Cheater!

Today marks the final day in my first month of a healthier life. I'll be honest, I went hard in the beginning and slowly started slacking. I didn't quit! But I definitely haven't been working as hard as I was or should be. I'm not sure why exactly. I've had four and a half cheat meals/days, which I'm going to cut down next month. In a previous post I said how I had tacos and fast food, recently I had fast food again, and it lasted me two days. I also had some nachos when I went to the movies on Sunday, planning for that day to be my cheat day, but we didn't end up going out for dinner after. I was weak and needed to make up for it haha.

If I could have any cheat meal it would be anything fried. Especially fries. Fries and nachos are my weakness. Ugh, I love fries. I once went a week in high school eating fries everyday for lunch. Our school had the best fries for like $2.50. It was a disgusting habit haha.

When it's that time of the week/month, what's your cheat meal of choice?

Do you have enough self control to quit unhealthy food all together?

Pain & Gain Movie Review

Last night my boyfriend and I went to see "Pain & Gain" in theatres. I'm not usually the type of girl to enjoy action movies, but it was so good! They tied in some comedy, so it kept me laughing and engaged. I don't know if it's just me, but while watching action movies I can't pay attention to the story, I'm so distracted by the explosions, car chases, and guns, I just can't follow along haha.

The story in Pain & Gain was true; Which is insane, there were a few moments where I felt sad and disgusted. Just to think that real people did this stuff, to the innocent is horrible. Most movies are based on a true story, but this was a true story. It is still a big hollywood film, so I became very curious about what was true and what wasn't. I spent the whole bus ride home reading up on the criminals and incidents. This website I found makes many comparisons and corrections against the movie, as well as a quote from Marc Schiller (Played by Tony Shalhoub) himself. He also wrote a book called "Pain and Gain The Untold True Story" which is available on Amazon.

AP Article

The families and friends of the real people involved in this act were not very pleased with the comedic take on this movie. Which is completely understandable. If I was in their place, and heard a big hollywood film was in the works, I'd be scared and very upset. There is no way of knowing how they would portray everyone and what facts they would twist to make their audience happy, just so they could make millions of dollars.

Thank you Scene points!

Besides all of the controversy and the truth, I very much enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to everyone. There isn't too much gore, in my opinion, and for a two hour movie, it doesn't seem so long. Go see it at your local theatre!!

Have you seen this movie yet?

What did you think of it?

Have you read Marc Shillers' book?

Fitness Watches

Polar vs Garmin

Which brand is better, and for what reason?
Price? Accuracy? Features?

With all of the new fitness blogs and Instagram feeds I've been following, I'm seeing these everywhere! I was first introduced to them last summer, but I knew I wasn't serious enough to spend so much money on an item I may or may not use. But now that I know I'm dedicated, I'm seriously considering investing in one. I've done some research about both brands; I've found both pros and cons for each. I'd love a watch that can do everything, GPS, calorie counter, heart rate monitor, heart rate zones, everything. I just don't want to spend $250+ for it haha. I mean, I don't need GPS, I can just carry around my phone and use the Nike+ app, since I would have my phone with me anyways. I'd also like for it to track not only my runs, but other things like resistance training. Unless they're all capable of doing that, then forget I said that.

The one I've been looking at the most is the Polar FT60, but I've also checked out some of the Garmin Forerunners. Although, I've been seeing the Polar FT4 everywhere, it seems pretty popular.

Polar FT60

Polar FT4

I'd love to hear some opinions from both sides. What you liked about your watch, what you didn't like, if it was worth the money, is there a different brand I should check out, anything! 

Please, comment below with any feedback.

My First 5KM!...and then some

Hello Readers!

I've made it past my 2 week slump! I've stayed on top of eating healthy, minus a couple days but more on that later, and staying active. I think it's because this time I'm doing it for me. I'm doing it because I want to feel better, look better, and actually be healthier. I've always been active whether it was with Soccer, dance or the odd fitness class (yoga, kickboxing etc.), but I never ate as healthy as I should. Surprisingly, it's not as hard as I thought. Mind over matter. It's really tough when I have cravings for sweets or fried carbs. I don't really have a method on how to over come it, except complain, eat something else or chew gum. It's not the best, but it seems to be working so far haha. BUT, I can't say I've gone all month with no cheat meals. It was my goal to, but I failed. On Sunday I had some fast food, but I didn't go too overboard, and on Tuesday I went out for Taco Tuesday. $1.00 tacos, that's hard to turn down. I made sure to makeup for those cheat meals the following day.

Which brings me to the title of this post. I wasn't too proud of my actions the days before, even though it tasted delicious, so I chose to "torture" my body because of it. I decided running would be my weapon of choice. I've been running stairs every Sunday but only ran outside once. Mainly because it's been snowing and I hate having to run through traffic lights and crosswalks. But I figured since I'm trying to push myself and eventually run a half marathon, or at least the distance of one, I might as well run outside. I walked out the door with the goal of running 5KM. I turned on my Nike+ app, Songza and started the journey. I don't usually run very far in my area, usually 16-20 blocks in total or about 2KM, so this ended up being an adventure. I ran the usual first portion, and ventured on to search for some sort of trail. I saw scenes I've never seen before and it was awesome, I can't wait to do it again in Autumn when the trees begin to change colour. On my way back to my condo, I still had 1KM to go, so I ran the normal course I would normally run. Of course my last kilometre was far from my house and I couldn't give up, so I ran all the way back home, and that ended up in me running a total of 6.2KM which is flipping awesome! I probably could of kept running to be honest, my legs felt like jelly when I was done but I was filled with excitement. The most I've ever ran was maybe 4KM last summer, but I was running more often than I am now. This was only my second run of the season, not including stairs, and I made it over my goal. Ah, just awesome. I'm going to continue working on this run and speeding up my pace.

How did you feel when you set a goal and completed or even surpassed it?

Untitled??

I need some help. I have absolutely no idea what to name this blog! I sit for moments at a time on my editing page, thinking up some clever and catchy names only to come up with nothing. I did create this blog for my fitness journey and goals, but I would like to eventually evolve it into a life and fitness blog. If you happen to come across this and have some ideas, please comment below. I've thought of incorporating my name in it as well but I'm just stumped. I'm open to anything! =)

Exercise High

My first week is complete! I think I did a pretty good job with eating healthy and working out. I've been making sure I ate clean, or at least more clean than I ate before, and getting my vegetables in! I'd much rather eat fruit than vegetables, I just get sick of them so quickly. I basically never ate vegetables before, so my body is probably thanking me. I've been sticking to chicken or shrimp with vegetables, seasoned with Mrs.Dash. I'm very proud of myself for pushing through, even on the days I didn't want to do anything. I did take one rest day, but it was planned. I've already noticed a teeny tiny difference, and my flexibility is getting better! Hopefully by the end of this week I'll be able to do the splits, I'm almost there!

My boyfriend always talks about having a pump and feeling like your muscles are full and just engorged with blood. I never understood what that feeling felt like until Friday when I worked my arms. I superset with a band working my biceps, shoulders, and triceps doing 3 reps of 20 each. Holy, did my muscles ever feel swollen. I've never felt anything like it, but I loved it. I instantly went to the bathroom when I was done and shamelessly flexed haha. Yesterday my boyfriend and I ran stairs and worked our abs. I find it so much better working out with him because he pushes me to go harder. I don't think I've trained my brain to push as hard as he pushes me. After our workout I felt that swollen feeling in my abs again, excited, I ran into the bathroom to see the damage. My stomach looked more toned and it motivated me to continue in this journey so those abs will stay! Especially without flexing haha.

I'm on such a high right now, I'm so happy, so proud, so motivated, and I can't wait until May 1st to see what 30 days worth of healthy eating and exercising can do. I have a history of giving up after the first week and a half or second week, but I just can't this time. I have to push through!

Why I haven't run outside. It's -6 now and has been snowing the past couple of days.

After my ab workout, there is still lots to improve on.

Arm day!

The weakest part of my body are my arms! I hate lifting weights and I avoid working my arms at any cost. I enjoy the burn in my legs, but I can't stand it in my arms for whatever reason. Despite my hatred, I worked on my arms/shoulders this morning and went for a run. The first official run outside this season!

Today, I didn't use the medicine ball because my upper body is so weak; I'll need to get back into things before adding it into my arm workout.

April 2nd:

3 x 20 Tricep Dips
3 x 15 Push Ups
3 x 26 Shoulder Stabilization
2.30 KM Run

Now, I'm not a fitness expert at all. I literally just Google workouts pertaining to the area I'd like to work on that day. I'm not sure if the "Shoulder Stabilization" is a legitimate thing, but it burned so I'm hoping it is! If you know the actual name for this, if that's not it, let me know. It's when you lay flat on your stomach, with your arms straight in front of your head and palms together. The site I found it on said to make the letters "I, Y, O, W", but I just decided to do the alphabet. I find it easier to keep track of how many reps you do.

I'm painfully sore from yesterday, but still pushed myself to go for a run. My calves, thighs, butt and lower back are causing me to awkwardly waddle around the house like a penguin. For my first run, I didnt want to go too far, I wanted to get my mind and body back in love running. I ran 19 blocks, while weaving in and out of puddles and running on the road to avoid mud and ice patches. I use the Nike+ app on my phone and it logged me at 2.30KM's.

Day 1 - Phew!

Happy Monday/April Fools!

Today marks the official start of my journey. If you noticed the time stamp on my last post, you can assume I stayed up late last night. I actually didn't go to bed until around 3:00AM. Yikes. I prefer to work out early in the morning, especially if I'm going out for a run, but that was not happening today.

I think I did pretty well my first day back in action after a six month winter break, besides dance classes. The weather outside is nice, but I decided to stay indoors and run the stairs in my building. It was pretty tough getting out of bed, so leaving my building would be even harder. 

I'm hoping for more tone and definition. I'll take a progress picture on the 1st of every month. This was taken this morning on an empty stomach before my workout.

The only weight I have available is my boyfriends 3kg medicine ball. So when possible, I will be using that in my exercises. I'll only be doing cardio and body weight exercises.

April 1st:

4 x 20 Lunge Jumps

4 x 20 Squats 

1 Min. per Leg Quadruped Leg Lift 

4 x 12 Stair Cases 

When I run stairs I do it different every time I finish a full set of stairs. The first time going up I touch every stair, the second time I skip every other stair, then I two foot hop (like a bunny), and finally end with running as fast as I can, however I can, which usually ends up with me skipping every other step. Once I'm done a round of 12 stair cases, I wait at the bottom and allow my heart rate to slow down a bit and go again.

The beginning...

Hello everyone!

Today marks the night before I start my journey! Last summer I rediscovered my love for running, only because my boyfriend inspired me to get off my lazy butt and get active. It all began with running stairs in our condo and then we ventured outside and would run for blocks. It eventually came to the point where I would go for runs by myself and actually look forward to it! I've always loved staying active in sports teams and fitness classes, but I could never just exercise. Going to the gym, lifting weights, and paying so much money to do so, just didnt appeal to me.

I have created this blog to both log my process and make myself accountable! This time there will be no giving up and no excuses. My end goal is to be more toned ( hello six pack! ) and to run a half marathon.

Enjoy!