Friday Blues

So it has been over a week since I have posted anything.. My weekend in Syracuse was good. I relaxed and tan and drank/ate too much!

I know that I'm at my monthly check up however I have been so sick- I have had a stomach bug since Tuesday still going today! I have been in a dark/sad place in my personal life and thankfully because I have been sick I haven't looked towards food/and being lazy as an outlet. I have been so sick I actually have been losing weight.. (so blessing in disguise)

I can't go into details about my personal struggles just know that I'm doing everything in my power to stay positive to cling to the people that love me unconditionally, support me, and will have my back through everything. This hurts more than anything I have ever experienced and now this blog is taking a little U-turn and going to be the place where I can vent. I apologize to the people who were here just to see my progress but this is my life- this is what I'm going through and unfortunately this is has to be my outlet sometimes.

I know most of you are my close friends/family who read this blog and most if not all will text me..but right now I just need a little bit of privacy to process everything and be in a better place.

Thankfully I will see my family this weekend! I wish my sister was there but I will see Teresa, Rudy and Anne which I know will make me feel a WHOLE LOT BETTER.

If you pray- keep me in your prayers, if you just believe in good karma/universe feelings- send me good vibes this way!

love always
gigi

Oh Snap It's Wednesday

Hello readers!! (warning- I had really strong coffee so I'm a little jittery/hyper) 

Favorite GIF of all time! Get it Wednesday

I'm super excited because we are leaving Baltimore for a long weekend driving up to Syracuse tomorrow afternoon! I"m so drained that I need a pool/relaxation and a lot of mojitos (Ashley's mom's idea) We are still planning to run while we are there and doggie paddling in the pool counts as a workout right??

Boot camp update: So I really didn't want to go Monday tried to come up with excuses not to go however Ashley dragged me there.. and I was so glad I was there & I didn't look like Bambi afterwards so I guess there has been some progress ha. We are back at boot camp tonight!

About a month ago I came across Jennifer's  Project Progress Program and basically you participate by sending a photo/goals and each month you check back in. So I decided this would be extra motivation since all of Jennifer's readers will be waiting for some results (she has a pretty big following). So it is my first month's check in; I told her the 4lbs and 4inches I lost and took new pictures. My new goals for this next month is to lose my first 10lbs, and finish boot camp!


And these are my 1 month progress pictures!!! (purple last month/pink this week)





I was completely shock. There are some visible improvements which I didn't even notice until the pictures since I have only lost 4lbs. In all honesty I don't believe it; I think it is the wall- it has skinny powers LOL. I read a post the other day about Self Worth and it was so on point even though she is married and a mom but essentially it was all the feelings I go through. And after the pictures yesterday I felt like I wasn't worthy of this progress but I am. I deserve the body I have always wanted/imagined. Still think those pictures are wrong and probably going to nag Ashley to take new ones but for now I'm going to accept them.

Girl Let Me Tell YOU....

I don't blog during the weekend just because it is easier when I'm at work, so I have some updates!!

On Friday we officially started boot camp (intense circuit training); Ashley bought this Groupon for unlimited boot camp for a month!! Was super excited because I will be trying a new activity this month (part of my  Goals list). The atmosphere is great! It is a small studio so not in a formal gym- the group was small about 6 of us mostly women! And you could tell everyone no matter how skinny was struggling/pushing hard during certain activities. But let me tell you, I was sore leaving the place I was not looking forward to how sore I was going to be. On Saturday I thought I was all that and while Ashley was at her soccer game I went for a walk that turned into a 2.5 mile run! Felt so great after so I regret nothing.. that is until Sunday when I looked like Bambi or like her all day
 


 I have come to the realization that I rather just run.. hate being this sore but Ashley made a good point I'm only this sore because I don't work on  these muscles on a regular basis. So even though I don't want to go back she paid for a full month so I might as well just get through it!


Just to give you some Monday giggles-

Friday morning 

Friday AFTER boot camp

After my run (smile the pain away HA)

Off Day

Just an overall blah day.. I'm not sure if it is post PMS but I'm just drained and sad. I really just want to crawl back into bed after work but forcing myself to go to the gym since tomorrow I can't because I work all day.

Looking at a new blog today and she lost 60lbs in 7 months! Talk about hard work and dedication! Check out Jess and her story!

She posted this quote today .  "Actually, I just woke up one day and decided That I didn't want to feel like that anymore, or ever again. So I changed. Just like that. " - Unknown" 

And even though I feel crappy and don't want to go to the gym this sounds about right so just have to push through whatever this is. In the meantime I"m looking at gym clothes/new running sneakers! I have Under Armour sneakers now but think my gift to myself after 10lbs down will be these babies!




Happy Wednesday y'all

12 Week Weight Loss Challenge

I'm always looking for blogs to follow- people to motivate me or just someone who is on the same struggle bus. Well yesterday I found Caitlin who just started a  12 Week Weight Loss Challenge. Basically from June 20 until September 20 she will post 3 mini goals for the week (posting on Friday). The mini goals are designed to help you reach your ultimate 3 main goals that you want to achieve by the end of the 12 weeks! Even though I have my own goal list it pretty much supports what I want to do, so why not! Technically I'm late to the party but that isn't stopping me!

Week 1: 

1. Identify three weight loss-related goals you'd like to achieve or work towards in the next twelve weeks -

                    i. Run 5K less than 45mins 

                    ii. Eating little/no white grains (white bread/white rice/processed sugar)  

                    iii. See the 170's- I don't care if on September 20 I see 179lbs I will be HAPPY! 

1. Drink 2L of water/day! Staying hydrated is important! {definitely need to keep track of this}
2. Get 30 min. of activity/day- {altering this to a full workout 5-6 days a week} 

Week 2:

1. Ditch the scale. {So I have been thinking about doing this! But it is going to be hard not to weight myself. My goal is to do it twice a month- mid point and end of the month}
2. Create an inspiration Wordle! {couldn't make a wordle just yet but looking for more realistic motivation on Twitter/Instagram this week}
3. Track my food every day. {I use MyFitnessPal and have gotten better but slacked off last week, so going hard this week}

Overall, I"m on the right tract this will just help the weeks be a little bit more focused! Join me on this 12 week challenge and if you don't have a blog just comment your experience !!

Monthly Realization

Even though it is the second week of July it is being treated as if it was the first week! The main reason is because it was a bust of a week! I drove to New Jersey on Wednesday driving back on Friday morning to go straight to work. I didn't work out at all and ate overall crappy (yet delicious) . Thankfully I ended Sunday on a great note- home-cooked dinner (steak, sweet potato and broccoli)  made my Ashley which was amazing and healthy at the same time! 

For breakfast this morning I decided to try a new green smoothie!! yipieeeeeeee 

Ignore the no make up face

Found this great post on Pinterest on how to create your own green smoothie. So today I did 

2 cups of spinach

1 cup of pineapple 

1/2 of a cucumber

1 cup of almond milk  

& a serving of Herbalife protein

And it was pretty good- a little excited to try other combinations!! 

Now to my realization! I have a long way to go! I have 16lbs I want to lose by the end of the summer and another 10-15lbs by December! So I don't have a lot of room for messy weeks/weekends. I have said it before (my last post) that I get so happy that I'm like wooohooo bring on that bread! But the reality is 4lbs is great confidence boost but still a long way to go. Going home for the day and half was great because some of my family members really noticed my weight loss- everyone kept asking how many pounds I have lost but decided that I will keep that to myself until I'm ready to share and everyone was assuming way more than I have actually lost so why spoil it ha. 

Last month I focused a lot on changing/bettering my eating habits. This month is all about working out! I will really work out.. not a semi hard elliptical session but really putting in work for cardio and weights! As well as starting boot camp! I'm hoping that is going to help with ending the month with a BANG! 

Monday, Monday, Monday!

This is Monday of all Monday like "the holy grail of all diet/exercise program starting days" as Amber put it on Friday.

It is Monday July 1st AND 6 months away from New Year's Day. I couldn't imagine a better day to get on any goal you may have!! For me this is a perfect day because while I was on cloud 9 last week due to the progress I had seen and people starting to notice it on my face I decided to EAT BREAD! Not just one roll.. oh no that would be be too good for me.. I ate bread 4 times this week.. white french/Italian bread.. and LOVED EVERY MINUTE

Just picture me like that with bread and butter/beans 

I also was not able to workout this week at all.. so now I was terrified to get on the scale this morning & Ashley suggested I shouldn't since I was feeling so great and the scale might ruin that- even tried on clothes from Banana Republic (side job) that were a size 14 & XL (XL was too big) I was too hype that day!

But anywho I did weight myself and I didn't gain all 4lbs in 1 week so horrahhhhhhh I'm still doing okay! 

And actually had to do my 1 month check in and the results were amazing! People don't lie when the say the scale may not move too much but the real test is clothes and measurements. 

In total lost 4lbs. and 4 inches throughout !! 

	May 25, 2013	June 25, 2013	July 25, 2013	August 25, 2013
Weight	195.6 lbs	191.6 lbs
Left Arm	13in	13.5in
Right Arm	14in	13.5in
Waist	38.5in	37 in.
Belly Button	41.5in	40in
Hips	44.5in	44.5in
Left Leg	26in	25.5in
Right Leg	25in	25in