Before/After

Hi friends and readers.  I'm so happy to let you know that I have lost 15 pounds.

I began my journey a year ago in March 2011.  My sister let me borrow her Insanity workout dvds.  I tried it for one month and lost 5 pounds.  I noticed that my energy level decreased during the time I was not doing exercise.  So during the summer of 2011, I tried Insanity once more for 60 days.  My weight stayed the same.

I did not get discouraged.  I tried a second round in November 2011.  But I only finished one month of the program.

Then I tried a different program.  Body Gospel.  I ordered it as a challenge pack from Beachbody through my coach Angie.   I tried Body Gospel and Shakeology for 30 days.  I lost 7 more pounds.

So here are some pictures for you to see the results.

I went from a size 10, down to a size 6.  The clothes I wearing in the after picture is XS.  I have lost inches from my waist, arms, and thighs.  I'm so happy with the results.  It has been a long year.  And in a  few days will be my 39th birthday.  I still have work to do.  My abs are still not as firm as I want.  My coach said that the fat accumulated in the ab section is the hardest to get rid off.  Well, I'm not giving up.  Even if it takes another year.

When I started my fitness journey I was 135 pounds.  Now I'm 120 pounds!  I thank my family and friends from Teambeachbody that have given me motivation in this last few months.

Canceling Website

I've had a website for my Tupperware business up and running for almost a year.  I have not gotten any sales from having this website.  Most of my sales have been made at home parties.  Or from friends and family.

I have already called to cancel the website.  But it will stay up until the last day of this month.  I will wait to remove the link from this blog until that March 31st,  in case any of you would like to make an order before then.

I thank you in advance if you do.

God bless you!

Getting things Done!

I'm finally getting things done around here.  I have updated my schedules for home chores and daily activities.

Every morning I spend time listening to the rosary, then reading the daily readings for the day.

This helps me to keep motivated during the day.

After quiet time in the word, I exercise, then I start my home blessings (chores).

It is so rewarding to be done on time with my home blessings and still have time to do other activities.

So this is what I'm doing here in my home.  Those things that I think, I can't do because I don't have time to do them.  Well, I found some time to do them.

I made a list of things that need to be done daily, weekly, added in time to write a post for blog, time to prepare for Faith Formation Class, Time to manage the finances (pay bills), time for meal planning. etc.

Then I decided what to do on what days.  And wrote it in a weekly planner sheet.

Mondays- Errand day, grocery shopping, and sorting laundry.  Clean living room, guest room, and kitchen
Tuesdays- Prayer group, clean office and bathroom
Wednesdays- Finances/ pay bill, clean master bedroom and laundry room
Thursdays- Blog Time, Faith Formation lesson preparation, clean pet area, clean fridge and freezer, take out garbage and recycle bins outside to curb.
Fridays- Attic rooms, clean purse and car.
Saturdays- Faith Formation Class,  Plan errand day, look for coupons and sales.
Sunday- Church Day, Family Day (spend quality time with my kids)


My copy machine has an option to scan two originals and then it makes a copy of both side by side.


I did this with my weekly schedule.

I  made a fridge organizer a while back with clear plastic protectors, stapled together and attached a strip of magnet to the side to be able to stay on the side of my fridge.  

This is where I placed my weekly schedule, Monthly Menu, Exercise Schedule, and other important information I need to see at a glance without searching in a binder or a file folder.

This is my exercise schedule for Insanity program.  I have to do a fit test every 2 weeks and take measurements.  So I combined both the calendar and the fit test with the measurements in one sheet side by side.

If you look closely at the first picture in this post.  I did the same with the, 52 week project list.  I combined it with a calendar for this year.  Now I don't have to turn my back and look at the calendar to see what week we are on.  Its all there, side by side.  Amazing!

I updated my motivational board too.  I added the Body Gospel calendar.  My sister is doing Body Gospel now.  So I will be motivating her during her 30 day challenge.  I know exactly what exercise she needs to do. Then I write something encouraging on Facebook to motivate her to not give up.

Next on my to do list is to organize, the home management planner.  This one will have all of detailed cleaning list for each room in the house.  The menu planner and the blank calendars for future updating.  The grocery list . I'm thinking to include a list of home inventory list here.

I also have a family planner (binder). That contains, Family information, Church information, Health info. and School information.

Please Read, Important!

I just received email from my aunt in Texas.  Looks like they have not heard from my father in months.  My biological father lives in Ogden, Utah. 

He is the only one that lives out there on his own.  The phone numbers we had of contacts that know him, are no longer in service.  I'm not able to go and find him.  I'm not sure where to look for him. 

My father's brother, has issues with his passport and its not able to travel out of the state.

Please help me with your prayers.  That somehow my father will contact someone in the family.  Or if you know someone that lives near Ogden, Utah.  Can you have them contact me.

My email is rosario.beads4prayer@yahoo.com
Thanks

Color changes!

I moved the chair out of my bedroom and into the living room again.  Covered it with a blanket and changed the pillow covers.

Here is the sofa, with a different sofa cover. I love my pillow covers.  I got them at 99 cents store.

On the "feast table", added St. Patrick.  I left the icon of the "Sacred family"  I love the height of St. Joseph.  March is dedicated to St. Joseph.

I will be working this week in the attic rooms.  So you will probably see some posts on that later.

The final results

My last day of Body Gospel was Friday.  I ended a  little earlier because I sent my DVDs to my sister to try them.  I loved the Body Gospel program, the only things is just 30 days.  I can repeat the program again, or I can go back to the Insanity program.  Insanity is more intense and your heart rate goes up quick and you sweat a lot.

The great thing about Insanity is that you do not need any special equipment, like weights or bands.  You use your own body weight to achieve great results.  I  am learning so much about the programs on Team Beachbody.  I'm also learning more on how to eat healthy and make healthy food choices.

But before I tell you more about Team Beachbody, let me tell you my final results for Body Gospel.  In four weeks, I lost 7 pounds.  That's an average of 2 lbs. per week.  I lost inches from my chest, waist and hips. Like I said, I'm now a size 8 and just recently I bought some new workout clothes size XS.

I'm 5 feet. very petite in frame, so this is a big accomplishment for me.  I'm no longer over my normal weight.  I feel more energized.  Most of my clothes now fits loose.  I like that!

So I went through my closet and drawers and took out anything that was a size 10, or Medium or Large.  I'm giving that away.  It does not belong in my home.  My goal is to keep exercising and if possible drop another pant size.

Even if my children's wish came true, and I happen to get pregnant.  I will continue to exercise through pregnancy and make sure that after post-partum, I will get back in shape.

This coming week, I will be starting Insanity 60 day challenge.  I will be motivating my sisters in their own weight loss goals.

One is doing Weight Watchers, the other one will be taking the Body Gospel 30 day challenge.  I'm so happy for my sisters who are doing something for their health.

Body Gospel

Like I told you before, I am doing a 30 day challenge with this exercise program called Body Gospel.

Today is my Day 25.  Each day, I follow along in this guide.  It has a journal with scripture and a small reflection by Donna the fitness instructor.

Her reflections inspire me to continue and not give up no matter what the distractions of life might be.  We should know that God is with us and he gives us the strength to continue.  He helps us get up when we have fallen off the path.

She gives us scripture to meditate each day.  Reminds us to eat healthy food.  And most of all to pray.  

I still have 5 more days to complete this challenge, but I wanted to share with you the blessings that I have obtained from following this program.

I have lost about 6 pounds. I have not measure yet, to see how many inches I have lost.  I will share that with you at the end of the 30 days.  My energy is great.  I do not feel sore the next day after doing the exercises.

Something else  I have been doing,  in this 25 days, is drinking Shakeology.   I told you in a previous post about Shakeology.  It gives me energy and helps me to recover after doing my exercise.   I recently viewed an interview with the creators of Shakeology and they explained so much information about it.  The nutrients in Shakeology are Super foods that you will not find in any regular store.  This ingredients help you amazingly.  I have read testimonies of people who have improved their health by using this product.

This picture was take back in November of 2009.  I had just had miscarriage. I was about 135 pounds or more. My size was 10 but most of my clothes fitted tight on me. I even bought some size 12 pants that fitted loose but I felt better. At least I thought. My energy level was low.  

Here is another picture of two year ago.  Still size 10.  And at 135 pounds.

The picture above was the one that motivated me to do something about my weight and health.

One year after........

This is me now.  125 pounds.  Size 8.  One year after starting to exercise and take care of what I eat.  First I started with Insanity program and lost 5 pounds.  I maintained my weight the same for about six months. Then I started Body Gospel the 6th of February, 2012.  And until now have lost 6 pounds in 25 days.

I give God the glory and praise, because without him by my side and my wonder coach Angie from Teambeachbody, and her facebook motivation page.  I will not had done it alone.

So if you are interested in making changes in your health and learning more about Shakeology and the programs that Team BeachBody has to offer, leave me a comment.  

Small Changes

Yesterday, I worked in to areas in my home.

The Master Bedroom, and the living room.  The projects where not finished.  There are still some things left to be done today.

But here are a few pictures.

In the living room, I changed the window curtains, to all white with small purple flower details.  Here you see the "Feast table".  February is dedicated to the Holy Family.  I had not made changes on the feast table until yesterday. Now we are in March.  So some of the icons will be placed elsewhere in the home.  And St. Patrick and St. Joseph's icons will be displayed here for March.  The color on the cross represents the Lent Season.

I
n the master bedroom, I made lots of changes too.  My husband had wanted a comfy chair in the room for him.  But recently told me he did not want it in the room any longer.  So I moved it out of the room into the living room.

This allowed me to move the bed away from the wall and place a small side table next it.  This is my side.  I have a CD player with the rosary CD in it.  Ready to help me pray at night when I'm not able to sleep. The clock radio is set to the Catholic radio station.  The daily scriptures are read at 6:15 AM , Monday-Friday. I keep my journal on the bottom shelf and my bible.
I did not take more pictures of the room, because is not yet finished.  I will post those tomorrow or later if I can.