Re-visiting old friends.

Man, what is up with me and June? I'm still finding myself feeling a bit lost and bouncing in and out of funks. I'm feeling awesome today (I'm sure today being Friday hasn't hurt), but I hope the feeling lasts longer than a few days. Anywho, contemplating such things won't really help, so I suppose I'll just go with the flow...

Since I've had a "Meh" attitude toward fitness lately, I thought it was a good time to re-visit an old friend:



Well, hello there. Who forgot how intense these routines are? *Raises hand* Hachi-machi! I was feeling cocky on Wednesday and went straight to level 3. I forgot how much I kinda hate mountain climbers.

Busted out level 2 yesterday, but got cocky again and upped my weights. Definitely felt like a good challenge at the time, but now my shoulders are busted and I grunt every time I pick up my water bottle.

Taking a much-deserved day off. I thought I might do a run and/or some hot stair master action, but was quickly reminded of how much my calves are killing me. Despite the crazy soreness that I haven't experienced in several weeks (months?), I did indeed fall in love with the Shred all over again. How could I not? It's under 30 minutes, makes me sweat buckets, has me huffin' and puffin' in seconds and works over just about every damn muscle in my body. I know I need to (and will) mix in other forms of exercise, but [cue Hank Hill voice] boy I tell ya' what, these workouts have given my motivation a boost and of course, have challenged my current level of fitness, which has clearly slipped recently. I don't view it as a bad thing though; I want to get faster at mountain climbers and I want to have killer form when performing jumping lunges.

Now, I'm all about trying new things when I find myself in a funk (in fact, I finally ordered a copy of Last Chance Workout yesterday), but sometimes, it's just as, if not more, helpful to go back to some familiar classics.

I've also started doing this with eating schtuff. I've been really out of touch with food appreciation and hunger/full signals, so I went back and re-read my favorite highlights from French Women Don't Get Fat. I needed to remind myself that it's best to truly enjoy everything I eat, and not eat something just because it's there or because I think it will take the place of what I'm really craving. And that said, if I am indeed eating what I really want, I'm more likely to be satisfied with less. I was rockin' the French thing so well and one misstep turned into, well, I've lost count. But y'know what? It's okay.

I'm easing on the brakes and really just trying to not beat myself up, more than anything else. I'm also trying to think more positively and am ready to have a nice long talk with my doctor at my annual physical next month. She's always been super-cool, so I'm looking forward to hearing what she has to say. An outside prospective from a professional tends to help simplify my approach to things. I have this natural tendency to make things harder for myself and it's just ridiculous.

Anywho, I just gotta keep feelin' the good vibes. Got a pretty good weekend planned so far... Tomorrow morning, Doug, James (our housemate) and I are gonna go to a farmer's market. Then either later that day or Sunday, Doug and I want to go hiking since the weather is supposed to cool down through Monday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Nothing says "tough" like a sweat band.

So what was more exciting than trying a new workout DVD this morning? Getting to wear my new sweat band!

 

Chuckle if you must, but I've needed one of these for so long now, it's ridiculous. I wear glasses and can't tell you how many times I've blurted out expletives when big drops of sweat all of the sudden appear on my lenses. It's especially bad when doing things in plank position and during push-ups, so I finally took action. And y'know what? It's awesome. Super-absorbent, leaving my glasses and eyes sweat-free!

Ok, enough of that. Time for some fitness DVD feedback! Today's option was:

Not bad! It's broken up into three 20 minute workouts (upper body, lower body and core), so I decided to be ballsy and do all three.

It definitely moves muuuuch slower than her Power Circuit Training DVD, but I kinda appreciated that this time around.

All of the workouts have you do 2-3 strength/resistance moves for about 1 minute each and then you do 1-2 cardio moves in between. For example, after doing a minute of bicep curls and a minute of shoulder presses, you break out into some basic jab punches.

Although cardio moves are added, I can't say my heart rate got very high for very long, nor did I sweat very much over 60 minutes. BUT, I of course worked my muscles over pretty damn good. The lower body segment of course included tons of different squats and lunges that I have done before, but Jackie combined them in ways that were new to me. Probably one of my favorite moves was called a Box Squat (or maybe it was called a Box Lunge??... can't remember exactly) where you squat to the side and then do a forward lunge, alternating both sides. As much as I hate lunges, I really liked this move because it incorporated squats, which I don't mind as much.

A couple of things I noticed (and appreciated) were my breathing and my form. Since the pace of the workout is a tad slower, I found myself really focusing on my form and therefore getting more out of each move. And since my muscles were working harder, my breathing was more focused. It's not like I usually hold my breath every time I work out, I just noticed that making a conscious effort to breathe steadily really helped me move along through the moves and made me feel stronger.

The core segment was, as expected, BRUTAL. Again, maybe I just have wussy abs, but I found myself taking more breaks during this segment because the burn just got to be too much at times. Luckily though, there was one girl doing alternate moves which made a lot of them easier on my back and neck. And be prepared; the cardio moves in the ab section definitely sneak up on you! She throws in mountain climbers, half-burpees (same thing as Jillian Michaels' squat thrusts) and walking planks, all of which I hadn't done in a while and really had to push through.

So, despite the slower pace an decreased sweat output (perhaps the new sweat band is to blame?), I still enjoyed this DVD. It kind of reminded me of a slower, stretched out version of 30 Day Shred, but still moves fast enough that it doesn't feel like a full hour. And I already know I'll be feeling that post-burn soreness soon. In fact, I already am. My quads were already a bit sore from my run yesterday, and now they're all nice and burn-y from all of those lunges and squats. Woo!

Alright, time for pics. I took my breakfast, lunch and snack photos all at once this morning to save time and prevent multiple posts.

Breakfast:





Quick egg scramble in a bowl. Used 1/2 cup egg substitute, 1/4 cup fat-free shredded cheese and a couple spoonfuls of fresh salsa. Stirred and microwaved for about 2:30.



Half a cup of sweet lil' blueberries.



Cold coffee with about 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze.

Morning snack:



A slice of Honey Whole Wheat with a packet of Barney Butter.

Lunch:



Two slices of leftover spinach & mushroom pizza with a pear on the side.

Afternoon snack:



Baby carrots and light string cheese.

Skipping dinner pics tonight since it will more than likely be more leftover pizza. Later!

Wheat grass, DVDs, recipes and other schtuff.

Today's post is kinda all over the place, but I'll try to keep it as organized as possible!

Wheat grass.

First off, let me just state that I have officially jumped on the Amazing Grass bandwagon. I've read about it on a few of my favorite blogs for the past few months and finally gave it a try. I bought some samples from Whole Foods last night and I'm officially hooked. That said, I have massive amounts of the stuff (in the berry, chocolate and regular green flavors) on order from Amazon. Was it one of those impulsive [expensive] purchases? Yes. Do I care? Not so much (even less so, after filing my taxes this morning and seeing how much of a refund is coming my way! Gotta love that extra cash-money from ol' Uncle Sam each year).

I've always liked the flavor of wheat grass, so I'm excited to mix up this powder in all sorts of smoothies or enjoy it by itself. Last night I mixed a packet with some chocolate almond milk and this morning I tried it with just water. Dug the taste prepared both ways. I must admit, I enjoy it more with a *little bit* of sweetener. I'm a fan of the sweetness. What can I say?

It's still a bit early to tell if I've experienced the numerous health benefits it boasts, but I must say, after falling asleep after 11 pm last night, I woke up pretty damn refreshed at 5 am this morning. Like, noticeably refreshed. I told myself last night that if I was too tired at 5 am to work out, I would go ahead and give myself a rest day, but once I sat up to turn off the alarm, I felt like I could tackle some 30 Day Shred. And I did just that. Levels 2 and 3, even.

Was it the wheat grass shot from the night before? Placebo effect? Who knows. But I do know that, despite how long I've been doing early morning workouts, I'm usually groggy at that hour and still totally not a morning person.

I plan on consuming AG daily once my shipment arrives, so I'll keep you all posted on any changes I notice over the next few weeks.

DVDs.

While adding copious amounts of wheat grass powder to my Amazon shopping cart, I also threw in some new fitness DVDs that have been getting some buzz lately:



and



I'm not gonna lie- Jari Love just looks creepy and a little too thin to me on that cover, but based on what I've read, it's a challenging DVD that's supposed to deliver. We shall see!

As for Cardio Kick, I've just been itching to do some kick boxing lately. The last few Tae Bo DVDs I got were just disappointing overall (too many ridiculous moves packed into one workout, too much use of the 'body bands,' etc.), so it's time to try something new. I think this will be a good fit.

Reviews of those to follow in the next week or so as well. I'm still hitting the gym and mixing in yoga, but even between the gym and all of my equipment at home, I still get bored with my workout routines from time to time. And seeing as how I like [and dislike] to get my workouts over and done with early in the a.m., I need to mix things up to keep me motivated. I hope these new DVDs will do the trick.

Recipes.

Couple of recipes to share:

-Tuna & Chickpea Salad with Pesto. Oh. My. God. I made this the other night and it turned out just awesome. Probably because it required no actual cooking and called for easy, tasty ingredients, heh. Doug's not a fan of bell peppers, so I substituted those with some sun-dried tomatoes (the dry ones- not the kind packed in oil). I also sprinkled some fat-free feta on top. Deliciousness. In fact, I need to start wrapping this post up because I brought leftovers for lunch!

-Chicken & Bok Choy Stir Fry. Haven't actually tried this one yet, but it's on the menu for dinner tonight. I picked up some bok choy at the store the other night, so all of the ingredients are patiently waiting in the kitchen. Just looking at the ingredient list, I'm confident that it'll taste pretty darn good.

Schtuff.

This week is shaping up to be one of the best weeks I've had in a while. It started out semi-rough, but gradually got better each day. My workouts were steady and left me feeling strong, my food intake has been balanced (and sooo tasty!), my "food-mood," as I like to call it, is finally starting to mellow out and I'm starting to feel like myself again. The previous binging episodes from the past few months made me feel like a stranger in my own body. I know it probably sounds silly, but for a while there, I felt like I lost my identity because I was stuck in this messy state of all around unhealthiness. I was eating crap, felt like crap and for whatever reason(s), couldn't bring myself to care enough to break the cycle of crap.

Eating mindfully takes practice (more so than I originally thought), but I'm definitely starting to get the hang of it. I'm still reading Eat What You Love... and each chapter paragraph reaffirms that I'm totally capable of having a sane relationship with food and that I deserve any health & happiness that results from said relationship.

Yeah, yeah, I started to get all lovey-dovey-hippy-ish in that last bit, but it's true. And I'm finally starting to realize how imperative it is to just stop being a wuss and start being honest about my feelings ;D

Weigh-In Day.

Today's weight: 151.8. A gain of 0.8 pounds. Since last week showed me a loss of 5.8 pounds, a gain was expected. But... I must be honest... After having my first perfect week in several weeks (no binging, consistent exercise, TONS of fruit & veggies), seeing a gain was a tad bit irritating. I was hoping I would've at least stayed the same. Oh well. It is what it is.

I took the day off from work today. Slept in a little and then did levels 2 & 3 of the 30 Day Shred DVD back to back, followed by a weight routine with bench presses (30 pounds) and deadlifts (50 pounds). I'm starting to dig deadlifts now that I increased the weight. I can feel my abs, legs, arms and chest all working all at once. It's really easy to talk myself out of lifting, but once I actually do it, I start to enjoy it because I'm more in tune with my muscles and can literally feel myself getting stronger. Feels pretty bad-ass.

That's about it, really. Not much else to report. Hopefully I'll have a more exciting post next week. Have a great weekend!

Yawn.

FOOD:

breakfast:
f.f. cottage cheese w/ peaches- 2
light english muffin- 1
coffee w/ .25 cup almond milk- 0

snack:
apple- 1
9 almonds- 1
carrot sticks- 0
PB2- 1

lunch:
healthy choice chicken alfredo florentine- 4

snack:
popcorn ball- 1

dinner:
pork chop w/ teriyaki- 4
zucchini w/ olive oil- 1
couscous- 3

post-dinner:
kashi sunshine cereal- 1.5
pumpkin bread- 2

total points used: 22.5/22
activity points: 30 Day Shred levels two & three- 3.5
net points: 22
WAPs: 20/35 remaining

Planning on a simple, tasty favorite for dinner. We love the simplicity of grilled meat & veggies with a light, quick starch like couscous. And of course, the teriyaki sauce brings everything together. Can't wait!

EXERCISE:

Did levels 2 & 3 of 30 Day Shred this morning. Ugh. I'm always reminded on level 3 of how much work my arms need. And that I hate lunges, especially jumping ones.


Nothing too exciting for today. It's Monday. New Biggest Loser starts tomorrow!