Major NonScale Victory! Day 10 of T25

Morning everyone!!!

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I saw that I have a MAJOR non scale victory that I have to share with you!

This picture on the left was taken in February when I was training with Eric. And it was the best picture I could find to give you a decent idea of what I am going to be talking about.

Take a look at my thighs in it.

See all the loose skin?

This is something that I have hated since losing weight.

Not only do I have excess tummy skin, but I have saggy legs. I always thought that the only solution to this would be to have surgery.

Way back when I saw the plastic surgeon I had talked to him about my legs BUT he didnt do leg lift surgeries. That was going to need to be a different surgeon that he could recommend.

So I figured that I needed to have priorities. Tummy first, boobs second and maybe legs last. I mean, legs you can hide with bikini skirts or shorts but the tummy just kind of flags in the wind and well...the boobs are just empty.

Last night I looked in the mirror and about pooped myself. Luckily I was in the bathroom already! HAHA. My loose skin is disappearing!!

Take a look (please excuse the pajama shorts)

The skin is smoothing out and the dimples are going away. I even noticed less cellulite on the backs of my legs.

I shared this on my Fan Page this morning on Facebook and someone asked me what I attributed it to: diet or exercise.

And honestly I had to say a good combo of both.

Even when I was training with Eric and was eating clean I still had saggy legs. Even at my fittest with him. Truly not his fault in the least. If I could train with him again, I would in a heartbeat. But it got me thinking...

I would say much is due to T25. It is very lower body based with squats and lunge and hops. It builds muscle quickly. I would also have to say that it is due to the vitamins and the shakeology. The shakeology has so many superfoods that you just cant get with other protein shakes.

If this is the results that I am NOTICING after just TWO WEEKS, just think of the changes that will have happened after 8 more weeks!!

What do you think? Can you see a difference?

Onto last night.

I did make it to Body Pump and then followed it up with RPM. Ouch! Legs were burning like crazy. I thought that I had forgotten my chest strap monitor piece at home and I was so disappointed that I wouldnt know how many calories I burned. Well. I found it. Yeah. It had slid down my shirt and into the top of my pants. LOL. I was just glad I didnt lose it on the ground somewhere. So once I found it, I was already part way into the second song of Pump. I didnt miss that many calories for an accurate reading...probably like 50. So my calorie burn I am about to report to you is a little low.

Last night at the gym for Pump and RPM I burned 1208 calories. Yup thats right. And that is a little off!

Combine that with T25 cardio burn of 397 calories and you get a total of 1605 calories burned for the day.

Whew!

This morning I was only down a half pound but I dont care. I know lots of it is swollen muscles and probably some retained water.

Today is doubles day for T25. Lower Body Focus and Ab Intervals.

My plan originally was to do one first thing and then have breakfast and then do the other before lunch.

BUT after I got done with Lower Body I still was feeling good so I decided to finish it off.

It was probably due to the fact that there isnt just so much cardio in Lower Body that you feel wiped after it. Dont get me wrong...my legs were screaming! But the second workout was Abs so I knew I could push thru.

I was glad to be done with both. So far today 670 calories have been scorched.

Tonight Maggie and I sub for Zumba. Two 45 minute classes back to back. Ouch! I know I will be sore after that one! But in a sick way, I am looking forward to seeing how many calories I burn. In my normal one hour classes I get about 700-800 calories burned and this is an extra 30 minutes on top of that. So I expect to be somewhere around 1100 or so. We shall see.

Tomorrow is just Zumba. Whew. Looking forward to Staturday and more pictures to compare. I am not expecting as many changes this week as last week. From here on out, it will be minor but I know they will happen.

Sunday is subbing another Zumba class. Just one hour this time but come Monday I am not sure I will be able to walk. LOL. Last time Maggie and I subbed, by our Monday night class we were both hurting and that wasnt two classes on Friday night! AND it wasnt ME doing T25 either! I could be in deep doo doo!

So that is the news for now. My eating will be very similar to yesterday. Shakeology, turkey wraps on english muffin, yogurt, chicken breast, string cheese, protein shake after Zumba...etc. If I dont post Monday, with stats, you know I have died over the weekend. LOL.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Tip of the Day:

Zucchini bite review and Day 9 T25

Hola everyone!

What's up? Not too much here except I am getting into my marathon training sessions for the week....and I will get into that in a minute.

First...

Do you ever notice
When your body releases a ton of water when you have been retaining it? Like after a salty meal... The next day you have to pee about every 5 minutes?

That was me yesterday. Not sure if it was from the carbs the night before or if the Macaroni Grill food was a lot more salty than I realized, but holy heck!

I did pretty good with my eating yesterday. I stuck with what I outlined EXCEPT last night I did have two glasses of red wine and some salt and pepper chips (clean but still...).

The zucchini bites were excellent. I added NO cilantro but did add cracked pepper. They turned out to be like little mini quiches. I still have some left over. Not a huge hit with my family but hey! More for me. They were difficult to get out of my pan. But I did not spray my pan with cooking spray like they said. I thought I wouldn't need to because the pan itself is nonstick. I thought wrong. Lol.

I was still down a half pound this morning from my weight gain from yesterday so I was fine with that.

173.5

This morning I got my T25 cardio done. Still kicks my butt. And burned 397 calories in the process.

Now my marathon sessions start tonight:

Tonight is Body Pump followed by RPM
Friday is a double hit of T25 and then I sub Zumba. Two 45 minute classes back to back tomorrow night! Whew!

Saturday is Zumba class in Belleville. Not sure if anyone will show or not but I will still go in.

Sunday is subbing for Zumba again. This time one class for a hour.

Monday is back to T25 and Zumba that night. Whew. I will be glad come Tuesday to just have T25!!

Saturday is Staturday too. Looking forward to taking my measurements and looking at pictures.

Today's meals are like every other days. Shakeo for breakfast with banana and PB, lunch is my turkey roll ups on English muffin, dinner will be before the gym and will be my left over tilapia and kale. Snack after working out will be a protein shake which I will have on the way home. Once I get home I will have a cheese stick and my yogurt with raspberries and almonds.

I know that I will be be burning serious calories today and tomorrow so my eating is reflecting that. I will need to keep my calories higher to make it thru the next few days.

Also I wanted to let you know that beginning Sept 1st I will be doing a FREE challenge group on Facebook. It will center around 3-4 moves and focus on one move a day. If you want to join in, just go to my Facebook page Get Beachbody Fit with Lee and stay tuned.

Right now I am trying to figure out some good stomach/core moves for us all to do. It should be fun!!

That's the news for now. Not sure if I will make it on here tomorrow or not but I can't wait to fill you in on how the next few days go!

Have an excellent day!

Macaroni Grill Review and Day 8 T25

Good Wednesday morning everyone!

How is your week going?

Any of you have the problem that this picture shows? I know when I was losing major weight that I would go to the Salvation Army to get clothes. I was dropping weight too quick to justify buying more expensive clothes. Sometimes it would be a size dropped once every other week! And when you are talking going from a size 28 down to a 6-8, that gets damn expensive!

Onwards...

Yesterday I had a very nice dinner with my friend at Macaroni Grill.

I ordered Shrimp Spiendini which was supposed to be 380 calories according to MyFitnessPal.

I also ordered a tossed salad which I wanted some balsamic vinegar on the side but of course it came to the table all dressed with a vinaigrette. Apparently I wasn't clear enough in my ordering. I shut my mouth and ate my salad anyways just enjoying time with my friend. I was doing great savoring one glass of wine and staying away from the bread.

Then our main course came. What I ordered was supposed to be grilled shrimp and veggies with some roasted potatoes. What I got was grilled shrimp and roasted potatoes with a side of oil soaked soggy veggies. Nasty and mushy. I was very glad that I forgot to tell them no potatoes.

So as I waited for the waiter to come around, I started to get hungry. And I had some bread. Damn it.

Finally when he came back around, I told him the issue and he put in a new order for veggies. This time they came out a smidge better and at least they were warm. I would NOT order this again. Very disappointed. When the main part of the dish is the veggies, you expect nicely grilled ones. Not a pile of mush.

And I am sure it was WAY more calories then what was figured. That is the thing that really pisses me off about restaurants. They say that these foods are "X" amount of calories but then the cooks do whatever the hell they want and "f" it all up.

But it isn't like I eat out all the time anymore so one day off isn't a big deal. And I did order something that I am sure is way healthier than other options on the menu.

No surprise today that I am up 1.5 lbs to 174.0. I don't care. Aunt Flo is visiting so I know part of the weight is water. Well most is water.

Oh well.

Today my dad visits.

He will get here about dinnertime tonight.

I already did my T25 today. Speed 1.0. My favorite workout.  I was doing well until the fast crisscrosses at the end when I started to pee myself. Ugh. Having kids just ruined me. Lol. Keegles don't help either. Sigh. Sad when you have to consider buying Depends just to get thru a workout.

Here is my meal plan for the day:
Snack: 2 strawberries and my fat burner
T25 Speed
Breakfast: shakeology with 1 frozen banana and about 4-5 fresh strawberries , water and ice, my vitamin and 2 CLA
Lunch: turkey roll ups (turkey, avocado and red pepper) with a dry toasted English muffin
Dinner: shredded red cabbage (raw), sliced avocado, a grilled chicken breast cut up and all combined to make a salad and tossed with some balsamic vinegar. my 2 CLA. Then I will be making these zucchini bites. See the recipe below. I will let you know how they are tomorrow.
Snack: yogurt with raspberries and almonds and a drizzle of honey. Yum!

That's the news for now!

Recipe of the day:

Mini Cheese Zucchini Bites

Ingredients
2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 medium)
1 egg
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, salt and pepper (my sister said to use way less cilantro because it gets over powering)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a mini muffin pan w nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl mix the zucchini, egg, cheese and cilantro. You do not have to add any salt or pepper since the parmesan is salty enough. Evenly divide the mixture into the mini muffin pan, filling to the top, packed down in each cup. Bake for 15-18 miun until golden brown around the edges.

Day 7 of T25!!

Good afternoon all my lovely blogland friends!

It has been a crazy day thus far and I finally am able to sit and relax for a few while the kids are resting to write my update.

Yesterday my food and exercise was on point. Supreme. I learned two new zumba routines before class last night and you KNOW I had to track my calories burned.

Between T25, zumba practice and zumba class last night, I burned a whopping 1728 calories yesterday. Yup. You read that right!

Today I am Down to 172.5!! 2 lbs lost yesterday though not surprising with what I did yesterday. Lol.

Today I got up and did T25 Total Body Circuit. A serious workout with burpees, hops and spider push ups. I still have to stop and catch my breath here or there but I pushed REALLY hard and burned 458 calories in the process.

Breakfast afterwards was my normal Shakeology.

Then I cleaned the house from top to bottom. It goes so much more quickly when you only have one floor to clean! And I just love this house. I fall in love with it more every day.

And if you have little boys, how is it that they can completely miss the toilet bowl when they are right at the perfect height to stick their little pecker right on the rim? Seriously! The bathroom was starting to smell like a nasty locker room. But it is all clean now!

Anyways...

Lunch was mushrooms, onions, egg whites, 2 eggs, tomato and an English muffin.

Once the kids get up we are running to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Then it is home to make spaghetti and meatballs for the boys tonight. Where am I going?

I am meeting my friend for dinner at Macaroni Grill. I have already pre-decided what I am going to have: the grilled shrimp spiedini. It is 380 calories. And I am going to ask for extra grilled veggies instead of the potatoes that come with it. And I will be having a glass of wine too :-)

So not too much craziness here. Just busyness.

My dad comes tomorrow afternoon to stay the night. A first for him but he has ulterior motives because the Rousch headquarters are close to our home and Thursday he is having a new interior put into his Mustang. Oh yes. My dad has 3 Mustangs. Which he shows at car shows.

That's all the news I have for now! Have a great Tuesday!

Tip of the day:

Weekend Wrapup and a Progress Photo

So are you just dying to know my results from week 1 of T25?

I know I sure was!!

Here they are:

 -9 lb!! which we know was a lot of water weight but hell. Not all 9 lbs was...I can tell you that!

-1" on my waist, -1" on my chest, -1" on each leg and -1" on each arm.

I would say that is pretty damn good!

Check out my picture. I would say that is BIG changes!

Now tell me that you dont want to try T25...LOL! You know where to find me if you do. :)

And over the weekend my eating was on point. I was so proud of myself because remember last weekend when I gained a bunch of weight? Well Aaron and I went to the same place on Saturday that we went last weekend. And I said no to alcohol. Well ok...I had one sip of Aarons pina colada and one sip of a "rum" punch that was really just rum with some pink dye in it...LOL and two jello shots. I also had packed my food to keep me on track. And when we picked the kids up from grandma and grandpa, I just waited until we got home to eat. See? I told you nothing was going to derail me!

AND even before that, Friday night we went out to dinner and then went and saw We're the Millers. I had two glasses of red wine and a salad that I put hummus on instead of salad dressing.

At the movies, I had nothing. No soda, no popcorn...it was SO hard but once the movie started, I was fine.

I highly recommend the movie. All the best parts are NOT on the commercials. In fact, the commercials use stuff that isnt even in the movie. So if you like a raunchy type comedy...go see it!

And you know what? I actually LOST weight over the weekend! Back down to 174.5. Whew. I cant wait to be out of the 170's again!

Holy crap! That is a first loss over a weekend in I dont know HOW long!

After a typical T25 workout. Dripping with sweat

So today is Week 2, Day 1 of T25. Cardio. I did that this morning (first thing) and found out that I was able to do more this time then I was last week. Down ups killed me last week and I had to modify. Today, I didnt! Progress! Another way to tell that I pushed myself more is that I burned more calories. 420 to be exact!

Breakfast was my normal shakeo with banana and peanut butter.
Lunch is a dry english muffin with 2 eggs, 4 egg whites and sliced tomato.
Dinner is tilapia with kale and tomatoes. I had this for dinner yesterday and made extra helpings for me this week. I plan on having this about 4:30 before I leave for Zumba at 5.
Not sure what I am going to do about snack. I am almost out of turkey and I am out of yogurt. I will figure it out later though. Maybe an Arbonne protein shake. Dunno.

And finally...

IF you are interested in trying T25, I will be starting a challenge group on Facebook in TWO weeks! Just let me know under "comments" if you want more info.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Day 5 of Focus T25

Good morning everyone!

First I want to recap my day yesterday. The photo is current from this morning And I will get into that in a minute.

So as you know, yesterday I did my T25. Then last night I went to Ypsi.

I ended up getting there early enough to sign up for Body Pump so I thought "what the heck" and joined into class. I figured rather than doing a full body workout by myself, this would give me a good workout and keep me focused.

I kept my weight light because it was the first time I used the new weights the gym got and they were heavier than what I was used to. Also because I had RPM after and T25 today, I didn't want to be so sore that I wouldn't be able to complete everything that I had to.

Class was great. I did skip abs at the end and my legs could definitely feel that I had been working them with T25 all week.

Then came RPM. I ended up getting a bike that had no "ride easy" gear which kept my heart rate up the entire time with little breaks. My legs were screaming from the body pump and from T25 so I took it easy with the tension.

All in all at the gym I burned 1198 calories! And that didn't include the burn from T25 earlier.

Eating was on point too. I prepped my dinner while the kids had lunch so it was ready to go at 4 for me to eat and digest.

I will give you the recipe for my tip of the day.

After getting done with the classes, I bought a protein shake from the gym. My body needed the instant hit.

Then when I got home I had two pieces of my nitrate free turkey and my yogurt with almonds, raspberries and honey.

This morning when I got up, not only did I feel like I was hit by a Mack truck, but I lost another 2.5 lbs. Now I am only 1 lb from where I was last week.

And don't you know that today is a double hit of T25.

So I decided to do the first one (lower body) at my usual early morning time and see if I could do the second right after.

Yeah, no.

After my body being so sore, lower body about killed me.

Lots of isometric holds, bottom squats and lunges...
And lots of screams. Lol. My boys kept saying "what?"

So now my new goal is to do T25 cardio before I have lunch.

Calories burned do far: 358.

So here is my eating plan...pretty much the same as yesterday.

Snack: 4 strawberries, fat burn pill
T25 lower body
Breakfast: vanilla shakeology with one whole banana and natural peanut butter. Also my multivitamin and 2 CLA pills
T25 cardio
Lunch: dry toasted English muffin topped with turkey, red pepper and avocado (yummy!)
Snack: yogurt w raspberries, almonds and honey
Dinner: my chili steak salad, 2 CLA pills
Snack: probably a couple pieces of turkey

And I am sure that I probably won't be able to move tomorrow to teach Zumba. I am on my own tomorrow too. Lol.

But tomorrow is also my staturday... Yup. I take my stats tomorrow to see how many inches I have lost so far with T25. It won't be a ton, I am sure BUT I know there will be some.

Which leads me to my picture. I took the one this morning after my workout when I was a drippy, hot mess.

The calf shot I took BEFORE my workout. I have gotten that much definition in 4 days. Seriously!!

So far, I can't say enough good about this program!

And JUST in case you want to get the challenge pack for yourself, Beach body has extended the sale until the end of the month due to its popularity.

Just go to:
www.beachbodycoach.com/mitchellsaz
Sign up for your free membership with me as your coach. On my page you will also see the link for the T25 challenge pack. And if you love fitness as much as I do and you want to earn some money doing it, think about becoming a coach. I can walk you thru how to do it. So far I am loving it and I am on a fabulous team that sets you up with a ton of support!

OK that's enough about that but you know I have to put it out there. You never know if someone is thinking about it in the back of their mind :-)

Tip (recipe) of the day:

Chili-spice steak salad (makes 1 serving)

3oz raw lean sirloin, cut into thin strips
1/4 tsp chili powder (I used more)
Sea salt and ground black pepper (to taste, optional)
Nonstick cooking spray (I just used a smudge of olive oil)
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1/8 an avocado, sliced
2 T balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below and I would start w 1T and add on. I thought 2T was too much for my taste)

Season sirloin w chili powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat medium skillet lightly coat w spray over med-high heat

Add sirloin; cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes or cooked thru

Place cabbage on a serving plate; top w sirloin and avocado

Drizzle w balsamic vinaigrette

Calories: 318, fat: 19, sat fat: 3, chol: 71mg, sodium:406, protein:27

Balsamic vinaigrette (Makes 4 servings)

3T balsamic vinegar
2T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp raw honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3T extra virgin olive oil

Combine vinegar, lemon juice, and honey in a medium bowl; whisk to blend

Stir in mustard; mix well

Slowly add oil while whisking; mix well

Store leftover dressing in a covered container in the fridge. If it thickens, hold at room temperature for 30 min and stir before serving.

Day 4 T25

Good morning everyone!!

How was everyone's day yesterday? Successful? Fun? Fall off the wagon a bit?

I want to hear!

I had a great day yesterday, but first...

Are you on Facebook?

If so, I started a fun new page called "Get Beachbody Fit with Lee". Please go to it and "like" it. It is a way for me to connect with all of you more than once a day and have fun. It will not be all about fitness or health or Beach body. Promise!

In fact, I posted a riddle this morning so make sure you check it out and see if you know the answer. I dare you!

OK, now back to yesterday.

You already know I did day 3 of T25.
Then that night we took the boys for a walk. Well, Aaron and I walked. The boys rode their bikes. But Xavier is getting so much better that I had to jog next to him for a bit. Pretty good!

I did not go to the Rec Center *sigh* because I had a conference call. But the call was great so I figure it a fair trade.

Eating was great. I stuck with what I had planned for the day.

And dinner? If you like salmon, I highly recommend this recipe!

Broil your salmon fillet on high til flaky.
Dice up one Roma tomato, 1/8 an avocado and some cilantro.

When the fish is done, top with the diced cilantro and veggies. And some cracked pepper and fresh lemon juice.

(I modified the original recipe which called for a vinegrette. I did not have all the ingredients. However, I really don't think you needed it. The lemon juice was plenty).

And last night I also ran out of my casein powder. Damn it.
I am not planning on getting more right now. I just bought supplements and the T25 with shakeology. So if I need a snack in the evening, it will have to be with my regular protein powder or some turkey or something else.

I am down another pound this morning so something is working. And NO. I am not caught back up to where I was. But I will get there.

And here is my meal plan for today:

Snack: 3 strawberries and my fat burner
Breakfast: shakeology with half a banana and peanut butter, my multivitamin and 2 CLA
Lunch: turkey roll ups (turkey, avocado and red pepper) with a dry toasted English muffin. * the English muffin helped keep me satisfied yesterday so I am repeating it again today.
Early dinner: (about 4:30ish): chili steak salad (another T25 recipe. If it is good, I will share the recipe tomorrow) and two CLA
Evening snack: nonfat Greek yogurt with raspberries, almonds and a small drizzle of honey.

Here is my workout schedule for today:
Morning: T25 Ab Intervals
Evening: Ypsi Gym. Upper body weights. Then RPM.

That's why I am making sure I have a really good early dinner. In lieu of the yogurt, I may decide to have a protein shake afterwards. I won't know for sure until I see how wiped I am.

T25 Abs are done for the day. Favorite workout so far. Great Ab workout and still got a full on sweat. Burned 297 calories in 25 minutes.

Thats it for me today.

Dont forget to go over to my page on Facebook!

Tip of the Day (well recipe. This looked delicious and I had to share!)