Motivation Monday

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Hey PosiFIT Beauties!

So, I'm really optimistic about this upcoming week. We got this. :) 

I've had a lot of bad luck this past week, but still remain positive. I'm also avoiding everyone I know this week, as the stomach flu is going around. My whole family has it. And my friends. STAY AWAY. I love you, but stay away, haha. I have been making tea and such for my mother though, but giving it to her from a distance.

I've only had the stomach flu twice - once as a child and once a year and a half ago when my sister caught it from her client (she's a nurse to a baby) and infected us all. It was so horrible. I don't even. 

So, I've been soaking up the sunshine today in solace (it feels like summer here. 50's to 80's... whaaaat? That's the midwest for you). As I've probably mentioned before, I have a terrible immune system due to the antibiotics that I've been taking for my skin. I'm taking a few days off of it, taking probiotics, eating probiotics (greek yogurt, kimchi), taking Immuno gum (it was in my Klutchbox), taking Zicam, taking Vitamin C supplements/eating what vitamin C rich foods I have on hand and eating really clean. Fingers crossed. I used to have a fairly strong immune system, but I've been sick so much this winter, I'm going to take some precautions.

I'm finally getting up at a decent hour. I know 9am is probably not early for most people. But for me, it is. I'm a night owl. But I loooove the mornings. Sleeping schedule. Fixed. :)

I seriously think using F.lux has helped tremendously. At night, I tend to reach for my computer if I have some extra time on my hands and I like that it dims the computer.

If you want to check it out: 

It's free to download: http://stereopsis.com/flux/

A little excerpt: "During the day, computer screens look good—they're designed to look like the sun. But, at 9PM, 10PM, or 3AM, you probably shouldn't be looking at the sun. f.lux fixes this: it makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.

It's even possible that you're staying up too late because of your computer. You could use f.lux because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better."

Oh! And I've also gotten back into Insanity! You're probably thinking, "geez it takes this girl forever to finish it." Haha. I know. I like to fit in other workouts (and gym days once a week) on some days and then I take 1-2 break days a week... and then I had those 2 weeks where I fell into a rut (partially sick during that time period). But I'm still going. I feel like that's all that matters. Finished Month 1 and I'm in the "Recovery Week" before Month 2.

I forgot how difficult Core Cardio & Balance was. I thought it would be like the mid-week Recovery or something. My quads were dying. I don't think it helped that it was almost 80 degrees inside while I was doing it... I felt like I had trouble breathing. I didn't want to turn on the AC until noon though. Stubborn.

Afterwards I did Blogilates workouts (per usual). The VS Arm one and the Best Lower Ab workout. I had a bit of a difficulty keeping form and keeping up, since my body was so sore and shaking. I was planning on doing more, but knew my body wasn't up for it.

Yesterday, I tried 2 new Blogilates workouts that I haven't done yet. I'll post the videos below.

I don't use a broom... I use a Swiffer and a steam mop, haha. I have a Body Bar (3 lbs) and used that instead, though it wasn't quite long enough for some of the balancing moves (I just held it up at chest level instead of using it to balance, since I didn't have too much trouble). Who knew a broom workout could be intense? 

I thought I did this before. But I'm pretty sure I haven't, once I completed it. OhMyGorgeous. My elbows and wrists hurt during this. Having taken a pilates break, I can really feel a difference. Building up that wrist strength again.

Foodwise, I've been following a 7 Day Meal Plan. I feel like I haven't been eating enough protein lately. And during my rut I've indulged in a few sweet treats and have been having massive cravings. This reminds me to eat plenty of protein and veggies, but also stay away from treats. I'm hoping it jumpstarts my metabolism, which I feel has been lagging a bit as of late. 

It's not really difficult to follow the meal plan though. It's not a starvation diet and I feel really full. I add in some seasonings to add flavor (which is recommended, it's just advised to watch sodium) and haven't given up coffee. For the most part though, I stay on-track. I'll post more on this meal plan once I'm finished. 

That's it for now. Stay positive. Reach for your dreams and eat clean.

Love,

Marie

Hiatus... I'm back!

I'm Alive!

Sorry everyone! I sort of disappeared off the face of the earth for the past 2 weeks. I started feeling really sluggish and strangely sore (my mom thinks it was because of all of the rain, haha) and then got sick. Boo. Which means I've also slacked on my workouts and healthy eating habits. When I'm sick, I tend to get super tired and eat lots of carbs/comfort foods. And latkes (yeah... I don't usually like/eat potatoes, but love latkes when I'm sick). Ha. And have Audrey Hepburn and TV Drama marathons. Or drown in books. I didn't gain any weight though (yay!). Such a bad habits, as I'm sure eating better would have helped lift my mood/help me feel better sooner.

So, I feel really bloated. Going to get back into it tomorrow. I feel so much more down when I don't work out and eat as healthy. It really does make quite a bit of a difference on how I feel overall. It was a break I suppose. My body probably needed some time to recoup anyway. I feel like we all go through days of eating über healthy and eating not-so-healthy.

I want to go out for a run, but sadly all of the parks nearby are near rivers and are flooded. :( I suppose I'll do at-home workouts then. I.E. Continue Insanity. It personally takes a lot of mental force to get back into exercising regularly/eating healthy once I've gotten a bit sedentary. But it will happen. I know it'll just make me feel better once I start. And more energetic. And help correct my messed up sleeping habits. Staying positive. :)

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On another note, I finally received all of my subscription boxes! I'll try and edit the photos and put up the reviews and such. For a preview, I've received: The Women's Health Birchbox (beauty), Ipsy (2 months, beauty), KlutchBox (healthy & fitness), BuluBox (health & fitness), Vitacost's Be All Box (healthy living). I think that's all of the boxes.

Motivation Monday

Friday's Fitness Funnies

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Happy Friday! Being healthy/living a healthy lifestyle and working towards fitness/health progress does not have to be a serious matter all of the time. I hope some of these give you a laugh. :)

Friday Fitness Funnies

Sneak Peak At Insanity Results - Back/Arms

I finished Week 3 of Insanity today! I will post other photos at the end of Insanity (or possibly even Month 1). This is my back progress so far. 

I've been focusing on my arms - Wedding season has approached, which means a bunch of sleeveless cocktail dresses. I can finally see some of the muscle definition in my arms. This makes me so ecstatic! My arms have always been weak and one of the places where I stored more fat. Progress. It's nice not to feel self-conscious in tanks and sleeveless dresses.

Oh, and apologize for some of the blurriness in the second photo. I took those with natural lighting and must've moved my hand when it shot. Oopsies. You can kind of see how my skin has transformed as well (I suffered from hormonal acne and backne. Painful and gross. :/ ).

I've only been focusing on my arms for the past couple weeks, but already see some progress. I focus on them by interchanging arm days with other days (I used to do one day arms/back, another thighs/glutes, another on abs). I still do this, but try to do arm days more frequently (not back-to-back days though, to allow my muscles to heal/grow/etc.). For arm days, lately this means that I'll do ~40 min of Insanity and do ~16+ minutes of arm work (usually Blogilates/Pilates videos).

I also weightlift at the gym on occasion (maybe once a week or once every other week... Not super often, but hopefully that'll change in the summer). Since I do most of my workouts at home, I usually use free weights (which are fairly light - I only have a 3 lb and ancient, ginormous 6.6 lb sets and a 15 lb kettlebell as well as a 3 lb stick for Tae Bo) and do a bunch of reps (usually pilates videos, but today I tried the workout below). I also really like Tae Bo videos for arms, but I haven't done it in a while.

15 reps each move. I'm going to try and do this every other day as well.

These are the 3 Blogilates/Pilates' Arms videos that I've been doing mostly, interchangeably (I prefer these ones, since they use weights):

Bikini Blaster 4: Awesomesauce Arms (~20 min., some cardio mixed in with free weights and finished off with one type of variation of pushups, where your fingers face each other)

Victoria's Secret Angel Arm Slimming Workout (~17 minutes. Free weights, some mat work, etc.)

Bikini Blaster 7: Bodacious Back & Sleek Shoulders (~22 minutes)