Fitness Update

So, back in early January I posted about how I was going to get myself in better shape for our wedding. You all probably thought I was full of crap, and it was just a New Years resolution that I gave up on, but that's where you're wrong!

I'm proud to announce that I've lost two pant sizes since then! Just take a look at my old jeans that I bought in November (I totally feel like a Jenny Craig ad, haha):
Or maybe a side by side comparison of a picture of me from my January post and a picture I had Mr. Cola take last night would be a better example (old picture on the left, new picture on the right):
But I think the best representation is a picture of the corset back of my dress. The picture below on the left is from mid-February, and the picture on the right is from last week. Whoops! I can't tighten it much more than it already is. Dang, guess I'll have to be able to breathe on our wedding day! ;)

I honestly don't know how much weight I've lost. I don't own a scale, and refused to weigh myself, because I didn't want to gain muscle weight and then get discouraged. But I think the way my clothes are fitting now is the best gauge anyway! Although I wish I could pick and choose where the weight has come off of, it's mostly been in my hips, butt and legs, when I wish it would have been on my stomach and arms.

So what did I do to lose some pounds? Pretty much it all came down to eliminating bread from my diet. Which was sad, since garlic french bread is one of my favorite things in the world! Since the beginning of the year, I've only let myself have 9 pieces of bread, and combined with counting all my calories (including wine!), and sporadic workouts, it seems to be working.

I've been limiting myself to an average of about 1200 calories per day, along with multivitamins to make sure I'm getting all my nutrients. I also switched from Starbucks caramel macchiatos to skinny vanilla lattes, for about 1/3rd of the calories in the morning, and started eating yogurt instead of only coffee in the mornings. Eating a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack of an apple or cucumber slices helped too. And I started using my favorite new tool--Livestrong.com. It allows you to track your calorie intake, shows you trends (I tend to have more calories on the weekends than on weekdays), lets you set goals, and has a ton of recipes for healthy eating. It really helped me learn how many calories are in the everyday foods I was eating, and adjust my diet accordingly.

I also did the P90 workout videos, and the 30 Day Shred, although I must say, I've really slacked off in the last month. And before that I was only working out max of 4 days a week, more regularly only 2 days a week. I just never found much time, especially since I have a long commute to and from work and a million DIY projects to work on.

I definitely plan to continue to manage my diet after our wedding, since I still would like to loose a bit more weight. But I might not quite torture myself as much, and for sure I will be letting myself eat crab cakes, mahi mahi and other yummy foods on our honeymoon in Hawaii!

Did you set any weight loss goals for your wedding? Have they paid off?

This Is NOT A New Years Resolution....

....More like an OH MY GOD, THERE'S ALMOST ONLY 5 MONTHS LEFT freak out inspired resolve to get my lazy butt in gear!

Like so many of the Bees, fitness has been on my mind a lot lately. Specifically now that I'm about a week away from the 5 month until the wedding mark. I've really slacked off lately. Not so much with what I eat, but with my exercise level. For a while there I was doing the 30 Day Shred a couple times a week, but from October until about now is a really busy time at my company, and combined with my 45 minute each way commute, I just couldn't find the time. Plus, much like Miss Nachos, I'm kinda allergic to exercise, so it's always pretty easy to talk myself out of working out.


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But no more! I've got a goal, hive, to feel better about myself and get more toned before my wedding. With my motivational issues, I need a reason to push myself, and the wedding couldn't be a better reason!

Last night I started my new routine; as soon as I got home from work I changed into my workout clothes, had Mr. Cola snap a couple of "before" pictures of me, and started the Power 90 In-Home Boot Camp. It's from the same makers of the P90X, which you've probably all heard of, but it's only about 35-40 minutes a day, since there's no way I could handle the hour and a half a day that the P90X makes you do.

After only one day, I can say I'm pretty happy with it. I like that it has a countdown timer, showing you not only how long is left of the whole workout, but also how long is left of the particular section of the workout you're on. It started with stretching and yoga, and included some boxing as well that was fun; and overall I did a much wider variety of exercises in the 35 minutes than the 30 Day Shred level 1 has. Another thing I like is you aren't doing the same workout every day like in the Shred, you alternate different ones each day, so your muscles have time to recover (and you rest one day a week...I was never really clear with the 30 Day Shred if you were supposed to ever give yourself a break, or do it 30 days straight).

Tonight I'll be doing the level 1 "Sculpt" video, since I did the "Sweat" last night. I'm actually looking forward to it! And here, for your internet amusement, here are my wimpy before pictures that Mr. Cola took. Let's just see if there's any difference in a month from now....I sure hope so!

(he made me "show you my guns," I'm sure you all wanted to see that I have zero upper body muscles....not great for wearing a strapless dress with!)

Have you set fitness goals for yourself to get fit for your wedding day? Any tips on how to stick with it?