First Weigh-In after two weeks of exercise and clean eating (4-1-13).

In my first blog post I wrote about how I would like to obtain a healthier life style to help myself to a healthier body and a healthier mind. Weight-loss was also a topic as I brought 83 kg on the scale two weeks ago. So weight-loss became my primary goal for now. So before I tell you what I achieved the past two weeks let me describe what I did first.

First of all I started exercising. I wanted to do something effective that I could do at home and thus save the money for a gym. I found Cassey and her blog Blogilates, which is all about exercising hard to achieve the body of your dreams while doing Pilates. I started this and although it was really tough at the beginning I can keep up with Cassey while working out watching one of her many work out vids on you tube  Also Cassey introduced me to clean eating which I since try to incorporate into my life. I think it’s a success so far although I don’t deny me everything. I will still have my daily dose of caffeine with sugared condense milk or a piece of chocolate here or there. I just follow the rules of clean eating as best as I can. The main differences so far are that I started to eat breakfast ever day (no skipping!), drink a lot more water or unsweetened tea than before and banned white flour as well as sugar from my diet.

As for the results. I lost 2.2 kilograms in the past two weeks, which is 4.4 lbs. I am impressed. Because usually losing weight was difficult, because I did exercises I didn’t enjoy or tried diets where I had to deny myself from things I love, which made me feel frustrated, especially when I was not able to keep away from them. I also measured the circumferences of my belly, butt and thigh. I lost 6 cm around the belly, which is my problem zone since forever. I also lost 2 cm around my butt and one cm around my thighs.

For now I love to do my exercises with Cassey, she is such a great inspiration. And sticking to my healthy eating is also easy, because it tastes great and I eat a lot of fresh produce, which kind of makes my skin glow. I love it. I also already have a new favorite dish Clean Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Exotic Chicken.

I think I will give you some before and after pics next time, which will either be in two or four weeks. I haven’t decided yet how often I’m gonna do the weigh-ins.

Other than that I will keep you updated on the workouts I do and the healthy food I’m cooking.

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Adopting to clean eating.

In one of my last posts I mentioned that I totally love Blogilates with Cassey Ho. She is not only perfectly fit but also kind of an health advocate. In one of her videos she first introduced me to the concept of clean eating. It is not a diet but a life style to help people get lean and stay so. I was hooked and bought The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno. Now I am adopting clean eating into my life. Basically that means:

• To avoid sugar and white flour (Oh my!).
• Having breakfast every day (I really didn’t in the past).
• Eating up to six small meals every day that are a combination of lean protein and complex carbohydrates as well as healthy fats (If I can get the hang of it, so can you).
• Drinking 3 liters of water every day (Boy, that means more runs to the potty.).
• Adhering to proper portion sizes (Using handfuls to help you eat maybe less but enough that you don’t get hungry).

Sooooo long story short. Here is the result of the lunch I cooked today. Clean Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Exotic Chicken. It really tasted fabulously fresh.

For the Quinoa and Avocado Salad please visit The Gracious Pantry, where I got this recipe.

Recipe for the Exotic Chicken:

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 chicken breast, 2 gloves of garlic finely chopped, 2 tsp honey, juice of 1/2 lime,  1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 fresh ginger the length of the first joint of your thumb peeled and grated.

I put all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and into the fridge over night. So that means you have to prepare it beforehand. I roasted the chicken breast only in a pan using one tbsp of olive oil until it became golden brown and honey caramelized.

What do you think? It’s a fab meal to start into spring giving you all the energy you need, isn’t it?

Also, stay tuned for an update on my weight loss journey.

Zumba is Fun, Cardio and Dance combined. I like it.

Today I went to my local gym Fitness First and had a free trial training (actually I can come back anytime the whole next week). My friend invited me to join her in her fun Zumba class. And though I never did Zumba before I really liked it and was able to keep up with all the other fitness junkies. Zumba is a combination of aerobics and dance elements and most important fun. The instructor was a tiny but lively Cuban woman urging us to smile and roll our hips.  And also class was free for all genders mostly women participated in today’s class. I saw two men and they really did well. 

We did short choreographies including elements from Reaggaeton, Cumbia, Salsa, Mambo and Hip-Hop matching the songs that were played. In between songs we had little breaks of less than one minute to catch breath or grab the water bottle.

One hour of Zumba is really exertive and supports the loss of body fat. It is supposed to burn at least 400 calories. So it is really great for getting fit and losing weight.

A perfect cardio training. Although I am not sure whether to join the gym or not as it is really expensive. Really.

I do what I can. Pilates with blogilates.

It has been two weeks since I came across blogilates with Cassey Ho. I wanted to add some physical exercise to my life to make me tone up my muscles and ultimately feel stronger. In search of inspiration I typed “Pilates exercises for beginners” into Google. Why Pilates? Because I heard of it related to shaping up and was curious to try it. It gave me Cassey and her Pop Pilates videos on youtube. Cassey is really a lovely and bouncy person who just makes you want to exercise with her and keeps you focused to get what you want. A strong body and a happy you that is. I have linked here to her beginner’s video, which I have already done several times until now to get a hang of all new to me Pilates.

Her videos are great for strengthening the lower and upper body as well as the core. I love it! I have done it about five times a week for two and a half weeks now. And I still want more. And that’s news with me. Usually I can get all excited about something new only to let it go a week (or even less) later.

Sooo… I do what I can to keep up with my personal trainer Cassey (only kidding… but it really feels like it doing the exercises while watching her videos), who is urging me to keep a position only a little while longer or suck the belly button in.

I already feel my muscles growing and am happy when I look in the mirror and see my butt has lifted a tiny bit or my tummy is already more flat. For melting the fat I do Cassey’s cardio exercises like the Fat Melting Routine or HIITilates (High Intense Interval Training).

Well, if you are looking for a great way to shape up without hitting the gym I recommend you to check out blogilates. It certainly works for me.

I’m walking those stairs.

I live on the top floor of an apartment house with an elevator. And let’s face it, pushing that button that opens the doors to the elevator with a swooshing sound is just much easier than walking up four flights of stairs. But in order to change my appearance and living a healthier life I’m going to take those stairs. Starting today.

Incorporating walking stairs in my daily life is like doing some mini exercises in between. Just like opting for a healthier snack than a chocolate bar.  It’s not hard. To the contrary it tones the muscles of the butt, thighs and calves all at the same time. And you can do it, too!

Now, there are no stairs in your apartment building or you live on the first floor? What about the stairs in your office or the mall? Just take the stairs that cross your path in your daily life.

Also you could start a stair climbing routine incorporating it into your workout. Just remind to warm up first going slowly for several minutes and increasing speed as you go. I will start with going all four flights of stairs in my building at slow speed before exercising (Pilates mainly). When I feel I get stronger I’ll increase speed and the number of times I climb those stairs.

Summarizing the benefits:
+ Climbing stairs tones butt, calf and thigh muscles.
+ It strengthens your cardiovascular system as it gets your heart rate up.
+ It does not cost any money.
+ It can be done throughout the day whenever stairs cross your path.

Just remember to start slowly only increasing speed when you are starting to feel stronger.

I’m in for a Treat.

I want to treat myself. You might think, well go ahead then. But it’s not a cookie or a piece of chocolate that I want. I want to treat myself to a healthy body and a healthy mind. Because right now I weigh 183 lbs (or 83 kg) at a height of 5 feet and 6 inches. That is not yet obese. It still scared the wits out of me when I realized that I’m only 2 kg short of this nasty word: obese.

So what am I going to do? I want to reduce my weight. I want to exercise regularly. I want to eat healthy. I want to start right now. This is the place I will come to to track my progress, my successes and my defeats (I’m sure there will be some!).

What are my goals? Hmm. I guess for now it’s weight loss and a healthier life style in general, like eating more veggies and fruits, drinking more water, climbing those stairs rather than taking the elevator etc. I am positive I can come up with more. Maybe you have some suggestions for me, too. If so, spill the beans.

But why am I going to keep this blog? To keep track for once. But also to connect with all of you. Sharing tips and tricks and the latest achievements, doing the happy dance with you and also for moral support. Feel free to join me in my plan to reduce weight and live a healthier life. I can’t wait to hear from you all. Really.