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• Weight: 139.2 pounds (24.2 to go!)
• Steps: 10,248 (as of 9:11pm)
• Lows: Wrong direction on the scale.
• Highs: Motivation is still high! Saved at least 45 minutes getting my steps in doing my HIIT on the air climber. Powered through potato chips sitting on our counter today and lots of food posts on social!
• Nutrition:
  • Meals 1, 3, and 5 – .5 c steamed white Jasmine rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast boiled with tomato sauce, .5 c mixed vegetables (canned baby corn, regular corn, carrots, peas, green beans, lima beans)
  • Meals 2 and 4 – 1 serving of protein shake
• Exercise:
  • HIIT – air climber for 45 minutes
  • LISS – air climber for 36 minutes
• All other markers checked.

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

• Weight: 138.8 pounds (23.8 to go!)
• Steps: 10,119 (as of 10:02pm)
• Lows: Wrong direction on the scale.
• Highs: Motivation is still high! Nikolas pushed me today and I was so proud of him hanging in there with me, too!
• Nutrition:
  • Meals 1, 3, and 5 – .5 c steamed white Jasmine rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast boiled with tomato sauce, .5 c mixed vegetables (canned baby corn, regular corn, carrots, peas, green beans, lima beans)
  • Meals 2 and 4 – 1 serving of protein shake
• Exercise: (1st number is the number of reps, 2nd number is the weight on each side, 0 means bar only for curl/barbell moves or body weight for others)
  • Dumbbell flys – 20-5, 20-8, 20-10, 20-12
  • Dumbbell bench press – 15-12, 12-15, 10-20, 8-25
  • Barbell bench press – 12-2.5, 10-5, 10-7.5, 8-10
  • Seated dumbbell lateral raises – 15-5, 15-8, 15-10, 15-10
  • Reverse bent over dumbbell flys – 20-4, 20-5, 20-8
  • Military press – 15-10, 12-12, 10-15, 8-20
  • Crunches and leg raises super set – 3×25
  • LISS – air climber for 62 minutes
• All other markers checked.

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

• Weight: 138.4 pounds (23.4 to go!)
• Steps: 10,315 (as of 9:48pm)
• Lows: Wrong direction on the scale.
• Highs: Motivation is still high!
• Nutrition:
  • Meal 1 – .5 c steamed white Jasmine rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast boiled with tomato sauce, .5 c mixed vegetables (canned baby corn, regular corn, carrots, peas, green beans, lima beans)
  • Meals 2 and 4 – 1 serving of protein shake
  • Meals 3 and 5 – .5 c steamed white Jasmine rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast, .5 c onions (chicken and onions boiled in water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, ginger powder)
• Exercise:
  • LISS – air climber for 84 minutes
• All other markers checked.

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

Nutrition Plan Breakdown Part 1

Vitamins – For my multivitamin, I take Women’s One A Day. The bottle lists that it supports heart health, immune health, bone health, physical energy, hair, skin, and nails. I take Vitamin C with Zinc for enhanced immune support. Vitamin D3 also supports bone and immune system health. My doctor specifically instructed me to add D3 to my vitamin regimen after last year’s annual physical/blood work. He said that most people would have this deficiency unless they literally worked under the sun all day, every day. I’ll say it again, though – do not follow my plan as it is customized to me. You should consult with your doctor, as well as get checked at least once a year.

I take chlorella once a day, and you can read more about it here.

Metamucil is a fiber supplement. I take the sugar-free kind. It tastes like Tang! Though it has other benefits, I take it for heart health (lowers cholesterol) and digestive health (helpful on a high-protein diet). I don’t necessarily take it for appetite control since I’m always eating on this plan, but it does list that as another benefit, as well as maintaining healthy blood sugar levels.

Water is a huge part of this plan. Before, when I wasn’t consistent with drinking lots of water, my weight would always be lower after a day that I especially drank a lot. I was surprised, of course, because you always hear about water weight. But my body has proven to retain less water the more I drink. Not scientifically speaking, I also read that fat leaves your body as water when you pee, so the more water I drink, the better (fat also leaves your body as water when you sweat and as carbon dioxide when you breathe out and that’s where the exercise plan comes in that I will break down later). Of course, water is important for a lot of other reasons not specifically related to weight loss, but for your overall health.

Day 7 Results

• Weight: 138.2 pounds (23.2 to go!)
• Steps: 10,262 (as of 9pm)
• Lows: I stayed up until 3:30am (last night if that makes sense) but woke up at 10:30am and couldn’t sleep anymore for that last hour I should have had. I also couldn’t get my fifth meal in today.
• Highs: Big weight drop from yesterday, making the total loss 2.8 pounds for Week 1! One week down and 14 more to go!
• Nutrition:
  • Breakfast – .5 c steamed white Jasmine rice, 4 oz baked salmon, fresh tomatoes and onions in soy sauce
  • Meals 2, 3, and 4 – .5 c steamed white Jasmine rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast, .5 c onions (chicken and onions boiled in water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, ginger powder)
• Exercise: (1st number is the number of reps, 2nd number is the weight on each side, 0 means bar only for curl/barbell moves or body weight for others)
  • Skull crushers with curl bar – 20-0, 20-2.5, 20-5
  • Overhead dumbbell extensions, both arms same time – 15-4, 15-5, 15-8
  • Close grip bench press with dumbbells – 10-10, 10-12, 10-15
  • Dumbbell kickbacks – 15-5, 15-8, 15-10
  • Preacher curls with dumbbells – 20-8, 20-10, 20-12
  • Curl bar curls – 8-5, 8-7.5, 8-10
  • One arm standing dumbbell curls – 15-8, 15-10, 15-12
  • Dumbbell hammer curls, both arms same time – 15-5, 15-8, 15-10
  • LISS – walked for 72 minutes
  • HIIT – rowing machine for 45 minutes
• All other markers checked.

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

• Weight: 139.4 pounds (24.4 to go!)
• Steps: 11,310 (as of 9:23pm)
• Lows: Wrong direction on the scale (probably the soy sauce).
• Highs: Less than a hundred days to go!
• Nutrition:
  • Meals 1, 3, and 5 – .5 c steamed white Basmati (Jasmine for Meal 5) rice, 4 oz baked salmon, fresh tomatoes and onions in soy sauce
  • Meals 2 and 4 – 1 serving of protein shake
• Exercise:
  • LISS – ran for 45 minutes and walked for 27 minutes to get my steps in
• All other markers checked.

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

• Weight: 139.2 pounds (24.2 to go!)
• Steps: 10,400 (as of 10:48pm)
• Lows: None!
• Highs: I finally got all five meals in!
• Nutrition:
  • Breakfast – 1 whole egg, .5 c egg whites, 1 slice of white toast
  • Meals 2 and 3 – .5 c steamed white Basmati rice, 4 oz lean beef, .5 c mixed vegetables (ghormeh sabzi)
  • Meal 4 – 1 serving protein shake
  • Meal 5 – .5 c steamed white Basmati rice, 4 oz baked salmon, fresh tomatoes and onions in soy sauce
• Exercise:
  • LISS – walked for 81 minutes
  • HIIT – rowing machine for 45 minutes
• All other markers checked.

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

Since today’s pretty much over, I can post both.

Day 3 Results

• Weight: 139.8 pounds (24.8 to go!)
• Steps: 10,337
• Lows: I woke up around 9am and still couldn’t get 5 meals in. It wasn’t the number of hours in the day at this point, but I got distracted with work and didn’t eat lunch when I should have. I ate a healthy breakfast but it still wasn’t according to the plan as laid out (I have a carton of egg whites to finish). I think I can update the plan with what I ate today, as it is still high in protein and within the right calorie range. With a day off from weight training, I should have done my HIIT today, but I didn’t.
• Highs: Motivation is still high! Without weight training, I had extra time to get some work done. The boys’ food smelled awfully good today, but I wasn’t swayed!
• Nutrition:
  • Breakfast – 1 whole egg, .5 c egg whites, 1 slice of white toast
  • Meals 2, 3, and 4 – .5 c steamed white Basmati rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast, .5 c onions (chicken and onions boiled in water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, ginger powder)
• Exercise:
  • LISS – walked for 89 minutes
• All other markers checked.

Day 4 Results

• Weight: 139.6 pounds (24.6 to go!)
• Steps: 10,265 (as of 10pm)
• Lows: Still need to get that 5th meal in. Weight is dropping slowly, but at least it’s going the right direction.
• Highs: Motivation is still high! New food today! I did my first HIIT session today! And all my boys walked with me today!
• Nutrition:
  • Breakfast – 1 whole egg, .5 c egg whites, 1 slice of white toast (officially updating the plan with this)
  • Meals 2, 3, and 4 – .5 c steamed white Basmati rice, 4 oz lean beef, .5 c mixed vegetables (Farhad made ghormeh sabzi!)
• Exercise: (1st number is the number of reps, 2nd number is the weight on each side, 0 means bar only for curl/barbell moves or body weight for others)
  • Deadlifts with curl bar – 15-10, 15-15, 12-20, 10-25
  • T bar row – 12-5, 12-10, 12-15, 12-20
  • 1 arm dumbbell rows – 15-20, 12-25, 10-30, 8-35
  • Bent over rows with curl bar – 8-15, 8-17.5, 8-20, 8-22.5
  • Crunches and leg raises super set – 3×20
  • LISS – walked for 72 minutes
  • HIIT – rowing machine for 45 minutes
• All other markers checked.

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

Why did I start on a Sunday?

It took only 2 steps to start this challenge:

And once I was ready, there was no turning back. Mentally, I was excited. It also helped that I had already scarfed down all the junk food in the house – I wasn’t craving anything and if I was, I wasn’t sending Farhad out to get it (#stayhome).

If you noticed, I started this on a Sunday. I don’t like waiting for a Monday, or the 1st of the month, or the New Year to start something. When I got on this fitness journey almost 5 years ago, it happened to be on a Monday simply because I wasn’t ready until then. But it was the 2nd of November and I had decided not to wait until after the holidays were over to get started.

It was also completely random that I happened to like a friend’s post on Instagram this past Saturday, which unbeknownst to me had strings attached to it! I received a private message saying So….you liked my post so you have to post an embarrassing picture of yourself, for the caption you’re ONLY allowed to write “until tomorrow”. Well, the only embarrassing picture I had on my phone was one that Farhad took of me a few weeks ago while doing sumo squats. I swear, the faces I make when I work out! Anyway, a picture of me exercising with the caption “until tomorrow” just seemed like a sign that starting the next day was the right time.

“Begin with the end in mind.” Stephen R. Covey

Determining the End Date

The first thing I did on Day 1 was weigh myself, and I weighed in at 141 pounds. (I was 136 two weeks before, then we did our Spring Break/COVID-19 food shopping, and here I am. Hopefully, most of these 5 pounds is water weight.)

Anyway, the last time I did a similar challenge, I calculated losing an average of 1.75 pounds per week. So with my goal to be 115, I’m looking to drop 26 pounds. Divide that by 1.75 and I need 15 weeks, making the estimated* End Date Saturday, July 11, 2020. That’s 105 days by the way!

Why Just a Weight Goal?

I have other goals than just being 115 pounds:

• Be toned
• Lower my cholesterol levels
• Don’t have asthma attacks

These being said, they come inherent with dropping my weight, but only if I reach this weight by the specific nutrition and exercise plan I put together (which I will explain as I continue to break down this plan).

Note: I started writing this entry as I was walking around our community to get my steps in. I’ve already made a tweak in the plan – I increased the amount of LISS to 7 days a week since it’s the only way for me to get 10,000 steps in daily.

Day 2 Results

• Weight: 140.6 pounds (25.6 to go!)
• Steps: 10,124
• Lows: I woke up around 10am and still couldn’t get 5 meals in. I ate a healthy breakfast but it still wasn’t according to the plan (I needed to finish an open can of spinach and am still working on finishing a carton of egg whites).
• Highs: Motivation is still high and I’m enjoying documenting this process! Nikolas walked a “lap” around the community with me (with a couple “visits” from Dominik on his bike), then Farhad walked another lap with me.
• Nutrition:
  • Breakfast – .75 c egg whites and half a can of spinach
  • Meals 2, 3, and 4 – .5 c steamed white Basmati rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast, .5 c onions (chicken and onions boiled in water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, ginger powder)
  • All other markers checked.
• Exercise: (1st number is the number of reps, 2nd number is the weight on each side, 0 means bar only for curl/barbell moves or body weight for others)
  • Dumbbell flys drop set – 15-3, 15-5, 15-8, 15-10, 15-8
  • Barbell bench press – 15-0, 12-2.5, 10-5, 8-7.5
  • Dumbbell bench press – 15-10, 12-12, 10-15, 8-20
  • Reverse bent over dumbbell flys drop set – 20-4, 20-5, 20-8, 20-4
  • Standing dumbbell lateral raises – 20-3, 15-4, 12-5, 10-8
  • Dumbbell front raises – 15-4, 15-5, 15-8
  • Military press – 8-12, 8-15, 8-15
  • LISS – walked for 75 minutes

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G

How am I going to do it?

I’d love for you to join me on this challenge, but please DO NOT follow this plan for yourself. It’s customized for me based on my current weight, health, fitness level, etc., including my doctor’s recommendations. I will break down the plan in future posts, which could help in putting a plan together that works for you.

Start Date: Sunday, March 29, 2020
End Date: Saturday, July 11, 2020*

Goal: 115 Pounds

Nutrition Plan:

• Women’s Multivitamin – 1 per day
• Vitamin C – 1 per day
• Vitamin D3 – 1 per day
• Chlorella – 1 per day*
• Metamucil – 2 servings per day*
• Water – 10 glasses per day*
• 4 oz protein or 1 serving protein shake – 5 meals per day*
• 1 serving protein shake – post workout

Exercise Plan:

• 4 days per week – 1 hour of LISS, 10,000 steps, or equivalent combination of both (i.e. 30 minutes LISS and 5,000 steps)*
• HIIT – equivalent of 3 days per week for 45 minutes (i.e. 2 days of 45-minute sessions plus 2 days of 22.5-minute sessions); days with full sessions should also have at least 2,500 steps; days with half sessions should also have at least 6,250 steps*
• Progressive weight training – 4 days per week

Sleep: 7-9 hours per night*

Accountability:

• Pictures
  • Day 1 – Sunday, March 29, 2020
  • Completion – Sunday, July 12, 2020*
• Daily Post – Instagram Feed/Story, Facebook Timeline/Story, or Blog
• Weigh-In – first thing every morning

*Asterisks above indicate adjustments were made as this challenge progressed; daily post titles marked with asterisks indicate these adjustments

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Day 1 Results

• Weight: 141 pounds (26 to go!)
• Steps: 10,590
• Lows: I woke up around 11am so I couldn’t get 5 meals in. I ate a healthy breakfast but it wasn’t according to the plan.
• Highs: Motivation is high and I’m excited to start a new challenge! Being home all day does nothing for my step count. I worked out with the boys then Farhad walked around the community with me to get my steps in.
• Nutrition:
  • Breakfast – .75 c egg whites and half a can of spinach
  • Meals 2, 3, and 4 – .5 c steamed white Basmati rice, 4 oz boneless, skinless, chicken breast, .5 c onions (chicken and onions boiled in water, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, ginger powder)
  • All other markers checked.
• Exercise: (1st number is the number of reps, 2nd number is the weight on each side, 0 means bar only for curl/barbell moves or body weight for others)
  • Barbell squats – 15-0, 12-2.5, 12-5, 10-7.5, 10-10
  • Barbell hack squats – 15-0, 15-10, 15-0, 15-0
  • Dumbbell walking lunges – 15-8, 15-10, 15-12
  • Dumbbell stiff leg deadlifts – 15-20, 15-25, 15-30
  • Seated calf raises and single leg calf raises super set 15-10, 15-12, 15-15
  • LISS – walked for 65 minutes

Don’t forget to recognize and deliver love today! ❤ G