CHALLENGE TIME: Bring in the New Year Right

ive been back at school and working on living a healthier lifestyle for about a week now, and i think im starting to get the hang of it, so what better to do than challenge myself??

A couple days ago, i realized, wow, there’s only 4 months left til the new year, and just yesterday felt like 2012. So im challenging myself, and anyone else who is willing to join to do a 4 month challenge from september 1st to january 1st with updates on the first of every month [weight, measurements, and progress pictures]. if i get enough people, we can put together a facebook group for some daily/weekly encouragement/updates for each other and keep everyone motivated.

So on september 1st, i will be posting my current measurements and my goal for the end of the year. ill be taking a picture for my start day and when october rolls around, ill post my september with my october to see if ive made progress. while it is nice to have a weight loss goal, its not necessary. its more about how youre treating your body and how much better you’ll feel after the 4 months of treating it right!

hopefully i can get more people to join me, whether you have pcos or not, want to lose weight or just maintain a healthy lifestyle, everyone should try to treat their body right, so comment below and let me know who’s with me!!!!

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New Purchase – Jillian Michaels

when i first got pcos 3 years ago, i tried to learn more about it and came upon Jillian Michaels, who i had heard, read, and seen on tv before. I had seen her so many times and had no clue she had pcos and didnt always have a ripped body. she too is human and struggled with her weight and pcos symptoms before she decided to take control of her life and get healthy.

as she had already been a role model to me, naturally when i saw her book, master your metabolism, i picked it right up from the library and got started on reading it. though i was determined, i never read more than the first couple of chapters [no matter how many times i checked it out of the library..which was easily ten times] , because im not really into reading and i have a very busy lifestyle. however, i just ordered the book, so i figure, since i spent my money on it, im bound to read it. the parts that i did read already were really helpful and im hoping the rest of the book will be the same.

along with the book, my dad also found me the jillian michaels 30 day shred workout dvd which im pretty pumped about. i brought it to school with me, but i realized i dont have a dvd player, so im going to have to figure out some other way to utilize it.

Jillian Michaels is a true role model and i hope to be able to overcome my pcos and be strong like her one day.

A new start

ive taken some time to reevaluate my life and decide what’s really important..my health. for the past few months ive been talking about a lifestyle change and losing weight with no success because i was all talk and no action. i would say one thing and hold onto it for a few days, but then slip into old, bad habits, something that must come to an end.

i recently had my check up with my gyno and i talked to her about my weight gain and what else i can do to help reverse that and what else to do to set up a healthy life style. she mentioned the obvious healthy eating and regular exercise, but she also stressed the importance of the glycemic index as well as the insulin resistance which accompanies pcos. foods that are high in carbs and sugar will no doubt lead to weight gain in women with pcos which is why it is detrimental that we stay away from them. being back at school, im trying to workout some way to have low carb meals every day, but its still a work in process.

Something else ive been reading about is eating gluten free, something i am willing and want to do, and have had a successful start. basically, if you’re eating gluten, it is most likely a highly processed food which should not be eaten. if you’re truly eating healthy, you dont have to worry about gluten because whole foods like fruits and vegetables dont have gluten in them. i went grocery shopping and have found some snacks that are gluten free and delicious. By staying gluten free, ill be able to stay away from processed carbs, which is one of the main reasons why i have gained weight.

i know this is a lot for one post, but as it is my first full day on campus, i decided it was important to start off the school year right and i went for a jog around campus. i used my nike app to track my run and it came up to about 4.5 miles [i did not run the whole thing, i was just figuring out a good running path]. im working on setting up a goal for the end of the semester to work on my running time and to push me to work harder.

as for logging my food intake, i started new programs on both lose it and my fitness pal, and have been logging accurately and plan to continue to do so to help me track my carb and sugar intake as well as my calories consumed and burned. if anyone has these apps let me know so i can add you!!

im really looking forward to finally sticking with a plan, not just to lose weight, but to create a permanent healthy lifestyle and reverse my pcos symptoms

A break from blogging

It’s kind of depressing to me that I’ve said I’m going to start my lifestyle change back in April and while I am doing better, I’m no where near where I should be. My health is something that is extremely important in my life and I have not been taking that serious enough. Yes, I’ve had a hectic and stressful summer, but excuses are for the week. That being said, I’m taking a break from blogging to 1. move myself back into school and 2. reevaluate how important this is to me and why I haven’t been successful thus far. when I come back I plan on being determined , posting every night and finally sticking with my healthy lifestyle.

In Through the Nose, Out Through the Mouth (a post meant for yesterday)

Yesterday would’ve been a successful logging & blogging day if I had enough time to blog last night! (And as I said in my last post, if anyone else uses loseit! let me know! logging is more fun when you have more people!!)
I’d say yesterday was really successful both nutrition and exercise wise. When I was at the gym, I ran on the treadmill for a while and decided to focus on my breathing. the best runners always say it’s best to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, something I can’t admit to doing. I’m a full on mouth breather when running but I want to fix that so I started working on it yesterday and it sucked!!! my body wasn’t used to it at all and I felt like I couldn’t get a deep enough breath in, but I was able to recover a lot quicker than I usually do which shows that it really works. So while I’m going to have to work at it for a while, it’s definitely worth it and I will be continuing

Logging & Blogging

i know ive been mia for a while, but between working 40 hours a week, having class 8 hours a week, and family visiting lately, ive been really busy. however, that’s no excuse for slacking on my diet even though being busy cuts into my workout schedule. its important to remember that 70% of weight loss comes from dieting, while only 30% from exercise, so working out less often hasn’t helped me, but it won’t hurt me either.

even though i have been busy lately, i know that both logging and blogging are important because they’re really what keep me on track. without some type of order or pattern, i tend to slip up more and make poor choices. so to help me out a little bit, I’ve figured out how to blog using the app on my phone, meaning i wont have to wait to be home and on the computer to blog, and im also starting to use my favorite app Loseit! again to track my caloric intake as well as the calories i burn in a day. ive been using this app since 2010 to believe it or not and i love it. if anyone else has it, let me know and ill look you up! i think it’d be great motivation to know other people using the app and i would definitely start logging every day like i used to.

i leave for school in 2.5 weeks, so im going to start coming up with a food/exercise plan. as ive said before, the gym at school is HORRID and dining hall food is probably unhealthy and processed everywhere. not having a kitchen again this year will force me to be on a meal plan once again. however, my dorm is a lot farther from classes, so i will definitely be walking 3+ miles a day going back and forth which is a plus, but is also bad if im running late..

im going to work really hard to make this year at school a lot healthier and a lot more active than last year and i cant wait to get started