Week 16 of Mission: FitBitch

Last week was my first full week of super intense fitness mode. I was really excited, motivated, and determined and I think my actions showed this. So while I've been tracking my 'FitBitch' mission for 16 weeks now, last week was the most work I've done. Mostly because I'm determined to be Hot4Halloween this year.

Week16: X-5 which means I lost another pound from last week!!

Here's all the exercise I did from last week:

• Netflix DVD - Self: Slim and Sleek, Fast! - 30minutes
• 24 Hour Fitness - Sit Down Bike - 45minutes
• 24 Hour Fitness - Ab100 Abench - 100 crunches
• 24 Hour Fitness - Turbo Kick Box class - 60minutes
• 24 Hour Fitness - Yoga Vinyasa class - 60minutes
• 24 Hour Fitness -Treadmill - 18minutes

Makes me exhausted just looking at the list right now. I will say that it's been hard work, I know that, but the happiness is in the results. It's important to stay motivated and stick with it b/c changing your lifestyle does not happen overnight. I know this. It's still hard. And today I have no motivation and would prefer to sit on the couch. But my desire to be fit is stronger than my laziness, so I will be doing my FitOrbit workout today. Like the little engine that could: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!

Who's with me??

Syrah Wine Parlor in San Diego

There's a new wine bar that opened in San Diego a while ago, and I've been meaning to try it out, but haven't had the chance until last Friday! My friend Chrissy celebrated her birthday there and I was pretty excited to see it. It's called Vin de Syrah Spirit and Wine Parlor, or Syrah for short, and I love love love it. I would say the decor is a modern twist on Alice and Wonderland and also reminds me of some Anthropologie windows I've seen. Unfortunately it was way too busy for me to snap any pix of the decor, but I was able to find the following on Google images and the Syrah website. It's meant to feel as if you were in the rabbit hole.

 

 

 

 

I was in heaven and definitely plan on going back. The wine was reasonably priced (and by 'reasonably' I mean that it wasn't any more or less expensive than the other bars in the gaslamp). 

Me, before leaving the apt. Boyfriend being silly with the camera so I started being bratty b/c I wasn't getting the pic I wanted.

 

I was over it and started walking away, so boyfriend kept shooting. But this one is a good indicator of the slight bubbliness on the bottom of my dress. Also, as you can see, I had in my extensions and this was the day before my hair appt in which I darkened the bright blonde a bit and chopped it off.

Me and my friend Erin that I've known since elem school but now we both live in SD.

Julie and I.

I'm a dummy I didn't get any pix with the bday girl Chrissy :^( I will be going back here at some point and would like to snap more pix when it's not so crowded.

Has anyone else been here? Or is there something out there that's similar that you know of?

New healthy hair!

For various reasons my hair has been damaged upon repair. So last week I made the decision to go see my stylist Candice and to simply cut off the death. There was just no fixing it at this point, so it had to go. My appointment was on Saturday, so I'm still getting used to it. Here's the new cut, wind blown dry, with no heat or products or styling.

My hair was getting long, and I do miss it, but this is the best thing for my locks. Cut your hair to grow your hair, right?! I believe Laura has even mentioned that recently and I know that Kelly has done the same (btw, I don't personally know these girls, but their blogs are my religion and I heart them). 

I also went back to using my Matrix Sleek Look Shampoo & Conditioner because I like the soft way it makes my hair feel. My K-Pak deep conditioner will be once every 1-2 weeks (b/c you can over-condition). And I'll be getting rid of all my Aveda products (they hate me for some reason and I'm bummed about this).

What do you think? Good decisions?

Working Girls Guide to A Mini Mani

I don't know about you but I don't have as much time as I'd like to get regular manicures. So this means that I mostly do my own nails and maybe once or twice a year I make it to the nail salon. In my purse I keep a nail file (I get the $0.99 ones, usually Target of CVS Pharmacy) and the Sally Hansen Cuticle Pen (any cuticle oil pen should work). 

When I have a conference call in which I don't need to take notes (or pay terribly close attention), this is how I give myself a mini mani:

• Bust out your file and give your nails a quick soft file, to clean them up and keep them fresh.
• I then rub the tops and edges all along my jeans as my 'buffer' almost like I'm sctratching my legs. One time I wasn't wearing jeans I used my paper lunch bag. This 'buffing' gets all that extra flake off so you can see the shape of your nails and keep filing at will.
• Then I use my cuticle pen (shown above) and paint a u-shape around my cuticles. No need to be precise here. Then I sort of use any excess to paint on top of my nail for good measure (I don't know if this actually helps any, but I do it anyway).
• Repeat on other hand
• I typically leave it for a while so the oils can get all nice and soaked in
• Wash hands with soap and water (hopefully your work has a restroom for this).
• One coat of Sally Hansen Max Support polish (or any quick dry topcoat you have).

Et voila! Mini Mani complete.

9/26 = FIVE weeks until Halloween

We now officially have five weeks left until Halloween. If any of you are doing your own Hot for Halloween (H4H) challenge, this means we still have time to lose 5 more pounds in a healthy way. Simply crunching the numbers, 1 pound = 3500 calories. So if you reduce your caloric intake by just 500 calories each day, for 7 days, that is 1 pound lost in 1 week. Sounds easier than actually done, I know, but if you're serious about getting fit I think its important to lay out how to reach your goals. At least for me it is, I need to see my plan in writing.

Still on hyper intense mode of eating healthy and working out. And so far its working for me, yaaaay I lost 1 pound this week!!!

Another thing I did for myself is to get a personal trainer on Fit Orbit. They give you meal plans and exercises every day, based on your fitness goals. Mine started Fri 9/25 and so far I like it, but I'm still getting used to logging everything in their website. I signed up for a 6 month package and I hope it helps me stay focused. I think it will.

Goals are:

• Deficit of 500-700 calories each day
• NO alcohol, cheese or fastfood! (1 glass of wine is ok)
  
• Stick to raw, fresh vegetables as much as possible
  
• Workout 5-7 days a week, 30 minutes minimum each day (Mon & Wed are the days I can skip)
  
• Increase water intake (I learned drinking more water helps you lose more weight)
• Also, NO sugars

DRINK YOUR WATER!!!! This is my buddy Contigo, I take her wherever I go.

Is anyone else challenging themselves? How's it going?

2 Fit Tips I learned this week

I've always been pretty interested in fitness and nutrition, and I feel like I have a decent knowledge foundation on the subjects. But its always fun to learn new things! This week I actually learned 2 new things that I didn't know before and I think are pretty important (b/c they're opposite of what I thought) so I wanted to share.

1. I was watching the 'Week Two' episode of Biggest Loser (heart that show!) and Jillian said something that made me rewind and replay. Basically what she said is that your body needs protein within 30 minutes of working out. Reason is that your muscles are broken down while exercising and they need the protein right after to start building them back fast.
2. My FitOrbit trainer said that when your body is hungry, it will ALWAYS start breaking down your muscle, and not fat. I was okay with being hungry for a while b/c I thought it was burning fat, so whats the harm right? WRONG. If you are hungry, your body eats your muscle, not your fat.!

So boys and girls, what did we learn this week? Don't let yourself be hungry. Drink a lil protein shake after you workout. Easy peasy.

Happy Friday!!

Today's iPod playlist for the gym

I don't know about anyone else, but for me, having loud thumping music in my ears whilst working out is a must. I'm usually looking for new music to inspire me to work harder and like to look at what other peeps have on their gym playlists. You never know what you'll find. Here's some of my go-to winners from this week:

* Beep – The Pussycat Dolls

* Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas

* Culo – Pitbull

* Don’t Cha – The Pussycat Dolls

* Go Girl – Pitbull

* I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry

* I Wear My Stunna Shades – Federation

* I Would Walk 500 Miles – Less Than Jake

* Maneater – Nelly Furtado

* Not a Stain On Me – Big Tuck & Fat Bastard

* Poison – Bel Biv DeVoe

* The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson

* You’re a Jerk – New Boyz

What do you listen to while working out?

“Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes”

My cousin Jamie is getting married in Tennessee this October and one of boyfriend's best buds is getting married in Virginia in November. For my cousins wedding, I'm not in the wedding party or anything but all of the family that will be in town is invited to everything. For the VA wedding, boyfriend is a groomsman which makes me...loverface to a groomsman?

Translation: 5 'events' in 2 months = 5 new dresses for ChuChu!!!

And since we finally know what home we're buying (and how much down payment we need) I was able to do some shopping. All sales, of course! I was able to buy 3 dresses from JCrew.com (on super sale) & 3 dresses from my local Forever 21 (already super cheap).

I love how JCrew does their packaging, so careful and clean. Below, the green dress, is the one I will wear to my cousins wedding in Oct.

I will be wearing the Zigi Soho Gloria Satin Platform Sandal in black, from DSW, and carrying this handbag, also in black and from DSW.

For her bridal luncheon I think I'm going to wear this floral number from F21. I love the open back. Or I might wear the blue one from J Crew, with yellow shoes I wore to Del Mar opening day.

I also need to decide on something for the rehearsal dinner in which the bride will be wearing a blue cocktail dress. And then there is the rehearsal dinner in Nov, along with the wedding and reception. These are the other dresses I bought, but haven't exactly decided which I'm wearing for what occasion.

 

 

 

 

What do you guys think, any ideas? I don't think that I can properly wear this white/black one above since they're both weddings. So that leaves the pink and the gray. I've got a couple others in the closet I might need to pull out for this.

I'm not wearing a bra

Okay, I am, but it doesn't feel like it. Long story short, boyfriend forced me to go bra shopping, which I did. After picking up every bra in Victoria's Secret that I might like, I went in the dressing room and tried all 7 of them on. Only 2 of them looked right. 1 was a regular bra and 1 was a sports bra so I got them both.

Turns out what I was buying was their new Biofit bra and I had no idea. I just picked what fit best. $45 and I chose the light pink. What I love about this bra is that it feels like I'm not wearing one. That also happens to be what I hate about it thus far. Reason being is that I'm sooo used to that feeling, I think it'll take some time to get used to. But so far so good (I've worn it twice).

And then here's the cute lil sports bra I got for about $20 on sale.

Does anyone else have one of these? What do you think of it?

Weeks 11-15 of Mission: FitBitch

This is a follow-up post to my 'Weeks 1-10 of Mission: FitBitch'. My Start Weight is shown as 'X', aka the-most-ive-ever-weighed-in-my-entire-life.

I've been tracking my weight and here are my results for weeks 11-15:

Week11: X-3, or, I lost 1 pound since Week10
Week12: X-3, or, I weigh the same as in Week11
Week13: X-4, or, yay I lost 1 pound since Week12
Week14: X-4
Week15: X-4, still the same same same

So what that means is that since I started tracking my weight and habits, I've lost 4 pounds overall. Not bad, but not great, which is ok since its still all lost weight and not gained. Plus, the last day of Week15 is when I kicked the workout routine into high gear, so hopefully the next update (on Sat 9/26) will start showing quicker results.

Is anyone else tracking their weight/fitness/eating routines?

9/19 = SIX weeks until Halloween

I just realized that it is exactly 6 weeks until Halloween, which for me means super crunch time on getting fit. I was surfing around on the blogs and YouTube, looking for fitness peeps to follow for motivation and I came across kelanjo19 video on joining the Hot for Halloween (H4H) fitness challenge. Her video explains where it came from (the siegster) and so Ive decided to semi jump on the bandwagon. I wont be making any videos but these people have inspired me to make sure I'm fit by Halloween 10/31/09. 

I want to be able to wear this bee costume. I'm not sure that I would actually wear something this small out in public, but I want to at least have the body to decide for myself! I'm tired of choosing the clothes I wear based on how best to cover my fat (yes, I just admitted that).

The next few weeks will be hyper intense mode on eating healthy and working out. I plan to post my progress every Saturday.

Goals are:

• Deficit of 500-700 calories each day
• NO alcohol, cheese or fastfood! (1 glass of wine is ok)
  
• Stick to raw, fresh vegetables as much as possible
  
• Workout 5-7 days a week, 30 minutes minimum each day (Mon & Wed are the days I can skip)
  
• Increase water intake

My Nail Routine

By some act of kindness, I have been blessed with strong nails that grow quickly. They also grow out long and straight. This does not run in my family. When I was young my mum would let me keep my nails long, as long as I kept them clean. If they got dirty, she chopped them off. I've also played soccer all my life, so during soccer season no nails were allowed. And then in the off-season (however short) I would grow them out as long as I could.

So for as long as I can remember, I've been in the routine of growing my nails out super long, and then chopping them all off to the nub. I will also cut them all off if 1 or 2 should break because one thing I hate is some really long while others are broken short. I think it looks so terrible. So I say my sad goodbyes and just chop away.

Typically when long I leave them natural with a clear topcoat, or a light nude pink and then go dark and bright when they're short. This is my before and after of my latest salon trip (and by 'salon' I mean my own bathroom).

Squared in shape, no polish or oils (as you can see in the closeup).

 

 

And I've decided to go WHITE!! Back in the day I remember using white out at school sometimes on my nails, lol. This is bascially the same look. Here Ive used 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow Matte (this is where I discover I'm not a fan of matte polish) and 1 coat of OPI Passion as a topcoat (to cover up the matte look a bit).

 

I do really love the white nails (I feel slightly punkish?) so the verdict is that I will continue to use with a glossy topcoat until the bottle is gone. Then I will make sure I read the label first and buy a glossy white.

We love Luizy

Just want to put it out there that we have the best friends evveeeerrr!!! A few weeks ago our lovely friend ALu was visiting SD and when pouring her a glass of wine I admitted that we actually only have 2 wine glasses. Gasp, shock, horror, I know. She couldn't believe it. I'm thinking because we drink so much wine? We do.

I swear one week later we get a box delivered at our front door and GUESS what it is?!?!

 

 

A set of 6 brand new wine glasses from our lovely friends the Luizys!!! We couldn't believe it, it was such a great surprise. They are thick, sturdy, and gorgeous. So we did the only logical thing - promptly rinsed one out and poured a glass of vino.

 

THANK YOU ALu and KLu!!!!!!!!!!!! You're simply the best.

I get to use my passport!!

That's right folks, the passport I obtained 2 years ago is finally going to be put to use. For those that don't know, I'm a California girl born and raised. Until a few years ago (when I meant my amazing loverface boyfriend) I really didn't get out much. And by 'much' I mean never. I never left San Diego. Not that it isn't gorgeous and sunny and wonderful, but I always fancied myself a world traveler. Three or so years ago I started out 'small' (Vegas, Oakland, Virginia, New York, Seattle, DC - all places I had never been before) but now its time to go BIG!!

I hereby announce that I plan to go to Europe in August 2010 and my main 3 cities will be Dublin, Paris, and Prague. In the next year I will attempt to learn some basic French so that I don't have to be the dumb American tourist who only speaks English.

Yay me!!!

 

 

au revoir

Pix of some THINGS I LOVE