T25 Day 3

Didn't post day two yesterday cause I didn't do it. Kept to clean eating, tho, so I'm down another pound. That's 6 lbs total since Monday. I'm so happy!! I have a newfound appreciation and motivation for clean eating and clean living. I've known this from the get go. I don't know why I didn't stick to this from the beginning. I know I would've reached my goal weight a long time ago if I did. But it's ok. I've learned my lesson. I'm focusing on 25 min a day and 1100-1500 cals this week. I'm so excited cause I can see my results getting better and better every day. I feel so great on the inside. 

We're going on our family vacation this Sunday. I can't wait!! We rented a beach side condo in San Diego that's so beautiful and right by the beach so I'll be jogging the beach every morning and night. Swimming all day long and spending all my free time with Hoko and the kids!! We check in Monday afternoon and leave Friday. We're also taking the kids to Disneyland that last day so we're stoked!! I've always wanted to go there when its all decorated up for the holidays. Yay!! The kids all got straight A's last term except for Polu. She got one B, which is ok. I guess. We still had a talk with her and she was bummed cause she was the only one, but they've all been working so hard and we're so excited to reward them with this trip. 

Anyways, I just got done doing yesterday's Speed 1.0 and it kicked my butt!! I seriously can't afford to eat bad when doing this workout. I'm gonna hit the gym later to do legs, glutes, and abs. I'm excited to get back in the gym today. I'll be doing day 3 of T25 tonight with my little Lote. I'm so proud of her for pushing thru and wanting to do this for herself. I love my kids so much. They each teach me different things every day and I'm so grateful for their sweet, innocent spirits. With that said, I'm signing of til tonight with an update on day 3's workout sesh. 

T25 Day 1

T25 day one was cardio. Can I tell you that we were straight DYING!!?? OMG!! I thought I was fit, but this kicked my butt all over the place. Lote Si'i and I have decided that we're gonna do the five day fast track to really jump start our progress and weight loss with this. It consists of eating clean and sticking to 1100 cals per day. I wasn't too sure about it at first, but I'm pretty motivated cause I haven't been eating clean as much as I should be and I'm pretty tired of not being able to reap the rewards of all the hard work I've been putting in at the gym. And I don't wanna have to eat a ton from weight lifting. So I'm trying something different this week. I know my body is in shock right now. Low cals and only 25 min of working out daily?? Definitely not what I'm used to. But I can't keep up with all the eating clean for the shred program cause it makes me so hungry. But I think I need to incorporate exactly what I'm doing this week into the shred program as well for optimal results. I don't know. We'll see. As for now, day one was a success!! Can't wait to see where I'm at by the end of this week and by the end of this ten week program. 

Defeated?

It's been a while since I've last blogged. I'm always falling off this bandwagon, but here we go again for the umpteenth time. Lol. 

I've been faithfully getting up every morning for the past month or so to hit the gym and get my workouts in before the kids leave for school. I've loved it. Starting every morning releasing endorphins has been so self rewarding. Both physically and mentally. I can feel and see myself getting stronger with every workout I put in. But this morning, I left the gym feeling defeated and depleted. I haven't been eating breakfast before my workouts so I've pretty much been hitting every morning gym sesh on an empty stomach. Sooooo not a good idea. If you're reading this, don't follow my example. This is the worst thing you can do when you're weight lifting. Or working out at a high intensity. I got halfway thru my workout until my body shut down. I went into the sauna to try and relax my muscles as well as rejuvenate my mind so I can finish the last half of my workout. Yeah, that didn't happen successfully. I went back into the locker room, put my sweats back on and headed back home. My body is sore, especially my chest and traps.

I'm always thinking of ways to better my body and better my results so with that said, I'm going back to what I should've been doing this whole time. Tracking my food intake on my Lose It app and making sure I'm feeding my body what it needs in order to refuel and replenish. 

I also ordered Shaun T's new program, T25, last week. It's a 10 week program. It's basically HIIT from what I've seen. Today is day one of the program and I'm kicking it off with the 5 day fast track which requires me to have only 1100 cals a day while doing 25 min of his program as well. I'm still debating whether or not I'll be taking a break from Jim Stoppani's Shortcut To Shred 6 week program this week or if I can handle doing both. We'll see. I'm always experimenting on myself to see what I can handle and still stay healthy. 

I've been consuming a ton of carbs lately and my body is definitely a result of that poor choice. It's time to clean out my system and lean out. I work too hard in the gym to be treating my body like a garbage disposal and inhaling anything I want.

I need to get my self discipline back on track and start eating to live and not living to eat. We live and learn, right? I love this journey and am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to get up every day and chase after my dream body. I love being a mom to seven wonderful blessings that keep me in awe of their amazing capacity to love unconditionally and non-judge mentally. Hoko is my rock and has supported my fitness journey from the get go. Including the huge factor that because of his hard work and sacrifice, I'm able to be a stay at home mom. It's played a HUGE role in this journey. This is me, currently. Stay tuned for more to come. 

Cherishing Moments & Creating Long Lasting Memories

I've found myself cherishing my loved ones more so lately. I don't know if it's cause I'm getting older, but I hold those dear to me very close to my heart. At the top of that list are definitely my children. And it might just be due to the fact that I have always chosen to take a more active role in their lives. Their success has always been very important to Hoko & I. We try to stay as involved in their lives as possible without smothering them or doing things for them.

These past couple of weeks I've taken the initiative in incorporating healthier options in not just our eating, but in giving my kids the option to be more involved. They're always cooking with Hoko in the kitchen cause I was always too impatient with them, but I've loosened up a little & am slowly letting them into my domain. Lol. Baby steps, right? I've also created a 'jogging crew' that's totally volunteer based. 👍It consists of Lote Si'i, Polu Marie, Jordan & I. It doesn't get any better than this.

They used to ask to exercise with me all the time, but we would always get in each others way & I'd always end up so frustrated. Now that I've been doing it for a while & the sheer fact that their interest in it hasn't lessened, I've come up with win/win solutions for all of us to succeed. And not just in the physical sense. I'm finding that we're bonding on a whole different level now. They confide their current emotions & their everyday insecurities with me. I think it's so easy to forget how it feels to be a little girl at their age going thru all these different things. The physical changes as well as the emotional ones that are tied so closely together.

Well, this little 'jogging crew' of mine has blossomed into such long lasting memories with my girls. Lote Si'i was telling me that she's decided to come running with me every night cause she's not happy with herself. She said that she knows she shouldn't be as big as she is & she wants to do something about it. *tears* This is our child that has been our 'fatso' since birth. In that moment I felt so proud of her for taking the initiative to do something about whatever it was that's making her unhappy. And at the same time I couldn't help, but reflect on this decision that I made back in 2008 to become the BEST me both spiritually & temporally (physically) as I can be & the absolute tangible effect it's having on not just me, but also on those that I cherish most. My kids. My lil Lote continued to share with me her hopes of joining a track team this next school year & I was amazed with this lil blessing in my life & her courage to face her fears right dead in the eye & do something about it. I love & admire her so much. I feel this way about all of my kids. It never ceases to amaze me how much they continue to teach me without their even knowing. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father's blessed me with such amazing kids. And even more so...with ones that know that I'm here for them no matter what. I hope & pray that my relationship with my kids grows continually in alliance with that of the gospel & all the wonderful blessings that come from living an honest, true & chaste life. I plan on creating countless memories with my beautiful blessings. #mykidsROCK

Shhhh. . . .It's A Secret

I just got done watching Beyonce's interview from last night's MET Gala event.  I love her honesty in it.  She's asked by the interviewer how she got her amazing body back which she doesn't skip a beat in answering:  HARD WORK.  She continues to say that there's no secret.  It's just discipline.  I'm always asked what my secret is to being my size.  And I say it like that cause I'm not at my goal weight/size so I'm not comfortable to say 'in shape.'  Plus, I don't have abs yet, either.  Lol.  So I CAN'T say that anyway.  Hahahaha!!  But I love the pure HONESTY on Bey's face when she answers: 'Hard work.  There's no secret.  Discipline.'  She's now been given the chance to experience motherhood.  All the joys that come with it as well as the sleepless nights, weight gain, first time mom over protections, fatigue & so forth.  Cause in all this, she's also still working.  


There's no secret to having a great body.  The key to it has always been exercising & eating right.  It's absolutely discipline that sets you apart from the rest.  I just recently turned 29 and I don't take for granted the fact that my time is ticking so I'm taking the necessary steps to give my body what it deserves:  Great Health.  As you age, your metabolism slows down.  Eating right & exercising daily gives you that increase in metabolism your body needs in order to burn unwanted fat.  I'm getting myself used to eating every 2-3 hours.  It's been a little bit of a challenge for me cause I'm so used to just doing 3 meals/day, but with the intense workout regime Insanity entails, I've succumb to giving my body what it needs so that it will give me back the results that I deserve.  I've added a gallon of water a day cause I read in a magazine that that's how much Bey drinks.  Lol.  And I know it's only benefiting me.  Staying hydrated is great for your skin, too.  Anyways, this was something that inspired me & I want to post about it.  :D


And P.S.:  Pay attention to food labels.  Read the ingredients label so as to know exactly what's going into your body.  This is something I do all the time.  No hydrogenated anything.  Even if it's just partial.  That kinda fat is deadly.  It's banned in some countries around the world including Denmark.  It should be banned here, but we love our fast foods too much.  Terrible. 

Grateful

I know it's a new month and all, but I have to document this since it means so much to me. I'm extremely blessed to have the people that I have in my life. There are only a handful of you that I honestly consider true friends/girlfriends. And even more so, the fact that you guys are my sister inlaws makes it that much more special. Fine & Sheena....I love you guys. Thank you for being there when I really just needed to talk or vent or laugh or cry or sing or be mad or chill or whatever.....thanks for making time for me in your lives. Thanks for knowing me well enough to be able to get me gifts that I would absolutely love n use!! I love you two so much & cherish the bond we share. We're pretty much girlfriends that act a fool no matter what the occasion when we're together. I appreciate you both. I'm grateful for the both of you. :) I don't take for granted the relationship that has developed between the three of us & I appreciate the good times, the bad times, the fun times & more so...the personal times. Here's to it only getting better. I love you two!! :)

Getting. In. Shape

I've been laser eye focusing on my health & fitness since giving birth to baby #7. It's something that's always been important to me. I want to be the number ONE example in my children's eyes of living a healthy lifestyle.


I remember growing up in Tonga, my dad would take us running with him & I swore nobody was as fast as him. I would stand in awe of how fast he could run. He woke up early every morning & ran 5 miles without breaking a sweat. My mom & I would sit at the wharf & watch him swim out so far & then turn around & swim back like it was something anyone could do. He was AMAZING!! I love my dad for being my prime example of healthy living. He still actively workouts every morning & night at home.


When I gave birth to Jordan back in October of last year, I felt so grateful to have such an amazing & sacred blessing in my life. I was also in the middle of fall semester so my life was a bit overwhelming, to say the least. I gained a total of 52 lbs & I was not looking forward to losing it. Lol. Who would?? But I've never been one to wallow in my sorrows for too long so I sucked it up & got to work. Back in December, I saw a post on pinterest of a mother with before & after pics over the course of a year and her body looked like mine. It's what caught my attention. She'd been doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Her 'after' pics didn't look like some total transformation of an unrecognizable body, but it still looked great. Her stomach was flat with small stretch marks along her lower abdomen and she had definitely lost weight & it looked REAL. It totally inspired me & I found myself at Walmart buying this at home workout DVD. I'm so glad I did. Jillian Michaels started slowly transforming my body and my eating habits. What I loved most about this particular DVD is the fact that the workouts were only 20 min. It's what got me thru days & nights of no motivation at all & bad eating. Knowing that it was only gonna be 20 min kept me religiously faithful to this workout regimen. There's three different level. Easiest to hardest. I'd recently been doing level III (hardest) & was feeling great. I figured once I'd mastered it, I would move onto her latest dvd's that have just recently been released. But to my surprise, my sister inlaw, Sheena, bought me Shaun T's Insanity dvd's. So I started doing those this past week.


It's a 60-day program that I plan to stick to. I measured myself before I started & then again at the end of the week & I'm psyched to be down a couple of inches overall. I love the Insanity series. It pushes me to my limit, but I'm able to take the needed breaks. I also love that it's all about speed & endurance. We do intervals & then stretching which can I just say that I sweat a ton more during the stretching than from the workouts. It's intense!! But I love it & I'm absolutely sticking to the WHOLE 60 days. I'm already seeing results, but I want more. I feel so great about GETTING. IN. SHAPE. I plan to be around for a very long time so I can enjoy watching & being involved with my kids as they grow up.