Set Some Goals. Then Demolish Them!

Its about to be February my good people! Where oh where did the time go!?! In January I set a few goals and I saw this sign and it spoke to me! My goal was to do a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise every day for 30 days! Granted going in I knew there may be some tricky days like Tuesdays when I work job #1, 2, & 3 but I said stick with it! In the end I missed 5 days!

JUST 5 FREAKING DAYS! Incredible! I mean even I am impressed! January was a hectic month plenty of time to make excuses and not get it done but I DID IT! On average I did 41.5 minutes per day for a total of 1,245 minutes of exercise for the month! What a way to kick in the door in the new year!!!! *Happy Dance*

So I am setting a new goal! And it is overly ambitious BUT why not? My goal is to burn 1,000 calories on average per day! That's right you heard me! Burn 1,000 calories! I got my new HRM! I love it! Granted during spinning it lost contact with my chest a few time so I think it low balled me on my calories burned but its giving me a better picture of what I am burning which can only help with the 37 pounds lost by my 37th Birthday Goal!

With all that being said please.... JOIN ME! Now if you seriously do not want to invest in a Heart Rate Monitor then check out this site Calories Burned Calculator they tend to be close to my HRM reading. You can also join me on My Fitness Pal I am LawyerGal1908 friend me! Its like Facebook for diet & exercise! It will calculate calories burned from exercise as well. Of course feel free to set your own goal. 1000 may not be realistic for you maybe aim for 300 or 500 and go from there! Either way

SET SOME GOALS. THEN DEMOLISH THEM!

In other goal setting and achieving news ... My personal trainer Charles "Chizel It" Harris's book is flying off the shelves like hot cakes and the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc hosted a "I'm Too Cute To Sweat" event and I was (as my trainer said) as bold as a Patriots fan walking up into a Raven's camp with my AKA tshirt lol Hey we all sisters!! And some of my best friends are Deltas! It was great! Afterwards we went back to his gym and did a quick workout with his PR person/my Soror and it was excellent! Pics below! Ignore the fact that my Soror looks like a diva and I am sweating like a runaway slave lol she has lost 12 pounds 9 from doing a cleanse Charles has in his book and *gulp* I am going to do it! Pray for me yall! I bought a juicer! Only $29.99 at Walmart by the way and its a Black & Decker!  I will be blogging about that! Yall know I love food!  In fact I promised yall some pics from Baltimore Restaurant Week see below, below I stuck to my salmon plan but if you want to ignore the food p*rn then keep scrolling to the end :-)

I'm Too Cute To Sweat Event! Charles's AKA & Delta crew from Chizel It!

AKAs Do Workout!

Me getting my iron on!

Mo's Salmon stuffed with crab, shrimp, and scallops with rosemary roasted red potatoes! Delish!

The Oceanaire Salmon with spinach and bacon goodness!

Well it was a good month and February here I come  with bigger and better goals! In fact I doing my very first Vision Board Party!

People kept asking me to do one so I finally said you know what its 2012 and I am gonna do it! I have sent out a few emails and the response has been great! It will be in Baltimore and local people and even folks from NY and Virgina are planning to attend! Its gonna be awesome! If you want to come here's the link to all the info! http://fromtheorytopracticevisionboardartyfeb2012.eventbrite.com/

If you have read my blog for any length of time you know I love doing vision board but it isn't as easy as throwing some pictures on a poster board. People seem to either forget, miss, or just don't understand that! There is work involved but having a vision in place is a key to reaching any goal! I can still see the vision board I made before my triathlon and I found a picture of a Black woman with her hands raised after crossing the finish line and sure nuff when my time came to be an Iron Girl that is the last image that was taken of me! All I can say is IT WORKS and if I have tapped into some information that can help someone else I feel obligated to share it! So we will see how it goes BUT...I already know its gonna be awesome!

Speaking of seeing how things go....things with Beres Fan are going well and I am happy. :-) I finally got my Christmas gift lol it was a nice sweater and scarf can't stay mad at a man who will buy you clothing lol We seem to be in a good place right now so we'll keep moving right along! :-) he says odd but nice things like I am so happy I met you. Ok so maybe odd is not the right word but he says things like that, that you may be thinking but don't ever say them. I am happy we met too and yesss I told him that LOL *end warm & fuzzy scene here* LOL

That's all (like yall need any more) for now! I am back to my 4 class teaching schedule but tonight I have a guest speaker so I will go to class #1 then head to the gym to catch Charles's class to get a jump start on my 1000 per day goal for February! Yesterday I did this new Dance cardio class. The teacher was cute but that is not a workout for me! I had to jump on the elliptical to burn 200 more calories :-/ did that in 10 minutes while her 60 minute class burned like 380. I stayed  for Tyrone's boxing class and it was good. I am not sore like I expected considering I did 3 hours at the gym on Sunday and then 2 hours yesterday! But that's a good thing! So anyhoo I'll check in soon!! Thanks gang!!!! :-)


P.S.Share your February goals with me!!!

Baltimore Restaurant Week & Other Adventures in Sweat!!

WARNING: Greedy Post!!!

Well its time to indulged in Baltimore Restaurant Week! If you are unfamiliar with the concept (insert any city here) Restaurant Week is a promotion that restaurants do at a fixed prices typically with a fixed menu! The meal will cost under $20 for lunch and under $30 for dinner. Most of these meals would cost twice as much so its really a great deal especially if you want to try a place out! The Oceanaire is this year's pick! To be honest had I been paying more attention I would have tried somewhere else but every year restaurant week sneaks up on me like I don't know its coming! Anyhoo I almost missed it but someone I know made the reservations and I jumped on it although I need to be spinning tonight!

The upside is I know the menu and can pick it out from now and not get too far off track when I get there. So tonight will be a Cesar salad, salmon, and I am thinking their fresh baked cookies! *drool* All for $30 bucks! Can't beat that!

So far I have only been to the gym once and that was on Monday. I had a session with my trainer Charles! It was a good workout but (thankfully) I am not as sore as last week! Its only Wednesday and ideally I should be at the gym but I can't be there all the time and live a balanced life. The goal is to go home and do the treadmill. I made a pack with Soror Mimi that we'd keep each other in check over the web tonight! *fingers crossed*

Charles took a few pics on Monday most were not flattering lol I see every bit of that 37..now 35 pounds I need to lose! But there is one pic on the treadmill that caught my eye for some reason and made me proud of myself. I was telling my AKA Workout Sorors I don't fancy myself a runner even though I have done 5ks, half marathons, and even a triathlon but the shot really made me remember where I am fitness wise that I can hop on a treadmill and run non-stop vs. where I came from! Charles has brought me a mighty long way!

Speaking of Charles and his awesomeness! This weekend the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Baltimore Metro Alumnae Chapter are having a I'M TOO CUTE TO SWEAT MEGA WORKOUT! I am looking forward to it! His book is doing well and this will be a free event that is open to the public so please come by if you are in the Maryland/DC area from 9-2pm!

LOCATION: THE DELTA COMMUNITY CENTER 2501 SPRINGHILL AVE BALTIMORE MD 21215

Saturday is a busy day! Gym, Charles's event, then its date afternoon/night with Beres Fan lol we'll call him B.F. for short. We've been better in terms of communication so to shoplift a saying from a friend... I am cautiously optimistic! We had a long conversation last night and it wasn't anything deep but I enjoyed it. I found a journal I was keeping in the fall and boy oh boy did we fall into this kinda quick! I guess there's no accounting for chemistry! So we're gonna ride this out and see! Valentine's Day is coming up and I saw this on facebook LOL Gotta love Tiffany's! That might be too much too soon though lol but since he is always saying "I knowwww you!" maybe it wouldn't be shock! Humm it'll be 6 months by then anyway lol that went quickly!


Anyhoo the first class of spring for my second school starts today and I already got a phone call from a nervous pre-law student who has a flat tire and can't make it to the first class... *exhale* Boule 2012 is all I can say! :-)

The more I want...

Well it is Saturday! Man this week flew by! I have not been to the gym or worked out (because I must remember they are not mutually exclusive) since my workout with Charles on Monday! To be perfectly honest I was sore up until Thursday! What a workout that was!

Its been a busy week and next thing I knew it was Friday. I left work early to come home and the plan was to get on the treadmill but my poor cat injured herself Tore her ACL of all things! Yes just like football players and well I had some drama getting her to take her meds! She is 15 years old and looked ok but she has some other issues so I will not let her have surgery.

The plan was to go see the movie Red Tails with some sorors &  friends so before I knew it, it was time to get ready to go to dinner and so no treadmill!

Confession time my calories were way over! I am PMSing eating cheese curls and bbq chips! All week! Then I had the nerve to get on the scale and be salty lol but today is a new day. I had a EAS protein shake and I have some salmon defrosting.

The weather here is horrible! We had a little snow but there is a lot of ice so my gym was closed and that meant I couldn't see my trainer today as planned. I couldn't let another day go by without working out so I went downstairs and got on my treadmill and used weights, adjusted the incline a few times and before I knew it I was half way through a Law & Order episode and I said let me just stay for an hour or 3 miles which ever come first!

The Aftermath! LOL

Thank God my mother bought me that treadmill 3 years ago! What a blessing!

I came across a quote this morning that said

‎~“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.”-Richard Bach 

I am so happy & grateful I don't see exercise as work! Even when I am busy its not for a lack desire to workout its just a lack of time management! But my goal of 37 pounds lost by my 37th birthday is something I really want to get done so I'll adopt a new attitude towards my goal. Its not work! Its progress!

Have a happy Saturday! If you are snowed or iced in like me be sure to work out...scratch that... be sure to EXERCISE and drink plenty of water! Tomorrow my plan is to go Spinning, Monday see my Trainer, Tuesday I have class so I will do a midday at work class, Wednesday my new class starts so I will catch the 5:30 spinning class,  Thursday another spinning class and Friday TBA. My goal is to workout every day this week and finish my 30 mins 30 day Exercise challenge strong!

I'll check back soon!

The C Word

Its half way through January! That is crazyyyyy!!! Well I saw the above ad at The Vitamin Shoppe for what I don't even know but it spoke to me. I went to "stock up" on some supplies for the journey such as Atkins protein shakes, Vitamin D chews, and some calcium chews after getting an earful from my doctor! On the upside my blood press was 100/70!! *Jersey Shore fist pump* It made me so proud of myself since a few years ago I was on blood pressure medication!

My point... The C Word.... Commitment! It seems to be an on going theme lately. I was in spinning class last week and the spinning teacher made the statement when we got to a rough part of the ride and it really struck me too. She said "Commit to it!" That really helped me to dig in deep and push through the rest of the ride. PS Thanks Erika V.!

A few days later I saw this sign and I realized I have done some bad azz athlete-like things 5ks, a half marathon, a freaking triathlon, rock climbing, Krav maga, etc., etc. but I have failed at making a sincere commitment to the journey to be a real athlete!

I like the flexibility or the crutch of using/abusing food for stress relief vs. using yoga and mediation.
I like holding onto old/bigger clothing to have wiggle room vs. letting go of every piece of clothing over a size 14.
I can quickly go one month without a single workout and not really miss it.

I am NOT committed to the journey to be a true athlete.

Clearly I see all the benefits of exercising but I guess I have not fully committed to the lifestyle and mind set of an athlete

That doesn't mean I don't get to take a break or rest day but part of the reason I started the 30 day 30 minute per day challenge was to get my mind right in terms of consistency!

Athletes are consistent! I blogged about the 3 Amigos the guys who run at 5am no matter what. Athletes.

Well I went back to my Personal Trainer Charles on Monday and ooohhh weeee was that a welcome home! The pics are below! It helped me to remember that doing cardio is good but weight lifting and cardio is where its at! I am still sore and its now Thursday! I am not mad at him or it! I need to reach my 37 pounds down by my 37th birthday!! And with this type of COMMITMENT I WILL!

What getting back on track looks like 2K12

Well its been a minute since a did a food/product review for getting back on track so the first of the year seems like a great time to do it!

Food is key and goes hand in hand with exercise so here are some new goodies I have come across and would recommend to ya!

My New York day trip snacks!

Needless to say I travel a lot if yall have been following my journey you know I am on a plane, train, or automible every month sometimes two or three times a month! Travel is the devil. Its so easy to grab chips, candy, and random foolishness like gummy bears and other things I would not normally eat but because I am on the road its like a free for all. Well on this trip I planned my snacks so I wouldn't be tempted at the rest stops.

Dan Active is only 80 calories. Its not very big its like really like 3 sips. I only bought them b/c they were on clearance and I am always behind on my calcium intake!

Fage yogurt- I blogged about before I think! I still like my Chobani but the fage I don't need splenda! Its just a nice change of taste and it is a lil high point wise its 4 points but it does make me feel full longer!

Blackberries- I got them for 99 cents and they are not super sweet but still a good snack! They are only 62 calories for 1 cup!

These Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuts are THE TRUTH! A serving is only 6 crackers so portion control is KEY! 120 Cals/4fat/20carb/3 protein so that's only 3 WW points.

Almonds- I've talked about before!

Lastly the Luna Bars! I am such a creature of habit I rarely try anything new but Trader Joe's had them on sale for 99 cents so I tried a few and boy are they good! My fave is the Nutz over Chocolate but I the peanut butter and  white macadamia nut are good too! They are 5 whole points which is a lot however its basically a meal replacement or big pre gym snack. If you count calories its only 120-150 so that's very reasonable for a snack and they are sweet enough that you don't end up wanting "real" chocolate. Winner!

Mom's recommendation~ 180c/3.5 fat/28 carbs/ 8 fiber/ 12 protein

Taste good but mine is better but this is good for the portion vs me making a whole crock pot and getting tired of it and throwing it away!

This is old school but its a great sugarfree afternoon sanck when you want something sweet!

Laughing cow is a great snack with crackers! Full of flavor but only 30 calories!

Another great option when on the go and don't want to leftovers of soup! 100 calories and taste great!

Well that's all for now! I am picky about what I eat and what I like so I would say try these and let me know what you think! I will work on tagging my post so you can see topics grouped together but here are the links to other reviews in case you want to go shopping this weekend!


http://cyliafitandfab.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-getting-back-on-track-looks-like_27.html

http://cyliafitandfab.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-getting-back-on-track-looks-like.html

http://cyliafitandfab.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-getting-back-on-track-looks-like.html

I am happy to report yesterday I did 31 minutes on the treadmill! Yeahhh me! I was tired but I got on and called two people while I walked and before you knew it, it was time!

Today a good Soror friend asked me to pick up a jacket for her daughter since it was kinda close to my office. I said sure thing no sense in her driving over 100 miles! I google mapped it and it was 1.5 miles each way! Shooottt I've done did 5ks, half marathons, and triathlons so surely that would be no biggie! Well that took me an hour! LOL granted I wasn't running or jogging but that seemed long lol and I worked up a sweat LOL So I got my 30 minutes in Day 5 is a wrap!

Tonight I am cooking dinner for my Linesister. She was the one who I did the Iron Girl Team in Training group in honor of! Haven't seen her in a  while so I am looking forward to it!

Day 6 I am looking at hitting an aerobics class after work instead of spinning. I did something weird to my left hand! The part of my hand where my index finger and palm meet hurts like hell! I think I slept on it wrong like maybe I bent in way back in my sleep! Darn me for using 6 pillows! There's bound to be some danger in being that comfortable lol

Ohhh and Beres fan called last night :-) Let me stop smiling :-)  :-/ Men! Now he wants to know what he can do to get me back! I gave him the Drake line we just want something different. I told him I am not mad at him and I know he's a good person but he's a typical 30 something single man with no kids and no real responsibility and he agreed. I told him in contrast I guess I am a typical 30 something year old woman who wants a relationship which = responsibility, communication, etc. I kept telling him it was ok but he wants to work things out..
I dunno I am lukewarm on the idea... but we'll see. Right now I have a lot of things I need to do this year and 2011 went by so fast I need to be mindful of what and who I spend my time with in 2012... 2012 is all about the power moves...

Ok will check in soon! Any foods you want to share "for the good of the order" lol please post them and I'll try them out!

Yesterday You Said Tomorrow.

Well its Day #4 of my 30 minutes for 30 days workout challenge! As a quick recap Day #1 I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, Day #2 I did Spinning for 1 hour & Body Flow for 1 hour , Day #3 I did Spinning for 30 minutes and Building Brick Bodies (which was a super challenging cardio and strength training class) for 1 hour with one of my fave instructors who has been on break for a while because she had a baby! Boooyy did she come back rearing to go!!! Thanks Ericka!!!

Today is Day 4 and I am back in the office. I was up late last night on the phone and woke up dragging at 5:30am caught the 6:30am bus and made it to work by 7:15am. Whew I am tired already! Seriously I need a nap and might just take one!

Today is the REAL test! My plan is to go to the gym after work and do a spinning class. My back up is going to be doing my treadmill at home for at least 30 minutes. I don't want to fall victim to (as the picture says) Yesterday, You Said Tomorrow.
The reason the 30 day challenge is helpful to me is because I get so busy and one missed workout is a slippery slope for me! One day turns into two then three then next thing you know its been a week! I understand that my body requires exercise to lose weight. I just accept that now so my goal to keep it active.

The good thing is my 37 pounds by my 37th birthday is already working it self out!

I am down 3 pounds since 1/1/2012!  I sure am happy! I been drinking more water, tracking, and planning my meals! Who woulda thunk it would have worked lol

I was sharing with a friend who wants to lose weight that I typically jump on the exercise train first then slowly get back on track with journaling and making better food choices because trying to do everything "right" is overwhelming! I think that is wise advice especially in the new year.

So... Day #4

I put it out there and now I have to back it up! :-)


I'll check back!

Happy New Year! Happy New Look!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! As you can see its also HAPPY NEW LOOK!!!! :-) I thought it was time for a little face-lift around these's here parts! What do ya think? I am still working out some kinks but it looks brighter and full of life! Just like me!

Well 2011 has gone down in the history books and my theme was "My Best Life Ever" followed by my tag line of "In The Mix at 36!" I have to say, personally my 2011 was outstanding! I learned so much about myself and I've grown so much that 2011 created some of my fondest memories! I ended up sleeping in on New Years Eve... I can't lie my goal of In the mix at 36 was a success so by the time NYE got here I was tired! LOL The plan was to go to church but I seriously was tired so I rested! I woke up 7 minutes before the ball dropped watched it and turned right over and went to sleep. 2012 is going to be a big year for me and I guess I'll need my rest so I took it! :-) Hope you all had a safe and wonderful time!

Of course this is always a good time to reflect on the health & fitness front.  I  am happy to say in 2011 I  maintained 80 of my 100 pounds of weight loss, tried several new adventures like Krav Maga, Birkam / hot yoga, and indoor rock climbing, active dates including a unknown amount of miles from Maryland to DC to Va and back! Whew!! I still see my personal trainer Charles at least once a week and I got back to my other gym and rekindled my love of Les Mills workouts!

Weight loss wise I got back within 15 pounds of my 100 pound weight loss goal and I felt and looked great. It showed me while I was beating myself up to get back to my 100 I needed to be grateful for improving my life to this extent.

2012 I have some work to do on balancing my commitments. I have a full time job with a 3.5 hour commute 4 days a week, I teach between 2 to 4 college classes 3 nights a week, I chair 2 chapter committees for my sorority, I have a regional appointment, I was just named chairman of a Junior League committee, and oh yeah I sleep too! Lol

I know it sounds like a lot and it is lol but I enjoy every minute of it I swear! But my workouts are the first things to go under stressful circumstances and food is the first thing I use to help with the added stress. In 2012 I can say I will make a change. I think the main thing is putting it in perspective and moving forward. By that I mean my goal is to treat myself better. I will NOT allow weight loss to be another area of added stress for me.

Goals for January 2012 include:

1)  A 30 day 30 minute minimum per day workout challenge! I tested myself on day 1 because I had a one day trip to New York to see The Mountiantop.  (Awesomeeeeee by the way! Try and catch it by Jan 22nd!!) The plan was to leave at 9am so at 8am I jumped out of bed and got on my newly fixed treadmill! I did 30 minutes and used 3 pound hand weights and man did I work up a sweat! Gheeesssh! The mind is so tricky I kept having this internal dialogue about doing just 20 minutes or just 22 and I would just post/say I did 30 minutes anyway... heck I used weights that surely adds time!!! LOL

 It was bad and Law & Order was not helping to drown out the negotiations at all lol but I pushed my way through and just told myself it's not about what I post or what others think its about the benefit I am giving to my body and to my life! Next thing you know I hit 30 minutes! Score!

Today my plan was to do spinning and body flow. And I did it! The spinning class was not that great because of the music then 45 minutes in she pulls out the big guns and plays Eminem Lose Yourself! I love that song its the only thing that saved that class! But it went downhill pretty quickly after that again! LOL

I took my yoga mat to catch the Body Flow class and I almost talked myself out of the class and had to turn the dial down to 2 (a la Real Housewives of NY speak) and went right up front! It was a great workout I always forget how hard planks, downward facing dogs, and dancer poses can be!  But I made it through! Two great hours to treat myself better! #winning!

Today was my day off and my house is empty since my Mom went to visit with my sister so I am going to enjoy the peace and solitude even though her visit has been somewhat drama free its still nice to have my space back to just me! Although she has whipped this place into shape in two weeks! She cleaned up my basement, has done loads and loads of laundry, and even worked on my office! Moms rock!!!

Mom has been on her own fitness revolution and I'll post some pics soon but she's lost a total of 40 pounds over the last 3 years and she really looks great! And I inherited loads and loads of clothing that fit since I am still guilty of wearing things that are too big! So her visit  and donation were perfect timing wise and I will gift The Wise Penny with all my wonderful items tomorrow!

Keeping old bigger clothing is a trap! DON'T DO IT! Give it away if you know those big pants are in your closet you'll be more likely to act in such a way to need them! Trust me!

Oh and by the way I am back on www.myfitnesspal.com LawyerGal1908 so join me!

Back to my January goals! I set the following goals for the first month of 2012: 1) exercise 30 minutes a day 2) journal 3) mediate daily

I am behind of creating my new vision board but its funny as soon as I seem to think of something a way for it to happen appears! I been mulling over doing more yoga but not wanting to pay for yet another gym membership so today I was talking with my Krav Maga buddy and friend Dawn and she mentioned groupon has a great deal on a local yoga studio! I bought 30 classes for $30.00!!!! Thank you Dawn!! I bought them right a way! Looking forward to getting some hot yoga back in my life this year!

I can say the spirit hasn't moved me to create a new vision board so I don't want to push against that non feeling if that makes sense. I was looking through some pictures with my sister this weekend and I was saying to her one of my co-workers told me she could see I was "coming down nicely"  and I still don't get how a mere 10-15 pounds looks so different to people until I look at pictures! So the mental picture I am holding in my head is the pic below :-) My lowest weight/size  I was there for like 15 minutes but ahhh it felt good size 12 jeans (Ashley Stewart don't judge my vanity sizing glow!) granted I was working out like 6 days a week for at least 2 hours most of those days but I think this is totally doable by June!

May 2010

Dec 2011 plus 25 pounds 

Anyhoo that's all for now! Please feel free to share your goals with me! I'll be rooting for you all like I know you are rooting for me!

Wishing you all a productive 2012!