Inspirations

Well, my 31 day challenge is over. Near the end I'll admit, I didn't do so well. BUT I still did lose some weight and that was my ultimate goal.

While doing this challenge, I found some inspirations that helped me. First and foremost, my sister is a big inspiration for me. Since January, she has lost so much weight. She didn't go on a fancy smancy diet, she simply just started working out and watching what she ate. She has a body bug that helped her a lot, but for the most part she did it on her own. Seriously, you should see her now. Not only that, but she is a rockstar when it comes to working out. Saturday I noticed not only did she run 4 miles in the morning, but she did 4 hours of Zumba that night. Wow. I hope to someday be just like her.If you want, you can read about her story here.

Another thing that has helped me do better this month is my BFF8's Weight loss Wednesdays. She did a segment on the gym, how to work out at home, Weight Watchers for free....all sorts of things. Since Wednesdays are REALLY hard for me to work out, because it's usually when I'm the most tired for some reason, reading that did the trick and before I knew it I was working out, and eating right too.

Jillian Michales. Really, that is all I have to say. She KICKED MY BUTT with her Cardio Blast workout. Seriously, if you've ever done Jillian Michaels, you know how hard she is. Not only did I do 40 min cardio with her, but I did ALL of it, and didn't have to stop very often. I was SO proud of myself. Seriously.

I have this awesome app on my phone that my sister and brother-in-law introduced me to. Nike+ has really motivated me to run. It keeps track of your run and calories burned for you. So nice. It also gives you rewards, like if you've ran farther than the last run or have been running 7 weeks straight. Even if you do a crappy run that day, it still tells you you did a good job. What I love most about it though is I can get cheers just by posting on facebook that I started my run. For example, Saturday while I was running I was about ready to stop and walk, but my sister 'liked' my activity then commented on it. I got two cheers and it kept me going for a while longer. Helped SO much. So next time you see it, please cheer for me. :) Also, you can post your time on facebook. Some people might think by doing that I am bragging or whatever, but it helps me keep going if I know I am going to post my mileage on fb for all to see. Besides, it's not like I'm a fabulous runner so really, posting that def. isn't bragging.

But this may be a little...this time is REALLY unheard of for me.

Lastly, I found this awesome app (again, with the help of my sister) called MyFitnessPal. I was doing Spark People, but I found that hard always having to log in on my computer. (i'm sure there is an app though.) But I really like MyFitnessPal. You can have friends on it so help you lose more weight. They don't see your weight or anything, but it keeps you more accountable. Also, it gives you your allotted calories for the day, but if you work out it gives you more depending on how hard you worked out. Not saying you have to use all the calories, because the goal is to lose weight, not work out just so you can eat, but it is nice to see a surplus of calories at the end of the day. Also though, if you really have a bad eating day (like me last week) it gives you a bit more room so maybe you don't have to be that strict. And then at the end of the day after you finish logging, it gives you an estimate on how much you would weigh in 5 weeks if you ate like that every day. I love it, and it's super convenient to have it in my pocket.

So August, you had a good run. Lets see how we do with you September.