ONE WHOLE YEAR!

If someone were to ask me if I'd ever commit to something for more than a year (other than my previous relationships, paying rent or being a quality human being) I would have called them CRAZY.  Really?  Write down EVERYTHING I eat in a composition book every single day?  Hell....even keep a composition book and not LOSE it for a year?  Now that is a feat in and of itself.  BUT....

I did it.  July 16th, 2012 I started food tracking.  Although I went into Tray's gym about a week earlier to have the 'assessment' done on my lower back, I feel as though I got real and got serious when I picked up this book and decided to start writing in it to track everything I've eaten.  This is when my true transformation began.  In one year I am 46 lbs down and healthier and happier than ever.  I wondered countless times if I would make it to this point.  I remember leaving the gym last December wondering "when does this all end?" until I realized....it doesn't.  This is life and the way my life will be from here on out and I'm oddly ok with that.  It's hard...don't get me wrong.  Don't let ANYONE tell you it's easy because it's not - and if they say that, they're lying to themselves.  This sucks - I mean who doesn't want all the good things life has to offer?  What the real key to this lifestyle has become to me is a BALANCE.  I've learned the hard way when it comes to being imbalanced by my recent jaunts to New Orleans and San Francisco for an eating / drinking excursion that balance is necessary.  No one says you can't enjoy some cake for your co-workers birthday; however it's best to not have dessert that night while at dinner and snack all day long.  If you do have the cake, try to make it to the gym and walk a bit that evening. Balance is key....in everything you do.  People lose sight of what is important all the time and for me - I was a work-a-holic.  I worked all the time, ate what I wanted at my desk, didn't get up and move around, drank a ton of beer and couldn't have told you what bikram yoga was if it was my final Jeopardy question....

Now - a year later, I sit on a ball chair, I am up by 5:15 every morning, I work out (at times multiple times a day), I eat very healthy, I rarely eat past 8:00 at night, I write down everything, I lose track and fall off the wagon because I'm human, I track my steps daily and aim for 1,500 more than the 'norm' and I VACATION because I have a ton of energy....it really is a good life these days.  In addition I've found a wonderful way of never beating myself up.  People make mistakes, you falter, you miss the gym, you eat shitty food and you make bad decisions.  I've learned to never beat myself up for anything - this is extremely important when it comes to looking for a long term life change. 

2013 stats...so far:

work outs completed (1/1 - 7/16): 265 (consisting of runs, walks, bikram yoga, stretch class, weight training, spin, swimming, sauna, paddle boarding and barre classes)
days off total during this time: 22
weight dropped: 9 lbs


Next goal = 30th birthday (November 29th, 2013)

 Me and Tray this morning on my 'health birthday'

 Left = 7/16/2012 and right = one year later!

 

  Left = 6/23/2012, right = 6/16/2013

See my photo album from the past year....some of my favorites:

Stephina Photography 'one year shoot' -  May 28th, 2013

Grand Cayman Islands - April 2013

 

Being bad ass - ALL YEAR LONG

And more to come!!

Cleanse time - 5 days instead of 3!!!

Just started my juice cleanse for my "post-vacation I've almost been working out 1 year with my trainer' cleanse present to myself.  This time I opted for the 5 day cleanse and I am even thinking of extending it 2 more days (well... let's see how I feel on Monday).  I am excited to clean my system out.  I have been vacationing and non-dieting for awhile now and it's time to get back in the swing of things....why?  Well because I just feel better overall!!  I was the most toned, high energy individual the day I left for New Orleans....granted I had a great time in NOLA and in SF twice with my friends in the last four weekends but again, it's time to get my shit together and this juice cleanse is the jump off point. 

Looking to get back to this (my August 1st goal):

JUICE CLEANSE DEAL! Attention! Attention!

GILT CITY Ritual Cleanse DEAL! 25% off!

Click above and get yourself a juice cleanse :)

Clean our your system yo!  It's awesome.

QUICK LINK to view MY thoughts on my juice clease!!

ALWAYS: pre-cook for the flight!

When in travel mode it's always important to do what I call "pre-cooking for the flight". Most people do not realize this but you're allowed to bring any food (with exception of things like yogurt because it's classified as a "gel" and over the 3 oz. maximum) on the plane!  You throw it right through security.  Often times you're able to even bring it on as a "third" bag if you let them know it's just food and will be consumed in flight.  So what do I do?  I ALWAYS board a plane with a full day of food.  That time in flight can be the ultimate HELL on the body and can completely ruin your mind-set.  Something about sitting in the airport makes you want to consume Mentos, chocolate, McDonald's and any other crappy things airports have to offer - AND - if you have a layover...forget it!  You're doomed.  Also the 8,000 feet of pressure - breathing is more labored.  In the cabin there is less available oxygen in the air which puts an added load onto your system.  So - just sitting and breathing is a challenge to your body.  Using foresight to plan ahead is important and with simple preparation you're able to arrive at your destination healthy enough to enjoy your time! 

"Pre-cooking" avoids two things - eating crappy airplane garbage food and spending too much money!  Bringing food on the flight will enable you to not blow your diet instantly when in the airport and be able to save you your calories for the fun trip you're about to take! 

Good suggestions of healthy food that keeps in flight:

Quinoa with black beans, red peppers and chicken
Almonds
Salad (get little to-go ramekins for salad dressing so it does not go soggy)
Fruit salad
Chicken breast
Zucchini pasta with tomato
Wahoo's skinny fish tacos (to eat first on an afternoon flight)
Veggies veggies veggies (broccoli and cauliflower are great for the system and fly cold well)
Banana
Cucumber salad
Tomatoes (sliced)
Tuna salad (with celery and mustard)
Lentil salad (with corn and black beans)
Turkey roll-ups (butter 'living lettuce' with tomato, turkey sliced, mustard and avocado)

The below sample was from my flight to NOLA last Thursday.  The timing is off a bit (on when I should have been eating - i.e. every 2-3 hours; however, I got into New Orleans by about 8:00 PM and went to dinner with a friend where I had a trout salad and some broccoli).  I had a sensible low-carb day for being the first "day" of vacation:

UP, UP, UP and away!

April 11th of this year I joined the "UP" community.  Since I had been tracking all my progress in a composition notebook (not using apps like 'My Fitness Pal' or 'Lose It!') I decided it was time I propelled my fitness life into the next century and get myself a fitness device.  Although in their infancy - there is something pretty dang cool about having the 'first' of anything. My guess is that these devices will be all the rage in the next couple years and I will be able to look back and say that I was able to try and test out one of the first ones.  I can imagine some nifty devices in the near future in this world. 

My experience with the UP band.  First and foremost, I am ALWAYS trying to beat my steps.  This is probably my favorite part about the UP band.  I always want to make sure I reach my steps goal and in the beginning - when setting up the band - I actually set my steps goal to 1,500 over the amount you should.  I would say on average I beat my steps goal about 1/2 the days of the week.

What I love most is the 'tid-bits' of the day.  Every day the UP app will give you 1-3 statistics about your progress.  It will tell you how you rate amongst other UP users and how you can improve your stats from the previous week.  My stats usually ALWAYS have to do with sleep deprivation considering my average sleep is far lower than anyone else I know (how I do as many work outs a week is beyond me); however, they give me useful URL's to look at on sleep deprivation and how this could contribute to gaining weight.  These stats also make you feel very good about yourself giving you information like your "Monday Move Recap" where you can see how far you've stepped -
mine was 77,011 steps in the last 7 days covering 37.7 miles!  They let me know I averaged 11,001 steps a day.  Things like this really tend to keep me motivated to move more, park in the farthest space in the parking lot and work harder to get my 'steps goal'.

One of the things I do not utilize the band for is food tracking.  It became difficult for me to go from one routine to another.  For me, if I am going to change to an app to track my food it has to be easy and clean cut.  I wouldn't say the UP band has a bad food tracker but it's not as easy as one would think.  There are a lot of components making it difficult to track everything but I do appreciate the URL scanner - this worked out in my favor quite often.  Now they say the UP band works directly with MyFitnessPal or LoseIt as well as other apps; however I have yet to try this out.

So yea - my favorite part of the UP band is most definitely the steps and sleep....it's been so interesting to have the stats on my fitness and health life.  I would say if you're interested in your own stats and choose to wear a bracelet everyday (albeit fashionable) and have a spare $120 - drop it on this bad boy and add me as a friend.  You can get mad at me for the SUPER lack of sleep like my good friend Jessica Perry does every day :).  I find it interesting that you become part of a little community of people that actually know what it is.  I get people in stores that go "oooh how do you like your UP band" and we strike up conversation.  I've actually met really cool people interested in the same sorts of things while "living UP" 

It's been a month and so much has happened!

So it's been a month since updating my fitness blog and trust me - the fitness hasn't stopped, it's only gotten more intense.  In May I had about 60 work outs consisting of training with Tray (of course), Pure Barre daily - 1 month unlimited new client special, Bikram multiple times a week and the sauna (because I'm obsessed).  I had three days off total in the entire month (Mother's Day...i.e. wine consumption Sunday, a day where I had a convention up in Los Angeles - which was a LONG day on my feet and Memorial Day because my friend Kyla was in town and we went to Catalina).  Other than that - Jen was for SURE Trayning!

One of the more interesting things I experienced in May was my first injury.  It wasn't your typical run of the mill 'I rolled my ankle', rather an emotional injury that just makes you want to throw in the towel and completely give up on everything.  I remember that night I ate a carton of Haagen Daaz ice cream (coconut macaroon omg so good) and had three left over cookies for dinner.  At the end of this 'stuff my face with sweets' venture I decided it was not worth the pain to my body and that fitness has actually been my saving grace through my emotions and life situations.  I realized it's so easy to give up but that this would actually be the worst thing to do.  My fitness and health has been my go-to (over food and sweets).  I have been working toward something better for quite a bit of time and no matter a broken bone, or heart - it's important to continue with my quest toward health and happiness.  It's funny how things work out.  I am no classic 'yogi' but right around the time I was dealing with a lot of personal emotion my Bikram teacher stated in class "STRONG BODY, STRONG MIND - CAPABLE OF MOST THINGS".  Think about it - strong body, strong mind, capable of handling most things.  This was the truest statement I've heard through my weight loss journey.  It's because I'm a stronger individual and because I've taken my health and happiness in my own hands that I am able to handle most things: emotional, physical and mental.  

I vowed that nothing will change in June, July or August (and so on) and Jen will still continue to be 'Trayning' and providing (hopefully) inspiration for those that need it!  HAPPY JUNE FITNESS FRIENDS!

and quite possibly....the best healthy dessert ever.

For the nights when you need something sweet (which is for me usually Sunday evening) and if you've already used your "fro-yo card" for the week - try the banana almond butter ice cream!

It's so easy and so great.  This is also a great way to save your bananas that are going bad as well.  The recipe is below!

Banana Almond Butter Ice Cream:

(calories = approx 200)

Freeze peeled bananas and place in freezer overnight

Add frozen banana to the food processor 

Add 1 table spoon of almond butter

Mix in the food processor until smooth

ENJOY!