OTF: Challenge COMPLETE!

I have successfully completed the 6 week challenge and my final weight wasssss:

162.6!!!

Before and After pics :)

This week, I got to learn to improve on my rowing. We had a class this past saturday and I learned how to row correctly and more effectively so that I would burn more calories and row more efficiently. It was a lot of fun learning how to do it the right way and I went from usually rowing barely 160 watts to being able to row close to 300 watts. My goal by November is to row more than 300 watts. I'm on my elite type ish! Other than that my workouts were good as usual. I worked out on Thursday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. Saturday wasn't a true workout just the rowing workshop though I still burned almost 200 calories. I had planned on working out on Tuesday as well but my stomach wasn't having it and I had to rest and feel better instead.

Though the challenge is over, I am still going to be working hard core towards my goal weight and body. I'm going to get there. I know I will.

Food wise, I've increased my intake to 1500 calories with me having to eat at minimum 1200 net calories every day. I ate pretty healthy but I did bake some chocolate muffins on Thursday and I've had about 4 of them since them. They are only 95 calories per muffin and pretty much are healthy ingredients. Click here for the recipe! I also had a sushi night out with my friends but it was well deserved :).

Weekly Training Report

Thursday - 10.16.14

Saturday - Rowing Workshop - 10.18.14

Sunday - 10.19.14

Monday - 10.20.14

Wednesday - 10.22.14

Stats | Weight:
9.9.14: 174.2
9.18.14: 168.4 (-5.8)
9.25.14: 168.6 ( +.2 -- Didn't expect much change thanks to Vegas!)
10.2.14: 169.6 (+1)
10.9.14: 163.4(-6.2) ^_^
10.16.14:163.6(+.2 - bah humbug!)
Final Weigh In 10.24.14: 162.6 (-1)
Grand total weight loss in 6 weeks: 11.6 lbs!






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OTF: Week 5 Update! 1 more week!

Week 5 is come and gone! This week I felt some anxiety. Not a lot but a little.

I think it is because the competition is reaching the end. No times for mess ups or slip ups. My eating this past week was pretty great I would say. I had my "cheat meals" on Thursday. I ate about 1800 calories that day out of my allotted 1770 (1200 budgeted calories + 570 exercise calories). So yes I went over a bit but not much. What I called my cheat meals were Amy's Spinach Pizza - so yummy! and while I was watching Shonda Thursday's with the boyfriend and friends, I had 2 cookies and 1 small scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was all delightful in my tummy. 

For cheat meals I don't always feel the need to have completely unhealthy food. Usually I'm not even craving that. But sometimes things that aren't really unhealthy are still higher in calories so I tend to avoid them to stay within my daily calorie budget so I consider them my cheat meals when in essence most people would be like that is not even a cheat meal lol!

Other than that I ate pretty clean all week. Proud of myself. However, I still managed to gain .2lbs. I'm not totally bummed. I'm on my menstrual this week and hoping that is why I am holding on to this weight and next week at the final way in I will blow them away with a 5lb weight loss. Yes that is what I am hoping for :). 

Also the problem could be I am not eating enough on my workout days. Prior to tuesday, my net calories averaged about 750. For those of you who don't know what net calories is:

Budgeted calories + food consumed calories - exercise burned calories = Net calories

Ex. 1200 budgeted + 1335 food consumed - 563 exercise = 773 net calories for that day. 

Now there is a huge debate about whether or not you should eat back the calories your burn while exercising so that your net calories is at least 1200. This is so your body won't go into starvation mode and slow your metabolism down causing you not to lose any weight. So maybe just maybe I need to start making sure I am consuming enough on my workout days to at least get to 1200 net calories.

I plan on doing that this week and hopefully it positively effects my weight loss. 

Anywhoooo back to OTF....

I have been pushing myself. That is what I truly love about Orange Theory Fitness. I feel like I've never really pushed myself like this. Especially being that I am able to work on my speed and inclines on the treadmills. Though I have done a bootcamp before, we weren't able to do that because we didn't have such machines. I really see myself reaching my goal body in a few months if I stick with OTF! 

Oh and craziness of the week. On Saturday I get to my workout and come to find out most of the electricity is not working. So we didn't use our heart rate monitors (so you won't see a report below) because the TVs weren't working, some of the treadmills were down, and to top it off, THE AIR CONDITIONER DIDN'T WORK.  Talk about an intense workout. I didn't think I was gone make it LOL. I felt like my trainer was apart of B613 (Scandal reference) and we were his next victims. 

My face after the workout.

On a less killer note, I upped my base pace to 6.5mph. I am also able to do 10.5mph all outs for 1 min. I be flying! If I really push myself for the 30 second all outs I can put the speed at 11mph. I am slowly working my way up to 12mph for the 30 second all outs. I hope to reach this goal before the end of the year. 

Another highlight is unlike last week, I nailed these workouts by maintaining a good amount of time in both green and pink zone. It is said to have nailed a workout when you spend 25 - 35 minutes in the green zone and 12 - 15 minutes in the orange (currently pink) and red zone combined. 

Weekly Training Report

Thursday - 10.9.14

Sunday - 10.12.14

Tuesday - 10.14.14

Wednesday - 10.15.14

Stats | Weight:
9.9.14: 174.2
9.18.14: 168.4 (-5.8)
9.25.14: 168.6 ( +.2 -- Didn't expect much change thanks to Vegas!)
10.2.14: 169.6 (+1)
10.9.14: 163.4(-6.2) ^_^
10.16.14:163.6(+.2 - bah humbug!)







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OTF: Week 1 Update.

I have completed my 1st week of the challenge. It was a really great week. I can steadily see improvement in myself. When I first started working out with OTF my base pace on the treadmill was 5.5. Now I've improved to 6.3 with a push pace of 7.0-7.3 and an all out pace of 9.0-9.5.

To understand this: Base pace is a pace you can maintain for like 30 mins or more. Push pace is usually 1 to 2 mph over base and your all out pace is something you probably can't hold for more than 1 minute.

I was so happy to see that I had lost almost 6lbs in one week (well 9 days) ! Like seriously?! I mean I'm sure it was water weight for bad eating the last few weeks but still it felt so great. This coming week might not be so great since I just got back from Vegas and well.... you know how vacationing goes. 

Anyway, I am very confident that this challenge will be amazing for me and definitely help me reach my goals. 

Weekly Training Report

Thursday - 9.11.14

Saturday - 9.13.14

Monday - 9.15.14

Tuesday - 9.16.14

Wednesday - 9.17.14

Stats | Weight:
9.9.14: 174.2
9.18.14: 168.4 (-5.8)



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Orange Theory Fitness: 6 week challenge

On thursday I joined a six week challenge at Orange Theory fitness! This challenge is different from any other I have joined being that it has a nice money grand prize for the top male and female! So I can't slack! I got to win. 

So you may be asking, what is Orange Theory Fitness(OTF)? I had been asking this question for a while and last month I came across them at a race expo and got info on them and was intrigued. OTF is not your typical gym. It reminds me more of a bootcamp being that you have to sign up for classes and the classes are relatively small. None have been over 20 people.  & you have a trainer that is there to push and motivate you.

The name OTF really tends to throw people off but the meaning behind it is quite interesting. 

OTF is heart rate-based interval training utilizing the rowing machines, treadmills and a variety of strength equipment. The workout is segmented into blocks of work, and by the ability to view your heart rate % on a screen, it encourages you to do the best for your ability. What to expect: -A calorie scorcher and major sweatfest. Like any workout, you get out of it what you put into it, but this is a wonderful blend of heart-pumping cardio and muscle-building strength. -When you first arrive, you receive your heart rate monitor (“pod”) for the day. You attach it to your chest strap and during the class, your name and heart rate zone, categorized by color, are projected onto a screen. Blue is the cooldown/warmup zone, green is moderate, orange is fitness and red is the high limit. Ideally you’ll want to stay within a green or orange zone for the majority of the workout, hence the name “Orange Theory.”

I must say, I am enjoying these workouts so much. I've been going to classes for almost 2 weeks now and it has been so motivating and fun. Even got me going to sleep early since I attend 6am class! I love seeing how many calories I am burning, how hard I am pushing myself, and secretly competing with others in the class. I am coming to realize, how much more I enjoy bootcamp type classes. They keep me motivated more and keep me pushing myself to another level.

An example of the TV screens 

I also love how we get emailed at the end of the class our training report.

So I think this 6 week challenge will be very effective for me as long as I keep my eating under control! I will be working out 5 to 6 times a week. 4 of which will be at OTF. The workouts are super intense so I don't know if I would do them 5 or 6 times a week but I will see as time go on. 

With the challenge, we have to do 3 OTF classes a week and we weigh in every thursday, the last Thursday being Oct. 23rd. There is a chart posted so we can all see how everyone is doing and know how much more we need to push ourselves & we get a 'star' every time we attend a class YAYY! & GAME ON! 

My eating has sucked all of summer and caused me to gain 15lbs (10 of which I'm sure was in Europe) but can't dwell on that. I must dwell on how to get back down to where I was before Summer and hopefully in 6 weeks I will see some great progress towards my ultimate goals! 






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16 days and counting.

Greetings!! So I fell completely off the wagon since Saturday before last. I went to Miami and every since then I haven't been on my eating on working out game. Sigh. It upsets me to be on this yoyo thing. I feel like I won't ever reach my goal but I am always going somewhere and you know how it goes when you go on a vacation . I go on a seafood diet.

So I am getting strict yet again starting today. Today and the next two days I am doing a detox and then I will be on a healthy eating kick. But as always (as of late) I have another mini vacay coming up in 16 days. So yeah I know it might be a repeat but I'm hoping not so much or at least maybe I might find time to workout on this trip. I really want to reach my goal. It will only take 3 or 4 months to get there and how this year has flew by, that is not long at all but unfortunately, ish isn't always that simple. I know I don't have that drive like I need too. But it's crazy because I've come so far. 100lbs later and 2 years later I'm still struggling to lose these last 20 to 30lbs. It's ridiculous but that's what they say, the last pounds are the hardest.  Definitely though after this trip, I don't have any more planned until December so I'm praying I reach my ultimate goal before 2015!

What are some tips you have for losing those final pounds?

What about for when you're on vacation? Some place where there will be food galore?

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Shades of Health!

Hey lovelies. I want to share something with you guys that is kicking off on August 1!It's called Shades of Health and it was created by one of my BGR sisters, Shionta. Shionta has been such an inspiration to me and everyone that she is around I'm sure. So I definitely wanted to share this with you all so you can join in on this beautiful journey. 

Here's what she had to say about it:

Shades of Health, a journey started December 1, 2013, (not a challenge) will forever connect health and fitness and yoga practice. My intentions have and will continue to break the unspoken barriers within the African American community that are experienced in health and fitness and yoga practice. EVERYONE is WELCOMED to empower change. The short of the long, I had the opportunity to speak with a group of girls scouts that were African american 6-8th grade and they verbalized "black girls don't do yoga, black girls don't workout", I was really in shock, but used that opportunity to uplift and share my knowledge and truth. I'm claiming that the journey will continue to be a blessing to so many and new faces will join us. No prizes are given, the rewards will be created through our intentions! Follow along on Instagram!

Peace and Blessings.

Day 1,11,21 @findingthedivine 
Day 2,12,22 @csamaa 
Day 3,13,23 @radiahmaria 
Day 4,14,24 @laiusky85 
Day 5,15,25 @kethysk 
Day 6,16,26 @yogikayla 
Day 7,17,27 @daniveemcqueen 
Day 8,18,28 @dropitlotus 
Day 9,19,29 @sunqueen 
Day 10,20,30 @heartbeat4many 
Day 31 Everyone post someone else that may have inspired you through their caption, posture, exercise, etc! 

Make sure you follow them all on IG! Shionta is @heartbeat4many!

I can't wait to join in on something positive that will uplift and inspire others especially those in the African American community to be fit, healthy, and enjoy your journey to being a healthier you.  

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Happy National Running Day!!

You pretended the snooze button didn't exist. You dragged your butt out of bed while others slept. While others ate their pancakes. You had a feast of protein, glucose, and electrolytes. You double-knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you. You ran. 5Ks, 10Ks, 26.2 miles. Some days more, some days less. You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run. Rain tried to slow you. Sun tried to microwave you. Snow made you feel like a warrior. You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort. On weekends. On holidays. You made excuses to keep going. Questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing. Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmer's tan. You hit the wall. You went through it. You decided to be a man about it. You decided to be a woman about it. Finished what you started. Proved what you were made of. Just keep putting mile after mile on your internal odometer. 

- Nike Ad

Happy Running! Whether you're a walker or a runner... have a great Nat'l Running Day!! 

I'm heading out now to get in a quick one because I feel like I'm obligated too celebrate what I love doing! :)

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