Share

For me, the first place I see weight gain is in my face; especially my cheeks. Those suckers turn into a squirrel's waiting for the apocalypse when I put on a few pounds. I know for many women it’s the hips or upper portion of the thighs that they see their initial weight gain. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as targeted weight loss for those stubborn areas. When your body is burning calories from a work out, it’s going to “eat” the fat in which ever area it chooses; for some of us from the areas up top that we actually want to keep. So, don’t feel discouraged if those inner thigh exercises aren’t turning your legs into popsicle sticks just yet! You’re still gaining muscle and lean muscle is our friend. If you still aren’t seeing the results on your body and need some extra help (I’m a very visual person too!), try using jars like these. I purchased both the jars and marbles at Michael's Crafts. I then set a goal - I want to lose about 30 pounds. I counted out 60 marbles (each worth a half a pound) then decorated my jars. I will be weighing myself at home on my own scale once a week (ONCE A WEEK ONLY!!! Let’s not obsess over numbers!), and will move my marbles accordingly. This tool is just a little something extra to put into perspective what I want to accomplish over the next 8 months.

My fellow Get Fit challenge brides had our first weigh ins this past Friday at Flex + Fit in uptown Charlotte. I’ve done yoga at several Charlotte studios before but let me just tell you, this studio is absolutely gorgeous! We had the chance to met Shama, the club owner, Chris, the general manager, and Elizabeth, the personal trainer who will be doing our monthly weigh ins. Everyone was SO sweet and helpful and made us feel welcomed immediately. If you haven’t had the chance to check them out yet, visit their website and take a look at the wide selection of classes they offer. I’m excited to get started with them this week.

After my first weigh in, I drafted up a fitness plan for myself. I’m definitely a high intensity type of girl so I knew just going to a gym to work out isn’t for me. That being said, I decided to start the Insanity program by BeachBody. For 60 days, the program takes you through high-intensity interval training with minimal rest periods. I just finished my first week and I can honestly say it is the toughest workout program I’ve ever done. Along with this program, I plan on being at Flex + Fit three times a week (I plan on progressing into this – once this week, twice next week and so on) to help my muscles recuperate. Yeah, it’s been rough (bending over to pick up a piece of paper takes like 20 minutes now), but I know my body will begin to adjust. Just like anything else, it takes time!

Aside from my workouts, I have decided that each week I will set a small goals all the while striving to achieve several larger goals. This weeks small goals: attend at least one Flex+Fit class and drink eight 8oz glasses of water every day this week. Water helps us stay hydrated (and less cranky while dieting) and helps our muscles repair after a hard workout. Got an iPhone and need help tracking your water consumption? Use the “Water Your Body” app which calculates how much water you should be drinking based on your weight and helps you remember how much water you’ve already drunk that day.

On the wedding planning front, I’ve been slowly starting over, you could say. My fiancé and I originally had our wedding planned for this year. Being that we had been in a long distance relationship, we found that we weren’t really getting to spend time together now that we were actually together. So, we made the decision to just go ahead and push the wedding back and take the time to have some fun! In starting over, I’ve started with a sparkling brand new wedding binder. I found an awesome template at Russell+Hazel which allows you to print out an entire wedding binder for FREE! Yay! I’ve also created our wedding website through Wedding Wire, here.

Until next time!

World peace and skinny jeans,

Sheri xo

This affects comments on all stories.