60 Day Challenge Week 1- Start Date 1/9/2012

Week 1 was truly a breeze, I was excited about the change, I was looking forward to the workouts, eating clean and feeling lean! Now I just have to keep this momentum going for the next 54 days! :) I'm actually looking forward to the next phase in my transformation. In fact, I'm actually even planning to take some bikini pictures to begin tracking my muscular development throughout this journey. The most exciting news is not only the fact that I'm down 2.8 lbs and weighed in at 146lbs and 31.6% Body fat! (smile) but that I completed 7 workouts as well. So, in case I didn't explain this before, the challenge is to workout 7 times per week as opposed to 7 days per week. However, if one wanted to workout 1 time per day for the next 60 days they would be more than welcomed to. I had a bit of a time with training the rear delts and my leg day was brutal. However, I did a Personal Training session with Arvell and Tujuana to finish off the week and struggled my way all the way through it. Lol. For week 2 I'd like to incorporate a much more organized eating schedule, I found myself missing my protein snacks and I know that's critical for my muscle building needs. My meal plan was

Breakfast: 5 egg whites, veggies and a starch
Mid morning: Protein snack & veggies
Lunch: 6oz of lean meat, salad and veggies, a starch
Late afternoon: Protein snack & veggies
Dinner: 6oz of lean meat, salad and veggies, a starch
Evening: 5 Egg Whites & veggies
****No carbs after 7 and I eliminated all my unnecessary snacking.

****Post Pregnancy, Toned and Tight, Lean Body.......HERE I COME!

NuLife 60 Day Challenge

Today, January 9th 2012, I will embark on one of the most fulfilling journeys of my fitness career. I am taking part in our annual 60 day Challenge for the 1st time in 5 years. I am asking that you all pray with me through this because, this is not only a physical challenge for me, it is a mental and spiritual challenge for me as well. This is not so much about what I will give up in the next 60 days, this is about what I will gain physically, spiritually and mentally in the next 60 days that I'm truly excited about. The biggest accomplishment for me will be COMPLETING the challenge first and foremost and getting more organized in both my work and home life during this 60 days. I'm taking it as far as posting my weekly weigh ins along with the other members and checking in for my workouts as well. I have vowed to take this one day at a time and utilize this time to organize something in my life at least once per week (paperwork, meals, schedules, housework, office work, etc). As you guys have seen in the past I don't have a great track record for completing my challenges so, this one is important to me because I feel a great need to add this to my bucket list of accomplishments. I also want to buckle down and sculpt this body into the masterpiece I know its capable of being. I am looking forward to GETTING IT DONE and LOOKING good as a reward! See you at the Finish line!

Today's Weight 148.8 & 33.2%

If anyone is interested in joining the challenge with us, you can register at www.nulifefitnesscamp.com or call 216-391-4442 there will be four groups starting jan 9th, jan 16th, jan 23rd, and jan 30th
**The challenge will be based on percentage of weight lost

Defeat Starts in the Mind...

Tonight I feel compelled to share with you the mental defeat I almost allowed to take over my progress and motivation. I would be a complete liar if I didn't honestly tell you that I have experienced some major mental setbacks over the past 2 months in my weight loss journey. I have experienced emotional eating, depression, self doubt and low self esteem all at the same time. I would stand in the mirror and be so disgusted my own image that i'd just forego my workout and tell myself "Im still gonna have these stretch marks on my stomach no matter what" so why am I stressing myself out? Now keep in mind that yes, I just had a baby 8 months ago, and people tell me all the time "you're looking good to just have had a baby" but I am still a Fitness Trainer and I am expected to look fit. Therefore, I've been constantly beating myself up about being out of shape and being overwhelmed with my new motherhood duties were taking a toll on me. These things sent me into a serious depression. Here I am the one who guides thousands of others through successful weight loss journeys and I couldn't seem to navigate myself through my own. All the while neglecting the fact that I have actually lost 60 pounds in the last 8-9 months. We spend so much time dwelling on what's wrong and not focusing on what we're doing right! This is what I call Mental Defeat- - Beating yourself down, or telling yourself you can't do is mentally defeating yourself before you've even given yourself a fair chance to accomplish actually losing weight.

Next, I did what I know to do best about it....

Stay Focus...Pray...Eat Well

I feel so bad, it took me so long to post because I felt so bad that my 10 pound challenge dismantled and I felt I had disappointed you guys. Most of he members of the 30 day challenge did in fact complete the challenge, however, I was having a hard time gathering the weekly results and therefore fell behind in posting. So.....Whew.....it's addressed and out there.

Meanwhile, I myself, still weigh 151 pounds and I am not at all thrilled about that. I should have blasted through the 140s by now. I DO NOT make EXCUSES with you guys, I put it out there because it makes no sense to lie, you can see the progress or lack there of for yourselves. The good news is, the baby started her first week of our new sitter (my aunt) this week and I will be able to put in some WORK and possibly get some things done.

I wanted to share a something with you.......there is a site www.freedieting.com this site has absolutely awesome calculators listed on it that are critical to our weight loss success. There is a daily caloric intake calculator for those of us just wondering how much we should be eating per day. However, there are also calculators for Protein, Carbohydrates and fat. I highly recommend these calculators if you are trying to get your eating under control and better understand what you should be taking in.

I highly recommend you grab you a Polar heart rate monitor/Chest strap whenever you can (or add to your Christmas list) in order to better track how many calories you are burning during your workouts. This will serve as a tool to keep you wanting to burn more but to also help you gage whether or not you've put in enough work to get the results you're looking for. I've been using mines quite often lately. I suggest this particular brand because most Cardio machines (treadmills, ellipticals, etc) will sync with the chest strap and give you an accurate reading on the machine as well.

I also wanted to thank the few ladies that approached me about the blog lately to share how much they enjoy following. It was really what I needed to keep it going because I didn't think anyone really followed it much but now that I know it is missed I will stay on top of it!

10 Pound Challenge Week #2 (44 lbs Lost in 1 week!)

As we complete Week #1 of our 30 Day Challenge let us remember that we still have 3 weeks to go! I was so proud to see the Challengers dropping those pounds and getting their extra crunches in. It really just showed me that you truly were up for the challenge and dedicated to getting back on track! Last weeks challenge was to eat 2 salads per day and complete 300 crunches 2 nights last week in addition to your regular workouts. We also had a few new Challengers join in so we welcome them as well. This week its still 2 Salads per day & 300 Crunches 3 nights this week- Get your Homework DONE! NO EXCUSES
Miesha lost 3 lbs 151.2 & 34.6% Almost back in the 40's
Tujuana lost -6 lbs
Nik -0 lbs (stayed same)
Lanetta lost -2 lbs
Corrinne lost -2 lbs
Tomica lost -3 lbs
Kim C lost -4 lbs
Stephanie H lost -4 lbs
Fatima lost -2 lbs
Veronica lost -4 lbs
Jeaneen gained + 2 lbs (need a push this week)
Brev lost -2 lbs
Prudence lost -1 lbs
Stephanie N lost -4 lbs
Dwaynette lost -1 lbs
Myesha T lost -5 lbs
Anita ?
Ayesha lost -4 lbs
Tia lost -1 lbs

It's all about what you do when No one's watching! So Continue to Eat Clean

Ten Pound Challenge & Weigh in #6

Today after spending some time at the studio with Nik & Tujuana, we all decided we needed a little push to get ourselves over a 10 pound hump we were struggling with. (yes, even our NuLife staff even get stuck too), So we all honestly weighed each other in an vowed to push past our plateaus by not overindulging, increasing workouts and sacrificing something to see significant changes over the next 30 days! Keep in mind 10lbs was just the number we felt we wanted to see gone right now but any losses are pounds gone!

Meanwhile, after teaching my infamous Monday step class today, I was compelled to do a pep talk at the end of class to motivate the class to not give up. I explained to them that this fitness journey is not easy by any means. You're going to have days where you don't want to workout, days where you're tired of eating the same things, and of course, days where you want to give up all together. However, the time we spend giving up on working out is time wasted that you could've been spent working on your goal, because you will one day decide to try to get in shape again! It's inevitable, we all have done it at some point. The words I spoke today were put on my heart to relay to the class and there were actually a few people who afterwards told me they needed to hear that and THAT my friends are the moments that I live for.

I will not post the weights of anyone other than myself, but I will post the losses for each of the challengers, so stay tuned and feel free to join In with us! Start by incorporating an extra day of fitness this week....you have until Sunday so LET'S GO!

For the next 30 days I Must Make Changes to See Changes!" Starting w/ Green tea instead of Sangria tonight! :)

Challengers: Tujuana, Nik,Stephanie,Brev,Prudence,Lanetta, Veronica, Fatima, Kim C, Corrine, Tomica, myself & YOU! Leave a comment & let us know what you're giving up or changing for the next 30 days, we'd love to hear from you.

Nike Training Club at Home

So Today, I chose to mix it up a little bit by getting up before the baby and get my workout in right here in my living room. It was quite convenient if I must say so myself, I was able to move some furniture around and go for it! I found this cool app called "Nike Training Club" which allows you to log and track your workouts while being pushed through them by a voice guided trainer. It was cool, if you have a smartphone or iPad download it and check it out. Its a great way to get your workouts in when you're away from the gym, on the go, or in between other workouts. If you try it out, leave a comment and let me know what you think. I am determined to rid myself of these belly rolls you see above...Gotta set a personal goal right?

By the way, my favorite snack this week is the Chobani Greek Yogart. It has a whopping 15 grams of Protein, no artificial sweeteners and only natural ingredients. Many other yogarts on the market are full of refined sugars and very little protein so this one is definately a plus!