Let The Madness Begin!

Monday is the first day of the 14-Day Challenge! Made my weekly trip to the grocery store to pick up some goods so that tomorrow (after the whole Easter celebration) I can prep my meals for the week. If you’re wondering what’s on my menu, I will kinda break it down for you. Most of my meals get repetitive especially when I’m doin’ challenges like these, only because it saves me time and money. Especially since the hubs is on a high calorie diet (meaning the dude can and will eat whatever he wants). So I’m basically cooking for one.

I apologize in advance if you think this blog post is a bit wordy and long. But I just wanna give you an idea of what I’m doin’ on my end for this 2 week challenge. Let me start with my workouts. I have planned my workouts in advance and will be posting them up the day before I actually do them. If you want to do the same workouts I do, that’s totally cool. Just make sure you workout at your own pace and make sure you listen to your body. It’s always good to challenge yourself, but safety first! Don’t do too much or lift too heavy if your body can’t handle it. My goal is to build muscle and tone up. So I’ll be incorporating a lot of weights into my workouts. If you’re trying to slim down, try to lessen the amount of rest in between sets to keep your heart rate up. You burn more calories this way. Some of you may be a bit more advanced than I am (I’m still an amateur) and if you want to lift heavier, go for it! If you are just starting out, don’t over do it. OR, if you want to do your own workout(s), that’s totally fine, too!

Okay, so here’s an idea of what I’ll be doing Monday night in the gym:

On the treadmill:

• 5 min warm up
• Stretch
• HIIT cardio : 1 min sprint  @ 9.0-10.0  2 min brisk walk @ 4.0. Repeat 8 times. Total of 24 min.
• 5 min cooldown

On the machines:

• squats 140#-160# – 10 reps 4x 
• split squats (or static lunges) 50#-60# – 10 reps each leg 4x
• leg extensions 80#-95# – 10 reps 4x
• hip abductor (outer thighs) 175#-#190# – 10 reps 4x  (start 1st rep at 175# and increase 5# each set after) – do this while sitting up at the edge of the seat and not leaning back on the back rest. It allows you to hit heavier weights.
• hip abductor (inner thights) 130#-145# – 10 reps 4x (this one you can sit back, increasing weight by 5# each set)
• hamstring curls 50# 10 reps 4x
• leg press 2-45# plates + 1-25# plate on each side – 10 reps 4x

Finish workout with 100 decline sit-ups and 100 push-ups (4 sets of 25)

If you don’t have a gym membership or workout equipment at home, you can do this…

30 min walk/jog – very easy to do. walk/jog 15 min away from your house and then walk/jog back to your house 15 min.

Then do these workout routines by Tone It Up:

Option 1:

Option 2:

And end with abs!!!

If you feel like you can do more or if you want to do more, then do all 3 workouts. Again, it’s totally up to you. If you’d like, you can even do the cardio portion earlier in the day and then the strength training part later on in the day. And just so you know, I will be doing abs at the end of my workouts every day.

********

Example Menu of my meals

• Meal 1: double fiber whole wheat English muffin (toasted) with natural peanut butter and banana slices
• Meal 2: Clif Bar and H20
• Meal 3: homemade turkey chili with spinach (and maybe a cup of coffee)
• Meal 4: 4 hard boiled eggs (2 w/the yolk, 2 without) doused with tobasco sauce
• Meal 5: (post workout) protein shake
• Meal 6: grilled chicken and lots of lots of green veggies

There ya go. This is just an example of the kind of stuff I eat on the daily. I’ll probably be changing up Meals 4 & 6 during this week, but will stay like this for the most part. Meal 4 may sound weird to you, but I’ve actually been craving it lately. Sometimes I’ll have raw almonds or maybe I’ll have some celery sticks with natural peanut butter. But hard-boiled eggs works fine, too. 😛

Anyway, guys… just have fun with it. I hope I’ve inspired you enough to want to do this with me… it is a lot of hard work. But it’s also soooo very rewarding at the end of the day. Trust me.

🙂

14 Day Challenge

March is almost over. Which means birthday celebrations are pretty much done. Hubs and I did something every weekend since the month started. Indulged in my favorite foods. Tried my best not to care about the calories consumed. Ate clean all week long so that I could enjoy the “cheat” meals on the weekends. Torture on my body, of course. I did, however, take the entire week off last week from the gym. I think I did a short workout on Thursday but that’s about it. Vegas was our little vacation… I extended it the entire week. I figured I’d give my body a little rest.

Anyway last weekend, we had brunch on Sunday at The Original Pancake House and indulged in some pumpkin pancakes sprinkled w/cinnamon and a side order of scrambled eggs and fried potatoes deluxe thingie… yeah and it was good. Then it was off to see the wizard. Watched Oz The Great and Powerful with family. And then hubs took me shopping. Awesome day needless to say. We don’t have anymore birthday/anniversary plans this weekend but it is Easter. You better believe I will be enjoying some good food and candy. My one last hoorah… before I start my 14 Day Challenge.

So what is this 14-Day Challenge? Well…it’s a challenge that consists of 2 things. 1) Eating Clean and 2) Working out hard. Everyday. For 2 weeks. It’s not and actual plan or anything like that. It’s kinda like a detox (for me) from all the junk I’ve been eating all month long. And to challenge my body to take it up a notch at the gym. I wanna do 2-a-days, but my gym doesn’t open up early enough in the mornings to get a good workout in before I have to be at work… so we’ll see.

Feel like joining me in this 14-Day Challenge? I think it would be fun. We can help motivate each other, share healthy recipes, share workout routines… Sounds cool, no? I’m gonna be blogging my workouts and meals daily. If you want in, you can either do the same workouts I’m doing or choose to do your own. Doesn’t matter… as long as you’re staying active and challenging yourself to do more than what you’d normally do.

I am, by no means, a certified personal trainer or nutritionist… so you do what’s best for you as far as how intense your workouts are… and depending on your fitness goals, you need to consume the right types of foods.

Okay! so the Challenge will kick off first thing Monday morning. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at fabfitme@gmail.com. I will do my best to assist you…but like I said, I’m not an expert. I do what works for me. We’re all different. So do what works for you. 

Some tips to prepare for this challenge:

• Take before and after pics. This actually helps. At the beginning of my fitness journey, I took some pics of myself in just my underwear. Front, side, and back pics. I was not too fond of the way I looked, but I’m so glad I took them. I’d take progress pics each month. After the first month, I couldn’t see the difference just by looking at myself in the mirror. But when I put the “old” and “current” pic side by side, the transformation was there. So yes, take pics. It’s for your eyes only.
• Record your initial weight and measurements. Just a reminder – the number on the scale isn’t as important as the measurements. Everyone’s body is different and will lose/gain weight in areas you do not have control over. And your body’s transformation does not always reflect the number on the scale. So do not get discouraged if the number on the scale is not what you want it to be… you will see changes in your body, whether it’s slimming down or toning up.
• Take pics of every meal and tweet it, facebook it, instagram it, or just keep it for your records. It actually helps you stay on track. It can help you stay accountable.
• Prep your meals – this is soooo very important! If you’re busy like me, prepping your meals can be a lifesaver! It saves you time during the week and it keeps you from being too “lazy to cook” and going out to eat when you don’t have time to cook.
• Drink lots and lots of H2O – I’m actually gonna try to drink a gallon of water a day. But, if you’re not used to drinking that much water, strive to drink at least half your body weight in ounces. You’ll be taking potty breaks more often than you’re used to. But after a couple of days, your body (bladder) will adjust.
• Eat Clean – eat lots of veggies and lean protein. No processed carbs. Good carbs? Whole wheat stuff. Oatmeal. Grains like quinoa is awesome. Black beans…yum. Lessen the amount of sodium in your diet. Try not to season your meals with salt, instead use natural herbs and spices for flavor. Stay away from sugar! You can eat fruits though… fruits are good for you. Carbs and sugars (fruits) should be consumed in the earlier part of the day – it helps give you energy/fuel for the rest of your day. And then dinners should be lean proteins and veggies. Unlimited veggies!!!! Oh yeah, and plan for 5-6 small meals per day. It helps keep your tummy full.
• Write down your fitness/health goals and make sure they are realistic for a 14-Day Challenge! Maybe your goal is to workout more often or eat healthier… whatever it is, write it down. Keeping a journal of your workouts and meals is very helpful. 

I think that’s about it. Think you got it in you? Let’s do this!!! 🙂

 

Sin City

It. Was. A Blast.

That’s all I really have to say about it.

****

So let’s start at the very beginning.

Hubs rented us a car…

 

 

If you ask me, I think this was the hub’s favorite part about the whole trip.

He LOVES Ford Mustangs.

 

We stayed at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino

 

Room 5107 with a strip view

 

We dined at PF Changs, Cafe Vettro, Yolo’s and other hot spots.

 

Watched a band play cover songs at the Extra Lounge

 

Walked the strip and did a little bit of shopping

 

Saw Cirque Du Soleil’s Zarkana

oh…just us waiting for the show…

Awesome show, by the way. It even got me thinkin’ about making a career change…

From fashion to acrobat. What do ya think?

😉

And, of course, there was some gambling and some drinking involved.

A lot of people watching. Go-Go Dancer watching.

Mostly from me 😉

Like I said…Vegas was fun.

We had a blast.

🙂

A Year Older…and a Little Wiser?

Ever wake up feeling completely happy and just so full of life? Today was one of those days for me. The overwhelming feeling of love and happiness. Where every song playing on the radio seemed to put me in an even better mood. Even the weather was nice… life was just perfect. So perfect that the even the yucky smog didn’t bother me one bit. Gotta love these kind of days…

Maybe because it’s been a great week for me. Even work was enjoyable. Crazy as that sounds, it truly was. I accomplished all I needed to at work this week… always a good thing. And, not to mention… I’m now a year older. Each year on my birthday, a small part of me would feel a sense of dread… the dread of getting older. However, this year was different. I guess I’m finally growing up, huh? And it only took 25 years on this earth for that to happen. 😉

Birthday wishes started pretty early for me. As early as 1am on Facebook (but I didn’t actually read those till later on in the day). Hubby woke me up at 4 am when he got home from work to wish me a Happy Birthday. Then when it was actually time for me to get up for work, I saw this on my phone…

From my favorite brother in the whole wide world. 😛 Who, by the way, is in Hawaii… it was about 3am Hawaii time when we were having this conversation. He’s crazy. But I love ’em.

It was a laid back kind of day… received messages from just about everyone I know all throughout the day… on facebook, thru text, and on Twitter. From the best sister in the world…

Hubby had school all afternoon and work at night so the only time we got to see each other was on my lunch break. He took a break from studying for midterms to make me lunch that day. He is the sweetest.

Nothing too crazy that day… but it still turned out to be a very special one. I definitely felt the love.

So as you can see the hubs and I were too busy to really celebrate on our birthdays and wedding anniversary… BUT! We are definitely gonna make up for it this weekend. We’re taking a mini vacay away from our “lives” and gonna party it up in Vegas! Wooohooo! Haha. Okay, maybe not party like that… but we’ll definitely have a good time. It’ll be fun. And I can’t wait. I’ve been wanting to “get away” since the holiday season ended. Because work left me completely exhausted. We just couldn’t fit it into our schedules till now. And I am super stoked!

I will be posting pics once I get back, I promise! 😛

Trip Down Memory Lane

4 years ago today, the hubs and I became officially husband and wife. We said our “I do’s” in front of our closest family and friends in beautiful Hawaii. On Oahu. At Lanikuhonua. It was definitely one of the best days ever. I know it sounds a bit cliche, but I had the best time the entire day. Getting ready, taking pictures…just enjoying this special day with all the important people in my life. It was just awesome.

I’m going to refrain from writing too much in this post. I don’t wanna bore you with words. So I’m just gonna show you some pictures.

I apologize if the quality of some of the pics aren’t that great. The blurry ones were taken on old skool cell phones and/or scanned and cropped from actual photo prints. But anyway, hubs and I go way back to 2001. That very first pic? We were dating for about 2 months. We went up to Big Bear to go sledding. My very first time sledding. It wasn’t that bad…until we slammed into a tree. Let me rephrase that. I hit a tree. That’s what I get for trying to sled down the hill with 2 other people on a 2-person sled. My college roomie sat in the front, me in the middle, and hubs in the back. Yup. And I was the only one that hit the tree. No big injuries. Just a bruised up leg.

Okay, okay…  I’ll try to keep the anecdotes to a minimum.

On to the wedding pics!!!

The Guys

The Girls

Showtime!!!

All The Wedding Details…

And there ya have it! An awesome day, right? Hope you enjoyed taking this trip down memory lane with me. It was fun. Hope you liked it!!!

The Cutest Surprise

Meet Ladybugs (London) and Pear Bear (Paris).

On Sunday morning, these 2 surprised us with a birthday cake.

Made for Auntie (me), Uncle, and Daddy.

Lady has been singing “Happy Birthday” to us for about a week now and could not wait to make birthday cake.

When the hubs and I came out of our room and walked into the kitchen, Lady serenaded us with her own rendition of the famous song while Pear Bear smiled and waited impatiently for us to cut the cake.

I actually have the performance on video on my phone but had issues uploading it so it didn’t make the cut.

Anyway, here is the cake…

Made with love.

2 blue candles and 1 pink candle.

Lady sure knows how to pay attention to details!

And it was pretty yummy. I think I ate about half that cake by myself.

And I’m not joking either.

😛

 After that, it was time for presents.

Lady chose a mask for the hubs.

And for me, it was all about Hello Kitty.

And this…

Yup. She knows her auntie well.

Let me explain… I work with my hands. And I’m always getting cuts and bruises at work.

So I will most definitely be putting these babies to use.

😛

I just thought I’d share with you one of the cutest birthday celebrations this month.

Oh! And before I end this post…

Wanna wish these 2 cutie pies a Happy Birthday!

(If you don’t know by now, those are the twins. Hubs is on the right)

😉

 

Cray Cray

Work has been driving me crazy. In a good way. Lots of changes. About 3 weeks ago, I got a new manager. For the 3 weeks before that, I was the acting Visual Manager at my store. A one-woman team. And that was not easy at all. My old manager was promoted to a new store (the one I mentioned in a prior blog post). And with each new manager I work with, comes with a whole “new” system of doing things. I must say, my old manager taught me a lot. A lot of basics. And I will forever be grateful to her for that. However… this new manager… has taught me more in the past 3 weeks than I’ve learned in the past 5-6 months.

The workload has been crazy the past 3 weeks (actually, 6 weeks)…which is why I haven’t been on here much to post anything. And next week will be even more cray cray!!!! Haha, I just couldn’t resist. Deadlines up the wazoo and I’m flying solo for at least 3 days next week while my boss goes off to help with the store opening of the new store my old boss is running. (I know that’s kinda confusing to follow, but yeah… that’s just how it goes). And while I usually freak out when “the boss” leaves, I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to “hold down the fort” while the new boss is gone.

So that’s that in my work life. My personal life isn’t as crazy (thank goodness!) but it sure is a busy one! The entire month of March, we (meaning the hubs and I) celebrate both of our birthdays as much we can. But somewhere in the middle of all that, we also celebrate our wedding anniversary. Which is just as exciting. A triple celebration. And because our special days fall on weekdays, and we’re both busy with work and school (for him), we won’t be doing anything huge till the weekend after. I am pretty darn excited to be going away next weekend. It’s going to be a blast. 🙂

And because of all this “celebrating”, I’m not even going to stress about my eating habits like I normally would. I make sure I eat clean all week long…and while I don’t plan on “cheating” the entire weekend, I don’t pass up the opportunities to eat out with friends if the opportunity presents itself. I figure… I’ll just go hard at the whole eating clean/working out like a fiend thang once all the celebrations are over. But! Don’t think I’ve been slackin’ on my workouts like I’ve been slackin’ on my blog posts. Soooo not the case. Still workin’ out 6-7 days a week. Which is good!!! I’m not complainin’. But yeah…definitely wanna get back into it once this month is over… beast mode baby. Eating clean. Workin’ out HARD. 

So who wants to do a 14-day Eat Clean and Workout Hard Challenge with me? It’ll be fun! We’ll keep each other motivated. We’ll check-in with each other (via Twitter, FB, YouTube, etc.) every day to hold ourselves accountable. Share healthy recipes…transformation stories…inspiration GOOD stuff!!! Who knows, I might even try to do vlog check-ins…once I get over the whole “camera shy” issue I have. I don’t like watching myself on video, let alone film myself talking to myself. I’d feel kinda weird. But lots of people do it. All the cool fitness people do it. Anyway, if any of ya’ll wanna join me…feel free to let me know. You can email me fabfitme@gmail.com or tweet me @fabfitme or shoot me a message/comment on my FB page Fab. Fit. Me. I will have an instagram account soon for FabFitMe… just been slackin’.

Okay… I’ve totally been procrastinating on making dinner. But after that, it’s time to hit the gym! Talk to ya laters!!!

The Perks…

I guess I just have to embrace it, huh. Every year I try to down play my “special” day. I try not to call attention to myself. I try not to broadcast it to anyone. I’ve even thought about maybe even taking that little bit of info off my FB page. Oh who am I kidding, of course I want people to know… I kinda like the attention! 😛 I just don’t like people making a big deal about it… that’s all. Like surprise parties. Please do not EVER throw me one. I don’t like the idea of walking into a room full of people hiding in the dark and then having them jump out and yell “SURPRISE”! Not my cup of tea. Oh but presents? Yup, love ’em. Send ’em my way. Will gladly accept those. 😉

So… what is acceptable:

1. Like I’ve said… presents… gifts… LOVE those. Always. 
2. Monetary gifts (all you Asian peeps, you know what I’m talkin’ ’bout)
3. Taking me out to dinner to celebrate (I love food. Remember that, k?)
4. Going on trips. With peeps I love.
5. Just a simple call would make my day… or even a text.

And one of my favorite  things to get for my birthday are these…

Coupons sent from my favorite stores…

Hey… every dollar off counts!

🙂

Awesome. Time for some new sexy lingerie. 😉

Make-up? SURE, why not? 😉

American Eagle

Okay, okay. So maybe AE didn’t exactly send me a coupon for my birthday. But it is my birthday month. And I get to splurge a little. And I just got excited about it so I decided to share it with ya’ll.

I have more birthday coupons somewhere around here, just can’t find them at the moment. But you get the idea.

This is why I love my birthday. It gives me an excuse to shop for myself. I soooo deserve to be spoiled. 😛

First Of Many

It’s my birthday month! Wooohooo! Not gonna think about the fact that I’m getting older. Instead, I’m gonna think about how much fun it is to spend time with family and friends.

Today was the first of many celebrations to come this month. Sushi and bowling to celebrate 6 birthdays. Yup. February and March babies in the house! Fist pump. Ok, I’m joking. No fist pump. But really, 6 birthdays were celebrated today.

March Babies:

Mine

the hubs’ and his twin’s

Daniel and Darrell
March 11

their best friend Lloyd

March 21

February Babies:

the best friend’s wife Heidi, and my sister-in-law (bro-in-law’s wifey) Viviana…

Heidi February 18
Vivi February 26

Sushi is one of my favorites to indulge in. I will never say no to sushi. Ever.

Okay so where did we go? We originally planned to go to the one by our house called Oishii Sushi. At 1pm. Pulled up to the joint only to find they don’t open till 4pm on Sundays. Didn’t have a Plan B, so we looked up a place on Yelp. Found one in Riverside called Sushi Asahi. 

We got there and waited an hour to be seated. Apparently it’s the best all you can eat sushi around. And guess what… that’s exactly what I did. I ate all I could eat. 

I am an Island girl at heart. Love me some raw fish. This is what I ordered:

Rainbow Roll

not the best I’ve had, but it was still good

Asahi Roll

soooo good

Tiger Roll

2 orders… one was mine, the other belonged to Vivi

This is what the hubs and my bro-in-law ordered.

Chicken Teriyaki and white rice

Not sure if you remember… but I think I’ve mentioned before that he is not a fan of seafood. And he could have easily said he wanted to go somewhere else since it’s his birthday, too. But he knows how much I love the stuff…so he insisted we do sushi. Awww…my Bubbies is such a sweetheart. 🙂

After sushi, it was off to the bowling alley. I haven’t bowled in awhile. But the guys were excited to go…so then it was my turn to “suck it up” and just enjoy the activity.

the scoreboard at the end of game 2, beginning of game 3. If you’re wondering where the ladies’ names are, we deleted them at the end of game 1 and we weren’t able to change the names.

We played 3 games. The first we played for individual scores. I totally sucked at it. I think I came in last. Don’t even ask what that lousy score was. I will just stick to styling mannequins and arts & craft stuff thank you very much. But the hubs won (wooohooo!). Then for the second and third game, we teamed up. Couple against couple. It would go like this: 1st frame, ladies bowled the first shot, and then the fellas bowled the second shot. Next frame, we switched. So on and so forth. Hubs and I won the 2nd game. Our final score was 90. Heidi & Lloyd 88. Darrell and Vivi 84. Last game we came in 2nd…or last. I can’t remember. 😛

 

It was definitely a good time. Enjoyed every minute of it. Looking forward to the rest of the month. 🙂