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What Fitness Advices/Articles does not understand about ME

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I shared this on Sparkpeople today. I am doing this because I think some of the writers of blogs and articles could be lopsided in their advice, there is simply no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss. Sparkpeople and some of these writers are abroad, I am here in the heart of Africa. Our meals differ, our lives differ, our weathers differ. We are simply on different sides of the coast and thus, I can only pick some ideas and leave the rest for them [never under any obligation to do so], this is what inspired the write up below today. I am not angry at anyone, just simply stating our differences and why I would not strain myself to do all recommendations on the site. Happy reading... I have been thinking lately and I think I should share this so that my relationship with Sparkpeople is smoother in 2015. I have been stalled or rather in plateau for more than 2 years now. I am trying to understand why but I am still in a fix and I think I need to fix this once and for all.

Day 100 Update: 100 days countdown

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Woohoo! 100 days is gone by today. I am happy that I did it but on another note, not happy because I was not faithful to it all through. I missed days that I believe if added together maybe more than a month. Within this 100 days [I am not really accountable for it] - I did finish the BLC 26 challenge and started with Ripped in 30 [I am finishing Week 4 this week]. - I made great decisions that I am sure will be of help in the next 100 days. - 10 minutes + streak and I am keeping on strong. - I took control of white bread too [just weekend to eat my bread] - I finally started a de-cluttering plan to keep my home clean. Another 100 days starts tomorrow and I promise myself, it will be a more healthier, active and successful 100 days [God's willing]. I promise to state my goals for the coming year [watch out for it] and one of it would be to do as many 100 days streak as possible in the coming year. As many challenges as possible and I promise to be happy in all of i

Day 96 Update: 10 minutes is better than nothing

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I can say now that, doing 10 minutes is really better than doing nothing, thanks to SteadyHealth.com. I was not feeling like exercising for the two days [thanks to the weight gain on the scale yet again, 177lbs - I think it's TOM]. So last night, the same feeling was already on me since waking up and by evening, I was dead tired but instead of doing nothing [I am still on Ripped in 30] I decided to do something that will not make me wear any gear at all. [kitting for exercise is a core to me and it is enough to discourage me from working out on some days, it's a story for another day], I looked through my YouTube collections and there is this lady with red and blue balls behind her staring at me. I did 7 minutes working my glutes and 6 minutes working on my giggly arms [Christian Mother]. Next year must be different by FIRE and by FORCE, because God is involved now.

Change

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You will never appreciate that you have lost weight until you take time to compare pictures. I had a reason to compare pictures today, even when I thought I had not achieved a thing physically in the 4 years of eating differently and working out consistently, I beg to differ after the pictures below.

Day 92 Update: Week 3

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I noticed the video is 31 minutes instead of usual 34 minutes. I wondered what was different until I started the workout this morning and realized an exercise was missing in the first circuit, whatever happened was an error on her side as far as I am concerned. Somehow I also felt the video is a little less intense and “nice” too. I enjoyed everything about it and I ended up burning my rice, duh. I feel a little excited with my success on this video and I am sure to finish stronger and at the right time too. I am feeling quite excited for the upcoming Christmas celebration (I don’t understand why right now) despite we are not so buoyant right now, but there is a great excitement right now and I know all is well that ends well. Now I can pick one of the reasons why I am excited, it’s my Sparkversary celebrations today, I mark 4 years with Sparkpeople today and I feel excited about it. Not many (physical) achievements like I would desire but I have become a better perso

Day 91 Update: Week 2 of Ripped in 30

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I successfully concluded the Week 2 of the Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30. I am happy that I am doing everything to be consistent exercise-wise. The only challenge I have is the inability to do the bonus workout for the day to conclude the 60 minutes a day exercise. I will surely get there, I am truly working towards increasing my exercise minutes. My workout review Ripped in 30 Week 2 is just as challenging as the first week. I am using a 2lbs weight and probably it is not as challenging as I desired it. So tomorrow God's willing, I should  be using my 5lbs weight to start the Week 3. Jillian as usual can be strict in her instructions No Bread Streak. I have maintained 2 weeks of NO BREAD during work days. I now eat bread only on Saturdays and Sundays, maybe next year I may start 14 days no bread streak and maybe 30 days, and maybe 60 days, till I overcome eating bread [this food keeps jeopardizing my efforts]. I have 9 days left in the 100 days 10+ minute

Day 87 Update: Weigh In

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I am just concluded with this round of BLC and the link below takes you to my analysis of the two rounds of BLC so far. http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5830727 A hectic day in the office today.

Day 82 Update: Bread

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I love eating bread! But it is sabotaging my efforts presently, I am still researching what substitute to have when the cravings for bread comes along. This past week, my weight was rising geometrically and I felt so strongly that bread is responsible for it. I weighed in at 177.6lbs on Wednesday, my weigh in day and with the excuse that it was water weight, I climbed the scale again on Thursday [even after a workout] and a whooping 178.8lbs was staring at me, wow what did I do wrong except bread. I am deciding today to give bread a break but I will need a substitute and maybe a cheat day so that my efforts will not be sabotaged by cravings at the end of the day and it become worse than when I started.  What advice do you have for me?

Day 79 Update: Streak within a streak

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As I said in the last blo g I started the new 30 days streak called... I have been with Jillian Michaels for some years now and to say I enjoyed her is an understatement. She makes me burn, cry, sweat and name them all. Yes I know my relationship with Jillian over the years is a love-hate relationship but I keep going back because the results are immeasurable. Ripped In 30 I have like 20 minutes to workout and the warm up and cool down amounting to another 13 minutes so it amount to a total of 33 minutes for the Week One circuit. I am not stopping at that, I am also making sure to have a bonus workout at night so that I have at least 45 minutes working out daily, [I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me].  I believe that I can only become stronger and be ready to push more till the results keeps coming in. It is a 3-2-1 circuit i.e. 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute abs. My glutes and shoulders are on fire right now from unending squats,

Day 76 Update: Fit for Christmas

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I have been thinking of something awesome for Christmas and countdown starts in 2 days i.e. December 1st. So I feel starting a streak within a streak will be a good idea afterall. Today is filled with activities but I would not forget my workout because of that. I should be working out tonight although, I am having a heap of a wash right now, I will most definitely start my workout soon. I hope to also wash my hair tonight. I already pre-pooed with olive oil and will be doing a tea rinse [ it's my first experience ] after the wash too. I will unveil the package by Sunday night. Get ready for me...

Day 74 Update: Freggies Day

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Each day is a blank page and I hold the pen! I am the author of my own story!! I am thankful for each day that I am given. For each opportunity to begin anew and let today be the day to focus on. Life is too short, but it should be long enough. Long enough to do the things that are important in a life. I am of the mindset that life isn't about sitting back on the sidelines and watching a sort of "life-parade" go by and cheer those out there "doing it"! NO NO NO!!! It's about being the parade, the band, the enthuisiam, the tickertape, the cheers, the whole thing. It's about not only the events, but the atmosphere around those events. Of not just seeing life, but tasting, smelling, diving into it. Rubbing it all over like a salt rub and then then letting out a primevil type utterance.. YEAHHHHHH!!! That's what I'm talking about..extreme.. extreme... grabbing what you can with both hands and not letting go even if you end up being dragged a bit,

Stuffs About Me

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1) Who is your favorite superhero/villain? 2) What was your favorite vacation spot? 3) Who is your favorite cartoon character? 4) If you could dye your hair any color, what color would it be? 5) What was the funniest joke you ever heard? 6) How long have you known your best friend? 7) Jumpsuits/Rompers or Harem Pants? 8) What is your favorite accessory? 9) Who is your fashion role model? 10) What color is your closet full of? 11) How many pairs of shoes do you own? I promised to answer the above questions yesterday and here I am today. 1. Favorite Superhero should be my dad before his death. He looks like a complete man; 2. Favorite Vacation spot is a place with a waterfall/natural habitat; 3. "Thomas" in Tom & Jerry; 4. My favorite hair dye color would be Amber; 5. I cannot remember any right now, I have heard a whole lot of jokes; 6. I don't have a best friends except if my DH counts as one. I have known h

LIEBSTER award

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1) Who is your favorite superhero/villain? 2) What was your favorite vacation spot? 3) Who is your favorite cartoon character? 4) If you could dye your hair any color, what color would it be? 5) What was the funniest joke you ever heard? 6) How long have you known your best friend? 7) Jumpsuits/Rompers or Harem Pants? 8) What is your favorite accessory? 9) Who is your fashion role model? 10) What color is your closet full of? 11) How many pairs of shoes do you own? The above questions are to be answered by ME. A task given by Tatyana Hunter who nominated me for an award. Thank you so much for showing mercy to someone with less than 200 followers, duh. I will post the answers tomorrow. I need to hit the sheets now, there is church tomorrow.

Day 69 Update: Beachbody.com

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Hey Friends, Today should be great save the pains I had. The pains were not too bad but it kept me irritable and inactive. It was a church member's wedding and I could do nothing beyond the ordinary to help in service and arrangements. In the midst of this I had a walk, like a 15 minutes walk. (That counts as my workout for the day and I tag it ACTIVE REST) I did not do any deliberate workout today because there was just too much to do within a little time. So after this post, I will be going to have my daily 5 mins jump rope interval dose, (I loved the streak). I have been doing it and I have been enjoying it and who knows 5 minutes becomes 10 mins and on and on. Good news I have a new crush on beachbody.com and trust me I am loving every bit of it. Unlike fitness blender who normally have it slow but intense, beachbody has it fast, furious and insanely intense. Unfortunately, getting to download on YouTube is almost impossible because their videos are not even there, my

Day 67 Update: Jump Ropes

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This is where I am now; I wish to move here soon;

Culled from Sparkpeople

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Monday, October 13, 2014 This blog is from Debra of Sparkpeople. Her blog was featured today and I loved it. In my weight loss journey, there are lots of places my head can be. It might be buried in the sand because I don’t want to know what I know. It might be up some other part of my anatomy because I want to do self destructive things to soothe myself or to lose weight. But the most dangerous place my head can be is buried is in the past thinking about the things I should have eaten, not eaten, done, not done, the missed opportunities, the wasted effort, the lost years, etc. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.  In accounting, when there are no other entries that will be made to an amount, a double line is drawn to show that the tally is final. The past is like that. No amount of anguish, hand-wringing, fat-shaming screeds or other maneuvers can change what happened then. No anger, resentment or instant replaying can change it. No obsession about it, devotion to it or anxious preservati

Blogs I love

Read this 15-habits-of-people-who-have-effectively-lost-over-20-30lbs-and-kept-it-off

Fitness Friday

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Day 59 Update: I need help!

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Life simply gets in the way and I feel so stressed and discouraged. One minute I make up my mind to lose weight and in the next minute I am going weeks in a terrible rut, both exercise and food. What do I do? I wish I will have a more strong will and resolute to do this. I need to lose weight and I have seen myself lose weight before why can't I do this again. If I want to analyze this year 2014, I had come as low as 76kg this year. What was I doing right then? What am I doing wrong now at 81kg? Is it possible to lose 20kg and keep my weight between 60 and 65kg? I don't want to be pushed to do this, I mean I don't want anything negative to push me to lose weight now that I am doing it for me. I remember a song that says "you can get it if you really want, but you must try and try". Do I really want to lose weight? Am I desperate about it? What do I do now???

Day 54 Update: Workout Plan

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Monday:  Lift Tuesday:  Cardio Wednesday:  Rest Thursday:  Lift Friday:  Cardio Saturday:  Lift Sunday:  Rest

Day 47 Update: Gymra

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Gymra is another YouTube channel that is saddled with the uploading of workouts that ranges from Pilates to yoga, total body workouts, upper body, lower body and other circuit training. Judging by the little time, I spent with working out to those videos. I think they are awesome and glowing with sweat was achieved effortlessly. My only reason why their 5 stars maybe reduced to 4 is this funny observation. The workout instructors or actresses as the case maybe keeps smiling even when they are breathless. I don't expect them to squeeze their faces but it is not as easy as it seemed anyways. If they hope to sell their videos to me with that strategy, I am not sure it will work. Checking out fitnessblender, they know when you should be tired even the instructor's voice is stressed at that point. I love those! Check her out!

Day 46 Update: BreakDinner

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Hey friends, Physiological issues had not allowed me to be working out as consistent as I would desire, but I have been doing something else i.e. eating healthy. The new style is eating dinner for breakfast and vice versa. I had not only been enjoying it but, * I had been eating light at night * I don't need to be doing so much work after the tiredness of the day * GO likes it a lot * I think I could categorically say my weight dropped from 177.2lbs to 176.6lbs, that is the initial weight at the start of BLC. I am still giving myself some pep talk on how I can still keep this streak alive and working. Healthy eating, I decided to do some Nigerian Pancakes as seen online.

Day 40 Update: LIFE

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I am sorry to start this way, but just as I was thinking of what topic to write today. I saw my colleagues going for someone's funeral, a young mother of two kids, a banker and somehow she had impacted her society so well, great people in the city knows her and took time out to pay a last respect to her. It made me think right now. All our struggles will actually be over and for those who are still alive, life goes on, the battle continues...

Day 36 Update: Fitness Blender

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I had always known Fitness Blender as YouTube channel with lots and lots of workouts. I always saw the video as slow and sluggish moves that will not challenge the body the way I always wanted. Can I be permitted to say that I wrongly judged the book by it's cover. In 45 minutes with lots of modifications and rests today, I was panting heavily and of course glowing with sweat. I could not imagine the moves will wind me out that way. What else can I say?

Day 35 Update: Out of Shape

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Working with Jessica Smith this morning (40 minutes abs/walk) really showed me how 11 days off could completely take me out of shape. As I said earlier, 11 days of No-Deliberate-Exercise is what I had but I am never a couch potato and I will never be again. I take long walks, stand to walk around every 30 minutes etc.

Day 34 Update: Skelewu

I broke the intentional exercise rut today. Thank God for the dance that motivated me to do it. I have not done any DVD since 7th of this month, that is 11 days break. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eME4ckLLmaE

Clean eating 101

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Articles I love Eat clean

Day 30 Update: Unscheduled Walk

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Story so far... Today is the day 30 of the 10+ minutes streak. According to the mini book that Chris Downie wrote I am supposed to be on a habit with this streak within the last nine days but alas, it had been my down moment all through. Days 31 to 89 is a test of my ability to stick to this whole stuff, I really hope I will not fail the test. I may not be having deliberate workouts but there is hardly a day I am not on the move but that is not the idea, I am supposed to be on a streak working out daily. I have the power to do with and I will show you I can...

Day 29 Update: Laziness

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I have been lazying around, my bad. No deliberate workout for some days now but there are what BLC calls IFM [Intentional Fitness Minutes]. I will most def be up on my feet again today.

Fit 30: Helpers

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Day 7: Do your parents know you are trying to lose weight? Do they care? Yes, my mom knows I am trying to lose weight and she is a firm supporter. She gets inspired by my efforts too. We shared the fatness from her. Day 8: Your Workout Routine Monday:  Shoulders and Arms Tuesday:  Plyometric Circuit and Legs Wednesday:  Rest or Cardio Thursday:  Back Friday:  Chest and Shoulders Saturday:  High-Intensity Interval Cardio Sunday:  Rest I try to follow the above religiously. I use workout videos mostly now. Day 9: Did people ever make comments about your weight in a negative way Maybe behind my back, but in my presence NO. I am a little stern as a person so I won't hear it and most likely I don't care. Day 10: What was the hardest thing you gave up during this"weight loss"? Big meals and my lazy attitude.

Day 26 Update: Struggles

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It's Day 26 of my 10+ minutes streak today. I have have had my ups and down moments through these days. For example I have not worked in like 3 days now and there is no reason other than that I am not feeling it and then of course a rise on the scale, I hate those moments [especially when I have worked so hard] and my subconscious goes on holiday somehow. Right now I just have to move on, yes move on... That is what life gives, we gat to move on and face other matters. An adage says in my culture that "when one falls from a horse, one gets up and mount again". It is not the falling, it is the rising that shows determination and accountability. I always expect this increase in weight but when it becomes overwhelming, then I become passive with my workouts. I have had to change the allergy drugs today and hopefully, this should give me a better result. If it doesn't then I need to see a dermatologist fast. On my wishlist is a need to workout after work today.

Day 24 Update: Polyvore

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Stuff I love : PINTEREST I had been glued to this site today and I was pinning as many ideas and fashion statements as possible. I love great styles and so many ideas were rushing for me to come out grand gradually. It was the surprise of the millennium what the scale said to me today. I am most definitely re-weighing myself tomorrow morning. Today is Water Wednesday and I am sure I have taken enough for the day. GOAL MET!!! You can click the link on my homepage to see my pins on pinterest.

Fit 30: Binge

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Do you Binge? If yes, explain why you think you do? The question for the day is if I binge. Binge is an eating disorder, a compulsive overeating disorder [well, I don't suffer from any disorder of any kind] Sometimes, when I am anxious about a matter, I may search for sweet stuff to calm me down a bit but not eating as if something is pushing me to do it. Therefore my answer to this question should be a NO, I don't binge.

Day 22 Update: Strength Training

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I did my workout for the day tonight. I worked my upper arms and a little in moves for the core. Meanwhile, I think I touched something in my "jiggly bits" as a friend calls it [arm flab] because my arms were terribly shaking during my cool down and stretching sessions. I know that I love to strength train much more than allow my heart to be thumping horribly in my chest with cardio, but there is a dire need for balance too. If weight loss must be achieved then there is need for balancing everything. While working out today, I remember a line that says "you cannot outdo a bad diet" this means that you cannot use exercise as an excuse to eat wrongly either. Talking about food today, I was very conscious of what I was eating and how I was eating it today because of the allergy drug I had been using, the reactions were more in my favour today because there was no case of excess binge. I thank God.

PROTEIN SOURCES without meat

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Fit 30: Be Fit

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Why do you really want to lose weight? Are you doing it for you? Yes, I am doing it for myself and my health and to be able to keep up with my family too. I want to lose weight to be fit and healthy.

Day 21 Update: Leslie Sansone

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60 minutes this morning  Some awesome time of dancing in church too. So tired right now. Need a nap

Day 20 Update: Dancing

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I had opportunities to dance today [introduction ceremony and a music concert in church] and I will be counting that as my exercise for the day. It was fun and there will be much more tomorrow God's willing. Nothing like praising the name of the Lord and becoming more healthy in the process of doing that.

Fit 30: Plateau

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Question of the Day: Your greatest fear about Weight Loss? Plateau is my greatest fear in weight loss and that is what I am experiencing right now. I have been here for the past 2 years and it's making me really unhappy. Right now with the new style of intensity of HIIT which I have decided on, I know something positive will start happening to me soon and the pounds will surely start to drop.