Saturday Sweat Session: LEGS!!!

Legs, legs legs!!  My favorite body part to work.  This awesome workout was created by one of the other trainers at the gym and I loved it so had to share!  The only rule: no decreasing weights!!  If you choose to go up in the amount of weight you use because the first set is too easy, then you cannot decrease it back down.  If the first set is too easy, then you don't need to decrease the weights!

First exercise (each exercise done one after the other, no rest until all 4 exercises completed)
incline leg press x 12
incline leg press w/ feet together x 12
single leg incline leg press x 10
single leg incline leg press x 10
Repeat 4 times

Second exercise
Tabata seated hamstring curls
8 rounds of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest

Third exercise
TRX one-leg jump lunges x 12
Repeat 3 times each leg

Fourth exercise
kettlebell thrusters x 20
Repeat 3 times

Fifth exercise (each exercise done one after the other, no rest until both exercises completed)
standing calf raise slow speed x 10
stadning calf raise fast speed x 10
Repeat 2 times

Nothing changes if nothing changes

I'm on my trip right now but here's something interesting (I hope):

If nothing about your current life-style changes, how can you expect changes to happen to your health and body?

When someone first starts out on a "life-style change",  they'll almost always see immediate results because any change, big or small, to their current lifestyle will have an effect on their body.

But what about those of us who have been going at this "life-style change" for months... even years?  Finding more and more things to change gets to be a little difficult and sooner or later, you'll hit a plateau. I'm not just talking about a weight-loss plateau, but a plateau in any area of your health and fitness journey (ex. strength, endurance, body fat, etc.).

Here are my tips on preventing/breaking through a plateau using exercise.

Cardio

• Change up which machine you use - Most people tend to stick to one type of cardio machine but by switching it up, your body now has to get used to using different muscles to get you the same cardio effect.  On the other hand, if you switch machines daily, you may want to think about switching machines weekly, even monthly, instead.  Although there's nothing wrong with cross-training, because your body is comfortable with ALL the cardio machines at once, it's hard to change it up if you needed to.
• Change up the resistance or level of the machine - Always doing level 5?  Jump up the resistance to level 8 every two minutes, then throw it down to level 3... then up to level 12.  
• Try an exercise class - It's amazing what a class-environment can do for motivation and boredom!
• Try swimming - it's a completely different type of of cardio workout
• Incorporate high intensity interval training (HIIT) - I wish I could get EVERYONE doing interval training.  A lot of experts say that intervals are for more conditioned exercises but I think that's BS.  Of course, I don't suggest that someone who's just started out do walking/sprinting intervals, but a beginner can easily alternate between walking and power walking.  That still gets your heart rate up/down.

Weight-lifting

• Like the first tip under "Cardio" change up which machines you use - There are TONS of machines that work the same muscle group, so switch it up once in a while.
• Change up your rep/set scheme - Always do 3 sets of 12 reps?  Change it up to 4 sets of 10.  Of course, this can only change so much depending on what your goal is at the time (bodybuilding vs. power vs. strength vs. endurance, etc.).
• Focus on all three muscle actions: concentric, isometric, and eccentric - Mose people concentrate on the concentric part of a movement, where you muscle is shortening to move the weight.  For example, the upward motion of a bicep curl.  But by focusing on the isometric (holding the weight at the 90 degree angle in a bicep curl) or the eccentric (the downward/lowering part of a bicep curl; also called negatives) movement, the muscles get worked in an entirely different way.  Yes, it's the same motion, but you recruit different muscle fibers in each action.

(source)

Basically, switching up the frequency, intensity, duration or type of exercise should help move you past a plateau. 

Flashback Friday: Since I'm on a trip...

I'm on my trip right now but here's something interesting (I hope):

Flashback Fridays are a re-posting of my previous blog entries.  Sometimes I need a good kick in the butt and these old posts remind me of how to get it done.

Why I flash-backed to this post:  This was an a-ha moment for me when I first wrote it.  I also chose it because the post kinda describes a trip and since I'm on a trip right now... perfect!

_______________________________________________

Original post date: 8/13/09
Original post found here.

So I know this is only day four of my promise to myself, but guess what... I've learned something already.

In order to get to the future, you have to live in the present.

So common sense and so NOT profound.

Why didn't I know this before? Well it's not that I didn't know it, I just didn't listen to it. I mean the main quote of my blog is "one step at a time..."

When some people start out losing weight (like me), they get into this super-motivated-I-can-do-anything mode especially when the first 5 lbs. are lost because those are always the easiest. They (I) set up goals and picture themselves as what they want to look like at the end of the journey but they forget about the journey itself.

It's like planning a trip. You decide you wanna go to Fitville and you plan all these must-do-activities for when you get there: where to eat, where to stay, what to visit, what to do but without even planning on how to get to Fitville, you'll never get there. Without knowing how you're going to get from your house to the airport, then from the airport to the hotel in Fitville, your goal is already impossible to accomplish.

This is exactly the same thing with weight loss.

It's awesome to know what you want your body to look like and do when you're at the end of the journey (btw, a weight-loss journey never ends... takes you straight to Maintenance Land!) but you also have to know how to get there. Going back to when I started out, I knew what my goal destination was but getting there was going to be the tricky part. I set weekly and monthly goals to help me along the way but that's like only planning the airplane ride then the car ride from the airport to Fitville. What about how to get from my house to the airport?!

The past four days have made me realize that my weekly/monthly goals are way more attainable if I break them down even further... into daily goals.

BRILLIANT!!

It's as simple as telling myself I just need to get through today - eat clean TODAY and get in a good workout TODAY. Don't worry about tomorrow today, worry about tomorrow when it gets here. By breaking down my goals to the smallest amounts possible not only makes the goal seem that much more achievable, but it also lets me see the goal... I mean really see it!

Currently my weight goal is about 20 lbs away. Instead of focusing on the entire 20 lbs. I'll focus on just the next two lbs., then the next two, then the next two and so on and so on. But instead of just focusing on the two lbs. I'll focus on what I need to do to get rid of those two lbs. I'll focus on my workouts each day and break it down even further and focus on pushing myself during the workouts.

Just get through the next 5 minutes of running and when I've done that, I'll focus on the next 5 minutes. If I'm able to really give it my all for each 5 minute increment and just repeat it, my workout will go by in no time and I'll probably have pushed myself harder than normal. It's a win-win situation.

Applying the same idea to my nutrition each day - hell, each meal - and I should kick those 20 lbs. in no time! Amazing it's taken me this long to really realize and apply this to my life.

Saturday Sweat Session: Booty time!

You know I love working my lower body but the muscles on the back of my lower body (glutes, hammies and calves) tend to get neglected.  Time to change that with a modified workout from the LiveFit program.

Each color-coded set of exercises are to be done as a superset (or tripleset in the case of the last three exercises).  This means you want to do one set of each exercise (two exercises in a row), rest a minute or two, then do the second set of each pair of exercises.  Rest, and repeat for three sets.

For example, you would do one set of seated leg curls immediately followed by 20 jump squats.  That's one set.  Rest a minute.  Repeat with seated leg curls followed by jump squats.  That's the second set.  Rest.  Again, seated leg curls followed by jump squats.  Third set is finished and you're done with the first superset.

Move on to the next pair of exercises.  ENJOY!!

Saturday Sweat Session: Legs!

Wheels.  Stems.  Rollers.  Trunks.  Whatever you call them, legs are by far my favorite body part to work.

Here's my workout from earlier this week, courtesy of this program.  I did tweak it a little bit and took out a couple of exercises that I don't believe in (abductor/adductor machines... but that's a different post all together).  Let me know if you give it a try!

Saturday Sweat Session

I've received quite a bit of questions about what my workouts look like so thought I'd dedicate a post to recap the workouts for the week or focus on one intense session I had.  

Introducing Saturday Sweat Sessions.  

This week, that intense session would be my workout today, with Trainer E: an upper body KILLER.

Warm up:  2-min jog, 2 min-skipping

Warm up:  12 push-ups, 15 squats, 15 arm circles x 3

assisted pull-ups   3x15

bear crawl + push-ups   3x15

(source)

one-arm dumbbell row   3x10

walking lunges   3x20

medicine ball rotational throw   3x15

(source)

jump pull-ups   3x15

one-arm TRX plyo row   3x15

Valslide hand crawl   3x15

(source)

Breakin' it down!

Week 1 mission: Smaller goals

"To start the challenge off, we want to encourage everyone to break your larger challenge goals down into bite-sized goals each week."

Mission accepted!  Lets take a look back at what my goals are for the challenge and I'll add in my smaller goals in red.

NSV Goal

• Success story.  The other week I was talking to Anthony and told him that one of my NSV goals is to be featured on the "Wall of Success" at our gym.  The catch is I don't wanna ask to be a feature, I wanna be asked... big difference.  This goal can't really be broken down smaller.  As long as I stick to my exercise/nutrition goals below, I'll hopefully hit this.
• Donation time!  This weekend, I'm spending the time to try on ALL my clothes and sort them into piles of too big, too small, and just right.  By the end of the RFSC, I want to fit into the "too small" pile and have to donate the other piles of clothes.  Same for this goal.  Being consistent with my goals below will let me hit this NSV.

Exercise Goal

• Keep on going.  Continue my current 12-week exercise program, which will take me into the middle of May.  Breaking down this goal by writing out exactly what I need to do each day.
• Sun:  back, biceps, and hamstrings weight training + 5-mile hike
• Mon:  high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the stairmill
• Tues:  plyo + full-body weight training
• Wed:  shoulders and abs weight training
• Thur:  back weight training + 20 min HIIT
• Fri: chest and abs weight training + 20 min run
• Sat:  plyo + arms, back, and legs weight training
• Something new.  Based on where I am at the end of my current program, research and choose my next routine.  Can't break this one down.

Nutrition Goal

• Clean, clean, clean!  My #1 priority for the next 10 weeks is to really focus on and dial in my nutrition.  Clean, whole foods to support my body and intense workouts.  Meal planning for the week is done, just need to buy, prep, cook, and portion out my meals.
• Increase healthy fats.  Definitely need to add more "smart fats" to my diet: salmon, avocado, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds, coconut oil, etc.  Stocked up on avocados, salmon, a new to me cooking oil (macadamia nut oil), almond butter, and coconut oil.  My meal-planning has me eating healthy fats at every meal this week!
• New eats = happy tummy.  Making it a goal to try one new recipe a week.  Nutrition can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over, so finding 10 new (hopefully yummy) recipes to add to my rotation will do me good.  Going to try this recipe as my "new eats" this week.

Weigh-in Wednesday and total randomness

Starting weight:  176.4

Last week month weight:  133.0

Current weight:  129.6

Current loss:  -3.4

TOTAL LOSS:  -46.8 lbs.

LowestWeightSinceHighSchool!!!!!  LowestWeightOnThisJourney!!!!

Between my trip earlier this month, Valentine's Day, the GAR, and not seeing my trainer for over three weeks, I'm super happy with that!  

I've stayed away from the scale at home as much as possible because I knew I was eating all kinds of crazy over the last several weeks, but had to face it today… just out of curiosity.  My mindset has been "eye on the prize" since last week so I knew the scale wouldn't dictate my emotions no matter what it said.

After fighting pretty damn hard - intense trainings, HIIT, started powerlifting, race trainings, and dieting - for the last several months, I was tired.  Physically.  Mentally.  And emotionally.  I needed a break and my body knew it, so over the last three weeks, I did just that.  

I had a chance to reevaluate why I'm on this journey and where I want it to go.  

So last week, after the GAR race (and after my legs healed from being sore), I got right back into the swing of things.

I started a new 12 week weight-lifting program courtesy of my girl-crush Jamie Eason.

I found a virtual workout and accountability buddy in Tiff, from Miles in Murray.

I took two hours out of Sunday to prep all my meals for this week.

And my March goals are being finalized as you read this.

Woot woot!! 
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Total randomness.  Check out this little, totally legit, car.  Yup, car... not ATV or Power Wheels... actual car.  Well actually it's a type of electric car but still super cute.  It's modified to look like a Cadillac Escalade... PIMP!

"But being healthy is too hard!"

Lunch time at my office has become somewhat of a circus.  My office is right next to the kitchen so I hear everything that goes on and being that we're still in the New Year resolution "high", a lot of talk has been health/food/weight-loss talk.  It's amazing, and a little sad, how much "old school" information - Atkin's Diet, 'fat buring zone', Richard Simmons (!!) - I hear being passed around in that kitchen.

What's even worse is that people have noticed that I've been losing weight so they stop in to see what I'm eating for lunch... E.V.E.R.Y  S.I.N.G.L.E  D.A.Y!

A lot of times this food-stalking leads to small talk and the inevitable question, "How are you doing it?"

When I answer them,  they can't believe that I watch my food portions, count calories, monitor my macro-nutrients, make it a priority to get in my workouts, etc.  Most people tell me "That's crazy!" or "It's too hard to do all that".

Really, people?  REALLY?!?! 

 You're telling me it's too hard to make an effort to be more active or watch what you eat? 

Isn't it harder living with joint pain?

Isn't it harder to be uncomfortable in your skin?

Isn't it harder to get around in the world?

Isn't it harder to keep having to take medication on top of medication to keep your cholesterol/blood pressure in check?

Trust me, it's much easier living healthy than it is to be overweight.  Or in my case, obese (by America's standard BMI chart).

 5'0" and 176 lbs = BMI of 35 = OBESE!

I  always tell my food-stalker co-workers that they don't have to do things the way I do.  I do things the way I do because it worked for me.  They still brush off the information as if it's something they will never do... like they were expecting me to tell them that I take some kind of magic pill.  One co-worker even said, "Damn it! So exercise and diet actually work?  I guess I should listen to my doctor".

I say give exercise and healthy eating a one month chance.

I did back in 2008.  In one month I lost 10 pounds and I haven't looked back.

Weigh-in Wednesday and "Big and Bulky?"

Starting weight: 176.4
Last week weight: 140.2

Current weight:139.0

Current loss: -1.2
TOTAL LOSS: -37.4

Feeling good... feeling great!  Especially considering this weekend there was a bit of a binge (my super-cheat meal of the week) at an all-you-can-eat Korean food buffet.  So yummy!!

So how did I do it?  I made sure to stay really strict with my trainings and  nutrition the other days of the week.  I'm also pretty convinced that my cheat meals actually help my body.  I've been lifting pretty heavy 3-4 days a week now and I swear, for the last two months, I've actually seen positive effects (strength gains and fat loss) of my cheat meals.  Several months ago, a cheat meal just half the size of this weekend - 3000+ calories on Saturday! - would stall my weight-loss but for the last couple of months it hasn't.  Of course there are many other factors that can contribute to this consistency but gotta look for the silver lining with cheat meals, right?

Speaking of muscles and lifting heavy, I came across "20 Fitness Myths" on Livestrong.com and had to share one of the myths:

If I Lift Weights I'll Get Bulky  (http://www.livestrong.com)

If you were to look at 1 pound of fat, and 1 pound of muscle side by side, you would notice how much smaller the muscle is even though it’s the same weight. Meaning, the more muscle you have on your body, the less space you will take up. Many people -- both men and women -- think that lifting weights will make you look like a bodybuilder. That’s like saying studying physics will turn you into Einstein. The amount of time, food and discipline it takes to get huge from weights is almost a full-time job -- and sometimes influenced by illegal substances. So embrace weight training. You’ll feel and look leaner and rev up your metabolism.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/550678-20-fitness-myths/#ixzz1dv92gF95

I love the comparison of looking like a bodybuilder by lifting heavy and turning into Einstein by studying physics... both won't happen unless you put in A LOT of work (and I still doubt you'll turn into Einstein)!

 (source)

Like the quote says, it's almost a full-time job to be bodybuilder.  Getting big and bulky is most definitely a type of "formula" and if you're missing even one component of it - time to workout (sometimes several sessions a day), calorie amount, type of food, discipline, etc. - it ain't gonna happen.

So pick up those weights and lift H.E.A.V.Y!

What's a sandbag?

***I am in no way connected to or sponsored by any of the products or people listed in this post... I just love sharing a good great awesome thing when I find it.***

After my post last week with the picture of my sandbag, I got several questions about it. 

First of all, I love it.... L.O.V.E. it!!!!

I first got inspired to get a sandbag because of the fitness goddess known as Zuzana.  If you don't know who she is yet, educate yourself here.  She has an amazing community of people, known as Bodyrockers, and her daily workouts are AMAZING!!  High intensity cardio intervals mixed with full-body strength moves.  Please, please check out her website called BodyRock.tv.

Anyway, she uses a sandbag - literally a bag filled with sand -  to do a lot of her workouts.  I did some research into other workouts I could do and came across so many different variations, I had to get one.  The bag that Zuzana uses is The Ultimate Sandbag but it's a little pricey at $99 so I found a cheap one on Amazon for half the price.  Although the one I bought has been surviving 3 - 4x/week useage for the last two months, if/when the one I have breaks, I will spend the money to get The Ultimate Sandbag.

(source)

 Notice all the different handle placements?  

That's what makes the sandbag such a good tool for me... it's so versatile and strength training is totally different with shifting weight.

Most sandbags are sold by weight (0-40 lbs., 20-70 lbs., 50-100 lbs., etc.) and come with heavy duty filler bags that you fill with sand (you have to buy the sand... any home improvement store will sell it for cheap). 

So what can you do with a sandbag?  Besides work your core like no other weight-lifting routine, almost any strength move you can do with a dumbbell/barbell or kettlbell... and some that you can't:

• deadlifts
• squats
• rows
• throws
• presses
• swings
• cleans
• drags
• windmills
• get up's
• etc, etc, etc

 Just Google or YouTube some sandbag exercises or workouts and I think you'll be pretty impressed.  Gotta go get my sandbag training on in a few... you should too!

A little more info

Got some emails about one of my last posts about my workout schedule and thought I'd try to address them here.  The main thing I wanted to say above everything else... I do NOT workout for hours on end.  On average I exercise less than an hour a day, give or take depending on how much time I have.  Some days my 30 min of steady state cardio is broken down into 3 or 4 short walking sessions.  A couple of 5 or 10 minute sessions throughout the day count!

Here's what my weeks have looked like:

Sun: 30 min steady state cardio + 30 min circuit weight-training(WT)
Mon: 25 min HIIT
Tue:  60 min circuit WT
Wed:  25 min HIIT + 30 min steady state cardio
Thr: OFF  =)
Fri: 45 min full body heavy WT
Sat: 25 min HIIT + 30 min steady state cardio

steady state cardio - any type of cardio to get your heart rate up, with not much variation in intensity.
Example: jumping on the treadmill and keeping the speed and incline level around the same for the entire workout, going for a walk, etc.

circuit WT - doing a strength moved followed immediately by a cardio move.
Example: bicep curl followed by 30 jumping jacks followed by shoulder presses followed by 30 high knees followed by one-arm rows followed by 30 mountain climbers followed by push-up followed by 30 jumping squats.  Rest 1 - 2 minutes and repeat 3 or 4 more times.

HIIT - short burst of high intensity work followed by a longer lower intensity recovery period
Example: 45 seconds of sprinting followed by 90 seconds of a slow jog/walk and repeat 10 times

heavy WT - using enough weight so you can only crank out 6 - 8 reps per set
Example: 8 reps of 20 lbs. bicep curls, 6 reps of 40 lbs. chest press, etc.

Right now, my circuit trainings are made up of upper body strength sets followed by lower body cardio sets because my lower body gets a good workout when I do HIIT 3x a week and the full body heavy WT. 

My HIIT workouts get rotated between the treadmill, elliptical, stairmill, running stairs and jump roping.

This is what works for me.  As with any exercise or workout program, I believe the best program is something that you will do and more importantly enjoy.

One month down, two to go!

Today is day 26/84 for the Body For Life program and tomorrow marks 4 complete weeks under my belt. 4 weeks already!

Remember how well I started the week with my workouts? Well I spoke WAY too soon cause this is how my week went:

S: Cardio X + 60 min jog/walk
M: OFF
T: 20 min elliptical + full body workout
W: OFF
Th: OFF
F: OFF

Yup! Today just started and I'm pretty sure I won't get a workout in because I have some family stuff going on right now. Nothing to worry about but my grandpa went into the hospital for pneumonia this past weekend and so I have family in from the outer islands and it's just been busy.

Wednesday I had my entire afternoon planned out to a "T". Get home, cook an early dinner, visit my grandpa in the hospital, hit the gym with Anthony, then get home by 9:00. As I was cooking my lemon salmon and steaming my fresh broccoli, my aunty called me and insisted that we come over for dinner. I told her we couldn't make it because we had a busy schedule that night but at the last minute, changed my mind since I don't get to see them often. As I put my healthy dinner away I got dressed in my gym clothes, thinking I'd hit the gym after dinner even if that meant getting home after 10:30. Well, dinner - which was greasy Chinese take out! - turned to conversations with drinks - which I had one - and a crash-course Windows 7 tutorial for my parents. I didn't end up leaving their house until about 10:30 so there was no way I was making it to the gym. I was actually bummed about it too!

Yesterday I didn't work out but again I meant to. I was so tired when I got home, I hit my bed to just rest a quick 5 mins. 5 minutes turned to 10, 10 minutes turned to 15, and 15 minutes turned into 2 hours! And to make it worse, I wasn't even sleeping! Just dozing in and out of sleep because I wouldn't let myself take a nap because I knew if I did I could kiss my exercise time good-bye. So basicially I was up just lying in bed for two hours! What a waste of time!

(source)

And what's my early excuse for not working out today? Hospital visit and family dinner followed by games and drinking - which I'm not doing this time - which will last almost all night. And why can't I go to the gym before or after all this? Because Anthony works tonight and he has the car from 4:30 - 12:00a, which means I go straight from work to my parents' house so I can't workout at my place first. No way for me to get to the gym after either. Pretty lame excuses but it is what it is. I'm going to try and get a run in when I'm at my parents' house but the weather has been rainy and wet all week long so we'll see. Pathetic... I know!

I'm so tired of making excuses for why I can't workout or eat right!

Instead I need to think of reasons why I CAN!

______________________________________________

Can I also say that I'm a little bummed about this? I never got confirmation that it was an April Fool's Day joke but I assumed it was. I'm not bummed about the huge 128 oz. being a joke but I am bummed about Starbucks not rolling out the little 2 oz. version. I actually thought it was a brilliant idea! Imagine craving your favorite high calorie Starbucks drink and going in, paying some ridiculous price (as it always will be, right?) but being able to get a shots worth of your drink. Kills the craving and saves you some major calories.

I'm not a Starbucks consumer at all strictly because of the calorie/nutrition content of their drinks but that 2 oz. size would have brought me back as a customer.

I'm just saying...

New loves!

Wow it's been a while since I got back on here.

Had a really busy weekend and actually stayed on track with my BFL and 20-day Eating Clean Challenge. HOW BOUT THAT?!

I did jump on the scale this morning and I gotta say I'm a little shocked. I'm showing 137 which is a gain of 3 lbs. since I started the BFL program on March 14. Hmm... the number isn't getting to me because I feel great and my clothes are feeling bigger so that's what counts for me. The boyfriend even mentioned he could tell I was slimming down from my side profile view! So the scale is no biggie.

Heading into week 4 of BFL was good. Sunday I did P90X Cardio X + 60 min jog/walk with my dog and took my break day yesterday. Today I have a full-body workout planned with my personal trainer so starting off the week strong. With the BFL program I've found that I'm becoming obsessed with working my arms. Last week I got in 4 workouts for my bi's and tri's: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I LOVE working my arms, especially since I've fallen in love with barbel curls and high-pulley curls (thanks, Boomer!).

(source)

DAMN IT, why do I always have to fall in love with equipment I don't already have at my home "gym"? Well I have been doing one-arm high pulley curls with my resistance bands and the door attachment and it works wonderfully!

The best thing I like about BFL is still the awesome pump and DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) I get. No other workout or time in my life have I had it. BUT to be fair to the other programs out there (mainly my love, P90X) it could be that I wasn't lifting heavy enough at the time or doing it with proper form or I just didn't care. But either way BFL was the right choice for me during this part of my journey.

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On the other side of the equation, my nutrition has been spot on with only a few mishaps here and there. And I'm talking minor, take one-bite-only type of mishaps except for yesterday. Yesterday I treated myself to a McDonald's vanilla cone and loved every single calorie of it! Here's a pict of some of my normal eats during this challenge:

Start most of my mornings off with my Shakeology mix.
If you haven't tried a handful or two or spinach in a smoothie, it's wonderful. Can't taste it at all and another way to get in more veggies!

B.I.G salad with some kabochoa and chicken.

Shakeology plain.

Typical dinner of brown rice, veggies, and chicken.

Favorite snack: 1/2 sweet potato and protein powder

Steamed edamame.

Egg-white veggie scramble w/ low-fat feta an cayenne pepper.

But I do eat healthy

Once again, Bloggies, you have come through and sent me some good advice after my post about eating like crap. =0) THANK YOU!

There was something I wanted to clarify though... I started this journey about a year and a half ago so these eating 'habits' aren't anything new to me but I'm still working on making them into habits... does that make sense. The biggest piece of advice people were sending was to take this one day at a time... change one habit at a time. But the thing is I thought I had done that already. I drink nothing but water. I get in more fruits/veggies than recommended. I watch my sodium/saturated fat/sugar/anything bad daily and I try to stick to whole foods. Besides this week, I rarely eat out and rarely have junk food. A typical day of eating for me looks like this:

Meal 1 - Shakeology, 2 c spinach, 1/2 c berries, chia seeds
Meal 2 - protein powder, 1/2 sweet potato
Meal 3 - 6 oz tuna, Laughing Cow wedge, two slices whole wheat bread, 2 c veggies
Meal 4 - protein powder, 1 apple, handful of raw almonds
Meal 5 - 2 c veggies, fish/chicken, 1/2 c brown rice
Meal 6 (once in a while if I'm still hungry) - 1 boiled egg, 1 boiled egg white

Basically I try to get in protein/carbs at every meal and keep them at a 40/30/30 ratio. I think I just kick and scream a lot more than necessary when I have an off day because it gets me totally stressed out... I'll try to control that! =0)

One of the comments left on my previous post really brought it into perspective: if I work out so hard why would I want to do anything to take away from my progress? GOOD QUESTION and I never really thought about it that way! I have been working out pretty hard yet my crappy nutrition is just stalling my progress... just keeping me at maintenance... well actually, I brought this up to my personal trainer (who's a nutritionist as well) and he said the only positive thing I might see come out of eating more calories than I should is muscle growth! Don't let that be an excuse to eat everything in sight but to build muscle, you do have to eat at a slightly higher calorie-range. And of course those extra calories should still come from good nutrition - not ice cream and pizza and friend chicken - but that's why my PT/nutritionist said it might be a positive thing.

Wishful thinking can't hurt right?!

Talking about building muscles, today completes day 12/84 for the Body for Life program and today was a tough one. I missed out on my upper body workout on Wednesday because I was sore from the trainer session on Tuesday so I combined my upper and lower body workouts today. This translates to almost 2 hours at the gym:

Upper Body Workout

• Chest: chest press machine
• Chest: push-ups
• Shoulders: alternating shoulder press
• Shoulders: lateral side raises
• Back: wide-grip lat pull-down
• Back: narrow-grip pull-ups
• Tris: dips
• Tris: tri extension
• Bis: barbell curl
• Bis: dumbbell hammer curl
  

Lower Body Workout

• Abs: leg lifts
• Abs: exercise ball crunch
• Quads: leg extension machine
• Quads: leg press
• Hammies: lying leg curl
• Hammies: sitting leg curl
• Calves: standing calf-raise machine
• Calves: angled standing calf-raise machine

Loved, loved, LOVED the barbell bicep curls - first time I did them - but I think I may have injured my forearm a bit. When it comes to any bicep work my forearms tend to fatigue much faster than my bi's and looks like I pushed them too hard. I blame it on being in the "big boy" section of the gym, as I call it, with the free weights and and big ripped guys and gals working out - can't look like a total wimp in front of them, right? Anyway, my right forearm KILLS when I bend my arm so I'll need to watch that. Next week I have three upper body workout days scheduled so not sure how I'll handle that. Any suggestions for a good bicep workout without using too much of the forearm (using more of the bicep brachii instead of the brachioradialis)?

Why is it so hard?!

It's so easy to wake up and have the best intentions in mind. But as the day goes on it can get hard to keep those intentions.

Every morning I wake up with the motivation to stick to my nutrition and exercise plan but the nutrition part - the part that counts the MOST - is the hardest for me! Right now I have a week off from work (mandatory paid leave days) and my eating has been out of control... AGAIN! It started from late last week and the week isn't even close to being over:

Thursday: two servings of ice cream
Friday: some of the best Chinese food
Saturday: Italian food
Sunday: Vietnamese food
Monday: Taco Bell and Japanese food
Tuesday: Fried chicken and pizza - yup, I'm making the call as I finish this post!

Seriously, people! S.E.R.I.O.U.S.L.Y! The good news is I haven't missed a day of exercise yet (knock on wood) so that makes 9/84 days of the Body for Life program - minus the good eating part. I hit my lower body workout at the gym yesterday and tried out some new machines... I LOVED IT!! A few of my new loves:

Lying leg curl... now to only get her hammies!

Incline leg press.

Standing calf raise machine.
To date this is the only machine/exercise to get my calves burning!

Still getting an awesome pump in my muscles and now I believe it has to do with the routine rather than me just being away from lifting. I love it!

You made me cry!

Blogger world, YOU are awesome!

After yesterdays revealing picture post, I never, NEVER, N.E.V.E.R. expected the comments many of you wrote.
I didn't want compliments.
I didn't want to be told I've come so far.
I didn't want you to be nice.

But you were and your words touched my heart in every sense... I actually teared up reading over the comments. SERIOUSLY!

You have made me realize that I have come a long way and that I should be proud of myself. It's so easy for me to forget that even though I'm struggling now, I'm struggling at a place (weight) where I haven't been in almost 10 years! Thank you for reminding me of that.
_______________________________________

Today, I look at the picture and see a totally different image than when I first posted it a couple days ago. Although it's lost a little bit of it's motivational strategy the picture is still an honest reflection of my body and I feel there's still a lot of work to be done.

Speaking of work to be done, yesterday I completed day 3/84 of my new routine and it was a lower body lifting day. I don't know if it's because of the new lifting sequence or because I've been out of my regular weight routine for so long, but I am SORE today! It's really hard for me to get a good pump in my glutes and hammies, but trust me, today I can barley stand from a sitting position... I love it! Entire upper body is still sore from Monday's workout too. Loves it even more!

So a couple of people emailed me to ask what routine I was doing... was I following a workout program or just doing it on my own? Well to answer their question, I'm doing the Body for Life (BFL) program.


I never really mentioned it before however I did hint about a new book I picked up here. After talking to a friend about it I decided it was something I knew I wanted to do. Don't get me wrong, P90X is still my fave (I'm a little biased since it was the program I lost majority of my weight on) but I really liked the workout routines in BFL. Basically you workout 6x/week switching between weights and cardio.

Two Week Schedule
(odd # week = blue, even # week = red, both weeks = black)

M: upper body/lower body
T: cardio
W: lower body/upper body
Th: cardio
F: upper body/lower body
S: cardio
Su: OFF

A little more details on the routine can be read in my previous post here, but basically it's a routine with 5 or 6 exercises. Each exercise targets a major muscle group and with each set you increase the weight but decrease the rep number. It gives your muscles a super good burn!

Nutrition wise, I found the BFL program easy to follow. No counting calories needed - I'm still wearing my Bodybugg and logging food but only estimates. BFL is more about portions: one portion of complex carbs and one portion of protein at every meal... that's 5 to 6 meals a day btw. Since I'm already on a 5 to 6 meals a day plan, this wasn't hard to adapt to. And of course lots and lots of veggies!

The book does push the use of their company's suplements (EAS) but I don't use any of it since I have my own favorites. Plus I like to get most of my nutrtion through veggies and lean proteins rather than a bottled shake. But that's just me.

Starting and totally pumped!

Today was day 1/84 of my new workout and nutrition program and it was almost perfect! Over the weekend I finally bought me a bench so I can a ton more exercises at home now... YAY!

And although my one-bed apartment now looks like a make-shift gym - I have an elliptical, Power Blocks, resistance bands, exercise ball, a step and now a bench - I can now seriously think of canceling my gym membership! So anyways, getting back to my new program, last night I planned out exactly what exercises I would do...

• bench press
• bench fly
  
• seated dumbbell shoulder press
• lateral side raises
  
• one-arm dumbbell row
• weighted pull-overs
  
• lying tricep extensions
• bench dips
  
• incline dumbbell curl (my new favorite exercise, btw!)
• hammer curls
  

... and planned out my meals for the day...

• Shakeology + blueberries + chia seeds + 2 handfuls spinach
  
• protein bar
  
• chicken breast + mixed veggies + sweet potato
  
• protein powder + milk
• shrimp + brown rice + salad
• protein powder + 1/2 banana
  

But then I went to work this morning. How do you say "no" to your little old coworker who baked red velvet cookies especially for you since you had a conversation with her last week about how red velvet is your FAVORITE thing in the world?

Oh TRUST! The pictures don't do the cookies justice! They were chewy and soft, like a mix between brownies and cookies, with cream cheese frosting in the cookie!
Wish I had the will-power like my friend Kyle!

EXACTLY!! There is no way... so I ate them and they were worth it!

Besides the cookies, everything else was on-point today. Had one of the best workouts in a long time and I attribute it to they type of lifting I'm doing. For each exercise, 5 sets of increasing weights/decreasing reps, with a final but different balls-to-the-walls exercise targeting the same muscle group. For example, 5 sets of bench presses:
first set = 12 reps, 15 lbs.
second set = 10 reps, 20 lbs.
third set = 8 reps, 30 lbs.
fourth set = 6 reps, 40 lbs.
fifth set = 12 reps, 20 lbs.
final exercise = chest flies, 12 reps, 20 lbs.

AMAZING! And you're doing these sets with very little rest in between so it's only suppose to take you 45 minutes... took me 70 minutes tonight to figure out the correct weights to use. Tomorrow is cardio for 20 - 30 minutes... all out HIIT on the treadmill till I die!

My Vegas plan

One more day! One more day!

I can't believe I'll be on a plane to Vegas tomorrow! Happy dance!

I've talked about my plans to stay somewhat on-track as far as exercise and nutrition goes but here's my detailed plan:

• Get at least two full-body workouts in - Bringing my elastic bands so I can get a quick workout in before the day starts. Already looked up several circuits that will combine cardio, weight training, and plyo. My friend Boomer has a TON of awesome stuff on his blog... check it out!

(source)

• Walk, walk, walk - We won't have a car in Vegas so we're planning on walking all day every day! At least that will off-set some of the calories I plan on eating.
• Get a run in - Already google mapped the closest 24Hour Fitness and hopefully I'll be in it sometime next week. If not, we do have a run planned up and down the Strip but it's gonna be COLD!
• Rock climbing - Counting this as an upper body workout which it will be!

(source)

• Hiking - Depending on when we go rock climbing, we might also get in a hike. The rock climbing and hike are in the same area but not sure I wanna make a day of exercising. I'm on vacation after all!
  
• Bringing my own snacks - Raw almonds? Check! Protein powder? Check! Shakeology? Check! Hitting up the closest CVS to stock up on fresh fruits? CHECK!
• Passing on carbs - Instead of normally having starch/carbs with my meals, I'll be replacing it with fresh veggies. I'm sure I'll get enough carbs from the alcohol and desserts. :)
  
• Track all food/drinks - Because I'll be eating out every meal while in Vegas, there's no way I can count calories. So instead I'm gonna photograph everything I eat and have a MAJOR long recap post when I get back. Knowing that I'll have to post everything I eat will help keep me accountable... I hope.
  
• R.E.L.A.X - I'm on vacation, damn it! Although it's not an excuse to eat like crap, I'm not gonna be as diligent and careful as I would normally be.

(source)

And the awesome weigh-in from yesterday will be my best motivator because it's been MONTHS since I've seen the low 130's and with this plan in mind I'm confident I will come back from Vegas with little damage done. Here's to hoping!

CLX/P90X Hybrid and stats

Wow where did the time go...

Time for a CLX/P90X Hybrid update (although I'm thinking of changing the name to just P90X because I haven't touched a CLX workout in almost a month!).

First, my super-late-30-day stat update! I can't believe I took all my measurements back on the 11th but totally forgot to post them here. Be warned, the weight is up, the inches are up and down, but I've increased in the right areas as far as strength:

(click to enlarge)

Day 35
Gorgeous hike + treadmill hill run

Day 36
brisk walk

Day 37
4+ hour hike

Day 38
Full body weight-training PT session

Day 39
OFF

Day 40
OFF - again!

Day 41
P90X Shoulders and Arms + ARX

Day 42
4+ hour hike + brisk walk