The New Beginning

Photo

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:08:59 -0400

Photo

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:56:04 -0400

The Final Day!

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:16:49 -0400

Wow has 28 already gone by? Today I woke up after a long day of coming home from New Jersey and went for run. I have come a long way in getting in shape. I’ve been running and lifting weights and saving money to pay my credit cards.
One of my goals was to stop smoking. After going to New Jersey I’ve had the same pack since last monday. I haven’t been smoking cigarettes nearly as much as I was in the beginning of all this and it feels awsome. I’ll honestly say that these stupid cancer sticks are almost completely out of my life. I only really pull out one if Im socializingwith someone.
As for saving I’ve had some obstaclesbecause of spring break but I still recieved money for working with my parents so I was able to put to the side some money. After 28 days of saving I have 350 dollars put to the side. I know its not much but all I owed on my J c pennys credit was 200 dollars and 500 dollars on mybank of america credit card. I have a little ways to go but I made significant progress.
As for working out I took this very seriously. Ive seen awsome transformations in my body physique and my endurance. Ive logged all my weight totals and its cool to see where I’m at now compared to 4 weeks ago.
I hope this personal growth experiment had as good of an affect on them as it did for me. I have no intentioms of slowing down on working out and savingmoney. My lifestyle has just become more healthier and my mom even says she can see in my face that I look healthier and happeir. Its always nice when others notice the hard work you put in.

Heres me in action. I know I’m skinny but I have been...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:52:07 -0400

Heres me in action. I know I’m skinny but I have been drinking protien shakes and increasing my calorie intake to gain weight.

Day 25- 175lbs!

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:37:54 -0400

I woke up this morning and wieghed myself I have reached 175 lbs. Doesn’t sound like much but for my skinny butt it is the heaviest I have ever been. I have been in New Jersey for 6 days visiting my parents and have been eating three great meals a day because of my awsome mother. Like I said in my last post this visit would not stop me from reaching my goal of getting in good shape and sticking with it. This trip has been a lot of hard work, def not a vacation, because my mom owns a store and my dad owns a construction business. Starting last monday to thursday night I have been waking up and going for a run down Main St. and then going to work with my dad. Work consisted of lifting fixtures and installing them in the supermarkets. We would work for about 5 to 6 hours and then heading back to the apartments and helping my mom in her store downstairs. On my down time I have been doing pushups, sit ups, dips, air squats, and running. I honestly am so beat. I feel great though.
Besides getting in shape I been trying to quit cigarettes. Well coming to New Jersey was the best thing for me because my father hates when I smoke and my mother just recently quit using the Chantix pill. So my point is that I can say the past two days I havent smoked ANY cigarettes! Since I have been cutting back slowly I really havent felt anything bad. Ive been in a great mood and motivated. I think the enviroment and staying busy was the reason why I have been successful. I wont say I that I’m completely done, but I would say I am def close to be! My mom smoked for 25 years and doesn’t anymore; my sister smoked for 14 and used the same method my mom did and does not smoke anymore. So if I continued I would be the only one in my family who smoked and it disappoints my dad so if that isn’t motivation I don’t know what is! I will also be recieving a paycheck from my dad for the work we’ve done so I will be putting money aside to save for my bills.

This is the view from the top of the apartments my father owns....

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:59:14 -0400

This is the view from the top of the apartments my father owns. I have been waking up before work with my dad and running down Main St. along with push ups, dips, air squats, and just working with my dad is harder than any workout.

"No matter the obstacle, there’s always a way to get to your destination."

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:43:10 -0400

“No matter the obstacle, there’s always a way to get to your destination.”

Day 20-New Jersey

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:41:10 -0400

Today I flew into New Jersey for my spring break to see my parents and someold friends. I won’t be hitting the gym here but I found a workout regimen that you don’t even need weights. The workout consists of push ups, pull ups, dips, air squats, diamond push ups, and hand stand push ups.
I have off from work this whole week so I cant add money to my jar but none will be taken out!
Also my dad hates cigarettes and my mom just recently quit after smoking for 20 years so being around them ill def help with my goal of stopping.

Progress Report

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:50:58 -0400

Half way there and I feel pretty awsome. Ive def gained stregnth and endurance from working out. Ive logged all my workouts and how much weight Ive been doing and see really good results. Im going to Miami in April so I gotta be lookin good for that! One of my other goals was to save money for my credit card bills. I have used a couple different strategies to save and to date i have 270 dollars saved. Not a lot but its a start. Now my biggest obstacle through this wgole cleaning up my act is quitting cigarettes. I have significantly cut back because staying in shape and active for sure helps with not smokng but certain times of the day its been real hard not to. The one piece of advice I can give for quitting is to for one stay active but also to change the habbit with something else lile gum or a toothpick. Its been 17 days and Im not lookin back!

Day 14

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:13:33 -0400

Awsome day to go running. The sun was beaming. All I did today was run and go to classes. I ran a little further than the two miles I clocked. I wieghed in today at 173 lbs. Not good enough. Tomorrow I’m going to GNC and buying some whey protien so I can increase my calorie intake and try and gain more weight.

Lucky 13

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:11:20 -0400

Sunday is usually my relax and sleep in day. I woke up around noon and took my vitamins. By the way these vitamins are amazing and more people should know about them. I worked out my back and biceps for 45 min. What I was doing for the first week and a half was really working on my cardio, so I was running a lot and doing push ups and pulls up. Everyday I do at least 100 push ups and 50 pull ups. With this I’ve seen my endurance increase through out my workout. I am now doing 3 different work outs for each muscle group. So today for my back I did upright rows, rodeo flies, and shrugs. For my biceps I normally do a burn out to start. So Ill do 30 reps with the 30 lb. dumbbells twice and then I do 3 sets of 8 with the barbell and then do this 21 salute exercise that I learned back in high school that i love. You basically take the barbell and do 7 half way up reps then curl it up and do 7 reps half way down and then back up and then go back down and do 7 full curls.

I went to work today and actually got in trouble for smoking a cigarette lol. I felt like an idiot because I’m suppose to be quitting and I end up getting in trouble for doing it. Not good! But on the other hand I have been really good about it and have been around the 3 to 4 cigarettes a day. I made 100 bucks tonight which is nice on a Sunday. I put my money in my jar and my singles in the other jar. I haven’t been keeping up with my singles game or counting them I just figure it’ll be a surprise when I finally look and count how many there are after all this. But for my jar of savings after tonight I’m at 190 dollars. I know its not much but its comforting knowing I have that money there for the credit cards.

It’s about to be the half way point! And I’m not looking back!

Day 12

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:23:00 -0500

Today I woke up and went for a run and decided to clock how far I am running and my car says its a 2 mile run. I ran it in a little less than 20 minutes. I want to improve that significantly. After my run I worked out my back and biceps. Out of all my muscle groups I would say my biceps and chest are seeing the most results. I went to work at 4 and made 170 dollars and when I get home my jar of savings will be filled a little more!

Day 11

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:48:53 -0500

Today was a long day. I woke up and helped my buddy move into his new apartment so that was a workout in its self. I came home and worked out my chest and triceps and then went to work at 530. I put my money in my jar and only smoked 3 cigarettes again today. By monday I feel I might be able to cut back a little more!

My Jar of savings!

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:53:36 -0500

My Jar of savings!

This is one of my work out buddies. I can do over 10 different...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:49:13 -0500

This is one of my work out buddies. I can do over 10 different exercises with it.

Day 10-Feelin Good

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:46:24 -0500

Today I woke up and went for a run after a long night of drinking. It felt good though and then went to class. I can’t believe its almost the halfway point to this experiment. In just the first week I def feel a difference in my mood in the morning, my health and complexion, and see results in my body from working out. I can honestly say that I’m still smoking 3 cigarettes a day but that is a huge for me. Since I have been recording everything I do in my work out it has been a huge help on staying on track with working out. If some people are just starting to work out I would suggest trying this out because you can see what you have progressively done.

I would say that the money part of my goal has exceeded my expectations already. At first I wasn’t sure if I would able to put the money I was asking myself to put to the side and not dig into it but I have seen great progress and haven’t needed to take any out. To this day I have saved 130 dollars to go towards my credit cards and still have money for my daily needs.

These are the vitamins that I started taking about two weeks....

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:16:09 -0500

These are the vitamins that I started taking about two weeks. They are called Isotonix and they truly work. There’s a bunch of different kinds you can get but the ones I take are the multivitamin for immune system; the active b complex which increases energy, promotes healthy nervous system, bone marrow and intestinal tract; the acai advanced energy which also increases energy but supports immune function, promotes cognitive health and supports weight control; and the best one is the OPC-3 which is a powerful antioxidant that promotes cardiovascular and joint health, supports normal blood vessel function and demonstrates anti-inflammatory activity. The OPC-3 is a very popular one that has a lot positive testimonies. It really helped a lot of people with problems that pills that a doctor gives never helped. The thing that makes these vitamins so good is that its a powder that you put in water so when you drink it, it is immediately absorbed into your body and you get the most of the vitamins that you are consuming, rather then taking pill forms and most of the vitamins and nutrients aren’t fully absorbed into your body. I take it once I wake up before I go running and I feel more energetic, alert and focused, and sleep better. If any one has question more about them just ask me in class.

Days 1 through 7

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:54:00 -0500

Days 1-3

Hi everyone I haven’t been able to blog since we started so I’m going to give the run down of everything that i have been doing to clean my act up a little bit. For the first three days I started running around my neighborhood in the mornings before class. I go to class and when I get out I workout two muscle groups. Day 1 is chest and triceps. Day 2 is back and biceps and Day 3 is legs and abs. I’ve always been active and athletic but the biggest thing is sticking with the workout plan with no excuses. Being active in the morning really has made it a lot easier to cut back on smoking cigarettes. I’d say I usually smoke between 5-10 cigs a day. From the day I started running I have already cut down to 3-5 cigarettes. I feel that I will successfully get off cigarettes very soon. I can definitely feel the difference when I wake up in the mornings. Also I work Tuesdays and Thursday through Sunday at Carrabba’s and one of my goals is to use different saving strategies for money and pay off the last little bit of credit card bills I have. I started with putting 10 dollars a day in a jar and every night I get out of work I take all the singles in my wallet and throw them in a different jar.

Day 4

This day is my off day for working out so all I did was wake up and went for a run. I don’t have class on Fridays so I pretty much just relax before work. These down times are the hardest times to not smoke cigarettes, but I am fully committed and will not fail!

Days 5-7

Saturday was the restart of my workout plan, so I woke up and ran and then worked out my chest and triceps. I went to work at 330 and didn’t smoke my first cigarette of the day until I got cut at 930. The cigarettes are actually starting to make my head spin. Sunday I didn’t wake up and run because I’m definitely sore and physically tired from school, work, and working out. I had work at 6 so I did a light workout on my back and biceps. I went to work and came home and put my daily savings away and noticed that my savings jar is getting pretty full! Monday I woke up for a run and went to class.