It's been... one week

Barenaked Ladies, anyone?

I haven't blogged in a week and I did it specifically so. I had a whole week of laziness, rest, eating whatever, and just relaxing. I'm not really a "relaxer"... I generally hate being this lazy and the only thing I've gotten accomplished is cleaning my room, which says a lot for me to be honest. LOL

I've done horribly this past week, but whatever, I'll pick back up and get back on track in about 20 minutes when my food settles. Going to the gym to do some weights and light cardio and prepare to go to bed a little early tonight.

I had some chicken enchiladas for dinner, some fish/rice/veggies for dinner, and a peanut bar with a Naked juice for breakfast. And maybe some bad stuff somewhere in between, we don't need to talk about that, do we? :D

Also, the no caffeine after noon thing has really been good for me. I still can't get over how sleepy I get at such reasonable hours now!

Oh well, off to the gym... but before I go, I thought I'd let you know:

I pre-ordered "The Mechanic" on iTunes - it will be ready to download tomorrow... I'm thrilled. Jason Statham is my MAN. In honor of his awesomeness, I'll post a few of his most charming pictures.

What I wouldn't give to be that clamp on his nipple...

What a tiring Tuesday!

Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm WIPED. And it's only 5:30 pm!!! Ever since I realized that I sleep better if I don't drink caffeine after noon, it seems like I get even more tired at earlier times. I worked from 7-3 today (which is a normal day for me). For breakfast, I had a mediocre strawberry shake. It could have been better, it was kind of runny and chalky. For my break at work I brought some brown rice and a 3-pepper/onion mix and got 2 grilled chicken breasts. I was also naughty and had a 4 oz bowl of ice cream with cookie crumbles and chocolate syrup. xD

Then after work I usually get pretty hungry too, so I got 6 nuggets, a small fry, and a small fruit cup. I realized that the fries really didn't do anything for me - just empty calories that could have been avoided. I think I'll do a new challenge after my 10 pounds in 10 day challenge. It'll be the "no fries for a month" challenge, since French fries seems to be an even bigger battle for me than bread or pasta!

I worked out for about 75 minutes or so.
1. 15 minutes on the bike to warm up
2. 2 reps of 20 on each side on pulley falls for obliques
3. 2 reps of 20 on reverse crunch machine
4. 3 reps of 10 for left, right, and front sides on the ab coaster
5. 2 reps of 25 on the ab bench
6. 2 reps of 20 for each side on the rotary torso
7. 20 minutes on the rower (I have callouses for proof)
8. 5 minutes on the treadmill to cool down

Drank about 1.5-2 bottles of water while working out

Got home, craved something sweet so I had a box of golden raisins. lol

Tonight, I think I want a decaf chocolate coffee caramel shake... I just some ingredients. Hmm..

How has everyone else's day been? I'm gonna take a 30 minute power nap. See you tomorrow!!

TIP OF THE DAY: (sleeping) According to Dr. Oz, you burn MORE calories if you sleep 8-10 hours than if you only sleep 5-7 hours. More reason than not to catch your zzz's eh? Which is EXACTLY what I'm going to do now. Goodnight world.

Start off the week right.

Hey everyone, I'm weighing in at 193 today (weight fluctuates really bad and I had a bad meal last night) but I'm confident that I will burn it all off at the gym today. The days I do weights, I always seem to weigh less... interesting eh?

I have to go for my weigh in at the nutrition place today... wish me luck! I just had a strawberry shake for breakfast, so I'm going to go weigh in, and then go to the gym. I don't know if I see a difference, but I feel one for sure. My body seems not as ... jiggly... LOL. I feel firmer and stronger already. I think the 2 pounds I gained is merely water weight since I drank a fair amount yesterday.

Keep an eye on Youtube because I'll also be weighing in there + with body shots today (Mondays are weigh in days everywhere for me!)

I'd also like to link to a really great friend of mine, Phillip. He is a wonderful Christian man, he always has something uplifting and encouraging to say, and he's honest! I love that the most about him. He is always there on my youtube page, leaving me motivating comments and telling me to keep going. I am so happy to call him a friend. Check out his blog at http://t4eagle137.wordpress.com/ for some more uplifting words. Thank you Phillip!!!! :)

I'll blog again later to let everyone know how my work out went and what I did. Also, don't you think it would be cool to learn Mixed Martial Arts?

I love tough chicks! 

TIP OF THE DAY: (diet) Hungry? Maybe. Thirsty? Most likely. The hunger pangs we get everyday are overdramatized by our minds making us THINK we're hungry. Most of the time, we're just really thirsty! So don't pick up a cheeseburger or a twinkie. Get a glass of water or 2 and hydrate your body to fight off those hunger pangs and save yourself 100-400 calories. You're getting up to get a glass of water now, aren't you?

Another down!

I know I just made a post 2 hours ago, but I wanted to make another one letting you know that I'm down another pound - I'm 191! How did I do it? I went back to sleep! LOL

This blog is going to be like my lifestyle diary... I'm putting it all on here, as soon as it happens. I want something real that people can look at and say "She didn't take any crazy pills, crash diets, or eat anything weird or off the wall... she ate right and exercised and let herself have french fries and chocolate on occasion and she STILL lost weight." Because I think that America is a microwave, drive-thru society - we want things here and now. Well, the truth with weight loss is that you can't lose weight HERE AND NOW. It takes time, effort, patience, and hard work. I'm still struggling with the patience part especially.

Keep strong, stay focused on your goal, and work hard and I promise you that you will get results. See you tomorrow unless I magically lose another pound! ;)

1 down!

What's up everyone?! As you can guess, yes I lost a pound! I'm now 192. This is the weight that I used to be back in January when I wanted to start losing weight, but I somehow magically gained 7 pounds and got myself up to 199. So here I am, back to my original weight of 192. I can't say it feels good, but it sure feels a WHOLE lot better than 199!

I want to talk to you guys about what I ate yesterday. I have a bingeing problem. I get these outrageous cravings and I don't eat a MASSIVE portion of it, but I still end up eating the bad food. Most of the food I crave when I have these binge attacks is deep fried. Well, the past 3 times I've had anything super deep fried that I've craved, I've eaten it and thrown it up because of two reasons: 1) It literally made me nauseous to the point of wanting to get it out of my system and 2) I've felt so guilty after eating it. BUT - I am NOT bulimic. I don't purposely throw up throughout the day, I've only binged/purged 4 times. And I really don't plan on doing it again, I honestly don't. It gives me migraines and makes me feel dizzy. My binge/purge issue felt like it was starting to become a habit after yesterday so I figured if I publicized it on the INTERNET, I would be held accountable and would stop.

With that being said, I only had 2 meals yesterday. I had my breakfast shake, and then I had my post-workout guilty deep fried catfish dinner which I threw up. **note: I only feel nauseous after I eat some sort of meat that is deep fried or the batter is super thick** After that I had 5 capfuls of mango-flavored aloe to help soothe my stomach. I went to work and had a grilled chicken club sandwich on a wheat bun with lettuce, provolone cheese, bacon, and pickles.... and a medium fry. xD I really think fries are my weakness. Fries and bread. Olive Garden's breadsticks.... Red Lobster's cheesy biscuits... Okay I'll stop!

Oh and I had a brownie after work last night because I was craving chocolate. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I went to the gym and worked out before all of that.

So I'm down to 192!!!!!! 2 pounds until I'm out of the wretched 190's. Don't forget to check out my youtube channel - amysjourneynow. Until next time...

Michelle Rodriguez, lookin' all strong and fierce

TIP OF THE DAY: (beauty) For maximum shine, strength, and moisture, apply olive oil to your hair once a week. Saturate your hair in EVOO once a week and let it soak in for about 15 minutes. Rinse out, wash as many times as possible to get the excess out, condition, blow dry, and voila - it's like you have a new head of hair. You'll thank me later. 

Welcome!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog! This is not the first blog I've had, but this is the first one I would like to keep up with. As most of you know, I am on a weight loss journey. If you are unaware of this, visit my Youtube page at www.youtube.com/amysjourneynow to find out more.

I made this blog in hopes of keeping more people updated, interested, motivated, and encouraged to lose weight, get fit, be healthy, and be confident in themselves. I am currently striving to do all of those.

In my latest video on Youtube, I talked about how I was starting a 10 day challenge. That is, to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. I realize this is unrealistic, but the crazier I make my goals, the more results I'll see because I love a good challenge. For the next 10 days, most of my blogs will be filled with my food entries, workout entries, how I feel during the challenge, and much more. Another cool thing I will do is put a random beauty/health/fitness tip at the end of every blog post. I will try my best to be consistent with this because I know there may be people out there that can really use someone like me as motivation. I hope that you are reading this and feeling motivated to be in the best shape of your life. We are only given one body, and I think the most important thing is to get your body into the best possible shape it can be in while you still have the chance.

Another thing I want to mention is my use of product names. I will give credit to all products I use, but please know that I am not advertising by any means. If a product works for me, I will post it here. If it does not work for me, I will still post it here. No one is paying me to mention their products name and I promise to keep it that way. My blog here is all about keeping it real and straightforward to help us get the results we want in the time we have. We can do it!

So, as promised, here is my first meal of the day:
Herbalife shake
Ingredients:
8 oz. H2O
2 scoops of formula 1
2 scoops of formula 2
1 scoop of fiber supplement
1/2 cup of Chobani Greek yogurt (peach)
1 tbsp of cheesecake pudding
10 cubes of ice

Blend and serve as a meal.

This shake was so ridiculously filling! I also am on a 21 day cleanse (I'm about 5 days into it) and that's going great as well. I am going to work out now, and here's what I plan to do:

5 mins warm up on the elliptical
weight training (Arms, chest, back, stomach, legs)
20 mins on the rower
20 mins on the Octane
5 mins cool down on the elliptical

That's about all I have for today, folks. Stay posted and let me know how I'm doing or what you think I should do. As always, I am open to questions, comments, suggestions, and criticisms. Have a great Saturday!!

Megan Fox, toned and fit with Pilates

TIP OF THE DAY: (stretching)  To get a good stretch in your "tensor fasciae latae" muscle (outer thigh, just below your butt), get in the modified push-up position (knees on the ground, arms straight) and lean all of your weight or as much as you can over to the right side. You should feel a strong burn in your thigh. Hold for 10 seconds, repeat 2-3 times, and then switch to the left side. Feels good, doesn't it?