End of My 10 Week Plan

Well, I'm just a couple days short of the end of my 10 Week Plan. July 4th was my own personal deadline a few months ago that if I didn't fit into half of the clothes I have left (the rest of the ones I currently have with me) that I had to throw the rest of them away. I have some pretty awesome amazing clothes from my 10+ years in retail (lots of Nordstroms) that are in like-new condition, and this was the last thing I wanted to happen. I chose July 4th because it was my half birthday, and I figured at the time (February) I could buckle down & lose another size and a half (I think?) When April came around & my progress wasn't going as I would have liked, I decided to install a 10 Week Plan of my own. Lose 10lbs &/or fit into the clothes I needed to.

About a week & 1/2 ago I ended up having some stomach issue & was advised to stay off my feet for a week, so that killed my exercise. However, I am very happy with the choices I made & the progress I have accomplished. Some things I decided to do:

- Switched my Macros up a bit: Was eating about 40% Carbs (I really don't like going under 40), 35% Protein & 25% Fat. I was doing 40/30/30. My body feels weird if I go over 40% Protein so I don't like to, I'm fine doing 30-40 though. I like my Carbs above 40 (I eat fabulous carbs BTW) and I like my Fats 25-20% - usually coming from things like avocados, peanut butter, cheese & edamame. For being 5'2", I ate around 1,600 calories a day.

- I strength trained usually 4 days a week for about 25 minutes each (mostly on my lunch - perks of working at a gym.) I usually had 2 legs days, a chest & back day, and a shoulder/ bicep/ tricep day.

- I worked out with one of my fellow trainers from work usually twice a week for about half hour. I scheduled these on days I worked later and needed to get a workout in before I started work. I did this mostly for accountability - I am NOT a morning person by any means, and I'm also very busy. If I didn't plan someone to work out with at those certain times, there would have been a high likelihood of me skipping my workout that day = no bueno.

- I upped my cardio a bit, since I knew I've been lacking on it the past few months moving into the city. I was doing 1 or 2 Insanity! workouts a week (about 40 minutes), and 2-3 sessions on the elliptical a week, usually around 15-30 minutes. Get it in where you can.

- I got really good at scheduling out my days, whether it was a week in advance for workouts, or the night before for meal planning. Honestly, if you take 30 minutes once a week to plan out your week, and about an hour &1/2 once a week to meal prep, you save yourself a BOAT LOAD of time, money, stress, and excuses.

This may sound like a lot, but it really isn't. 30-60 minutes of exercise 5 days a week isn't that hard if you stop making excuses and do it. Meal planning & prepping isn't hard if you say "Hey, Sunday afternoon I'm going to get groceries so I can meal prep 7-8:30 that night & have my food set for the week." Just do it. Once you get in to the habit for a couple weeks, the pattern almost ends up being on autopilot.

Altogether these past 10 weeks I have lost 8 pounds, but it looks like I have lost a lot more because I do strength training (DO STRENGTH TRAINING!) which also helped me this past week & 1/2 of not being able to work out - I'm pretty sure I've given my metabolism a boost, which is always fantabulous. Though I was 2lbs shy, I FIT INTO ALL THE CLOTHES I NEEDED TO! Granted, there is a pair of jeans I will not wear out in public yet, but I'm freaking happy as all hell that I accomplished my goal and won't have to throw out the rest of my nice clothes.

Starting next week, I will have a 5 week plan, and change some things that I want to based off my experiences with this 10 week plan. One of the biggest things I know I need to change is MORE REST! 10 weeks may be too long to go hardcore, so I'm going to experiment with 4 weeks being strict on things like weights/ lifting/ HIIT, with 1 week of non-weights & non HIIT - where I'll only be allowed to do things like Yoga, Pilates, and moderate cardio activity (brisk walking is an example.) After this 5 week plan, I'll be going to my first pool party in Las Vegas, so my reward will be not being embarrassed in a bikini. :)

Happy hump day everyone!

~Samantha Marie