Earlier this month, I decided to reunite with an old friend: 24 Hour Fitness. I was just having gym withdrawals, what can I say? I was keeping up with workouts at home just fine, but getting out of the house and sweating elsewhere just keeps me a bit more sane. Plus, I missed the elliptical, stair master, row machine and spin bikes. I was still able to use my employer discount and returned to the 24.99/month rate. It's just too good to pass up!
I think the new fitness variety has helped with my weight goals too; I'm now over 10 pounds down in my 20 pound goal! Prior to returning to the gym, my loss stalled because I was basically gaining and losing the same 3 pounds for w-e-e-k-s. Said stall was primarily due to poor weekend food choices, but I think re-joining 24 boosted my overall motivation. Feeling really great this week.
My new cardio routine has been a 20 min. cross-training program on the elliptical followed by 30-40 minutes of spinning. The result? Serious muscle confusion! The elliptical routine calls for intervals of back-pedaling, which I've never really done. As for the spinning, I've been going to the cycle room when there's not a class and just do my own custom routine, mostly based on whatever songs come up on my playlist. Tough, but really fun! Lots of speed intervals and hill climbs. Spinning seems to paint a better picture of what level of shape I'm in. Let's just say I now know I've got some work to do, haha.
For strength and resistance training, I stay at home and either do a Nike Women NTC workout, some good ol' Jari Love DVDs or Jillian's new Ripped in 30. I've only done the Week 1 workout and can't really do a full review, but I will say that if you loved 30 Day Shred and classic Jillian moves, you NEED to have this in your rotation.
Additional NTC love: I unlocked all of the badges! Now I'm moving on to the Advanced workouts. Did a 30 minute Get Strong routine the other day and it was no joke. Best. Free. Fitness App. Ever!
Still plugging along in my Personal Trainer studies. Some chapters make my eyes glaze over, but others are just so damn fascinating! I'm regularly reminded that I'm definitely pursuing the right career.
Life is pretty peachy right now. No real complaints. Other than running. Buh. Yeah, definitely on a downswing with that. So much so that I'm considering bailing on the 5K I signed up for on April 16th. Obviously my attitude toward running was on an upswing when I registered for the race, but these days? Not so much. But, I still have another couple of weeks, so maybe things will change for the better by then. It just sucks because every time I do practice runs, I instantly start worrying about speed and it just makes for a grueling workout. Oh well.
I suppose that's enough of a fitness update for now. I think I'll leave you with some of the songs that came up while I was spinning today. I really should think about becoming an instructor; my music kicks so much more ass than the usual stuff they play...
Yeah, that would be the best spin class ever.
Showing posts with label gym. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gym. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Friday, April 23, 2010
At least I'll always have The Smiths.
Head's up- this post is slightly more personal in nature and less food/fitness/health related. Well... Sorta, ha.
Earlier today, I got an e-mail indicating that the wages of state employees (me) would be decreasing in the coming months and will remain decreased for a year (who wants to bet a shiny new penny that it'll be much longer than that?).
Though the amount to be deducted from future paychecks isn't devastating, it was enough to make me close my office door and cry at my desk for a few minutes. I cried because I've been a financial mess for a couple of years now already, thanks to paying off a ridiculous amount of credit card debt (still have a couple more years to go on that, at least). The whole experience has totally changed my shopping habits (for the most part) and made me learn a tough lesson about credit and personal responsibility. While I try to remain optimistic most days, it's sometimes tough to swallow the idea of not being able to go on a trip of any sort any time soon or having to constantly refrain from fun [frivolous] purchases because said purchase may mean no gas money next week.
Before I go any further, let me say: I fully realize that things could be much worse and that I'm lucky to still have a job. I know others are not as fortunate right now. But, for the sake of my sanity, I just needed to take a moment to bitch and put things into perspective.
First, the bitching: Just when I was becoming accustomed to and content with living a frugal, mostly unexciting life, The Man has to come around and knock me down a peg (and today, seriously? while I was feeling good about running 5 miles this morning and watching hilarious crap on YouTube? on a Friday? what gives?). I recognize that I have plenty to be thankful for (health, housing, food, car, Doug, family), but on those days when I contemplate my finances and future goals (furthering my education, moving to Oregon, buying a house, etc.), it just seems like all of that is further away than it should be. And it makes me want to go back in time and kick my own ass for making such poor decisions. That said, that email was just a punch in the gut.
But now, some perspective: Part of why I accrued so much debt in the first place was because I was unhappy with my overweight self and literally tried to buy happiness. It's no coincidence that I accrued the most debt at my highest weight. So knowing that I committed to losing weight and finally confronted my debt around the same time keeps me from being too hard on myself. I'm the healthiest I've ever been (and happier too, duh), so I know that my financial situation will eventually resolve. I will pay off every last cent on my own, just like I lost every extra pound on my own.
After wiping my tears and slowly backing out of panic mode, I did what really needed to be done and started revising my budget. And hey, guess what? I'll be fine. The downside is even less entertainment and I won't really be able to give gifts during holidays or birthdays. I already reduced those costs last year, but now I just need to cut them out altogether. I'm sure my family will understand; they were already aware of my current situation, so not a big deal. Just makes me feel kinda shitty, from a daughter/sister perspective.
During panic-mode, I immediately started thinking of things I would have to cut, starting with my gym membership. But after the rational budgeting session, canceling doesn't need to be an option. And y'know what? I don't think that will ever be an option, unless I'm on the verge of becoming homeless or something. Fitness keeps me sane. I look forward to it now a hell of a lot more than I used to. Sure, I could just rely on working out at home, but I know for a fact that I would eventually burn out and get bored. I don't go out to a lot of places during the week to begin with, so the gym has become my escape; my retreat. I just love it so damn much. And now that I'm taking group fitness classes and socializing a bit more, I'm even more enamored. Cue Rick Astley 24 Hour Fitness, 'cause I'm never gonna give you up.
So that's the state of things. Getting a second job would be the next best move, in terms of getting my debt paid off faster and building up my savings, but we'll see. It's something that's always been on my mind, but it's also something that would cause me more stress. I'm already disgusted by the fact that I was born in a country where 40 hour work weeks are the norm (where are my extended weekends or European-style afternoon siestas?), so I need to keep my happiness in mind. I like being able to see friends and family, in between work and working out, so I really don't want to decrease that time any more than I have to. But as I discovered today, things do indeed change when you least expect (and not always for the better), so additional employment always needs to be option worth considering.
In the meantime, business as usual. One thing that Doug has told me (many, many times, ha) is not to worry about things I can't control. So damn true. I try to live by it these days because it makes life so much easier and happiness so much more attainable. I've spent most of my life worrying about one thing or another and the majority of those things were not in my control. It takes too much energy to live like that; I need that energy to run.
Earlier today, I got an e-mail indicating that the wages of state employees (me) would be decreasing in the coming months and will remain decreased for a year (who wants to bet a shiny new penny that it'll be much longer than that?).
Though the amount to be deducted from future paychecks isn't devastating, it was enough to make me close my office door and cry at my desk for a few minutes. I cried because I've been a financial mess for a couple of years now already, thanks to paying off a ridiculous amount of credit card debt (still have a couple more years to go on that, at least). The whole experience has totally changed my shopping habits (for the most part) and made me learn a tough lesson about credit and personal responsibility. While I try to remain optimistic most days, it's sometimes tough to swallow the idea of not being able to go on a trip of any sort any time soon or having to constantly refrain from fun [frivolous] purchases because said purchase may mean no gas money next week.
Before I go any further, let me say: I fully realize that things could be much worse and that I'm lucky to still have a job. I know others are not as fortunate right now. But, for the sake of my sanity, I just needed to take a moment to bitch and put things into perspective.
First, the bitching: Just when I was becoming accustomed to and content with living a frugal, mostly unexciting life, The Man has to come around and knock me down a peg (and today, seriously? while I was feeling good about running 5 miles this morning and watching hilarious crap on YouTube? on a Friday? what gives?). I recognize that I have plenty to be thankful for (health, housing, food, car, Doug, family), but on those days when I contemplate my finances and future goals (furthering my education, moving to Oregon, buying a house, etc.), it just seems like all of that is further away than it should be. And it makes me want to go back in time and kick my own ass for making such poor decisions. That said, that email was just a punch in the gut.
But now, some perspective: Part of why I accrued so much debt in the first place was because I was unhappy with my overweight self and literally tried to buy happiness. It's no coincidence that I accrued the most debt at my highest weight. So knowing that I committed to losing weight and finally confronted my debt around the same time keeps me from being too hard on myself. I'm the healthiest I've ever been (and happier too, duh), so I know that my financial situation will eventually resolve. I will pay off every last cent on my own, just like I lost every extra pound on my own.
After wiping my tears and slowly backing out of panic mode, I did what really needed to be done and started revising my budget. And hey, guess what? I'll be fine. The downside is even less entertainment and I won't really be able to give gifts during holidays or birthdays. I already reduced those costs last year, but now I just need to cut them out altogether. I'm sure my family will understand; they were already aware of my current situation, so not a big deal. Just makes me feel kinda shitty, from a daughter/sister perspective.
During panic-mode, I immediately started thinking of things I would have to cut, starting with my gym membership. But after the rational budgeting session, canceling doesn't need to be an option. And y'know what? I don't think that will ever be an option, unless I'm on the verge of becoming homeless or something. Fitness keeps me sane. I look forward to it now a hell of a lot more than I used to. Sure, I could just rely on working out at home, but I know for a fact that I would eventually burn out and get bored. I don't go out to a lot of places during the week to begin with, so the gym has become my escape; my retreat. I just love it so damn much. And now that I'm taking group fitness classes and socializing a bit more, I'm even more enamored. Cue Rick Astley 24 Hour Fitness, 'cause I'm never gonna give you up.
So that's the state of things. Getting a second job would be the next best move, in terms of getting my debt paid off faster and building up my savings, but we'll see. It's something that's always been on my mind, but it's also something that would cause me more stress. I'm already disgusted by the fact that I was born in a country where 40 hour work weeks are the norm (where are my extended weekends or European-style afternoon siestas?), so I need to keep my happiness in mind. I like being able to see friends and family, in between work and working out, so I really don't want to decrease that time any more than I have to. But as I discovered today, things do indeed change when you least expect (and not always for the better), so additional employment always needs to be option worth considering.
In the meantime, business as usual. One thing that Doug has told me (many, many times, ha) is not to worry about things I can't control. So damn true. I try to live by it these days because it makes life so much easier and happiness so much more attainable. I've spent most of my life worrying about one thing or another and the majority of those things were not in my control. It takes too much energy to live like that; I need that energy to run.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Spinning!
Survived my first 24Cycle/Spin class this morning! And surprise, surprise, I loved it! Out of all of the classes I've taken so far, I think this one had the lowest learning curve, yet yielded the most challenge and SWEAT! I was pretty soaked by the time it was over, but I also felt so invigorated. In fact, I'm still feeling the high from that class, almost 3 hours later.
I got there early so I could introduce myself to the instructor and also have her help me adjust my bike. I was indeed the only newbie in this particular class, so I did feel a little apprehensive beforehand. But there was still a wide variety of ages and fitness levels, so I relaxed a bit more as we got into the warm-up.
Learning how to adjust my resistance was of course a little tricky at first, but I think I got the hang of it pretty quick, once the instructor (Vanessa) started giving numerical cues (i.e., "you should be at about a 6 right now," etc.). I probably took some intervals a little easier than I should have, but that was only because I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to crap out early. But during the second half, I made sure to keep pushing and paid close attention to the number cues, as well as how some of the advanced people in the class were performing. That's when the dripping sweat and muscle fatigue started to kick in. It hurt so good!
I was worried I would experience a lot of discomfort from the seat, but it wasn't too bad. I definitely looked forward to the intervals where we lifted off of the seat though. I only had cotton shorts, which, as I read the night before, you're totally supposed to avoid, but oh well. Now that I made it through the first class and want to keep going in the future, I'll be on the hunt for some proper padded cycling shorts in the next few days. You'd think my own natural built-in padding would be enough, but not so much, haha.
Vanessa's a great instructor too. She's tough, has a sense of humor and has some pretty bitchin' abs, which I found motivating. I didn't realize how much of an ab workout that can be! No complaints in that regard. The music was mostly older rock (Van Halen, circa David Lee Roth, Black Sabbath, quite a bit of AC/DC and even some Warrant, which made me chuckle). I personally enjoy the older stuff, so I hope she keeps up that selection in the future.
Great class. And, as sick as it sounds, love that it's offered at 5:30 am. I like mixing in some of the evening classes, but I still want to keep up with my early morning workouts too, so the cycling class is a perfect fit. In fact, after class was over, Vanessa and I chatted a bit and she asked if I liked the time of the class. I said that I did and out of nowhere, casually blurted out "I'm a morning person!"
On the drive home, I gave it some more thought and y'know what? I think I am a morning person now. I certainly wasn't in the past, but because I've gone out of my way to pursue fitness in the morning, I'm to the point now where getting an early start on my day just feels best. On the weekends, I find myself "sleeping in" til only about 6 or so. And if I don't get out of bed by 7:30, it's usually because I just want some extra cuddle time with the man. But if I try to stay in bed too long after I'm awake, I just feel like I'm wasting time and losing productivity. Yesterday I was up at about 4:25 (wanted to grab a lane in the pool) and this morning, 4:36. I guess I'll just roll with it. Trying to fight it and saying "I'm not a morning person, I swear!" just makes it feel like a drag. Anywho.
After work today, I'm supposed to do a practice 5k run with my boss. (I'm running my first official 5k race on the 17th.) I suppose it's a good opportunity for a second workout, but I'm also kinda hoping she changes her mind and/or the weather gets super crappy so I can go home, haha. I do need to keep up with my running though. I'm still feeling confident (er, cocky?) enough to treat 5k as pretty easy for me, but I also haven't ran much in the past week and a half since I've been going to all of these classes. In fact, even though I'm going to classes the next two evenings, I think I'll work in some quick 2 mile runs in the morning, just to keep me fresh. I should probably work out a schedule for the next few days while I'm thinking about it:
Tuesday:
-AM 24Cycle class
-PM 5k practice
Wednesday:
-AM 2 mile run @ home
-PM TurboKick class
Thursday:
-AM 2 mile run @ home
-PM Zumba class
Friday: (taking off from work)
-AM 24 S.E.T. class?
Saturday:
-Mid-AM Biggest Loser Boot Camp class
Sunday:
-4-5 mile run @ gym
Alright, that's enough for today. I'm out!
I got there early so I could introduce myself to the instructor and also have her help me adjust my bike. I was indeed the only newbie in this particular class, so I did feel a little apprehensive beforehand. But there was still a wide variety of ages and fitness levels, so I relaxed a bit more as we got into the warm-up.
Learning how to adjust my resistance was of course a little tricky at first, but I think I got the hang of it pretty quick, once the instructor (Vanessa) started giving numerical cues (i.e., "you should be at about a 6 right now," etc.). I probably took some intervals a little easier than I should have, but that was only because I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to crap out early. But during the second half, I made sure to keep pushing and paid close attention to the number cues, as well as how some of the advanced people in the class were performing. That's when the dripping sweat and muscle fatigue started to kick in. It hurt so good!
I was worried I would experience a lot of discomfort from the seat, but it wasn't too bad. I definitely looked forward to the intervals where we lifted off of the seat though. I only had cotton shorts, which, as I read the night before, you're totally supposed to avoid, but oh well. Now that I made it through the first class and want to keep going in the future, I'll be on the hunt for some proper padded cycling shorts in the next few days. You'd think my own natural built-in padding would be enough, but not so much, haha.
Vanessa's a great instructor too. She's tough, has a sense of humor and has some pretty bitchin' abs, which I found motivating. I didn't realize how much of an ab workout that can be! No complaints in that regard. The music was mostly older rock (Van Halen, circa David Lee Roth, Black Sabbath, quite a bit of AC/DC and even some Warrant, which made me chuckle). I personally enjoy the older stuff, so I hope she keeps up that selection in the future.
Great class. And, as sick as it sounds, love that it's offered at 5:30 am. I like mixing in some of the evening classes, but I still want to keep up with my early morning workouts too, so the cycling class is a perfect fit. In fact, after class was over, Vanessa and I chatted a bit and she asked if I liked the time of the class. I said that I did and out of nowhere, casually blurted out "I'm a morning person!"
On the drive home, I gave it some more thought and y'know what? I think I am a morning person now. I certainly wasn't in the past, but because I've gone out of my way to pursue fitness in the morning, I'm to the point now where getting an early start on my day just feels best. On the weekends, I find myself "sleeping in" til only about 6 or so. And if I don't get out of bed by 7:30, it's usually because I just want some extra cuddle time with the man. But if I try to stay in bed too long after I'm awake, I just feel like I'm wasting time and losing productivity. Yesterday I was up at about 4:25 (wanted to grab a lane in the pool) and this morning, 4:36. I guess I'll just roll with it. Trying to fight it and saying "I'm not a morning person, I swear!" just makes it feel like a drag. Anywho.
After work today, I'm supposed to do a practice 5k run with my boss. (I'm running my first official 5k race on the 17th.) I suppose it's a good opportunity for a second workout, but I'm also kinda hoping she changes her mind and/or the weather gets super crappy so I can go home, haha. I do need to keep up with my running though. I'm still feeling confident (er, cocky?) enough to treat 5k as pretty easy for me, but I also haven't ran much in the past week and a half since I've been going to all of these classes. In fact, even though I'm going to classes the next two evenings, I think I'll work in some quick 2 mile runs in the morning, just to keep me fresh. I should probably work out a schedule for the next few days while I'm thinking about it:
Tuesday:
-PM 5k practice
Wednesday:
-AM 2 mile run @ home
-PM TurboKick class
Thursday:
-AM 2 mile run @ home
-PM Zumba class
Friday: (taking off from work)
-AM 24 S.E.T. class?
Saturday:
-Mid-AM Biggest Loser Boot Camp class
Sunday:
-4-5 mile run @ gym
Alright, that's enough for today. I'm out!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Z-Z-Z-Zumba!
Fitness
Last night, I tried my first Zumba class and. I. Friggin'. LOVE IT! Omg. I've had quite a few people tell me over the past few months that I should give it a try, including the owner at my [now] old gym. For no good reason, I just took everyone's excitement with a grain of salt.
I like to dance for fun, but never gave much thought to dance-based workouts. And in all honesty, I threw most of them into the "Lame" and/or "To Be Ignored" categories when it came to trying new fitness routines. Don't ask me why I thought this because I have absolutely no good reason, other than maybe I thought they wouldn't be challenging or worth my time... Yeah, I can be a jerk sometimes.
Well, I had previously made plans to go grocery shopping, but I also hadn't worked out yet and was on the fence about whether or not I wanted to. I was feeling pretty restless but not in the mood for treadmill or step mill stuff, or DVDs or magazine routines... So, I looked at the 24 Hour class schedule and whaddya know, a Zumba class was on for 5:30. Needless to say, my curiosity (and boredom) got the better of me, so after work I went home to change and made my way to the gym.
Once I figured out who the instructor was, I immediately thought that yes, maybe I could indeed benefit from this class. Why? Her ass was amazing. There was some old-school Michael Jackson playing while we waited for class to start, so that put me in a good mood while I did some stretching. As expected, the mic system was still out, but whatevs.
Unlike TurboKick, I think there was maybe only one other person besides me who was completely new to Zumba. That made me a little nervous, but again, whatevs. All nervousness quickly vanished as we got into the warm-up because I was totally workin' it! Within seconds, I thought "Omg! I can do this! This is actually fun! OMG!"
Definitely a small learning curve. And our instructor (Larissa) did a good job of giving us rundowns of each routine beforehand. Plus, the moves themselves were pretty basic, so it all felt really natural. That's not to say that I didn't completely f-up from time to time... I still can't comprehend Salsa. I've tried it a couple times before and the stepping just seems so difficult to me. Maybe I'm putting too much effort into it? I don't know.
Love, love, loved the whole workout (minus Salsa, haha). The soundtrack made it easy and fun. And the tempo helped me break out a respectable sweat.
The only downside is that I am completely sore and busted today. I still had some lingering soreness from TurboKick on Wednesday, so all of the extra squatting, hip-shaking and booty-rumping (yeah, I made that up) from Zumba has left me in pathetic shape today. At one point during last night's session, I felt the most miserable cramp in my right side that I actually said "Owwww!" out loud. Had to slow down a bit at that point. It's mostly my back and sides that are bothering me, but I think between walking around the grocery store tonight and taking some advil later, I should still be up for 24 S.E.T. tomorrow morning.
So now, not only am I a Group Fitness Class convert, I'm totally a Zumba convert. I'm already looking forward to next week's class! Still debating on doing it again on Tuesday, but I also want to try the 24 Cycle class too, so I need to pace myself! If I wasn't so sore and didn't have plans tonight, I would probably try Zumba again at 5:30, heh. It was so much fun! AHHH!
Anywho. So it would seem that I'm already getting my money's worth on my new membership just based on classes alone. I'm so glad I made the switch and finally decided to break my group-class prejudice. They aren't lame and the are fun and challenging. See what you've been missing all of these months, Stuffy Old Tam?
Food/Mindful Eating Progress
On the food front, I've made some progress this week as well. I only "discovered" it a couple of days ago, but instead of fighting my hunger or giving into it too much, I've finally put the following Mindful Moment tip from Eat What You Love into practice: If you're only a little bit hungry, you only need a little bit of food.
For so long (even up through the beginning of this weeK), I've fought with how many meals/snacks I should have throughout the day and when. Well, this week I decided to throw the idea of snacks and meals out the window, in a sense. My hunger patterns throughout the day vary slightly, but remain pretty consistent for the most part since my schedule rarely changes. That said, the past couple of days, I've found that breaking up my meals (particularly breakfast and lunch) into 2 parts seems to work pretty swell. Because when I do get hungry, I'm usually only a *little* bit hungry, not full-fledged starving. I think I got used to the idea of packing a lunch and eating all of that lunch at whatever time I designated as lunch time. It's not like I pack a ton of food, but by eating my entire lunch at once, I noticed I was full, but within the next couple of hours, I was kinda hungry or just feeling needy for some type of extra food.
By breaking my first two "meals" into two "parts" (or snacks, or mini-meals or whatever the heck you want to call them) I not only get the appropriate amount of fullness satisfaction, but also quite a bit of psychological satisfaction because I'm enjoying "more" foods over the course of the day ("more" being in quotes because I'm not actually adding more food at all and in some cases, am eliminating mindless and/or unnecessary snacks and nibbles).
For example, today I had a corn tortilla with 1/4 cup of egg whites and some diced tomato at around 7 am. I was indeed hungry, but still not quite ready for a full-fledged breakfast. And instead of forcing myself to not eat anything at all and going hungry for another couple of hours and having a full-fledged/complete breakfast around 9 am (like I had practiced the previous 2 weeks), I figured something small and light was fine for now and I would have something else later. A little after 9 am, my stomach started growling, as expected, so I finished "breakfast" with some Greek yogurt, Kashi cereal and some chia seeds.
At around 12, a little hungry again. Instead of having all of my lunch, I just had a slice of Flax Oatbran bread with berry jam. That's held me over so far, and in about another hour or so, I'll have the tuna/hummus/feta salad I also packed.
I know it probably sounds simple enough and probably not worth mentioning, but it's made quite a difference for me this week and has taken a lot of the guesswork (and stress) out of figuring out when I "should" or "shouldn't" eat. I can eat whenever I want, as long as I eat the appropriate amount of food for the level of hunger I'm feeling. I feel so much more in tune with my body this week, it's amazing.
Feels good to end the week on some positive notes. May/may not check-in over the next couple of days, so enjoy the weekend ladies & gents!
Last night, I tried my first Zumba class and. I. Friggin'. LOVE IT! Omg. I've had quite a few people tell me over the past few months that I should give it a try, including the owner at my [now] old gym. For no good reason, I just took everyone's excitement with a grain of salt.
I like to dance for fun, but never gave much thought to dance-based workouts. And in all honesty, I threw most of them into the "Lame" and/or "To Be Ignored" categories when it came to trying new fitness routines. Don't ask me why I thought this because I have absolutely no good reason, other than maybe I thought they wouldn't be challenging or worth my time... Yeah, I can be a jerk sometimes.
Well, I had previously made plans to go grocery shopping, but I also hadn't worked out yet and was on the fence about whether or not I wanted to. I was feeling pretty restless but not in the mood for treadmill or step mill stuff, or DVDs or magazine routines... So, I looked at the 24 Hour class schedule and whaddya know, a Zumba class was on for 5:30. Needless to say, my curiosity (and boredom) got the better of me, so after work I went home to change and made my way to the gym.
Once I figured out who the instructor was, I immediately thought that yes, maybe I could indeed benefit from this class. Why? Her ass was amazing. There was some old-school Michael Jackson playing while we waited for class to start, so that put me in a good mood while I did some stretching. As expected, the mic system was still out, but whatevs.
Unlike TurboKick, I think there was maybe only one other person besides me who was completely new to Zumba. That made me a little nervous, but again, whatevs. All nervousness quickly vanished as we got into the warm-up because I was totally workin' it! Within seconds, I thought "Omg! I can do this! This is actually fun! OMG!"
Definitely a small learning curve. And our instructor (Larissa) did a good job of giving us rundowns of each routine beforehand. Plus, the moves themselves were pretty basic, so it all felt really natural. That's not to say that I didn't completely f-up from time to time... I still can't comprehend Salsa. I've tried it a couple times before and the stepping just seems so difficult to me. Maybe I'm putting too much effort into it? I don't know.
Love, love, loved the whole workout (minus Salsa, haha). The soundtrack made it easy and fun. And the tempo helped me break out a respectable sweat.
The only downside is that I am completely sore and busted today. I still had some lingering soreness from TurboKick on Wednesday, so all of the extra squatting, hip-shaking and booty-rumping (yeah, I made that up) from Zumba has left me in pathetic shape today. At one point during last night's session, I felt the most miserable cramp in my right side that I actually said "Owwww!" out loud. Had to slow down a bit at that point. It's mostly my back and sides that are bothering me, but I think between walking around the grocery store tonight and taking some advil later, I should still be up for 24 S.E.T. tomorrow morning.
So now, not only am I a Group Fitness Class convert, I'm totally a Zumba convert. I'm already looking forward to next week's class! Still debating on doing it again on Tuesday, but I also want to try the 24 Cycle class too, so I need to pace myself! If I wasn't so sore and didn't have plans tonight, I would probably try Zumba again at 5:30, heh. It was so much fun! AHHH!
Anywho. So it would seem that I'm already getting my money's worth on my new membership just based on classes alone. I'm so glad I made the switch and finally decided to break my group-class prejudice. They aren't lame and the are fun and challenging. See what you've been missing all of these months, Stuffy Old Tam?
Food/Mindful Eating Progress
On the food front, I've made some progress this week as well. I only "discovered" it a couple of days ago, but instead of fighting my hunger or giving into it too much, I've finally put the following Mindful Moment tip from Eat What You Love into practice: If you're only a little bit hungry, you only need a little bit of food.
For so long (even up through the beginning of this weeK), I've fought with how many meals/snacks I should have throughout the day and when. Well, this week I decided to throw the idea of snacks and meals out the window, in a sense. My hunger patterns throughout the day vary slightly, but remain pretty consistent for the most part since my schedule rarely changes. That said, the past couple of days, I've found that breaking up my meals (particularly breakfast and lunch) into 2 parts seems to work pretty swell. Because when I do get hungry, I'm usually only a *little* bit hungry, not full-fledged starving. I think I got used to the idea of packing a lunch and eating all of that lunch at whatever time I designated as lunch time. It's not like I pack a ton of food, but by eating my entire lunch at once, I noticed I was full, but within the next couple of hours, I was kinda hungry or just feeling needy for some type of extra food.
By breaking my first two "meals" into two "parts" (or snacks, or mini-meals or whatever the heck you want to call them) I not only get the appropriate amount of fullness satisfaction, but also quite a bit of psychological satisfaction because I'm enjoying "more" foods over the course of the day ("more" being in quotes because I'm not actually adding more food at all and in some cases, am eliminating mindless and/or unnecessary snacks and nibbles).
For example, today I had a corn tortilla with 1/4 cup of egg whites and some diced tomato at around 7 am. I was indeed hungry, but still not quite ready for a full-fledged breakfast. And instead of forcing myself to not eat anything at all and going hungry for another couple of hours and having a full-fledged/complete breakfast around 9 am (like I had practiced the previous 2 weeks), I figured something small and light was fine for now and I would have something else later. A little after 9 am, my stomach started growling, as expected, so I finished "breakfast" with some Greek yogurt, Kashi cereal and some chia seeds.
At around 12, a little hungry again. Instead of having all of my lunch, I just had a slice of Flax Oatbran bread with berry jam. That's held me over so far, and in about another hour or so, I'll have the tuna/hummus/feta salad I also packed.
I know it probably sounds simple enough and probably not worth mentioning, but it's made quite a difference for me this week and has taken a lot of the guesswork (and stress) out of figuring out when I "should" or "shouldn't" eat. I can eat whenever I want, as long as I eat the appropriate amount of food for the level of hunger I'm feeling. I feel so much more in tune with my body this week, it's amazing.
Feels good to end the week on some positive notes. May/may not check-in over the next couple of days, so enjoy the weekend ladies & gents!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
TurboKick
Tried my first TurboKick class at 24 Hour Fitness last night. It was... Ok. Not the best first class experience, but I'll be taking our instructor's advice and trying it out a few more times before forming a solid opinion.
Apparently, they're still having mic troubles in the classroom. This was the case last Saturday at my 24 S.E.T. class, but it wasn't a big deal because Debbie turned down the music and has a naturally loud voice anyway.
Well, for the TurboKick class, it was an issue. Our instructor (can't remember her name) didn't turn the music down and doesn't have a naturally loud voice, so I essentially couldn't hear shit, with regards to her cues.
I was expecting the class to move fast, but there was also a significant number of new people, so I thought our instructor would slow down a *tiny* bit, or at least stick to simpler combinations. Not so much. And while she definitely knew what she was doing, she got super-fancy with her arms and legs, so it was hard to tell if I was supposed to be doing a simple hook or some other advanced move. I don't know.
I did break out a good sweat and am sore all over today though, so I can't complain. And I can't expect to be a master on the first day, especially in a class where a lot of hand-eye-leg coordination is required.
I'm definitely going to go again next week. Despite not being nearly as thrilled as I was after my first S.E.T. class, it was still fun and I want to get better at it. I just hope they fix the damn mic set by then! I think that was the most annoying part.
So that was TurboKick! I didn't sign up for tonight's 24Cycle class because a) I forgot to sign up and b) I'd rather hit up the grocery store after work and get that out of the way before the weekend. Plus, I'll have some extra recovery time for my sore muscles. Planning on doing something tomorrow morning, but I'm torn between sprint intervals and swimming. We'll see.
I'd like to give the cycle class a shot next week though; they have an early 5:30 am class, which I'd rather do than a 6pm class. I don't mind mixing up early morning/late afternoon workouts, but I also don't like to wait too long after work because it throws off my dinner schedule (I know, I'm such an 80 year old woman sometimes, I swear).
Apparently, they're still having mic troubles in the classroom. This was the case last Saturday at my 24 S.E.T. class, but it wasn't a big deal because Debbie turned down the music and has a naturally loud voice anyway.
Well, for the TurboKick class, it was an issue. Our instructor (can't remember her name) didn't turn the music down and doesn't have a naturally loud voice, so I essentially couldn't hear shit, with regards to her cues.
I was expecting the class to move fast, but there was also a significant number of new people, so I thought our instructor would slow down a *tiny* bit, or at least stick to simpler combinations. Not so much. And while she definitely knew what she was doing, she got super-fancy with her arms and legs, so it was hard to tell if I was supposed to be doing a simple hook or some other advanced move. I don't know.
I did break out a good sweat and am sore all over today though, so I can't complain. And I can't expect to be a master on the first day, especially in a class where a lot of hand-eye-leg coordination is required.
I'm definitely going to go again next week. Despite not being nearly as thrilled as I was after my first S.E.T. class, it was still fun and I want to get better at it. I just hope they fix the damn mic set by then! I think that was the most annoying part.
So that was TurboKick! I didn't sign up for tonight's 24Cycle class because a) I forgot to sign up and b) I'd rather hit up the grocery store after work and get that out of the way before the weekend. Plus, I'll have some extra recovery time for my sore muscles. Planning on doing something tomorrow morning, but I'm torn between sprint intervals and swimming. We'll see.
I'd like to give the cycle class a shot next week though; they have an early 5:30 am class, which I'd rather do than a 6pm class. I don't mind mixing up early morning/late afternoon workouts, but I also don't like to wait too long after work because it throws off my dinner schedule (I know, I'm such an 80 year old woman sometimes, I swear).
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Picked myself a good 'n'.
I swear, some days I should just hand this blog over to Doug; he's cooked dinner the past 3 nights in a row! And they've all been great. Love, love, love his food (and he's not too shabby either).
I'll start with a couple shots of his plate, because it was prettier than mine:
"Pretty... But what is it?"
Well, he diced up a chicken breast and cooked it with some onions, tomatoes, zucchini, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, oregano, Famous Dave's Sweet & Zesty BBQ sauce, pineapple tidbits, a little bit of olive oil and "some love" (his words).
While that was all cooking down, I mashed up a small avocado and took out some corn tortillas. The original plan was to make tacos, but I was getting impatient (so hungry today!), so I decided to just tear the tortillas into bits and mix everything together in a bowl.
My not-so-pretty version, sans sour cream and shredded cheese:
It was daaaamn good though! And he added just the right amount of cayenne, so there was a great spicy kick to complement the sweet pineapple.
I'll cook again eventually, haha.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna try a TurboKick class after work. So excited! I've always loved kickboxing since I tried Tae-Bo all those years ago, but haven't had a chance to explore it outside of those particular DVDs (which have gotten progressively worse over the years, in my opinion). The description on the website said the class is designed for medium to advanced fitness levels, so it sounds like it'll be nice and challenging! I can't wait. It'll be refreshing to do a workout without any equipment that's not running. I'm all about variety these days!
I'm also debating on trying their 24Cycle class on Thursday because I'm finally ready to try spinning, but we'll see. I need to work in a rest or light activity day between now and the 24 S.E.T. class on Saturday. So many classes!
Lastly, I'm beyond stoked that tomorrow is pay day. Lots of different foods we've been out of for a while; I need more Greek yogurt to mix with my baby food!
Back to Biggest Loser. Have a good night!
I'll start with a couple shots of his plate, because it was prettier than mine:
"Pretty... But what is it?"
Well, he diced up a chicken breast and cooked it with some onions, tomatoes, zucchini, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, oregano, Famous Dave's Sweet & Zesty BBQ sauce, pineapple tidbits, a little bit of olive oil and "some love" (his words).
While that was all cooking down, I mashed up a small avocado and took out some corn tortillas. The original plan was to make tacos, but I was getting impatient (so hungry today!), so I decided to just tear the tortillas into bits and mix everything together in a bowl.
My not-so-pretty version, sans sour cream and shredded cheese:
It was daaaamn good though! And he added just the right amount of cayenne, so there was a great spicy kick to complement the sweet pineapple.
I'll cook again eventually, haha.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna try a TurboKick class after work. So excited! I've always loved kickboxing since I tried Tae-Bo all those years ago, but haven't had a chance to explore it outside of those particular DVDs (which have gotten progressively worse over the years, in my opinion). The description on the website said the class is designed for medium to advanced fitness levels, so it sounds like it'll be nice and challenging! I can't wait. It'll be refreshing to do a workout without any equipment that's not running. I'm all about variety these days!
I'm also debating on trying their 24Cycle class on Thursday because I'm finally ready to try spinning, but we'll see. I need to work in a rest or light activity day between now and the 24 S.E.T. class on Saturday. So many classes!
Lastly, I'm beyond stoked that tomorrow is pay day. Lots of different foods we've been out of for a while; I need more Greek yogurt to mix with my baby food!
Back to Biggest Loser. Have a good night!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Lovely leftover lunch.
Quick re-cap of lunch:
Leftover roasted veggies (onions, tomatoes and zucchini) over some Spring mix salad greens. I'm totally over salad dressing these days! Well, the crappy dieted versions that I used to buy, anyway. In fact, I threw a bunch of them out this afternoon. I hardly ate salad before and I thought it was because I wasn't a "salad person," but really, it was because I bought dressings that I didn't like, just because they were low in calories and/or fat. Now? I'll gladly throw on roasted veggies (including spaghetti squash!) or hummus & feta. The mix of textures and flavors just can't be beat.
Leftover baked sweet potato fries and my new favorite sandwich (slightly melted reduced-fat Cabot cheddar and triple-berry fruit spread on a slice of flax oatbran bread).
Such an awesome lunch. The fries definitely went better with this sandwich than they did with my BBQ veggie burger concoction last night.
Took the afternoon off from work to get some shopping done before more crappy weather moves in. We're hosting a get-together for some friends tomorrow night, so I'm pretty excited. Tons of junk and booze, but it's gonna be a good time. We know some smart, funny, good-natured peeps. Love 'em!
Swam at 24 Hour Fitness this morning! I've only swam sporadically in the past, usually while on family vacations as a kid or the handful of times at old apartment complexes when the pool was actually open, clean and free of obnoxious peeing children.
Totally whopped my ass, but now I'm excited to make it part of my regular fitness routine. I only did laps for 20 minutes (including catch-my-breath breaks), then I sat in the hot tub and the steam room. My god. I've never felt that relaxed AND refreshed after a workout. I'm gonna try to make that combination a regular Friday morning routine because it just put me in such a good mood!
Still need to try the 24SET class (which I may or may not make tomorrow, weather pending...), but I'm happy to say that I've made up my mind and will indeed switch to 24 Hour Fitness once payday hits next week. The kicker in my decision? Finding out that state employees get a discount! So now, my new 24 membership will only cost $4.99 more a month than what I currently pay at Accolade. Happy day!
I'm pretty stoked. I think a change is what I needed at this point in my life. Between a new gym, new workout DVDs and new magazine routines, I'm so much more excited about and appreciative of physical fitness. What's not to love about challenging your body in new ways and seeing what it's capable of? I think being comfortable and sticking to the things I knew for years finally got to me and all I want to do now is try something different just about every day. I've been so much happier since making such changes.
That's all for me this week. Happy weekend everyone!
Leftover roasted veggies (onions, tomatoes and zucchini) over some Spring mix salad greens. I'm totally over salad dressing these days! Well, the crappy dieted versions that I used to buy, anyway. In fact, I threw a bunch of them out this afternoon. I hardly ate salad before and I thought it was because I wasn't a "salad person," but really, it was because I bought dressings that I didn't like, just because they were low in calories and/or fat. Now? I'll gladly throw on roasted veggies (including spaghetti squash!) or hummus & feta. The mix of textures and flavors just can't be beat.
Leftover baked sweet potato fries and my new favorite sandwich (slightly melted reduced-fat Cabot cheddar and triple-berry fruit spread on a slice of flax oatbran bread).
Such an awesome lunch. The fries definitely went better with this sandwich than they did with my BBQ veggie burger concoction last night.
Took the afternoon off from work to get some shopping done before more crappy weather moves in. We're hosting a get-together for some friends tomorrow night, so I'm pretty excited. Tons of junk and booze, but it's gonna be a good time. We know some smart, funny, good-natured peeps. Love 'em!
Swam at 24 Hour Fitness this morning! I've only swam sporadically in the past, usually while on family vacations as a kid or the handful of times at old apartment complexes when the pool was actually open, clean and free of obnoxious peeing children.
Totally whopped my ass, but now I'm excited to make it part of my regular fitness routine. I only did laps for 20 minutes (including catch-my-breath breaks), then I sat in the hot tub and the steam room. My god. I've never felt that relaxed AND refreshed after a workout. I'm gonna try to make that combination a regular Friday morning routine because it just put me in such a good mood!
Still need to try the 24SET class (which I may or may not make tomorrow, weather pending...), but I'm happy to say that I've made up my mind and will indeed switch to 24 Hour Fitness once payday hits next week. The kicker in my decision? Finding out that state employees get a discount! So now, my new 24 membership will only cost $4.99 more a month than what I currently pay at Accolade. Happy day!
I'm pretty stoked. I think a change is what I needed at this point in my life. Between a new gym, new workout DVDs and new magazine routines, I'm so much more excited about and appreciative of physical fitness. What's not to love about challenging your body in new ways and seeing what it's capable of? I think being comfortable and sticking to the things I knew for years finally got to me and all I want to do now is try something different just about every day. I've been so much happier since making such changes.
That's all for me this week. Happy weekend everyone!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Insert clever title here.
Quick lil' update...
First off, I've been rockin' Overnight Oats this week, thanks to KERF's suggestion. Quick, convenient and delicious! My favorite combo so far has been mashed banana, diced strawberries, coconut flakes, cinnamon and vanilla extract. All of the natural sugars/flavors from the fruits get so well absorbed in the oats that the taste the next morning is like whoa. In the morning, right before I eat them, I'll add chia seeds, a couple teaspoons of some kind of nut butter and warm it up in the microwave just long enough for the nut butter to melt. Semi-cold, hearty, soggy cereal awesomeness. I've been taking my breakfast to work with me this week since I don't get really get hungry until 8 or 9 am, so this has been a perfect option for me.
Second, I got around to trying the Sleeker Saturday workout from Fitness Magazine this morning (ended up taking Monday off from exercise). HOLY CRAP! So much harder than I thought! I guess it wasn't hard in the sense that the moves were complicated, it was just super tough and left me panting- glad I only had to go through it twice! In the actual magazine version, they provide 3 cardio moves that you're supposed to do in between the strength intervals, so that's what kept my heart rate so high and my face dripping.
I'll try to remember to scan the page with the cardio info later and do a follow-up post; it would be easier than trying to explain it here.
I also did 1/2 mile jogs before and after the workout. My muscles are all tingly now. Love it!
Since the workout was so quick (about 26 minutes for the magazine routine, plus 12 minutes of jogging), I'll probably give the 'Slimmer Sunday' routine a try tomorrow, assuming I'm not all sore and busted.
Lastly, I got a chance to visit 24 Hour Fitness this week. I just did a mixed routine on the treadmill, step mill and bike. I did sprint intervals on the treadmill for the first time in ages and my ass was officially whooped! Need to start doing those more regularly again.
I'm planning on swimming Friday morning and trying out their 24 SET class on Saturday, if there's still room left. It's basically supposed to be based off of Biggest Loser workouts, so there will be a mix of cardio and strength. I used to avoid fitness classes before, but lately my own routine has become so, well, routine, and I'm much more open to trying some new things now. Plus, it would be cool to meet some fitness-minded people in real life. Hope it goes well! I also want to try TURBO-Kick and spinning sometime too.
I'm still on my trial membership, but assuming I dig the classes, I'm pretty certain that I'm gonna make the switch to 24 soon. (Sorry, Accolade!)
First off, I've been rockin' Overnight Oats this week, thanks to KERF's suggestion. Quick, convenient and delicious! My favorite combo so far has been mashed banana, diced strawberries, coconut flakes, cinnamon and vanilla extract. All of the natural sugars/flavors from the fruits get so well absorbed in the oats that the taste the next morning is like whoa. In the morning, right before I eat them, I'll add chia seeds, a couple teaspoons of some kind of nut butter and warm it up in the microwave just long enough for the nut butter to melt. Semi-cold, hearty, soggy cereal awesomeness. I've been taking my breakfast to work with me this week since I don't get really get hungry until 8 or 9 am, so this has been a perfect option for me.
Second, I got around to trying the Sleeker Saturday workout from Fitness Magazine this morning (ended up taking Monday off from exercise). HOLY CRAP! So much harder than I thought! I guess it wasn't hard in the sense that the moves were complicated, it was just super tough and left me panting- glad I only had to go through it twice! In the actual magazine version, they provide 3 cardio moves that you're supposed to do in between the strength intervals, so that's what kept my heart rate so high and my face dripping.
I'll try to remember to scan the page with the cardio info later and do a follow-up post; it would be easier than trying to explain it here.
I also did 1/2 mile jogs before and after the workout. My muscles are all tingly now. Love it!
Since the workout was so quick (about 26 minutes for the magazine routine, plus 12 minutes of jogging), I'll probably give the 'Slimmer Sunday' routine a try tomorrow, assuming I'm not all sore and busted.
Lastly, I got a chance to visit 24 Hour Fitness this week. I just did a mixed routine on the treadmill, step mill and bike. I did sprint intervals on the treadmill for the first time in ages and my ass was officially whooped! Need to start doing those more regularly again.
I'm planning on swimming Friday morning and trying out their 24 SET class on Saturday, if there's still room left. It's basically supposed to be based off of Biggest Loser workouts, so there will be a mix of cardio and strength. I used to avoid fitness classes before, but lately my own routine has become so, well, routine, and I'm much more open to trying some new things now. Plus, it would be cool to meet some fitness-minded people in real life. Hope it goes well! I also want to try TURBO-Kick and spinning sometime too.
I'm still on my trial membership, but assuming I dig the classes, I'm pretty certain that I'm gonna make the switch to 24 soon. (Sorry, Accolade!)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Break-Schmreak.
Heh, just kidding! So, of course, right after posting my "I'm taking a blogging break" post, I felt the need to, well, post. I guess I should've just left it at "taking a break from food stuff" instead of breaking from posting altogether. ANYWHO.
This post is mostly for me, but I decided to make it public anyway since I do enjoy reader feedback...
The topic? Switching gyms. Well, possibly.
Currently, I'm a member of Accolade Fitness. They started out as a Planet Fitness branch, but after all sorts of ownership nonsense, they became independently owned, broke away from the PF franchise and changed locations. And really, it's primarily the location that has been causing me to contemplate a change.
Pros:
Pros:
Aside from the location, I still love Accolade too. It's the first place I've achieved "reg" status, where some of the staff actually know my name and we can chat from time to time. I don't know any of the other members too well, but do recognize faces and enjoy the environment overall. At the same time, a change would be nice (as would pool access).
We'll see. I'll enjoy my trial membership at 24 and see how it goes. I'll definitely follow up with a decision post later this week.
This post is mostly for me, but I decided to make it public anyway since I do enjoy reader feedback...
The topic? Switching gyms. Well, possibly.
Currently, I'm a member of Accolade Fitness. They started out as a Planet Fitness branch, but after all sorts of ownership nonsense, they became independently owned, broke away from the PF franchise and changed locations. And really, it's primarily the location that has been causing me to contemplate a change.
Pros:
- $20/month membership fee, no contract.
- Nice selection of cardio equipment, including:
- Incline training treadmills!
- Nice friendly staff.
- Sauna.
- Opens at 5am during the week, so I can exercise before work.
- Location. The new facility moved further west. Even though there is little traffic at 5 in the morning, there are still a crap-load of stoplights and I usually manage to hit every one, both ways, leaving me with about a 25-30 minute commute, round trip. Not terrible, but I still have to get up that much earlier to work it into my schedule.
- Fees to take classes. Considering the low monthly membership fee, I shouldn't complain, but the idea of running to the ATM every time I want to try a group fitness class just kinda bugs me. Some class fees can be up to $15 a pop, so even if I did find a class I liked, that would quickly add up, assuming I attended every week.
- No pool. I love to swim and would like to add it into my exercise routine, but am unable to, currently.
- Smaller size. Although there's a decent amount of equipment, the place still manages to get packed (especially the cardio room) at various times of day, including early mornings and weekends.
- Limited hours. Even though I'm primarily a morning workout person, I occasionally feel like doing random evening workouts, especially on the weekends. Fridays they close at 8pm, Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 6pm. There have been quite a few Sunday nights where I wanted to bust out some serious cardio after 6, but quickly talked myself out of it because I remembered the gym was already closed.
- Aside from limited evening hours, there are some days where I flat out have insomnia and really would rather hit the gym at 2 or 3 am, instead of laying in bed awake, doing nothing. Sounds crazy, but it's happened before.
Pros:
- Location. MUCH closer to my house and work. And the route I would take to get there would only consist of one stoplight. Estimated early morning commute? Probably 10 minutes or less, round trip.
- Adjacent to King Soopers and across the street from my bank (not a deal-breaker obviously, but just an added bonus of the location since I tend to frequent those two places before/after the gym).
- POOL! I've yet to see how busy the place is in the morning, but assuming it doesn't get too crowded, this is definitely a plus.
- Large wet and dry saunas. Accolade currently has a small dry sauna which is nice, but it gets crowded very quickly.
- Hot tub. Need I say more?
- Free classes. Well, not "free," but included in the membership and no additional fees. They have all of the same classes that Accolade offers, but also have a "24LIFT" class that sounds almost identical to the BodyPump class I've been hearing so much about and have been dying to try! Granted, it's only offered during the day, but I'm totally open to taking time off from work, just to see what it's like!
- More variety in equipment. I think I remember seeing 3 different types of ellipticals and 2 or 3 different stair machines, in addition to tons of treadmills and rowing machines.
- Kettle bells! I'm not quite ready (nor can I really afford) to buy my own kettle bells, so it would be nice to try them out at the gym first, just for fun.
- Hours. I can literally workout anytime of day, whether it be my usual 5 am routine, a random evening or a 2 am insomnia session.
- Higher rate of $31/month. Still no contract though, which is nice. And after making some money-saving changes to my cell phone and car insurance plans (thanks, Geico!), I can actually justify adding $11 to my monthly fitness budget.
- Bigger facility = more members = lack of machine availability. Assuming I stick to my 5 am schedule, this probably won't be much of an issue. It's one of those things that's generally expected at any gym, but I'll just have to wait until my trial visit to see whether or not it'll end up being a deal breaker.
- NO INCLINE TRAINERS! AHHH! Sadly, one of the first things I noticed during my tour today was no incline training treadmill. Not a one (unless I completely missed one hiding in a corner somewhere; please let it be true!). If I decide to join, I'll definitely make that a suggestion, but essentially, no more 15-21% grade inclines for me. This means I would have to rely more on the elliptical and stair machines if I wanted to get any kind of challenging incline workout. Not the worst thing in the world, but still kinda bummed me out. I plan on buying my own incline machine eventually, but since my current gym has them, I figured I could put it off a little longer.
Aside from the location, I still love Accolade too. It's the first place I've achieved "reg" status, where some of the staff actually know my name and we can chat from time to time. I don't know any of the other members too well, but do recognize faces and enjoy the environment overall. At the same time, a change would be nice (as would pool access).
We'll see. I'll enjoy my trial membership at 24 and see how it goes. I'll definitely follow up with a decision post later this week.
Monday, March 8, 2010
If you didn't come to party, then why did you come here?
Alrighty. Well, today is my [27th] birthday. I scheduled today off from work and all weekend, toyed with the idea of running 10k at the gym to celebrate. I kept going back and forth, debating on whether or not I should try (or if I should even workout on my birthday at all), but then I realized that if I didn't at least try, the day would a be a bit of a waste, as I really don't have anything else planned.
So, this morning, I slowly got out of bed and sloooowly got ready for the gym. Got to the gym. And then? I ran 10k.
Pretty sure my main source of fuel was the laughable amount of peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies Doug and I made (and ate) yesterday. But forget that, check out my times!
I'm happy, but also kind of exhausted. I was worried my sides would start cramping up something fierce, but it was actually my glutes that started giving me trouble at about 4.5 miles. But I just ran through the pain. Luckily there were some cute little rabbits playing on the gym's front lawn to distract me most of the time.
Part of what helped my time was skipping my first walking break and just running straight through the first 2 miles. And during those breaks, I didn't walk for very long; in less than a minute, I went from 3.5 mph back up to 6 mph. Then my speed increments went like this:
Kind of a sadistic birthday gift to myself, but I'm glad I did it. I'm officially in the best shape of my life.
So, this morning, I slowly got out of bed and sloooowly got ready for the gym. Got to the gym. And then? I ran 10k.
Pretty sure my main source of fuel was the laughable amount of peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies Doug and I made (and ate) yesterday. But forget that, check out my times!
- 5 mile mark: 47:31
- 6 mile mark: 57:20
- 10k (6.25 mile) mark: 60:06
I'm happy, but also kind of exhausted. I was worried my sides would start cramping up something fierce, but it was actually my glutes that started giving me trouble at about 4.5 miles. But I just ran through the pain. Luckily there were some cute little rabbits playing on the gym's front lawn to distract me most of the time.
Part of what helped my time was skipping my first walking break and just running straight through the first 2 miles. And during those breaks, I didn't walk for very long; in less than a minute, I went from 3.5 mph back up to 6 mph. Then my speed increments went like this:
- at .25 miles in, sped up to 6.2 mph
- at .5 miles, sped up to 6.5 mph
- at .75 miles, sped up to 7 mph
- at 1 mile, slowed down to recovery
Kind of a sadistic birthday gift to myself, but I'm glad I did it. I'm officially in the best shape of my life.
Friday, February 26, 2010
New record!
Ok, before I get to breakfast pics, I have some pretty exciting news to share (well, exciting to me, of course): This morning, I ran 5 miles in 48:56!!! I'm so incredibly stoked right now. It didn't come without pain though; I definitely had my share of side cramps, but I ran through them. And, during my cooldown walk, I contemplated going for another mile, but instead forced myself to press the STOP button on the treadmill and headed to the locker room. Could I have done 6, maybe 7 miles? Sure. Would I regret it the next day? Yeah, probably.
Although, I am contemplating on going again on Sunday and either repeating my time, beating it and/or increasing my mileage. We'll see.
I'm not at work today, so I was able to sleep in and had some Amazing Grass Green Superfood with water and 1/2 a small banana before I headed to the gym. I usually don't eat before my workouts on the days I get up at 5 am, but since I had time to digest and was planning a long-ish run, I decided it would be wise to fuel up a bit beforehand. I think that helped in the end.
And y'know what else? These strength training workouts have been buffing up my legs big time. The first half of my run was pretty cake because my legs just felt so strong and capable, versus heavy and sloppy. And with all of the squats and lunges I've been doing, my knees are stronger and rarely sore. In fact, this was probably the first long run where my knees didn't bother me afterward. High-five for getting stronger!
I'm seriously contemplating getting some champagne tonight to celebrate this run, haha. I thought for sure it would take me 50+ minutes (I did take walking breaks every mile), so when I saw a 4 in front of my final time, I freaked myself out. I wanted to break out into some serious fist pumps.
Yeah, those kind of fist pumps...
But alas, I simply went home, showered and rewarded myself with an awesome breakfast:
Big bowl of [soupy] fruity oats:
In this mix:
And on the side, cold coffee with 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze:
Probably will skip lunch pics today. I'm not planning on having a traditional lunch anyway, seeing as I finished breakfast at 11 am. We have dinner reservations at Rock Bottom Brewery this evening, so I'll probably have a small snack before we head out. I've been dreaming of their smoked salmon fish 'n' chips for months now, so I'm gonna order those. But I'll probably ditch the chips for some steamed veggies. I really just want hunks of beer battered smoked salmon and not much else. Omg. Can't wait. I'll try to remember to take pics before I inhale them like a Shop-Vac. 'Cause, y'know, that's the plan.
Hope everyone is having an awesome Friday!
Although, I am contemplating on going again on Sunday and either repeating my time, beating it and/or increasing my mileage. We'll see.
I'm not at work today, so I was able to sleep in and had some Amazing Grass Green Superfood with water and 1/2 a small banana before I headed to the gym. I usually don't eat before my workouts on the days I get up at 5 am, but since I had time to digest and was planning a long-ish run, I decided it would be wise to fuel up a bit beforehand. I think that helped in the end.
And y'know what else? These strength training workouts have been buffing up my legs big time. The first half of my run was pretty cake because my legs just felt so strong and capable, versus heavy and sloppy. And with all of the squats and lunges I've been doing, my knees are stronger and rarely sore. In fact, this was probably the first long run where my knees didn't bother me afterward. High-five for getting stronger!
I'm seriously contemplating getting some champagne tonight to celebrate this run, haha. I thought for sure it would take me 50+ minutes (I did take walking breaks every mile), so when I saw a 4 in front of my final time, I freaked myself out. I wanted to break out into some serious fist pumps.
Yeah, those kind of fist pumps...
But alas, I simply went home, showered and rewarded myself with an awesome breakfast:
Big bowl of [soupy] fruity oats:
In this mix:
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 small banana
- about 1/2 cup frozen strawberries (thawed)
- about 1/2 cup frozen peaches (thawed)
- 1 tbsp reduced-fat unsweetened coconut
- 1.5 scoops of Biggest Loser vanilla protein powder
- splash of vanilla extract
- splenda
And on the side, cold coffee with 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze:
Probably will skip lunch pics today. I'm not planning on having a traditional lunch anyway, seeing as I finished breakfast at 11 am. We have dinner reservations at Rock Bottom Brewery this evening, so I'll probably have a small snack before we head out. I've been dreaming of their smoked salmon fish 'n' chips for months now, so I'm gonna order those. But I'll probably ditch the chips for some steamed veggies. I really just want hunks of beer battered smoked salmon and not much else. Omg. Can't wait. I'll try to remember to take pics before I inhale them like a Shop-Vac. 'Cause, y'know, that's the plan.
Hope everyone is having an awesome Friday!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Guilt and cramps and running, oh my.
What better way to start a Monday morning than with food guilt and menstrual cramps? Huzzah! Actually, I'm trying to be in as good a mood as I can. Yesterday's eating sucked. I started the day off right with a 30 Day Shred workout and my oatmeal, but the rest of the day quickly turned into nothing but chocolate candy, cashews, chips and ice cream. On the upside, I stopped myself before reaching that painful level of fullness. But I used a silly holiday as an excuse to feast on more crap, even though I had already indulged the day before.
Gah. Oh well. Beating myself up never accomplishes anything, so here I am, pushing forward and moving on. I woke up at 4:30 this morning and decided to get out of bed and head to the gym. My original plan was to sleep until 5 and just work out at home, but once I woke up earlier, I figured going to the gym would be a better choice.
I was the only person in the cardio room for almost 30 minutes, so it was nice to enjoy the quiet alone time. I ran a warm-up mile, then switched to incline training. I alternated that with running in 10 minute intervals until I cracked 5 miles.
Thanks to all of the extra sugar in my system, I was able to push myself out of my 4-mile comfort zone and kick up my distance a bit. I've ran 5 miles before, but it's been a loooong time since I last tried. Although I was still feeling a bit guilty about my bad food weekend, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself for cracking 5 miles before 6 am. It's nice to feel that sense of accomplishment early in the day.
I'm a bit more motivated to try and do another 5 miles on Wednesday. If I nix the incline walks, I could cut my time down a lot too (this morning, it took me between 55 and 57 minutes to finish, but that was with 20 minutes of walking during the inclines).
My speed is getting better again (6 mph is now my 'jogging' or 'warm-up' pace, versus 5 mph). I'm averaging about a 9:30/mile, but would like to work it down to a 9 min. mile. I'm not too concerned with getting much faster than that. I'm not training for a marathon, so I'm not going to kill myself by trying to get down to 8 or 7 min. miles. As a personal fitness goal, 9 minutes (or as close as I can get) would be pretty sweet. Overall, I'm still just happy to be running, period. For several years, even going back to my childhood, I couldn't run because I was too heavy and out of shape. I've only been running for about a year, so I still get excited at the thought of being able to run X minutes non-stop.
Anywho, the run left me feeling pretty good all morning until I got to work and sat down at my desk. Those time-of-the-month cramps seem to hit almost immediately, thus crushing my mood a bit. But I don't like being in pissy moods, so onward with the positive thoughts! Take that, hormones!
After the gym, I came home and mixed my usual Chocolate SuperFood with water.
Then, for breakfast:
bowl of oatmeal made with 1/2 cup oats, 1 banana, 1 tbsp. ground flax, 1 tbsp. PB2, cinnamon and 2 tbsp. reduced-fat shredded coconut (forgot the vanilla extract again, dang it!).
Once I use up the last banana tomorrow, I'll probably switch to pumpkin as a new mix-in. I'm totally on an oatmeal kick right now, as boring as that may seem. I can't help it though; I love experimenting with the mix-ins and the stuff has been holding me over for hours, which is especially helpful on weekdays. I'm just gonna keep eating it until I get sick of it. That said though, I think I need to make a trip to Costco after work and buy some oats in bulk; the canister I have now will no doubt be empty in a few days.
Snack:
1/4 cup fat-free cottage cheese with about 1/2 cup blueberries.
Lunch:
1 Good Grains bagel from Eisten Bros., spinach, turkey slices, reduced fat provolone and red bell peppers. Pear on the side. This sandwich actually ended up tasting way better than I thought it would! I've never tried the Good Grains bagel before, but it has this subtle sweetness to it that complements the turkey and bell peppers really well. And of course, it was super-hearty, making it a filling meal. I'm glad I saved it for a sandwich instead of just toasting it and slapping on some cream cheese (though I'm sure that wouldn't have been half bad either). Maybe it's just been too long since I last had a bagel sandwich, but I was really happy with this. It was simple, yet it still made me have one of those "I LOVE FOOD!" moments.
Snack:
Jazz apple.
Dinner pics to come later tonight or tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Gah. Oh well. Beating myself up never accomplishes anything, so here I am, pushing forward and moving on. I woke up at 4:30 this morning and decided to get out of bed and head to the gym. My original plan was to sleep until 5 and just work out at home, but once I woke up earlier, I figured going to the gym would be a better choice.
I was the only person in the cardio room for almost 30 minutes, so it was nice to enjoy the quiet alone time. I ran a warm-up mile, then switched to incline training. I alternated that with running in 10 minute intervals until I cracked 5 miles.
Thanks to all of the extra sugar in my system, I was able to push myself out of my 4-mile comfort zone and kick up my distance a bit. I've ran 5 miles before, but it's been a loooong time since I last tried. Although I was still feeling a bit guilty about my bad food weekend, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself for cracking 5 miles before 6 am. It's nice to feel that sense of accomplishment early in the day.
I'm a bit more motivated to try and do another 5 miles on Wednesday. If I nix the incline walks, I could cut my time down a lot too (this morning, it took me between 55 and 57 minutes to finish, but that was with 20 minutes of walking during the inclines).
My speed is getting better again (6 mph is now my 'jogging' or 'warm-up' pace, versus 5 mph). I'm averaging about a 9:30/mile, but would like to work it down to a 9 min. mile. I'm not too concerned with getting much faster than that. I'm not training for a marathon, so I'm not going to kill myself by trying to get down to 8 or 7 min. miles. As a personal fitness goal, 9 minutes (or as close as I can get) would be pretty sweet. Overall, I'm still just happy to be running, period. For several years, even going back to my childhood, I couldn't run because I was too heavy and out of shape. I've only been running for about a year, so I still get excited at the thought of being able to run X minutes non-stop.
Anywho, the run left me feeling pretty good all morning until I got to work and sat down at my desk. Those time-of-the-month cramps seem to hit almost immediately, thus crushing my mood a bit. But I don't like being in pissy moods, so onward with the positive thoughts! Take that, hormones!
After the gym, I came home and mixed my usual Chocolate SuperFood with water.
Then, for breakfast:
bowl of oatmeal made with 1/2 cup oats, 1 banana, 1 tbsp. ground flax, 1 tbsp. PB2, cinnamon and 2 tbsp. reduced-fat shredded coconut (forgot the vanilla extract again, dang it!).
Once I use up the last banana tomorrow, I'll probably switch to pumpkin as a new mix-in. I'm totally on an oatmeal kick right now, as boring as that may seem. I can't help it though; I love experimenting with the mix-ins and the stuff has been holding me over for hours, which is especially helpful on weekdays. I'm just gonna keep eating it until I get sick of it. That said though, I think I need to make a trip to Costco after work and buy some oats in bulk; the canister I have now will no doubt be empty in a few days.
Snack:
1/4 cup fat-free cottage cheese with about 1/2 cup blueberries.
Lunch:
1 Good Grains bagel from Eisten Bros., spinach, turkey slices, reduced fat provolone and red bell peppers. Pear on the side. This sandwich actually ended up tasting way better than I thought it would! I've never tried the Good Grains bagel before, but it has this subtle sweetness to it that complements the turkey and bell peppers really well. And of course, it was super-hearty, making it a filling meal. I'm glad I saved it for a sandwich instead of just toasting it and slapping on some cream cheese (though I'm sure that wouldn't have been half bad either). Maybe it's just been too long since I last had a bagel sandwich, but I was really happy with this. It was simple, yet it still made me have one of those "I LOVE FOOD!" moments.
Snack:
Jazz apple.
Dinner pics to come later tonight or tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Running & Reviews
Good grief, it's already February. Ugh. Anywho.
This morning, I headed to the gym and tried out a treadmill interval routine that boasted a 500 calorie burn. I'm still not counting calories these days, but I'm sure I burned that 500, if not a little more. It was tough, but it of course went by super fast (my favorite part about interval training) and I felt pretty damn refreshed afterward. Highly recommend! I'd also recommend browsing around the FitSugar website when you have some free time. They have a decent variety of interval workouts on various machines, as well as a lot of food/fitness info.
Quick follow up to my last post: I got a chance to try out my new workout DVDs this weekend.
Jari Love's Extremely Ripped 1000: Great DVD! I'm always hesitant to try new DVDs these days because they usually don't challenge me enough, but this one definitely exceeded my expectations (and made me sweat my ass off).
It's basically a bunch of circuits back-to-back and they all start with 3 minutes of cardio, followed by one minute of strength training, mostly with dumbbells. If you've done 30 Day Shred, it's kind of a similar format (and 3 times longer, haha). The hour routine can be split into two half hour sessions if you prefer. I liked that there wasn't any prolonged breaks in between circuits; Jari just keeps you moving along the whole time so your heart rate stays raised during the majority of the workout.
She has people working out with her in the back and they're all either doing beginner, intermediate or advanced versions of the moves the entire time. I thought this was especially awesome because it enabled me to keep up, instead of getting over/underwhelmed and turning off the DVD. I alternated between intermediate and advanced for a nice challenge.
I did the full hour and just when I thought it was over, she closes with a push-up and ab routine. I definitely groaned when that came up, but I suffered through it anyway (I think it was about 5 minutes or so).
All in all, this one was definitely worth the money. It forces me to get a good amount of strength training in, but also has enough cardio to keep me sweating on the days I don't feel like running or going to the gym for the elliptical or incline training.
So if you are, dare I say it, bored with the Jillian Michaels' DVDs and want a good gym substitute, this is next best thing (in my opinion, of course).
Weight Loss Cardio Kick: I don't have a ton to say about this one... Overall, I liked it, but it definitely didn't bring on as much sweat as I had hoped.
It did fulfill my craving for kick-boxing though. As I mentioned before, I was disappointed with the last few Tae Bo DVDs I got, so it was nice to try something different.
This DVD also works in a bit of strength training with dumbbells as well, so I'll definitely be doing it again. I think I'll just save it for days where I just want to do a fun light-to-moderate workout, versus busting my ass doing something at a higher intensity.
That's about all for now. I will quickly note that Jillian Michaels has a new yoga DVD coming out soon!
I've got it baaaad for this woman, so of course I will be getting it. I totally laughed at the thought of her teaching yoga because it doesn't seem like it would be relaxing at all, but I guess we'll see.
This morning, I headed to the gym and tried out a treadmill interval routine that boasted a 500 calorie burn. I'm still not counting calories these days, but I'm sure I burned that 500, if not a little more. It was tough, but it of course went by super fast (my favorite part about interval training) and I felt pretty damn refreshed afterward. Highly recommend! I'd also recommend browsing around the FitSugar website when you have some free time. They have a decent variety of interval workouts on various machines, as well as a lot of food/fitness info.
Quick follow up to my last post: I got a chance to try out my new workout DVDs this weekend.
Jari Love's Extremely Ripped 1000: Great DVD! I'm always hesitant to try new DVDs these days because they usually don't challenge me enough, but this one definitely exceeded my expectations (and made me sweat my ass off).
It's basically a bunch of circuits back-to-back and they all start with 3 minutes of cardio, followed by one minute of strength training, mostly with dumbbells. If you've done 30 Day Shred, it's kind of a similar format (and 3 times longer, haha). The hour routine can be split into two half hour sessions if you prefer. I liked that there wasn't any prolonged breaks in between circuits; Jari just keeps you moving along the whole time so your heart rate stays raised during the majority of the workout.
She has people working out with her in the back and they're all either doing beginner, intermediate or advanced versions of the moves the entire time. I thought this was especially awesome because it enabled me to keep up, instead of getting over/underwhelmed and turning off the DVD. I alternated between intermediate and advanced for a nice challenge.
I did the full hour and just when I thought it was over, she closes with a push-up and ab routine. I definitely groaned when that came up, but I suffered through it anyway (I think it was about 5 minutes or so).
All in all, this one was definitely worth the money. It forces me to get a good amount of strength training in, but also has enough cardio to keep me sweating on the days I don't feel like running or going to the gym for the elliptical or incline training.
So if you are, dare I say it, bored with the Jillian Michaels' DVDs and want a good gym substitute, this is next best thing (in my opinion, of course).
Weight Loss Cardio Kick: I don't have a ton to say about this one... Overall, I liked it, but it definitely didn't bring on as much sweat as I had hoped.
It did fulfill my craving for kick-boxing though. As I mentioned before, I was disappointed with the last few Tae Bo DVDs I got, so it was nice to try something different.
This DVD also works in a bit of strength training with dumbbells as well, so I'll definitely be doing it again. I think I'll just save it for days where I just want to do a fun light-to-moderate workout, versus busting my ass doing something at a higher intensity.
That's about all for now. I will quickly note that Jillian Michaels has a new yoga DVD coming out soon!
I've got it baaaad for this woman, so of course I will be getting it. I totally laughed at the thought of her teaching yoga because it doesn't seem like it would be relaxing at all, but I guess we'll see.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Three-minute cookies & 3 second revelations.
Before I get all serious and heartfelt, I HAVE to spread the word about my new favorite recipe, the 3-minute Oatmeal Cookie, thanks to Tina from Carrots 'n' Cake. I tried it this morning for breakfast because I actually had raisins for once and it was basically like eating a warm, fluffy and hearty treat. Made for a great post-workout meal. I'd highly recommend following Tina if you aren't already. It's fun to read about health, good great food, fitness and see many pictures of her adorable pug. Since I love pugs, it's pretty much the best one-stop blog for me, ha.
I did in fact make it to the gym this morning. Did some running, incline training and the stairmaster. Getting up that early is always the hardest part, but once I make it through the first 5-10 minutes, I'm good to go.
Now for the sappy stuff... I was watching Biggest Loser last night and usually when Bob and Jillian are giving their little speeches to individual team members, I must admit, I kinda zone in and out and don't really pay full attention to what they're actually saying. Well, last night while Jillian was talking to Migdalia (sp?), I paid attention and I'm glad I did. I'm paraphrasing it somewhat, but Jillian basically said that "it takes strength to show vulnerability."
Seeing as how I had just admitted yesterday how vulnerable I've been feeling, hearing her say that almost felt like a punch in the chest. I think I stopped breathing for a bit as I started to choke up. I know it's just a TV show (a controversial one at that) and I know a lot of what goes on is being done for dramatic effect, BUT there's no way I can hear a speech like that and pretend that it did not speak to me on a deeply personal level. Here I was, associating my own vulnerability with weakness, only to be told the exact opposite by one of the toughest women in the world. So naturally, I no longer have just a girl-crush on Jillian Michaels; I want to straight up marry that bitch (sorry Doug).
I did in fact make it to the gym this morning. Did some running, incline training and the stairmaster. Getting up that early is always the hardest part, but once I make it through the first 5-10 minutes, I'm good to go.
Now for the sappy stuff... I was watching Biggest Loser last night and usually when Bob and Jillian are giving their little speeches to individual team members, I must admit, I kinda zone in and out and don't really pay full attention to what they're actually saying. Well, last night while Jillian was talking to Migdalia (sp?), I paid attention and I'm glad I did. I'm paraphrasing it somewhat, but Jillian basically said that "it takes strength to show vulnerability."
Seeing as how I had just admitted yesterday how vulnerable I've been feeling, hearing her say that almost felt like a punch in the chest. I think I stopped breathing for a bit as I started to choke up. I know it's just a TV show (a controversial one at that) and I know a lot of what goes on is being done for dramatic effect, BUT there's no way I can hear a speech like that and pretend that it did not speak to me on a deeply personal level. Here I was, associating my own vulnerability with weakness, only to be told the exact opposite by one of the toughest women in the world. So naturally, I no longer have just a girl-crush on Jillian Michaels; I want to straight up marry that bitch (sorry Doug).
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Checking in.
Helllooo out there. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but still felt I should post a brief update.
Things are going well. I'm still following the CYWT plan. Feeling great, still eating my usual favorite healthy foods and, duh, enjoying the day of food-freedom each week. Physically, I'm looking better too. My arms, abs and chest (gasp! tee-hee) are all toning up nicely.
Still not ready to post weigh-ins yet though, and for a couple of reasons: A) I want to wait until I've been on the plan longer to make better sense of my overall progress and B) I'm FINALLY reaching a point where I just don't give a shit about numbers anymore. I've reached a size that I'm happy with, so as long as I'm feeling awesome AND looking awesome in my size 8's, I can't really be bothered with the scale too much. It made me crazy for a lot of months (moving from weekly to daily weigh-ins sure as hell didn't help) and that craziness went on to have negative effects on my diet and workout routines (i.e., over-exercising to make up for overeating).
I think I've finally reached a new level of balance this week. Feels like it, anyway. I've only been working out 3-4 days a week (instead of the usual 6-7) and since I've pretty much done away with counting Weight Watchers points since Thanksgiving (and of course following the CYWT program instead), I'm much more conscious of my food choices and feel like I'm finally treating myself better, instead of feeling like I was constantly being watched by the All Powerful WW Points Gods.
Don't get me wrong- following WW and losing all that weight was awesome, but it feels liberating to eat more mindfully as opposed to constantly asking myself "do I have enough points left to eat this?" It was making me insane during those last 20 pounds to goal and as I tried to move into maintenance.
I'm still tracking everything on The Daily Plate though, just for sanity checks and to see my macronutrient breakdown, which is something that I kinda need to monitor throughout CYWT. And I'm cool with that.
Anywho. I'm finally killing my anxiety toward food and finally starting to see what this maintenance thing is all about. It's sucking a lot less these days, actually. I've fully acknowledged and made peace with how I need to eat and exercise for the rest of my life. I think I used to have a general idea, but hadn't yet fully grasped the concept until now.
Speaking of exercise, I've been doing a mix of sprint intervals at the gym (alternating between the treadmill, bike, elliptical, stairmaster and sometimes, rowing machine), Tae Bo (with Body Bands) and I've re-kindled my love affair with lifting this week. I'm not gonna lie- I'm loving my arms these days. I mean, I'm feeling some serious toning all around, but my arms totally turn me on, haha. Shoulder presses & deadlifts FTW.
I think that covers everything for now. I'm not even fretting over the holidays and the clichéd weight gain. So far, I'm making December my bitch, thanks to the Holiday Calendar Joel made for the CYWT program. I know, I keep plugging it over and over, but it really has made things so much more relaxed and fool-proof for me. Definitely a change I needed to try. Hooray for progress! Hope everyone is doing well.
Things are going well. I'm still following the CYWT plan. Feeling great, still eating my usual favorite healthy foods and, duh, enjoying the day of food-freedom each week. Physically, I'm looking better too. My arms, abs and chest (gasp! tee-hee) are all toning up nicely.
Still not ready to post weigh-ins yet though, and for a couple of reasons: A) I want to wait until I've been on the plan longer to make better sense of my overall progress and B) I'm FINALLY reaching a point where I just don't give a shit about numbers anymore. I've reached a size that I'm happy with, so as long as I'm feeling awesome AND looking awesome in my size 8's, I can't really be bothered with the scale too much. It made me crazy for a lot of months (moving from weekly to daily weigh-ins sure as hell didn't help) and that craziness went on to have negative effects on my diet and workout routines (i.e., over-exercising to make up for overeating).
I think I've finally reached a new level of balance this week. Feels like it, anyway. I've only been working out 3-4 days a week (instead of the usual 6-7) and since I've pretty much done away with counting Weight Watchers points since Thanksgiving (and of course following the CYWT program instead), I'm much more conscious of my food choices and feel like I'm finally treating myself better, instead of feeling like I was constantly being watched by the All Powerful WW Points Gods.
Don't get me wrong- following WW and losing all that weight was awesome, but it feels liberating to eat more mindfully as opposed to constantly asking myself "do I have enough points left to eat this?" It was making me insane during those last 20 pounds to goal and as I tried to move into maintenance.
I'm still tracking everything on The Daily Plate though, just for sanity checks and to see my macronutrient breakdown, which is something that I kinda need to monitor throughout CYWT. And I'm cool with that.
Anywho. I'm finally killing my anxiety toward food and finally starting to see what this maintenance thing is all about. It's sucking a lot less these days, actually. I've fully acknowledged and made peace with how I need to eat and exercise for the rest of my life. I think I used to have a general idea, but hadn't yet fully grasped the concept until now.
Speaking of exercise, I've been doing a mix of sprint intervals at the gym (alternating between the treadmill, bike, elliptical, stairmaster and sometimes, rowing machine), Tae Bo (with Body Bands) and I've re-kindled my love affair with lifting this week. I'm not gonna lie- I'm loving my arms these days. I mean, I'm feeling some serious toning all around, but my arms totally turn me on, haha. Shoulder presses & deadlifts FTW.
I think that covers everything for now. I'm not even fretting over the holidays and the clichéd weight gain. So far, I'm making December my bitch, thanks to the Holiday Calendar Joel made for the CYWT program. I know, I keep plugging it over and over, but it really has made things so much more relaxed and fool-proof for me. Definitely a change I needed to try. Hooray for progress! Hope everyone is doing well.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Big bowl of awesome.
(***If you're new to the blog, feel free to read my introductory posts and my Not-so-secret-Secret to Weight Loss.)
Last night's dinner was simple, yet so tasty. After buying a shitload of groceries and finally getting everything put away, Doug split up a chicken breast for us to share. I just grilled mine with some rotisserie seasoning. Meantime, I chopped up a green bell pepper and a tomato and rinsed some canned great northern beans (which I love now, apparently. Hadn't really had them or noticed them until last night). I still wasn't 100% sure at that point what I was going to do with those ingredients, but I knew I wanted grilled meat, beans and veggies, so I kept rolling with it.
I heated some olive oil in a pan and added the peppers and tomatoes. Sprinkled on some garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Then I added in the beans and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes. When the chicken was cooled, I just tore it into bite-sized pieces and stirred it in with the beans & veggies. Topped it with some grated parmesan and, hello!, bowl of awesome. And filling, too. I saved half of the bean mixture for lunch today and will have it with tuna.
That said, we have food in the house again. A LOT of food. I spent more than I thought I would, but I also got more than I planned and saved quite a bit, especially on the produce I got at Sunflower Market. They had an awesome crop of gala apples for crazy-cheap, so I stocked up. I know you can get apples year round and most people find them to be a boring fruit, but I love 'em. And galas are one of my favorite types. Anywho. Also got a couple of spaghetti squashes, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, more carrots (love me some carrots), cauliflower (planning on mashing it sometime next week) and a bunch of other stuff, including a parsnip. Never had a parsnip before, so I wanna try one. Never had beets either, so they're next on the list.
Quick tip: Get gutsy and try a new healthy food you've never had before (or maybe tried a long time ago and didn't like), about once a month. Especially fruits/veggies. That's what I'm trying to do these days to keep me motivated. Last month, I gave brussels sprouts another shot and I actually liked them better than I did before. Still not my favorite thing in the world, but I know they're good for me, so I'm willing to knock out that big bag of them, currently sitting in my freezer.
FOOD:
breakfast:
egg whites- 1
salsa- 0
1 oz. avocado- 1
light english muffin- 1
snack:
9 almonds- 1
apple- 1
carrots/cucumbers- 0
hummus- 1
lunch:
tuna- 2
leftover beans/veggies- 3
snack:
popcorn ball- 1
chocolate cheek cookie- 2.5
dinner:
salmon- 3
broccoli/zucchini/carrot w/ teriyaki sauce- 1
post-dinner:
chocolate cheek cookie- 2.5
yoplait delight- 2
total points used: 23/22
activity points: 40 min. HIIT routine- 5
net points: 22
WAPs: 29/35 remaining
My chocolate cheek cookies are getting delivered today! Ahhh! Can't wait. Totally having one tonight. Maybe two. Muhahaha.
EXERCISE:
Another morning at the gym. I enforced the no-more-than-500-calories rule on myself, so it was a slightly shorter session today.
Today's routine:
-10 min. run (got up to 7mph today and it wasn't too bad! I used to consider that a sprinting speed, but today, it felt pretty natural.)
-20 min. incline training
-10 min. elliptical
I wanted to do the stair master for a bit, but Smelly Guy #2 was using one of the machines and it was just too early for me to be nauseated by his smell. Smelly Guy #2 is a big guy (think football player) who likes to wear several layers of clothing (including a sweatshirt), lots of cologne and then tries to break out into the biggest sweat he can. The result? Utter and complete nastiness.
And to clarify, Smelly Guy #1 is the one I usually have to deal with when I use the incline trainer. He flat out smells like rotting onions. Like, he arrives at the gym smelling like onions; it's not like he starts to smell that way after his workout.
How do you tell a complete stranger they smell like ass? My chances of ending up next to SG #1 again in the future are pretty high, so I feel like I need to say something next time he decides to workout next to me. My first impulse is to say "Dude, you reek something FIERCE!" and then walk away, but I suppose I should avoid being a complete bitch and try to be more reasonable. Sigh.
Moving on. As for tomorrow's routine, I'm not sure yet. I think I'll probably hit the gym once more and then focus on resistance training this weekend, especially if we get my new weight system set up. I can't wait to start bench pressing!
Last night's dinner was simple, yet so tasty. After buying a shitload of groceries and finally getting everything put away, Doug split up a chicken breast for us to share. I just grilled mine with some rotisserie seasoning. Meantime, I chopped up a green bell pepper and a tomato and rinsed some canned great northern beans (which I love now, apparently. Hadn't really had them or noticed them until last night). I still wasn't 100% sure at that point what I was going to do with those ingredients, but I knew I wanted grilled meat, beans and veggies, so I kept rolling with it.
I heated some olive oil in a pan and added the peppers and tomatoes. Sprinkled on some garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Then I added in the beans and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes. When the chicken was cooled, I just tore it into bite-sized pieces and stirred it in with the beans & veggies. Topped it with some grated parmesan and, hello!, bowl of awesome. And filling, too. I saved half of the bean mixture for lunch today and will have it with tuna.
That said, we have food in the house again. A LOT of food. I spent more than I thought I would, but I also got more than I planned and saved quite a bit, especially on the produce I got at Sunflower Market. They had an awesome crop of gala apples for crazy-cheap, so I stocked up. I know you can get apples year round and most people find them to be a boring fruit, but I love 'em. And galas are one of my favorite types. Anywho. Also got a couple of spaghetti squashes, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, more carrots (love me some carrots), cauliflower (planning on mashing it sometime next week) and a bunch of other stuff, including a parsnip. Never had a parsnip before, so I wanna try one. Never had beets either, so they're next on the list.
Quick tip: Get gutsy and try a new healthy food you've never had before (or maybe tried a long time ago and didn't like), about once a month. Especially fruits/veggies. That's what I'm trying to do these days to keep me motivated. Last month, I gave brussels sprouts another shot and I actually liked them better than I did before. Still not my favorite thing in the world, but I know they're good for me, so I'm willing to knock out that big bag of them, currently sitting in my freezer.
FOOD:
breakfast:
egg whites- 1
salsa- 0
1 oz. avocado- 1
light english muffin- 1
snack:
9 almonds- 1
apple- 1
carrots/cucumbers- 0
hummus- 1
lunch:
tuna- 2
leftover beans/veggies- 3
snack:
popcorn ball- 1
chocolate cheek cookie- 2.5
dinner:
salmon- 3
broccoli/zucchini/carrot w/ teriyaki sauce- 1
post-dinner:
chocolate cheek cookie- 2.5
yoplait delight- 2
total points used: 23/22
activity points: 40 min. HIIT routine- 5
net points: 22
WAPs: 29/35 remaining
My chocolate cheek cookies are getting delivered today! Ahhh! Can't wait. Totally having one tonight. Maybe two. Muhahaha.
EXERCISE:
Another morning at the gym. I enforced the no-more-than-500-calories rule on myself, so it was a slightly shorter session today.
Today's routine:
-10 min. run (got up to 7mph today and it wasn't too bad! I used to consider that a sprinting speed, but today, it felt pretty natural.)
-20 min. incline training
-10 min. elliptical
I wanted to do the stair master for a bit, but Smelly Guy #2 was using one of the machines and it was just too early for me to be nauseated by his smell. Smelly Guy #2 is a big guy (think football player) who likes to wear several layers of clothing (including a sweatshirt), lots of cologne and then tries to break out into the biggest sweat he can. The result? Utter and complete nastiness.
And to clarify, Smelly Guy #1 is the one I usually have to deal with when I use the incline trainer. He flat out smells like rotting onions. Like, he arrives at the gym smelling like onions; it's not like he starts to smell that way after his workout.
How do you tell a complete stranger they smell like ass? My chances of ending up next to SG #1 again in the future are pretty high, so I feel like I need to say something next time he decides to workout next to me. My first impulse is to say "Dude, you reek something FIERCE!" and then walk away, but I suppose I should avoid being a complete bitch and try to be more reasonable. Sigh.
Moving on. As for tomorrow's routine, I'm not sure yet. I think I'll probably hit the gym once more and then focus on resistance training this weekend, especially if we get my new weight system set up. I can't wait to start bench pressing!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Brrr.
Well, somehow, I was motivated yet again to head to the gym on a cold, cloudy weekend morning. I was out of bed by 7 and made it to the gym a little after 8. I was going to do some sort of DVD at home, but also had an itch to do another big sweat session with machines, so off I went. I figured to sooner I went, the sooner I could come home and shove breakfast food into my mouth, haha.
FOOD:
breakfast:
f.f. greek yogurt w/ pumpkin (yeah, even after adding lots of Splenda, still wouldn't recommend this. stick with berries and other fruits.)- 2
pumpkin bread- 2
lunch:
leftover green chile w/ beef, beans, tomatoes- 6
f.f. shredded cheese- 1
corn tortillas- 1
snack:
PB2 sandwich- 2
s.f pudding w/ pumpkin- 2
dinner:
sandwich thin- 1
boca vegan burger- 1
cheese- 1
sweet potato- 3
post-dinner:
apple- 1
total points used: 23/22
activity points: 50 min. running/incline training- 6
net points: 22
WAPs: 20/35 remaining
EXERCISE:
I kept things a bit more simple today and stayed on one machine to do some running and incline training.
Today:
- 20 min. run (2 miles)
- 20 min. incline training
- 10 min. run/cool-down walk
After I did that, I swung by the weight room for a bit. I used one of those arm machines that's like an exercise bike, but the "pedals" are raised up so you pedal with your hands/arms. Never tried it before, but it was pretty cool. Definitely could feel it working my biceps, triceps and abs. Then I did a few reps on another arm machine and finished off with 50 reps on the leg press. I wasn't there very long; probably less than 5 minutes, but I figured it was better than no weights at all.
I think I might try to go to the gym more on the weekends versus during the week. Well, this week anyway. Tomorrow, I'm planning on doing levels 2 & 3 of 30 Day Shred. Tuesday will be all 3 levels of Biggest Loser Boot Camp. Wednesday will be my day off, and Thursday I'll go to the gym for HIIT. I think that will make my weekday mornings seem slightly less hectic since I can just workout at home and not drive back and forth to the gym so much. I don't know. I just like to change things up once in a while.
I am loving the gym more these days though, since I've changed up my routine. It's made such a huge difference. By doing HIIT, each interval seems so much easier and goes by so much faster, thus I stay a lot more motivated and energized the whole time. And I've noticed that I'm feeling happier/invigorated/relaxed post-workout, instead of tired and blah. I don't know. I've just been feeling good. My attitude has changed for the better this past week. I'm less concerned about the numbers on the scale and hitting goal and just enjoying how great my body has been feeling lately.
FOOD:
breakfast:
f.f. greek yogurt w/ pumpkin (yeah, even after adding lots of Splenda, still wouldn't recommend this. stick with berries and other fruits.)- 2
pumpkin bread- 2
lunch:
leftover green chile w/ beef, beans, tomatoes- 6
f.f. shredded cheese- 1
corn tortillas- 1
snack:
PB2 sandwich- 2
s.f pudding w/ pumpkin- 2
dinner:
sandwich thin- 1
boca vegan burger- 1
cheese- 1
sweet potato- 3
post-dinner:
apple- 1
total points used: 23/22
activity points: 50 min. running/incline training- 6
net points: 22
WAPs: 20/35 remaining
EXERCISE:
I kept things a bit more simple today and stayed on one machine to do some running and incline training.
Today:
- 20 min. run (2 miles)
- 20 min. incline training
- 10 min. run/cool-down walk
After I did that, I swung by the weight room for a bit. I used one of those arm machines that's like an exercise bike, but the "pedals" are raised up so you pedal with your hands/arms. Never tried it before, but it was pretty cool. Definitely could feel it working my biceps, triceps and abs. Then I did a few reps on another arm machine and finished off with 50 reps on the leg press. I wasn't there very long; probably less than 5 minutes, but I figured it was better than no weights at all.
I think I might try to go to the gym more on the weekends versus during the week. Well, this week anyway. Tomorrow, I'm planning on doing levels 2 & 3 of 30 Day Shred. Tuesday will be all 3 levels of Biggest Loser Boot Camp. Wednesday will be my day off, and Thursday I'll go to the gym for HIIT. I think that will make my weekday mornings seem slightly less hectic since I can just workout at home and not drive back and forth to the gym so much. I don't know. I just like to change things up once in a while.
I am loving the gym more these days though, since I've changed up my routine. It's made such a huge difference. By doing HIIT, each interval seems so much easier and goes by so much faster, thus I stay a lot more motivated and energized the whole time. And I've noticed that I'm feeling happier/invigorated/relaxed post-workout, instead of tired and blah. I don't know. I've just been feeling good. My attitude has changed for the better this past week. I'm less concerned about the numbers on the scale and hitting goal and just enjoying how great my body has been feeling lately.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Yeesh.
Last night I ate all of my activity points and a good chunk of my allowance points. I don't know what my deal was, but I was just hungry and couldn't seem to feel satisfied. It's a good thing I froze half of that pumpkin bread I made, otherwise it would probably be gone this morning! Oh well. Back with a vengeance this morning. I was at the gym by around 8 am and busted out an 800 calorie workout. I was feeling somewhat energetic (for a cloudy, cold Saturday morning anyway) and figured I might as well take advantage of my motivation while it's strong and just kept going until I got tired. And really, I wasn't that tired by the time I finished, but I figured 800 cals in 65 minutes was a good stopping point. And yes, I admit, I was trying to make up for some of the food damage done last night. I try to avoid getting in that frame of mind (overexercising to make up for overeating), but what can I say? I'm in the 150s and would like to stay there for at least another week, haha. I'll definitely aim to keep things more balanced the rest of the week though.
Dinner at Pei Wei was good. Nothing like a big bowl of spicy noodles, beef and veggies. The guy taking our order tried to talk me out of having the beef prepared with vegetable stock instead of oil because he thought it tasted awful. After exchanging some mild pushiness, I finally said that while I appreciated the warning, I really wanted it prepared in the vegetable stock, not the oil. And hey, guess what? It tasted just fine! He made it sound like the beef would be bland and rubbery, but I thought it was tender, juicy and still full of flavor, thanks to the sauce and other spices mixed with the noodles. He later came to our table to see how I liked it and I told him it was awesome. Granted, I'm already used to eating things prepared with much less fat than most people, but I still don't think it was even close to being as bad as he described it. Anywho.
FOOD:
breakfast:
f.f. greek yogurt w/ blueberries- 2
special K cereal- 2
coffee w/ .25 cup almond milk- 0
lunch:
alternative bagel- 1
f.f. shredded cheese- 1
1 oz. avocado- 1
pear- 1
cucumber slices- 0
snack:
carrot sticks- 0
PB2- 1
8 oz. crystal light slurpee- 1
popcorn- 1
dinner:
green chile w/ beef, beans & tomatoes- 6
corn tortillas- 1
f.f. shredded cheese- 1
post-dinner:
chips- 2
salsa- 0
pumpkin bread- 2
pudding w/ pumpkin- 2
popcorn ball- 1
total points used: 26/22
activity points: 65 min HIIT routine- 8
net points: 23
WAPs: 20/35 remaining
EXERCISE:
Basically did another HIIT routine, but just extended the time on some of the intervals. I almost didn't get any time on the incline training or stair master. I felt like kind of a bitch snagging an incline trainer before the guy using it had cleaned the handles down. And I basically ran to the remaining stair master as another guy was walking toward it. But you know what? I don't really care. I'll try not to make a habit of doing that in the future, but I was on a mission today and wasn't in the mood to dick around, waiting for the machines I really wanted to use. Yes, this is me, once again, talking/acting like a self-righteous gym queen. It happens.
Today's routine:
- 14 min. run
- 21 min. incline training
- 15 min. elliptical
- 10 min. stair master
- 5 min. run/cool down walk
Dinner at Pei Wei was good. Nothing like a big bowl of spicy noodles, beef and veggies. The guy taking our order tried to talk me out of having the beef prepared with vegetable stock instead of oil because he thought it tasted awful. After exchanging some mild pushiness, I finally said that while I appreciated the warning, I really wanted it prepared in the vegetable stock, not the oil. And hey, guess what? It tasted just fine! He made it sound like the beef would be bland and rubbery, but I thought it was tender, juicy and still full of flavor, thanks to the sauce and other spices mixed with the noodles. He later came to our table to see how I liked it and I told him it was awesome. Granted, I'm already used to eating things prepared with much less fat than most people, but I still don't think it was even close to being as bad as he described it. Anywho.
FOOD:
breakfast:
f.f. greek yogurt w/ blueberries- 2
special K cereal- 2
coffee w/ .25 cup almond milk- 0
lunch:
alternative bagel- 1
f.f. shredded cheese- 1
1 oz. avocado- 1
pear- 1
cucumber slices- 0
snack:
carrot sticks- 0
PB2- 1
8 oz. crystal light slurpee- 1
popcorn- 1
dinner:
green chile w/ beef, beans & tomatoes- 6
corn tortillas- 1
f.f. shredded cheese- 1
post-dinner:
chips- 2
salsa- 0
pumpkin bread- 2
pudding w/ pumpkin- 2
popcorn ball- 1
total points used: 26/22
activity points: 65 min HIIT routine- 8
net points: 23
WAPs: 20/35 remaining
EXERCISE:
Basically did another HIIT routine, but just extended the time on some of the intervals. I almost didn't get any time on the incline training or stair master. I felt like kind of a bitch snagging an incline trainer before the guy using it had cleaned the handles down. And I basically ran to the remaining stair master as another guy was walking toward it. But you know what? I don't really care. I'll try not to make a habit of doing that in the future, but I was on a mission today and wasn't in the mood to dick around, waiting for the machines I really wanted to use. Yes, this is me, once again, talking/acting like a self-righteous gym queen. It happens.
Today's routine:
- 14 min. run
- 21 min. incline training
- 15 min. elliptical
- 10 min. stair master
- 5 min. run/cool down walk
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Back to the grind.
Pretty lazy Labor Day. Made some teriyaki broccoli, tofu & mushrooms for dinner last night. I adapted it from a Biggest Loser cookbook recipe. Turned out pretty good. I've made it before, but adding the mushrooms gave it a nice touch.
FOOD:
breakfast:
egg beaters- 1
diced onion/mushroom/tomato- 0
light swiss- 1
light english muffin- 1
snack:
soynut mix- 2
celery/cucumber/bell pepper strips- 0
guacamole- 2
lunch:
leftover teriyaki broccoli/tofu/mushrooms- 4
cantaloupe cubes- 1
snack:
popcorn ball- 1
dinner:
chicken breast- 3
mashed cauliflower- 2
cucumber-tomato salad- 0
f.f. poppyseed dressing- 1
coors light- 2
s.f. pudding- 2
post-dinner:
popcorn- 1
total points used: 24/23
activity points: 50 min HIIT- 6
net points: 23
WAPs: -42/35 remaining
EXERCISE:
Did my first day of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) this morning at the gym. It was only the first day, but yeah, I think I'm a fan. I didn't stay on a single machine for more than 15 minutes, so the time flew by and my heart rate stayed pretty high all the way through, which was good for calorie burn.
This was my routine:
-10 min. treadmill (1 mile run)
-15 min. stairmaster
-10 min. elliptical
-10 min. incline training
-5 min. cool-down walk/stretching
I re-discovered the stairmaster (the one that's like an escalator). It's been months since I last used one and I was surprised how high it kept my heart rate. It kept it even higher than incline training, so definitely a good alternative. And the course I chose had a really good pace that kept me sweating, but also slowed down when I needed to catch my breath.
So that's that. I think I'm gonna stick with those machines for a while and just change the order in which I use them. Once I start to get bored, I might add in some cycling and rowing. We'll see.
Tomorrow I'm planning on doing Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones, to keep up with my strength training. Thursday, I'll probably go to the gym again for HIIT and Friday, I think I'll do the Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism DVD, just because I haven't done it in a while.
FOOD:
breakfast:
egg beaters- 1
diced onion/mushroom/tomato- 0
light swiss- 1
light english muffin- 1
snack:
soynut mix- 2
celery/cucumber/bell pepper strips- 0
guacamole- 2
lunch:
leftover teriyaki broccoli/tofu/mushrooms- 4
cantaloupe cubes- 1
snack:
popcorn ball- 1
dinner:
chicken breast- 3
mashed cauliflower- 2
cucumber-tomato salad- 0
f.f. poppyseed dressing- 1
coors light- 2
s.f. pudding- 2
post-dinner:
popcorn- 1
total points used: 24/23
activity points: 50 min HIIT- 6
net points: 23
WAPs: -42/35 remaining
EXERCISE:
Did my first day of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) this morning at the gym. It was only the first day, but yeah, I think I'm a fan. I didn't stay on a single machine for more than 15 minutes, so the time flew by and my heart rate stayed pretty high all the way through, which was good for calorie burn.
This was my routine:
-10 min. treadmill (1 mile run)
-15 min. stairmaster
-10 min. elliptical
-10 min. incline training
-5 min. cool-down walk/stretching
I re-discovered the stairmaster (the one that's like an escalator). It's been months since I last used one and I was surprised how high it kept my heart rate. It kept it even higher than incline training, so definitely a good alternative. And the course I chose had a really good pace that kept me sweating, but also slowed down when I needed to catch my breath.
So that's that. I think I'm gonna stick with those machines for a while and just change the order in which I use them. Once I start to get bored, I might add in some cycling and rowing. We'll see.
Tomorrow I'm planning on doing Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones, to keep up with my strength training. Thursday, I'll probably go to the gym again for HIIT and Friday, I think I'll do the Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism DVD, just because I haven't done it in a while.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
The beginnings of a self-righteous gym rat.
FOOD:
breakfast:
f.f. cottage cheese w/ blueberries- 2
light english muffin- 1
coffee w/ .25 cup almond milk- 0
snack:
carrot sticks- 0
PB2- 1
lunch:
sandwich thin- 1
chicken slices- 1
r.f. pepperjack- 1
2 cups WW progresso vegetable soup- 2
snack:
9 almonds- 1
soy nut mix- 2
dinner:
salmon- 3
spinach/tomatoes/splash white wine- 1
6 brussel sprouts w/ 1 tsp. olive oil- 1
1 oz. avocado- 1
post-dinner:
9 almonds- 1
3 prunes- 1
fudge bar- 1
almond milk- 1
grapes- 1
cantaloupe- 1
total points used: 24/23
activity points: 45 min. incline training- 6
net points: 23
WAPs: 35/35 remaining
Still not sure what my afternoon snack will be. Either a Lightfull smoothie or a packet of soy nut mix. Dinner will be some salmon sauteed with spinach, diced tomatoes, garlic, Ivar's Seafood Seasoning and a splash of white wine. God, it's so friggin' good.
EXERCISE:
Went to the gym this morning. It was a tough decision because quiz ran late last night and I didn't sleep all that well. But, somehow, between weird dreams and getting overheated, I managed to wake up 6 minutes before 5am. I rolled out of bed and started getting ready.
I was pretty pissed that the incline trainers were taken when I got there. Technically, there was one open, but it wouldn't turn on. So I ran on a regular treadmill for about 10 minutes until an incline trainer opened up. I know I'm not the only one getting up at 5 am to work out before work; I respect every person that I see at the gym for joining me in that decision. But man, I hate it when people hog up the incline trainers and don't turn on the incline! These machines are specially designed to go up to a 30% grade. Yet people use them to walk at 0% at 3.5 mph AND use the handlebars (I'm sorry, but when I see people using the handlebars at that pace, it irritates me. Walking at a moderate pace is one thing, but using the handlebars takes your heart rate down even more).
Anywho, the incline trainers are right in front of the TVs, so they tend to go pretty quick. And when they do, I start getting pissy and judgmental toward the people using them to walk/run at 0% grade when there are a dozen other perfectly good treadmills for the non-incline people. Sigh. I know, I'm being an ass, but if I'm getting up at 5 am to go to the gym, I want my incline trainer without having to wait, dang it! This is why I hope to buy my own someday. Oh, what a happy day that will be.
==============================
In other news, I've been weighing myself the past few days and there's no way in hell I'm showing a loss tomorrow. As soon as my period hit on Monday, I shot up 5 pounds over the next few days, despite having a perfect food/exercise week. So depressing. Not only because of the scale, but physically too. I've been doing sit-ups for the past week and finally noticed my stomach smoothing out. But as soon as the period hit, I looked 6 months pregnant. Nice.
I know I said earlier this week that I wasn't going to pay as much attention to the numbers on the scale, but for crying out loud- when the hell am I gonna see 158? It's September already, man! I thought I would see that number in July, August at the latest and it just seems the world is against me every Friday morning. Buh. Oh well.
I'm actually feeling pretty good this morning, so I'll stop trying to put myself in a bad mood over something I simply had no control over this week. One benefit to getting up early to go to the gym is that when I'm done working out and walking to my car, the sun is just starting to come up and the sky looks so beautiful. It really is a good way to start the morning. Then I come home, shower, get dressed and slowly enjoy my breakfast with warm coffee. I don't know, I just have that lovey-dovey-hippy-optimistic feeling before I go to work, which I certainly never had before when I worked out in the evenings, haha.
breakfast:
f.f. cottage cheese w/ blueberries- 2
light english muffin- 1
coffee w/ .25 cup almond milk- 0
snack:
carrot sticks- 0
PB2- 1
lunch:
sandwich thin- 1
chicken slices- 1
r.f. pepperjack- 1
2 cups WW progresso vegetable soup- 2
snack:
9 almonds- 1
soy nut mix- 2
dinner:
salmon- 3
spinach/tomatoes/splash white wine- 1
6 brussel sprouts w/ 1 tsp. olive oil- 1
1 oz. avocado- 1
post-dinner:
9 almonds- 1
3 prunes- 1
fudge bar- 1
almond milk- 1
grapes- 1
cantaloupe- 1
total points used: 24/23
activity points: 45 min. incline training- 6
net points: 23
WAPs: 35/35 remaining
Still not sure what my afternoon snack will be. Either a Lightfull smoothie or a packet of soy nut mix. Dinner will be some salmon sauteed with spinach, diced tomatoes, garlic, Ivar's Seafood Seasoning and a splash of white wine. God, it's so friggin' good.
EXERCISE:
Went to the gym this morning. It was a tough decision because quiz ran late last night and I didn't sleep all that well. But, somehow, between weird dreams and getting overheated, I managed to wake up 6 minutes before 5am. I rolled out of bed and started getting ready.
I was pretty pissed that the incline trainers were taken when I got there. Technically, there was one open, but it wouldn't turn on. So I ran on a regular treadmill for about 10 minutes until an incline trainer opened up. I know I'm not the only one getting up at 5 am to work out before work; I respect every person that I see at the gym for joining me in that decision. But man, I hate it when people hog up the incline trainers and don't turn on the incline! These machines are specially designed to go up to a 30% grade. Yet people use them to walk at 0% at 3.5 mph AND use the handlebars (I'm sorry, but when I see people using the handlebars at that pace, it irritates me. Walking at a moderate pace is one thing, but using the handlebars takes your heart rate down even more).
Anywho, the incline trainers are right in front of the TVs, so they tend to go pretty quick. And when they do, I start getting pissy and judgmental toward the people using them to walk/run at 0% grade when there are a dozen other perfectly good treadmills for the non-incline people. Sigh. I know, I'm being an ass, but if I'm getting up at 5 am to go to the gym, I want my incline trainer without having to wait, dang it! This is why I hope to buy my own someday. Oh, what a happy day that will be.
==============================
In other news, I've been weighing myself the past few days and there's no way in hell I'm showing a loss tomorrow. As soon as my period hit on Monday, I shot up 5 pounds over the next few days, despite having a perfect food/exercise week. So depressing. Not only because of the scale, but physically too. I've been doing sit-ups for the past week and finally noticed my stomach smoothing out. But as soon as the period hit, I looked 6 months pregnant. Nice.
I know I said earlier this week that I wasn't going to pay as much attention to the numbers on the scale, but for crying out loud- when the hell am I gonna see 158? It's September already, man! I thought I would see that number in July, August at the latest and it just seems the world is against me every Friday morning. Buh. Oh well.
I'm actually feeling pretty good this morning, so I'll stop trying to put myself in a bad mood over something I simply had no control over this week. One benefit to getting up early to go to the gym is that when I'm done working out and walking to my car, the sun is just starting to come up and the sky looks so beautiful. It really is a good way to start the morning. Then I come home, shower, get dressed and slowly enjoy my breakfast with warm coffee. I don't know, I just have that lovey-dovey-hippy-optimistic feeling before I go to work, which I certainly never had before when I worked out in the evenings, haha.
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