Day 47.........so much to think about...

Today is day 47 and I'm about halfway through my challenge..........where has the time gone? Doesn't seem possible that it's gone as fast as it has........this challenge has yet again been full of ups and downs and a roller coaster of emotions!

I am consecutively getting into the gym 3 days a week. 1 of those days is devoted to a 30 minute personal training session with a trainer. He has been slowly incorporating cross-fit into my sessions over the last month until my sessions are almost entirely all cross-fit training. Wow! What an intense, insane, crazy, maddening workout! There is no down time in between exercises, high intensity cardio and it really makes the sweat pour. I usually come home from these sessions exhausted mentally and physically and spend about 15 minutes collapsed on the floor. I can only imagine this is what insanity and the P90X series is like. Day after sessions like this leave me walking a little slower and feeling pain where I normally don't. All I can say is my ass better be hard enough to chisel off of after all this!! :) I usually take Tuesdays and Thursdays off in between unless I feel really motivated and Wednesdays and Fridays are devoted to cardio. At least 45 minutes on the elliptical. My ultimate goal is to be able to run a 5K. I despise every aspect of running so this will be a HUGE and DAUNTING task for me. I am able to now knock out 3 miles in my 45 minutes at the gym on these days and I feel exhausted and sweaty afterwards.

I am still working on the eating every 2 hours. Some days I have success and others I don't. I am still successfully getting my 2 shakes a day in and I faithfully drink my cup of coffee EVERY morning with my new favorite creamer of the holiday season, Smores. :) Yes it's my indulgence. But that is o.k. because we are allowed some things we love, in MODERATION. It's my only cup of the day and I only put creamer in it, no added sugar. My shakes mostly consist of frozen fruit and Tropicana 50 orange juice now. The juice is so much better than regular orange juice, about 50 calories for 8 oz and pretty good in sugar content. I am trying to snack on things like yogurt, string cheese, fruit, but I have still been craving meat and eggs. Not sure what this is about but my body is craving these things like mad. I did find a Lactose free, dairy free brand of cottage cheese and that was my snack for today, with some cut up tomatoes and a yogurt. I buy the drinkable activia strawberry yogurt. It definitely keeps me on the regular side. :) Last week I did eat at a buffet, BUT i did make healthier choices.....1 piece of baked chicken, veggies, sweet potato (not the candied variety yuck...) and for dessert I had chocolate pudding. I'm sure it was better than the chocolate mousse cake they had offered up. :) We did eat out a few times, but I'm making healthier choices and making it count.

So I think with the combination of the added cardio, the cross fit training, and trying to eat healthier......the numbers are still going down.......the weight hasn't fluctuated as much as I would like to see, BUT the inches are still going down and I bought a size 11 (even though it's still a little snug with some hang over, but I will get into it). When measurements were done on Monday at the gym, my body fat percentage finally dropped from 34% down to 32.4%. It was hovering at 34% for the last 3 months. So there is success, but my body is changing. It seems it's constantly changing and transforming. I'll take it.

Small steps lead to bigger successes.........keep working at your goals and keep challenging yourselves and be positive. Turn the negative in your lives into something positive and believe that you can do whatever you will yourself to do! Happy HEALTHY eating!!!