What is going on with my body???

I did a weigh in today to see if I have lost any weight since Sunday. As I mentioned earlier, I had GAINED 2 pounds. I got on the scale and it said 140.

HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?! How did I magically gain SEVEN pounds in a week and a half.

It's shark week - so a little bloating is to be expected. But SEEEVEEEN pounds?!

I'm not eating junk food. I'm not secretly sneaking in candy bars or bean burritos.

How the hell am I supposed to get to 130 in NINE DAYS?

I'm just going to have to reallllly buckle down on following my meal plan exactly. I printed it out and stuck it on my fridge. I'm thinking I probably need to be extremely careful when measuring and make sure I'm eating enough veggies and not too many carbs. I also think I could improve on being consistent on the times when I eat. Right now I kind of wake up whenever and eat whenever. I am not being careful about eating the correct combinations of foods.

The Day Katy Perry Sped Me Up & Slowed Me Down

I. LOVE. KATY PERRY. 

True Story. 

I listen to her music every time I run. It makes me feel empowered and run faster and I feel stronger and more attractive and girly all at once.

As a matter of fact, I listened to several of her songs on my 45 minute run today.

I got home from the gym and had just enough time to shower and change before meeting my mentor for dinner and a much needed chat. Then I had to volunteer.

This is where Katy Perry slowed me down. It took me 45 minutes to drive 3 miles. Because Katy Perry was having a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Which is dab-smack in between me and my destination.

I missed dinner with my mentor and had to go straight to volunteering. There was also some sort of premier happening on Hollywood Blvd and it was rush hour.  I knew I had two choices.

A) Choose Anxiety. Get Mad. Cry. Etc. 

B) Push those feelings deep deep down and breathe and CALM DOWN

Now the bright side is - they feed us. A lot of very talented people serve at my church. And tonight's meal was made by a chef.

 It was grilled cheese and tomato soup. 

I have a feeling that bread and cheese are probably at the top of the "foods-to-generally-avoid" list. But it was fancy. The soup was made from scratch and had lots of veggies. One of the volunteers also owned a bakery and brought a bajillion cupcakes and another volunteer brought peanut M&M's. I stayed strong and avoided the sweets by noshing on the baby carrots I brought with me and sipped on my chai tea.

Volunteering was good. I normally lead the group, but due to my random intense bout with anxiety this past week/weekend I requested to just be a regular volunteer.

The Food

2 pills with water
2 egg whites with 1/3 cup red bell peppers
2 slices turkey bacon
1/2 cup greek yogurt, sprinkled granola
5 raspberries

12pm
1 slice rye bread
All natural PB

The WorkOut

Abs
3 sets 25 reps
Toe Touches
Bicycles

45 min cardio on the treadmill

Post Work Out
Banana
Water

2 pills with water

1 cup baby carrots
Chai tea

Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Tomato Soup

Mansions & Baggy Pants

Oh hey. Remember how I was in a super bad mood like all the time last week? That was lame. So hurray for a new week!

Monday had a great work out! My shoulders are sore...so I must have done something right. Right?

ALSO. I had to buy new work out pants because all my other ones are FALLING OFF. HOOOOORAAAAAYYYY!

Tuesday was my rest day. So my fun activity for the day was to take a stroll through Hancock Park to pick out which mansion I'm going to live in when I'm "Oprah-rich". It's so peaceful there. And they have nice front yards.

My cooking skills are not doing so great. I'm also not about chewing right now. I'm like yogurt or pancakes or smoothies sound really good. Crunchy things... not so much.

Yah I know that's really weird.

Monday 10/21

2 pills with water @7:30

Breakfast @8

2 egg whites
2 turkey bacon strips
1 slice rye bread

Work out @10am

3 sets each

Incline Chest press 30lb 20 reps
Dumbell Squat 15 lbs ea 20 reps
Deadlift 35 lbs 20 reps
Pec Machine 20lb 15 reps
Seated Row 50lb 20reps
Tricep Pulldown 30 lbs 20reps
Bicep curls 8lb ea 20 reps
Shoulder Press 10 lb 15reps
25 minutes Cardio on treadmill

Post Work Out
Muscle Milk Lite

Snack @1pm
Fresh pressed Kale/cucumber Juice
Handful of almonds

3pm 2 pills with water

3:30
3.5 oz grilled chicken
1 cup peas

7:30 2 pills with water
8pm Grilled ahí... I cooked it wrong - it was so gross and ruined my appetite





Tuesday 10/22

2 pills with water @9am
9:30
1 Cup greek yogurt with
1/4 cup granola
1 slice Rye
1/2 banana


2 pills with water @12pm
12:30
Mixed Green salad with tomatoes
Ranch on the side
Veggie Burger with no bun
2 glasses of water

Snack @3pm
Handful of almonds

2 pills with water @7:30
8pm
1 baked zucchini

This Week's Theme: Anxiety

This last week my planner was full. I'm happy that I had so much to do. I love being busy.  But for some reason I was experiencing a lot of anxiety. Tuesday and Friday night I simply stayed in to give myself a break.

Possible Causes for Anxiety

a) I had to go to the doctor to get a TB test.

 I know as a fact I do not have tuberculosis because I am, in fact, NOT a 19th century french prostitute...it's just for record purposes.  I grew up in a small town and never had to go to a doctor because my doctor went to my church and I would just see him on Sunday and be like oh hey Dr. Marcus... "my throat hurts" or "what is this bug bite" etc etc.

So going to a stranger (always hairy and usually with a foreign accent) and waiting 2.5 hours in a room full of strangers is not my ideal fun time.

b) My cousin's baby shower. 

My extended relatives have yet to master the art of how to have a pleasant, enjoyable conversation. They especially don't understand the entertainment industry or what it's like trying to start a career as an actor. They ask when I'm going to get a real job. They ask why I am not booking work regularly. They ask how much money I make when I book work. They ask why don't I just send my resume to the Studios.  They tell me I should join a  Christian community theatre that does morally upright plays. They complain about how they can't find white gardeners or decent pool cleaners. And then they lecture me about how Obamacare is going to ruin this country... not that I bring it up.

At least they have given up on asking me about my dating life (or lack there of). 

They know there is no hope there. 

c) Saturday night my street was on lock-down for 2 hours because there was a CRIMINAL running around. 

Cop cars everywhere. TWO helicopters. TWO!!! One of the helicopters YELLED at me and told me to go back inside.

Have you ever been yelled at by a helicopter?? 

It's super intense. 

d) The Looming Cloud that is the holidays. 

Traveling.
Airports.
Planning.
Logistics.
Answering the afore mentioned questions over and OVER AND OVER.

e) The pressure I am putting on myself to succeed at getting fit and the fear of falling short. 

LAST WEEK'S CHALLENGES

Speaking of which. I GAINED WEIGHT this week. When I originally stepped on the scale it said 140 and I almost fainted. I tried putting the scale on the tile floor instead of our wonky bathroom linoleum. The tile floor said 135 so I settled for that. I told myself not to worry because it was just water weight and it would drop off in a few days and everything would be back on track. Whether that is true or not - is another story. Did I eat like 15 cheeseburgers in my sleep??? I just needed an excuse to not freak out over a number. However, this week was definitely challenging. I did have a couple of sodas and went a little overboard with trail mix on Thursday. Also, I didn't eat a proper breakfast before my workout Friday and ran out of steam half way through.

HOW I PLAN ON IMPROVING

On my little workout planner, I currently only have listed my workouts and weekly weight goals. Now that I am down to the wire with this fitness program, I think I could benefit from having a daily goal or theme to help me focus. So I will be writing those in as I fill out this week's workouts.

FOOD JOURNAL 

Sunday 10/20

8am
2 pills with water

8:30
Chai tea w/ almond milk
Mini Croissant
(technically, I shouldn't have my celebratory mini croissant but that is my choice "cheat" treat)

12:30
2 pills with water

1pm
Luna Bar
25 oz. Sparkling Water

3pm
4.5 oz seared ahí
Kale & spinach salad w/ balsamic vinegarette
water

4:30
water
handful of almonds

5:30 Accidental nap!

9pm
2 pills with water

9:30
3.5 oz. grilled chicken
1 cup of peas

25 oz. sparkling water

Saturday 10/19

2 pills with water 10:30am

11am almonds

12pm
Guac & flax seed chips

12:30 2 pills with water
1 pm Chicken salad

Resisted cupcakes and brownies! SCORE

5pm 2 pills with water
5:30 pm
grilled chicken & baked squash SO GOOD

Snack
1 oz. hummus
1 thing of pita

Party: 1 celery stick and a 12 oz. coke
Resisted booze and baked treats. SCORE!

Here is a picture of my costume with my friend Stacy. She was Workout Barbie. She actually was one of my inspirations to get fit. This girl is so bubbly and funny but can really do anything she puts her mind to! This year she is just taking everything to the next level! Great job, traveled Europe, awesome boyfriend, got fit, new agent ...the list goes on!  Such a great lady! And she looks amazing!

Friday 10/18

2 pills with water

1 cup of greek yogurt w/ raspberries and granola

THEN I had the bright idea to try and work out about 2 hours later

The Work Out

4 sets 15 reps

Incline Chest Press 30lb
Dumbell squat (20 reps) 12lb
Tricep 30 lbs
Seated Cable Row 50lb
Straight leg Deadlift 30lb
Treadmill 5 min

Ran out of energy because I did not eat enough. Lesson learned.

Post workout muscle milk

2 pills with water
3.5 oz grilled chicken
baked squash
#nomz

Work Out DVD

On my rotation of workouts, Wednesday was abs and 45-60 min cardio day.  Knowing myself, I knew 45-60 minutes on the treadmill most likely wouldn't happen. I didn't care for any of the the cardio classes available at my gym. So I decided to push back the couch and bust out an old work out DVD.

I have had this SELF Sculpt Sexy Legs DVD since 2008.  I used to make my little sister do it with me. We could never make it past 20 minutes before quitting. From warm up to cool down it is 55 minutes long. And guess what

I DID THE WHOLE THING! 

Was I sweating? YES. Did it sound like an elephant tap dancing in my apartment from all the jumping around? YES. Am I super super proud of myself for completing it? YES. 

The Food

2 pills with water

3 egg whites scrambled with onions, tomatoes, & kale
2 slices turkey bacon
1 slice rye bread
small cup of coffee

Snack
water & almonds

2 pills with water
Grilled chicken breast
1/4 cup kale salad
1/4 cup brocoli crunch salad

55 min work out video

2 pills with water
1 glass of almond milk
with left over veggie yellow curry with chicken and brown rice

Snack
almonds
slice of rye bread
water

Christmas Miracles during Halloween

Weigh in was Sunday. I always wake up super early (well at least for me it's super early) to get ready for work and take care of all my weigh in business. So naturally, I'm cranky and suuuuper groggy. I was bummed because I was off on my goal by .1 lb ...but I figured hey I was close enough. Then I realized my goal was 134.3 and I weighed was 133.4. WHAT?!

IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!!!! 

So I treated myself to a mini croissant. Not a full size one. Thank goodness they put the calories on everything now... apparently a full size croissant can have between 400-750 calories!!!



Sunday 10/13
Coffee
mini almond croissant
1 clementine
Water


2 pills with water

Chicken Wrap

• onions
• romaine lettuce
• tomatoes
• peppers 
• garlic sauce

2 pills with water

Turkey Sandwich

• spinach
• peppers
• cucumber
• olives
• tomato
• 9 grain oat bread
• mustard

Monday 10/14

2 pills with water
1 egg with kale & tomatoes (I dropped my other egg on the ground...NOOOO!)

The Work Out 
4 sets each

25 reps Deadlift 25lb
15 reps Peck Fly 20 lb
15 reps Flat Chest 45lb
15 reps Cable Row 60 lb
15 reps Lat pull down 50lb
15 reps Tricep pull 35lb
20 minutes cardio

Post work out protein shake

Stretch and accidental NAP!

2 pills with water

3.5 oz. chicken with honey mustard on the side
Kale salad

• onions
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• hint of feta 

Pumpkin Carving Party!

• 1 glass of apple cider (non alcoholic)
• 2 baby carrots dipped in guac
• handful of sour cream and onion chips (I caved!!) 

Tuesday 10/15

2 pills with water

Homemade protein shake

• kale
• greek yogurt
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup of mixed berries
• All natural peanut butter 
• splash of almond milk
• ice cubes
• 1 scoop of muscle milk light protein powder 

Doctor's Office

Snack

• Luna Bar

GROCERY SHOPPING! 

2 pills with water

Veggie Yellow Curry with Chicken 

Brown Rice

Snack

• Pita
• Hummus
• 1/2 cup pineapples 

8 million cups of water cuz it's randomly 86 degrees again in LA

Dinner Party for Actresses

Last night I went to a dinner party with only actresses in attendance. The hostess was kind enough to accommodate my diet restrictions. She was a vegetarian so she was a bit restricted herself. The third actress walks in and informs our hostess that she doesn't eat wheat, dairy, sugar, caffeine or alcohol.

So we had brown rice, kale chips, arugula & cucumber salad, tofu, and steamed broccoli.

Oh hey...I'm on a diet.

 Me too. 

Wait what? Me TOO!!

NO WAAAAY!!! 

SO TYPICALLY LA!

I woke up around 5 am with pain in my stomach.  I realized I should just stay away from broccoli.  My stomach basically felt wonky all day. Also, coconut oil. That REALLY hurts my stomach.

Thursday
I seemed to have accidentally deleted my food journal for this day.

I remember eating a turkey sandwich on an oat bread with spinach, tomatoes, onions, black olives, peppers and mustard.

I remember this only because I was on my way to get it...in my gym clothes... no makeup... and I got hit on.

Also I had a Muscle Milk Protein shake after my workout

Obviously, I had more....but I cannot seem to recall what. I'm pretty sure it was super healthy and AWESOME.

The Work- Out

Narrow Leg Press
1 sets of 20 @ 55; 3 sets of 20 @75

Flat Chest Press
2 sets of 20 @30; 2 sets of 20 @45

Seated Peck Fly Machines
4 sets of 15 @ 20

Low Back Ext.
4 sets 15 reps @ 10

20 min of Cardio on Treadmill

The Mummy 2 was playing!

YES!

Such a pleasant change from stupid MSNBC or ESPN



Friday

10:30 am 2 pills with water

11am
3 egg whites scrambled with spinach and tomatoes
2 slices of turkey bacon
1 slice of rye
1 cup of coffee

1 pm 2 pills with water

Hike to Griffith Observatory

Water & Banana

3:30
handful of peanuts
cup of almond milk

4pm 2 pills with water

4:30 pm
2 tuna cakes
Greens
Water

7pm 2 pills with water
7:30
Kale Chips
Brown rice
Steamed Broccoli
Tofu (I tried it...but only ate about 3 cubes...it was not my fave)



Saturday 

9am
Glass of water
Coffee to Go

Went to my cousin's house to help her out with some paper work because she is trying to adopt.

10:30 Breakfast
Chai tea
1-2 cups
Greek yogurt, Berries, & Granola

Back to running errands for the process.
Drank at least 3 or 4 glasses of water

3pm 2 pills with water

3:30
Picked up a Chipotle Bowl on the way to visit my niece and nephew
Lettuce, Black Beans, Chicken, Pico de Gallo, Avocado.
The portion was HUGE so I just ate until I was satisfied and gave the rest to my cousin.

Left around 5:30 and sat in 2 hours of traffic.

I thought perhaps a quick nap would re-energize me to go to the gym. But there was no way I could sit in my car for another 20-40 minutes to get to the gym at 9pm at night.

Here is a picture I took of Los Feliz Blvd on the way to the 5 on a Saturday night

Sweater Weather

Can I haz grilled cheese and tomato soup? 

NO!

Loving this autumn weather. Woke up to rain! Pulled out my boots, leggings, scarves, and over-sized sweater! 

I helped my friend cast a film and then volunteered at church all afternoon and evening. I tried to grab some healthy options to nosh on. 

2 pills with water @9:30

Breakfast @ 10am

Kale Protein shake

2 pills with water @2:15

Lunch @2:45

1/2 tuna sandwich

Chai Tea

2 pills with water @5:15

Dinner @5:45

Quinoa Burger

Fruit cup 

Hakuna Frittata

Got a jump start on my day and woke up bright and early at 7:30 AM! Who knew there was one in the morning, too??

Made myself breakfast and hit the gym.

Everything went swimmingly with the full body work out. It took me a long time today for some reason. Then I got to the cardio. I felt like my feet were sandbags. So yeah - I was only able to run for about 5 minutes. I have a feeling I am going to be muy sore en la mañana.

Also, I want to note that every now and then when I'm doing free weights next to another woman, they seem to start copying whatever I'm doing. It cracks me up.

The Work Out

4 sets 15 reps

Incline chest press 30
Dumbell squat (20 reps) 15lb each
Seated Cable row 50
Walking lunges (20 steps) 12
SEated Pec Fly 20
Straight Leg Deadlift 25
Overhead dumbell shoulder press 1 set 8 3 sets 10
Standing bicep curl 8
Standing tricep ext. 1 set 30 3 sets 35

5 min cardio

The Food

7:45 2 pills with water
8:15 3 egg whites with spinach & 1 slice rye bread
11am post work out protein shake
2:30 2 pills with water
3pm Grilled chicken with pomegranate-avocado salsa served on greens + corn on the cob

7:30 2 pills with water

8pm Frittata with tomato, spinach, & broccoli (tried to make it look fancy with Sriracha 

Finally... RESULTS

For about the last 4 weeks or so, I have felt a lot of frustration because I felt like I wasn't seeing any results. Then FINALLY this week it was all like......

Buh-BAM! 

I first noticed Tuesday night. I was at a networking event and my pants kept sagging. For some reason, I thought my stupid-cheap-ass pants were losing their shape.

Wednesday morning I tried on a pair of old skinny jeans. I haven't worn these in months and months because the give me the WORST muffin top and really cut into my hips.

They fit like a GLOVE!!!

Then that night I put on my favorite pajama bottoms. I have been wearing shorts to bed because it's been super hot...but since the weather has cooled down a teensy bit I busted them out. And lo and behold - they would.not.stay.up!

This really energized me through out the week. Now that I have new work out plan in line, I'm excited to hit the ground running TUESDAY!

 I wasn't as consistent in writing down my food journals as I would like to have been. However, I tried out some new recipes and got a little crazy with the peppers.

Here are the more memorable meals I had...

Wed 10/2
Coffee
2 pills with water
Southwestern Stuffed Bell Pepper

2 pills with water
3 Egg whites 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper
2 slices of turkey bacon

Water
5 almonds
Whole wheat & flax seed pita with Hummus

2 pills with water
Chicken breast
Kale Salad

1 cup of almond milk

Thursday 10/3

Work Out!
Chest/Back with 20 min cardio post weights

• Incline chest press 20 lb dumbells
• Flat chest press 1 @30, 3 @45
• Wide grip lat pull 2 @50 , 2 @ 60
• Seated Cable Row 2 @50 , 2 @60

Post work out
Protein shake
Water


2 pills with water

Mini Enchilada
Rice & Black Beans
Water

Friday 10/4

2 pills with water

Seared Ahi Burger (sans bun)
Spinach, Tomato, Onion, Avocado
Sweet Potato Fries (are these a healthier alternative to fries?)
Water

2 pills with water

Marinated grilled chicken
Green beans
(My neighbors came over inquiring what the divine smell ruminating from my kitchen was)

Saturday 10/5 

Workout!

Sumo 30
Hip Abductor 60
Leg Press 75
Treadmill 20 minutes

Post work out
Muscle Milk Protein Shake

Zucchini Bake

• marinara sauce
• ground beef
• Baked on a giant zucchini 

Sunday 10/6

2 pills with water

Meal 1
Coffee
Banana
Cliff Bar
Water

2 pills with water

Meal 2

Water
Chicken Wraps (my neighbor who is a trainer came up with this one)

• chicken
• lettuce
• onions
• tomatoes
• hummus 
• whole wheat pita 

2 Clementines 

Water 

Monday 10/6

2 pills with water

Meal 1

Coffee

1 Whole wheat pancake

Grapes

2 pills with water

Meal 2

Chicken wrap 

Water