So done with squats.

Title says it all-I am so done with squats. I don't even feel it working my glutes, but the front of my thighs instead. I've spent a long time checking out the form of a proper squat online, but it's not working. It's still burning my quads only, not my glutes. And some people say the soreness comes the next day, but it just completely skips me.

So I'm kind of confused. Today I didn't do the squats, I did donkey-lift-kicks instead. But what's stopping me from not giving up my squats is this-my thigh gap has gotten a millimeter bigger. However, my thighs have gotten really quite muscular, but I'm after slim thighs instead. I really want to sculpt my butt, but I just want skinny thighs!!! Maybe I'll do squats every third day.

In the foodie area, I failed again today. Had to log in my excess calories for tomorrow. It's weird though, at about 7pm I was under my goal, quite happily full and satisfied. But I went ahead and ate peanut butter, a banana and a croissant anyway. It's like I was used to being in excess calories. Gotta change that...

So needless to say, I also failed my willpower workout today. What's wrong with me!?!? MaybeI just need to start with something easier. Tomorrow, my workout will be not eating peanut butter, which should be fairly easy, seeing as there's NO MORE IN THE HOUSE!

Haha have a lovely night everyone xxx

Well hello there. . .

Today was my rest day, which I definitely needed because. . . ouch! My motivation kind of started slipping though...I actually considered stopping the 30-Day Challenges. But NO!

This gif is awesome. Well all gifs are awesome, but this one. Im doing these challenges for the rock-hard abs, that butt, that thigh gap, to improve my fitness and there's a whole list. Thanks gif :')

I WILL keep going! Whenever my motivation fades a little bit, I just chck out this amazing fitblr and it has heaps of motivational pictures, quotes and gifs to keep you going. I will complete the 30-Day Challenges, yeah??!!
I haven't been doing all the squats in a row though...I broke the 80 squats yesterday into 50:the rest, because I couldn't do them all in a row. I'll try to get as far as I can though, and then have a 10 second break or so before smashing it out again!
I was also feeling really tired this morning, so I didn't do my Slow and Steady workout...but I did it just then, thanks to this gif :)
Speaking of motivation, I really need to get some photos on here. That might motivate me more...I tried on my size 4 skirt today...nothing changed :( Oh well, it was kind of anticipated, I had two binges in less than 3 weeks.

I failed to stick to my meal plans today.  I nearly did, until dad brought home coleslaw, and it was really low-cal too! So I had some, and the next thing I know I had eaten 30 grams of peanut butter. It was really sweet peanut butter too. Ew. My willpower workout tomorrow will just be avoiding peanut butter, because that is my diet sabotager. Eugh.

Oh, and I just realised I need to start drinking a whole lot more water. I already get the 8 glasses a day, but I should get more. Not only does it fill your stomach, it clears your skin and hydrates your kidneys so our liver can do its primary job of utilising your fat cells!!!

Must complete the 30-day challenges! And stick to all my meal plans!

Bingey Booooo

Ew ew ew ew ew.
Had a massive binge today. What is wrong with me!? I basically forgot about eating 500 calories today.  I woke up late, my hair wasn't working, realised I had footy training, grabbed a banana and 8 wafer cracker thin things. Then I ate a bunch of sultanas in the car. Seriously, what is wrong with me!?

When I got back in the car, because I missed out two crucial days at school, and mum brought along sweetpotato for some reason, I ate that. And then we went to Aldi, and I was like "who cares, I'm never going to be 99, I will never be 99, so let's just eat everything I can see". And I pretty much did. So far I'm at an excess of 2628 calories. What.
Right now, I'm not even going to bother trying to fast it off. It's only going to lead to bigger numbers of excess calories. I'll focus on getting rid of the 3000 now, and save this lot for after I get rid of that.

I really need to strengthen my willpower. Apparently it's just like any other muscle in your body; it can be trained, conditioned and strengthened. Right now I'm planning to strengthen it by doing my workout today, rather than not. Maybe every day I'll exercise my willpower with food and drink, like not eating x for one day or drinking a gallon of water a day or whatever.

I feel so chubb-chubbs though :( I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO WORKOUT TO GET RID OF ALL THIS FAT!!! Don't laugh at me okay, I'm trying to motivate myself...

Oh, and I've nearly finished planning all my meals for tomorrow, so sticking to that will be my willpower exercise for that day...

Best exercise ever:

Today . . .

Okay, let's talk about food first. Bad. I now have to fast for two days if I want to even out my calories. Yes, I know. It's getting worse. It was just one day and a bit before.
Oh.
I just got it.

I don't have to clear up all my excess calories straight away. I can just do as much as I can. So maybe by the end of tomorrow, I'll only have to fast for 1 and a half days more, not 2. Wow writing helps. Anyway, I gotta do just that then. I'll aim to eat 500 calories tomorrow.

Fitness. Good. Better than food. I'm on day 6 of the 30-Day Challenges, but before working out today I was so tired. I was like I don't wanna do this. But then I started, and I loved it. I reckon the hardest part of these challenges is the squat challenge, definitely. I had to do 75 squats today, but I had to stop briefly at 50. I think my fitness level has decreased though...I didn't sweat as much and I found the workout harder than usual. Oh well. Tomorrow, I'm going to go for a run. A good, long, head-clearing run. I'll try go for 45 minutes, at a comfortable pace.
I bought an armband from ebay recently! It's for a massive Samsung Galaxy Note, and I can't wait till it arrives! I also bought a skipping rope for $3.50! I can't wait to use it again! Skipping is so fun! For my stats, just 10 minutes burns 91 calories :o Hopefully I'm still as good as when I was 12...hahaha

I've decided to reblog a picture every day. I found a few brilliant motivational blogs, or more correctly, tumblrs. Here's my picture for today!

Haha it's so appropriate :P I really hope I can stay on track with my food tomorrow!

Dark Chocolate

Yes, this delectable delight really does deserve an entire post.

Recently, I made the decision to switch from sugar-laden milk, white and any other chocolate to the very intense, less addicting dark chocolate. Just like how I switched from flavoured yoghurt to Greek yoghurt. And this chocolatey decision is a good one, and you should make it too!

There was a thread on MFP regarding the nutritional differences between dark chocolate and milk chocolate, and it discussed what I had just realised-that dark chocolate was just as calorific and fatty, if not more, than regular chocolate. So when asked how this bittersweet delight was better than the sugary stuff, a MFP user replied, "...dark chocolate I eat two squares. Milk chocolate I eat the whole block." And that's true. Because of the low levels of sugar in dark chocolate, it's not at all addictive (most of the time). But milk chocolate...I have learnt to only buy a bar, not a slab.

What's more, dark chocolate helps lower blood pressure and contains flavanoids, which help regulate blood sugar. It also increases blood flow to the brain, improving cognitive function. Moreover, it's extremely good for your brain and it's high in vitamins and minerals. And don't forget that dark chocolate really satisfies your tastebuds...

So what type of dark chocolate should you consume? To obtain the maximum benefits dark chocolate offers, you should consume the type labelled 60% or higher.
The first type I tried since making the switch was Lindt 85%, which now that I think about it was perfect. It comes in easily breakable 10 gram squares, and that's only 58 calories and 1.3 grams of sugar.
The second type I tried was Moser Roth's Mint Dark Chocolate. If you're just starting out with dark chocolate, this is for you. It doesn't even taste dark, it just tastes like milk! It was sooooo good! But that's the thing-it was so good it was addictive! Moser Roth packs it chocolate in individual 25 gram bars-the mint one is 140 calories per bar and 10.5 grams of sugar.
The third type of dark chocolate to find it's way into my mouth was Cadbury's Old Gold 70% Dark Chocolate. If you're concerned about thie bitterness of dark chocolate then you should absolutely try this one. I don't know if it's because I was accustommed to dark chocolate, but this chocolate seemed to be sweet, especially since it was packed like Cadbury's regular milk chocolate. 25 grams will give you 137 calories and 7.7 grams of sugar.
And right now, even though I'm meant to be fasting, I have Moser Roth's 85% Dark Chocolate sitting next to me. It's slightly sweeter than Lindt's 85%, but that may be purely because I'm used to it now. 25 grams is 145 calories and 3.7 grams of sugar, 0.45 grams more than Lindt's. Still, it's more dark chocolate tasting than Cadbury's 70%! I ate that like normal milk chocolate!

Yesterday, I found out that 100% dark chocolate exists! Yes, 100%. That is going to be intense!!! Oh, and they make 99% as well, just because 1% makes a huge difference...

Feeling Like a Failure!

Okay, so I need to completely fast tomorrow and consume 387 calories the next day to get rid of my current excess calories (not the massive 3000)
I can do this right? I know I'm capable of fasting from when I wake up to when I come home from school, because I'm busy for the whole time. But then, when I get home...mum becomes the most aggressive food pusher to exist, temptations tempt me and I justify my eating. But I need to do this. As in really need to do this. I don't want to be carrying around an excess 2400 calories, especialy in addition to my already excess 3000 calories.

And having a bit of a rant here. I looked at myself after my binge and was really upset. All I could see was the top of my thighs squishing together, a fat stomach and a saggy butt. And when I lifted my knees up, I didn't get a nice gap like this, I got the top of my thighs squishing together and all the fat made my skin look horrible. Bumpy and blemished, not the smooth skin in that picture. And I don't even have a thigh gap anymore! At 48kg, I had a decent thigh gap but it could've been bigger. Now I don't even have one anymore. Don't even get me started about my stomach. I could see the fat rolls when I did situps, and it quite literally spilled over my shorts. Ew.

Sorry about that ramble. It's only been 17 days of calorie counting, 10 days actually restricting, and I've already undone one week with that 3000 excess. So basically I've only restricted for 3 days. Wow. Anyway, slow progress is still progress, right? Sometimes I just wish it would be quicker though...

Help with Diet + Challenge Updates

Uh oh...it's happening again...the excess calories, I mean. It's only 9:46 am and I've already filled my daily calorie limit, from all the excess last night. What do I do?!?!
I will definitely try to eat as little as possible. I will not eat anything in private, but I will only eat when I'm forced to eat...and when I do eat, it'll be veggies. That should work, right? I'm so nervous...I still need to get rid of those 3000 excess calories! Someone be my accountability buddy and help me!!!

I'm on Day 4 of the 3 30-Day Challenges now, but I'm yet to complete today's. I feel...lethargic? I feel mentally tired, but I just know that absolutely MUST do it otherwise I'll feel so bad...I'll probably do it in the afternoon or something then.

Have a good day lovelies xxx

DECISIONS.

I HAVE FINALLY DECIDED TO DO THE 30-DAY SQUAT CHALLENGE, 30-DAY CRUNCH CHALLENGE AND MINI-CIRCUIT FOR 30 DAYS.

This is in addition to my morning "Slow and Steady" workout, where every day you just do 1 more pushup, 1 more situp and 1 more squat, for as long as you can.

Anyway, I'm happy with my decision. Nervous, but I know it'll be so much more beneficial than not doing it. One of the biggest influences of this decision was the quote "In x days, you'll wish you started today". That's so true!!!
So I'm 10% done with the 30-Day Challenges, and today's my rest day. The first day was hard. Like seriously hard. I had to use my arms to make the situps easier, had to pause when squatting, and the plank was challenging. However, on the second day and third day, my strength progressed. I could really feel that I was already stronger, as I didn't have to stop. And yesterday, doing my 3*1 minute planks, I didn't have to look at the timer to see how much longer I had to hold it for! Just kept going...hahah
So if YOU are contemplating undertaking these challenges, stop. You should just do it already. It's just a total of 20 minutes of discomfort, and for the rest of the day you'll be satisfied. Oh, and you burn about 60 additional calories! So JUST DO IT.

In the foodie area, I've been a bit bumpy. Yesterday, I thought I was doing the Extreme Fat Loss week, so I ate 960-100 calories. So 860 calories. But then, today I realised I wasn't onto that quite yet and so today I have a regular 1210 calorie allotment today. Unfortunately, mummy dearest steamed some DELICIOUS pork buns this morning...but they are just about the worst food you can eat. White flour, high sugar-making them addictive, and high cal, weighing in at 225 calories each! And they're smaller than the size of your fist. So anyway, I had one. And another. So that was 550 calories gone, in less than 10 minutes.

And when we went to Coles, I got some 70% dark chocolate...it was more calorific than regular chocolate, but less sugar, hence less addictive. Or it should have been. I ate 50 grams of that stuff! It didn't even taste bitter! So...it's only 5pm and I had to log the excess calories today in for tomorrow. And I haven't even had dinner yet. Boooo :(

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/GoingFor45