akahollywood

Workout like a man for quick results. You’ll feel stronger and burn more fat. Try a boot camp style class or workout. Go to www.bodybuilding.com, it is free and it will teach you a lot. I just found the site by accident. I’m about to try this 12 week workout plan starting next week and I can’t wait!

This site not only has free workout plans but it has videos on what each exercise consists of and support! Just thought I’d share this with everyone who may not know all the right moves and may not know how all the gym equipment works.

I go to a cheap gym, they have the right equipment the trainers/employees don’t want to take the time to explain what the machines are or how to workout on them.

I had a lot of confusion as to how to start losing weight. I knew I wanted to lose weight and I knew I was miserable. I was so outta shape. I wish someone was there to just give me an outline of what they did and how to start. This is what I did and have done so far in my journey:

*FITNESS *

Water aerobics class - 3 to 4 months

Walking the track at the park - a few months

Joined a gym - still a member!

Boot camp classes - 4 months

Back to gym and doing boot camp style workout at home - present

*DIET*

Water - drink 4 - 16 oz bottles per day at the very least

Food - STOP GOING TO FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS

STOP EATING OUT AT RESTAURANTS

EAT AT HOME

EAT 5 X A DAY

EAT HEALTHY 6 DAYS A WEEK AND GIVE YOURSELF 1 FREE DAY (DON’T GET CARRIED AWAY THOUGH)

MY SAMPLE DAY’S DIET:

MY BREAKFAST = 2 - 3 HARD BOILED EGGS (WHITES ONLY), 1 GRANOLA BAR, 1 BANANA, 1 WATER

AM SNACK = 1 STRING CHEESE, 1 APPLE, 1 WATER

LUNCH = 1 CAN OF SOUP OR SUBWAY 6″ SANDWICH (NO CHIPS), APPLE, 1 WATER

AFTERNOON SNACK = YOGURT, GRANOLA BAR, 1 WATER

DINNER = CHICKEN SALAD OR BAKED FISH AND VEGGIES, 1 WATER OR DIET DRINK OF CHOICE (USUALLY I JUST DRINK WATER)

*ACTIVITY*

USE WEEKENDS, OFF DAYS, FAMILY GATHERINGS, MEETING WITH A FRIEND, HANGING WITH THE KIDS, DATES, ETC. AND BE ACTIVE.

STOP MEETING AT RESTAURANTS.

MEET AT A PARK OR SCHEDULE AN ACTIVITY.

DON’T HAVE THE MONEY? YEAH RIGHT!

There are many things to do for free or cheap with friends, family or a date.

In Georgia: Tubing for 2 hrs in Helen is only $5!

Stone Mountain Park pass is just $30 for the year!

Local parks are FREE!

Lake Lanier is FREE in many areas!

CLEAN THE HOUSE!

GET OUT IN THE YARD AND WORK!

BUY A FRISBEE AND USE IT

BUY A BALL AND KICK IT AROUND

BUY A BASEBALL BAT AND BASEBALLS AND START BATTING

*MOTIVATION & ADVICE*

1. No more excuses.

2. There is no magic cure for getting rid of FAT!

3. Don’t talk about it, BE ABOUT IT!

4. Exercise - there is no way around it! JUST DO IT!

5. Get a MP3 or MP4 player, slap some of your fave songs on it and GO! GO! GO!

6. Don’t have the energy right now, BUY IT IN A CAN! SUGAR-FREE or LO CARB energy drinks will help you. Is this really healthy? Probably not but hey neither is sitting on your ass getting fatter by the week.

7. Eat like a diabetic. Sugar-free or no sugar added on anything and everything you can.

8. Have 1 free day per week

9. Alcohol has lots of calories!

Beer drinkers — I drink the new MGD64

Liquor drinkers– I drink Vodka with Crystal Light and water

10. No one can do this for you, you are the only one who can get results. If you don’t eat healthy, drink water and exercise, you will not lose weight!

11. IF YOU DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING, THEN NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

12. Take one day at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself with the end result.

13. This isn’t just a diet, IT’S A WAY OF LIFE.

14. Join Weight Watchers for atleast a month and you will learn portion control.

14. Consult a Nutritionist.

15.  Get some friends to join in your weight loss and fitness goals. Support is a HUGE HELP!

16. Start with 1 good choice a day. It could be choosing to eat this or not eat that. It could be to walk to the stop sign, park far away and then walk, do 10 push ups, do 1 push up.

17. GET RID OF THE CABLE!

18. GET YOUR FACE OFF A SCREEN! (COMPUTER, PHONE, TV, VIDEO GAME CONSOLE UNLESS IT’S FITNESS ORIENTED I GUESS)

19. LIFT WEIGHTS

20. EAT PROTEIN

21. RESEARCH

22. TAKE CLASSES: WATER AEROBICS, DANCE, BOOT CAMP, ZUMBA, ETC.

23. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIKE MIND INDIVIDUALS

24. BUY YOURSELF A PAIR OF JEANS OR A SHIRT THAT IS A SIZE TOO SMALL, MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO FIT INTO IT.

25. KEEP MOVING!

26. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE, LIVE IT OR SIT ON YOUR ASS AND WATCH OTHER’S LIVE THEIR LIVES.

27. SCREW WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU OR HOW YOU LOOK AT THE GYM OR ANYWHERE ELSE EXERCISING. DON’T BE EMBARRASSED BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW!

28. IF YOU FALL OFF THE WAGON, GET BACK ON. DON’T KILL YOURSELF TO MAKE IT UP JUST START THE NEXT DAY FRESH.

29. DON’T DEPRIVE YOURSELF TOTALLY. I AM INDIAN. I LOVE INDIAN FOOD. THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN COUNT CALORIES LOL, THERE IS NO WAY I’M GONNA EAT INDIAN FOOD WITHOUT RICE OR ROTI NAAN. I don’t eat Indian food but once a month or once every 2 months. When I do eat it, I make sure the day before or the day after I will be very active all day long to balance the calorie and fat intake.

30. Checks and Balances -

If you know you will be eating bad - exercise more and don’t make it a habit.

If you know you will not be exercising much one day or week - eat VERY HEALTHY.

31. Love yourself, know you are worth the effort, sacrifice and time to take this weight loss journey.

32. Keep trying! Never give up! This is a life long journey and with many WONDERFUL surprises on the way! It’s worth it trust me

I’m not perfect. I screw up too. Ha! That’s life. I will never quit on myself!

Disclaimer: These are just suggestions and things that have helped me. Before you do anything it is best if you see your physician to get advice on diet & exercise. Do at your own risk.

Yeah, yeah I feel good! I’ve been looking at you for 4 freaking months. I’ve been wondering when will I finally fit into you. You’ve been staring back at me for 4 months just waiting for me to try you on. I’ve tried you on for 4 months off and on. You haven’t fit me. I’ve always come up short. Well today my “asshole jeans”, yeah I tried you on and you fit! YEAH, I did it! I freakin lost enough to finally fit into you.

I am so happy today! I really feel like I put a dent into losing this weight. I feel like I am finally achieving results.

Onto your brother who is sitting where you used to sit and mock me. I will conquer those pair too. I promise you that!

Total I have lost 63 lbs. so far. I have 82 more pounds to go. I just take it a day at a time. I finally realize the only way this weight will come off is by me working it off and eating healthy. No one and nothing else is gonna make this weight come off of me. There is no magic pill and I am not doing surgery.

I am young enough and fit enough to do this the hard old fashion way. I am choosing to do it the hard way so I WILL NEVER FORGET/ALWAYS REMEMBER how BIG I let myself get and how hard it was to get back to a healthy normal weight.

Also this way it allows me to build healthy habits. Food is no longer a friend or comfort of any sort to me. I have burned good habits into my head. I enjoy being active. I hate being sedentary. I love purchasing new clothes. I enjoy picking up clothes unconsciously a size or 2 bigger than I am and realizing “Oh, I have to go get a SMALLER size”.

I love that I can keep up with my fast growing 4 yr. old! I love the way my husband looked at me last Saturday in a new dress I just bought. I love the way my body is shaping up and beginning to feel.

I love having SELF CONTROL! I still have bad days. I still have days where I don’t feel like working out. When I have a bad day, I go work it off at the gym. When I don’t feel like working out at the gym, I balance either by eating less/light or by exercising at home.

I wish everyone success! Just be honest with yourself, know that you HAVE to put in the WORK. No effort put forth equals NO RESULTS.

I see it as a change of way of life for me. Not a diet, not a deadline…simply just as change in the way and quality of life.

I can’t believe I have lost 30 lbs. ! All I have been doing is being more active, exercising portion control, cutting the fat, drinking sugar-free stuff and water. WOW! I really can’t believe it. I really think I might be able to lose the 50 lbs. I was hoping to lose by Sept. 5th! I have been going to Aqua Aerobics twice a week with my girlfriends and trying to walk at least twice a week about a mile or mile and a half. I ride with my windows down now that it has gotten a little hotter outside for that extra sweat factor. I just added breakfast to my schedule. I eat a banana in the morning and have a sugar free rockstar. I eat a medium sized fruit salad for lunch (believe me I’m not starving, it’s a good size from publix), I eat a bag of popcorn for a snack, I get off work and go to Aqua Aerobics or walk, I go home and eat dinner. I have cut down the beer on the weekends. But I do enjoy Micholeb Ultra Light beer when I want it. My girls and I found a new alcoholic drink that is very good and I guess calorie free. It’s Vodka and Cranberry Pomegranite Crystal Lite mixed in a blender with Ice. Drink it on the rocks or frozen. And I guess that’s all I have to say for right now. Good luck guys. I will blog again, soon. I’m happier, healthier and my energy level has sky rocketed. The easiest way to do anything is take it one day at a time. Here’s wishing you guys success!

Vivian,

Thank you so much for your message and of course I want to be diet buddy’s with you. I wrote all the stuff you read probably a year ago and it still stands. I lost 15 lbs. last year and stopped because I didn’t have the proper support system. I had buddy slim but I needed more. So this year my friend is getting married in September and we decided on a drunken night that we are going to get together all five of us who all weighed at the time pretty much around 300lbs or over, that we are going to try to lose at least 50 lbs and look healthier and sexier for the wedding.

Believe or not it is working for us. We are friends and will call each other out when we haven’t heard from one of the clan in awhile. We share exercise ideas. We all have different body types and wish to work different areas on our bodies.

We started out by paying for a 4 week/ 8 session Shallow water Aqua Aerobics at our local park that has an aquatic center. It only cost $36 and we stuck with it the entire 4 weeks. It’s good on your joints and being in the pool is always fun. Plus you pay for it and you feel like you have to go to get your money’s worth. Well then the class came to an end and we all decided to sign up for another 4 week session and so we did and that just came to a close yesterday. We signed up for a 8 wk/ 16 session boot camp Aqua Aerobics which starts June 2nd. We have a 3 wk break until then and we decided to walk the 1.5 mile trail at the same park on the same days we were meeting up for Aqua aerobics to fill in the gap until June 2nd start date.

I have been watching my fat intake and practicing portion control on my own. I’m not on a strict diet because I still want to enjoy Indian food and other things that diets don’t allow. Again I just exercise portion control. I also balance out high fat or high calorie intake with more activity or exercise.  I learned a lot of good habits at weight watchers’ meetings 4 yrs ago. I don’t go to weight watchers but I do the same thing at home. I weigh myself once a week on the same day every week at the same time.

I have just been more active. I don’t want to sit for long periods of time and I no longer ask my husband to do petty little things for me that I can get up off my butt and do myself.

I don’t know if this is healthy or not but I have a 16 oz ROCKSTAR energy drink almost everyday to give me the boost I need and it helps.

I feel better and I have lost 18 lbs in 2 1/2 months.

I am taking a more active role, literally in my weight loss. I have decided to walk more that the 2 x a week we have agreed upon amongst us friends. I have been doing arm exercises with 5 lbs wieghts at home and 500 pilates ab exercise when I feel like it about once a week.

The Aqua Aerobics really helped us kick start our weight loss and so did the support of my friends.

I hope this helps…email me anytime. Read my blogs.

Good luck and take care!

MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!

Also someone said this and it made a lot of sense to me.

“You can’t melt fat in a cold pan”.

Take Care,

Sabrina

So this time around me and my 4 friends are losing weight together. We started doing a 4 week Aqua aerobics class and now we are just about to finish our 2nd 4 week Aqua aerobics class. We are signing up for a 8 week summer class and I’m excited. I’ve lost 16 lbs. in 2 months. I’m happy and healthier. My clothes are looser and people are beginning to notice. My energy level is higher and my activity level is way up. Our first motivation, one of us will be getting married in September and we’d all like to be lighter in weight than we are now. Our motivation after that will be to run/walk the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia in 2010.

I’ve been watching what I eat and exercising portion control. I still eat what I want but balance out the high calorie items with activity. I am taking in a lot less fat and I am staying away from the fast food for the most part.

I’ve been doing Aqua Aerobics 2 times a week for 2 months. I’ve been walking here and there. I’ve just started using 5 lbs. weights to do arm exercises. I’ve been doing pilates here and there. Other than that I’ve been doing things around the house and going out and about anything that does not involve sitting at home on my butt.

It’s working! I really believe I can do it.

I can’t believe I lost 2lbs this week, WOW! I was trying to watch what I was eating and I exercised like once. Still, I have been trying to think how this weight loss could be possible and what I came up with something pretty funny. Besides, watching what I consume and the regular exercise regimen…I have found that I can achieve a little extra help on my weight loss by wearing underwear that are a little bit snugger than I’m normally used to (I don’t wear anything too constricting or uncomfortable). I know it sounds funny…lol…but it can be a lifesaver. I tend to eat less, I’m more aware of how much I eat and what I’m eating. This is great for use at home but will really help me when I go out to eat…because no matter how much I rev myself up about how healthy I need to eat at a restaurant…it is TOO EASY to get carried away…the temptation is way too much for me to handle. This way I can look good in my normal fitting clothes but have a secret weight loss weapon on the inside…lol.

I know that I’m an emotional overeater. I know that I feel like losing weight when, I can’t fit into a booth, can’t fit into certain clothes, when I look at myself in the mirror, when I go to clubs and the guys don’t look at me at all, when I just can’t keep up, when I look around & I’m the only fat person in the room and when I have health problems (trick knee). If I could carry with me all feelings that come with the problems above…I think it would fuel my will power and I wouldn’t have a problem losing weight…just random thoughts from my head……

Back again, I was doing pretty good on my weight watchers journey of losing weight and even did really well at my friend’s birthday celebration on Saturday, March 29th. Then, I sprained my knee on the dance floor and had to limp out of the club…spent the night as planned at my friend’s house. The next morning, I woke up after a horrible night of pain and worry…decided to go get a bite to eat.

To remedy the worry I slipped back into my old ways and had a big fat 1/2 lb. hamburger, a large order of fries and washed it all down with 2 HUGE glasses of sweet tea. When I finally went home, I was even more depressed about my knee…this same thing happened to me 4 years ago at a club while standing on heels and I know just know it’s because of all the weight…I just can’t do what all the skinny and fit people can do no matter how high my spirits maybe…the reality is I’m too big to do that right now. Man oh man it was depressing…so…again…unable to walk and then finally on crutches…I ate everything in sight that was bad for me.

Then, Monday I was talking to a friend on the telephone…my husband asked me to call my friend back later. He said he had to tell me something. I wondered what could be so important that I have to get off the phone and so I ended the call. My husband sat down looked at me and told me that my Mom  just called and said that “my Aunt had just passed away”. I could not believe it, immediately I broke down! In our culture we visit the family, pray with them everyday for atleast 40 days and everyone of course brings all sorts of food like in most other cultures. So, I was eating very unhealthy for about a week and ended up gaining about 2 lbs. 

But on a good note reality kicked in on Monday when I stepped on the scale, I ate healthy all of this week and ended up losing 3lbs. I really have to watch my emoitional eating and I know it. Hopefully, in the future I will be able to stop myself sooner than later if I should slip again.

It’s good to be back again!!!