2nd qtr 2016 fitness goals defined

I've been noodling about this since my last post.  Before the days and month get away from me, I know I need to be a little more decisive about my goal. The sooner I do that, the sooner I can also define a reward!  Ha!

I decided to take dreaded pics of myself so that I can SEE the areas that I want to focus on and target to change.  I've mentioned (on IG @fullhouseofroyals) my cellulite that has creeped onto the outside of my thighs (and my butt too) and I just cannot.  CANNOT. DEAL.  Ugh.  What is this gross thing? Actually, I know what it is.  The bigger question is WHYYYY????  What horrible punishment for slacking off!

In any event, I am aware that there is no potion, lotion, scrub or cream that will buff it away.  I know that burning the fat layer and building the muscle underneath is the only way.  How's that for getting to the point?  I saved you oodles of time googling and watching ridiculous long youtube videos explaining the same in only two sentences.  You're welcome.

The pictures don't lie.  And no, you won't be seeing them.  I can barely look at them.  The true test was putting on that cute bikini that I totally rocked just last Summer.  WHAT. IN. THE. HELL???  It's like a completely different bottom half of my body!  So, there is my answer.  Boom.

The goal:  Eradicate said cellulite and get a tight, smooth butt.  I don't think a quarter is enough though.  13 weeks?  Eh.  I have looked at before and after "body transformation" photos.  It can be done (unless those pics have been photoshopped to high heaven).  I will never know unless I stop, drop and squat.  A lot.

The plan:  Not sure yet.  I will research this and find one but in the meantime, I will make sure to find glute/leg workouts on pinterest or youtube.  I have an office gym with a pretty good amount of equipment that I will have to teach myself to work with, a membership at a great gym that has every machine imaginable and I will continue to attend my Kickbox class, cycling and running for cardio (fat burning).

The reward:  The beach!  Courtesy of the hubby.  When we had this conversation and I showed him the pics and blew them up.  Oh, yes I did.  Yikes.  I said "no denying, honey...THAT has GOT TO GO"  So, before you wonder why I am insisting to go to the gym again, go for a late run or start randomly squatting before jumping in the shower, you know it's because of THAT.  He suggested a trip to the beach as a reward.  I am not about to turn that down and I am not about to take THIS out in a bikini anytime soon so....it's set.

Bonus:  For April, I started a 30 day arm challenge I saw on Instagram put on by Fitness Magazine. I'm 4 days in and I already know it's going to be tougher than I thought.  I'll also be incorporating abs heavily into the mix and watching my nutritional intake take too.  So no worries, I won't be neglecting the rest of my body.  :)

Details to follow!  Come back and if you follow along and my booty starts making obvious improvements, I would consider posting my very own before and after.  But only then.

Happy Glutes Day! I mean, Tuesday! ;)

Valerie

Ctrl Alt Delete...reboot!

My computer has been running really slow lately.  My phone is acting the same way.  It appears that I'm out of storage space.  Come to think of it, that extra set of garages is kinda full too.  It's amazing how many toys, bikes, gadgets, golf clubs and a plethora of other stuff a family of six can accumulate.

Although this could easily become a post about how I need to sell, purge and organize my life, I don't have a week to talk about all the things I need to do.  I'll tackle that a bit at a time.

Just as our homes and electronics get bogged down, so do our bodies.  In my case, I caved to my sweet tooth one too many times.  I was doing so well getting to my "fit, fab & forty" body and then the birthday came and I totally let the wheels come off the bus.  Cakes and desserts at the end of every celebratory meal and then a couple of holidays...Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras flanked the day with an abundance of chocolate and king cake.  I think that's all past us now but what remains is the incredibly sluggishness that I feel.

Good news bad news is still that I lost my butt.  I didn't necessarily gain weight but I feel "soft" and particularly around my middle. So, no butt and squishy midsection...that's where I am at now and I'll say, I'm not particularly thrilled with it.  Especially the sluggish part.  Granted, the weather has been incredibly bipolar and I appreciate it letting me use it as an excuse because...I just didn't feel like working out.  Shoot, I STILL don't! Bleh.

Case in point...I did week 4 & 5 of T25 twice!  Why?  Because I did such a crappy job of staying on it that I felt like I needed to redo it until I got it right.  And I still didn't.

Yesterday, although I felt like anything BUT working out, I knew I HAD to.  I have got to lift out of this funk and get moving again.  Rebooting the workout plan was probably the only way to do it so I went ahead and started the Beta portion of T25, week 1 last night.  I also tried to fix a healthy meal for myself.  Flying solo with 4 kids in the evening does not make for creative, healthy cooking, I learned.  The kids were fed, bathed, homework was done and everyone was in bed and yet, I never got around to eating what I made.  I had made a batch of quinoa which I knew I could doctor up with something I found on pinterest.  I did exactly that and tweaked it some more for the ingredients I did have (butternut squash versus sweet potato) and those patties just fell apart on me.  Oh, well...they tasted great, just not pretty.  Regardless, I ended up having a bowl a cereal after my workout because anything else felt too heavy at midnight.  Yes, midnight.
I had to also catch up on my yoga challenges...because kind of ignored that too.  Before I knew it, it was Tuesday.

The Cardio dvd was really what I needed...I didn't know what to expect and they REALLY step it up with intensity.  I was actually looking at that timer on the screen as it counted down wishing it would move FASTER.  Ugh.

I am looking forward to Speed 2.0 tonight but am afraid that after a week of trying all the workouts in the series, I will be bored.  Not to mention, I don't feel like I am getting any stronger.  I think I'll add some strength training somehow tonight however, long term, I need to find something else that will get me amped up.  Thank goodness for my aerial class...I really look forward to going to that every week.

I'll be searching for new ideas to keep things fresh.  Stay tuned on that.  In the mean time, I am hoping the weather cooperates more so that I can finally start taking my bike out for some long rides (fantastic glutes emerge here!).

Have a fantastic Tuesday & get movin' (no matter what time...just do it!)

~V