Just A Quickie!

[summerbreeze058]

Hey everyone, I doubt anyone remembers me, but I joined back in Summer 06 to lose some weight from my freshman year in college. I was able to get down to 127lbs from 150lbs and have been at maintenance of 130-132 lbs for about 6 months.

This summer I've been living in new york city interning and I just feel so unhealthy after two months of eating takeout and only having time to workout twice a week due to the dorm's gym schedule. I have no scale with me to determine how much i've gained, if i have, but I have been keeping track of waist measurements because it is typically there that I gain weight first. I believe my waist has actually shrunk a little (very very little) but my arm has grown a little, so that really gives me no proper judgement of whether or not I've gained weight (or just shifted fat...any thoughts?).

So starting yesterday, I put myself on a better diet and exercise plan since it is my last week in the city before returning home for 3 weeks. I have four weeks to get in shape before my senior year at college. I plan on doing 40 minutes cardio four times a week and light resistence 3 times a week for my arms and legs.

MONDAY:
1325 calories
25 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes running=40 min cardio
25 minutes weight: arm curl, chest press, lat pulldown, leg extension, leg curl, thigh abduction and adduction.

Does that look good enough to shift fat on a 5'5" 130 lb (i'm assuming this is my weight still) body? I'm not really looking for weight loss as much as inch loss in my waist and arms so thats what my goals are in terms of. I know 4 weeks is a short time, is there any chance for any inch loss?

It's great to be back for these 4 weeks, I've always loved the support here. Will report back at the end of the day! xoxox

 

[summerbreeze058]

Alright so yesterday, I found this gym routine at Self.com that said "Lose 8 lbs in a month" which I doubt would happen to me, but for once I am literally going to do everything it says and see what happens haha, so that I know once and for all if these articles are bullshit or true.

SO it says that three times a week I should do cardio (just three in order to lose 8 lbs? whatever you say, Self.) The workouts are meant to be more intense but shorter (only 28 minutes). You warm up for 5 min, run at a moderate pace, i did 6.0 mph, for 4 min and then full out sprint, i did 8.0 mph, for 30 seconds. You're supposed to do the moderate/sprint routine 4 times and then cool down for another 5 min. Honestly, I feel like I was doing more cardio before by doing something moderate but straight for 40 min 4 times a week. But I'm going to try this out.

The routine is paired with strength workouts 3 times a week; they tell you what to do but I can't start their routine until next week when I am at home and at a larger gym with dumbbells and more mats. The little gym in my apartment building that I have here only has the stationary machines to lift weights with so I'll do that this week.

The routine description actually says this workout is for people who already diet and exercise but just can't seem to lose stubborn fat. Sounds like me. We'll see what happens..

So for TUESDAY:
1250 calories
Cardio: 28 minutes (The Self workout)

Today, I plan on doing the 28 minutes cardio again and doing some strength training. Keeping the calories in the 1200-1300 range of course, and drinking lots of water

Anyone think I'm wasting my time with this routine? I'd love to hear from someone who's attempted magazine routines and has or has not seen results!

xoxox

 

[summerbreeze058]

Today is my last full day of work. I still have to come in tomorrow but we have summer hours so I get out at 2:30 I've really loved the internship and living in New York City has been so much fun/amazing, but I'm ready to go home. For one thing, I am so SICK of eating out I cannot wait for a home cooked meal. And my dad (he's the one who cooks) is the healthiest person ever, always eating fish and veggies because of his cholesteral so I'll be fine once I get out of the land of bagels and lox (my favorite mmm). But anyway, I'm very excited to go home and work hard the next three weeks to get rid of whatever weight I have gained here.

I measured my waist this morning and its a definite confirmation: I have gained 1/2 in-3/4 inch in my waist (smallest part) and 1 inch in the rest of my stomach (like around my bellybutton and below). What used to be a 26-26.5 inch waist is now a solid 27 inch and what used to be 28 inches and 30 inches (more down my stomach because unfortunately it's not flat) is now 29; 31 inches. I'm really upset because I haven't gained weight since my freshman year of college. It was then that I started working hard to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight so I feel like I've really let myself go and have returned to my habits of dining hall insanity.

I'm just really upset because I don't know how long it is going to take to reverse what has happened. I honestly feel though that this weight gain happened in the past two weeks because I was keeping a tally on my waistline all summer (its where I always gain weight first so even without a scale, if i have a tape measure, I'll know). I did not notice any change in my measurements until the middle of last week so hopefully since it was gained in a short period of time I'll be able to get rid of it in a short period of time. At this point, although I'm very mad, I just want to get back to the size I was when I left school and hope that maybe I'll lose a little more.

One thing I am doing different is that I have not weight lifted for two years, so I am hoping that will shock my metabolism and speed up my weight loss. For someone who was doing minimal cardio and no resistence, can't something like that "reboot the system" haha?

Okay, so yesterday I did great. 1500 calories which includes my share of the frozen hot chocolate we got at Serendipity (I ate an egg white omelette with veggies for dinner). Exercise was 10 min. warm-up cardio followed by my strength training routine.

I'll be back later tonight to tally up how much I ate and worked out. xoxox