Life As Megan Knows It

things I am loving

meganmumbles — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:07:48 +0000

Hello and Happy Friday!

1. My new Lululemon Flow and Go Tote. – This bag is the best gym bag I have ever had. It has all the right compartments, a sweat section for smelly clothes and isn’t bulky. I take it on the subway to work and I am not hitting a million people with my bag. I purchased it in the fossil / dune color.

2. Zara – It might not help that they just opened the flagship store right next to my office but slowly but surely my entire wardrobe is becoming a Zara one.

I recently purchased

Skinny Overdyed Jeans

and the Basic Sandal.

Pictures from Zara website.

3. Essie nail polish. I use to go get professional weekly manicures but I am trying to say money therefore I have been giving myself manicures. It seems like every time I walk into Duane Reade I purchase a new beautiful color.

I am currently rocking lovie dovie.

Have a great weekend!

Megan

Daily Burn Hunger Games Event

meganmumbles — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:48:29 +0000

Last night Theodora invited me to an event she helped host for DailyBurn. The event was held at the IAC Headquarters in Chelsea. Before even getting to the event I was excited to go inside the building that architect Frank Gehry designed. CZ was an architect major in college, therefore since dating him I have learned a thing or two about architecture. I also missed the event that Lululemon / Refine Method method put on the night before due to work so I was extra excited to see some NYC bloggers.

Now back to the event..

Going into the event I did not know anything about DailyBurn. DailyBurn is an online customized fitness program; it is available via the web and/or an app for the Iphone/Ipad or Android. Right now the program cost $9.99 per month. When you sign up for Dailyburn you input your information (date of birth, fitness level, etc.) and they build a customized program for you. Currently they have thirtyish different “classes” they will rotate according to what you are looking to do (loose weight, tone, etc.) Last night’s event was a Hunger Games inspired event therefore we did an “animal” workout.

Photo from Theodora.

Pros

Cheaper than a gym.
No fitness equipment required.
Customized to fit your fitness level.
Can be done virtually anywhere (gym, home, park, etc.).
Trainers are upbeat and fun.
Plan includes a community = encouragement.
Plan includes nutrition guidelines.

Cons

With only 33 classes it can be repetitive after a few weeks (they are filming more classes).
With all technology, you can encounter connection problems.
Internet needed for the program to work.
Ample space needed for workouts aka my apartment is too small for workouts.

Overall I really enjoyed the workout and I think it’s great for someone looking to workout from home. Ideally I think the workouts are great for a stay-at-home mother looking for a quick workout while there child is sleeping and/or at school. I also think they are good for someone who is looking for a challenging workout at home.

Hope you have a great day!

Megan

Failure

meganmumbles — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:34:30 +0000

Hey Everyone,

So let’s talk about failure, failure is unfortunately something I know a lot about. I often feel bad about myself because I sign up for things and then I don’t succeed at them. Weight Watchers, South Beach, Jenny Craig, Fitness Classes, Half Marathon’s and Marathon’s. I feel like my whole life I have never succeeded at anything. I have always wanted to loose that 20 pounds, I have always wanted to run that extra 5 miles, I have always wanted to do better but I don’t. Why? Why don’t I succeed at these things? Is it because I am not good enough? I certainly don’t think so. Is it because I can’t? I can do anything I put my mind to. Is it because I am scared? Perhaps. Perhaps I am scared of success, scared of what I can do, scared of the future. Is it because I don’t want it enough? I am not sure.. The idea of losing weight or finishing a marathon is great but if I really wanted it I would be able to stick to a plan and succeed, wouldn’t I? I don’t have the answers to succeeding and I certainly don’t have the answering to achieving goals. All’s I know is I am capable of succeeding, I deserve to succeed! I can do anything I put my mind to and it’s up to me to change. Nobody is going to do it for me, nobody can walk me though it, only I can become the person I want to me. I am tired of making excuses for myself!

I am vowing to you all I am going to be the best Megan I can be. Does that mean I will be perfect? Certainly not. Does that mean I will mess up sometimes? Yes But, I will do my best to succeed!

Image from Google

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Megan

Day 2

meganmumbles — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:03:52 +0000

Good Morning!

I think this whole taking pictures of what I eat thing is going to take some time.

Exhibit A – Half consumed Kashi Hearts to Hearts cereal.

Exhibit B – A photo-less lunch.. I realized after I finished my lunch that I forgot to take a photo of it.

Tone It Up Day 2

Meal 1

1 cup Kashi Hearts to Hearts Honey Cereal with 1/2 cup fat free milk.

1 Navel Orange

Meal 2

Apple with Jif to go Peanut Butter.

Meal 3

Un-pictured Arugula, Strawberry and Grilled Chicken salad with Tone It Up Balsamic Dressing.

Meal 4

I cooked for CZ last night! I made a pork loin (picked up from Grand Central Market), String Beans and Roasted Sweet Potato’s.

Workout

I skipped working out again yesterday When my alarm goes off in the morning all I want to do is sleep! Any suggestions on how to be a morning workout person? I already had plans after work so basically the whole day was a bust.

Funny thing is when I lived home (last week) and commuted I got up at 4:45 AM everyday because I had to. Now that I have the option to sleep I won’t get up. What’s up with that?

It’s suppose to be beautiful out tonight so I am defiantly going for a run. THAT’S RIGHT, I AM GOING FOR A RUN AFTER WORK! NO EXCUSES!

Measurements

Tonight I am going to take measurements and before pictures. Each Monday I will continue to take measurements and weight myself and hopefully see some changes.

Have a nice day!

Megan

Tone It Up Day 1

meganmumbles — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:45:08 +0000

This morning I woke up bright and early to have my first steroid shot in my lower back therefore I missed my morning booty call. I had advised not to workout for the rest of the day and take it easy so after work I headed to Time Warner to pick up my cable box. After spending 30 minutes trying to install the splitter and such I finally have a working TV!

Overall I felt full all day and never got the feeling that I was starving like I have gotten on some other weight loss programs I have been on.

Meal 1 – Kashi Heart to Heart Honey with 1/2 c. fat free milk (this is not recommended on the program it’s just easier for me with work).

I paired it with a navel orange.

Meal 2 – Chocolate Protein Shake (water + protein) and Strawberries

Meal 3 – Sweet Potato

along with Arugula and strawberry salad topped with balsamic vinegar.

Meal 4 – Apple with Peanut Butter.

Meal 5 – Broccoli, Grilled Chicken and Ketchup.

(which went pictured)

I finally got my room all set up!

My view of the Hudson.

and my bedroom (I still need a desk chair).

Have a nice night!

Tone It Up

meganmumbles — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:30:32 +0000

Hello,

A few weeks ago I was feeling rather blah about myself and I decided to buy the Tone It Up Diet Plan. I have done a lot of research and Katrena and Karina seem to really know what they are talking about. Although the membership is pricey you get a lifetimes membership, access to there online community and a pdf book that explains the entire plan.

Image from here.

They send you newsletters and each month you get a calendar to follow. All of this sounded great in my book so I bit the bullet and made the purchase.

Things have been rather hectic in my life with my move so I decided to officially start the plan today.

Start Weight: 152

Goal Weight: 125-135

Goals:

1. Feel Better about myself.

2. Drink more WATER!

3. Have more energy.

4. PR in a half marathon and 5K this year.

5. Feel strong yet slim.

6. Be proud of the person I have worked hard to become.

I won’t be posting specifics of the plan (but you can purchase it for yourself) but I will be letting you all know what I am eating each day as well as my workouts, hopefully this will keep me accountable and I will reach my goal!

Be back later for a recap of Day 1.

Megan

*I am not associated with Tone It Up, all opinions while on the plan are my own.

hello again

meganmumbles — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:09:30 +0000

Wow it’s been over a month since I blogged.. If you have been reading for a while you will now this is pretty normal for me as I tend to go strong with blogging for a few weeks and then life gets in the way and I forget I even have a blog..

Anyway I have lots of exciting things coming up in my life and I can’t wait to share..

February 24th – Wedding in DC

February 26-29 – Bahamas with CZ

March 1 – Move to Manhattan (woot woot)

For now I will share this mornings quote from my tea.

Ta-Ta for now..

Megan

01.11.12

meganmumbles — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:01:58 +0000

Love,

Megan

First training session

meganmumbles — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:58:55 +0000

Last night I had my first “official” personal training session with Barry. He decided to push me but not to the point where I couldn’t walk the next day. Today I am sore but I feel good! Since my goal is to loose weight he asked me to still do 20 minutes of cardio even if I am feeling sore the next day.

We did the following circuit 3 times.

Circuit 1 – Leg Press 100 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 - 150 pounds (18 reps)

Circuit 3 – 150 pounds (18 reps)

Image

Circuit 1 – Bench Press 30 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 40 pounds (18 reps)

Circuit 3 – 40 pounds (15 reps)

Image

Circuit 1 – Lateral Pull down 45 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 55 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 3 – 55 pounds (20 reps)

Image

Circuit 1 – Leg Curl 50 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 50 pounds (18 reps)

Circuit 3 – 50 pounds (18 reps)

After the 3 circuits we did 50 back lunges.

Image

Next we moved onto a few arm exercises.

Circuit 1 – Straight arm pull down 40 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 2 – 40 pounds (20 reps)

Circuit 3 – 40 pounds (20 reps)

Image

Circuit 1 – Hammer Curls 10 pounds (15 reps)

Circuit 2 – 10 pounds (12 reps)

Circuit 3 – 10 pounds (15 reps)

Image

And finally abs.

50 Bicycle crunches

50 leg lifts

and

30 reverse crunches

One thing we talked about was the optimal way to burn fat if you are trying to loose weight. Barry said the 3 best times to burn fat are:

1. First thing in the morning.

2. 3-4 hours after you eat.

3. Right after you do weight training because during weight training your body is burning sugar, etc and building muscle therefore you will have nothing else to burn except fat when you do your cardio.

My 2012 race calendar is officially started:

February 5, 2012 – NYRR Gridiron Classic (4M), New York, NY

March 4, 2012 – Coogan’s Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K (New York, NY)

March 17, 2012 – SunTrust Half Marathon, Washington DC

April 15, 2012 – More / Fitness Half Marathon, New York, NY

Question:

Is anyone running any of the above races? I would love to have friends to run with

Have nice day!

Megan

finding myself

meganmumbles — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:07:31 +0000

Let’s see, the last time I posted was November 17, 2011. After that post some things happened at work and in life and I went private.

I had to figure some stuff out on my own and I didn’t want to share it with the world. I also didn’t want to lie to everyone saying how perfect my life was when in reality I wasn’t happy.

I was confused, I was depressed, I was becoming a person I didn’t like and I knew I needed to change before it got to late.

So here I am a few months later, much happier and much more me. In the last few months I guess you can say I found myself. I learned what it’s like to love yourself just the way you are. I learned that life isn’t perfect and things will work out in the end if you let God show you.

I haven’t ran in months, I haven’t been to the gym in months and I certainly haven’t been eating very healthy. I am not proud of the above but I needed to step away from it all to truly appreciate my health.

Now that I have me figured out I can start to add health and fitness back into my life. I joined Weight Watchers last week and lost 1.2 pounds! I also received a very generous gift from my boss and decided to buy 12 personal training sessions so I can learn to work out properly.

One thing I lost on this blog was my creativity. I started to go through the emotions but didn’t share the things I love: photography, fitness, New York, etc. Now that I am back I plan to add more creativity to Life As Megan Knows It. I also want to share the things I learn from my personal trainer with you all, and share my half marathon training. I want to be proud of my writing, I want to be proud of me.

If anyone is having trouble in there life and not sure about the person they are or becoming I hope they look deep inside there heart because you are in there and I promise when you find it, it’s a feeling like no other.

Hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. I feel like a thousand rocks have been lifted off my check.

Love,

Megan