Chapter 5

Well I've got an entire month under my belt now! Last week I was better on my nutrition and smashed my weight workouts but I didn't get in the extra cardio I wanted to because midterms and papers had things a littleeee nuts. 

Quite honestly I'm a pretty tough critic of myself and I don't feel like I've made a lot of changes. The scale has gone back down but it's just back to where I started. I may be building muscle which is in fact the goal and which might keep the scale from lowering like one would like. Nonetheless I think you can see some changes but maybe it's a trick of my mind haha anyways here are some progress photos 

All I can do is tell myself every day to be patient and keep the faith. It's just going to take time and a lot of hard work. When I'm feeling down on myself my cousin always tells me not to be so hard on myself, that I didn't build that body in a matter of days so fixing it will take more than a matter of days. I'm so grateful for all of my suuuuuuper supportive boyfriend, friends and family who continuously encourage me to stay motivated and be proud of how far I've come. 

SHOPPING THIS WEEK

Convinced my bf to take me to Costco WOOO : ) he's so patient haha I said I wanted a few things but of course I HAD to go up and down everyyyy aisle : D

Stater Bros trip 

Ordered this bad boy and it's DEEEELICIOUS! Thank God for bodybuilding.com and their superrr speedy shipping, literally got this the next day! 

ON THE MENU

Made zucchini lasagne and it was AMAZINGGG!!! I got the recipe from www.inspiralized.com but I used store bought sauce as opposed to making my own. This was super tasty and didn't leave me with a bloated and yucky feeling like actual pasta leaves me with. 

 

Also made sweet potato noodles mixed with goat cheese and turkey pepperoni. Ummm I think goat cheese was made for sweet potato noodles because it was AMAZINGGG! 

WHAT NEXT

 -Next week starts the weight loss challenge at my gym so I'm superrr excited for that. The Wardance Beach Body Competition is gonna be sooo much fun! Hopefully by the end of it I'll be beach ready haha 

-This Saturday is the Angel Stadium 5k which will be fuuuuun, nice light run. I also signed up for a third half marathon for this year. My first was the Tinkerbell Half marathon in January, the one I just signed up for is the Avenger Half marathon which is in November, but the one I need to focus on is the Disney Dumbo Dare Challenge which is at the end of August (it's a 10k on the Saturday and then a half marathon on Sunday). INTENSE RIGHT?! Haha so I printed out a training guide for that race from Jeff Galloway and will be encororporating that into my routine starting probably next week. 

-I also downloaded an EBOOK from a woman I follow on Instagram (her name on their is Muffintopless). The book is called the Fit Body Program and is a 12week weight workout plan. She has a lot of clients that have made some amazing progress so I decided that I'm going to give her plan a chance! : )

- As far as diet goes, my macro guru Miles is changing up my #s a little bit. I told him I didn't feel like I was progressing very well so we're going to reduce the amount of protein a little and raising my carb #s a little. I'm interested to see if this will help make a difference. Sometimes you just gotta play with the #s til you find what works for you. 

My updated battle plan : )

Well that's all for now folks. I hope you might be learning from my experiences or getting a little comic relief at the very least haha if you have any comments or questions feel free to write me!

As always thanks for tuning in ; ) 

Chapter 4

I just finished week 3 and I'm not gonna lie it was NOT my best week 😒 

My workouts were spot on but my diet was not 😖 The stress over school/midterms, lady cycle, work, lack of sleep...it just all got to me last week and I dealt with it in the form of carbs (baaaaaad) but you know what I'm not perfect I'm just human. All I can do is admit my downfalls, remind myself that eating that way is not going up get me the body I want, and make strategies on how to avoid those triggers (I.e. scarfing down pastries while working at Starbucks 😖🔫) 

I'm not down any weight but between the start and now I definitely see visible changes

Because I didn't do what I wanted to and felt like I took a step backwards I was pretty down on myself but my friend sent a photo from a couple years ago to remind me of how far I've come and that I should be proud and not beat myself up so much 

I definitely needed that. I'm back on my game, following the plan, ready for progress! 

SHOPPING THIS WEEK

I had a lot of stuff left over from last weeks trip (i.e. Chicken, yogurt...) 

Got this bad boy from Walmart and it is soooo great!!! The bottom expands for the lettuce, top part has an ice pack cooler, space on top for your toppings, and a little bottle for your dressing! 😍

I got more gum and almonds (to take with me to work to help me avoid those dastardly pastries. 😷) and Frozen which isn't edible but still AMAZINGGGG!!! 💗

Also got more apples, zucchini, and some magazines 😁

ON THE MENU

St Patty's day is my second favorite food holiday!!! (Thanksgiving being 1st- as long as turkey's being served!) so corned beef and cabbage was a noooo brainer 😁

Also made Greek chicken (shredded chicken mixed w/Greek yogurt, lemon juice, EVOO, and some fat free feta) I put it on zucchini noodles and also threw it into a salad for my low carb day 😊

UPCOMING CHALLENGE TO YOU!!!

  The owner of the gym I go to (WARDANCE TRAINING CENTER) is sooo proud if me that he's asked me to help him put on a summer weight loss challenge so on March 29th the Wardance Beach Body Challenge begins!!! There will be MONEY and PRIZES as well as a beach worthy body to fight for! 

  For more details go to Facebook and befriend the Wardance Training Center Page as well as the Wardance Beach Body Competition page and get ready to FIGHT FOR YOUR FIT WITH ME!!!

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK

Stay on top of my food, keep kicking butt workout wise, and just keep pushing one day at a time 😁

As always thanks for tuning in 💗

Chapter 3

Well I just finished Week 2 and am heading into Week 3. I am up two pounds from last week but I'm also starting my cycle (not telling you to be gross or anything just to explain that I (and most women in case you didn't know lol) retain extra water during that time). Most women wouldn't even step on the scale during this week but I wanted to know for record keeping purposes. I'm starting to feel stronger during my workouts although this week I'm feeling yucky and bloated and I want to eat everything in sight! (Not gonna lie I've had a couple bad treats 🍪😱 but I'm not perfect and it's life haha). Despite the scale being up I'm starting to be able to see results. I even went shopping this weekend and got a couple size Medium tops and fit into a size 8 pant!(at Old Navy)

(Photos are from Day 1 to end of week 2)

For the sake of pushing harder and maximizing results I have a new workout plan as well as a new macro plan that my cousin's  wonderfuuuuuuul fitness friend Miles put together for me. This is what this coming week (and further weeks if there's no more plan tweaking) will look like 

Going to be cutting back a bit on the cardio and adding in another day of weights as well as incorporating more protein into my diet. (Not saying this is a plan everyone should follow, each person is different and their plan should be too, this is just what I'm doing 😁)

I did get my grocery shopping and meal planning done and this is what this week will include:

Going to be making pesto pasta with zucchini noodles (I LOVE ZOODLES 😍) I bought this spiralizer off of Amazon. You can use it to make anything from apple chips to veggie noodles. It's amazing!!! 💗

Weighing things out to get a more accurate measurement 

Mine is the one on the right (the bf wanted a spicier version haha so his is mango habanero sausage in a buffalo sauce w/the zoodles) 

I also made more buffalo chicken (bc I LOVEEEEE IT!!! 😍) lol most days it will be in the form of a sandwich on an everything bagel thin but on my low carb cycle day I'll be adding it into a salad 😁

Also switching out my nightly cottage cheese for casein shakes (although I might like the cottage cheese better lol) 

Aside from my own personal challenge I've been honored by being asked to be apart of organizing a weight loss challenge at my home gym Wardance! I'll be providing the details when they're a little more concrete but whether you're local and can physically participate or will just be participating in spirit I think it will be a great way to help motivate each other and keep each other on track! 😊

That's all for now folks. As always thanks for tuning in and if you're not following me on Instagram yet (JBuckle87) do it! 😘

Chapter 2

Progress Report:


So I finished week 1 of my 12 week challenge. I'm down almost a lb from last week (180.6 to 179.8). Normally I'd be really dismayed at the fact that I've only lost barely a pound over the course of the week but I'm really trying to stay focused on my goal which is burning fat and building lean muscle mass. Since muscle weighs more than fat the scale might not necessarily change as fast as I'd like it to so I'm hoping my results will show in the mirror more than on the scale. Considering I'm eating more than I was before a pound down is a pound down! My goal as I get closer to my "goal weight" is to just really toneeee. I took a picture of my progress. I don't know if you can really see any difference, it has only been a week after all, it might be psychological but I feel like I'm getting tighter (I definitely feel like my bat wings are less jiggly haha).

 

 

Based on my cousin's suggestions I'm going to cut 20g of carbs from my medium and high carb days and see how I do. I felt really good overall throughout the week with the way things were so I'm interested to see if slightly changing that number will change anything. I'm also going to try lifting heavier as well. I want to get stronger and get that muscle tone. 

Meal Prep:
 
   I forgot to take a picture of my grocery store haul, I know naughty me! Just think lots of meat, yogurt, salad, some fruit, and some low calorie carbs haha

 

I'm not entirely sure what to call these guys lol so I think I'll go with turkey pesto rolls. Essentially it's ground turkey mixed up with eggs and pesto, stuffed with fat free feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes and then wrapped in turkey bacon and baked.

 

I LOVEEEE buffalo style chicken and I had a craving for it so I decided I'd make some pulled buffalo chicken to turn into sandwiches. I used a bag of frozen chicken breasts and put it in the crockpot on high for 5hrs with a cup of buffalo sauce to marinate in. Then I shredded that and divided it into four equal servings. I mixed each serving with 1T buffalo sauce and 1T 0% Chobanni Greek yogurt to give it a little more zest and I portioned it out with some blue cheese. YUMMMM <3

 

 

 

I also made some Chia Seed Pudding. Chia seeds are fulllll of omega 3s and anti-oxidants and things I don't even know haha so I mixed 1/2 cup chia seeds, 2 cups unsweetened almond milk, a little vanilla extract, and some sugar free maple syrup. Honestly on it's own it didn't have a whole lot of flavor so this morning I mixed in some sugar free cheesecake pudding mix and some raspberries and it was delicious!

 



Anyways, those are my goals and my food for the week. Hopefully I will keep seeing improvement. I am so blessed to have the most supportive and positive cousin helping me plan and fight through this challenge. I am also deeply honored by those of you who have reached out to me to share your stories and tell me I motivate you or to ask for tips. I am no expert but the knowledge I do have I am more than willing to share! I have been honored by having the owner of the gym I go to ask me to be involved in the social media aspect of Wardance Training Center and I will be organizing a summer weight loss challenge, if you're local I encourage you to join!!! Even if you're not you can still participate from a far, have fun, and get the motivation/encouragement/and ideas from me and the other's who will be participating.

I hope your week is going great! As always, thank you for tuning in ; )