Celebrating Non-Scale Wins and 30 Day Progress

One Month PRogress

This week marked one month of the 90-day challenge. I am feeling pretty positive about my progress to date. So far I am only down 3 pounds with the scale. I am seeing many more non-scale wins which help with the scale stress of my weekly weigh-ins. I have lost an inch around my waist, as well as ¾” in each thigh. My abs are also starting to make an appearance.

These three areas are my largest focus areas for the challenge so it is a big celebration for me. I started off rough with the meal prepping because for some reason I decided I hated vegetables for the first week. Getting a little more creative and trying out new things helped get me on track. My new focus is to limit my carbs to more vegetable based, particularly in my snacks. Normally I drop energy when I do this but so far I am feeling awesome with this change and the scale has moved a little more with the change.

Motivation

My sister’s fitness journey has continued to motivate me to make more visits to the gym outside of training. I have been consistently making it to the gym every non-work day. This is a big improvement over previous challenges for me. I have also been focused on training for Climb MS NYC, which happens in a week. That stair climber sure provides a great cardio and leg workout. However, my schedule has gotten a little crazier recently so that has been affecting my consistency on the mat.

Balancing all of life’s duties and getting enough rest has always been a little bit of a challenge. It becomes even tougher when I’m on point with meal prep and trying to get in some extra during times like 90-day challenge, or training for a tournament. As tournament season is coming up I really need to focus on getting myself more scheduled and focused to be able to be successful in all avenues of my life.

Remaining goals

I have 60 days left of the Tiger Schulmann’s 90-day challenge with the determination to make this my best year yet. A finalist spot would be an added bonus to getting to my best physical conditioning to date. During the next 60 days, I will continue my focus on the additional workouts to compliment my training. Not only for my physique but also for conditioning to help me get stronger for June.

I am feeling great and realizing that 50-degree weather makes me feel my best. So winter weather can stick around a little bit longer I won’t be rushing into summer this year like I normally do. Learning how to balance what the mind wants and what the body wants are all part of this new lifestyle.

P.S. I hope to be able to do a full unassisted pull up by the of April.

January 24, 2018January 24, 2018

A Year of New Challenges & Obstacles to Tackle

Last year I pushed myself to face new challenges and fight against my obstacles. I successfully competed in my first tournament and pushed myself hard enough to get two belt promotions in one year which was a first for me.

This year I have set even more Challenges for myself to Push myself to new levels

• Climb MS in March
• End 90-day challenge with my best results yet. Third times a charm!
• Compete in my second Challenge of the Champions in June
• Achieve intermediate level ranking at TSMA.
• Bike MS in September
When looking at these goals they seem easily achievable but only with extreme discipline and my body reaching new limits. My biggest obstacle to overcome is going to be finding ways to beat chronic fatigue. Using my new fit planner is going to help me track how my daily habits, diet, and sleep habits. Knowing the impact will help me eliminate obstacles. I am looking for natural ways to increase energy levels overall; the MS fatigue medications are not something I ever want to take with their side effects.

90-Day Challenge

Today marks Day 3 of the 90-day challenge, I am already feeling less bloating and visibly seeing it. For me, the biggest challenge is getting all of the meals to balance and reach my macro goals of 40/40/20 but I’m off to a great start already. The next step is going to be perfecting my calorie intake to keep up with my activity levels, keeping me feeling energized, as well as helping me achieve my goals.

macronutrients, clean eating, healthy eating — Macronutrients from Day 2

I am not focused on weight or the scale, however, improving overall strength is my priority. I will be focusing on a total body to strengthen my core, arms, and legs to be more successful in martial arts, particularly grappling. But also building stamina so I can rock those two-minute rounds in June, as well as two days of 80 miles of biking in September.
Looking forward to trying out some new Nutrabio supplements to enhance performance and energy levels. I invested in some new kitchen gadgets like a food saver and upgraded my food prep containers to help with meal prepping success. Kitchen gadgets are my secret to meal prepping success!

gadgets, kitchen, meal prep — New Kitchen Gadgets

Plans for Achieving Goals

Today I spent some time coming up with some new food ideas to spice up my meals and make me stay on track long-term. I can’t wait to incorporate them into next week’s meal prep.

gym, fitness, family, workout, leg day, sisters — First time at the gym with my sister

I have added some more regular gym sessions into my regular thanks to my sister starting her own fitness plan. We are working towards our healthiest year yet. I will be developing more routines for myself to achieve my personal goals and help train for my 2018 events.
Stay tuned for me to share my successful meals and workouts! Feel free to share any awesome meals you may have!

90-Day Challenge, Meal Prep, Healthy Eating, Clean Eating — Day 1 of 90-Day Challenge

July 26, 2017

Bike MS: From City To Shore 2017

Previously I discussed the prospect of participating in the National MS Society’s fundraising event Bike MS: From City to Shore. While I made the decision not to bike it this year, I will be participating as a volunteer at the event! My goal is to participate next year as a biker, giving myself more ample time to properly train.

I will be participating with Team Grinds My Gears, led by my friend Stuart Kinckner. Stu and I have known each other since college when he started dating his wife Meloni. She will be joining me as a volunteer this year and on the course next year! Stu has a demanding career in hotel management and is a father of two but still, makes time to take care of himself as well.

Stu’s Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle and Bike MS

“For a very long time, I never paid much attention to what I put in my body. Then you start to notice things changing as you get older. It was about 8 years ago when I decided to do something about it. I cut out sweets and sodas amongst other things. I started rock climbing and realized how much better I felt. About 2 years ago I met my friend Isaiah, a professional boxer and very much into fitness, that I realized I could accomplish even more physically and push my limits. I started going to the gym weekly and soon my visits became more frequent. Watching what I was eating and keeping up with my fitness, I felt like I went back in time. At the age of 34, I physically feel like I did when I was 18 and feel confident in my body. Growing up I was never really into sports. Now feeling like I can accomplish anything, I decided to search for a challenge. I started riding a bike actively about 4 months ago. Now I needed more of a purpose other than fitness. What better purpose than contributing to finding a cure for this horrible disease, Multiple Sclerosis. I have never pushed myself to such limits as I plan to for this cause. Take a stand with me and help support the cause.”

What is the money raised used for?

The National MS Society helps provide support for individuals and families impacted by MS. They provide resources from educational information, to mental support teams, to financial assistance, to research funding. The main goal is to find a cure and end a world with MS. Your donation can help in this research, can provide an individual with MS the medications they need to reduce further damage and cope with the disease, or even provide financial assistance for a better future.

The National MS Society is a non-profit that I strongly support as their website and resources helped me during my own personal diagnosis. Searching the internet can be a scary thing when you are looking for medical information, and multiple sclerosis is scary enough to cope with already. Initially, I was not given any information from the neurologist, because of the vast amount of resources on their site both myself and my mom were able to find reliable information and help us process the information.

Please join us in fighting for a world free of MS, whether you donate, join our team as a rider or volunteer, or share our story with your friends and family we greatly appreciate all of the support.

Donate or Join our Team Here!

July 20, 2017

A Multitude of Measurements

One thing that is a common battle for many people in their fitness journey is the battle of the scale. I consider the scale to be the devil because it can be so deceitful. It is important any time you start a fitness journey to use a variety of measurements to track progress.

My two favorite are measurements and pictures. Measurements can also be tricky if you aren’t taking them precisely at the same spot, and can also be something that goes up in certain areas depending on muscles.
This is why pictures are my top pick. Pictures don’t lie, they allow you to see all changes. You can see where you have shrunk. Where you have toned. Where you have leaned out.
During my three year journey, my body has changed so many times, while my weight after the first 4 months has held pretty consistently. I have gone down in clothing sizes, without changing weight. Now I am going through a transition where all of my clothing is fitting me differently because my body shape is changing.

Fat vs Muscle Measurement — 5 lbs of fat in comparison to 5 lbs of muscle

I have been helping one of my friends with her fitness journey and she has been battling the scale more than I did during 90-day challenge. We have been fine combing all of her habits, especially meal choices. She has made many changes, that even without perfection should be yielding celebratory results.
Meanwhile, every time she weighs in she is disheartened and discouraged.
Today she sent her most recent progress pictures. Even with lack luster weight and measurement results the pictures showed vast improvements. (Out of respect for the individual I will not share these pictures until she is ready!)
What are your favorite ways to measure your progress in your fitness/weight loss journies?