Best. Year. Ever.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can't believe it is officially 2014. 2013 was quite literally the best year ever because, well, obviously because I finally married my best friend and that was the best day ever! I don't foresee 2014 topping that, but it doesn't mean I am not excited for a fresh start to a new year. 365 days of possibilities, opportunities, and blessings. 2013 was full of our highest highs and some lows as well.

Bobby graduated from Simon with his MBA.
We moved cross country back to CA.
WE GOT MARRIED!
Bobby started at American Express 2 days after our wedding.
We moved to Arizona 5 days before our wedding.
I found out I am going to be an AUNTIE to my nephew Maddox! :)
Grandma Dorthy passed away just 10 days after our wedding.
We celebrated 12 years together.
We spent Christmas with family for the first time in 2 years.
Celebrated births, marriages, and many engagements of friends!

People make fun of  others who make "resolutions" and mock them for only making them at the beginning of the year. I applaud them. I always think it is a good thing to set goals for yourself, whether it be in June 1st or January 1st whatever motivates you and gets you thinking about working towards bettering yourself I am all for it! I made resolutions last year that I posted on here and I actually completed a few of them. I finished P90x, I traveled, and I definitely did my best to live in the present and go with the flow…especially when everything possible was happening in the days leading up to our wedding I would like to stay I stayed pretty calm and as stress free as one person could possibly be given he circumstances.

I always have room to improve, I definitely fell off the clean eating/exercise wagon the last 1/3 of this year after the wedding and that's ok. I am not back where I was this time last year, I am still much fitter than that and I plan to start this year the same way I started last year. Detox and hitting that P90x grind again. They came out with P90x3 and I am REALLY excited to start it. Bobby and I have made a pact to get fit together this year. Last time I was on this journey alone and I exceeded my own expectations. I was pretty much the fittest I have ever been in my life and if only I had kept it up throughout the year. ;) Programs like P90x really work for me and really get me on track where I need to be. So cliche to have a fitness resolution, but it worked for me before so I know it will again! I will finish P90x3! :)

Another goal of ours is to travel somewhere TOGETHER. We both traveled last year, but separately. He went to India and I went to Hawaii so this year we will hopefully be taking our belated honeymoon..if you want to call it that and travel somewhere abroad together! Where? Who knows!?

I also want to read more books. I used to read a lot, but I haven't read hardly anything this year aside from the Grey trilogy lol

Another goal is to pay off all of our credit card debt that we have accrued over the years. We have been slowly chipping away at it since Bobby started at Amex, but it our ultimate goal to be debt free (aside from student loans) by this time next year, if not sooner. It is definitely doable, but will be something we have to really work towards.

These are the main goals we want to accomplish over the course of the year. I am sure once we complete some we will come up with others as well. These give us something to work and strive to accomplish and I know that we can and will do it.

What are your New Year's resolutions/goals? Or just life goals in general?

Hope everyone had a fantastic first day to 2014!

xoxo

Kicking off 2013!

Happy 2013 everyone! I hope you all have had a great start to the new year, I know I have! Not going out really gave me time to reflect and evaluate my life. I am not usually one to do resolutions, because I think "what's the point". Well this year is different. This year I have a long list, and everything on the list goes hand in hand with each other. So, while I achieve one of the resolutions/goals, I will also be achieving the other ones. Bobby and I got to talking while we were going over our resolutions for the New Year and came up with an idea for me. I really need a hobby, like bad. I find myself being so bored all of the time, especially during the winter here when its snowing and cold outside, so he helped me find one. We got to talking about what I really like to do and blogging came up. Nerdy I know, but I really do enjoy it. So we came up with the idea for me to start a blog specifically about my fitness journey. I have made many resolutions and goals that are fitness related, so why not blog about it. Every aspect. It will not only give me something to do (a hobby), but will also hold me accountable which is key to being successful. I decided to make a new blog that is linked to my current account and it will fittingly be called "Fitness is a Journey". It will basically follow every single aspect of me transitioning my life from a not so fit lifestyle, to a fit, healthy, and happy lifestyle. I am only beginning and have a LOT of learning to do, but I am excited to share the journey with everyone. Please bear with me while I am in the beginning stages of this journey, it isn't going to be easy, but it is going to be worth it!

If you're interested in following my new blog please go to:
http://caseysfitjourney.blogspot.com/

I will definitely still be updating my personal/life blog as well, my new one will just be STRAIGHT fitness and my progress with all of that. :)

Thanks for reading!

Bye, Bye Gym Membership!

HELLO (again) P90X!

Tonight Bobby and I decided that we would pay the bucks for the adjustable bowflex weights that we have been eyeing for awhile, and cancel my gym membership (that I seem to never use in the winter). Now that it has gotten snowy and freezing getting to the gym just doesn't happen. period. call it an excuse, whatever we decided that we need to just go back to what worked best for us back in college when we didn't have a gym membership. P90X! You basically only need weights and a pull-up bar (which we have) and your body and that's it. Don't have to go anywhere, don't have to deal with gym traffic, don't have to shovel snow at 5am, none of those distractions that always seem to deter me from the gym. I loved P90X and it works wonders! Not everyone can work out at home, but I love it. We haven't done it because we didn't bring our weights all the way out here, and we finally just bit the bullet and invested in the adjustable weights. Merry Christmas to us :)

It is crunch time for the wedding, we figured out that we can now put in two rounds of p90x before our wedding so we should be in rocking shape by then ;) We basically used our extra "going out" money for fitness equipment so really it should work in our favor double! Won't be going out to eat as much, but rather will be staying in and getting in shape! Win, win! I can also now get up at 5am and get my workout in before work! I loved getting up that week that I tried it and getting cardio in, so getting a full workout in will be even better and I don't even have to leave my house! aaah the beauty of not having to go out into the DARK, SNOWY, FREEZING wee-hours of the morning and scrape off the snow and ice, just to get 4 minutes down the road to the gym. UGH! I am SO excited!

I also ordered a large lunch cooler for my long work days so I can pack and prepare my own meals to take to work with me when I am there for 10.5 hours. Both of these things should arrive by January 2nd, so we will start after the new year! What an amazing kick off to our year 2013! :)

Update for Monday

Sandy has passed and thankfully things were not as bad as they had anticipated. There are 10,000+ people in the surrounding cities here without power due to downed trees, but nothing even as close as bad as the coastal towns. I am currently watching the news and it's crazy! Everything happened at night so nobody really knew what the impact was going to be, while I am sure it could be worse, it is still not good. We were supposed to be going to the city this weekend, but I am thinking probably not now, I imagine it's going to be a mad house for days to come. We have a lot of friends in the city so I am glad they're all safe and survived sandy!

In other news...yesterday was live fit day 1 and it went well, I am pretty sore so that's my sign I worked hard! On paper it doesn't look too hard, but it definitely is! Because of the crazy, unpredictable weather I decided to just wait and go to the gym with Bobby, he wanted to go to the gym too so I was fine with waiting. We went around 3 and finished right before the storm got bad just in time! Today is day 2, back and biceps, and we will go tonight after I am done with work and he is done with his school stuff. This wasn't exactly the best week to start early morning workouts haha oh well! As long as do them, despite what time, I don't care. I'm still waking up early 530/6am so at least I am keeping with that sleep schedule, go me!;)

I had a great Monday! Got a great start to the livefit trainer and bobby also surprised me with a late bday/early Christmas gift...an iPad! Last Christmas he got me a macbook air and this year he got me an iPad! He is so sneaky! He told me last week that he never got me a bday gift so he had ordered me something and it should get here this week and it arrived yesterday! I love it! He knows that I have wanted one forever so he got me one. Just like my mac he found a great deal online at apple for a refurbished one, good as new and saved $100's of dollars, no sense in paying full price when you don't have to! :) It's good to have a techy fiancé, love him so! He definitely spoils me and has been very good with surprises lately! I know I am never going to get off of the darn thing now ;) I am one lucky girl! <3

Here We Go!

Livefit round two officially starts tomorrow with chest and triceps! As I mentioned last week I was going to attempt getting up at 5am and jumping on the spin bike here at home first thing to get used to waking up and exercising and I can happily report that I succeeded! It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it was great getting that adrenaline rush first thing in the morning and being done for the day! Working out at home definitely made it a lot easier knowing I didn't have to go outside in the freezing cold dark and drive myself to the gym! I am a little nervous about actually going to the gym that early, probably because we don't live in the safest city so it makes me feel a little nervous. This is when I wish Bobby could wake up early and go with me. I don't have work tomorrow so I may at least wait for some day light until I go, but still go early so around 7am or so, but still get up at 5am to keep with the schedule, then I can get a good meal in before and wake up. It is definitely going to take some getting used to, but I will get in the groove!

I am excited to start the trainer again though and am determined to finish it this time! I have a friend in CA who is starting it tomorrow with me who also didn't finish last time and is determined to finish the 12 weeks as well so we should be able to push each other and keep each other motivated through out the program! I did some food prep tonight, roasted some butternut squash (obsessed lately), have 6lbs of chicken cooking in the slow cooker for shredded chicken, and also hard boiled some eggs. I feel a little less prepared for some reason, but then at the same time can't think of anything else that I would need to do, besides take some before pictures (ah scary! ha).

Time to build some muscle! Here I go again! :)

Livefit Round 2

I have "met" a new group of ladies, thanks to the wonderful world of facebook who are starting the livefit trainer next Monday, October 29th and I have decided to join them! I don't know if anyone remembers but I attempted this trainer around this time last year actually (just thought of that) and made it about 6 weeks (halfway) through. I made it through Thanksgiving flawlessly and was doing very well up until Christmas oops! During phase 2 the work outs get much longer and I was going to the gym at night which made it even more difficult since I was usually beat by the end of the day and working out from 8/9-10/11 was just not happening! So, this time around I am going to try to do mornings. I have been training myself to get up early every mornings (even on weekends yay me, not an easy feat) and last week I was up every day between 6/630am and got on a great sleep schedule and feel great! Unfortunately, that will not be early enough to get a workout in before work, and all though I am not yet working full time 8-10 hour days every day, I will be come January so I figure I might as well get in the routine now so I can stick with it then! So, this week I plan to transition into it by getting up at 5am and jumping on the spin bike that I borrowed from my friend T while she is gone till January to get my body accustomed to working out early, that way, hopefully I will be ready to jump into the 5am Livefit workouts the following week!

I did really well with the eating plan and was always anxious to get to the gym last time around so I am hoping for the same this time, but better! Bobby is NOT a morning person so I know I am going to be on my own. I love working out with him though because I can lift a lot heavier since I have a spot, but I will just have to lift heavy with him on the weekends I guess! He always comes as my guest to the gym, so I hope that won't cause a problem. He has access to the gym at the school so at least he has that so I don't feel SO bad, he will just have to figure out that with his schedule. I am sure there will be some days that I don't go in the morning and can go with him later, but I sure am going to try my best! It is a big change for me, I LOVE my sleep! I am totally that person to sleep in as long as I can before I have to get up and rush to get ready haha I am trying to change that. My wedding is 10 months away and I am nowhere near the shape I want to be in for it, so no better time than now! Not to mention I want to actually want to take pics in my bikini on our honeymoon (unlike our engagement trip to St Lucia...didn't take hardly ANY there because I was not feeling too great about my bod then).

I am excited to start, and glad I have this week to prep my mind, body, and food to ensure a great start to the trainer! Wish me luck! :)

Sweating for the Wedding

I ordered a super cute new workout tank a couple of weeks ago from the Etsy seller Ruffles with Love and I just got it in the mail the other day so today is my first sweat in it! I love it! Nothing like a new piece of workout gear for that extra bit of motivation to get your butt into the gym! :) I will probably end up ordering another one or two in the future that aren't wedding related because she makes a bunch of cute, motivational, work out tanks! You should definitely check her stuff out!!!

Time to sweat! :)

My First Juice

So we bought a juicer on Amazon on Monday and it arrived today! ( I love Amazon). We decided to opt for a less expensive one for now since we are newbies and want to be sure it is something we will stick with so we didn't want to invest in an expensive one if we don't do it as much as we anticipate. We bought a Breville that was rated #1 on Amazon and it was only $100 which wasn't bad. We ate SO bad while we were in CA and our wedding is now a year away (exactly tomorrow) so we are now in sweating for the wedding mode, so we decided it would be a good idea to get a juicer since it is a fast easy way to fit in all of fruits and veggies! Bobby literally won't eat veggies and barely eats fruit so this is a great way for him to get both in (especially veggies) quick and easy! I plan to buy some sort of container to juice a bunch and store it in the fridge so we can just pour a glass when we need/want some, which will be great for him since I know he won't be doing most of the juicing anyways lol

Anyway, I went online and glanced through some recipes and picked out some main ingredients and grabbed them at the store. The instruction manual also listed a bunch of recipes which is nice so I will be able to use those as well! For my first juice I kind of just picked some things and threw them in there. I picked strawberries, kiwi, carrots, apple, cucumber, and spinach. It turned out super yummy! I think I am quickly going to become obsessed with juicing which definitely isn't a bad thing! I am excited to try new recipes and hopefully soon enough I will become a pro ;)  Tomorrow...back to the gym after over a month off (tsk tsk) yikes!!

the more color the better! :)

doesn't look good but it tastes great!

On Track

I am feeling so amazing because I have kept on track practically perfectly with my workouts and my diet! It has been so great going to the gym every day, lifting weights and getting my cardio in, and eating a very healthy diet! I don't know that I have lost and pounds yet, but I know I look better and I feel awesome! I have now gone the past 12 out of 13 days and don't plan on stopping anytime soon! I have 3 weeks from today till I leave for CA and I plan on putting some major hours in the gym between now and then! I am barely working, off the rest of the week, and will only have Julia Tues/Weds the last two weeks I am here so I have all the time in the world for the gym!

While I miss Bobby SOOOO much, it has been really nice being able to focus on ME and do what I need to do to get where I want to get physically. With business school, and taking care of the house/Bobby/etc it gets really hard to just focus on myself, and I know he is able to do the same while out in WY too. We plan on shocking each other whenever we see each other so we are both working our butts off while we are apart haha. I can't believe he has been gone 2 weeks already!

I am getting REALLY excited for my brothers and Brit's wedding! I just got their wedding invitation in the mail on Saturday and it is SO stinkin cute! I have never seen one like it before and it has made it SO real...my baby brother is getting MARRIED! It's crazy!!! I hope time continues to fly by because I just can't wait to go on another adventure in ALASKA!

Here are some pics of Drew & Brit's wedding invitation...so adorable! :) Can't wait for the wedding!!!

Envelope Sticker

Front

side 1

side 2

Make-up, Hair, and Sprints?

I am slowly but surely checking the big things off of my endless to do list for the wedding! I officially booked my hair and make-up for the big day! EEK! It's exciting! I kind of had a little struggle with it, because from the beginning I had planned on using Laura's cousin who does make-up, then was just going to try to find someone to do my hair...but that proved to be a challenge because hardly any hair stylists have websites and trying to schedule trials and appointments was turning into utter stress for me. Not that I am crunched for time, but I couldn't even find anyone for hair so I decided that it would be best to use the same person for hair AND make-up. I felt bad because I had already been talking to her cousin and had scheduled a trial for when I was going to be there in August, but I decided to go with someone who was highly recommended through our vendor and did both hair and make-up. I emailed her and immediately got a response and she answered every single question (which was a lot) I had quickly and thoroughly. I decided that I will pay for half of my BM's make-up as part of their gift from me and then they can decide whether or not they want her (and her assistant) to do their hair or not. I already know that one of them for sure wants to have her do her hair so we will see if any other ones do. I think it will be so fun for us to be able to get pampered and dolled up together on the big day I can't wait! Now to figure out HOW I want to even do my hair....yikes! I may even have her do my hair and make-up for our engagement pictures in February since I get her at a discounted rate for that...I am strongly considering it we will just have to see how wedding finances and personal finances are at the time but I am confident we can make it work if need be...could just do make-up too which will be fun! What girl doesn't like getting pampered and dolled up I know I do! :) I am so thrilled to have another check mark on the list and one less thing to worry about. The only other things on the BIG to do list that will need to be taken care of will be a videographer and florist, then all of the big vendors will be done and it will be the littler tedious more stressful things to take care of for the next year haha

Now on a random note...SPRINTS are my new obsession! I looove them! Even if I don't do anything else (like lift weights) I am always 100% sure I get my sprints in every day! I am pretty proud of myself I must say, usually I use Bobby not being able to go to the gym with me as an excuse, but I have gone alone for the last two weeks and he has only come with me once. I swear I am addicted...if by chance I take a day off I am always in SUCH a bad mood the next morning/day until I get to the gym and do them its like I am having a withdrawal or something lol. I usually run a warm-up mile, then finish out my 3 miles with sprints. Today I ran for 5 minutes as a warm-up then did sprints for 20 minutes at a 7.5 speed. I know its not like super fast or anything but that was pretty hard. I try to increase my speed every day and try to do the sprints for a longer amount of time until I can do 30 minutes of sprints 30 seconds on 30 seconds off. Once I can do that then I will continue to up my speed each time to try to break my own personal records haha It has been the best stress relief and makes me feel awesome! I can also see a difference in my body...my tummy isn't as bloated its actually a lot flatter in only a couple weeks :) Good stuff for August when I try on my wedding dress again and finally order it! I can't wait only 59 days!

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Back to the Gym I Go!

So this week I have gradually gotten myself back into gear starting with a nice hour long walk with Theresa on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a great hike with Bobby at Letchworth Park on Wednesday. Last night Bobby and I got our butts back into the gym and did a chest and back workout and boy does it feel good to be sore again! It is pretty sad that it has been so long since I have been to the gym (that I pay monthly for) and see all of kinds of changes and that now Biggest Loser is sponsored by Planet Fitness (my gym) and not 24 Hour Fitness anymore lol That is a sure sign that you have been out of the gym TOO long!

Tonight we are going back to do a legs workout and I will hopefully get some cardio in, although sometimes its pretty difficult to get cardio in after a leg workout so we will see....I am easing myself back in so I don't want to kill myself I can always just do cardio tomorrow! This amazing warm weather has definitely lit a fire in me and made me realize summer is right around the corner and I better be bikini/wedding/beach ready! I am working on my tan too (since it's included in my gym membership) because this is the whitest I have been since before Bobby met me and that is NOT an exaggeration I am straight up PALE right now due to the amazing lack of sun here during the winter! I always had somewhat of a tan living in California because the sun was always shining and I was always outside with the kids...not here...clouds, snow, rain, and more clouds no sun in sight up until the last week and a half! It is pretty crazy actually and it has definitely made me appreciate living in Southern California SOOOO much more than I did, I definitely took it for granted while I was there but never again I can't wait to get back!

Bobby is about to start his last quarter of his first year in business school on Monday, I can't believe how fast this first year flew by!! I am so glad that it did and I am so ready for the summer!!!

Enough is Enough

I am totally THAT person who complains about being fat/unhappy with her body etc and does nothing about it. I have always been that way and I just don't know why. Now this is not to say that I don't have my "moments" that last about 1-2 months of me eating right and exercising almost daily 5-6 days a week and feeling GREAT because I am definitely capable of being healthy and being happy with myself I just always find myself back to square one...or even maybe a few steps back from where I even started before I know it! I don't know what happens...I guess just excuses happen and they don't lead me anywhere I like to be, yet I always find myself here anyway. I posted back in November that I had started Jamie Eason's LiveFit program and I stuck with that HARDCORE for a solid 6 weeks....and then came our 10 year anniversary, Christmas, New Years, and moving and as I am sure you can guess that was then end all be all of the LiveFit for me. It was an extremely stressful time dealing with the landlord/moving issues and being away from home for the holidays, but its still no excuse and I know that but I let it be.

Here I am now March 11...less than two months from the blackjack ball and my 25th birthday utterly unhappy with my weight and my body....not even so much my weight I don't really care about the number at all but I do care about how I feel and how I look. I think I am even worse than before I started the LiveFit trainer but that is hard to tell because before that I hadn't worked out in months either...pick up on a pattern here? It is terrible! And being healthy and fit doesn't even take THAT much freaking effort, it really doesn't. It takes what?...an hour hour and half of your time? Of course some days (twice a week max) I have to be at work at 7am and go till 5:30-6 and more than likely won't feel like working out after that at all, but I could at the very least get a 20-30 minute quick cardio session in after or SHOOT where I work they have an elliptical in the basement that I can use when Julia is napping. I really have NO excuse, yet I am able to always make up a million! I have just always been this way, on and off of the workout wagon and I wish I knew what the underlying reason was...or maybe there isn't one but I just know that enough is enough and I need to get back on and stay on. When I was in high school and college I was always super active either playing sports or just working out at the gym whatever it may be I was healthy and happy! Now that I am out of college it has been the most ridiculous roller coaster of being on the fit train and then off in the ditch of disgusting laziness! I honestly and truly believed that Livefit had changed my life, changed my outlook, changed my attitude everything but again, I went back to my old ways and here I am living on the couch watching netflix constantly! I could blame it on the weather being gross outside, not wanting to go to the gym at night alone, being tired from work, not eating or being hungry etc you name it I have made the excuse up not to work out. But I have to stop...I feel like crap and I honestly am worried about my health and that's no joke. I am young and am coming up to the time of my life (within the next couple of years) of wanting to start a family. I NEED to be healthy to do that to ensure that my future baby is healthy and so that I can lead by example. It goes beyond me, but it ultimately starts with ME! I can't do it for anyone else but myself and I need to hold myself accountable for it and not put blame on anyone else like Bobby not being able to go with me so oh well I can't go alone. NO more!

Tomorrow I will stock up my fridge with better food options for me to eat and I will get back to the gym if it kills me! This sounds so weird I am sure, but after a lot of time has gone by since I have last worked out going back to the gym is embarrassing for me. I literally feel embarrassed like they have been tracking my account and know that I haven't been to the gym in over two months and they can just look at me and see "wow she really let herself go" and I know that is completely  absurd but I get that way EVERY time and it deters me from going its unreal! I always feel so good when I am going to the gym daily and the people working there recognize me everything GOOD is associated with doing it right and all of these crappy BAD feelings are associated with doing it wrong! It is THAT simple! So, now it is time to take a good hard LONG look in the mirror, suck up my pride and ridiculous embarrassment and get back in the saddle! I can't live like this anymore, feeling sorry for myself, complaining, living in denial all of this negative crap I just can't. I am now going to figure out a workout plan for tomorrow and do it and that is that. It is going to be along uphill journey getting back into the swing of things I am sure but it is certainly necessary and I know I will feel a million times better for it!

Livefit update

So, I am currently in Phase 2 of the live fit trainer and going through the holidays has been a bit of a challenge to keep up with everything. We have been doing a pretty good job, but not perfect, which I am completely ok with given its life and stuff happens but I am ready for the holidays to be over and be back to a regular schedule. I have been lacking motivation to cook and prep meals the last two weeks, with our anniversary, christmas eve and christmas chaos I found it hard to keep on course this week too because I got sick. Everything is just kind of out of whack these past two weeks so I will be very glad to get back to a regular schedule, gain my motivation back and get things back on track! I am proud to say that we have been going to the gym 6 days a week leading up to the holidays and we do our best to make healthy decisions (with of course off days over the holidays). I haven't let any of the slip offs make me "feel bad" or anything like that because we have still been getting to the gym. I realize my results probably won't be the best they could have been had I stayed true to the program the entire way through but again, its a lifestyle change and I am just rolling with it and doing my best.

We will probably face another challenge when we move in a few weeks, but hopefully we won't have to miss too many meals/workouts during that time. I am sure we will miss some because moving is a pain in the butt and VERY time consuming and exhausting but that is ok. I am fully prepared and mentally ready to to kick it up a notch on Monday and start the new year off with a bang!!! I am loving the changes in my body that I have already and I love how strong I feel! Most of all I love the time Bobby and I spend together in the gym:) It will be even more precious when his classes start back up January 9. I can not believe that it is new years eve tomorrow and 2011 is just about over! I am so excited to celebrate with a few close friends tomorrow night it should be a blast! Hopefully it will be the City next year to ring in our wedding year 2013 ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! XOXO

End of Phase 1

Today marks the end of phase 1 for the Jamie Eason Livefit program that I started about a month ago. During this phase, as I mentioned before, we focused on building solid muscle to help burn fat later on in the program. Because our main focus was to build muscle we completely omitted cardio for a month during this phase. It wasn't really that hard for me to NOT do cardio because before starting the program I was very inconsistent with exercise anyway. I actually really enjoyed focusing on weight lifting and building muscle, I have always really enjoyed weight training, but now I am definitely excited to start cardio again to burn the FAT! Over the course of phase 1 I can definitely see a change in my waist/stomach. My jeans have started to fit much looser around my waist, and also in my legs. I lost about 2.5 inches in my waist and hips which was the most significant loss. Although I didn't lose inches elsewhere everything has REALLY firmed/toned up in just a month! I felt myself gain so much strength throughout the first phase and it absolutely amazes me. Feeling stronger each week definitely gave me the motivation I needed to keep moving forward and striving to lift heavier. I also lost about 5lbs over the last month which makes me extremely happy considering a lot of people don't lose much weight during this phase, so I am anticipating much more weight loss by the end of the program with the addition of cardio in phase 2 and HIIT training in phase 3.

Aside from the loss of inches and pounds, I have gained a LOT of knowledge by participating in this program. I have learned what "Clean" eating is, how to fuel my muscles the right way with the right foods, I have learned an immense amount of new exercises, I have gained muscle, energy (like a TON), motivation, confidence, and will power. Before starting this program I felt that all of my will power when it came to food and exercise was lost, I just gave up on myself and gave into every temptation. Now, I can say no and not even flinch. I would be lying if I said I didn't crave certain things every now and then, but there is always a CLEAN option to that craving and I divulge in that instead and am perfectly satisfied. Because this IS a lifetstyle change, if I decide to indulge in something "not clean", or perfectly healthy once in a blue moon I know I have gained my will power back, and that I will stop at that one thing and not continue. I know that I am strong enough to have one of my favorite things and then continue on with my clean foods the rest of the day and I won't feel bad, nor will I beat myself up about it. I still need to enjoy my life and I will and I have thus far. I have gained love for my body, I have gained love for myself and my life. My whole attitude has changed about life and I feel so much more happy on a day to day basis than I did before starting JE trainer and the clean eating lifestyle.

With Phase 2 there isn't a WHOLE lot of change in the diet, but we do start to phase out starchy carbs throughout the day and the goal is to have our last starchy carb (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, sweet potato etc) by 3 o'clock and try not to have much (or any) past that point. When we cut out the starchy carbs we will be replacing them with veggies such as (broccoli, zucchini, etc) and we will also be adding more protein and healthy fats to supplement the calories we are losing by eliminating the starchy carbs. As I mentioned before, in phase 2 we will also be adding moderate cardio for 30 minutes. We will tack that on to the END of our workouts as not to hinder our lifting performance by doing it before we lift. We will still continue to eat 5-6 meals every 2-3 hours throughout the day to keep our muscles fueled to enable them to build and for our fat to burn :)

I encourage anyone who is interested in building muscle, losing fat, wanting to gain confidence, wanting to eat healthy, wanting to gain energy, ANYONE to take a look at JE livefit trainer and give it a go. It is tough to give up your favorite things at first, but I promise, coming from ME someone who LOVES food there is ALWAYS a healthy version of whatever it is you're craving. Also, your cravings will drastically diminish, and altogether disappear after about a week and a half-two weeks of eating clean, it truly is amazing!

Start of phase 1-the end of phase 1 (I have gained the confidence to even post this on here, and it gives me the motivation to continue!)

I have seen some progress, felt a LOT of change in myself, and know I still have a long way to go but I am enjoying every step of this journey and can't wait to walk in to my bridal appointment on February 3, 2012 with all of my best girlfriends and feel absolutely amazing in every single dress!

LiveFit Phase 1

I wanted to share my most recent adventure, which is life changing one that I just started last monday! I had been very up and down with my "diets" and exercise which caused for my body image to really hit an ultimate low. I had read a lot about Jamie Eason's LiveFit program on bodybuilding.com and became really intrigued and motivated to start it. The LiveFit program isn't just one of those get skinny fast programs that a lot of people pay for (myself included in the past) it is a whole lifestyle makeover. It focuses on eating clean and eating to get lean. Cut out all processed junk and just eat REAL FOOD! Along with eating whole, clean foods there is also a workout routine that goes with each phase of the trainer. There are three phases: Phase 1 you focus on just building up muscle. NO CARDIO  and NO COUNTING. It's just all about portion sizes and building muscle. You are on an eating schedule, every three hours and end up having about 5-6 meals per day! It is hard to imagine eating that much, but when you are eating all healthy clean foods let me tell you its GREAT! I instantly started feeling so much more energetic, my mood was AWESOME, happy all of the time life is good! Along with the eating/food plan there are 4 days of weight lifting workouts the first 2 weeks of phase 1 and then the last two weeks of phase 1 there is a different combination of workouts that is 5 days a week (still no cardio). It is now Sunday, and I am preparing to start week 2 tomorrow and could not be more pumped! I feel SO good (besides the soreness) and more motivated than I have been in YEARS! I will be trying on wedding dresses for the first time with all three of my bridesmaids February 3 when I am in California for Laura's baby shower and I will complete the program a few days prior to leaving...perfect timing!!! I feel like this program came into my life at the perfect time! I joined the facebook group that an amazing woman created and there are over 3,000 members and a bunch of us branched off of that and made a group for all of us that started last week! There is an unbelievable amount of support for me every minute of every day that it makes it near impossible to fail and the fact that I just have SO much to prove to myself by finishing  this just pushes and focuses me that much more! I have set aside Sunday as my designated grocery shopping/food prep for the week day which is the key to success in this lifestyle. Always having clean food options on hand is what will propel you to cross the finish line with flying colors. I have actually been feeling so much joy and pride in the food I have been preparing, whether it be a full on meal or a small snack option I take great pride in everything I eat because I know it is helping me live a longer healthier life. Its hard to explain how I feel on a daily basis only being a week in to the 12 week trainer, but its nothing but positive! I will continue to write and update this blog on my progress and I hope to inspire and motivate others to take this journey as well! :)