Chez FitMercy

I weighed in this morning at 170.2lbs and that is a gain of 0.6lbs this week. I did well because I had NSVs . I feel so proud of this achievements and I know that the scale will soon move towards the right direction.  NSV means Non-Scale Victory , it is very important for everyone on a weight loss journey to imbibe this as a culture if they want to ever make a headway. It is often said that the scale nor the numbers on it does not determine what success you have. I agree with this and I think it is fact even though it is easier to feel bad and misbehave after any weigh in that shows an unfavourable number. 

It is going to be a quick post today because less had happened other than lots of clutter and disorganization, ish. Today is another weigh in and I can say I did not do badly with a gain of a pound from last week. TOM is here and I normally have a 3lbs gain for other months. To be candid, I hate making excuses but not when life keeps getting in my way. I have issues with people who are disorganized and they keep assuming that is the way every other person around them is. I became a little organized after reading Eat That Frog! (21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time) . The book is about handling your stuff in the order of importance, the "frog" is actually the activity that is hardest for you and shouldn't be delegated or delayed for another time, this is marked "A", a "B" is what is second most important but that is not so vital but equally necessary. A "C" is an activity that can be delegated or shif...

Here are mine for 2016 - Wake up by 5a.m. daily for devotion and then exercise. - Workout for at least 10 minutes every morning - Workout for at least 10 intentional fitness minutes throughout January.( I did not meet this goal, I had flu and was down for 3 days ) - Eat healthy (more whole grains, limit processed foods, drink more water) - Build a saving culture (20% of my monthly earnings) - Reward myself whenever I meet a fitness goal ( An activity tracker on 1/28/2016 ) - Exercise at least 6x a week - Intermittent Fasting on two days of the week (Wednesday & Friday), Leangains 2 days a week (Tuesday & Thursday) Note: I will be adding more as the days goes by and of course auditing myself monthly. Today is day 15 of my fitness streak and I have exercised for every single day in January so far, I have also lost 2.6lbs.  January 4 - 172.2lbs January 11 - 171.6lbs (I unofficially weigh in today at 169.6lbs i.e. a 2.6lbs loss) Other Goals wit...

This delay was not intentional but I found myself not able to start the challenge immediately. This week, all I have been doing is low impact  in nature. I got some nice fitnessblender videos on YouTube which had helped me to keep everything low pace and sweaty too. I realized about ME, that to see a significant weight loss on the scale and measurements, I have to do at least 250 minutes a week of 80% HIIT  or over 300 minutes of moderate exercise. Some medical constraints will not allow me to do any HIIT this week, so that is the cogent reason for the slight delay. I am doing a meal plan for the next one week today, and I will do that today. It helps me a lot [I have done it before], I am released of all the stress accompanying "what will I cook today" and I am able to shop in a more healthy manner as I prepare for the coming week. In short, planning is very essential to life and living. When you plan yourself, you are relieved of the headaches that comes with making...

I am done with a 30 Days Fitness Challenge , I always love the challenges I see on about.com. The previous ones I had done over the years always left me with loss of weight and a stronger, fitter body. As I cleaned the house this morning I thought hard and I think I am treading the right path to get me to my desired and healthy weight this year. Here are some fact findings: - They say eat 6 meals a day i.e. try to eat small throughout the day so that your metabolism is raised through the day. It never worked for me, in fact I packed on so much pounds on when I tried it I really surprised myself. It cannot work for me because I typically take large portions (I think it is an African thing), they are not just large portions but large portions of carbs.  - The typical meal is like: 3 cups (peak milk tin) of cooked rice (carbs);  2 tablespoons stew (veggies);  4 slices of fried plantain (more carbs);  2 pieces of meat (protein).  That i...

I am loving that I had kept 21 days straight and strong in the 31 days of the first month in this year. It is a sign of good things coming this year. I am most grateful for the BLC Round 27, it really did keep me accountable and the need not to let down the team. So I had to really push myself [not beyond limits yet, because I still workout just a little bit above my heart rate target] in order to see the scale move, and to be true to myself it's been cooperating with mama. Coming week is the mother of them all with 300 minutes in all. I will give myself a week rest from the challenge and I begin again. Below is my schedule for the coming week. Week 4 Fitness Minutes Goal = 300 Sunday =   Cardio (60) Monday = HIIT (50) Tuesday = Moderate Cardio/ST (Cardio 15/ST 45) Wednesday =  Rest Thursday = ST (45-60) Friday = Active Rest (10 minutes walking) Saturday = Upper Body Workout (60)

It's becoming a reality for me. I am in the 160s on the scale. Yesterday was both weigh in day and rest for me too. Squatted on the scale and I saw 169.4lbs [Another standing gave me 170lbs] I decided to stick with the lesser. There is a saying that "every woman loves to be weighed and be found wanting". Yesterday was rest day and it was also my IF day, and beyond my expectation, I was so full of energy. At dinner I ate like this: - 2 cups of mixed fruits - 33cl Yogurt + a handful of peanuts (10g) - 0.5 cup rice + 3 slices plantain + fish + beef (I felt so filled after, I have not checked the calories yet but I am sure to be as under and wanting as possible) A new BLC week starts for me yesterday and today I will be doing my TNT, it's yoga moves.

Hi there, Today is the end of another week and how time flies and waits for no one. What can I say? It had been an awesome week for me and very busy too. The internet had been the worst in my office since the millennium, lol. I seemed to underestimate how much my life revolves around the web [I hate to think that way, but it's the truth], it looks like not able to browse makes me cranky and anxious too. Anyways, I had to recharge the phone so that I can do my stuff on the mobile [thank God]. I am still owing someone anyways... All in my mind, I have decided to be as positive as I can be this year because I know in it lies my success with everything I put my mind to do. I want to be positive not only about what I plan to do, but even about others, those around me, - a mind that they are not here to harm me; - a mind that I can talk to them about ME; - a mind that God had brought them my way that I may or they may influence me positively; - a mind that I can get it when I...

Woohoo! 100 days is gone by today. I am happy that I did it but on another note, not happy because I was not faithful to it all through. I missed days that I believe if added together maybe more than a month. Within this 100 days [I am not really accountable for it] - I did finish the BLC 26 challenge and started with Ripped in 30 [I am finishing Week 4 this week]. - I made great decisions that I am sure will be of help in the next 100 days. - 10 minutes + streak and I am keeping on strong. - I took control of white bread too [just weekend to eat my bread] - I finally started a de-cluttering plan to keep my home clean. Another 100 days starts tomorrow and I promise myself, it will be a more healthier, active and successful 100 days [God's willing]. I promise to state my goals for the coming year [watch out for it] and one of it would be to do as many 100 days streak as possible in the coming year. As many challenges as possible and I promise to be happy in all of i...

I can say now that, doing 10 minutes is really better than doing nothing, thanks to SteadyHealth.com. I was not feeling like exercising for the two days [thanks to the weight gain on the scale yet again, 177lbs - I think it's TOM]. So last night, the same feeling was already on me since waking up and by evening, I was dead tired but instead of doing nothing [I am still on Ripped in 30] I decided to do something that will not make me wear any gear at all. [kitting for exercise is a core to me and it is enough to discourage me from working out on some days, it's a story for another day], I looked through my YouTube collections and there is this lady with red and blue balls behind her staring at me. I did 7 minutes working my glutes and 6 minutes working on my giggly arms [Christian Mother]. Next year must be different by FIRE and by FORCE, because God is involved now.

I noticed the video is 31 minutes instead of usual 34 minutes. I wondered what was different until I started the workout this morning and realized an exercise was missing in the first circuit, whatever happened was an error on her side as far as I am concerned. Somehow I also felt the video is a little less intense and “nice” too. I enjoyed everything about it and I ended up burning my rice, duh. I feel a little excited with my success on this video and I am sure to finish stronger and at the right time too. I am feeling quite excited for the upcoming Christmas celebration (I don’t understand why right now) despite we are not so buoyant right now, but there is a great excitement right now and I know all is well that ends well. Now I can pick one of the reasons why I am excited, it’s my Sparkversary celebrations today, I mark 4 years with Sparkpeople today and I feel excited about it. Not many (physical) achievements like I would desire but I have become a better perso...

I successfully concluded the Week 2 of the Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30. I am happy that I am doing everything to be consistent exercise-wise. The only challenge I have is the inability to do the bonus workout for the day to conclude the 60 minutes a day exercise. I will surely get there, I am truly working towards increasing my exercise minutes. My workout review Ripped in 30 Week 2 is just as challenging as the first week. I am using a 2lbs weight and probably it is not as challenging as I desired it. So tomorrow God's willing, I should  be using my 5lbs weight to start the Week 3. Jillian as usual can be strict in her instructions No Bread Streak. I have maintained 2 weeks of NO BREAD during work days. I now eat bread only on Saturdays and Sundays, maybe next year I may start 14 days no bread streak and maybe 30 days, and maybe 60 days, till I overcome eating bread [this food keeps jeopardizing my efforts]. I have 9 days left in the 100 days 10+ minute...

I am just concluded with this round of BLC and the link below takes you to my analysis of the two rounds of BLC so far. http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5830727 A hectic day in the office today.

I love eating bread! But it is sabotaging my efforts presently, I am still researching what substitute to have when the cravings for bread comes along. This past week, my weight was rising geometrically and I felt so strongly that bread is responsible for it. I weighed in at 177.6lbs on Wednesday, my weigh in day and with the excuse that it was water weight, I climbed the scale again on Thursday [even after a workout] and a whooping 178.8lbs was staring at me, wow what did I do wrong except bread. I am deciding today to give bread a break but I will need a substitute and maybe a cheat day so that my efforts will not be sabotaged by cravings at the end of the day and it become worse than when I started.  What advice do you have for me?

As I said in the last blo g I started the new 30 days streak called... I have been with Jillian Michaels for some years now and to say I enjoyed her is an understatement. She makes me burn, cry, sweat and name them all. Yes I know my relationship with Jillian over the years is a love-hate relationship but I keep going back because the results are immeasurable. Ripped In 30 I have like 20 minutes to workout and the warm up and cool down amounting to another 13 minutes so it amount to a total of 33 minutes for the Week One circuit. I am not stopping at that, I am also making sure to have a bonus workout at night so that I have at least 45 minutes working out daily, [I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me].  I believe that I can only become stronger and be ready to push more till the results keeps coming in. It is a 3-2-1 circuit i.e. 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute abs. My glutes and shoulders are on fire right now from unending squ...

I have been thinking of something awesome for Christmas and countdown starts in 2 days i.e. December 1st. So I feel starting a streak within a streak will be a good idea afterall. Today is filled with activities but I would not forget my workout because of that. I should be working out tonight although, I am having a heap of a wash right now, I will most definitely start my workout soon. I hope to also wash my hair tonight. I already pre-pooed with olive oil and will be doing a tea rinse [ it's my first experience ] after the wash too. I will unveil the package by Sunday night. Get ready for me...

Each day is a blank page and I hold the pen! I am the author of my own story!! I am thankful for each day that I am given. For each opportunity to begin anew and let today be the day to focus on. Life is too short, but it should be long enough. Long enough to do the things that are important in a life. I am of the mindset that life isn't about sitting back on the sidelines and watching a sort of "life-parade" go by and cheer those out there "doing it"! NO NO NO!!! It's about being the parade, the band, the enthuisiam, the tickertape, the cheers, the whole thing. It's about not only the events, but the atmosphere around those events. Of not just seeing life, but tasting, smelling, diving into it. Rubbing it all over like a salt rub and then then letting out a primevil type utterance.. YEAHHHHHH!!! That's what I'm talking about..extreme.. extreme... grabbing what you can with both hands and not letting go even if you end up being dragged a bit,...

Hey Friends, Today should be great save the pains I had. The pains were not too bad but it kept me irritable and inactive. It was a church member's wedding and I could do nothing beyond the ordinary to help in service and arrangements. In the midst of this I had a walk, like a 15 minutes walk. (That counts as my workout for the day and I tag it ACTIVE REST) I did not do any deliberate workout today because there was just too much to do within a little time. So after this post, I will be going to have my daily 5 mins jump rope interval dose, (I loved the streak). I have been doing it and I have been enjoying it and who knows 5 minutes becomes 10 mins and on and on. Good news I have a new crush on beachbody.com and trust me I am loving every bit of it. Unlike fitness blender who normally have it slow but intense, beachbody has it fast, furious and insanely intense. Unfortunately, getting to download on YouTube is almost impossible because their videos are not even there, my...

This is where I am now; I wish to move here soon;

Life simply gets in the way and I feel so stressed and discouraged. One minute I make up my mind to lose weight and in the next minute I am going weeks in a terrible rut, both exercise and food. What do I do? I wish I will have a more strong will and resolute to do this. I need to lose weight and I have seen myself lose weight before why can't I do this again. If I want to analyze this year 2014, I had come as low as 76kg this year. What was I doing right then? What am I doing wrong now at 81kg? Is it possible to lose 20kg and keep my weight between 60 and 65kg? I don't want to be pushed to do this, I mean I don't want anything negative to push me to lose weight now that I am doing it for me. I remember a song that says "you can get it if you really want, but you must try and try". Do I really want to lose weight? Am I desperate about it? What do I do now???