30 Day Shred

There are so many fitness DVDs and workout programs in the market. I decided to try a different program every month or every 90 days maximum depending on the length of the program. I chose 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels' for the month of July to early August. I chose this program because:

• The great reviews I've been reading about it from people who tried it. Try to google "30DS before and after" and see the great results that others achieved.
• It is only 20 minutes
• Home based workout

If you are starting 30 Day Shred, please leave a comment and let me know about your progress. If you have already done it before, please share your experience. I'd love to hear from you..

Click on picture to go to the FHBC website

How exciting! I did not know that such conferences exist. I’m planning to attend next year. I’m hoping that my blog grows bigger by then.



For those who'd give up if they did not see instant or fast results. ..

Your current body shape is a result of months if not years of eating and workout habits. How do you want to change that in few days? It needs time.

Be Patient and enjoy the journey

I'm Half Way

I started "seriously" monitoring my weight about the same time last year "June, 2011". Well, it is considered a slow progress comparing to how hard I workout. However, it is a great progress that I should be proud of comparing to how unhealthy I most of the times eat. I am just trying to emphasize on the importance of healthy eating. Workout alone does not help much. It's the combination of both.

My Success Story: Week 1

As I mentioned in my previous post "Write Your Own Success Story". I will start posting updates about my progress here on this blog. I will post every Friday and I will label the posts as "My Success Story".

My success story of week#1 : I managed to lose 1 kg by following the listed rules:

• Drink water. Drink a minimum of 2 Liters/day 
• Eat small balanced meals every 3-4 hours. Small = about 300-400 calories. Balanced= The meals contain a portion of protein, carbohydrate (complex), vegetable, fruit
• Stop eating 4 hours before bedtime 
• Workout for a minimum of 45 minutes at least 5 times a day. Make sure your heart rate is within the fat burning zone when working out
• Avoid high in sugar/high in fat food and Soda

Challenge: 

I was invited to a birthday party on Monday of week 1. As much as I tried hard to avoid eating cake, I honestly could not resist. It was so good and so delicious beside, who'd attend a Birthday party without having his/her share of the Birthday cake? 

I did not avoid social gatherings. Healthy lifestyle should include socializing. What I did was eating as planned "small balanced meals" during the day. I had my share of the cake in the party. I actually thought I over ate from the cake, but when I got back home. I did my Cardio worked out. Guess what? I did not gain anything! 

So, this is all what I did in week 1. It was a success. I need to lose one more kg to reach my new weight goal. I'll follow the same rules with better meal planning and harder workouts. 

What's your success story of the week? 

Quote Of The Week

Sorry about the "B" word, but this is the name of the book. This is a page of the calendar of the same great book I read. Today's quote is my all time personal favorite. 

Write Your Own Success Story

Do you enjoy reading success stories of other people to keep you motivated and inspired and cannot wait to write your own story someday when you finally reach your ultimate goal? Well, I do.
I really enjoy reading others' success stories and I cannot wait to write my own success story. I cannot wait to look at my "before" and "after" pictures. I cannot wait to train and coach others to help them reach their fitness goals and I keep on dreaming about the day I finally take the Personal Training Certificate that I always dreamed about. I started believing that everyday of my journey to reach my ultimate fitness goal is a success story. I am thinking about keeping a weekly update of my progress. I will label the posts with "My Success Story". I guess this way, I will stay focused and I will hopefully inspire someone somewhere.
Why don't you start writing your own success story. It is not too early. You don't really have to wait until the end to write it. Start now. Remember that everyday of your journey is getting you closer to your goal than the day before.

Please click on the below picture to link you to a very useful article "How To Create Success"

Stay focused! 

Start, Restart Circle

Does this happen to you? You decide that this is it and that today is the start of your healthy lifestyle. You stick to your healthy eating plan on breakfast, lunch and dinner and you think it's a perfect day. Then after dinner someone decides to celebrate some out of the blue occasion and they bring donuts, cake and ice-cream. You look at all this delicious, yummy sweet food that you think you'll miss for a long period of time because of your "healthy lifestyle plan" you resist for the first 5-10 minutes while watching everybody else cutting the cake and enjoying the donuts..You finally give up and you think that you can postponed your "start" to the next day so that you can have your share of that cake.

It happened to to me a lot before. That's why everyday was a "Start" day for me. I used to be a perfectionist. I used to think this way "If I messed up in one meal, then all meals should be messed up and I should not workout."  I finally got it.. That was a very wrong way of thinking. All what I was doing was trapping myself in a "Start -Restart" circle. I was not moving forward. I was just moving in circles.

I learned that I cannot always control the food available on the dinning table. I cannot always control my cravings either. I am not a robot. So I decided that instead of starting and restarting, I should have a plan in place to follow whenever unplanned extra sugary extra oily food is offered:

1-Resist: If I'm on one of those very strong will power and in-total control days. I would simply resist.
2-Junk substitute: Make a healthy snack instead and eat it with pleasure...I really emphasize pleasure.
3-Get to know what's about to get in: If I am really losing it and I have to have my share of that cake I try to know what I am about to put in my body. I try to check the nutrition fact of that unplanned food and I would try to make it within the calorie range of my daily plan or I try to workout afterward to at least burn it if it exceeded my calorie count allowance
4-Moderation: Many dietitians and doctors say that a healthy lifestyle should not deprive you from any food type. It only regulates your food intake and guide you to better choices.

Remember that everyday you mess up your plan, you will also slow down your progress from reaching your fitness goal. The more you stick to your plan, the faster you'll reach your goal. Don't we all love short cuts? 

Granola Parfait

This meal is very easy to put together. It could be a nice breakfast, mid morning meal or even supper. Raspberries have almost 50% more antioxidant activity than strawberries. What an excellent news for people who are allergic to strawberries. 


You'll need:

• 1 banana sliced
• 1 cup raspberries or redcurrant berries 
• 1 container fat free Greek style yogurt
• 1 and 1/2 cups granola
• Walnuts

Layer the ingredients in a tall glass or short glass. Serve immediately. 

Short Glass

Tall Glas

Tip:

If you live in Dhahran in Saudi Arabia, you can find granola in Safeway supermarket or in GNC store. I recommend using Bob's Red Mill "Natural".

PS
I learned this recipe from the "Flat Belly Diet" Cookbook 

We Shop, We Learn

I went shopping for berries this morning. I was looking for raspberries and blackberries in particular since I am very allergic to strawberries. I also wanted raspberries because I had a recipe in mind for breakfast. I went to the berries shelf and this is what I found. A total strawberry domination. 

I also thought about trying the freezer. I was hoping to find a bag of frozen raspberries. This is what I found. 

Exactly. More strawberries and no raspberries! I was really disappointed as I was excited to make the recipe I had in mind. However, I found an interesting fruit (To me at least) Check out those small red round guys 

If you see this fruit for the first time "like me" well, then allow me to introduce "Red currant berries" or "Redcurrant berries". They are members of the gooseberry family. It has tart flavor and the best part is that they can be used as substitute for raspberries. You can imagine how happy I am now. 

Sassy Water

Maybe you already know that you need about 2 liters (about 8 cups) of water a day to maintain adequate hydration. How about adding flavor and more nutrition to your daily cups? I found this recipe of "Sassy Water" on the book that I am currently reading "Flat Belly Diet". According to Prevention.com "Drinking water and even eating "watery" foods like melon, greens, and other fruits and vegetables has enormous health benefits, including warding off fatigue. But perhaps the most important belly benefit of proper hydration is how it helps maintain your body's proper fluid balance and guard against water retention. It also helps prevent constipation, which can cause bloating"

I recommend that you try drinking Sassy water. I just did. It really tastes good. Even though, I don't really like cucumbers, but this water is really fun to drink. I am keeping the pitcher on the coffee table in the living room so that anyone in my house can have a glass anytime while watching TV, reading or in my case blogging. 

Sassy Water Ingredients: 

Sassy Water Ingredients

• 2 liters water (about 8 ½ cups)
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 medium lemon (not lime), thinly sliced
• 12 small spearmint leaves.

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and let flavors blend overnight. You can strain the water or pour the ingredients into your glass along with the water. Drink the entire pitcher by the end of each day.

Zumba

I finally joined Zumba class. It has been very popular during 2011. I got Zumba DVD's during my visit to KL, Malaysia last June and I used to Zumba at home. The dance is very fun, but the moves are very fast that I found it difficult to cope up with.  I was very worried that the moves in the class will be as fast as the moves in the DVD's, but they were not. Or maybe I got used to the speed. The class is one hour-three times a week (Saturday, Monday and Wednesday). It's a high intense cardio workout. I burned around 700 calories in 58 minutes. The instructor Darcy has an amazing spirit and so are the people attending the class. I am excited for the next one tomorrow. If you have a chance to Zumba, go for it. It's a very fun and uplifting workout. You'll also burn many calories in one hour only.  

Healthy Appetite

 I learned about Ellie Krieger's show "Healthy Appetite" from watching Food Netwrok's channel. The picture will link you to her page on Food Netwrok's website. Ellie has very interesting healthy recipes.