August Fitness Goals and July Fitness Recap with {LOTS OF} Progress Pics

You guys!  I am SO excited to be writing this month's fitness update!  Mitch and I made some major changes in July.  We changed our work out, we changed out diets, but most of all, we changed our mindsets.  I realized that, personally, I was putting too much on myself.  Maybe it was because I was just so hoping to find the "right thing" for me that I was trying it all in short bursts and giving up to quickly, or maybe it was because I was trying to find something more interesting for people to want to read here on the blog...hmmm....yeah that was not a good thing for me.

Before I start rambling about what we actually did last month, let's recap on my July goals.

• Keep up with the not drinking deal, except on weekends and only if we had put in a good workout
• Keep up with our Insanity: Asylum workout
• Run on days when Asylum isn't high intensity cardio
• Continue drinking at least one green smoothie a day
• Talk Mitch into ordering the Focus T25 workout for us 

 How did we do?  Well, looking back now, we didn't do too bad!

I started feeling overwhelmed and quit doing my Asylum workouts after probably the first week in July.  As a matter of fact, I {we} did no exercising for an entire week.  It was time to regroup.  As I mentioned above, I was overwhelming myself like crazy.  We needed a new plan.

We have kept up with the not drinking!  As a matter of fact, the only time we have had anything to drink was when we took our mini getaway to Orlando for a couple of days {we drank that Saturday}, and then last weekend we were hanging out with some friends and I had a couple of glasses of wine and Mitch had a few beers.  Not bad, huh? ;)

I still run every now and then, but we mostly just walk, if we're going out now.  We love to get a quick workout in, in the morning, and then take the whole family out for a walk.  I've actually realized that I burn close to the same amount of calories walking as I did jogging, so why kill myself??

We finished our 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge and I'm happy to say that we are still going strong! Green smoothies have become a love affair for us, and I can't imagine not having one every morning to charge me up for my day.  I don't think this is something we will ever stop doing.

Did I talk Mitch into buying me T25??  No.  I didn't.  He's a cheapass very frugal and didn't want to spend the money on it.  He did however burn a copy of the workouts from someone who DID want to spend the money on them!  So yeah, we got them.  And.....we're completely obsessed with this workout.  Completely.  I can't even begin to tell you how awesome Focus T25 is!!  Oh, and if you haven't already heard, it's only 25 Minutes!  Seriously....25 minutes and then you're done.  That means that when the cutest munchkin on the block wakes up at 6:30 in the morning, and you are just starting your workout, you can sit her on the couch with your ipad and she doesn't have time to get bored before you finish!  YES!

Yeah, she's the cutest, right?? Ugh...she's been cutting those two year molars...those things are monsters.

We also made the decision to change our diet.  We were going nowhere fast eating the way that we were.  Sure, we had a green smoothie a day, and we thought we were eating healthy {we usually ate our veggies}, but we were still eating a lot of processed foods and refined sugars.  I mentioned here that  I had been doing some researching on the paleo diet.  I was a little skeptical at first, but the more I read, the more it actually makes sense.

You essentially eat a whole foods diet, with the exclusion of a few things.  The Paleo Diet is gluten free, grain free, dairy free.  We have been eating this way for about two weeks now and I cannot express how awesome we feel!!  We have SO much energy and never get that super heavy, overstuffed feeling after we eat meals.  We are not 100% paleo, and I honestly don't think we ever will be.  There are some things I just can't give up completely {coffee creamer, fresh parmesan cheese}, but for the most part, we get protein, fruits, and veggies in every meal.  It's amazing and I'm totally obsessed.  I even started a Paleo board on Pinterest, if you're interested in checking out the recipes!  I'll keep updating on this as the months pass, too.

Anyway, here are my stats for this month, compared to last month:

My numbers changed big time this month!  As soon as we started doing the T25 workouts, the weight and inches started melting away.  In the last 2 1/2 weeks {since we started the workout AND the new diet}, I lost 6.7 inches and 4.8 pounds in July!  Awesome!! {Yeah, I'm a little excited, it's the first time I'm seeing those numbers, too!}

On to the progress pics, because that's what you all have been waiting for, right? Right.

First I'll compare the pics I took at the beginning of July, to the pics I took yesterday morning {August 1st}:

July:

August:

Aaaaand here is a comparison to where I was the after our first T25 workout, 2 1/2 weeks ago, compared to after yesterday morning's workout:

Pretty amazing, right? See why I'm so obsessed with this workout and the paleo diet??? It's like a dynamic duo!

Mitchy is looking super hot, too! He said I'm not allowed to post his progress pics until the very end {lol}, but I'll tell you that he has lost almost TEN POUNDS in less than 3 weeks! I'm so proud of US!

So, our goals going forward for August are simply to continue what we're doing. T25 in the early mornings, maybe a family walk after breakfast, keep eating clean and paleo! Also, just relax and enjoy our success and enjoy our family and just enjoy life in general. That's what it's all about, after all, right??

Are you doing any specific challenges for the month of August? Did you reach your goals for July? I'd love to hear what you've got going on in your fitness calendar for this coming month!