Week 1 - 18 Weeks Out

Well training hasn't been so bad but...

Everyone knows that I dislike (hate is a strong word) cardio. Since I have to shred a lot of fat to show my muscles, I'm doing a lot of cardio. Fasted cardio. Fasted, intense cardio in the morning. 6 days a week! For this week, I'm only doing 30 minutes every morning but for a person who doesn't do cardio at all, it feels like eternity! First day of my intense cardio, I realized how much I've neglected it every time I go to the gym. I lift like there's no tomorrow but avoided cardio as if it was a plague. Well after 10 minutes on the treadmill at 15% incline at 4.0 mph (not allowed to hold on at all), I was DYING but I pulled through. The next day, I made sure to put some awesome songs to pump me up during my cardio session. I found myself really motivated by Katy Perry's Roar. I found myself listening to it over and over again along with Sara B.'s Brave. Call me a dork, but it worked!

What I found challenging so far is eating all the food I'm supposed to eat. I'm having a hard time finishing all my meals. I feel like by the time I finish meal 1, it's time to eat meal 2. Yoko said that this is normal and my body will adjust.

By far, the hardest part of the training is taking all of my vitamins! I did not expect this at all. I never had a problem taking pills but when you take so many of them, it gets tough (for me anyway). Right now, I'm taking multivitamins along with extra calcium, Vitamin B, Probiotic, Vitamin C and fish oil. I take about 5g of L-Glutamine with my green tea in the morning before my cardio. I eat 6 meals a day, every 3 hours. I have set alarms on my phone to remind me when to eat since I tend to lose track of time when I'm at work.

For my workouts, I do 30 minutes of intense fasted cardio in the morning and strength train 3 times a week (after work). On Saturdays, I attend one of the classes offered at the gym. Sundays are my rest day and I get to enjoy a "cheat" meal once a week!

I've decided not to post my before picture (yet). I was not very happy with it (who is anyway with their before picture?) but in my defense, it was right after Thanksgiving and coming home to Dallas where I ate everything decadent and savory that I could possibly eat... okay no excuses but I will post it after a month next to my month progress. :)