Finally!!

I am seeing some changes in the mirror!

I was so excited last night. I was trying on all my clothes (I do this periodically whenever I feel like I've improved somehow), and feeling giddy. Finally, this hard work is paying off! Even though there is still jiggle, I can see muscle definition popping out everywhere. Even on my butt! When the fat is gone, it will look so good!

All the sacrifice, the deprivation, the sweat, the tears, the pain.....it's really paying off! And if I can notice a change after 2 months, just thinking of what is in store for my body by May gives me butterflies!
My legs are starting to feel so firm. When I rub my hands over them I think, 'this is me?' I can't believe it!

I've been following this blog for a while now and the woman who writes it, gave some really helpful advice. I'm always whining about how I never seem to be able to build my hammies. She says they need to be trained with heavy weight. The kind that leave you only able to do small amount of reps. But then more sets. And also, (something else I didn't know) quads are the opposite. To train those, you need higher reps. I'm so thankful for her information! It's Ready In 5 Weeks in case you want to check her out. Good stuff!

I also found a bodybuilding.com article called Got Glutes? that I am really glad I stumbled upon. I am going to implement this training as soon as the new year rolls around. I'll be done with the fit trainer by then and my glutes need all the help they can get by May!

Today my workout was chest/shoulders/abs/sprints. Oh...sprints. Yesterday I did them in the afternoon because I was too tired after weight training. Today, I was tired again after weights but I did them anyway. I wanted to call it quits after 20 minutes. Truth be told, I wanted to stop after 10 minutes. But I kept on pushing and did the whole half hour. 30 minutes of sprinting, 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. FOR 30 MINUTES! I consider myself in great shape but that shit was torture. It was damn hard, especially after you are already drained from an hour of weight training. My mom thinks I'm killing myself. And I can understand how she thinks that. I can. But it's necessary if I'm going to make some BIG changes by the end of December.

So now, I'm just drained. I'm going on very little calories (for me). I'm trying to maintain at just under 1300 calories. I find that by the end of the day I'm usually just a tad over that, especially since I never factor in things like flax oil and my calcium supplement, which together add 60 extra calories. I'm trying really hard to follow the correct macros too. And that in itself is hard. And time consuming. I have to sit down after every meal and figure it out. Today, I am already over my fat limit. I will hit my protein goal pretty head on. And maybe my carbs will go a little over after dinner. But it's a high carb day for me today (yay!) and I needed it. I seriously think that my calorie goal according to the bodybuilding.com website is wrong because even trying to keep my meals small and low in calories, needing to eat 5-6 times a day leaves me barely 200 calories for dinner most nights. I think that with my activity level factored in, I'm ok going a bit over. I need to listen to my body, and when I'm hungry, eat.

Even though I am carb cycling now, I still need to keep the same calorie level every day, which makes it a little tough for a macro counting newbie. I mean, I know exactly how many grams I'm to eat each day, but I still find it tough. It's such a tedious thing. I will be SO glad when I don't have to do it anymore. I can't wait until I am at a level where I am happy and can just maintain. Will I ever get there? Will it ever be enough? Will I ever be content with myself? I don't know...