Working out requires a plan?

It should come as no surprise that when I'm working out, I have no real plan. I don't have a written out calender of what workouts to do which day, I don't have a certain time of day I workout everyday.. it's basically just a big unorganized mess that seems to be working. So when asked, "What is your workout plan?" I really didn't have answer, so I decided to take a look back and determine the patterns in my workout madness. Here's what I found:

• I run 3-4 times a week. It doesn't matter which days of the week, but I prefer to mix it up a bit. 
• At least one day a week I push myself in regards to the length of time ran. I maintain a steady pace and focus on producing the absolute longest run possible for me on that day. I like to set personal goals and then I obviously like to break them and set new ones. One app I swear by to make my accomplishments trackable is the MapMyFitness app. This app tells you the length you ran, the time you ran it in, and your average mile per minute for your entire run. You can play your music that is on your phone through the app so there is no hopping back and forth between apps mid run. It also has routes that people in your area have run and how long they are! It also records different calorie loss amounts for running, biking, and a lot more activities.
• One day a week I focus on interval training. For those of you that don't know, intervals involved sprinting or running for a certain amount of time, then walking or jogging the other alternating time length. One app I found very useful for this is the C25k app. The couch to 5k app was designed to prepare someone for a 5k. Week one of the training involves a walk and jog interval exercise. It's 60 seconds of running to 90 seconds of walking for a 20 minute workout. I prefer using this workout in a more intense way with 60 seconds of sprinting and 90 seconds of jogging. You can play your music through this app and when an interval is up the music will pause and a voice will say "start running(or walking) now". I feel like a brand new woman when those workouts are over.
• Note: The C25k is great for it's actual purpose too! If you have trouble running I HIGHLY recommend using this app to build endurance.
• The other one or two days I take it easy, just doing a brisk jog usually lasting about 20-30 minutes. I do this mostly to loosen up my muscles and relieve soreness from other previous workouts.
• I workout abs, arms and legs at least 2 times a week. As you may know, I am easily bored but also very easily entertained. Because of this I like to mix up my ab, arm and leg workouts by using a variety of fitness outlets. I don't have a set ab, arm or leg routine, because I find those monotonous, especially after doing them for weeks, but here is what I do use:
• Blogilates! If you've never heard of blogilates, it really is worth a try. The beginner's calender is full of great workout videos for all areas of your body. If you want a killer ab workout, try the ABC ab workout video. Disclaimer: It will probably make you cry. There is also a blogilates app!
• @BeFitWorkouts on twitter! Their account tweets workouts for all areas of your body. A lot of them have picture diagrams for the more unique workout moves, which I find very helpful. The great things about the workouts they post, is that I always workout up a sweat and feel the burn. If you're a workout pro and they are ineffective, you can just up the sets to make your workout worth it.
• Belly Dancing <-- this bitch is insane, but it works. There are a lot of other belly dancing workouts on YouTube as well!
• Zumba! If you don't want to pay for a Zumba class, YouTube has numerous videos that target the areas you need help with. 
• The SworkIt app! SworkIt is full of routines for your target areas. The app times each workout and alerts you when to switch. It includes pictures. 
• I am ALWAYS looking for other ways of getting in shapes. If you have an suggestions, please comment below.

This sums out my "workout plan patterns". If you have other suggestions or questions please comment below!

Royally yours,

RockingMyTiara

How I COMPLETELY Changed My Diet

As you all know I'm currently undergoing a much needed lifestyle change AND IT FEELS GREAT.

My journey started on March 5th when my boyfriend and I decided to give up fast food for lent. Little did I know that this was going to alter my entire lifestyle! When it comes to dieting, I have severe commitment issues. Mostly because I don't like cheating on my donuts and pizza, but sometimes you have to say goodbye to the baggage weighing you down (literally and metaphorically) and say hello to the new healthier you!

Since I suffer from DCI (diet commitment issues) I knew quitting anything "cold turkey" would be completely ineffective for me and honestly I was tired of experiencing diet failure. So I started slow. Prior to March 5th I slowly eliminated one fast food place after the other. Note: I was eating fast food for practically EVERY meal, so this was kind of a monumental change. I started with the places I really didn't like, but just went to because I was tired of the places I did like. I gave myself a couple of days between each eliminated food place to get settled and figure out replacement meals for the chemical shit storm meals I was eating. In addition to scratching places from my meal options, I also began researching what kind of food these places were actually serving. Nothing will make you drop the chicken nuggets faster than knowing what goes into them. Not to mention discovering there are 17 different ingredients in their french fries... like WHAT?! How is that even possible?? Okay, recover from your astonishment and continue reading. Deep breaths, you can do this.

As previously mentioned all fast food places were kicked to the curb completely by March 5th and I was ready to eliminate something else from my diet. This next category was probably my hardest hurdle to overcome. I gave up sweets! Yes, the girl who can eat an entire dozen donuts in one sitting and equally as many Reese's just stopped eating sweets. Hell, I'd be lying if I said I never considered putting Reese's on my donuts, but I digress.

Next on my list was unnecessary bread. Bread is truly an overused food item and it's not even that good. It's just everywhere! After removing unnecessary bread with simple changes like using a wrap instead of bread, not eating bread before a meal at restaurants, and eliminating croutons from salad.. I got rid of all bread. Here's the kicker, this included pizza. THIS was the second hugest hurdle I had to overcome, but I had to do it. When I ate pizza, I did just that, I ate a whole pizza. That's not natural and honestly the fact that my stomach could hold that much food at once now repulses me. Excuse me as I now imagine myself with a pizza-shaped midsection.

After that everything was easy! Not to mention I thoroughly enjoyed looking up healthy versions of my favorite foods! I rid my diet of a few more unnecessary items, such as cheese, soda, and sweet tea. I currently flood my body with water and hot tea so getting an iced unsweet tea feels like a present. Although all of these changes may seem somewhat rash to some people, I viewed them as essential to improving my quality of life. I worked all of these naughty items out of my diet in 3 weeks time, little by little. I encourage this method for anyone who has trouble sticking with diet changes or fears the "quitting cold turkey" method.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section and I'll answer them all in the comment section or with a follow up blog if I receive a hefty amount.

As always:
Royally yours,
RMT