Back to the Carolinas: My Fitness Journey 2019

No response IS a response

 

 

On January 1st, 2019, I weight myself and I was shocked. I had gotten the heaviest I ever been in my life. I weighted 139.9 lbs./63.458 Kg. I'm only 5'0 feet! On top of gaining weight, I officially had a pouch. It sticks out and everything. Everyone can see it. It's not a food belly. It's a belly pouch :-(
 No matter what I wear, it's there. There are a lot of contributing factors that led to me gaining all this weight and it's all my fault. I know better. I knew better.

Since I have control over my body, I decided that I would do something about it. It's an ongoing process and at times, I have been inconsistent but each day I try my best.

 

I love Running

The first thing on my fitness journey was to weight myself every month on the 14th or around the 14th to track my progress. Also, last month I started taking progress pictures.

• on January 14th, I was 139.2 lbs
• on February 14th, I was 132.8 lbs
• on March 14th, I was 130.9 lbs
• on April 14th, I was 132. 4lbs
• on May 18th, I was 129. 4lbs

 



The second thing was cutting out sugar, salt, fried food, and oily food from my diet. The first part was not putting sugar on my coffee or green tea. This was not easy but after several weeks I could drink coffee and tea without sugar. Sometimes I'll put honey on my green tea but I was told that honey is bad also so I had to give it up :-(

Giving up pastries is hard. I still occasionally feast on Belgian Waffles. I'm trying hard to cut them out of my diet. I haven't done well with cutting out salt. I like my food to be well seasoned with spices and salt but I will do my best to cut it out of my diet. Also, I haven't done well with cutting out fried or oily foods. I love Chick-Fil-A and it's so hard to give it up. But it's the next task on my change of diet list.

 

 

The third thing was to increase my water intake, cutting off soda, eating more fruits and veggies. I have done well with increasing my water intake, I usually drink about 2-4 bottles of water per day (16.9 FL oz). I now eat more fruits than I use to. I now have coffee with fruits in the morning or evenings. With soda, I have been inconsistent. I can go days without drinking soda then I'll see a Dr. Pepper or Root Beer or Ginger Ale on the que while waiting for the cashier, I get tempted and buy one. Then I'll drink half of the bottle, feel bad and throw it in the trash. I still have to include more veggies into my diet. I hope to eventually be able to cut rice and bread out of my diet next.

The fourth thing was to changing the type of exercise/work out I do each week. Although I'm a runner, due to my work commitment I can only do my long runs on the weekends. I decided that on Mondays, I'll do ABS + Stretching routine and if I get home early from work, I'll go run for 40 minutes. Tuesdays, it's Pilates + ABS. Wednesdays, it's ABS + a work out routine from a fitness videos on YouTube. Thursdays, Yoga + ABS. Fridays, Stretching + ABS. Saturdays and Sundays, I'll go running outside usually for 4-8 miles. Also, once a month I go hiking.

at the top of Crowder's Mountain

 

 

 I'm so thankful to all those Fitness/Yoga/Pilates Youtubers who post their workout/exercises videos on YouTube; it has truly been a blessing to me especially during the times when I could not afford a Gym membership or Yoga/Pilates Classes. Plus, I can work out while I travel as long as I have Wi-Fi. On YouTube, I have created many playlist for Yoga, Pilates, ABS/Core Exercises, and Work Out Videos and categorized them by level, length of videos and whether it requires equipment or not. Right now, in regard to Yoga, and Pilates,  I'm still on the beginners level; for ABS/Core Exercise, I'm currently on 10-19 minutes exercises; for the Workout Videos, I'm on 10-15 minutes videos. Next month, I will be moving to 20-30minutes workout videos.

The fifth thing is to stay motivated, keep the focus on my goals, keep doing research on healthy eating/lifestyle and remain adaptable.



Happiness after a long run





~xoxo