Getting A Bigger Butt!

I've been doing a lot of research on this because this is what I'm trying to achieve. Apparently when you're sick and you lose muscle, you also lose your butt. I'm still searching for mine because at this point, it's almost nonexistent! So, I've been on a scavenger hunt all over the internet to pull together a small post to help you achieve a bigger butt (if that's what you want).

Your butt has 3 major muscles that are responsible for how it looks: the gluteus maximum, the gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus.

When setting your goals, BE REALISTIC! If everyone in your family is sporting heart-shaped pancake butts, you can't expect to look like J.Lo or Beyonce. Set your goals based on your genetics, body type, and how you'd like to look that's realistic for YOU. Focus on building those three muscles by doing things like weighted squats, donkey kicks, plie squats, deadlifts, and lunges. Don't forget about CARDIO! In order to see any kick of definition of any muscle, you have to melt the fat that covering it. 

For the longest time, I thought that I needed to each a ton of protein in order to build muscle. When I asked my doctor, he told me that only exercise can BUILD muscle, protein just feeds them! Although this is true, you still need to feed your body the right foods in order to loss weight and gain muscle mass. Leans meats, beans, fruits and veggies are a few examples of those. It's best to stay away from processed carbs. I remember when I went to this acting school a few years ago, my agent told me when referring to my diet: "If it's white, it ain't right!" So cut out those white potatoes, white rice, flour, sugars, and all that bad stuff. Your butt will truly thank you!

Gaining a bigger butt is going to take major consistency. You can't do it for a week and expect long term results. It's something that has to be worked on and adjusted when necessary. I feel like I'm on the right track so far. I just hope I get the results that I'm aiming for!

xoxo,

Superwoman

A milestone has been hit!

Omg, I am SO bad about blogging! It's been about a month since I've done it. I guess I didn't have much to talk about fitness related because I wasn't doing as much as I should have been doing. The past two days have been a doozy; I spent Tuesday night in the hospital and pretty much slept all day on Wednesday because I felt like complete death. It was a NIGHTMARE!!

But today, I felt better for the most part, but my joints were killing me and my right calf kept cramping for some odd reason. I don't understand why it's cramping because I haven't worked out all week (due to having my port taken out of my chest so I had to wait for 3 days for the hole to close). But anyway, I forced myself to get on the treadmill after an hour of procrastinating and pep talk. I told all of my fitness friends that I was "attempting" to do one mile. I said attempt because I honestly didn't believe I was going to be able to do it. Every time I got on my treadmill (since December), I hadn't been able to stay on it for longer than 20 minutes. I felt that unless I could do a mile in 20 minutes, it may not happen.

So, I turned on the music (new obsess song of the week: Out on the Town by Fun.) and started walking. Half of the time, I wasn't even paying attention to the treadmill screen because I was too busy being lost in my loonish daydreams and thoughts. I was started to feel tired after awhile, so I glanced at the screen to see where I was. I was thinking that I wasn't even at 0.4 miles, but I looked at saw this:

I couldn't believe it! I was halfway! I kind of got into my feelings a bit when I saw how long it took me to get halfway, but I got over than quickly because the fact of the matter was that I was way closer than what I expected to be. 

In the end, it was a great workout and huge accomplishment for me. I've learned that I definitely have to stop doubting myself. The only thing holding me back from breaking barriers is my mind. It was like I tried to convince myself that I couldn't do it and I almost hadn't. I'm just happy and proud that I did. Oh yeah, I got myself a Polar F4 for my birthday and I think I'm officially obsessed. I burned 508 calories during those 43 minutes! Can you believe that! I'm sure the calorie burn with drop drastically when I lose more weight, but it's great to finally have a more accurate number to go by.

My first mile took me 43 minutes. I hope to shave off a bunch of time in the future. For now, I'll take this. This is the furthest I've walked since getting out of my wheelchair. I definitely feel accomplished!

xoxo,

Superwoman <3

DietBet Blues

Hi everyone!

I'm definitely sorry for the delay in posting. I've been super busy with other projects and my mind has just been all over the place! For starters, there's the 100 squats a day challenge that I'm doing for the month of February. It's literally kicking my ass lol. I also joined a DietBet with a group of my friends as well. Unfortunately, it's not going too well for me. I'm actually 10 pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of the month which is so frustrating! My kidneys are kind of doing their own thing; sometimes they want to work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes my body retains fluid, sometimes it doesn't. I now have to do a lot more monitoring with my salt and water because it seems like one little spike sends my whole body into a frenzy. The scale is NOT my friend right now.

I'm trying to be optimistic about this DietBet, but it's putting me in the dumps. I can only hope that I lose the 10 pounds I seem to have put on PLUS the 7.8 pounds that I have to lose in order to win the DietBet. This should be interesting to say the least.

I also need to focus on measurements as well. Now that I need to start toning, inches will come in handy. Because I'm having so many issues with water weight because of my kidneys, I think I will focus less on the scale and more on inches since my clothes are constantly falling off (which is annoying).

Bust: 42''

Waist: 38''

Left bicep: 13.5"

Left forearm: 10.5"

Right bicep: 13"

Right forearm: 9.5"

Stomach: 44"

Hips: 45.5"

Left thigh: 27"

Right thigh: 27"

Left calf: 17"

Right calf: 17"

Hopefully these inches will go down as time progress. I'm definitely hoping that my stomach and hips shrink a great deal before April since that's where I'm getting my tattoo. Now I'm off to get a good strength training plan together and to finish off these squats!

xoxo,

Superwoman

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Superheroes!

I hope everyone is ready to kick butt this year because I know that I am! I pray that none of you chose "losing weight" as a resolution because if you have weight to lose, you should be doing that anyway! I have a lot of fitness goals that I want to achieve this year because my overall goal for the year is to have a better quality of life, which mostly revolves around my health.

Having lupus and losing weight is no easy task. In fact, most mornings I wake up with joint and muscle pain as well as a bunch of swelling in my legs and feet due to a flare most of the time. I was diagnosed with kidney disease in the beginning of December and it just seems like my medical list is getting longer and longer! So my main goal is to take better care of my body, which means working out, eating right and not stressing so much.

Some tasks I would like to complete this year are:

• Be able to walk around stores comfortably. At the current moment, I can't walk for long periods of time without feeling extremely winded. I want to recondition my body so that I can shop comfortably and not have to depend on the motorized shopping carts!
• Participate in a race. I've been wanting to do a 5K for a very long time now. Now that I have my treadmill, I can train for it right in the comfort of my own room! That way if I get tired, I can keep trying throughout the day and slowly build my endurance!
• Reach my goal weight. In December, I gained about 30 pounds (yes, in a month) in fluid due to my kidneys failing. It was a NIGHTMARE! Imgaine going to the hospital weighing in the 170s and when you come out, you're 205 pounds! I felt so heavy and puffy then but slowly the fluid is coming off, thanks to dialysis and frequent movement.
• Overall be happy! One thing I definitely want to do is to be happy in 2014. I don't want to be down about everything that is going on with me. I want to live and love life and just take it a day at a time!

Here is where I'm starting:

(I'm embarrassed about this now but I know I will be so much happier later when I take my after photos!)

(Weight for January 1, 2014)

So get your game plan ready for the year and dominate it! Summer is only a few months away! Set realistic, attainable goals and go for it. The only person holding you back is you! If you have MyFitnessPal, be sure to add me at imvictoriaduhh :)  Let's get this year started on the right foot!

xoxo,

Superwoman

Update On Me!

Hello fabulous Superheroes! 

It's been a little while since I've made any noise and I am SO sorry for my absence! Unfortunately, my Lupus has caused my kidneys to fail so I've been in the hospital for the past two weeks. It sucks even more because there is a strong possibility that I'm going to be here for Christmas. Either way, I'm just going to keep positive and keep busy!

I started dialysis this week and man, it's tough! I did it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and now Friday where I am currently writing this blog. It doesn't hurt or anything but it's very draining on the body. It feels like the machine is slowly sucking out my energy instead of just filtering out my blood. But anyway, now that I'm doing dialysis, I'm being put on a renal diet. I just received some papers on my diet and now I see I'm going to have to get very creative with my food because the renal diet cuts out SO many of the things that I like!

In a renal (kidney) diet, I have to avoid foods and drinks high in potassium and phosphorus as well as limit my liquid intake. Now, that's not too horrible, but I still have a weakness for convenient food and juices so this is going to be a big adjustment. For starters, I'm going to have to cut out potatoes because they are high in potassium. I can't even have sweet potatoes, which are my favorite! Other high potassium foods that I can't have contain all nuts, tomatoes, mangos (another favorite of mine), milk/yogurt, CHOCOLATE, kiwi (another favorite), bananas, pumpkin, oranges and an assortment of beans. One thing that I really love to drink are Gatorades and I can't have that because it contains phosphorus! 

I also have to avoid fast food (obviously). A lot of fast food and processed food contains a lot of phosphorus. So I have to say goodbye to potato chips, hot dogs, nachos with cheese, chicken nuggets, pop tarts, ice cream, granola (even healthy granola), pizza, Nutri-Grain bar, donuts and basically everything else that I used to stuff my face with. 

Lastly, I have to watch my fluid intake. At the current moment, I'm not sure what my limit is but I know that I can't drink as much water as I want to anymore. According to the papers I got, I have to measure my fluids and stop when I have reached my daily limit. I thought that I could get away with just eating ice once I reached my limit but apparently anything that can be a liquid at room temperature can be counted towards the daily limits. This includes ice, ice cream, popsicles, and even JELLO!

This is definitely going to be something new for me. I'm going to have to get a cookbook and experiment with different types of foods since I pretty much have to use fresh products. I am now on a renal/low sodium diet and when I incorporate that with exercise, I'm sure the weight will practically evaporate. I'm definitely hoping to finally reach my goal in 2014 but for now, my main focus is taking care of my body and hope that my kidneys can repair themselves! At the end of the day, everything will be alright. They don't call me Superwoman for no reason!!

xoxo,

SUPERWOMAN

Every Step Matters

Aloha, Superheroes!

As I am dealing with really bad water retention due to my kidneys being weird on me, I decided to look up motivational things to help me feel a little better instead of negatively dwelling on my situation. No one likes a Negative Nancy, do they? Of course not!

As I stated on my fitness page yesterday, I am going to start weekly fitness tests to measure my progress instead of focusing heavily on the scale. I want to start training myself to look beyond the scale because once I reach my goal weight (which will be eventually), the scale won't move anymore so I need to be satisfied with other things. 

One thing that I DEFINITELY want to do in 2014 is participate in a 5K race. I've been wanting to do this for SO long and as soon as I started training for it, my lupus had other plans and put me in the hospital for 5 months and I lost my ability to walk. But now, I'm back with a vengeance! I haven't been walking for a full year yet, but I am determined to train myself to walk those 3.2 miles in the shortest time possible!

Anyway, I wanted to make this blog post to remind myself and anyone else who has had a medical setback that every step that you take in your recovery is major progress.  Sometimes it's hard for me to be patient with my body but I always fail to remember how far I've come and I'm damn proud of myself. I didn't have much help from physical therapy due to my insurance so I was given an ultimatum: either do nothing about it or do it myself. I obviously chose to own my life!

Here is where I started:

(I took this picture as my Before photo when I was doing DDP Yoga. I was trying to raise my leg and touch my toes to test my flexibility but my legs were SO weak I could hardly raise it off of the ground! I've definitely come a good ways)

And here I am on most days today:

(Sidenote: Being able to cross my legs was a HUGE NSV for me! It's now natural and I do it without even thinking about it when I sit down lol)

So there you have it. I'm not where I want to be but I'm so much more farther than anyone thought I'd be. I've truly learned that the human body is capable and can withstand ALMOST anything. It's your MIND that you have to convince. You can sometimes be your own worst enemy and once you get your mind in check, absolutely NOTHING can stop you if you want it bad enough. 

What is the thing that I want the most? A sexy body? Not really. Being able to wear cute clothes? Probably not because I have no fashion sense. To get a guy's attention? Of course not because I like to be invisible most of the time. The thing I want most is a better quality of life. A healthy quality of life. A FULL LIFE. I simply want to live.

In the simplest terms, they don't call me Superwoman for no reason. 

I earned that title.

xoxo,

Superwoman

Superwoman Approved Fitness Apps!

Hi everyone!

I figured since I'm in the hospital and can't work out at the moment, I'd write a blog post to keep you all on your toes. Here are a few of my favorite fitness apps!

1. Gorilla Workout

Okay, this one so far is my favorite. I actually just started this and it's pretty darn great. It targets different areas in each workout and it's pretty challenging too! It's only $0.99 so it's a great steal!

2. Zombies, Run!

This by far is one of the coolest apps that I like. I mostly use it on my stationary bike since I don't run but it's still a great workout nonetheless. I just strap my iphone or ipod to my leg and pedal away, hoping to not be caught by zombies! It has a storyline so there's this narration thing of a person speaking to you since you're the only known survivor. Your goal is to pick up items to build your base and evade the mobs of zombies!

3. 7 Minute Workout

Need a quick HIIT workout? 7 Minute workout will definitely do the trick. It consists of 12 high intensity exercises ranging from jumping jacks to wall sits that will get your heart rate up and have your body burning calories in no time. I believe it was $1.99 (although there are free alternatives that are kind of like this).

4. Workout Trainer

This is a cool, free app also. There's also a website that goes with it called Skimble in case you want to track from your computer. This gives you plenty of different workouts to you so that you NEVER get bored. I'm talking about full workouts that times your reps and everything! It's definitely great to have if you're looking for a workout to do that doesn't involve a lot of equipment or if you're on vacation!

5. Nike Training Club

So if you want to do a few workouts that will leave you on "BOSS" status and have you feeling like you just did a Gatorade commercial, I'd advise you to try Nike Training Club. Not only does it give you great workouts, this is the first Nike App that I've seen that is for women! Most sports apps for for guys but this is for us ladies! You can also unlock workouts from famous athletes as well once you unlock certain achievements. Unlock your inner gymnast, tennis player, soccer player, or MMA fighter!

Well there you have it! These are my go to apps at the current moment. I'm sure the list will grow as more apps pop up on the fitness scene and if I like it, I'll share it! I hope you all are breaking a sweat!

xoxo,

::V::