Challenge: Abs By May

I've always admired women who are toned.  The type of females who wear shorts and their thighs don't continue to jiggle after they stop walking (this happens to me all the time, I've learned to walk gracefully/glide so as to minimize the occurrence).  I've been saying for forever that I want to "tone up" yet I continue to do the same thing of starting a program only to gradually lose motivation after a few weeks.

One evening this past December I was watching TV and saw a scene where a woman was wearing some shorts.  I made a mental note that I really needed to kick it up a notch in the gym so that I could confidently wear some shorts by Summer 2014.  I then started daydreaming about walking up and down beaches while wearing a bikini.  At first I laughed at myself thinking "Yeah right, like you will ever be fully confident enough to pull that one off.."but I stopped myself and realized- WHY NOT?  As many of you have witnessed, I went from being chubby during my early tweens/teen years, to slimming out, to being a healthy size when I started college, to gaining a lot of weight during college and my first year out of college, to slowly yet gradually slimming back down.  I'm grateful that I'm not where I used to be.  My progress so far is what compels me to finish this last challenge of toning up and becoming healthy rather than just focusing on losing weight.

I love making goals and decided that my goal would be to have abs by my birthday (mid May).  I found a program online that incorporates weight-lifting and clean eating (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-introduction.html).  I did it for about a week and decided that it was something I could stick with.  I was talking to Light Bright (the boo) one day and mentioned that gaining abs was my new goal. He then offered a shopping spree as a prize for me achieving my goal.  I was relatively motivated before but the promise of a shopping spree REALLY motivated me.

I haven't made as much progress to date as I would have liked to- but life (and a holiday vacation and snow storms and naps) happens.  I need to drop some body fat percentage (per several google searches most people report that their abs tend to be visible when they are at 15-16% body fat; I'm currently at 25%) and actually build up my ab muscles.  This means I will need to eat more protein, drink more water, eat small meals throughout the day, work out consistently, life weights daily, and plank until I just can't plank anymore.

As you can see in the picture below- I have a LONG way to go- but I'm excited about this journey and I can't wait to achieve my goals.

The More Things Change....The More They Remain The Same

I really considered starting a new blog from scratch but I just felt so guilty letting this current one completely die.  For the sake of consistency... 

Recap of Life since July 2011

1) Finished the internship in NC.

2) Moved to Norfolk to start a Master's program in Higher Education.

3) Year one of the program was interesting.  Considered dropping out a few times due to concern that it wasn't a good fit for me but decided to continue.

4) Did an internship in MD and in VA during Summer 2012.

5) Moved to Virginia Beach (was my first time living "off-campus" since August 2005, the feeling was so exhilarating that I vowed to never take another live-on position).

6) Completed my second year of the program.  Was fortunate to find a GA position that made me excited to drive to work.

7) Had a few unexpected loops in March which resulted in me starting to frantically look for full time positions.

8) May: Graduated!!!

9) July: Gained employment in a position that I love.

10) August: Moved back to Norfolk.  The goal is to stay in the same place (i.e. not move) for at least two years.  

A lot has happened/changed since my last post but a lot of things have remained the same.  I'm still working towards goals, always keeping in mind ways that I can better myself, striving to keep the main thing in life- the main thing, and I'm still quietly awesome.