Why I have been STUCK!

Yep, you read right- I have been stuck. Stuck between 157-158 for a while now. I know why. I know it's the weekend "oh well, its ok" eating. It's the FREEDOM of being able to eat what I want and getting carried away. I am not proud of some of the choices I have made, but I am ok with the fact that I have maintained my weight and am still losing inches. I have learned to not let the scale bother me, it is not the only way to show success. I almost have to replace everything in my closet including bras, bathing suits, shorts, pants, and even shirts because of the changes I am seeing. I am slowly learning that I have to stick to the plan; I have to hit my macros every day. I have to wake up each day with a good attitude, ready to do everything I can to make that day good. I have to power through my workouts, always challenging myself. I know I can do this. I have done much harder things. A couple of things I have realized as of late: 1. I can have anything I want, but I have to plan ahead. I have had to say no to going out a few times, because I simply didn't have it planned in my macros. Don't get me wrong- I go out to eat, I eat what I want, but sometimes I just simply don't have enough left in the day because eating out includes a lot more fat than you may realize. Look at Chili's menu for example- whoa! So, sometimes I will have to say no if my friends or family don't let me plan ahead. On a good note, if I do- I can usually get through the day and save a LOT of macros for that meal and get something I REALLY REALLY want! YUM! 2. Drinking is just not good for what I want to do with my life. Am I saying I will never drink again, HECK NO! I am sure I will have a drink here and there. After 3 months of not drinking a drop, I have gotten carried away a few times and it never turns out good. That is probably part of the reason I have been stuck. So, done with that and that is fine with me. I would much rather eat my calories than drink them anyways. 3. The IIFYM lifestyle and joining Team LP3 is the absolute best decision I have ever made in regards to my health and fitness, with exception of just beginning to care about it years ago. I love the flexibility. I love being able to incorporate my favorite foods. I love my coaches. I love my team. I love that this is a true LIFESTYLE that can be maintained. I love that they teach you. I love that they still help competitors prep and don't change the fact that you can use macros to do that- no tilapia or asparagus. 4. I actually believe I will get to where I want to be now. I don't think it is going to happen in a month or even two. I do know it WILL happen though. One of my coaches posted in our group yesterday and it was a comment that came from Layne Norton (who is the bomb.com by the way) and it was so true and real- it said: "If you think you are the only one who's ever had it tough, you are wrong. You are WRONG. If you have a passion, if you have a dream, if you have a goal, then at some point you've been crushed. You've wanted to quit. If it was easy everyone would do it. It's EASY to be motivated when everything is going well. CHAMPIONS find a way to stay motivated when everything goes to hell and nothing is going right. I wanted to quit my PhD. I failed over and over and over and over and OVER again. HUNDREDS OF TIMES. Some of you all will have no idea how many times I've failed and how badly I wanted to quit. But thankfully I didn't. I focused on the GRIND. Every single day. Did whatever it took every single day. And eventually, I made it out the other side. But my story is nothing. Success is a battle of attrition. If you really want something, do you think quitting is going to get you closer to it? No. Will quitting suddenly make you want your goal more? No. KEEP FIGHTING TEAMMATES! It's NOT easy. Changing your body starts with changing your lifestyle, your mentality, your soul, your drive, your work ethic, your discipline. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN IN TWO MONTHS. Yeah you may lose some weight, but you will not have an absolute new physique in two months. If you want that, go get on some unrealistic program that has you doing two hours of cardio a day on top of your one hour training session, eating only chicken, tilapia, asparagus, and almonds. That's no way to live, that's hell. Learn to enjoy the journey. Quit whining. It's hard. We all have to fight for it. I have cried, I have broken down when the changes seemed like they take FOREVER to come. BUT I HAVE NEVER QUIT and I certainly do not whine to ANYBODY about it. I pull myself up, I dig deeper, I look for ways I can improve and I do my best every day. Remember- ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING! AMEN!!!! Have a great day people!

Size 6! BOOM!

You know that size that you never think you can fit in? Well, you can! I remember always having to buy a size bigger, creeping up to 10s, 12s... and hating every minute of it. I remember wanting to cry thinking about buying an even bigger size. It is crazy that we let numbers define us. We look at the number inside a pair of jeans or on a scale and it lets us know how we should feel. Sad, but true. I don't gauge my happiness on it, but I will celebrate my success! I remember the day I fit in a size 8 pant and I remember jumping around in the dressing room with a huge smile on my face. It was an amazing feeling, I was out of the double digit sizes. It felt good. Well, I went between an 8 and a 10 for what seemed like FOREVER! And by forever, I mean years. I tried to diet, exercise, tried low carb, restrictive eating, eating "good" during the week, not drinking, so many, many, many things. Nothing worked. I stayed the same. Well, after having two sets of coaches and finally finding a lifestyle that works for me- IIFYM has done it for me. I am so happy, I could scream. I love my coaches- www.ledbetterproject.com and I know this is a lifestyle for me. I went shopping over the weekend and I wanted to get A new pair of jean shorts, because all of mine are too big (not complaining- already donated them!). I grabbed a 7/8 and then thought "oh heck, try on a 5/6 for shits and giggles", so I did! And guess what? Those MF'ers FIT! I stared in the mirror in disbelief. The last time I wore that size I was probably a freshman or sophmore in HIGH SCHOOL! It has been forever. Commence the jumping up and down, smiling ear to ear, so excited! So, I bought two pairs! LOL! I couldn't help myself! It is not about the number. It is about the success, it is about the sweat and tears, the effort, the hard work. THAT is what is more important to me. SO, if you want to give up- don't. If you don't think it's possible- it is! If you feel like you can't do it- YOU CAN!

IIFYM so far....

I started with the LEDBetter group on March 15. I got a ton of information to read on that Friday night. The book, examples, food list, and everything else they include with their "welcome packet" is amazing. It is a lot to read, but I learned a lot. On Saturday, my amazing coach contacted me and gave me my macros plan and training plan for the first 3 months. I officially started on Sunday. I counted everything I put in my mouth and I did my first leg day. I have been consistent with it for a little over 2 weeks now. So far: 

FOOD- I have ate a LOT! I am able to eat anything I want, as long as it fits in my daily macros allotment. I know there are a lot of misconceptions out there about IIFYM and how much junk people eat. I used to look at those bowls of peanut butter, ice cream, and chocolate on IG and think- WTF?! Now I understand. You can have things, all things, IN MODERATION PEOPLE. I cannot sit around and eat pop tarts and junk food all day and meet my protein, carb, and fat intake. But I can occasionally have a pop tart in my diet, because it will count towards my carbs for the day. It is all about balance. I eat a TON of healthy foods and a few less healthy things, but I am not blowing up yet! LOL! The great thing is that if I know I am going to have a certain thing for dinner or go out on the weekend to eat, I can plan my day around that and actually not feel GUILTY, because I am still giving my body what it needs to function and work properly. I am no expert on this by no means. I started counting my macros a few weeks ago, on my own. I went to www.iifym.com and got a macros count for myself through that website. It is not the same thing as what was provided to me by my coach, so I highly recommend getting a professional to help you. Macros are so specific to the person and depend on so many factors: how much you weigh, your job and lifestyle, activity level, body type, etc. My coaches are with www.ledbetterproject.com. I am only on week3 and I feel confident I made the right choice chosing them for this new lifestyle change journey I am taking. You get a whole team of people to support you and guide you in not only making the changes, but learning how to incoporate the IIFYM lifestyle yourself FOREVER. That's what I love about them. They are teaching me, not just coaching me. 

WORKOUTS- My trainer, Brooke, is great. The workouts are hard, but I know they are doing what they are supposed to. I have been SO SORE! I do a combination of weight training, HIIT cardio, and TRX. I love the burn. I love being sore. I love working hard. I love that I don't have to do fasted cardio. I love that there is so much variety in my workouts. I love that they are personalized to ME and not everyone else is doing the same workouts I am. The best part about it all-- my alarm does not go off at 4:30 for fasted cardio. I do not have to do cardio 2 x a day. In fact, I do HIIT 2 x a week and the other 3 days I only do 20 minutes of cardio in intervals. I am not a huge cardio fan, although I do occasionally love a good run. So, it's true:

 Progress: At the end of my previous program I was fluctuating between 156-158 and mostly staying at 158 toward the end. After ending that plan and also enjoying spring break and probably indulging too much, I weighed in at 160. After 2 weeks on the plan, I am down 2 lbs and weighed in at 158 this morning. Progress is progress, no matter how small. I can definitely see a difference in my clothes. They are falling off. I will have to shop soon. I know, what a shame. LOL! The greatest part about this is that I eat WHAT I WANT. I do not feel deprived AT ALL! I can have a cheeseburger, ice cream, whatever I want, in moderation. I am not eating tilapia and green veggies only. I can fit whatever I want into my macros and I feel my diet is much more balanced now. I feel happier, less stressed and so much bettter about this plan. I love the people on the team. I interact with them via facebook, IG, and with my coach on a weekly basis. They are helpful, encouraging, and realistic. I already know I will more than likely sign up to continue with them after my 3 months is over. That's how amazing this lifestyle is. Check them out. Look at some of Layne Norton's videos at biolayne.com I am a believer and I know it works. There is a way to lose weight and not feel like you hate your diet or that you are even ON a diet. There is a way to manage your food to fit what you need and what you want. This is the lifestyle change I have been looking for! :)

If you have any questions, email me at msenseney05@aol.com and I will answer the best I can. I am no expert but I am learning!