Motivation!

So here's a story I rarely tell because I'm such a weirdo but in high school I was on the swim team.  I was pretty good at it and enjoyed it a lot too.  When it came to the meets and competitions, I would dive into the water and immediately start thinking about there being a shark chasing after me.  Yeah, that's right. As I was swimming, I'd picture a shark chasing behind me to get my butt moving even faster! I have to say, as weird as that sounds, it worked! It was just something in my head that motivated me to move and swim as fast as I could!  I can't believe I'm telling the world my weirdo story but since I'm talking about motivation, I felt obligated to share ;)

Now, even though I have gotten to the point in my life where working out is just apart of my daily routine (and I actually feel weird and thrown off if I miss a workout) we all need motivation from time to time.

I get a ton of emails and comments of people wishing they had my motivation or asking where do I get my motivation from, well, here's your answer: I'm tired of being fat.  Yep. That's it.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, when it comes to losing weight, you have to want to do it first of all and you have to do it for yourself.  My motivation comes from the fact that I honestly just want to lose this weight and I know the only good way of doing so is eating right and working out!  I started losing weight just because I didn't want to look like a cookie monster in my wedding photos but soon after the wedding I just couldn't just stop working out or go right back to eating garbage food.  I didn't want the hard work I had done to lose the weight before our wedding to just come back and all my hard work be done in vein so I stayed motivated and focused.

One thing I tell every person who asks for advice to do is take pictures of your progress.  I take pictures of my progress and if I'm in a slump, I look back and realize just how far I've come.  It help motivates me to keep me going and makes me want to get out there and go for a run or head to a body pump class!

I reward myself- if I lose 5 pounds I'll treat myself to a manicure or if I hit a goal weight, I might treat myself to a massage. I don't workout for those rewards but they're a nice little boost along the way to keep on going!  I also must say that I don't weight myself very often.  Maybe once every 2 weeks or once a month.  There are so many things that can factor into our weight from a day to day point that I think it adds too much stress to focus on the number on the scale every single day or week.

Another thing to help increase your motivation is find a workout buddy who is as committed to getting healthy as you are! I have an awesome workout buddy who is now trying to lose weight for her own wedding next month and it helps to have a friend boost you and be there for you!

And if all else fails just go out for a run and imagine Ryan Gosling is waiting for you at the finish line.  With a puppy.  That should do the trick ;)

For tips on how I've lost the weight you can read though my blogposts! You can also follow me on Instagram at:
amanda_cervantez (instagram.com/amanda_cervantez)  I am ALWAYS posting healthy meals I make and workouts! Along with photos of my english bulldog :)

Tuesday Transformation.. on Monday.

I'm currently sitting in the computer lab at school doing anything and everything to avoid my last final so thought an update would be perfect!

The picture taken on the left was at last year's Flunk Day and the one on the right from this year's.  Flunk Day is when my college (Knox College) cancels ALL classes and basically has a HUGE carnival for students! It's the best day of the year!  Anyway, on my left I weighed about 200 pounds and the right I'm at 160ish!  

I've gotten in a rut lately that I can't seem to shake.  I've hit one of those loooong plateaus where no matter what I do I don't seem to lose the weight :(  I know I've just gotta keep on keepin' and it'll pass but it's nice to see hard work does pay off and knowing I'm only 20-25 pounds away from my goal weight is the best motivation! 

For tips on how I've lost weight you can refer to my blog! You can also follow me on instagram at:

amanda_cervantez  I am ALWAYS posting healthy meals I make, workouts, and photos!  [instagram.com/amanda_cervantez]

Do you have any progress photos?!  Feel free to email me a snapshot and your story at: abyerly47@live.com!  I'd love to start posting weekly followers photos for extra inspiration and motivation!! 

XOXO

Run to the music!

One thing I absolutely NEED to workout is music.  I cannot run without it! I've tried just watching tv while I'm working out or talking to a friend or no music at all and I stop about 5 minutes in! So, I thought I'd share my favorite workout tunes with you all!!

I prefer more pop/hip hop music so 15 of my favorite songs are:
-Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris
-Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi
-Put On by Young Jeez
-Memories by David Guetta
-Pound the Alarm by Nicki Minaj
-Scream and Shout by Will.i.am and Britney Spears
-Die Young by Ke$ha
-Feel Again by One Republic
-Feel So Close by Calvin Harris
-Birthday Cake by Rihanna
-Let's Go by Calvin Harris
-Make the Money by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
-Hey Baby by Pitbull
-Lasers by Lupe Fiasco
-Work Hard, Play Hard by Wiz Khalifa

Some of the songs to have profane language but I think all of the songs have a great beat I can run to or have an upbeat tempo to keep me going!!


I also use Pandora a lot when working out and some of my favorite stations are:
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Radio
Harlem Shake Radio
Pop and Hip Hop Power Workouts Radio
Michael Jackson Radio
Today's Hits Radio
David Guetta Radio
Calvin Harris Radio


I swear, with these tracks and stations I could run all day!! Feel free to share some of your favorite workout tunes :)

I often post my workouts and healthy meal ideas on my Instagram so feel free to follow me there at:
amanda_cervantez [instagram.com/amanda_cervantez]

Eat Yourself Skinny!

I work out A LOT but the biggest thing I've done to get healthy and lose weight is completely change my eating habits.  and I mean COMPLETELY change.  Before I would eat nothing for breakfast, grab McDonalds for lunch, and throw a pizza in the oven for dinner. horrible.   But I've since cut out nearly all pop, coffee, and fattening foods.  Of course every once in a while I'll go out to eat with family and friends but the majority of the time now I enjoy cooking healthy meals at home.  I never thought I would 1. Like healthy foods or 2. Enjoy cooking but I really do!  I thought I would share a few of my new EASY favorite recipes!

Flatbreads.  I've just recently tried flatbreads for the first time and I'm in love! I buy the low cal/low carb flatbread and have been making a ton of flatbread recipes of breakfast, lunch and dinner!
A lot of times, I'll throw a bunch of healthy stuff all together on a flatbread and enjoy it :)

This flatbread has a little cheese, turkey bacon, grilled chicken, peppers, tomatoes, and spinach! I didn't follow any certain recipe, just threw on a bunch of healthy stuff! 

Before, I used to only eat salads drenched in dressing which kinda defeats the whole healthy aspect of a salad ;)  Last week I threw some lettuce, organic grilled chicken, blackberries, and apples together and it was so delicious!  No dressing or croutons!  The crunch and sweetness of the apples was perfect with the lettuce and chicken and the blackberries added the perfect amount of juiciness! 

I've also been substituting potatoes for cauliflower!  I like cauliflower to begin with so this was an easy substitution! Instead of a baked potato I boiled cauliflower, mashed it a little and added some turkey bacon, a little cheese and greek yogurt like a loaded baked potato! 

One thing I've done to eat healthy is substitute a lot of food.  

Now, instead of using sour cream, I'll use Greek Yogurt.  

I eat turkey bacon and meat and bison meat instead of beef and regular bacon.  The turkey and bison meat is a lot more lean than beef.  

I make mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes! 

You can follow me on Instagram where I'm ALWAYS posting my food at:
amanda_cervantez
I also post workouts and tips on there as well!

xoxo

Thursday Transformations

Last week, I posted a photo that I showed my progress pretty well.  In 11 months I had lost 50 pounds and there was a huge difference, well I came across more photos that show that progression even better that I wanted to share.

I was actually looking through photos just to see if I could notice a difference between old and recent pics.. and I was shocked at the way I used to look a year ago.  I've mentioned before in my posts that I graduated high school around 125-130 pounds and gained almost 100 pounds during college.  I didn't want to admit how out of control my weight gain was.

I was looking for a difference in photos because lately, I've just hit a wall.  I work out hours everyday, eat healthy, and feel like I'm not making progress.  Well this is why I encourage you all to take photos along the way of your weight loss journey.  Seeing the progression- seeing your hard work paying off- seeing you're losing weight when you may not feel it is so motivating and inspiring.   I may feel like I haven't lost any weight but it's clear I have and I'm happy to see that progression. I was looking for more photos to compare but at my heaviest weight there are just not that many photos I wanted to be in so I only have a few to compare with.

My mom's expression when seeing this collage?  'WOW, I never realized you got so huge' THANKS MOM! ;) But it's true- looking back I just can't believe I let myself get that way but now know I won't let it happen again.

The photo on the left was taken Oct. 2011.  The photo on the right was taken Sept. 2012

I always post photos on Instagram of my workouts, meals, progress, and cute dog ;) feel free to follow me at:

amanda_cervantez 

Also, if you'd like to share your healthy meals, workouts, progression photos just hashtag: acgetfit (#acgetfit)

I think it'll be a fun way to share all of our awesome inspiration and tips! 

xoxo

Before & After

I've lost 50 pounds in 11 months & have 30 more to lose but lately I feel like I've just hit a wall.  I work out and eat healthy nearly every day but feel like nothing is working so I decided to do a little before and after comparison.. holy fat girl slim!  I can notice a HUGE change in my face and seeing the difference really gives me the motivation to keep on keepin' :)

The photo on the left was taken 11 months ago and the photo on the right was taken 4 days ago! 

I know taking pictures before can be so embarrassing but I really suggest it because there is nothing better than actually seeing the difference your hard work and effort makes!

I've posted other blog entries on tips on how I've lost the weight and you can follow me on Instagram at:
amanda_cervantez
for occasional recipes, tips, motivational quotes, and updated pics!!

xoxo

Lose It!

I had a little inspiration from a Pinterest project I had seen using marbles to track your weight loss so I decided to switch it up a little!  I filled a vase with 45 M&M candies- one M&M for each pound I want to lose so every time I lose a pound I get to eat a little candy until they're all gone!! 

I lost 3 pounds this week so I'll be eating 3 M&Ms! 

I like that this actually allows me to visualize my weight loss and see that I am losing weight, even if I don't always see it physically! Plus, 45 M&Ms definitely doesn't look like a lot in a vase :)!
xoxo

Motivation: I'm just tired of being fat!

Hey ya'll!! I've been so neglectful here but hopefully that'll be changing!!

My motivation to first lose weight came from wanting to look great in my wedding dress.  I must say, I felt and looked wonderful on our wedding day!  Our photos are beautiful and there is nothing I would change!!

After our wedding passed, I found it hard to stay motivated to work out.  I just couldn't get myself motivated to work out and eat right the way I was for our wedding so I slowly started gaining the weight back.  I was gaining the weight I had worked so hard to lose until it hit me that I'm just tired of being fat. I'm tired of having my stomach roll over my jeans when I sit.  I'm tired of feeling like I look pregnant.  I'm tired of my old, cute clothes not fitting. I'm tired of it!! So my motivation is simply coming from the fact that I'm tired of being fat and it's not going to go away unless I'm doing something about it!!


I really think I'm working out harder now than I was before our wedding!  I love swimming and that was my usual form of exercise leading up to the wedding, but now that it's cold out, I hate jumping into the pool for a workout so I've been doing lots of elliptical running, stationary biking, and stair stepping!

I actually instagram my workouts [you can follow me on instagram at: amanda_cervantez] just to keep track for myself and to also motivate others so here's some of what I've been doing:



I started working out consistently 4 weeks ago by running on the elliptical 5 miles every day.  This takes me anywhere from 45-55 minutes.

On the second week of working out, I added to the 5 miles by doing an hour yoga, Zumba, or cycling class every night after my 5 miles.  (here I did my 5 miles and then yoga) 

The 3rd week I wanted to add again so I would run 5 miles, do a class every M, W, F but also started biking 10 miles after my 5 mile elliptical run.  Usually I would do my 5 and 10 miles in the morning and then do an hour yoga, Zumba, or cycling class at night.  It takes me about 45 minutes to bike 10 miles. Here's a shot of my 5 miles and 10 mile bike: 

This week I added to my 5 miles and 10 mile biking by doing a 2 mile stair step.  It takes about 30 minutes to complete the stair step.  I also attend a 1 hour yoga, Zumba, or cycling class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening. I usually do my running, biking, and stair stepping in the morning to give myself a break before the evening class.  Because of all the energy and calories being burned, I would definitely suggest hours in between this and a class or other workout! 

I started doing this about 4 weeks ago and am down 9 pounds!! I had a goal of 45 pounds to lose so now I'm down to 36 more pounds to go!! 

What are some of your favorite workouts?!

xoxo