference was that the tempo of the workout increased as you progress. I like change there is no way I can do the same workout everyday. So now I will just do random workouts I think working out is the most important thing. Tonight to complete my day 8 I will do turbo jam I am not sure which particular work out I will do just yet but we shall see. Time to get back on track!

Lessons Learned and Rambling

I was supposed to start eating healthier yesterday and I did start my day a bit healthy but more towards the evening I didn't take lunch with me to school and I ended up giving into cravings and ate some junk food. I learned a few lessons yesterday. First, it is always handy to have a healthy snack on hand just in case I need it. I also learned that I can't tell myself that I am going to eat better I just have to do it. I think in a way I sabotage myself because I know what I have to do to get on the path to weight loss but I don't always listen to the part of me that is telling me not to buy the ice cream or the chocolate.

Yesterday I ate chocolate for the first time in months. It wasn't that I had consciously made a decision not to eat chocolate it just wasn't tempting me. However, the minute I decided I wanted to make the change to eat healthier I got cravings for chocolate (well junk food). The last thing I need is temptation because I am not one to say no to myself.

 I also realised that I drink way too much sugary drinks. I have to make a conscious effort to choose water over sugary drinks. I can easily cut calories by only drinking water.  I think that small changes add up quickly and in the end it doesn't feel like I am giving up something that I really like. Additionally, I know for sure that I can't follow fad diets and have restrictions on my eating because that will not stick. I rather make small life long changes that I can keep for the rest of my life. For example, I am trying to use less mayo. I now make my sandwiches without using mayo. I could buy light mayo but I feel that light and diet variations of products are just as bad if not worse then regular. Instead of mayo I just use a dash of hot sauce to give my sandwiches a kick.

I am not going to make promises about what I will do in terms of eating. But I will keep track of everything I am eating between Thursday and Sunday then Monday I will see what changes I can make for next week to help me get my healthy eating habits on the right track.

My Current Mental State Sucks...

The last two days have been really rough for me. I have not worked out for the pass two days. There are two main reasons for that, the first is that I have been extremely tired. The second is I have been kind of depressed. I am trying to stay positive and committed but I feel so overwhelmed right now and what sucks is that I don't know what exactly is causing it. Actually I do know it is a series of things that is stressing me out and depression is my ill way of dealing with stress. (Yea I do not handle stress well.) When I am stressed I just want to shut down and escape from the rest of the world. It is annoying that the persons who are closest to me don't understand what I am going through. It makes me feel lonely because I feel like there is no one I can turn too that can be there for me and help comfort me when I am down. I don't want someone to make me feel guilty because I spent money that I don't have to buy something that I know is counteractive to my weight loss journey. Yes I know I agreed not to eat chocolate or ice cream but at that moment I needed something that would make me forget for a minute that I have issues that I need to deal with and I have to get in shape. I just wanted to feel "normal" for a minute. I wanted to feel free to restrictions and boundaries. I think I need to get my thyroid levels checked because my mind is telling me that things are a lot worse than they actually are... Coupled with the lack of sleep I am a wreck right now. For some reason blogging how I feel is making me feel better... I feel bi polar now. Regardless of how I am feeling at the moment, I am not about to let depression take control of me. I am committed to being happy and staying positive. I am going to take everything one day at a time. 

Recap Of Day 8 of Workout Challenge

For my day at workout I did Turbo Fire Fat blasted during the morning and I did Cardio Curcuit from Insanity at night. Turbo Fire Fat Blaster is a great workout, it had my heart pumping, I was sweating I felt like I was getting a good workout. However I only got through 20mins of the 30 mins work out because my nephew interrupted me he wanted to watch a movie that is on my laptop. He is only three and very persistent. I was still happy that I got in the 20min workout I will do the complete workout one day this week... Oh I realised why I don't like the instructor it seems to me like she is trying to make the program more fun than it really is just do the damn workout and stop smiling so much you barbie...lol (Lil rant) 

Insanity Day 2

After attempting to do the second insanity video I have realised that it is way too intense for me right now. I do not have the stamina or conditioning at this time to complete the series. I tried three times to push through it because I really didn't want to give up. I think I need a heart monitor to do the workout to make sure I am not over pushing myself because I even got a headache trying to do the workout. It isnt that the workout is so difficult (well it is difficult) but my problem is that I try to keep up with the video rather than doing it at my own pace and I am nowhere at the level where they are at. I found myself closing my eyes and doing the workout so that I wasn't affected by what they were doing. So yea the moral of the story is I am posponing insanity. I am going to try it again in January. By then if I continue on the path that I am on I will be more physically fit to take on the beast. (I am kinda disappointed especially since Shaun T is such eye candy.... I <3 you still Shaun T). I am replacing it with slim in 6.  My morning workout will vary between WATP and Turbo Fire and my evening workout will be Slim in 6.

My Plans for Next Week

Tuesday will be the official start of my weight loss journey. I will do an official weigh in and post my goals for the week. In a previous post I said I would eat 1200 calories but I think that sounds a bit low especially since I don't think I eat that much to begin with. (Although I know it is not how much you eat but what you eat that determines calorie intake.) So I will start with 1400 - 1600 a day. I have to do a bit of research to see how much calories would be idle for me to eat while on this journey. I will be planning my meals the night before. I realised that planning is an important component in losing weight (or anything you want to do in life for that matter). Without planning I am going to be lazy and not do what I am supposed to do. I intend on eating the same time everyday so my body will adjust to eating at a certain time and hopefully that will curve my need to snack. I am really amazed at how much I am learning about myself this is turning into a true life journey. 

I am finally getting it!

I love reading blogs and watching YouTube videos about people who are losing weight or trying to lose weight. Before I started doing the same (blogging I am not brave enough for YouTube)  I didn't understand how helpful it was to document the journey. Blogging is seriously making me feel accountable, and that is just the motivation I need to do what I say I am going to do. While I am working out I push through the soreness and the pain because I don't want to have to write that I wasn't able to do a workout for whatever excuse I may come up with at the time. The time for excuses have passed. It is time for me to stop blaming my thyroids, and stop coming up with excuses for not exercising or not eating right.  Unfortunately, complaining about my weight won't cause it to be what I want it to be (I am not that lucky...lol) I am sure I will have some excuses later though I am human it is bound to happen but for right now I am content with not making excuses and not complaining. 

Current Mood Happy: I am happy because I am making the changes I need to make to get my life back. I am very proud of myself. 

Insanity will be the death of me Day 7 Of challenge.

Omg What did I get myself into? Insanity is so intense. I made it through 10mins (10mins and 27 seconds to be exact) of the Plyometric Cardio Curcuit and I had to give up. My knees and ankles are killing me. That workout is so intense I was sweating while I was doing the warm up. That should have been my first warning that this workout was serious. I am still committed to it though. Right now there is no way I can do the entire workout curcuit but I am going to do what I can and hope next time I last a little longer. 

On a better note. My morning workout WATP went a lot better. My thighs were still sore from doing the workout the night before but I was able to push through it and finish. Tomorrow I have to do something easy maybe a stretch workout if I can find one or maybe some Yoga because my knees need a break. I will definitely take the rest day that Insanity gives because I will need it. 

Starting Tuesday I will be eating healthy. I am starting my low glycemic diet. (If I can call it that). Because I have hypothyroidism it is a bit more difficult for me to lose weight but I found that eating foods that are low on the glycemic index helps me to shed some pounds. I will be planning my meals the night before so I know what I am eating. I will be eating 1200 calories a day. Breakfast will be my biggest meal. I will probably eat 600-700 hundred calories for breakfast. (This is subject to change though) 

Day 6 Results

My workouts went a lot better than yesterday. I actually did them. Which was great! I feel like I am back on track. I will mention my Insanity Fit Test first. . OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was so intense...lol By the end of it i felt lightheaded and dizzy. I think through most of the tests I wasn't breathing thats the only way I can account for the lightheadedness (this is my word don't judge me). I did my best and from doing the fit test I learned that I have no upper body strength at ALL. Seriously, it is none existing. I couldn't do any push up jacks. NOT ONE! due to my lack of upper body strength. So if in two weeks if I can do one its an improvement (believe me i didnt intentionally score low  this is how bad I was....lol) I am still committed to doing Insanity though even though I struggled with the fit test. 

These are my insanity results. My switch kicks number was kinda high but I think thats because I didnt kick that high!?! So the accuracy on that is kind of a question mark.

Move Fit Test 1 Switch Kicks 113 Power Jacks 25 Power Knees 41 Power Jumps 10 Globe Jumps 4 Suicide Jumps 2 Push-Up Jacks 0 Low Plank Oblique 6

My WATP (Walk Away the Pounds) workout went really well I did the 2mile walk and I feel great. I definitely see an improving in my stamina and endurance because on Sunday I was not able to complete the 2mile walk. Now I can and it was really easy. I worked out a sweat and now I feel great. This work out really made me feel better after seeing my results from Insanity. I am on my way to a SLIMMER ME! :D (trying to wake up my motivation...lol)

Tomorrow's Working

Morning: Walk Away The Pounds 2mile Walk

Evening: Plyometric Cardio Circuit (Insanity) 

Day 5: Epic Fail + Lessons Learned (Day 6 Plans)

Day 5 for me sucked I did not workout at all. I made some attempts to start but I couldn't quite get at it for a lot of reasons. The reason I am claiming however is that I did not get enough sleep the night before so I was completely drained even before my day started. I went to bed at 12am and I got up at 4am. I have functioned with less sleep before believe it or not but yesterday was like I said an epic fail. 

Nevertheless moving right along on to Day 6. I had a better sleep so I have no excuses for Day 6

Lessons Learned: If you plan on exercising GET SOME SLEEP! (note to self...lol)

I am making changes again to my exercise routine (yet again) I have decided to give Insanity a try. So I am doing one week to insanity to see if it is something that I can do that will challenge me but wont bore me. I learned that I need variety. I get bored way too quickly to do the same routine everyday. Insanity has a rest day on Sunday, it would probably be in my best interest to take the rest day but I want to stick to my challenge and see it through (but we will cross that bridge when we get there). Today I am doing the fit test. (i will post my results tomorrow)

Goals for Day 6.

Morning Workout: Walk Away the Pounds DVD

Evening Workout:  Insanity Fit Test

Challenge Day 4

My Day four didn't go as well as my previous days but I was able to do some exercise so I am not beating myself up about not completing the videos that I did. Something I am realising about myself is I am always motivated about something for 3 days tops and after that the novelty of it wears off and I find myself wanting to give up. 

Nevertheless, I am making sure that this time is different. This time I am going to do the things that I need to do to achieve what I want to achieve. I am grateful for this challenge because it is teaching me things about myself. I am realising that I like quick fixes. I find myself (against my better judgement) weighing myself everyday to find out if i lost anything. This is the potential to be disastrous I think. Because if I am working out and not seeing results I will give up and eat whatever I want and that is contractive to my health and what the healthy lifestyle changes I am making. 

Therefore, I am definitely working on curving that habit. I am having a little bit of issues with my knees I think it is caused by a combination  of exercising 2 times a day for 4 days straight along with exercising without shoes on. Yesterday I already attempted to remedy that by wearing tennis shoes while I was working out. I will still try to work out twice a day but if I am still having problems with my knees then I will reduce my working out to once a day until I build enough endurance to do it twice a day again. 

Today's Workout Plan (Day 5)

Morning Workout: Walk away the pounds 2mile Walk

Evening Workout: The Biggest Loser 30 Day Jump Start (I think thats the name of the program)

Day 3 and 4 Review/Preview: Plans and Changes

Day 3 went pretty well, I did my morning out which was WATP then in the evening I thought i would switch it up and do The Biggest Loser 30Day Jump Start video. I did about 10mins of the video but I couldnt finish because I had something else to do. I like the video so far and I have come to realise that WATP although I still like the video I am getting too used to it so i have to change my routine a bit. So starting tomorrow my workout out will change slightly.

Mornings: Walk Away the Pounds (2mile walk)
Evenings: Biggest Loser 30 Day Jump Start


I don't know how long I will continue this but any changes I make to my workout schedule I will post. I am on Day 4 now and I started my morning with Walk away the pounds 1 mile walk. Tonight I will do The Biggest Loser 30 Day Jump Start. 


I still have to post my reviews on Walk away the Pounds and The Biggest Loser I will probably do that this weekend. 

Day 2 of Challenge

Day 2 went according to plan. I did both my morning and evening sessions of WATP (walk away the pounds). I am going to stick to the 1mile walk until I can do it without feeling tired or burned out then I will switch to the two mile walk. I am really excited about my challenge, I think it was just what I needed to jump start my healthy lifestyle journey. I am thinking that at the 2 week mark I will start a eating healthy eating challenge. I haven't worked out any goals for that yet though so right now it is not on my list of things to do. I find that making goals helps me with achieving my challenge and it also helps because it gives me something to work towards. Now on to Day 3... 

Recap of Exercise Challenge Day 1 and Today's morning workout...

I started my exercise challenge yesterday. I chose to start yesterday (even though I thought of the challenge yesterday) because I was tired of putting things off for tomorrow. I said in my other post that I would try to exercise for an hour yesterday, well NO! it didn't work out like that. I only managed to work out for 16mins (thats how far i got with Leslie Sansone WATP 2mile walk) and I did 100 jumping jacks (in  sets of 50)  Although I didn't meet my goals I was still happy that I make the first steps and started the challenge so Yaaaaaaaaaay me. 

***

Today's Morning Workout

Yesterday I didn't mention what exercise videos I would be using in my challenge because I wasn't sure yet what I wanted to do because I have A LOT of workout videos. First I thought I would do the Jillian Michaels Banish Fat Boost Metabolism but it took me 30 seconds to realise that it was too advance for me. I am way too out of shape to do anything Jillian Michaels related. So then I thought I would do Turbo Jam but I wasn't in the mood for turbo Jam. I like the workout video but I am not too fond of the instructor. (dont ask why i have no idea...lol)

Finally I decided on doing Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds. (I will do a review on a separate post). I did her videos before and I loved doing it. Today I did the one mile walk. Yesterday was an epic fail with trying to do the 2mile walk. I chose the one mile walk because I wanted to do a workout video that I was sure I could finish. Midway through I wanted to give up because even though it looks simple it is a serious work out but I pushed through and I made it to the end and I am proud of myself. Yaaaaaaaaaaaay Me! I am going to do my 100 jumping jacks now then I am going to take a much deserved shower. I am so excited about exercising and finally getting on the right track. 

***

Current Mood: Happy Looking forward to having a lean and mean body :D YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY ME!

My 30 Day Exercise Challenge

Now that I am older I find my self wanting to be healthier. By that I mean I want to eat healthier, use healthier products and EXERCISE. I strongly believe that exercise is a key to longevity. I have exercised a bit in the past but I haven't developed it into a habit and my 30 day challenge I think is to key to helping me make exercise a part of my daily routine. 

As such for the next 30 days I will exercise everyday twice a day for at least 30mins. Plain, Simple and Straight to the point...

I have no set any other goals because this is about me getting into the habit of exercising. I want to get to the point where its almost second nature for me to exercise. I have a number of workout videos that I will be doing. I will post on them individually. Also for the challenge I will take a before picture and after my 30 days have ended  you guess it I will take after pictures. 

The challenge starts today even though. I missed the morning session because I just thought of it but I will be doing it tonight for an hr if I can work out that long. 

Recap:

30 Day Workout Challenge

Exercise twice a day (morning and evening for at least 30mins each)

Take Before and after Pictures.

Goals:

My goal is to make exercise a part of my daily routine

Challenge "Ends" 

October 12

No more excuses

The time for making excuses has come to an end. Something i realized today was no one gets where they want to be by only complaining about the things they want to change. If I want to change my weight I am going to have to work at it. I am going to have to eat right, take my thyroid meds on time and of course EXERCISE. I watch other people's weight loss journey on YouTube and i read blogs and i see other transform while i am still stuck in a rot. If they can do it so can I. I just have to get off my butt and do something about it. 

From this day on I have committed myself to doing what I need to do. NO MORE EXCUSES!!!! Now its just getting down to business. I am in fighter mood! I have the eye of the tiger! Hear my growl...lol 

(dont judge the picture it expresses how i feel)
Source