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

Challenges!

So a friend of mine on MFP just sent me her daily workout routine. It was INSANE. She said she's only been doing it for 5 days, along with eating healthy, and I can see abs and a thigh gap on her!
Anyway, her workout consisted of 3 challenges and a mini-circuit, and she does all the challenges three times! Told you it was insane! She did the 30 day crunch challenge, 30 day squat challenge, 30 day push-up challenge and then the mini circuit, every day. You can just google all the challenges, but the circuit is at the end of this post.
I was contemplating doing what she did, but I'm afraid it may be too much for me to handle all at once, in addition to my As Long As You Can Challenge.
Oh, and there's also the 30 day Abs Challenge, which looks pretty doable too...so that's another option!
The squat challenge starts off with 50 squats...that's an awful lot of squats...should I do the crunch or squat challenge?! Aargh...I'll decide later I guess. Right, off to workout now! For the first time in months! So happy...

Far Out Brussel Sprout!

Well...I overate. I hate the word binge, so I overate. By 2827 calories. That's basically a pound of fat... Um...yeah...I'm never hitting the "complete this entry" button for today...
And why? Because I just found out after school that I had a history essay due tomorrow!!! I had it in my planner for the day after tomorrow, so my brain began moving into panic mode and I ate my stress. I also pulled an all-nighter finishing my plan. And then I was late to school, but I'm getting extra time, yay.
Anyway, I was going to try fasting for the next two days and a bit, but...my mum doesn't approve of my fat loss goals and will keep pressuring me to eat...which means I'd have to purposely fake madness at her, which I can't. And there's all these food temptations lying around the house!!! So since I can't fast completely, I decided I'd just do this: daily calorie goal (DCG)-100 calories, for as long as it takes for me to rid mys body of the excess calories. So tomorrow, my original goal of 1410 is now 1310. And this goes on for 29 days. I can do this, right?!
Once I did a three day fast to balance out an excess of about 3000 calories, but I had to be so isolated and withdrawn from my family...I could just see the hurt and confusion in them! Another time I did a 2 day fast, but that was easier because my mum was away for a bit so she wasn't there to look over my eating. It's really hard to do this without family support though.

So yeah. DCG-100=next 29 days. Should be fun fun!