Water Lillies, Oatmeal, Workouts...

Check this out: It is a short story that is beautiful and sad... Read it HERE, it is called Water Lillies or Painting Water Lillies.



Anyway, it is almost my 20th birthday and I feel like I should make a small fitness goal to reach by then. I mean, it is in almost 2 weeks so nothing drastic, but some sort of goal. I guess my goal is going to be No Sugary Treats until my birthday - and then I will make a cake or something. My dad just turned 50 two weeks ago and his goal was to have a six pack (abs) by his birthday. I don't think I'm quite there yet! (Neither is he, but he thinks he is :) )
This weekend my college is having a semi-formal gambling and dancing event so I've been pretty good about cutting late night and evening carbs - but my period hit my like ton of bricks and literally had me bedridden for nearly two days. I am border-lining on having an iron deficiency (Time to up the spinach and beans!) and, apparently, bleeding profusely isn't beneficial! -_- So I was very dizzy and weak yesterday and in intense pain the day before. I have been putting off going to the gyno or doing any sort of pelvic exams because my aunt had a cyst that really inhibited her ability to have kids and I'm kind of scared. Her biggest symptom was incredibly painful cramps and that is me! But, on the flip side, maybe this means I don't actually have to use birth control which would be super nice considering estrogen can hinder our ability to lose fat. Not good! Moving on from my health problems...
I've been really good about getting my morning green tea in! I just really like waking up and having a cup of green tea. I feel better about myself! And I have been having good breakfasts - I'm trying something new. I've been buying soy yogurt and adding frozen blueberries or raspberries and then adding a sprinkle of Special K Protein Plus (low carb) cereal and another sprinkle of dry oats. When I have a little more time/energy in the morning I've been trying to get my oatmeal on! I usually make it with water, but I forgot to fill up my water bottle (we are not recommended to drink the faucet water in this city) so I used my soy milk - it is WestSoy brand and the nonfat version so it is very thin. It was sweet enough that I didn't have to add a packet of Stevia like I normally do. Then I add on some frozen fruit - the raspberry is really good! I love breakfast and I think it is sooooo important - as in, I DIE without a good breakfast. A pb&j (or a[lmond]b&j) is also good in the morning, I've found!

This is a fitness video I'm planning on doing on Sunday:


Ok, time to do calculus!

Four Minute Killer Workout and A HOT pic!

[WORLD’S FASTEST WORKOUT] 

- Burns as many calories as a 40-60 minutes run. 

- Makes your body adapt and improve very quickly. 

- Increases metabolism for next 36 hrs 

- Takes only FOUR minutes, no excuses. 

0:00 - Squat Thrust 

0:20 - Rest 

0:30 - Mountain Climbers 

0:50 - Rest 

1:00 - High knees 

1:20 - Rest 

1:30 - Jumping Jacks 

1:50 - Rest 

2:00 - Squat Thrust  

2:20 - Rest 

2:30 - Mountain Climbers 

2:50 - Rest 

3:00 - High Knees 

3:20 - Rest 

3:30 - Jumping Jacks 

3:50 - Rest 

4:00 - DONE !

reblogged from fuckyeahfitspo.tumblr.com

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Sexy pic timeee!

So yesterday I had my wisdom teeth removed. The night before my boyfriend tells me that his mom bought me a plane ticket to go stay with them from the tenth to the nineteenth. Yes, four days after surgery I am supposed to be flying cross country. Don't get me wrong, I like staying with them and it is sooo good to be able to go to someone's house and have more than just a dinky salad to eat (seeing as they're vegetarians who don't often eat dairy and I'm a vegan who eats eggs... sometimes people don't realize that veggies are amazing and HFCS isn't...), it is just that yesterday and today I haven't been able to eat more than smoothies and shakes. And by "eat" I really mean "pour down my throat." I'm really glad my face wasn't swollen for more than 5-6 hours and I had practically no bleeding. So this is good. The paranoid part of me is freaking out that the pressure of the plane will mess with my sinuses and without those upper wisdom teeth, I could develop sinus communication and that could lead to 1) bad breath and 2) PERMANENT reoccurring sinus infections! And there is the problem that I had a hair appointment on the tenth which I had to move to a inconvenient time... In addition I have to tell my boss that, btw, I can't work anymore -_- ... On top of all of this, I have to get his family a gift - I mean they BOUGHT me a $650 plane ticket!! But I'm poor (hence why they bought it) and I still need to buy my family gifts! Ehhh! BUT I'm trying to go with the flow seeing as stress has caused me, I'm estimating, about 5 lbs of pure stomach fat! No fear, even with wisdom teeth out, I did a killer ab workout the night before the surgery and I have been doing the best I can to do random acts of cleaning around my house in between feeling faint and eating smoothies... Anyway, now that I have brought the point I was trying to make back around... Protein Shakes. I like them small and concentrated. 

This is the protein shake I had for dinner tonight:

 <---- Fall Pumpkin Apple Pie Shake

(adapted from the recipe By Nedah Warstler of leanKitchen.com)

Ingredients:
2/3 cup soy milk
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/4 cup natural applesauce3/4 cup pureed pumpkin (canned)
1 tsp cinnamon

Dash of nutmegAdd all ingredients to a blender. Blend.

I had to add A LOT of pumpkin puree because, well, we had a lot leftover from the pie my mom made and I didn't want it to go bad... I would suggest lessening the pumpkin and upping the applesauce to replace it. Otherwise, it was good! 

In general, for the last two days, I have been making fruity shakes. Pretty much a splash of my dad's fruit and veggie juice (shhhh!) mixed with a few frozen berries, sliced strawberries, applesauce, a tsp of almond butter, half a scoop of protein powder and a handful of spinach... Pretty much whatever is in the house... We had some frozen mangoes, so I finished those then moved on the the frozen blackberries my dad picked over the summer... I think that I make a mean smoothie, but I don't know how anyone could go on a liquid diet O_O Maybe it is just me, but smoothies in the morning leave me SUPER hungry 2 hours later! I need sustenance! That is why I went back to eating eggs. I buy non-factory farmed eggs for sure but I think a bell pepper and mushroom omellette in the morning is too good to be true - throw on some TVP "bacon" bits? Shit.

I had a YUMMY salad for lunch!

OMG. I had a freaking great salad for lunch: Half spinach, half romaine, some dried cranberries, sliced almonds, and edamame. Also a cut-up hard-boiled egg and MorningStar chik'n patty. Dressing? Annie's roasted garlic - just a bit though!
I'm also very happy because I did a run before this salad. I got it from a website, basically it is interval training.

1) Walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes at a moderate pace (between 3.5 and 4.0 on most treadmills)

2) After 5 minutes, speed up the treadmill to a jogging pace for one minute (start at 7.0 or 8.0)

3) After one minute of jogging, slow back down to your set moderate pace (somewhere between 3.5 to 4.0 as discussed before)

4) After one minute of moderate, speed up the treadmill to your previous jogging pace, but this time add .5 to the speed (so if you first did 7.0…now you are going to set it at 7.5)

5) After one minute of jogging, you are going to go back to the same set moderate pace for one minute.

6) Alternate every minute between jogging and walking for 20-30 minutes…making sure that you use the same walking speed each time, but increase to jogging speed by .5 until you can't jog any faster for one minute.

I sprinted for about 15 min, total time 25 minutes. Then, I did a little arm work and 30 second plank. Felt good to be back in the game. I was inspired by the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Who wouldn't be inspired by Erin Heatherton?

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Besides the most beautiful models ever (save Karlie Kloss who, no offense, is NOT VS angel material), I've been reading up on tea and how it help metabolism and all that good stuff. I have a link, of course it is trying to sell something... The important part to take note of is how great wulong/oolong tea and green tea are for fat loss. In fact, I had some oolong for breakfast. The big problem with oolong is that there is some special version of it in the mountains and the altitude and blah, blah, blah. Long story short, 2-3 cups a day! Decaf is  not bad either!

Yesterday = Bad

Somehow I was under the impression that I should/coud eat a brownie a la mode yesterday. Very stupid. If there is one thing that my throat can't seem to swallow (NOT a dirty joke, okay? ;) ) it is ice cream! So, of course, I ended up puking much of it into a cup... in my boyfriend's room... because the girl's bathroom is very public and very far away. Don't worry, he wasn't there! But it brought me back to time in my life when that was pretty customary. And I'm sad to say that puking yesterday felt oddly, well, it felt good and reviving. Pretty gross. So I started searching for HEALTHY inspiration. Something I think I should think about before I eat and when I make stupid excuses for NOT working out.
I'm very, very glad I found fitspo because thinspo makes me cry and fitspo makes me feel empowered. I think this calls for a pic comparison!
My inspiration then:


My inspiration NOW:

 

I'm concocting a workout routine and calendar, as well as healthy eating "rules/suggestions/guidelines" for my next post. Until then, I got homework and finals in the next few days... Blehhhh.

Cleanses

Okokok. I have this friend (no really... I swear it isn't me!)... So this friend of mine, she thinks that if she constantly goes on and off of colon cleanses, she will be "skinny". While she is my friend... let's just say we aren't friends based on her smarts... Either way, she was crazy about this one brand that she had bought two or three times. "Select Greens" is the brand I believe... She was so pumped about how it made her "shit her brains out" and "never feel hungry" and "lose, like, seven pounds!" And I was pretty skeptical. I did a colon cleanse awhile ago with my mom (we have Irritable Bowel Syndrome so my mom thought it might help). In my opinion, it just made me have to go to #2 more urgently... But that was over two years before my friend did her whole colon cleanse phase (which she has yet to overcome). Short story, shorter: I did a colon cleanse (not Select Greens) and, honestly, wasn't impressed. Especially because I live in a dorm so I had to do my "business" very secretively and in random building... AND it made me sooo hungry that I was eating up a storm. So I'm not sold on colon cleanses, but I am trying it again. This time I'm modifying the regimen though. I'm taking the recommended amount (2 capsules) a couple (2-3) hours before bed. I drink 8-16 fl. oz. of water with it too. Most importantlyyyyy, I'm doing it every OTHER night. So far (third or fourth day... I can't quite remember) this has really only helped me be more regular. The one thing I have noticed about severely restrictive diets is that you don't eat much so you don't shit much. I don't feel good when I don't "go".
Ok. Enough of this TMI stuff...
I read this article about colon cleansing and why IT DOESN'T WORK and HURTS YOU and IS A SCAM. It is very interesting. Basically, the cleanses take the toxins and release them into your blood stream which only creates a toxic environment in your blood. Ideally the cleanse should release toxins through urine or feces. So yeah. It is trying to sell you a product (of course) but the science seems legitimate. I looked for, like, 20 minutes to find it... Can't. BUT I will keep trying and post it. :(

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So I've been having a big problem lately with... cookies. My boyfriend knows that I'm trying to be healthy but sometimes he finds me when I'm having a "I'm so fat! Why can't my love handles disappear?! I swear my butt got smaller and my legs have gotten bigger!!!" episode (which I try to keep private... -_- ). He tries to be really supportive by telling me how pretty I am and how when we met he constantly thought about how good my thighs looked and stuff like that... You see, that is phase 1 for him, phase 2 is going out and getting me cookies. Two - four a day. Everyday. As much as I love him, HE IS KILLING ME WITH COOKIESSSS! He specifically gets me cookies because he knows they are my weakness (formerly ice cream, but I'm lactose intolerant... and in my opinion so is everyone else in the world... DOWN WITH THE DAIRY INDUSTRY!). He thinks that I'm depriving myself by avoiding cookies. This is false. I feel really positive about myself when I avoid the free cookies in the cafeteria at my college. And when I eat them... I feel worse! So bringing me cookies is a double whammy of sadness! And he thinks it makes me happy... then again he also says that he thinks I look "so cute" when I eat cookies because I look "so guilty". Umm... what? Yeah. This has been going on for almost 3 weeks now. I neeeed to have another "serious chat" with him about my hatred of cookies... or desired hatred. Ughh!

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Today's Stats and inspiration:

W: 141 (Goal: 138 --> this is my old plateau)
UG: 35-26-35 (w:h = 74%)

Photo inspo: