Fitness Journey

I’m back (hopefully)

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Hi. I’m Kelli. I feel like I need to re-introduce myself (again) because of how long I have been gone. I have always struggled being consistent with my blog. I enjoy writing, but it is hard for me to sometimes put my thoughts into words — especially coherent words. My thoughts seem to always be going a million miles a minute, and it can be hard to slow it down and make it make sense. I am one of those people that tell 20 different side stories while I am telling one.

These last few months – no, the past year and a half, has been life-changing for me. I am in a place in my life now where I feel like I am finally starting to get my life together.

I have a boyfriend. We have been together for a year and five months. He is definitely the longest relationship I have ever had. He loves me, cares about me and takes care of me. I am without a doubt still an independent woman, but I like when he does things for me as well.

As of January, we moved out of my mom’s house and got a place together. Not counting college, this is the first time I have lived out on my own. I have always been good with money, but I am still figuring out how to budget correctly. Between bills and stuff I want for the house, I am trying not to spend everything I earn at once. Of course if someone didn’t steal a ton of money from me, I would have been better off with rent and necessities, but there is nothing I can do about it now.

The main hobbies I have been doing since moving is playing video games, reading and working out. I have played video games for as long as I can remember. My first gaming system was a PlayStation 1. Here lately I have been playing on something new. My sweet boyfriend ended up getting me a PC after I had been talking about getting one for longer than we were together. I love it so much. The games I have played the most recently is Sun Haven, DayZ, Runescape and Sims 4.

Gaming with my friend, Juliane, has taken up many hours of my time. We have played a lot of Runescape and Sun Haven together. One day we will also play DayZ together too.

Reading has taken up my time too. So far this year I have read 21 books out of my 52 book goal. Goodreads says that I am 4 books ahead of schedule. I have started being a multi-book reader. I love to read on my kindle, but I also love listening to an audiobook on my walks.

Recently I have been doing a 75 day soft challenge. The challenge is to drink more water, one 30+ minute workout, 5+ minute meditation, eat more fruits and veggies and read 10+ pages of a book. I am on day 45 of my challenge, and I am loving it. A few days ago I started incorporating a 12 lb weighted vest. I can tell such a difference in my walks. I hope to lose 20-25 pounds by the end of the year. I need to get better with my eating. Chips are my biggest weakness. I’m going to start getting fruits, and trying to remember to eat that when I want a snack instead of chips or chocolate.

I think this time of year will really help me lose some weight. It’s gardening and outdoor activity season! My grandpa and I have a good size garden that we do. I get a good workout with it. My legs currently hurt from squatting down so much.

I also love doing outdoor activities like hiking, badminton, throwing a ball or kicking a soccer ball.

I want to try to get better about getting out and experiencing more. I have became such a homebody. Maybe I will and I will document my adventures.

This is all I am writing about me for now. I am a 28 year old just trying to navigate through this thing called life.

Fitness Journey Update

KelliLeave a comment

It has been a long time since I have updated my fitness journey even though I had said I would a few weeks after the last one. My bad.

I am proud to say that I am still consistently going to the gym every week. I have typically been going 4 times a week.

I used to do a little bit of everything, but for the past few months, I have been breaking up my days. Here’s how it typically goes:

Monday: Back and Bicep, Shoulders, Cardio

Tuesday: Chest and Tricep, Cardio

Wednesday: Legs, Core, Cardio

Saturday: Core, Cardio

Here lately, I have also been trying to do some Ab workouts every day as well, not just doing them on Saturdays. I have been really want to strengthen my core.

I am at the point in my fitness journey where not only can I feel and see a difference in my body, but other people can as well. My best friend often points out my progress when watching my YouTube videos. That makes me feel really good inside.

On another note, I am lucky enough to have gained a few friends at the gym. They are all older than me but still. It has gotten to where sometimes I do my own thing at the gym, but more often than not, I have been joining in on someone else’s workout routine for the day. Thank you Lisa and Glenn.

Everyone I speak to at the gym have been going there way longer than I have, and so I am always appreciative when they help me out with something. They are very helpful with correcting my form and showing me new workouts.

I have been trying new things here lately, such as different workouts using the cables. I have also been benching more. I do just the bar more often than anything. I try to do at least 30 reps. I will then put 5 lb on each side. I can do those for 10 reps; 2 sets. I try to do 10 lbs on each side, but I can usually do a max of 5 reps.

It’s progress and that is all that matters.

Consistency is key | My Fitness Journey

Kelli2 Comments

I am extremely proud of myself. I have been consistent with working out these past few months. I have been working out at least three days a week – usually more.

What usually happens is I will go to the gym for about a month, but then I lose motivation to keep going. It’s crazy what kind of excuses I could come up with. This would especially happen if I didn’t have someone to go with me to keep me held accountable.

I am proud to say that this is not the case now. These past few months I have been going to the gym regularly. More often than not, I have even been going to the gym alone. I actually love going to the gym by myself now. I feel more focused. (Still love it when you go though, Tawnie).

This time around, I have focused on doing more strength workouts than anything else. I have noticed I have gained some muscle in the past few months.

My routine at the gym is 10-20 minutes of the elliptical to warm up then I do arms, legs, abs, and shoulders. I try to do some of each, although I typically try to focus more on one each day. I do less legs than the other ones because I have knee problems so those have to be done a little at a time. There are also days I sometimes just focus on cardio.

July 15, 2020

Above is a comparison photo from February 3rd to July 15th of this year. I am happy to notice that there is a physical chance in the photos. As you can see my arms and stomach are a little more defined. I have also noticed a difference in my back and butt too.

One thing I have been struggling with is food intake. I know I am not getting enough or the right macros, but I am trying to change that. Starting today I am going to be tracking my macro intake via the app “Mike’s Macros,” which was recommended by bodybyryanfitness on Instagram.

I am going to try to plan my meals more accordingly in order to get enough protein and other things that I need. I am still trying to figure everything out.

I will try to come back with an update in a few weeks. Remember, consistency is key.

Do you have any advice for me on my food intake, or even advice for muscle gain?

 

I Started At-Home Workouts

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At the end of May, my best friend and I started going to a local gym. We typically went at least five days a week. While I may have worked my arms and my abs – I think that was it. I feel like I didn’t push myself hard enough. I did the same things every time I went.

I’m not saying gyms aren’t good. I go to my school’s gym, and I probably feel more at home there because most people around me are my age. There are also a ton of fun, free classes at the gym at my school.

For a few weeks, I stopped working out completely. I barely had any motivation going to the gym so you could forget about me doing my own at-home workouts.

However, one of my friends is a coach on Beachbody. (It’s this great workout program that you should checkout.) I don’t know if it is required or not, but she has been posting about her workouts every single day. She’s talked about how good it has made her feel. It sparked my interest.

What drew me in completely to start working out again was when she talked about the preworkout she used – Beachbody Performance Energize.

The main reason I don’t workout like I want to is because I don’t have the energy to do so. As soon as she talked about it, I knew that I needed to try it.

I got it in the mail, and I love it! I have worked out for three days straight so far.

It may not seem like much, but I already feel better mentally. I’ve also been more productive. When I didn’t have to work, I usually didn’t want to do ANYTHING. Now I do my own random workouts. I’ll do some outside, but I’ll also play music inside and dance/workout. I’ll even get things done afterward that I’ve wanted to do.

I know when I’m sweaty, but happy I’ve had a good workout.

Here’s pictures of my day 2 & 3:

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I’ll post more on my overall progress in a few weeks or so. I will be posting my every day progress on my instagram @ kyoun42