Have you ever had your favorite pair of jeans wear down along the inside seams because your thighs rub together with enough friction to start a forest fire?

Well, I have.

I think having to throw away my favorite item in my closet [the one pair of jeans that fit just right and made my ass look like it had been crafted by angels] was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been making some strides to try and get my 20-something body back and wanted to share some of the ways I’m keeping myself committed to my goals.

Well, first off, I set goals which include focusing on non-scale victories, small weekly goals, and working out at least 4x/week. 

• Focus on NSVs – instead of being a slave to the scale, I’m focusing more on non-scale victories such as fitting comfortably into a six 6, graduating up to heavier weights, and trying to lose inches. Don’t get me wrong, I still weigh myself occasionally as a gut check but I don’t want to be a maniac to the number. I want to be hit.
• I’m setting small, attainable weekly goals (e.g. try to hold the plank for an additional 10 seconds, add on two more reps, etc).
• Workout at least 4x/week – this has been surprisingly easy now that work locally and NYC is filled with boutique studios I had been previously itching to try.

Second, I join challenges and pre-pay for everything. In March, I joined the Barry’s Bootcamp Academy where I had my ass handed to me for 1 hour every Mon-Fri for 4 straight weeks. Two weeks ago, I started the Flybarre Challenge where I have to attend barre class 4x’s a week and get measured weekly. Signing up for and paying for these class in advance  holds me extremely accountable. Additionally, instead of happy hour, I try to meet friends for a workout because it’s always better to sweat with friends.

Third, 75% of the time, I get it over with in the morning. I’m naturally an earlier bird than most but hitting up a morning class is still incredibly hard because I have to wake up 90 mins before I would on a normal weekday. That said, there is nothing I loathe more than having a workout looming over my head all day. Regardless of how hard it is to drag myself out of bed, I know myself well enough and the verdict is I rarely miss a morning workout and always feel great when it’s over and out of the way. (In the 25% of the time that I take a night class, it’s because I’m fiending for a particular instructor so my likelihood of making it happen is high. Speaking of instructors…)

I follow all of my favorite instructors on social media. Having tried many different classes, studios and instructors I have my favorites and following them on Instagram is inspiring. Additionally, I’ve become friends with a few who aren’t afraid to call me out if they haven’t seen me in a while.

Learn more about food and how it can help or hurt my body. Working out is only part of the equation and quite frankly the smaller part. 85% of weight loss is attributed to diet and since my diet has been piss poor, I’m focusing on that too. But instead of sticking to a certain amount of calories a day, I’m actually trying to learn more about what types of foods will best fuel my body. I don’t want to over indulge but I also don’t want to deprive myself either. Ideally I’d like to learn how to eat intuitively and have restraint against my trigger foods but in the meantime, I’m reading It Starts with Food, which I highly recommend. It’s especially resonating we me because it has a part about inflammation which can be caused by autoimmune disorders (which is exactly what my chronic urticaria is).

While I’m learning more about food, I’m tangibly sticking to a diet of steamed/sautéed veggies, (white) fish and other high protein foods, healthy carbs and healthy fats. (Eventually I’ll also have chicken and beef but to keep things simple, I’ve been sticking with fish). I stay away from most dairy (absolutely NO cow’s milk or yogurt but I will have an occasional bit of cheese). I’m also trying to drink more water. I would like to work myself up to 90 ounces a day but for now, I’m doing my best to average 48-64 ounces (6-8 cups).

Typical day

• 6:15ish wake up – get dressed and head to barre via subway
• 7:15 – barre for an hour, shower and get ready for work there. After barre I’m usually starving so I’ll grab an apple on the way out and eat it on my way to the subway. I’ll also grab a tall blonde roast from Starbucks – no milk or sugar.
• Breakfast (at work, I’m lucky) – 5 egg whites with a few drops of chipotle Tabasco, steamed broccoli, 1 slice of wheat toast
• Am snack (sometimes I have one but not always) – 1/2 cup oatmeal plain with a few dashes of cinnamon
• Lunch (again from work) – ALL. THE. GREENS. I grab spinach salad and possibly other salads available like arugula and mint, cucumbers, a drip of balsamic (and I mean a drip), 2 ounces of some grain (like farro or brown rice), avocado (like a qtr of an avocado) and cod. It’s a mix of randomness but it’s delicious and fuels me.
• PM snack (more likely than a morning snack) – celery sticks with 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a 1 tablespoon of whatever the preserve is of the day (usually apricot or raspberry).
• Dinner – usually more white fish of some sort (or salmon on occasion), steamed spinach or turned into a salad.
• I’ve been really good with sweets BUT I do occasionally indulge. For example, the other day I had a spoonful of German chocolate cake for a co-worker’s birthday. I savor end the taste and it was delicious.

Finally, I use myfitnesspal to track everything – food and exercise. I’ve been thinking of getting a fitness band tracker but I have to do some research first. Anyone have a good one they can recommend?

Naturally, this is a work in progress;  I didn’t gain all the weight overnight so I expect it’ll take some time to lose. The good thing is, I am super motivated to in a way I haven’t been in quite some time (read: I’m already seeing some small results – win!) so I’m excited to see how far I can go.

This week’s workouts include (lots of barre – because I’m doing the challenge):

• Monday pm – Barre with Todd, my fav 🙂
• Tuesday – off (business trip out of town)
• Wednesday pm – Barre with Daniella (if my flight back from a business trip isn’t delayed…I really want to make this one because my workout buddy Katie is meeting me) or off
• Thursday am – Barre with Kara
• Friday am – Barre with Lane (if I don’t make Wednesday’s pm class) or off
• Saturday am – Barre with Jessica
• Sunday – off (heading out on another business trip)