Round 2 - Day 60 P90X

Well...another 30 days have come and gone.  It's amazing how quickly the weeks are flying by now that I am in Round 2.  My results this month have been more psychological than anything else. I can feel myself becoming more comfortable and confident with my new body. I am starting to realize that there is nothing I can do to change the way some people view me or to stop the jealousy that they feel. All I can do is take the steps I need to take to become a fit, healthy, well balance and happy person for myself and my family.

Now for the numbers:

Round 2 - Day 60:

Height - 5' 9"
Weight – 159lbs down 2lbs
Waist – 28″ down 1″
Hips – 36″ down .5″
Chest – 34″ same
Right Arm – 11.5″ up .5"
Left Arm – 12″ up .5″
Right Thigh – 20″ same
Left Thigh – 20″ same
Body Fat -16.7% down almost 3%

Once again I am very happy with my results. I am able to do more push ups (although I still hate them and always will), and I can feel my cardio improving.

I recently wrote about how I discovered the fitness trail and how I enjoyed walking it. Well...yesterday I did 8.1 miles on it and even jogged most of that with the help of  The Prodigy and Blink 182 (Go me!). I don't think I have ever been so proud of myself. I could have given up so many times and just went home but I kept pushing, I had a goal in my head and I was gonna reach it no matter what. Knowing that I have the strength to complete the goals I set in my mind is so empowering.


With that, I would like to once again thank those of you who keep me going. My inspirations, my fellow coaches, the haters, the drama majors and everyone who has told me that I inspire them. Thank you!

P.S. - I hate photos but, here they are....sigh.
(Sorry for crappy, low light self pics. I decided to add them just now)

Mirror, Mirror on the wall…

....we have never had a great relationship have we?

I have never looked at you and seen something that made me smile. Ok, maybe on my wedding day I did....I looked pretty darn good that day despite being chubby although it could have been the fact I was tan....hmmmm. Anyway....

I have worked my tail off for the past year and despite all of the compliments I have received, all the clothes I have had to give away because they were now too big I never saw it....until NOW.

I seem to have made a mental break through. I now see the new me. The smaller me. The fabulous me. And you know what? I gotta say......I kinda rock!

For the past year my body has gone through major changes but my mind...well....it was stuck. It was stuck on an image I had looked at in the mirror for years. An image of an overweight, unhappy person who wanted to change. A person who wanted to be seen for who she was on the inside. A person who wanted to shop in all of the trendy cool stores dammit!

Now....I am that person. Thanks to all of the hard work, sweat and discipline I am no longer overweight and unhappy because of it. I can shop in any store I want with out having to worry about what the largest size they stock is. I am no longer over looked....heck I am now looked at more often than I am comfortable with.

Of course, I will admit I still have my hang ups. Um, I'm human AND female therefore something will always bug me...that's life and hopefully I will get over those trivial things.

And if I asked "Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who's the fairest of them all? I am pretty sure it would say that I am. Because I am now proud to stand in front of the mirror...the same mirror that taunted me for so many years and say....I am beautiful.

Drama + Haters = Fuel for the Fire

Everyone has drama in their lives at one point of another. Some of us are blessed with it more often then others (that is total sarcasm in case you didn't know).

I often walk through life wondering if I do anything right. I can never seem to make everyone happy. I always do something to piss someone off and most recently my fitness achievements have made me a hated person amongst certain circles of people - there is nothing worse than walking through a room and feeling a giant target on your back!

However, I have learned to turn that drama and target on my back into fuel for my fire. Instead of getting worked up over it and saying things that can't change the way another person thinks I unleash my fury in my workouts. The more someone says I am crazy for doing the workouts I do, or refuse to give me credit for the work I have done the more it makes me want to succeed and show them how wrong they are.

Instead of sitting around moping over a disagreement or some new drama that has cropped up I do Kenpo or grab my sneakers and hit the trail. Both help me to clear my mind, keep a level head and improve myself in the process. It also helps me to realize that the important part is that I am happy!

I am finally reaching a point in my life where I am putting myself first. I am surrounding myself with positive people. I am realizing that I CAN'T make everyone happy...that is impossible without completely losing yourself. I am doing everything possible to ensure that I reach my goals and do the things in life that I want to do. I can't stop drama from entering my life or make people respect the life choices that I have made but I can certainly turn those things into fuel for my fire and reach my goals and most importantly achieve self happiness.

The Great Outdoors...

Once upon a time I was a city girl. I loved to walk the streets of Manhattan on my way to and from work. I loved to window shop while breathing in the fresh city smells like cab exhaust, homeless person, food vendor carts, stale urine from the subways and good old summer time body odor....ahhh....how I miss the city!

I used to walk to the grocery store to do my shopping. Walk my laundry around the block to the laundromat. Heck, I would walk anywhere I could so I didn't have to move my car and lose my perfect parking spot for alternate side of the street parking.....ever have to deal with that? So not fun! I don't miss it at all!

Then, one day shortly after getting married we moved to suburbia where you can't walk anywhere and I became lazy.

I shouldn't say you can't walk anywhere because the town I live in actually has sidewalks, a convenience store, pizza place, deli, bank, chinese restaurant and ice cream shop. I could walk to any of them however due to my new found laziness at that time I would drive around the corner to get milk. I would have pizza or chinese delivered and the perfect parking spot became the one closest to the store or mall so I didn't have to walk far to the entrance. Absolutely pathetic!

Last summer when I started my fitness journey I discovered that our town recreation center had a fitness trail and I walked it a few times with my friend. I had fun doing it but was scared of getting poison ivy, hated the bugs and my allergies were just awful doing it. As a result I stuck to the dreadmill and bike at home where it was air conditioned and bug free.

Recently I started walking the trail again with my neighbor and I've found a love like for the outdoors. I have learned to take my Claritan, spray myself with bug spray to keep the little pests away and well...I'm still scared of poison ivy but I just try to stick to the center of the trail.

I also downloaded an app to my DROID called Runkeeper which uses the GPS on my phone to track my walk. It times my walks, keeps track of my distance, pace, incline and more. I LOVE it and since I am a competitive person, I now get to challenge myself each time I hit the trail to do better than my last attempt.

Today I even used it to help map out a new path and different ways I could go to increase my distance and give me new things to look at so I don't get bored of the same routine.

Yesterday I wanted to walk and was unable to due to my work schedule and errands and I was mad!

I can honestly say that I look forward to putting on my sneakers on and heading over to the trail now. I love walking up the initial path to the forest. I love the sound of the dirt and rocks under my feet and I love when I come across bunnies and other forest creatures while I'm walking. It becomes my time to clear my head, let go of or hash out what has been bothering me and find peace within the madness of my thoughts.