Broad Street Run - Check!

I did it!!!!

I ran 10 miles at the Broad Street Run!! I accomplished one of my goals!!

A year ago I was struggling to run a 5k, and here I was today, braving a whooping 10 miles, and I did it!

I "blame" GFit for this accomplishment. For keeping me fit, my legs strong. I hadn't really trained (not saying this was wise or the right thing to do) for this run, so all my strength came from the exercises at GFit. It would of course have been easier if I had trained, and I probably would have been in less pain and ran faster, but for someone who hadn't really ran much in the past few months, this definitely felt amazing. 

The last time I had done a 5k was November of last year, and then on April 27th I decided to run again, for 5 miles! I broke my record and that was the last time I ran, until today!!!!

Funny thing is I wasn't even planning on doing this run.. It wasn't until 4 days before the race that my brother convinced me to try it, and I found someone who was selling their bib and I bought it. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be running 5 miles, let alone 10, just 2 weeks ago!

This goes to show that you can do anything you want, no matter what people tell you. Mind over matter!!!

I will leave you with my stats below... That map is my favorite part! Can you believe I ran for that long??? Me neither!!

Nutritional Challenge: Day 1

So my AWESOME gym started this Nutritional Challenge which will happen every month, and provide us with ways to improve our diet and eat healthy. This month, our challenge is to eat 3 servings of vegetables per day.

I am not a big fan of vegetables. The only vegetables that I can think of that I actually like and eat, are brocoli and asparagus. I never venture into the world of squash, artichoke, brussel sprout, and these weird named vegetables. Let me start by saying I don't even know the names in English of half of these vegetables. When I was in Brazil, my mom was doing all of the cooking and groceries, so if you ask me what they are called in Portuguese, I might not even know that! Plus, I would not even know how to start eating some of these vegetables. For instance, artichokes just look scary. Looks like something someone would feed you while you were being tortured. And don't even get me started on sweet potatoes.. Ew. I'm not a very picky eater, but sweet potatoes don't have a place in my heart.

So I decided to stick to the basics, and made a menu including the vegetables I do like and am familiar with. Since I was working today and am working the next two days, I created a menu just for tonight's dinner and the next 2 days. Here's what I came up with:

*****Monday*****

- Dinner: corn, asparagus + steak

*****Tuesday*****

-Breakfast: Omelet (incl. onion, mushroom, tomatoes, red pepper, spinach)
-Lunch: Asparagus, lettuce w/ carrots and red peppers, 1/2 steak
-Dinner: Green beans, broccoli + chicken pasta

*****Wednesday*****

-Breakfast: Omelet (incl. onion, mushroom, tomatoes, red pepper, spinach)
-Lunch: broccoli, lettuce w/ carrots and red peppers, 1 chicken
-Dinner: broccoli + sausage (pasta)

In order to organize myself with the prepping, I also wrote a To Do list so that I knew exactly what to make and prepare each night. So basically, I knew I had to prep the salad and the ingredients for the omelet for the next two days, as well as the amount and what to cook each night, in order to have left overs for the next day.
Once I did that, I knew what I needed to buy. So I made a grocery list based on my menu and went shopping.

After leaving work at 8pm, doing groceries and getting home, I didn't start getting dinner ready until 9:30pm as well as prepping for the next day. We ended up eating at 10pm, but I was able to pack my lunch and breakfast ingredients for the next 2 days.

Prepping is definitely not easy. This whole planning, prepping and storing takes a lot of time, not to mention the extra containers of food I need to take to work. But at the end, you save more money this way and stick to your diet, because you will have your food ready, waiting for you. You won't be going out to buy junk food, or grabbing too much or too little out of the fridge when leaving from your house in a hurry.

My plan is to write a menu Wednesday night for the rest of the week until Sunday, and then on Sunday write another menu for the whole next week, do groceries, buy extra tupperware because I will need it, and do all the prepping for the 3 days I will be working. This way, on Monday, all I have to do is grab the containers from the fridge, put in my lunch bag, and go.

I have a good feeling about this challenge and I am excited to stick with it and see how this will improve my body's energy and performance.

And who knows, I might even venture into eating an artichoke!

Happy Fit Year!

When I think of the first 3 months of 2012, I remember feeling very unhappy with myself, the way I looked, but I was not doing anything about it. I would stay home and not go out, simply because I didn't feel like wearing going out clothes, or clothes simply didn't fit me. I was focusing my time on feeling sorry for myself. It affected me in ways it shouldn't, because I shouldn't have let my physical appearance affect the way I feel inside. But the truth is it did. Some of the wrong choices I was making was eating out a lot, eating snacks and unhealthy foods all day, not watching my calorie intake, not drinking water, and not exercizing on my days off. I reached 160lbs.

I found out I was 160lbs on the same day my brother ran 60 miles in one day. We were measuring his blood pressure and weighing him to ensure he was healthy, and while he was out in one of his runs, I decided to weigh myself. The shock of having reached that weight, and seeing my brother achieve such an amazing goal, all at the same day, made me realize I should start doing something for myself. One week later, I had signed up for a GFit intro class, started doing a c25k program and started eating healthy. So I have my brother to thank for inspiring me to make this change in my life.

I started this blog at that same time, and looking back, despite a few set back (which I will discuss later) I see how far I have come.

Running Progress:

I started the c25k program not being able to run for 2 minutes straight. But then, 8 weeks later, I ran my first full 5k. I kept running and the most I have dones was 4 miles straight. I did a couple of 5ks while in Brazil in November, and those were the last ones I did. December came and after I arrived back from Brazil and I haven't gone running since. But I have gone running during a couple Gfit classes and my speed has definitely improved.

GFit Progress:

I started using 10lb dumbells, 15lb kettlebells and 10lb wall balls. I now use 20lb dumbells, 25lb kettlebells and 15lb wall malls (depending on the exercises and intensity I might go lower or higher). I also went from jumping on and off the lower box at the gym to the highest (20 inches I believe). Those are the visible changes I have taken notes of, but I know I have gone up on weights in bench press, deadlift, as well as used thinner bands for assisted pull ups.

Weight Progress
Overall, I lost 25lbs and reached my goal weight, but I have fluctuated, and gained 5lbs over the Holidays, which I will talk about more later. I also went from being a size 12/14 to a size 6, which despite the weight fluctuation, I still am a 6 :)

Eating Progress

The biggest change I made was drink more water. I try to drink at least 2 liters a day. I rarely drink juice, soda or milk. This also changed a bit over the Holidays and when I was in Brazil. I track my calories and before travelling to Brazil end of October, I had started to only eat organic food and little carbs, but then the trip to Brazil came and my eating got a bit out of track..

Affecting others:  

The best part of this journey for me has been inspiring people. Since I started GFit and this journey, 8 people have come to tell me they decided to join because they had seen my progress. Two of them have stuck with it, and two will begin the intro this month. I can't express how great it makes me feel that my choices to become healthier also inpired others to do the same, in the same way my brother's choice inspired me to become better. It's definitely a very humbling, amazing feeling

Set Backs:

So here's what happened, and here's what life and reality will bring:

I was doing really well with my eating and exercizing. I had lost 22 lbs by the end of October, which was when an opportunity to travel to Brazil for 5 weeks for work came, and I took it. Travelling to Brazil caused a few set backs for me, since I didn't have my usual intense GFit work outs, and easy access to the foods I had already implemented in my diet. Being from Brazil, I also really love the Brazilian food, and for that month I didn't restrict myself so much. So although I did go for a couple of runs, did a few at home work outs and tried to watch what I was eating, it wasn't as efficient as when I was home. Luckily, I only gained 4 lbs from when I had left.

So I come back to the US beginning of December, and had to get back on track. It was really difficult going back to GFit, my body felt as it did in the first week I had ever started. But soon I had lost the pounds I had gained, plus a couple more, which was when I reached my goal weight: 135lbs.

But then came the Holidays and a wedding I was in. Needless to say, I had little time to work out and lots to eat. I am now back at 140lbs, which means I gained 5lbs over the holidays. 

Looking Forward:

I am excited to get back on track now, back to my healthy eating and exercizing more often. I'm sure these 5lbs will come off soon. Even before I went to Brazil, the weight fluctuated, and I had days where I kicked butt at the gym versus days where I did terrible. There were days I ate too much, and there were weeks I did amazing. But I have kept going, and after almost 9 months, I am happy to say I am still strongly motivated and goal oriented. The bigger picture shows improvement, and progress, and a happier self that I used to be.

I can't wait for what this year will bring. I can't wait to see what much more my body is capable of. I can't wait to come back here and write about all of the progress I will have made. And I can't wait to keep inspiring others to do the same!

Of course, we can't talk about a New Year and not talk about resolutions, especially when it comes to fitness, right??

New Year Resolutions:

- Run a half-marathon, and possibly a marathon by the end of the year
- Go up to 35lbs kettlebells when doing KB Swings or Goblet Squats
- Go up to 25lb dumbells for thrusters, push press, etc
- Do at least one unassisted pull up
- Eat healthy 100% of the time, minimizing processed foods as well cutting sugar
- Lose another 10 pounds or go to a size 4, no less than that.

That sounds doable right??

Here's to a fit, strong and healthy new year!

3 Months Progress

It's been a while since I have posted here. It was becoming more of a chore than anything, and I wanted this blog to be about my experience and journey, rather than a daily diary. So I decided not to post about all of my work outs here, since I have already been doing that on Fitocracy. If you are interested in following my work outs, you will need to join the site and follow through my profile. I will keep posting here anytime I want to share an experience or an interesting fact though, or even if I want to talk about a work out I did, but I just didn't want this to feel like a chore.

Anyway, it's been about 3 months since I started doing Crossfit. I have loved every second of it, even if I felt horrible or hated it during the workout, I never regreted it. I always love coming home all sweaty and feeling sore the next day. I also have been noticing progress in the amount of push-ups I can do, weights I can lift, burpees I can do, etc. I'm definitely getting stronger!

I haven't been running as much as I would like, but I'm still on for that 5k in October. I definitely want to be able to run a Marathon next year. I was running every week, and then I stopped for two weeks, so this Monday when I went running, it was definitely hard and my pace was slower. I figured I need to keep running at least once a week.

So, all this hard workout is finally paying off! I found out this week that I went down 2 sizes of clothing. Even thought I haven't gone past 146lbs, my clothes are definitely getting bigger and bigger and my waist smaller.

Here is my progress in measurements:

Bust: 40" - 37" ( 3 inches lost! )
Waist: 33" - 29" ( 2 inches lost!! )
High Hip: 40" - 35" ( 5 inches lost!!! )
Low Hip - 42" - 40" ( 2 inches lost! )
Thighs - 24" - 23" ( 1 inch lost :/ )

So yeah, I lost 5 inches around my belly button!! No wonder my clothes are fitting better :) I figured it was time to take some Before and After pictures. And here they are:

My "tight" jeans 

And there you have it! My goal now is just to keep at it and keep growing muscle and getting stronger. As far as size, I think if I lose one more size I will be happy. So maybe I don't have to go all the way down to 135lbs. Maybe just a couple more will be enough.

Anyway, thanks for reading!!!

2 Month of Crossfit

Time surely goes by fast! I can't believe I have been doing Crossfit for 2 months now! I expected I would be showing muscles and doing pull ups by now... lol jk It's been a great journey so far. But I'll write a post all about it soon. Here is what we had to do in today's workout:
Run 800
9 pull ups
9 Thrusters (30lb)
9 tricep dips
Run 600
15 pull ups
15 Thrusters (20lb)
15 tricep dips
Run 400
21 pull ups
21 Thrusters (20lb)
21 tricep dips
Run 200

After all that, we also did 4 minutes of abs.

Running in crossfit is always really hard, more than if I was just running... So having run over a mile, you can imagine how tiring that was. My arms also feel the pain.

1st Official Day of Crossfit: The Push Up Wall

I was planning on going to my first real Crossfit today, but I learned it had been cancelled. 


They then gave us a at-home workout:  


10 rds: 5 pushups, 10 Situps, 15 airsquats. 


I played my Workout playlist on my Ipod and did a bit of a warm up and then begun. I started my first push up and I couldn't go down. My abs felt like they were going to get ripped apart. They felt as if they were locked and I couldn't move. That made me so upset, I didn't know why that was happening especially because I was felling fine the days before, and last week I had even done push ups on my introductory classes. But I decided to do modified push ups instead and I kept going. 


My final time was 15:32. 


It felt so amazing to finish, I was smiling at the end but the push up wall was definitely a bummer.

C25k - Week 1 Day 2

I didn't get to the day 2 of my c25k until today, but I thought I would be fine since I had done the introductory classes at Crossfit and I was eating healthy as well as taking some vitamins.

I was fine, but it was NOT easy. Just the warm up got me tired, and I had to keep pushing myself to run those 30 second, then those 45 seconds, then that minute. I was disappointed in myself but at the same time, I was happy I was able to push through each run. At the end I felt like stopping, but then it started to lightly rain and the song "Suddenly I See" came on my Ipod and that kept me going the last 4 minutes. 

It felt great to finish day 2 even if I got way more tired than I wanted to. At least I finished!

How It All Begun

As I write this, I'm in a lot of pain, everywhere! This week I started the Crossfit introductory 3 classes program, and these last 3 days gave me a taste of what Crossfit will be like; NOT EASY.

First, let me give you a bit of a background on where I am coming from... Before Sunday, I did nothing physical except for house chores. I was completely out of shape (still am) and would be winded just from going up a few stairs. My eating habit was nowhere near healthy. Then last Saturday, my brother ran a 60 miles marathon, when 2 years ago he was a couch potato just like me. I was so inspired I decided to do something for myself also.

On Wednesday, I started counting points with WW as well as calories with MyFitnessPal and starting reading a lot about healthy eating and fitness. I had heard a lot about Crossfit in the past so I decided to sign up as they were going to start an introductory class soon. My brother also had sent me a link for a 5K Zombie Run happening September 1st, which I really wanted to be able to do, so I decided to start c25K as well.

So last Sunday I did the first day of c25K. I felt so miserable on those 20 minutes, I just wanted to stop. My husband ran with me and kept me going. I then remembered last year when I had tried c25K for the first time, how I couldn't even run the whole 30 second without stopping. This time I was able to, and that kept me going until the end. Although I was feeling very tired and out of breath, it felt good to take my first step towards a healthier lifestyle.

I woke up the following day, Monday morning, a little bit sore. I wouldn't even call it sore. It was more like I was feeling a little pull on my thighs. I knew I had my first crossfit class that evening, so I decided to keep moving so that wouldn't feel stiff. I'm not going to lie; I was really scared. From what I had heard from other people, I though I was either going to vomit or die on my first class. But I decided to go anyway. It ended up very basic and very educational. There were a group of people that was just beginning there as well and that made me feel comfortable. We learned how to do squats, kettle bell swings, lift weight among other things. At the end of each class, we had a mini workout. That was enough to make me very sore the following days. But I kept going, even though each day the pain was worse and I could barely move. We finally finished our 3 introductory classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and I decided to sign up.

This is how I started my Crossfit journey. I hope it will be a great one.