Beachbody Challenge Update #2

Two weeks down.

My biggest challenge is still carving out that time each day to dedicate to my workouts with Shaun T.  However, this week I realized that I need to stop stressing about getting the workouts done in one swoop.  Doing the workout with interruptions is better than not doing the workout at all.  Agreed?

One thing I really like about this program (Insanity: Asylum) is that I don't dread any particular workout.  Sure, there are exercises that I enjoy (er, tolerate) more than others - but overall, it changes things up enough to keep things interesting (er, tolerable).

Eating has been somewhat of a challenge.  You'd think I meant that I'm struggling to make healthy food choices and eat less, but the funny thing is - I feel like I'm struggling to eat enough. Paleo eliminates a lot of foods I would normally eat (specifically processed foods and grains), which is good!  But I need to remember to replace those lost calories with the cleaner and healthier alternatives.  By no means did I intend for this to be an actual diet and substantially eliminate calories.

Marta, our challenge coach, encouraged us to weigh ourselves this weekend, and I was initially very nervous to do that.  Pre-pregnancy, I was never too worried about my weight - and by that I mean the actual number on the scale.  I always went by how I felt and how my clothes were fitting.  Just before getting pregnant, I kept an eye on my weight mostly because I wanted to 1) know what my baseline was, 2) track my weight gain through my pregnancy (even though that was super depressing...) and 3) make sure I got back to that baseline weight post-baby. 

Anyway, my concern was this: I'm feeling good - what if the scale tells me differently?  I didn't want to be discouraged and have the scale tell me that my hard work wasn't doing as much as I thought it was.  I voiced my concern to Marta, so she encouraged me to wait until the end to step on the scale.

So, what did I do?  Weighed myself (of course!) because curiosity got the best of me.  And ya know what, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for - but it gave me a boost of motivation to just keep working and keep working harder.

Afterall, I am the one that's in charge of this change.

Here's to another week of working my ass off.  Literally.

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Take Luck,
LP

Beachbody Challenge Update #1

As of yesterday, I completed the first week of Marta's Beachbody Challenge.

My biggest challenge hasn’t been the workouts themselves, but carving out 45-50 minutes of the afternoons/evenings to dedicate to the workouts.  Don't get me wrong - the workouts are definitely challenging.  But there's a young man in my life that just likes to interrupt me.  Apparently he likes my love handles.

The great news is - I am already seeing positive changes in my bod.  I'm not weighing myself until the end, so I'm purely going off of how I'm feeling about myself.  My momma told me on Saturday that she noticed my little tummy had gone down, and it totally encouraged me to bust it even harder during my workout on Sunday. 

Right before the start of this challenge, Ryan and I decided to start following a Paleo diet.  I guess I shouldn’t call it a diet, because I'm certainly not dieting - just trying to eat better.  Cleaner.  I will say that I find myself eating less because, well, there's less things that you can eat while eating Paleo.

If you don't know much about Paleo (Paleolithic Diet), it mimics the diets of our caveman ancestors and includes meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, eggs, and nuts.  This means no grains, legumes, dairy, potatoes, refined sugars, salt, or processed foods.  My biggest challenge with this change in our eating is definitely the elimination of diary, grains, and processed foods.  Mama loves a bagel and/or a quick granola bar!  I'm not strictly following this diet, but trying to follow it as closely as possible.  I still have oatmeal for breakfast (good for breastmilk production) and Greek yogurt at lunch (good, quick source of protein).

So, between my Insanity: Asylum workouts, walking/jogging (OK, let's be honest - wogging), and eating Paleo - I am really happy with the changes so far and it's only been a week.  I feel less bloated (without even realizing that I felt bloated before), and may have a tiny increase in energy.  It's really hard for me to judge my energy levels right now as I'm still sleep deprived, but I am confident that it's not hurting me any!

Hopefully next week I'll have another good progress report to share.  

Source

Take Luck,

LP