I Jiggle But Not As Much As I Use to…

 

Here is to the first weigh in week of the Weight Loss Challenge hosted by the fantastic Lindsey over at Mr. and Mrs. Smith (check out her fabulous blog if you haven’t yet!!)

 

I am linking up with all the lovely ladies who are participating and trying to lose the last few pounds before the summer season! It’s a great group that helps encourage each other on one of the hardest roads to undertake. Weight loss and fitness are essential to a healthy lifestyle and I am a strong believe that strong and encouraging support groups are the key to staying on track and meeting goals.

Last Thursday was the first week of the challenge and the initial goals were made. You can read all about mine here.

I am 5’7’’

I weigh somewhere around 146 pounds

I’d like to be at about a 125-130

My goal is to lose about 15 to 20 pounds

I am happy to report that when I got on the scale today I weighed 141.2 pounds. Which was surprising, because my weight had not budged at all in the past two months. I’ve been at a steady 145.7 to 146.2. I do have to admit I am really bad about weighing myself continuously, daily or even weekly, so I think my last weight check was about a week and a half (maybe two weeks) ago. Which means that the weight loss might not be all during the last week. However I’m happy with it! *Dancing a little jig and celebrating*

 

You can read all about what I’ve been doing here, here, here and here.

I have started taking fatty acids and a fat burner in addition to my multivitamins, calcium and protein. I am also looking into some other nutrition methods such as consuming more power foods! 

If you want to get more of my tips check out the 25 Days of Fitness!!!

Day 1: 5 Reasons to Exercise

Day 2: Baby Steps to a Healthier Lifestyle – drinking more water

Day 3: The Four Basic Elements of Health

Day 4: Foundational Supplements

Day 5: Performance Supplements

Day 6: Results take some time

Day 7: Power Foods

Day 8: Reasons weight loss takes time

Day 9: Trouble spots – Thighs and Butt

Day 10: Routines

If you don’t make mistakes you aren’t really trying

 

Every new journey involves a great deal of mistakes. Whether it is getting married, becoming a parent or a lifestyle change. We make mistakes daily and this is the only way we learn. So when it comes to getting your life on track to a healthier and better you, you are bound to make mistakes. The mistakes you make help develop you into the person you are, and shape your life towards the better (at least I hope they do).

Today, I had an easy day, since I had a busy morning, hence why the post is so late. I got on my elliptical and peddled away for 30 minutes, I burned about 450 calories. It was a pretty decent easy day, however, I’ve been doing a lot of research for a new training program to really burn off the fat and get back my pre-marriage body… the marital bliss pounds aren’t really treating me that well.

The Mister has been bugging me about taking supplements for a while, and while I’ll have a protein shake now and then, and take my daily vitamins apparently I am not doing enough. So here is what I discovered in my explorations of diets and supplements.

I’ve never really bothered to look into supplements. When I played tennis, I just kind of went with the flow, I never kept track of protein or calories or carbs. Well now that my metabolism has slowed down, and my butt has gotten too big for my jeans, it’s time to look into some supplements that will help with becoming healthier, and staying healthier. … It would also be really nice if I could fit into my jeans. Thanks!

 

Here is what I’ve learned:

Please keep in mind that I’ve been looking up information for a girl.. in her 20s, so this may vary for what you are trying to do your age and even your sex. Take it with a grain of salt, and always remember that this is just my opinion based on my research and not the advice of a dietitian.

First things first:

Multivitamins

Think of multivitamins as little building blocks that your body needs to continue its heath journey. With hectic lives, we often forget to include everything from our nutrition chart into our meals, hence taking multivitamins is insurance against forgetting to eat something.

From my research, the off the shelf “Women’s One a Day” (which is what I am using right now ) will not do the trick. So look for a multivitamin with a good Vitamin B complex, extra enzymes, amino acids, antioxidants and iron. The iron seems to be extra important for us girls since we lose a ton of it every month during our menstrual cycle.

Opti-Women seems to be highly recommended… I think I will be ordering a bottle and switching over from the generic, and apparently useless ones I’ve been taking.    

Whey Protein:

Protein is very very important for muscle tissue growth and repair. Protein powder can also help meet the daily protein requirements. It is also an awesome supplement to have around when you need a quick meal replacement or a after workout snack.

When looking for a Whey Protein, make sure that it does not contain unnecessary sugars, fats and cholesterol.

I use the chocolate flavored Body Fortress one, but need to check what all it contains. I never realized how small amounts of sugar and such can throw off a diet.

The third and final supplement I want to talk about today is Essential Fatty Acids.

Essential Fatty Acids:

I’ve always heard that taking omega-3 is good for you, and that we should all take it, whether working out or not. Well here is what I found:

Essential fatty acids are crucial because the body needs them, but can't produce them on its own. EFA's, the omega-3's in particular, assist in healthy hormonal production, support cardiovascular health and healthy skin tone, and promote increased cognitive function, all of which are important for a killer physique and good health. When you choose an omega-3 supplement, read the labels and make sure you choose one with at least 120mg of the fats EPA and DHA. When you choose an omega-3 supplement, read the labels and make sure you choose one with at least 120mg of the fats EPA and DHA.

Hence, I will be adding some fatty acids into my supplements.

EFA Lean Gold is recommended by several sites including Body Building.Com and seems to have outstanding user reviews. I think I will go with this one.

Q: What are some supplements you take? What are your recommendations for fatty acids? Have you ever used them?

Feel free to link up!

I hope you had an awesome Day 4