Workout Music

I'm in dire need of some workout music. Now, I normally pride myself on my excellent taste in music, but when I work out, I like some crappy stuff. Generally, I listen to rock, but I enjoy a lot of pop and r&b when I'm on a treadmill or cross trainer. I'm starting to get bored with what I have on my iPod and boredom = laziness and shaving minutes off my cardio.

Here is my current list (Don't judge me! Stop looking at me like that!):
Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend
Basement Jaxx- Good Luck
Basshunter- Boten Anna, Vi Sitter i Ventrillo, Tetris
Beck - Loser, Mixed Bizness
Billy Joel- It's Still Rock 'n Roll to Me, Uptown Girl, The Longest Time
Blind Melon- No Rain
Blink 182- Online Songs, The Rock Show, What's My Age Again
Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla
Bon Jovi- Livin' on a Prayer, Wanted Dead or Alive, You Give Love a Bad Name
Bowling for Soup - 1985
Britney Spears- Womanizer, Circus, Toxic
Chevelle- Jars, Vitamin R
Christina Aguilera- Ain't No Other Man
Darude - Sandstorm
Daft Punk- Stronger, Harder, Faster, One More Time
David Bowie- Suffragete City, Ziggy Stardust
Destiny's Child - Survivor, Jumpin' Jumpin'
Dropkick Murphys- Shippin' Up to Boston
Drowning Pool- Bodies
Elton John- Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Rocket Man, Bennie and the Jets
Eve 6- Beautiful Oblivion
Fallout Boy- Sugar We're Going Down, Dance Dance
Fatboy Slim- The Rockefeller Skank, Brimful of Asha
Flo Rida- Right Round, Get Low (it hurts me to type that as much as it hurts you to see it)
Foo Fighters- All My Life, Learn to Fly, Monkeywrench
Garbage- I Think I'm Paranoid, When I Grow Up
Goldfinger - Mable
Green Day- Pulling Teeth, Pop Rocks and Coke, Minority, Basket Case, When I Come Around
The Hives- Main Offense, Hate to Say I Told You So
Hole- Celebrity Skin
Incubus- Megalomaniac
Jamiroquai- Canned Heat
Justin Timberlake- My Love (Oakenfold remix), Sexy Back
Katy Perry- I Kissed a Girl, Hot n Cold
Ke$ha- Tik Tok, Your Love is My Drug (I SAID DON'T JUDGE ME)
Lady Gaga- Just Dance, Telephone, Poker Face, Bad Romance
Linkin Park- Papercut, Forgotten, Faint, Nobody's Listening, Given Up
Lucky Boys Confusion- Hey Driver, Atari
Michael Jackson- Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean
Mika- Grace Kelly, Lollipop, Love Today, Big Girl, Ring Ring, Good Gone Girl, Touches You
Mudvayne- Dig, Fucking Determined, Happy
Muse- every song atm since I just got the albums and wanted to listen to them all before I choose which ones can stay
Nightwish- Amaranth, Over the Hills
NiN- The Hand That Feeds, Only, Head Like a Hole, Terrible Lie, Down in It, Sanctified, Something I can Never Have, Kinda I Want To, Sin, That's What I Get, The Beginning of the End, Survivalism
No Doubt- Bathwater, Just a Girl
OK Go- Here it Goes Again (listen to this on a treadmill after watching the video, I dare you.)
Orianthi- According to You
Pink- So What, Stupid Girls, U and Ur Hand (the spelling, it burns)
Powerman 5000- When Worlds Collide, Nobody's Real, Action
Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, Killer Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, Don't Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Somebody to Love, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Bicycle Race
Rhianna and Maroon 5- If I Never See Your Face Again
Static X- This is Not, Push It, I'm With Stupid
Stone Temple Pilots- Unglued, Sex Type Thing, Days of the Week
Sum 41 - Fat Lip, Motivation
Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart
The Killers- Mr. Brightside, Somebody Told Me
The Lonely Island- Jizz in My Pants, I'm on a Boat, Like a Boss
Timbaland- Release, Throw It On Me, One & Only, 2 Man Show
Trapt- Headstrong
Usher- Caught Up
various Disney songs >.>
Vanilla Ice- Ice Ice Baby (yes, you just read that)
Zebrahead- Rescue Me, Hello Tomorrow, Into You, Playmate of the Year, Now or Never, Go, Subtract You



Please please please give me some more music! As you can tell, I have no dignity when it comes to shameless poppy crap, as long as it has a good beat. I feel like such an old lady saying that...

Go Cubs, Go (and Jeny)

So, I figured I would be taking a few days off from the gym when my friends Shannon and Matt came to town. We had tickets to three Cubs vs. Rangers games and I assumed I would be eating stadium food and drinking large amounts of beer. I surprised myself by actually drinking mainly Michelob Ultra and choosing salads over anything else. I somehow manged to watch my carbs and my calories and still enjoy the games! I'll be honest, I snuck a few fries from Matt's chicken fingers basket, but on the whole I was good!

I resumed my workouts on Tuesday (I took 4 days off, bad!) and things went well. I am at the point in my weight lifting routine where I need to be doing heavier weight and only 6-8 reps. I hurt everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Places that don't even have names. Today is just a cardio day, so I am going to run a bit on the treadmill in my tiny apartment gym later tonight. After my WoW raid that is...

I ended up losing about a pound in the last week, which I guess is okay considering that I have been putting on a ton of muscle. I now fit into my larger size 12 pants and am SOOOO close to my smaller ones! I am going to Chicago next week, so I hope to be a little smaller (and a little tanner, time to hit the pool tomorrow) by then.

Mood: happy and hungry
Weight: 186

Good choices!

I am very proud of myself this week! I decided to do a low carb/low calorie diet for three weeks until I go on vacation. I would like to drop few more inches (if I can!) before then, so I have been watching what I am eating even more than normal. I have worked out every day (aside from my one rest day, my other rest day, I cheated and did cardio) and have been pushing myself harder with cardio and lifting. I started running on the treadmill, alternating running 2 minutes and walking 2. I am trying to stick to the "Couch to 5k Running Plan" (http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml) to be able to do a 5k by the end of the year.

I went out drinking last night and instead of ordering the usual greasy bar food, I ended up ordering grilled chicken and veggies. I also drank nothing but Michelob Ultra (bleh). Tonight, I went to dinner with the boy and his parents. We do this every week and I normally reserve it as my cheat day and order whatever I want. Instead, I had a steak and veggies with a salad this time. I really, really wanted that burger with extra cheese, but I feel much better about the choices I made! I already feel like I have more energy and I am less reliant on caffeine and sugar for my daily fix.

I still haven't lost any weight, but my clothes are way too big on me now and getting looser. I started this journey as a snug size 16 and I am currently a loose 14 and ALMOST a 12. I am so close, I know I can do it in the next few months! My goal is to end up at about a size 8 and I know I can totally do it by the end of the year, if not sooner.

Weight: 187 (who cares what the scales say!?)
Mood: happy and feeling healthy

Pictures!

I was very happy that I not only fit into my khakis again, but I can see results in my pictures!

Here is my before, taken at 193 lbs (I didn't take any when I first started at 202, I wish I had)

Here is me after 3 weeks of heavy weight training and cardio at 187lbs.



Don't mind my bathroom mirror...and the blurry pics, I'm bad at taking pics of myself in the mirror.

15 lbs and one pants size down!

Woo! :D

I officially have dropped a pants size and I can not longer be considered "plus size". I celebrated by eating a small slice of pizza and going to the gym. While there, I was approached by a gym employee who told me I look like I am doing awesome and they admire my dedication! I also talked to my personal trainer a bit (I'm not doing sessions with him anymore unless I fall into a pile of money) and he said he can tell I'm working hard. He told me not to expect to drop a lot of pounds, but to focus on my size instead, since I am doing a lot of lifting now. Since my old jeans fit, I am content for the day. :)

Weight: 187
Mood: happy

Oops, forgot to post for awhile!

So...it's been awhile! I have continued to work out 5-6 days a week, despite forgetting to keep up with my journal. The weight loss seems to have come to a crawl, BUT that's okay. I started a new lifting plan and I can feel that I am building a ton of new muscle. This of course weighs more than fat, so the numbers on the scale aren't going to be going down super fast. My pants officially don't fit, so it's almost time to go shopping for a smaller size. I'm finally at the point where people are asking me if I am losing weight! Yay!

The training plan involves four days of lifting and I have been doing one to two days of cardio in addition. I'm trying to do an hour on those days, but I get bored and my iPod is lame and I can't figure out how to work iTunes. But, I digress. Here is the link to what I have been doing, I am currently about to begin week three of the first four weeks. I have actually increased by strength by a lot in the first two weeks, I can't wait to see what happens this week! http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/womans_lean_sexy_bible.htm

Weight: 187
Mood: Sore, but ready for more