My New Supplement: Garcinia Cambogia

trying to lose weight with pros can be really difficult and frustrating at times, so i’ve been doing some research on what can help me spark a little weight loss and i came around a fruit called garcinia cambogia. Dr. oz, who i follow when it comes to health advice, had a segment on this fruit and the health benefits of it.

The fruit extract helps inhibit fat loss while retaining muscle without any extra work at the gym. the extract is called hydroxycitric acid (HCA) and it does two things: suppress your appetite and block fat from being made.

It blocks fat by inhibiting the enzyme Citrate lyase, halting the fat making process and stopping the bad cholesterol [LDL] from being made as well.

HCA suppresses your appetite by creating more serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter in the brain. many people hear of serotonin when talking about people who are depressed — those people have low levels of serotonin and doctors usually prescribe something that will enhance levels of serotonin. though you may not be depressed, low levels of serotonin also leads to emotional eating, something i am extremely guilty of and has been a problem my whole life. whenever i get stressed out or upset, i turn to food and binge. By increasing serotonin levels, HCA improves your mood and stops you from reacting to stressful situations with food.

I know, something this good must cost a fortune because its too good to be true, however, its not that expensive at all [depending on where you buy it of course]. since garcinia cambogia is so abundant and simply comes from a fruit, its extract can be found for a good price, but beware of certain vitamin stores who will try and charge you $60 for the same product you could get for $15 at a walmart or cvs.

I started taking my supplement about 4 days ago, and im going to give it two weeks to start looking for results, as i know it takes time to get into your system and start working, but so far i can say that my appetite is definitely under much better control, and having 3 midterms coming up on thursday, i am very stressed but have not once turned to food as i usually would have. my exercise and diet has not been as good as it should be so going into week two, im going to work really hard to eat right and get in a good workout 5x a week to really get the best results possible

 

source/more info: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/garcinia-cambogia-hca

Advertisement

My First Hike

                 

 

so i dont really come from an outdoorsy family, but one of my friends and i joined an outing club at school, and while she’s experienced with hiking, yesterday i had my first hike on greylock mountain in massachusetts. while the five hours we were on the trails were challenging and tested my endurance, the scenery and how i felt after was totally worth the burn.

being the only one in the group that had never hiked before, i went at a somewhat slower pace, but im glad to say i stayed in the middle of the pack and didn’t fall behind. yes, at times i thought i was going to need an inhaler i was breathing so hard, but once i got to the summit, i felt amazing.

i would definitely reccommend hiking to anyone who loves being outside, it is an amazing workout..just dont go when its wet..the rocks were extremely slippery and i saw my life flash before my eyes a few times hahaha.

the hike up was pretty steading, but getting back down was a whole nother story. the group leader decided to take a different path home, and let me tell you..it was 10x more challenging than the one going up. trying to go down the mountain i found myself climbing up a lot..including a basically vertical climb which i was not prepared for but worked through it..and it made me think how sometimes to go down, you have to go up. me gaining weight and going up in the scale has made me realize that yes, ive gone up, but thats just on my trail to go down. its a mere hill on the mountain im climbing down, and while things may be slippery and hard to hold onto, the feeling you get when you reach the bottom again is priceless.

trying to lose weight is going to be like my hike..there are going to be times when i want to head in one direction, but i end up doing the complete opposite. what’s important to remember is that its just a little hill, and as long as you dont give up going around that hill, your success will continue.

The Challenge begins: September 1, 2013

so i did as i said i would and took my measurements today and came in at a whopping 165lbs..the heaviest I’ve been since i was diagnosed with pcos. i really need to start getting myself back on track and keeping myself motivated so i can be happy with the way i look again. when i was diagnosed with pcos, i was 138 pounds..so ive come a long ways up, and i know its going to take a long time to get back down.

since i know its going to be hard, instead of trying to lose 2 lbs a week, ill be doing 1lb a week, just so i stay on track and have an easier time reaching my goals. though i am embarrassed by them, i will be uploading progress pictures on the first of every month to see what progress i have made.

this being said, by october 1st, i plan to be at the bare minimum 4 pounds less putting me at 161. i know i can push myself to lose more in one month, but thats my goal for now, but I’m going to do what i can to crush it and lose even more.

id say i was off to a good start today, as i went hiking for 5 hours on a mountain in massachusetts [blog post with pics to come]. if i can stay this active and get a hold of good eating habits, i should be losing weight and feeling better in no time.

doing the 1 pound a week calculation, if i stick with it and work hard, by new years i should be down at least 16.5 lbs, putting me at 148.5, which would be spectacular. though my plan is to return to my original weight of 138, having an end of the year goal of 148.5 is a great way to start and ill work from there

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!!!!

Weekly Workout Schedule: June 10-16

as i said, im going to update my workout calendar weekly as plans change all the time and its hard to schedule a months worth of exercise..so here’s this weeks workout schedule

monday:

• insanity [6am]

tuesday:

• insanity [6am]
• gym [pm]: stair master intervals [4o minutes]; ab work

wednesday:

• insanity [am]
• gym [pm]: treadmill intervals [30 min]; elliptical intervals [30 min]; leg work

Thursday:

• spinning [6am]
• insanity [pm]

friday:

• insanity [am]

saturday:

• insanity [am]

sunday:

• gym: stair master intervals [40 min]; arm work
• road run

June 3, 2013

im proud to say i really kicked some f*cking ass today. mondays are the worst, and almost everyone hates monday, and while i wanted to hit that snooze button when my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, i told myself my body will get that much better after i work out. i did my insanity workout and boy was it intense..pure cardio today with no breaks in between exercises. i used my new watch to monitor my heart rate throughout the 40 minutes [warm up and cool down included] and i wound up burning 388 calories..great way to start the day! after that, i helped my body recover with a protein smoothie for breakfast and kept up the rest of the good eating for all my other meals:

breakfast: smoothie [1 cup mixed berries, 1 cup almond milk, 1 scoop whey protein powder]

lunch: 3.5 oz. chicken breast, celery, raw, unsalted cashews, and a nectarine

dinner: huge bowl of broccoli; salad [lettuce, chickpeas, grilled chicken, carrots, avocado, balsamic vingarette dressing]

i work 830-430 monday- friday and my job is mostly sitting, so i realized that i really needed to amp up my exercise schedule to counteract the effects of sitting for 8 hours a day and gave myself a good workout at the gym afterwards. i did cardio for about an hour [not all the same, i did intervals and switched between basically every machine there], and burned about 645 calories! after that i did a few ab and leg exercises to finish off.

in total, i burned over 1000 calories today, which is a lot, so i made sure my body got enough nutrients. ive been saying over and over how i havent seen any results, but i figure by burning close to 1000 calories a day, my body and poor internal system will have to give in some how

NEW TOY: heart rate watch

 

 

a couple days ago i made an order on amazon for a watch that keeps track of your heart rate and the calories you burn during your workouts and it came in!! for only $25 i think it was a good investment. my sister has one like it, but she has to strap a heart rate monitor around her in order for it to work, and mine [they were both the same price] only requires you to hold the silver ring for a couple seconds to record your heart rate.

the screen where the time is is a touch screen where you can switch between the time, your user info [male/female, hight, weight, age, etc. to make sure its readings are accurate], as well as memory from previous workouts! i cant wait to take it to the gym later and test it out.

for those of you that are curious, it is a Gaiam Oregon Scientific watch called the G2 Fitness Trainer and you can find it on amazon as well as the Oregon Scientific website.

ill be sure to let everyone know how it works!

May 30, 2013

im happy to say i started to get my act together today and im setting myself up for a good and finally successful month in june. instead of eating whatever i wanted when i came home from work, i decided to stay away from the house and kitchen where there is an unlimited amount of food for me to eat and decided to try something new, so a co-worker and i went to a small place called Naked Greens. as you can tell by the name, its all about salads and the green food that is good for you. so instead of divulging at home, i had an awesome salad, and also convinced myself i was not hungry any more when i got home and therefore did not need to eat any of the cookies i saw on the counter.

on top of that, i also woke up this morning for a successful 6am insanity workout, and it was literally insane. insanity has got to be one of the hardest workouts ive ever done and while i did take some breaks, i finished the whole thing [not before almost passing out a couple times]. you really do feel accomplished after one of these workouts, and i think that’s why the rest of my day was so successful.

breakfast: 3 egg white & turkey muffins, green tea, high density green drink

lunch: 3 oz chicken breast, carrots, celery, lentil chips

dinner: salad [ mesclun – type of lettuce – cucumber, carrots, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, grilled chicken, balsamic vinaigrette]

exercise: insanity [40 minute workout]

i also managed to drink water throughout the day [more than usual because i was constantly peeing] which is really good for the body and i am going to try and continue to do every day.

im working out a june calendar that i will be posting as soon as i finish up, and I’m basically trying to keep my schedule busy to stop any chance i would get to over eat, as well as adding more exercise to really start seeing some results. im making the full calendar now, but i know plans change, so im going to repost a weekly schedule on sundays to edit any changes

And im back!

well finals were long and stressful to say the least, but im happy to say im home for the summer with no more back pain! ive been catching up on my sleep this weekend and am reprogramming my system around being home, as well as starting my detox.

i do the martha’s vineyard detox diet [can be found online or in your local library] which combines high density and high antioxidant green and berry drinks to 1. get rid of the toxins in your body, and 2. ensure you get the correct amount of fruits and vegetables in a day. it is an all liquid diet, which can be challenging, but it is truly rewarding in the end.

im starting my detox today, and it will last 7 days. after that, i will have 4 recovery days in which i will reintroduce foods to my body, but they will only be certain healthy foods.

from there on, im going to work to keep my body toxin free by staying away from processed foods and getting enough fruits and vegetables as well as exercise.

as my diet does consist of only liquids, its important to limit exercise as too much will cause your body to go into starvation mode, and you also have the risk of fainting, so im going to stick to toning exercises rather than doing cardio.

this diet takes a lot of sell control, determination, and motivation, as it is hard to resist foods that are in front of you all day long. however, im determined to finish the full 7 days!!

Today’s workout 5/3/13

i know i have finals coming up and wont have a lot of time to hit the gym, so when i can go, im going to make the best of my time and do as much as possible

treadmill intervals: (30 min)

•  2 min @ 5.5
• 1 min @ 8
• 2 min @ 5.5
• 1 min @ 8
• 2 min @ 5.5
• 1 min @ 7.5
• 2 min @ 5.5
• 1 min @ 7.5
• 2 min @ 5.5
• 1 min @ 8
• walk 2 min @ 3.5
• raise incline to 15
• walk 2 min @ 4
• walk 1 min @4.5
• walk 2 min @ 4
• 1 min @ 4.5
• 2 min @ 4
• 1 min @ 4.5
• 2 min @ 4
• cool down [incline off]; 2 min @ 3.5

i put two different types of intervals into one workout to see how i would like it and i felt good plus it burned a lot of calories which is always a plus.

next up i did stationary bicycle intervals:

• warm up: 5 min @ 6 resistance
• 1 min @ 13
• 2 min @ 15
• 1 min @ 17
• repeat for 15 minutes
• cool down: 2 min @ 6

normally i dont put the resistance so high on the bike, but i wanted to feel the burn rather than speed peddling, and let me tell you..I FELT IT

to finish it off, i used a cardio machine called the wave which is supposed to work your thighs, ham strings, and butt muscles. i switched between resistances 15  20 and 25 for 15 minutes

to end my workout i did a few leg machines and some ab exercises:

• 30 crunches
• 20 bicycle crunches
• 30 toe touches
• 20 reverse crunches
• 15 side dips (right side)
• 30 crunches
• 15 side dips (left side)
• leg raise (30 seconds)

working out feels great so im going to try and continue this pattern of fitness!! and remember:

“Fitness – If it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.” ~Cher