Pushing the limits.

Decided to change things up this morning with a sample fat-loss workout from Joel Marion's site (same guy who designed the CYWT program.)

I actually bookmarked it a while back, but avoided it because, well, it just looked too damn intimidating, haha.

Well, this morning I grew a pair and decided to give it a shot. I told myself to just go at my own pace, but also not be afraid to test my limits. Here's a quick breakdown:

-5 min. warm-up of running in place (butt-kicks, high-knees), mixed with some quick stretching.
-Did the circuit as listed, with the exception of lat pulldowns and push-ups.*
-Took a 2 min. break.
-Repeated the circuit once more.

*Since I was at home and don't have a lat bar, I used a resistance band and a door attachment to mimic it as best as I could. As for the push-ups, I did my own wussy version off of my weight bench because, yes, despite all the weight I've lost and all of the fitness training I've done, I still can't do full-out push-ups, let alone the ones that entail elevating my feet. Definitely something I'll forever be working toward.

The whole session, including the warm-up, 2 min. break and repeated circuit, took me about 33 minutes and burned a little over 300 cals. Plenty of sweat ensued.

I survived! And it wasn't terrible, but it was still an ass-kicker. The "OMG, I'm going to die!" moment came during the second round of mountain climbers. I was certain my hips were going to pop off like a Barbie doll's. But, at the same time, I was proud of myself for pushing through the burn because I could have just as easily given up. It was one of those rare moments where I was conscious of the fact that I was sort of feeding off of my own adrenaline in order to reach a specific goal. I dunno if that makes sense or not, but it was just a cool feeling to have during a moment of self-inflicted torture, heh.

There are also adjustments to be made for next time, between the amount of weight used during some of the moves, and, of course, my form. It was my first time performing a dumbbell snatch. I watched some videos beforehand, but I still think my timing of the jump was off a bit.

Anywho, even though it was tough, it went by suuuuper fast and I felt awesome afterward (once I was able to breathe again, of course). It was a great combination of strength training and cardio and I'm totally looking forward to doing it again.

Checking in.

Helllooo out there. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but still felt I should post a brief update.

Things are going well. I'm still following the CYWT plan. Feeling great, still eating my usual favorite healthy foods and, duh, enjoying the day of food-freedom each week. Physically, I'm looking better too. My arms, abs and chest (gasp! tee-hee) are all toning up nicely.

Still not ready to post weigh-ins yet though, and for a couple of reasons: A) I want to wait until I've been on the plan longer to make better sense of my overall progress and B) I'm FINALLY reaching a point where I just don't give a shit about numbers anymore. I've reached a size that I'm happy with, so as long as I'm feeling awesome AND looking awesome in my size 8's, I can't really be bothered with the scale too much. It made me crazy for a lot of months (moving from weekly to daily weigh-ins sure as hell didn't help) and that craziness went on to have negative effects on my diet and workout routines (i.e., over-exercising to make up for overeating).

I think I've finally reached a new level of balance this week. Feels like it, anyway. I've only been working out 3-4 days a week (instead of the usual 6-7) and since I've pretty much done away with counting Weight Watchers points since Thanksgiving (and of course following the CYWT program instead), I'm much more conscious of my food choices and feel like I'm finally treating myself better, instead of feeling like I was constantly being watched by the All Powerful WW Points Gods.

Don't get me wrong- following WW and losing all that weight was awesome, but it feels liberating to eat more mindfully as opposed to constantly asking myself "do I have enough points left to eat this?" It was making me insane during those last 20 pounds to goal and as I tried to move into maintenance.

I'm still tracking everything on The Daily Plate though, just for sanity checks and to see my macronutrient breakdown, which is something that I kinda need to monitor throughout CYWT. And I'm cool with that.

Anywho. I'm finally killing my anxiety toward food and finally starting to see what this maintenance thing is all about. It's sucking a lot less these days, actually. I've fully acknowledged and made peace with how I need to eat and exercise for the rest of my life. I think I used to have a general idea, but hadn't yet fully grasped the concept until now.

Speaking of exercise, I've been doing a mix of sprint intervals at the gym (alternating between the treadmill, bike, elliptical, stairmaster and sometimes, rowing machine), Tae Bo (with Body Bands) and I've re-kindled my love affair with lifting this week. I'm not gonna lie- I'm loving my arms these days. I mean, I'm feeling some serious toning all around, but my arms totally turn me on, haha. Shoulder presses & deadlifts FTW.

I think that covers everything for now. I'm not even fretting over the holidays and the clichéd weight gain. So far, I'm making December my bitch, thanks to the Holiday Calendar Joel made for the CYWT program. I know, I keep plugging it over and over, but it really has made things so much more relaxed and fool-proof for me. Definitely a change I needed to try. Hooray for progress! Hope everyone is doing well.