Nicole's Second Effort at Keeping a Blog

1 week ago

Zaggora Hot Pants Review

It’s ironic that I just mentioned these capris in my post yesterday because I received them in the mail hours after I wrote that. Of course I had to immediately try them out. Here are my initial thoughts.

By capris I mean long shorts that come right above my knee. I had the option to purchase actual “hotpants” shorts or these. Because I’ve always had big thighs I wanted the coverage of my thighs to slim that down along with my bottom and midsection. It was the same cost so I figured I’d get the most bang for my buck. The material of these capris feels like a wetsuit. It’s very thick and really holds you in. (For dancers, it feels the same as wearing 2 or 3 pairs of dance tights at the same time) The top comes up above your belly button, basically to the bottom of your ribs. I like this a lot because it helps me to remember to keep my stomach muscles tight. The first thing I did was go for a 4 mile walk around my neighborhood. By the end of the walk, there was sweat dripping down my legs through the bottom of my capris. I was only walking! It felt great, until I had to pee and then put the capris back on, so sweaty! But after I cooled down and stopped sweating I didn’t mind them. I continued to wear them through rehearsal. Exercise-wise I didn’t feel like I worked harder I just sweat a little more.

Today I can’t really notice any changes, and even if I did notice changes it would probably be in my head. I’m curious to see what happens in two weeks, since as Dan put it.. it’s just making me sweat more which is futile because I just drink it all back into my body. But I’m sure these will motivate me to exercise more.

There are only two complaints so far. One- they make a noise when I walk. It sounds like I’m wearing windbreaker pants.. again similar sound if you were wearing a wetsuit. I don’t mind it too much, but if there is one complaint that would be it. However, the only other thing is that you cannot machine wash/dry this material. Not sure what will happen but I don’t want to try and jeopardize the effectiveness after just buying them. You have to hand wash them and let them drip dry.. which stinks when you have a situation like mine where I didn’t get home until 11 pm last night, washed them and this morning they are still not dry when I want to wear them. Therefore I can either wear them wet and just deal with it or wait for them to dry.. we’ll see what comes first.

Other than that, I’m enjoying them and plan on wearing them almost every day for the next two weeks. I haven’t taken my measurements but I want to go off of how my jeans fit. In this weight loss journey, I’ve found my black work pants got baggy but my jeans fit just the same. Hopefully I’ll see my jeans get looser the more I wear these capris. Time will tell!

1 week ago

Back to Square One

Well, I’ve been on a two week hiatus. Oops! In the last two weeks I had some minor surgery which disabled me from exercising (besides dance rehearsals for 42nd Street). I also ate my stress and feelings so at the beginning of this week I weighed 152 lbs. My starting weight for this go around of the competition was 148 so I think that’s what snapped me into gear. After days of barely eating carbs and running a lot, I’m back down to 147. That means I have the next 3 weeks to really put in work. My legs are pretty sore from the 4 mile walk/jog I did yesterday so I think I may just walk 4 miles before a full run of the whole tonight at rehearsal (don’t want to wear myself out too much).

I ordered a pair of Zaggora HotPant Capris. There was a Groupon and the director of the Middletown Theater Program was raving about them once so I knew I would want to take advantage of the offer if I ever saw it. Basically whatever these capris are made out of heats up the cells in your legs to burn more fat. They advertise the “2 week challenge” where you wear these for 2 weeks and post your results on their Facebook. It seems like the same idea when wrestlers in high school use to wrap themselves in cellophane to make them sweat more so they can make weight. But I figure hey, a new pair of workout pants and they can make my thighs look smaller? I’ll try it! With the Groupon and shipping from the UK it cost a little over $30. They should be coming anytime in the next week so I’ll post my experience with that too.

I really hate what carbs do to your body and I really hate running. But I do want to have a decent time in this marathon, 4 on the 4th so I’ll try I guess. Hopefully I keep up on this successful path!

3 weeks ago

Game On!

Steph has agreed to go for round 2 in a biggest loser challenge. My starting weight is 148.. 9 pounds from where I started last time. We will go for 5 weeks again which works out for me because that’ll be after the first weekend of 42nd street. Hopefully I can work out my food and exercise situation and get down a couple pounds by then. If anyone is interested in working to lose weight for the next 5 weeks inbox me and let me know! Here we go again.

3 weeks ago

Challangers?

So if you’re wondering if I’ve been to the gym or done any type of workout since my last post the answer is no! I am so lazy and really don’t care that I ate at the diner twice this past weekend. I have lost my motivation.. not even the image of what I’ll look like in my 42nd Street costumes and propel me to the gym or even put my sneakers on. Now that I’m down to teaching a one hour class for 2nd graders on Mondays, I am stuck in an idle stage in my bed.

For some reason lately I have been a total cookie monster. Whenever I pass a Subway or Dunkin Donuts I need to stop and get one (or 3).. which if you haven’t tried the cookies at either place you should know they are moist and delicious! I don’t know what it is but lately I have not been satisfied by food at all and need that dessert meal. It may be because I’ve been living with Dan at his parents house and haven’t been making my Dukan-friendly meals. I have been eating more vegetables because his mom cooks a few with dinner but I miss the idea of being able to eat as much as I want of certain foods. Plus not having money or a place to put my own groceries doesn’t help the situation.

Excuses, excuses.. don’t have to tell me twice! But after my competition with Steph ended, it’s all been downhill from there. It’s not even that I’m a competitive person.. I don’t need to win all the time. When I’m up against an obstacle/another person I feel like I need to prove to the world that I can do it.. is that being competitive?? Maybe so.

So I’m putting this out there, if there is anyone that wants to go into another weight loss competition with me, for real let me know. That was really the only way I’ve lost weight in the past 24 years of my life and I’m afraid I’ll eat my weight in cookies back up to 157. I would love to see the scale at 137 as soon and healthily as I can.

1 month ago

Falling, tumbling off the wagon

It’s been a rough week. We didn’t end up getting the apartment we were accepted for because of their dog weight restriction (seriously, where can we find an apartment under $1200 that accepts dogs over 50 lbs!). Our lease expired yesterday so I had to pack 1/2 the apartment myself because Dan was away working for the week/weekend. After my roomates moved out it was just me in the apartment by myself for three days. With the microwave and toaster oven and pots and pans gone, there wasn’t really too much food I could cook. With the depression of having to leave my apartment without a future prospect I found Domino’s pizza.

I realized that when I’m upset or stressed I resort to food. I think it’s because I’m stressed about other things and for that moment I don’t want to be stressed by food. So then I go and eat an entire artisan pizza by myself. I’m not proud of my dietary decisions lately but until I have a stable living situation, I’m not sure how healthy I’ll be eating. Yes I’m making excuses so that when I eat Wendy’s every night I’ll feel 1/2 as bad.

1 month ago

“Strive for progress, not perfection”

After the Emmy’s, I still kinda kept track of what I was eating.. not really stressing too much that I ate way over 100g of carbs, but still eating eggs for breakfast every morning at least. I basically gave up exercising. I tried P90X for a few days.. maybe ran around the neighborhood one or two days.. my Zumba membership expired so no classes. I was moreso focused on this new job and 42nd Street rehearsal (which, don’t get me wrong could be a decent workout) Three weeks later I had only gained 5 pounds back even after drinking beer and eating pizza all throughout my birthday weekend. Three days of eating healthier and running/walking a few miles at the gym I’m already back to 145, where I was at the Emmy’s. Now I’m trying to get a few pounds lower so that if I cheat a bit like I have been the past three weeks, my max weight would be 145.. I think it’s possible lol.

Although I am already doing some things wrong. For the past few days this is what I’ve consumed: 2 Eggs with skim shredded cheese for bfast, a can of solid white albacore tuna with this omega-3 mayo I like for lunch, and some perdue ground chicken formed into basically chicken burgers with skim shredded cheese for dinner. And A LOT of green tea throughout the day. And then some M&M cheats at night that Dan conveniently left on his desk before he went away for a few days. So as you can see, a LOT of protein, some carbs and no fruits or veggies. I could’ve (should’ve) cooked some frozen veggies I have in my freezer but it was late and I was tired. I didn’t eat dinner until after 10 pm due to being at rehearsal for the last two days. I only have one can of tuna left which I will have for dinner tonight I think, and I bought some turkey hot dogs for lunch today. Unfortunately I bought the high fat kind because the low fat low carb ones I usually buy were $5.00 for the same pack! and these were $1.49 so I just went cheaper.

Since I’m not going in to work until 11 am, I’m eating less usually. I wake up at 9 and eat breakfast, eat lunch maybe around 3 or 4 and then depending on if I have rehearsal or not either a late dinner or a light dinner (and by light dinner I mean a bag of popcorn or some kind of snack).

We got the apartment in Stamford and should be moving in on Tuesday. So hopefully I’ll develop a good routine of going from work to either P.Fitness or my weight room and then off to rehearsal or relaxing in the apartment for the night. Poor Dan will be smelling eggs every morning in our tiny studio apartment but nothing I can do about that!

1 month ago

"This will be me working out in the apartment complex fitness center…
Source: change.org via TrekDesk Treadmill Desk on Pinterest
"

1 month ago

Yes I Can!

I went to the gym for the first time since before the Emmy’s last night. I stayed on the treadmill for an hour. I can’t promise you I ran more than 2 miles but I as long as “Friends” was playing on the tvs, I wasn’t leaving that treadmill. The apartment building that I’m (hopefully) moving into in Stamford has a workout room literally next door to my apartment.. and by that I mean we’ll be living in Room #410 and the fitness room is in #412.. I’m hoping this will motivate me, but I’m hanging onto my Planet Fitness membership just in case I need to get some air outside of my apartment building. Unfortunately there are no Zumba classes in Stamford! There was one Zumba studio but on the website, the owner wrote a letter about how she got in a car accident and had to close her whole studio. I may look into taking classes at the YMCA in Stamford, but until 42nd street goes up, I wouldn’t have time anyway. Plus I work for a dance studio with fitness classes and I wonder if I can get an “employee discount”.. aka $FREE.99!

I’m always inspired by other people, especially in their weight loss journeys. I was first inspired by my college roomate Caitlin who after seeing her recent FB photos and seeing how happy she looked, I wanted to experience that joy when someone took a photo of me. That’s when I teamed up with OTHER college roomate Steph to start our weight loss journeys. Recently (today) I saw my friend Ashley’s post about her progress and I knew she recently ran a 5k. I’ve been contemplating running a marathon because I have a love/hate relationship with running.. sometimes I love it, most times I hate it.. a lot of times I do it anyway.

I used to try running at 6 mph, sometimes 6.5 if I got ambitious.. that was back around December/January.. and I hated it. I would last about 20 minutes on the treadmill and would get so tired and frustrated that I’d just leave the gym and call it a workout. I tried running at a slower pace, 5 mph and was able to run more than a mile straight. That’s where I’m back to now. Last night I was able to run 1.5 miles straight at 5 mph but then got lazy and walked for the most part for the rest of the hour I was on the treadmill. Ashley mentioned her goal was to basically run straight through and finish in 35 minutes.. I am definitely far from that goal but it gave me the idea of having some tangible to work towards. If I say I’ll do a marathon, I’m obligated to at least put some effort into training. There are a ton of 5k’s happening like every weekend all over CT, but I wouldn’t risk doing a marathon during the 5 weekends in June that I’m performing in 42nd Street. I’m considering doing this marathon called “4 on the 4th”.. 4 miles in New Canaan on the 4th of July. I imagine it will be great weather, a lot of fun and I can pig out on holiday food for the rest of the day. I’ve included the link below. It costs $10 to participate.. I can do that. Anyone with me?

http://www.clubct.org/Races/Fourth/Fourth.html

Anyways, thank you Ashley for inspiring me to try this. Hopefully I can be as successful at my first marathon as you were!

1 month ago

Day ??- Back in the Habit

It’s been two weeks since the Emmys and really two weeks since I tried to eat healthy. I didn’t really give up and go all out but I definitely allowed for Wendy’s chicken sandwiches and Dairy Queen Blizzards. The past few weeks have been a little crazy, schedule-wise. Whenever my routine gets switched up, I blow off my fitness and healthy eating habits.

Speaking of fitness, I lasted one straight week with P90X..the same thing happened last time. I missed a day or two of workouts and was sore and lazy and never looked back. I really just don’t enjoy those workouts. As I’ve said before, I don’t feel “the burn” like in other workouts, I just feel straight up pain.. and then I’m in pain for days/weeks later. I only did two “Ab Ripper” workouts and when I tried to do push ups a week later I felt like I had literally ripped my abs.

I’m starting a new job on Tuesday that gets out at 5 Monday through Friday, so I’ll get back into the habit of going to the gym right after work. To be honest I probably wouldn’t have tried to stay on the healthy path I’ve been on if it weren’t for this weekend. I saw a few people I hadn’t seen in a long time and they commented on my blog and my progress. I didn’t realize people actually read and follow it. I guess that was the point of writing all this in the first place.. to have people read it and hold me accountable for my success.. or failure. So here I am.. trying again.

Tomorrow is Day One again for the next 7 weeks. June 1st is the opening weekend for 42nd Street which I will be performing in Stamford, CT. Since my legs will be tapping away in that 90 minute show and I need to be in shape to compete with my cast I will again work hard to get into shape. I do still want to get down to 137.. so still 10 pounds away. But I think it is possible, as long as I stop cheating. But hey, besides my birthday on Friday there aren’t any holidays between now and June 1st, especially candy sponsored ones.. so I think I’ll be okay. Here’s to the next 7 weeks!

2 months ago

Day Seventy Two- I Remember Why I Hate P90X

Last summer my sister and I split the cost of P90X. We figured one of us would do it for 90 days then pass it off to the other person. I kept it up for about two weeks, missed a workout or two and then didn’t have the desire to go back to it. I hear the title thrown around a lot, and I often fall asleep with the tv on and wakeup at 5 am to the P90X infomercial. I felt really motivated to try again and at least get past the 30 day mark. That was until I just did the first workout. First of all, the first workout is basically all pushups and pull ups. I don’t have a pullup bar so I just sit on the edge of a chair or in a lunge position and do the pull-up motion with my body weight. You do a 20 minute workout of various push up and pull up exercises.. and then you do the whole thing all the way through a second time! As he says in the video “Other workout dvds would have you stop at the first set, not us!”

I get it.. P90X.. go hard. But this is the reason I hated P90X when I did it last summer. It’s not like the workouts give you a muscle burn and makes you feel like you’re working hard. During this workout I felt like I physically did not have the strength to do the exercises, for mainly the push ups. I guess that’s the point, the more you do the push up series the better you’ll feel about doing them but I don’t feel like I got a great workout. Now my arms feel like wet noodles and I’m feeling frustrated that I could barely do any reps.. and if I did more reps they weren’t in the correct form by any means.

Another thing I remember hating was how incredibly sore I was the next day, especially with the leg and plyometric workouts. I literally couldn’t take a step without being in pain I was so sore! I remember thinking how would being this sore motivate me to do that day’s workout?

I’m not sure what tomorrow’s workout is and I’m too lazy go up and get the booklet to look but I hope I get more out of it than I did today. Maybe I’m just lazy, and maybe I’m still just as out of shape as I was the last time I tried to attempt this workouts. But if I am really gonna stick with this for the next 30 days you can expect a lot more whiney blog posts in the future.

2 months ago