My fitness challenge - february update

My February goal was to commit to regular exercise (regular for me being 30+ mins 4+ times a week) and a goal weight of 140lbs. I came in 2 pounds short on my February goal! Boooo! Can I blame it on the short month??

I tried my very best to get up and go to the gym every morning at 5am. It is SO hard! I don't know about you but I need my sleep...lots of sleep. If I'm not asleep by 10pm...there was no way I'd be at the gym by 5am. So on the days that I missed the gym, I would do little workouts at home. Basically everything I would do was adpated from pintrest workouts.

I would do about 20 minutes of any combination of things below...
50 jumping jacks
5 push-ups (yea...I can only do 5 at a time)
50 crunches
30 mountain climbers
30 second plank
20 deep lunges
20 squats
20 leg lifts
And if it was warm enough outside, I would walk with C and Lilly for 30 mins.
I also kept up on eating healthy (my January goal). Even though I'm not hitting my goals dead on each month, I am seeing an improvement. I have more energy and my clothes are fitting better, which they should after losing 10.5lbs and 7.5 total inches.

As of March 1st...
weight : 142lbs
bust : 36"
waist : 29"
hips : 36.5"
After One Month (February 1st)
weight : 146lbs
bust : 38.5"
waist : 29"
hips : 37"
Day 1 (January 1st)
weight : 152.5lbs
bust : 39"
waist : 31"
hips : 39"

My end goal is to be fit, feel good, and be confident with my body by June (just in time for our trip to Hawaii). My end weight goal is 125lbs (my pre-pregnancy weight was 122lbs). That's just 17 pounds away! I can do this.

Anyone else struggled with losing the baby weight? Or had great success? I'd love to hear your story!! Tips, tricks, hints...send them my way :)

no poo challenge - update

Oh my gosh. It was horrible!
After 10 days, I quit!
So after the first wash my hair felt dirty. I read that it takes a few washes to get your pH balance back to normal so I waited a day and washed again. My hair was disgusting!! It felt like I hadn't washed it in a month. So I just rinsed it with water and scrubbed as best I could. My hair has never felt so dirty and never looked so gross.
I just couldn't handle it. Maybe I didn't give my scalp enough time to get back to it's healthy pH balance but I don't even care. Hair is dead anyway right?? What's a few more chemicals gonna hurt it?

If you're confused about what I'm talking about...see my previous post here about my No Poo Challenge.
If you tried it or still want to try it, let me know how it goes! Maybe my hair just prefers shampoo :)

"no poo" challenge

And I do mean No SHAMpoo. Don't get any weird ideas...

 

(he makes me look gooood)

So I've seen the No Poo method all over pinterest and wondered if it really works. Then my gorge mama friend over at Love Chugs posted about it and I decided it was time to give it a try.

The No Poo method uses baking soda and apple cider vinegar in place of shampoo and conditioner. It supposedly helps your hair grow longer, stronger, healthier, shinier, lengthens the time between washes plus more! Amazing right? Well, we shall see!

This is what you need...

Baking Soda
Water
Pointed Tip Bottle (like a mustard bottle or the kind that comes in box hair dye kits)
Apple Cider Vinegar (or white vinegar for oily hair)
Spray Bottle

This is how you do it...

Baking Soda Mixture (BSM)
Mix six parts water with one part baking soda in the condiment bottle. Shake. At the start of your shower, wet your hair. Apply BSM all over scalp and scrub (My hair is pretty thick and the BSM has no lather so I had to part it in fours in order to make sure I got every part of my scalp). Rinse.

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Pour ACV into your spray bottle. After you've rinsed the BSM, spray the ACV all over the length of your hair. Let the ACV sit while you finish your showering business. Rinse. (Some of you might be worried about the smell because the ACV is STRONG but honestly, once you rinse it out you can hardly smell it and once your hair is completely dry you can't smell it at all. Promise. Some people have said they put essential oils in with the ACV to help with the smell but honestly I think that's a waste).

This is what I'm testing...

Health and Strength : I'm HORRIBLE at getting my hair trimmed...I think it's the biggest hassle. That being said, I typically get my hair cut twice a year and my stylist ends up having to chop about 6 inches each time because it's so split and unhealthy.

Shine : My hair has little shine without product or heat (thank goodness for Moroccan Oil).

Length : Right now my hair is 28" from crown to tip.

Time Between Washes : I wash my hair every 3-4 days (typically using dry shampoo on the fourth).

Added bonus : less frizz and flyaways (have you seen my hair air-dry? Yikes!!), less oily, more body, new hair growth, no chemicals, less expensive, safe for color treated hair

Go here to read the hows, whys, and what-ifs of the No Poo method.

Keep an eye out for updates about my No Poo Challenge and leave a comment if you've tried this! I'd love to hear your experience!!

my fitness challenge

Every body is different, right? Right! Ok cool, now that we have that out of the way...

I created a little fitness plan for myself so I can get back in shape and back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Most of this will be pretty dang embarrassing for me but I feel like if I post it up here then I will feel more accountable and actually stick with it. Feel free to share your fitness knowledge with me because I'm pretty clueless and kind of just made this all up based on stuff I saw on pintrest!

I started on January 1st...yay for new years resolutions.
weight : 152.5lbs
bust : 39"
waist : 31"
hips : 39"
Oh my fatty! I know right?

January Goal : commit to healthy eating. goal weight : 145lbs

I missed my January goal by one measly little pound!! But I'm determined to make it up in February. And I did commit to healthier eating. It was actually easier than I thought. I didn't do anything crazy (like all protein or juice cleanses) because I know my personality and I can't handle that stuff for more than a of couple days.

Here's what I've been doing so far...
I do not indulge in sweets like I used to (who knew brownies didn't count as a meal?!)
I do not eat after 8pm
I drink at least 90 ounces of water a day and cut out juices and soda
I remind myself constantly that chips and candy are not considered "snacks" and if I feel a little hungry between meals I eat a cheese stick, fruit leather, carrots, yogurt...
For breakfast I eat something simple and filling like cottage cheese and fruit, an egg and toast, or oatmeal....
For lunch I have a green smoothie (C has one too, he LOVES them!)
For dinner I have whatever we decide to have for dinner as a family (lasagna, chicken, roast...) as long as it's not fast food.

As of February 1st...
weight : 146lbs
bust : 38.5"
waist : 29"
hips : 37"

Even though I didn't hit both of my goals, I'm pretty proud of myself! 6.5 pounds and a few inches down and eating healthy. That's HUGE for me! Anyone that knows me knows that I have quite the sweet tooth teeth!

February Goal : commit to regular exercise (regular for me being 30+ mins 4+ times a week). goal weight : 140lbs

This might be a struggle initially. Because of the weather I can't just go out and run anytime I want and with my husbands crazy schedule that leaves me with either 5am workouts or 9pm workouts which is when I'm usually really tired or so tired... Lame excuses right? Yea, I know.

My end goal is to be fit, feel good, and be confident with my body by June (just in time for our trip to Hawaii). My end weight goal is 125lbs (my pre-pregnancy weight was 122lbs). SO doable right?? That's only 5 lbs a month!

Anyone else struggled with losing the baby weight? Or had great success? I'd love to hear your story!! Tips, tricks, hints...send them my way :)