Week 1 Of Journey Back To Jessica

Guess who has lost some weight already? 

It is so crazy to me when you finally focus on something how rapidly things can change. I am so excited to see what else can happen. I do need to do some progress pictures though because weighing yourself off the scale is probably the worse way to track progress. I would highly recommend pictures and measurements over scale weight. 

Today marks 1 week since I decided to jump all in. It wasn't perfect but I was consistent with my choices. I drank my gallon of water each day, drank my shakes which I absolutely love. The plant-based strawberry is definitely a top favorite. My protein coffee shakes every morning seriously help the sweet tooth. I have also been drinking a cup of bone broth each day and I am starting to think it's truly helping. Dinners were simple yet delicious. 

I am going to share with you my weight. Now please be gentle as it is tough for me but I think it will bring it all full circle if I want to continue sharing my story. It should be noted, I do try to weigh myself first thing in the morning every day so it is semi-consistent.  

September 1: 176

September 2: 175.7

September 3: 174.8

September 4: 173.7

September 5: 174.1

September 6: 172.5

September 7: 174.1

Now I was expected to be up this morning as last night we went out to the Sugar Factory for hubby's work and I ate all the things & tried the drinks. Therefore, I missed some of my usual water, my healthy foods and more. This though shows you that life still happens. We still are human and living. Hubby and I even shared some Mcdonald's fries which is an old favorite of ours from when we were dating. All the extra salt + coffee + lack of water = weight gain according to the scale. Do not let this discourage you!! 

This coming week I am going to focus on my water again, moving my body for 30 minutes a day + my dinners. Be more mindful of my portion sizes. 

Week 1 is over. Onto week 2. Cheers! 

Follow along on instagram  

The Beginning To My Journey

I told myself I was going to use this space to document my weight loss journey because I always forget to update my facebook page . (I promise to get better with that too). Since I am taking leaps this year to be brave, I decided I should start with exactly what I wanted to do with this space, the big reason I decided to come back to my corner. I want to share my journey, the fun, the ugly and the all in between even if it just helps one person.  

Many of you know, if you follow me on instagram, if not we should be friends on there, that I go to the gym on average twice a week to meet with my coach to weight lift. I love it because I don't have to think about the workout, I dont have to do much thinking matter of fact besides making sure I have proper form and he controls the amount weight. Also, it's great to be around people who are on a fitness journey too. It's a non commercial gym which makes things 1000000% better. I have put on a decent amount of muscle in the last few years of going, so now it's time to show it off. 

Look at them hips. (insert biggest eye roll) 

In order to show off those muscles, I need to shed some of the fat. So I am going full force into IIFYM. I did it in 2016 when hubby was deployed before too and had great success. 

If you don't know about IIFYM - it stands for if it fits your macros. You weigh your food, log/track your food, and you eat within a certain amount of carbs, fat and protein.  The goal is to be within +/- 5 of your daily intake goals each day. The macros make up you calorie intake, so you focus on the macros and not the calories. Carbs and Protein are 4 calories/ gram and fat is 9 calories / gram. You could eat a 100 calorie snack and it could be 25g of carbs but if that is all you ate, you would be hungry ALL day long and eat a ton of carbs with no protein/fat. 

There is so much information out there to learn how to do it, the formula to determine your macros and so much more but it truly is the only "diet" that has worked for me and I have done ALOT of different diets. I have noticed I tend to eat lower carb naturally and I always over eat my protein goal even when I try not too.

I use the app My Fitness Pal and it seems to be the best one for me. I love that I can scan my food and it remembers foods I eat often. Which I tend to eat the same foods every day.  

Currently those are my goals. I will have to adjust them eventually. I have been eating at these numbers for about a solid week. I started January 1 but than my house had some serious issues that it totally derailed everything. So I had to refocus once it was all settled and was fixed. So I am actually going to count February 1 as my starting point with my weight and measurements. 

My goal is to lose about 10 pounds before end of March when hubby and I go visit my sister. I am putting that out into the world so it can hold me accountable. 

Why you weigh your food? This is the assorted macaroons from Trader Joes (which are delicious by the way) but the package says 3 macaroons (30g) per serving. I weigh it out, and actually 2 macaroons are 27g so no way that 3 = 30g. Therefore if you ate that 3rd macaroon it would be extra calories that you didn't count and eventually those extra calories start to equal extra pounds/ not losing weight to reach your goals. It's so important to weigh your food vs. eating off serving size   

I get it can be fore frustrating at first and time consuming but I promise you the more you do it the more it just becomes natural. You can build recipes, you can eat whatever you want basically as long as it fits, and sometimes it's even good to just have that "cheat" meal not day! 

So here we go, February 1! You can do it too!!! 

I will share a day of eating soon. 

Have you done IIFYM? 

 

100 Day Challenge: Week 5

Wow I have completed week 5 of this challenge already. It's crazy how fast it goes. 

Weekends are still my weakness but I am hoping to get better with it. I seem to improve already so it can only get better right? I am officially down 7lbs and I have a few days left on my 24 day challenge from advocare. I can't wait to finish that up and check out how much I lose. 

 I didn't take as many pictures. I will try to be better about it this week. 

I am still tracking my foods in my fitness pal. It truly helps to see what you are eating and how much you are eating. I also am focusing on a gallon a day of water to stay hydrated. One goal at a time right? 

Day 29 [Thursday, July 23]: I worked out with my trainer and walked our trail with a friend again. I love the walks as it's nice to spend some time with her and I get my steps in for the fitbit.

Day 30 [Friday, July 24]: Hubby was home for a 3 day weekend so we had some errands to do. Than I did the treadmill for my C25K week 5 day 2. Once hubby was home in the afternoon from his gym time we decided to do the trail together. He encouraged me to run part of it for the first time. We did it in 48 minutes.

Day 31 [Saturday July 25]: We went grocery shopping in the morning and once home we decided to go run the trail again. These fitbit challenges really encourage you to move! This time we did the trail in under 45 minutes as I ran more of it.



Day 32 [Sunday July 26]: Rest day! I always urge everyone to take one rest day. I know we all have goals we want to reach but if you don't rest than you'll just burn yourself out.

Day 33[Monday July 27]: I was up and at em early. I ran my C25K on the treadmill and off to the trail with the friend. It was a different change of pace knowing now that I can run some of it but she was carrying her baby so we decided not to run.

Day 34 [Tuesday July 28]: Off to my trainers to die some more. He made this circuit of squat throws, squat slams, tire flipping, hammer swings and pushing the prowler. I really felt like I was going to do. He sure does know how to push yo to your max.

Day 35 [Wednesday July 29]: Off to the trainers again for upper body and probably a bit of cardio.

Only 65 days left... I sure hope to lose another 10-15 pounds by than!! Keep staying strong! 

100 Day Challenge: Week 4

Are these weeks flying by or is it just me? I swear I was just writing week 3 review and here I am writing week 4. I am loving my new planner to help me keep accountable of my workouts and such. Weekends are still tough as ever, but it's something I am working on. 

Week 0

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

This week was a huge milestone. I officially hit the 5 pound weight loss! This might not be big to some but for someone who struggles to lose 1 pound, I was so excited when I realized I had lost 5 pounds. I am going to give big kudos to the 24 day challenge that I am doing currently. Today is last day of the cleanse phase and tomorrow starts max phase.

Day 22 [Thursday, July 16]: Food is on point. I am using my fitness pal . After work, we went for a walk along the trail again with a friend. It is 2.5 miles long and it doesn't take too long to do.

Day 23 [Friday, July 17]: We had errands to run in the morning than it was time to get my workout on as we had plans for that night to go to the Padres game with some friends. I did week 4 day 2 of C25K - since I ran my furthest without stopping in a long time [Thank you C25K] I asked the hubby for the dress and of course he said yes! I love working towards something like this! 

I ate 3 chicken street tacos at the padre game which I thought was a much better choice than other things I could of ate there. 

 Day 24 [Saturday, July 18]: I was up early to finish week 4 day 3 of C25K. We had some errands to run too. Than it was off to a 60th surprise birthday party. This is where it got tricky, I ate the cake, more tacos and even had a splurge of a drink, but the best part of it is that this is life. You can't eat 100% because life is going to happen.   

At the birthday party, can you even tell I've lost 5 pounds? 

Day 25 [Sunday July 19]: I took the day off and went to have a facial and massage. The hubby had to head back up north for work and I was home. I went to bed early though as I was tired from the weekend festivities. 

Day 26 [Monday July 20] : I went to workout with my trainer to do some legs. I had to do jump squats, sumo squats with a kettle bell, pull throughs, back raises and abs. I got home to my present sitting outside my house. New Nikes! A girl can never have too many pairs of nikes. 

Than I got this wild idea to go run on the treadmill about 8pm Monday night. So I did it barefoot, it hurt but it was amazing. I actually ran like 10 of those 16 minutes, I was very proud. 

Day 27 [Tuesday July 21]: I was up at my normal time and back to C25K starting week 5 day 1. This is intense week as you run for 5 minutes, walk for 3 and repeat 3 times than do a 5 minute cool down. I was sweating bullets as the humidity here is crazy. I also changed up my breakfast from my meal replacement shake to a acai smoothie and I was not a fan, I was so hungry within minutes it felt like after having it. 

Day 28 [Wednesday July 22]: I had to be extra early as I had an appointment earlier than normal today. I did day 2 of week 5 C25k. I swear that thing is live changing. The food is getting much better and I am excited to see the scale moving in the right direction. I am hoping to reach my goal of 10 pounds by end of next week to start August off right! This weekend will be huge for me. 

We also have family pictures booked, so I want to get in shape for that as I use these photos for Christmas cards. 

Happy Hump Day ya'll! 

100 Day Challenge: Week 3

3 weeks into this 100 day challenge and I think I am just now starting to understand what I am doing. It's been a rough process but I am glad to understand now. I do well during the week than the weekend comes and I blew it I've learned from writing these reviews, so this coming weekend goal is to stick to the plan. 

Want to know how the first two weeks went? 

Week 1

Week 2

Now for week 3: 

 Day 15/100  [Thursday]: Manged to get on the treadmill to do week 3 of the C25K. My goal for the week was to drink a gallon of water a day but I failed about here. I did mange to hit up the gym with my trainer for an awesome upper body day. 

Day 16/100 [Friday]: Walking with a friend has been a life saver for me. She is seriously the best to take time out of her day and walk. We chit chat about life and such, it's about two and half miles. Once I was home it went down hill. Hubby brought home pizza and I was so hungry from the walk I just inhaled it. oops! 

                  

Day 17/100 [Saturday]: I had an appointment to get my hair done so I knew I had to get my workout in early. I was up and at em before 8am which is a miracle for me on a Saturday. Than I was off for my hair appointment, than hubby and I went grocery shopping for the week. Do you go grocery shopping every weekend, every other or once a month? I am thinking I want to try to go every other but I am not sure how well veggies and such stay. 

                 

Day 18/100 [Sunday]: I took it as "rest day" - I knew I shouldn't of because I needed to finish week 3 of C25K but I did it anyways. Hubby and I had some extra errands to run so since I was craving donuts and ice coffee that is what we got! Once home, I cleaned the house a bit and I made my yummy breakfast muffins. They were so amazing but I was bummed I dropped one on the ground when I was taking it out to cool. The dog was lucky! 

                       

Day 19/100 [Monday]: I started my 24 day challenge .  I am doing it with two friends so it is actually more doable for me. It wasn't too bad for day 1. My food has been pretty good too, so I look forward to eating. Have you tried spark? I love it since it's been too hot for coffee lately. I also, finished week 3 of C25K, it's starting to get serious now. I am still seeing my trainer twice a week too. My poor legs today were on fire from kettle bell goblet squats, sumo squats, and swings, than i pushed the prowler.  

Grape was ok, it wasn't that exciting. I prefer Mango Strawberry or Green apple is magically delicious! 

                       

Day 20/100 [Tuesday]: I started week 4 of C25K. I am not sure I am advanced enough to run that long without dying. Extremely rough, I am hoping to improve as I keep moving forward. I just repeat to myself I can stop running until the time is up, I must keep moving. It was also day 2 of my 24 day challenge. It was rough. This is where my will power has come into play. I had to turn to strawberries and peanut butter to get through. 

Today starts day 21. I got a planner so I can write more of what I am doing for this challenge when i do these recaps and I am not relying on my memory since it fails a lot.  I am eating tons of protein and veggies. I am thinking of doing a post of what I eat in a day. 

It's all starting to come together for me. I am excited to see where I will be at the end of this 24 day challenge and 100 days for my vacation! Follow along on insta, facebook, or myfitness pal 

Have you done the 24 day challenge? Have you ever done a 100 day challenge? 

Happy Hump Day! 

100 Day Challenge: Week 2

The countdown is still on to vacation time. We have 86 days until I am spending a wonderful week just my hubby and I with no cell phone and no interruptions. How could I say no to that? 

I can't believe how fast this 100 day challenge is going. I am starting week 3 today and you can find week 1 recap here . Let's take a look back at week 2. This was a rough week. 

Day 8/100 [Wednesday]: I did my c25k and walked with my friend on the trail by my house. It's 5 miles total but we only did one half of it due to an accident and Cali girl was extra thirsty. 

Day 9/100 [Thursday]: It was upper body day in the gym. I am not sure what I like more upper or lower body. Either way it's a very much love/hate relationship. I also apparently suck at picture taking.. I promise to try to get better. I also went out to dinner and the movies. oops 

Day 10/100 [Friday]: I didn't make it to do my c25k because we had errands to run first thing in the morning and the hubby had the start of his 4 day weekend. This was the beginning of a very rough weekend. 

Day 11/100 [Saturday 4th of July]: I did mange to get on the treadmill to do c25k. I am on week 2 day 2. Than it was off to my aunts to indulge in good food and good company. I wasn't horrible but it wasn't 100 day challenge friendly. 

Day 12/100 [Sunday]: Back to the grind. We went grocery shopping and I picked up shrimp and scallops and some extra yummy veggies. Also my favorite peanut butter. I also set my week goals that included drinking a gallon of water a day.   

Day 13/100 [ Monday]: Hubby had the day off again from work so he was able to join me in the gym. My week started off amazing and I stayed within my calories and eating clean. I even meal prepped my ground turkey and broccoli for the week. 

Day 14/100 [Tuesday]: I woke up extremely tired so I didn't make it to the c25k right in the morning but I did mange to do it in the evening. I mean it's 31 minutes this week. I just need to bust through it and get it done right? 

If only we could eat Ben & Jerry's and make it fit in my macros, sadly it does not so I can't even have it in the house because I will be face first in a pint until it's gone. 

I also took the leap of faith and became an advocare distributor for the discounts since I love spark so much, but I am going to be starting the 24 day challenge starting on the 15th of July. Anyone interested in doing it with me and a few friends? Anyone on it? Any advice for it? 

Here's to week 3 of this challenge. I am hoping to start seeing some changes and finish strong with the c25k!! 

Happy Hump Day! 

100 Day Challenge: Week 1

We have 92 days until vacation! It's going to go by so fast and I really can't wait to spend a week with my sexy husband with no cell phones and just the two of us.

Since I first wrote about my 100 day challenge for myself I thought about how I want to recap it all. I am going to start with weekly updates day by day.

Week: June 24 - June 30

Day 1/100: [Wednesday] I can't believe it was already 100 days until this vacation. I started my C25K app again and I started tracking my macros.

Day 2 /100: [ Thursday]: I am aiming to hit a gallon of water a day. All I drink is water. This is my chug picture for another facebook group I am in where we do stop and chug photos. I also go see my trainer on Monday and Thursdays.

As it warms up around these parts of San Diego, Salads are becoming more and more popular in my house. Lots of green veggies and chicken. I also found this bomb spicy peanut vinaigrette

Day 3/100: [Friday]: I did day 2 of my C25K app. I am loving it so far. My food is going good and at this point in 3 days I had lost 2 lbs just by stop eating crap and watching my intake on food.

Day 4 & 5/100: [Saturday & Sunday]: Saturday I manged to get on the tread climber for 30 minutes before heading off to the fair. I did okay at the fair. I just had a few bites of my sisters pickle, my husband burger and I drank water and some adult beverages. I do try to stick to vodka and club soda. Overall, it wasn't a bad day. I still manged to lose some weight.

Sunday: Hubby and I went to sushi and I am going to have Sundays as my relax day.

Day 6/100 [Monday]: I was back in the gym. Squats for days. I really need to focus on my squats and get a better form and work on my depth. My trainer is on it and hopefully sooner than later I will be there.

Day 7/100 [Tuesday]: I finished off c25k week 1. I am going to try to do all of week 2 this week so I only do the running on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Fridays and keep Saturday for the tread climber and reading.

Overall, I think week 1 went good. I still need to fine tune my marcos and I want to add in more weights besides the two days I am with my trainer.I am thinking of starting Chalean Extreme again, I just have to figure out a schedule that works for me.

Remember to follow along on insta and facebook


How are ya'll moving? Any tips for me?

100 Days From Now

Today marks exactly 100 days until Hubby and I go on our vacation to Cancun to celebrate my 26th & our 3rd wedding anniversary.

So I figured it's time to get serious about this weight loss journey so I can be sexy in mexico. {even though i still need to book it} I am going to dedicate myself to IIFYM and my workouts. So any advice would be awesome as I am just researching and going by trail and error as I want to lose 40 lbs preferably.  

IIFYM- If it fits your macros 

What “eat whatever you want as long as it fits into your macros” means is basically, eat right, but don’t get all caught up in the whole ‘clean vs dirty’ food debate that seems to still go on. If you want to eat whole grain bread, oats, brown rice, etc. etc. Then do it. If you want to eat white bread, white rice, and pop tarts, as long as it fits in with your other macronutrients and your goals in terms of caloric intake then it isn’t going to make much of a difference in the long run. It all comes down to personal preference.- source

How I got my numbers: I used the calculator to get a base of my numbers. I also worked with Arkitty  (my trainers Gf & she is the sweetest, she does take online clients) to set it all in stone for the next few weeks to get the ball rolling with the weight loss. 

I am going to be tracking my macros using My Fitness Pal. I am not paying the $50 for the year, I am just going to work with the free version for now. With that said, I might splurge and pay only if I really feel the need. I need to get better with my tracking, so my goal is to track all my foods for the rest of this week 100% besides Saturday when we head to the fair but I will try my best to eat protein based foods. 

I am also going to be using my facebook fitness page alot more so be sure to go like it and follow along in the journey. Of course, I will be using insta as well.

To succeed at IIFYM:

1. Buy yourself a kitchen scale : I would highly recommend buying a flat one. 

2. Weigh ALL food. 

3. Meal Prep on one/two days a week. I am going to try to do all my meal prep on Sundays for M-F than Saturday the hubby and I will work together to build a IIFYM meal and sunday back at it again. 

4. Plan ahead. I will log my food the day before for what I am going to eat so i have no excuse. I will also know I can hit my numbers and if I want a treat I can log it in and know I have something to look forward too. 

5. Plan for yourself. If you like to eat 8 small meals vs 3 meals than do that. The best part of IIFYM is that it works for you because you make it work. There is no food off limits but just make sure it fits.

6. Do whatever makes you happy! 

That is what I am doing, hopefully it works. 100 days from now I am hoping I will be much further in my journey and I can look back on this post for a smile. 

I hope hubby and I can go hiking again soon but with the crazy heat we've been having I am not sure it's a good idea. 

  

Fed Up

I failed miserable to take pictures this weekend but we did mange to watch Fed Up on NetFlix and now I am second guessing everything I put into my mouth. 

I don't think it's a secret that obesity is a huge problem in the United States, but I think we are blaming the wrong people. Well putting all the blame on the obese and not truly understanding where to point fingers. 

Before watching this, I will admit I ate a lot of Mexican food and still wanted my ice cream which was not the best decision because it just made me feel even more sick while watching this documentary. I am disgusted with the food industry. I also thought obese children and adults should just workout more and watch their calories. I was so dumb and naive until this past weekend. 

It's simple to lose weight right, calories in vs calories out. sadly, that is just the beginning of losing weight. 

Working out, moving more and calories in vs calories out is just the beginning, it's where all doctors will start when you tell them you want to lose weight.. 

Sugar.. Sugar is the other side of this ugly truth that no one mentions. 

This documentary follows obese teens who are on a mission to lose weight. They are eating all the healthy foods, low fat foods, serving sizes and moving. One girl even swims four days a week. The problem is they are not getting smaller, sadly their waist keeps getting larger and larger. 

Who do we blame for this? The food industry. They removed the fats from foods and because of the taste and scared people wouldn't eat it, they added tons of sugar to it. The average american ate almost 17 teaspoons of sugar a day in 2008. We are only recommended 6-9 teaspoons a day. Think about that for a moment. 

The documentary also hits home when they mention this generation of children are the first generation who will not out live their parents. With so many medical improvements each year, this is hard. Parent's aren't suppose to bury their children, their children are suppose to bury their parents.

With all that being said and watching this documentary, I am going to work harder on what I eat each day and my workouts. Since I watched the movie on Sunday, my eats have been pretty on point. You can follow along in my journey here or instagram

If you haven't watched Fed Up yet, I suggest you do. I promise you will think twice before picking up that soda and or candy bar. Also, you might even start reading food labels. 

Advocare 10 Day Cleanse

I have done a lot of different kinds of workout//weightloss ideas. Nothing really worked for me because I just have no will power. I love my coffee, cakes , cookies,ice cream, pizza and all bad foods. 

Than one day, I decided I was going to do it. I was going to jump head first into the advocare 10 day herbal cleanse. It seemed doable. I read a lot of the do's and don'ts before I even ordered. I planned out my meals. 

This past Monday I started the cleanse. 

The hardest part: Giving up coffee in the morning for the 10 days but I am surviving so far. 

The best part: Spark and still eating foods I enjoy. Yes they aren't the cookies, ice cream and etc but I am still able to eat chicken, veggies and lots of fruit. 

I will finish it on Wednesday and I can't wait to see my results. We are on day 4 and I have already lost 4 pounds.  

Check back next week for full results & tips if you are planning on doing this cleanse. 

Would anyone be interested in doing the cleanse June 1st -10th? 

Why You Need A Food Scale

I am not sure why blogger is being a pain in the ass but it has been all week. Anyone else having problems with it?

Now that rant is over, let's get back to today's post.

 I think I am going to try to make Thursdays my "workout" day on the blog. It might include a recipe, ideas and or what I have been doing.

 Today it's all about WHY you should weigh your food instead of using measuring cups. I think this is very important and every house should have a food scale.

When I first started trying to count my macros, I would just use my measuring cups. I figured if it said 1/2 cup (40g) is a single serving than I would eat a 1/2 cup and not have to worry. I was very wrong. 

In America, our biggest downfall is that we LOVE to eat and eat A LOT. We tend to eat more than one serving at a time which turns into why so many people are over weight not to mention how easy fast food is and how horrible it is for you. Save my fast food rant for another day.

To get started on weighing out your food -

First thing: Buy yourself a food scale ! They are not that expensive and will come in handy for lots of things.  

Next: Learn to read the food label where it tells you the serving size. Look for serving size in grams not in cups. 

Last: Log it in My fitness pal or whatever app you use to track your food. Notice how much you used to over eat of everything.

example: My oatmeal says 1/2 cup (40g) is a single serving. Approx. 13 servings in a container. 

I measured out my half cup. Before food scale, that is what I would of ate for my oatmeal. Notice too that this half cup isn't even over the edge of the measuring cup.

Next I weighed my 1/2 cup serving. Remember when you go to weigh your food, place the container you are weighing it in on the food scale than zero it out. (Notice mine has a bowl on it and says 0g)

I placed the 1/2 cup of oats in the bowl and it weighed out to 44g. That is an extra 4g a day and now multiply that by 5. I would be eating an extra half serving by the end of the week that I have not accounted for in my fitness pal . No wonder the scale won't budge for me. 

So instead I just pour out my oatmeal in the zero out bowl until I reach 40g and just skip the 1/2 cup measuring all together to know that I am getting my correct serving size and I am accounting for everything I eat in my fitness pal. 

Counting macros is becoming easier and easier but I am still very new to it and learning how to make adjustments. 

Remember to get yourself a food scale! 

Happy Thursday ya'll!