The Master Plan...

The Diet

I find that I am more diligent and tend to stay on track more when I have STRUCTURE. So, I customized a very detailed diet and exercise regimen to follow. I plan to began carb cycling as I found that staying very low for an extended period of time no longer works for me as my body may have gotten used to it. After doing extensive research and finding that nothing works for me like watching my carbs (I've gone from Atkins to Weight Watchers to Atkins to HCG to my own version of low carb which is Atkins inspired) I have decided that cycling would be the best way to go. The science behind it is, my body won't have a chance to adapt to the levels of carbs I am ingesting as it will differ every few days.

According to this chart, between 100-150 grams of carbs should be consumed for weight maintenance. Since I am trying to lose and not maintain, my levels will never go above 100g until I reach my goal weight or should I allow myself a "cheat MEAL" (cheat DAYS are counter productive as they are harder to recover from) and even those won't be often.

On my carb DOWN days I will consume between  30-50 grams of carbs 3 days a week and on carb UP days I will consume 65-85 grams of carbs 4 days a week. Since I am incorporating strength training into my workouts (I was doing primarily cardio before) I may bring those levels up to the max (100) to ensure I have the strength. The reason for there being 4 carb up days is because I will be working out 4 days a week and my body will need the nutrients.

This past MONTH (yes, you read right, MONTH) my eating was a complete and utter FAIL so to kick things off I will resort to Atkins induction (20g of carbs or less) for 2 weeks to deplete my body of the glycogen it has stored, to rid my body of water weight and to enter ketosis (fat burning mode). Once these two weeks are up I will began cycling.

I downloaded an app on my phone to help me keep track of my carbohydrate consumption. I used to use a hand written food journal but I got tired of googling foods to find out the amount of carbs and fiber it had lol.

Exercise

I have come to realize that what I was doing wasn't giving me the effects that I wanted. Pure cardio was no longer sufficient the more weight I lost. As my body got smaller and smaller, I realized I needed to do a lot more to get the weight to come off. I incorporated strength training in the form of workout DVD's (Jillian Michaels is my FAVE) as I don't know much about formulating an effective workout routine.

My problem is that once I get home from work, exercising is the LAST thing on my mind and even getting started was a chore.

 I recently discovered bodybuliding.com and stumbled upon a regimen that promised results in a short amount of time and it appeared completely do-able. At first I was gonna do the entire plan (exercise regimen and diet plan) but I decided I was tired of flip-flopping from eating plan to eating plan and I should just stick to what works for ME. My knowledge of strength training isn't that great (yet) so I figured its best I take a fully regimented plan and follow it. The workout is set to 4 days a week, 3 days rest. The workouts were consecutive but because I work full time and I am a part time student, I had to break the days up to fit my schedule and it goes as follows:

Day 1: (Tuesday) Chest/Triceps

Wide Pushup

Dumbbell or Barbell Bench Press

Flat Bench Cable Flyers

Narrow Pushup

Overhead Triceps Dumbbell Extension

Triceps Pushdowns

*3 Sets of 12 reps each exercise

Day 2: (Wednesday) Back/Biceps

Wide Grip Lateral Pull-down

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Seated Cable Row

Underhand Cable Pull-down

Alternating Dumbbell Curl

One-Arm Dumbbell Curl

Standing Biceps Cable Curl

*3 Sets of 12 reps each exercise

Day 3: (Friday) Legs/Calves

Leg Press

Leg Extensions

Sumo BB Squat

Seated Leg Curl

Standing Calf Raises

Seated Calf Raises

*3 Sets of 12 reps each exercise

Day 4: (Saturday) Shoulders/Abs

Seated Dumbbell Press

Front Delt Raise to a “T” up

Side Lateral Raises

Seated Bent Over Rear Seat Fly

Exercise Ball Crunches

Air Bike

*3 Sets of 12 reps each exercise

I will also be adding 30 minutes of cardio to that regimen, I usually stick to the treadmill or the elliptical so I may do 15 minutes on each. Btw, I added some more ab and butt exercises to the program as those are the areas I want to train the most.

Why I Think It'll Work...

In the past, I deprived myself of so much as I was in a rush to get to my goal weight and be HAPPY. After almost 3 years of living my new lifestyle I realized that this isn't a race, it is a sprint (I think that's how the saying goes lol) but I am no longer in a rush to get THERE, I will just enjoy the ride down. Also, the 4 days where I am allowed a higher amount of carbs will allow me to add variety to my diet and enable me to feel less restricted and deprived. I am only staying low for 3 days and I can do almost anything for 3 short days.

Well, there goes my plan in a nutshell. This blog is partly to serve as a reference to me but more importantly its for those of you who are in need of a plan and don't know where to start. I hope this helps someone as much as I believe it'll help me. If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to drop a comment :)

Finishing what I started

UGH, this journey has been so LONG. I started working on my fitness at the start of 2009. Here it is, 2011 and I have YET to reach my goal. I'm not to worried tho...I've hung in there this long and I don't plan on stopping until I reach the promise land *hallelujah*! So originally I lost 90lbs, got to my lowest weight EVER in april of this year. Looked absolutely FIERCE in Miami...

gained the UN-complementary vacation weight and found myself struggling to get back on the wagon. 

Lucky for me I never let too much time pass before I realize I need to get it together and get back on track. I lost what I had gained during my weeks of bad eating and not exercising and had gotten within 6 pounds of my lowest weight. Sadly after that I found that what I had done to lose the first 90 lbs would not work to get off the next 50. So here I am, slightly heavier (no more than 15-20lbs and most of it is water weight) but just as determined. 

Starting anew on Sunday (need to go food shopping) and I'm ANXIOUS/EXCITED/READY! Cant WEIGHT to complete the 2nd half of my journey :)

BELLA ON: Being Fat & Fashionable...

Lets face it; most people who wear over a size 12 have the misfortune of having to work 10x harder and pay 5x more just to keep up with trends and look fashionable. What someone who wears a size 2 might have to pay $10 for, us plus sized divas end up paying $30+ most often. Not to mention the fact that we have to dig through the tent-like blouses and non-shapely dresses to find something suitable and flattering. It took me up until my junior year of high school to finally accept my body and to stop letting my insecurities about my weight hinder my fashion sense and I started to let my inner plus-sized fashionista out. These pics are from my heavier days and they're just to show you guys that even at 250-290 pounds you can STILL be fashionable!

Disclaimer: most of these pics are 3-4 years old so excuse the outdated fashion (specifically the leg warmers) they were trendy at the time! lol

The Beginning...

I have ALWAYS had issues with my weight...always hated it and always wanted to change it but never did much about it. Of course I tried the norm, diet pills, attempted starvation and diets that never lasted more than a week. I have wanted to lose weight since I was 14 and it wasn't until I was 22 that I had Finally gotten it right.

By January 2009 I became FED UP and said "enough is enough!", the weight HAD to go. The reality is I was ALWAYS fed up and although I am not sure why this time was different, I'm so thankful that it was.

One of the things that set me off was this picture --------->

Taken at a party I had thrown on New Years Eve 2008. It was one of the best New Years I've ever had so of course I wanted to remember it. Throughout the night there was a constant flash of pics being taken to help me and my party-goers remember the night. I didn't realize that once I looked at the pics, I wouldn't want to remember...

I HATED how big I looked standing next to my friends...how round my face looked and how wide my body was compared to theirs. I remembered how I'd hated shopping for a cute/sexy outfit for that night. After all, I was the hostess and was entitled to get my shine on (lol). I was disappointed in myself and fed up with being fed-up and doing absolutely NOTHING about it. NOW was the time!

THE PLAN

So this was it. I had FINALLY decided to do something about my weight for once and for all. But WHAT? I had only been trying for what? Almost a DECADE to lose weight. What could I do to make THIS time different? I had to do something that I advocate FULLY to those of you at the start of your weight loss journeys; RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!!!

What helped me was that I remembered that a close friend of mines mother had tremendous success on the Atkins Diet. Her success had inspired me then to give it a try. I hadn't read the book at the time or even done any research at all. I went by what she had briefly told me about the diet and achieved temporary success. Due to my lack of knowledge, I thought I was limited to just consuming meat and veggies and eventually fell off the wagon.

It was settled. I was going to do Atkins the RIGHT way. I took to my fave outlet; THE INTERNET. I became obsessed. Reading, copying & pasting everything from info, recipes and success stories. I went on ebay and ordered numerous books on the diet and anxiously awaited their arrival. I didn't feel I was ready to began until I fully understood the diet and had a plan written out. I'm a firm believer in the saying "If you fail to plan, then plan to fail".

January 16, 2009 was my OFFICIAL start date. My 1st 4 months I lost 50 pounds! The summer rolled around and hanging with friends and my recent success influenced a "I just wanna have fun and not worry about my weight" attitude. I didn't gain much but I didn't lose either. 

After the summer I got back on track and by New Years eve I was down to 219 pounds! 

I wasn't at my goal but I was happier than I had ever been. I enjoyed my night. I reveled in the compliments and I jumped at every photo opportunity. This time, when I looked at pics, I was PROUD instead of ashamed. It was the best feeling in the world.