Yesterday was a crazy busy day! I started with MM100 Day 2 Upbeat Strength and my bottle of Energize. I weighed in after my morning shower, and found I had lost 2.4 pounds! It all went downhill from there. We had a meeting at work and we always get pizza, so I had 3 (medium) slices of pepperoni bacon hand tossed pizza and two bites of jalapeno pineapple chicken. Work was super busy so it kept me from snacking and I drank a lot of water. Dinner was a Hello Fresh meal of pork chops, rice and black beans. It was super delish and very filling. What I really love about Hello Fresh – other than the great recipes – is that the portions are balanced and controlled. I was full but not uncomfortably full, and more importantly, satisfied. Before bed I had a glass of whole milk and a handful of dark chocolate (Ghiradelli) chips. I was never a chocoholic until I discovered dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is both a blessing and a curse! I’m not giving it up – at least not without a bunch of kicking and screaming. lol I know sleep is super important to weight loss, and I am working on getting more than an average of 5 hours a night. Why is it soooo hard to go to bed?

This morning I had a rough time getting up. I woke up to my alarm at 4:45 and I seriously debated skipping my workout. Yep, day 3. And I almost skipped. But, I realized that I was kind of excited to get up and workout. Jericho, the instructor of Morning Meltdown 100, feels like an old friend now. For some reason, I didn’t want to let her – or me – down! At least not this early on. lol So I woke my husband up to feed the cats (working out before feeding them is NOT an option…. they are like two little hangry toddlers and it’s just easier and more peaceful to feed them first) and I went downstairs and did my Day 3 Core Inferno workout. And you know what? The 24 minutes FLEW by and I felt great! After my shower I weighed again and had lost another .7 pounds! That’s 3.1 pounds down in two days!!! YAYYY!!!! Now, I know it fluctuates and I’ve heard you should weigh yourself every day and at the end of the week, add all your weights up and divide by 7 to determine your average weight and compare that to the average weight from the week before, but I’m feeling sooo motivated right now! And tomorrow is Total Body Badass – who doesn’t want to be a badass??!! I didn’t close all my rings because my watch only recorded 16 minutes of my 26 minute workout, and I thought about doing another workout but forgot.

Meals today weren’t too bad. I had a vanilla Shakeology with extra protein powder and some sweet cherries blended in with whole milk and ice for breakfast, followed by my one cup of coffee with half and half. I had about 60 ounces of water before leaving work. John got a fire call on the way home, so dinner got a little messed up and we ended up going out for Mexican. I had delicious shrimp enchiladas with salsa verde and refried beans with a little sour cream. One treat I allow myself is I can only drink my soda when we eat out. I don’t normally crave soda, but Dr Pepper is my weakness! I’m working on that – but it’s a nice treat when I do get it, and I only had one cup. I’ll drink water the rest of the night, with the exception of sharing a cup of whole milk with John at bedtime. I’m anxious to see what the scale thinks of today when I weigh myself tomorrow morning. I’m close to closing my rings today, so I may do a small workout before bed.

Let’s talk workouts!! What is your favorite time of day to workout? I find if I don’t do it first thing in the morning before I shower, I’m much less likely to do it at all. I’ve become a morning person over the last 10 years, so it’s much, much easier than it used to be to get up for early morning workouts, but I’m still a work in progress. I really love my sunrises too, so that tends to get me up if I’m having a tough time. Rainy or cold, dreary days are a challenge. Once I get going I’m really happy I’m up. In the summer, you will often find me having my coffee on the patio as the sun comes up. It’s my favorite way to start the day! I’ve even been known to do yoga on the patio between my prep tables in my outdoor kitchen. I need a much better yoga mat for that though – cement is hard! lol

What is your favorite workout? Do you like to do programs, or wing it and do your own thing? I like to have a plan of some kind – if I don’t, I just stand in my gym and look around all overwhelmed and usually give up. I do best with guided workouts, so I tend to choose (Beachbody) BODI or Apple Fitness workouts. I hate cardio, but I do have an eliptical and two spin bikes my husband uses, plus a ballet bar and Total Gym to round out my options. I find the Total Gym is fun and can be an extremely effective workout, as long as I start with a plan.

Please add your favorite workouts and tips in the comments! Do you track your workouts with a fitbit or smart watch?