2. Current Weight: 140.5lbs (-6.0lbs since last weight-in; – 20.5 lbs total)

4. Fitness Challenge: In April my fitness challenge was to complete Ripped in 30. In May, when things got crazy in school, it was to just workout at least 5 times a week, alternating Ripped in 30, 30 Days Shred, No more Trouble Zones, and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism.

5. Diet challenge: Continue to stay away from grains, dairy, legumes, sugar and any sort of processed foods. Watch portion sizes and eat only when hungry. Try not to eat between 6pm and 10am. Fast once a week from 6pm to 6pm of the following day. Drink at least 2 liters of water per day. And most importantly, to not let stress lead to long spells of bad eating.

6. How did it go: Everything considered, I think I did amazingly. I did manage to complete Ripped in 30 in April and then worked out at least 5 days a week during the first 3 weeks of May. In May, knowing that I’ll be extremely busy in school, I consciously decided not to set any strict rules for myself so that I do not to feel guilty when I can’t follow them. On the days that I did not feel like working out, I did a short workout from either 30 Days Shred or Ripped in 30, and on the days when I did, I went for No More Trouble Zones or Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. Overall, it came down to at least two long workouts per week.

7. Failures and slip-ups: There were two or three of times when I did go on a little binge, but these binges never lasted for longer than one day. Every time after it would happen I felt extremely worried that I’d go back to my naughty ways, but fortunately,  the only thing that these binges have shown me was that I really don’t care for all the crappy foods I used to crave. Don’t get me wrong, I still like me a yummy desert, but if you really listen to your taste buds, the sugary stuff that comes from the supermarket  simply does not taste good, and I am most certainly not going to cheat on my über healthy diet with anything that does not taste heavenly.

8. Results: The results, in my subjective opinion, are amazing. I am down another 6lbs since my last weight in, and for the first time in many years, I like what I see in the mirror. Overall, I have lost 21lbs and am super close to reaching my goal weight. Because I feel very comfortable in my skin right now, I am beginning to take things a bit slower: I’m still planning to workout frequently and eat clean, but my focus is not so much on losing weight but on developing a system I could stick to for the rest of my life.

9. Progress photo: You can see the rest of my progress shots here

10. Finally: And just so that you can truly appreciate the difference, a side by side comparison:

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2. Current Weight: 140.5lbs (-5.5lbs)

4. Fitness Challenge: To complete Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred

5. Diet challenge for this week: Continue to stay away from grains, dairy, legumes, sugar and any sort of processed foods. Watch portion sizes and eat only when hungry. Try not to eat between 6pm and 10am. Fast once a week from 6pm to 6pm of the following day. Drink at least 2 liters of water per day.

6. How did it go: The last 5 days of the 30 DS were somewhat of a struggle as I got pretty bored with the workout. I took a lot of willpower not to say, “Screw it, I’m as shredded as I am ever going to be” and move on to something different. I ended up taking a one day break after day after day 8 and simply powered through the remaining two days. As far as my diet is concerned, I did very well in terms of quality of the food that I ate, but was terrible in terms of the quantity. There were a few day when all I wanted to do was eat, eat, eat, and it wasn’t even that time of the month. This emotional state got me pretty worried, but fortunately I haven’t gotten off track too much and things seem to be back to normal. Sadly, I continue to be pretty terrible about my water intake :/

7. Failures and slip-ups: On Tuesday, I decided to have banana with some peanut butter for snack and ended up devouring 3 bananas and 1/4 jar of peanut butter in under 15 minutes. This tells me that while my cravings for certain types of unhealthy foods are gone, I am still a bit of a binger and therefore should be extremely careful with my food choices. The banana episode was followed by two violations of my commitment not to eat after 6pm. This is not too bad per se, but taking into consideration that I was not hungry on either of these two occasions, still qualifies as a slip-up in my book.

8. Results: April 1st was a very exciting day as it was the first time in one month that I’ve stepped on the scale. I have lost 5.5lbs, which, I think, is a pretty decent result considering that I did not bother to count calories. In retrospective, I am very glad that I stayed away from the scale this long because I’ve been able to avoid going a bit crazy every time I weigh myself and do not see the desired result (which in my case would have been -1.5lbs per week). It happened to me many times before: I lose a little less that what I hoped for, get upset for a few seconds, promise myself to be super strict with food and exercise next week, follow this promise for a couple of day, and end up falling off the wagon because both my body and my brain rebel against limits that are way too strict. This time around, even though the numbers I saw on the scale might not have been as impressive as I hoped, the photo results were more than reassuring, so I truly could have cared less.

9. Progress photo: You can see the rest of my progress shots here

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Even though the changes in my shape became less dramatic after Level 1, I am extremely satisfied with the final result. The most noticeable difference is definitely on the top of my body, but I think my legs are in a much better shape as well. In fact, while I look pretty much the same after Level 3*** as I did after Level 2, I think that my saddlebags situation has somewhat improved. The best part, however, is that the transformation I’ve seen does not end with looks: I feel stronger than I have ever had and have seen an absolutely amazing improvement in my endurance. While I still have a long way to go before I actually start enjoying this type of exercise, I am at a point when I no longer hate it, which is more than I could have asked for.

***DISCLAIMER: The last picture is not 100% representative of the final result as it was taken this morning, after I have been doing Ripped in 30 for 6 days.

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1. I’ve completed 30 DS. Woohoo!
2. On April 1st, I’ve finally got to weigh myself for the first time in a month: I’ve lost 5lbs
3. I am still eating 100% clean and don’t even remember when was last time I craved something bad
4. This being said, last week, I struggled with a constant desire to snack on something and was pretty bad at controlling the size of my portions
5. I’ve started Ripped in 30 on April 1st and am currently on day 3

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I think I am finally beginning to understand those crazy toned people who are panting and grunting in workout videos, such as a youtube fitness guru Zuzka. I am pretty sure that my liking of the Level 3 has to do not so much with it being more pleasant but with a very big shift in my attitude. Even though I am still pretty bad at pushing myself hard on difficult exercises, I no longer see workout pains as unpleasant. This change largely has to do with the fact that the “pains” I am experiencing right now are completely different from those I had to struggle with in the beginning: Extreme dizziness and running out of breath have been replaced by burning muscles and shaking arms and legs – two unpleasant sensations I find to be somewhat easier to push through.

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Looking at the picture above, you probably would not think that the last two weeks were the worst in my acne history. When I ditched Benzol Peroxide and turned to all natural skincare regimen, I did experience a pretty unsightly breakout (picture here), but nothing even close to what what I had to deal with since my last acne update. About two weeks ago, I woke up with the sides of my face covered in dozens of small bumps (similar to those I used to get on my forehead) and just as many blackheads, which I have never had on my cheeks before. A couple of days later, I also started to get rather sizable bumps on my chin and around the jaw line (2-3 at a time), which kept popping up one right after another. Fast forward a week and the things were looking so bad that I every time I looked in the mirror or touched my face, I did not know whether to cry or simply rip my skin off.

From the very begining of this pimple explosion, I was pretty sure that it had to do with all the oils I was using. Nothing else in my skin care regimen could have clogged my pores so terribly. It had to be either the Oil Cleansing method or jojoba oil, which I was applying as a moisturizer. As worrisome as this realization was, quitting OCM (or oils all together) before reaching a three-months mark was not an option. Having done quite a bit of research before starting OCM, I knew that it can result in a pretty severe purging period, which can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months, and I did not want a temporary inconvenience to prevent me from reaping many benefits of this potentially amazing method. This being said, I did decide that it was time to rethink my oil choices, and ended up replacing jojoba oil with hempseed oil, which is supposed to be completely noncomedogenic (0 comedogenity rating as opposed to 2 for jojoba).

An interesting thing about these two weeks from pimple hell was that while the sides of my face were taking a turn for the worse, my forehead was beginning to clear up. About a month ago, for instance, the texture of my skin there could not have been more disgusting: The oiliness and dry scabs made it feel like a cheese grater that was dipped into oil. Every time I gently scratched my forehead with my nails, I would lift a pretty gross paste consisting of dead skin cells and sebum. To my immeasurable satisfaction, by the end of March, both excess production of sebum and dry scabs were almost completely gone; the tiny underskin pimples that plagued my forehead since my early teens were soon to follow. Below are two photos of the same patch on of skin on my forehead taken one month apart. While lighting makes it somewhat difficult to truly appreciate the difference, I think it is pretty noticeable that my skin looks much less bumpy.

At the moment, my face is about 90% healed: There are still a few bumps remaining, but I think that they are mostly a result of my picking. All the blackheads left my cheeks as suddenly as they invaded them, and for the first time in two weeks, I do not feel completely grossed out when touching my face or looking in the mirror. Throughout the breakout, I continued to OCM every day with a blend of hempseed oil, castor oil, avocado oil, and tea tree oil. To make sure that no dirty oil is remaining on my face, after steaming and cleaning my face with a washcloth, I alternated between honey and clay masks. I plan to continue with the same routine in the near future and hold my fingers crossed that I’ve seen the end of purging (or whatever the hell it was)!

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I’ve been using ground coffee as an exfoliator for a couple of weeks with positive results. My mixture, however, did not seem to be quite right. This morning, I’ve done some googling and settled on a scrub consisting of coffee, brown, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and jojoba oil. Because my oil diy coffee scrub felt a bit too harsh, I made sure to grind the coffee particularly well, putting it through the grinder 3 times. I then simply placed all the ingredients in a container and mixed them. The resulting scrub turned out pretty divine: It felt very gentle on the skin and left it smooth and silky for the entire day. I’ll be definitely using it all up!

Why Coffee?
Coffee grounds are a natural exfoliator: When used as a scrub, coffee buffs off dead, dry skin cells that collect on the outer surface of the skin. This speeds up our own skins natural renewal process and produces healthy glowing skin.

Why Nutmeg?
Nutmeg has long been associated with the reduction of acne scars. With both anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties, it will be able to help reduce infection and swelling on any acne flare-ups you happen to experience.

Why Cinnamon?
This tasty spice is also known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Together these properties make cinnamon a powerful tool in fighting breakouts and removing redness.

Why Sugar?
Sugar contains glycolic acid, an alpha-hydroxy acid that is crucial for maintaining healthy skin. The natural glycolic acid in sugar not only helps condition and moisturize skin, but protect it from toxins.

Why Jojoba Oil?
Jojoba oil is very light and is known to be one of the least comedogenic oils. According to the National Research Council, acne treatments containing jojoba oil may slow the outbreak of skin breakouts arising from acne. In addition to acne, jojoba oil provides a treatment for various other skin infections and health ailments, mainly due to its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

What you’ll need

• 6tbsp of jojoba oil
• 4tbsp of ground coffee
• 4tbsp of brown sugar
• 1/2tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1/2tsp of ground nutmeg

Step 1:

Place coffee, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a container and mix them well.

Step 2:

Add jojoba oil one spoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Step 3:

Apply the scrub on your face (or body) using gentle circular motions for a couple of minutes. Make sure not to rub very hard!

Step 4:

Wash the scrub off with warm water. When wet, your face will fee very oily. After you pat dry it with a towel, however, the oiliness will subside, and you’ll be left with a baby soft skin. No need to moisturize! If you’re afraid of putting any type of oils on your face, feel free to use a gentle cleanser after the scrub. In this case, you might need to apply a moisturizer.

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2. Last weight-in: March 1st (146.6lbs)

4. Fitness Challenge  Complete Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred.

5. Diet challenge for this week: Continue to stay away from grains, dairy, legumes, sugar and any sort of processed foods. Watch portion sizes and eat only when hungry. Try not to eat between 6pm and 10am. Fast once a week from 6pm to 6pm of the following day. Drink at least 2 liters of water per day.

6. How did it go: Considering all the challenges I had to face in the last 10 days, I’ve behaved splendidly. On Saturday and Sunday, I was in Mammoth with some friend and, as a result, had to  eat out three times a day. Surprisingly, withholding myself from indulging into all sorts of restaurant deliciousness was not difficult at all. The hard part came after we were back in LA. On Monday and Tuesday, I felt like a druggie going through a withdrawal. All I wanted to do was eat, eat, eat – it did not even matter what. I got really freaked out by this emotional state, fearing that it was beginning of an end, and then…my period came. This happens every month, and every month I forget to mentally prepare myself to a few days of irrational cravings. After having my aha! moment, I went back to normal and am still there. As far as the exercise part of my challenge is concerned, I was super good. Despite hating pretty much every second of Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred, going on a trip, and having weird moods, I did not miss a day. I was also pretty good about not eating after 6pm and have managed to have almost a full day fast (22.5 hours).

7. Failures and slip-ups: In Mammoth, I had more to drink than I should have (diet-wise). On Monday, I had a “snack” consisting of three ginormous bananas with peanut butter.  The later is on the list of my forbidden food, so I felt especially guilty because of it. I’ve been extremely good with my water consumption for about five days since my last update, but in the last few days have slipped back into my old habits. Finally, I am still struggling with eating only when I am hungry and only until I am full.

8. Results: Consistent with the promisse I’ve made to myself in the beginning of this month, I am still keeping away from the scale, so I have no idea if I have lost anything. I’ve been wearing mostly stretchy workout stuff, so cannot use clothing for a feedback either. Compared to my last progress picture, the today’s one seems to show some improvement in my arms and midsection – although the changes are much less noticeable than the ones I saw after completing Level 1 (For a side by side comparison go here). Looks, of course, is not the only thing that matters. Thanks to the 30 Day Shred, I am getting stronger every day, which makes me feel pretty awesome!

9. Progress photo: You can see the rest of my progress shots here

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