Monday June 7, 2010

Workout: 2 mile warm up + upper body

Weight: 123.4

I actually made it to the gym this morning. Its kind of nice going at 6 instead of 5:15ish since the girls are out of school and I don't have to be home in time to do my devotions AND make lunches and breakfast before 8:35. I think I can handle it.

And then the girls slept until 10. I can definitely handle that.

At any rate, I think I ran a tad bit over 2 miles in 20 minutes. I did the first 10 minutes at 5.8 which left me lagging behind the 10 minute/mile mark, so for the second 10 minutes I ran at 6.2 or 3 - don't remember. Caught up to the 10 min/mil mark at 16:00 and then went below the 10 minute mark. at 17:30 I jacked it up to 6.5, increased to 6.7 at 18:00, 6.8 (or 9) at 18:30 and 7.0 for the last minute. Don't remember my exact mileage, but it was slightly over 2 miles.

I was also pleased to see that my heart rate was in the 150's during the first 10 minutes and in the low 160's while I was running at 6.2 (or 3). This is a very measureable difference from when I started running at the first of the year and my heart rate was in the 180's while I was running at 5.8/6.0 on the treadmill. I can confidently say that I'm in great shape.

I also went on to do upper body weights. Ugh. Hate it. I think I mostly hate it because after doing 30 minutes of vigorous weight training, I only earned 1 activity point. Running 30 minutes = 3 APs, weight lifting for 30:00 = 1. Ugh. I'd rather run. But weight training is important so I will continue doing it. I almost failed most of my exercises on the last set. I'm working my back and shoulders particularly hard because a) I love toned arms and back and b) those muscles are pretty important to a running stride. So work them, I will. And then I will complain about how much I hate it:) And my arms were very jelly-like afterward which made washing my hair uncomfortable.

Didn't do bad with the diet over the weekend. I didn't count points, but I didn't eat terribly either. I'm glad to see my weight is down slightly from where it has been resting for the last few months. That is an encouraging sign. My official WW weigh in day is Friday so hopefully it is down even a slight bit more by the end of the week. I'm used to the eating/points again, so I'm again confident that I can handle it and not be so crabby and irritable about it. Once training starts up again, I'll reevaluate whether or not I want to continue, but I suspect it might not be so bad since my mileage and activity points will increase pretty dramatically at that point.

Still looking forward to the training - the structure and the actual workouts and the goal of the race on September 25th. I shall have much more motivation because of it.

Wednesday May 19, 2010

Workout: 2 mile warm up run + lower body & Abs

Weight: 126.4

Workout was fine. Nothing exciting. Lifting heavy again and it feels kind of good.

I came home from the gym and immediately cancelled my WW membership. I was thinking it over at the gym... I'm comfortable with my weight, with the number. I've been fluctuating a lot over the last several months, but I'm okay with it. I feel good, I look good, my clothes fit. I joined WW again in order to get a better handle and discipline on my eating. I realized this morning, though, that I know how to eat healthy - I just need to do it. I need to be more disciplined myself. What I don't need is the obsession about points and how many I'm eating at any given meal or any given snack. I don't need to do that right now and I don't want that in my life... that aspect of dieting is absolute clutter for me at this point. It works - definitely works, but until I'm 10 pounds heavier, I don't have the motivation to add that clutter back into my life. For the little bit that I'd like to lose, I can do it by tightening up my diet on my own. And if I don't lose that little bit, I'm still okay.

This all came to me because I made a good and quite healthy dinner last night: Turkey meatloaf and steamed dirty broccoli. It was good. It was healthy. And I felt guilty about eating it because it was more points than I wanted to eat at dinner. What is that? That is the clutter that I need to be rid of. I need to focus more on eating plant first and eliminating the junky food that has crept into my diet and into our home... chips, animal crackers, ice cream, etc. THAT is what I need to change.

W2D11

Beginning Date: January 7, 2008
Ending Date: March 30, 2008
Total Miles: 3.0
Total Squats: 640

Workout: Back/Biceps/Body Weight

Did my squats last night before bed. Did 100 more this morning between exercises, then 100 more intense pulse squats in the shower. I should be catching up, hopefully. If I remember, I'll do another 100 before bed tonight. Dave thinks I'm obsessed with squats. Truthfully, I'm not, but I know that they are going to do wonders for toning.

I may have to rearrange my dinner menus according to the days that I run and the days that I lift. Yesterday I earned 4 activity points from running. If I run the full 45 minutes I'll earn 5 points. Dinner on the menu last night was TJ's tomato soup - 2 points per cup. Add 1/2 c. cottage cheese and I'm still only at a 4 point dinner. My running day dinners need to be bigger. I also felt hungrier throughout the day yesterday, likely because of the work I did that morning.

Today, I lifted for 30 minutes and earned only 1 activity point. But dinner tonight is supposed to be chicken sausage - a 5 point dinner. Not too bad, but I do need to reevaluate the schedule - it would simply make more sense to have the lower point dinners on the easier workout days.

I'm feeling better now that I'm back at things - eating & working out. Its good for me to be disciplined this way. My body feels better, my confidence is better and I'm enjoying it. I'm still tired at night, but I believe it has more to do with waking up at 5:30 every morning and not the intensity of the workouts. My body is not physically tired like it was in the fall. There is just no way I could have kept up that schedule and intensity.

Workout:
Back -
1) Lat Pull Down - 3x15 @ #4
2) Reverse Cybex row - 3x15 @ #4
Biceps -
1) Lying DB Hammer Curl - 12, 9, 8 @ 14lbs
2) 21's - 3 sets @ 16lbs
Body Weight -
Push ups with feet elevated - 12, 10, 10
Tricep Dips - 12, 10, 10
Squats - 100

WW W2D15

Beginning Date: January 7, 2008
Ending Date: March 30, 2008
Total Miles: 0
Total Squats: 340

Workout: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps - 40:00 = 2 activity points

Workout was good this morning. I have to come down on weight a bit on a couple of the exercises since I'm focusing less on building muscle. It was good though. I love to lift weights.

I did my squats last night before bed because I had forgotten about them. I did today's squats in between each muscle exercise. This is a good goal to pursue - they're not difficult, but doing a ton of them is definitely going to tone things up down there.

Tomorrow I will run. I WILL RUN:)

STC - C2W7D44

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: SS cardio - running: 2.397 miles in 30:00

I ran on the treadmill this morning - was looking for my couch to 5k plan, but couldn't find it so I improvised. I did a 5 minute walking warmup, then ran for 1:30, walked for 1:00. Did these intervals for 20 minutes, then ran for 2:30 and walked for 2:00 cool down. I'm just more successful if I can watch the clock and change it up every minute or so. I'm going to have to look up the C25k online to see how close I got to the actual training program.

Tonight I lift legs/back/bis.

We were gone over the weekend, so we were unable to prepare all of our normal foods. Yesterday was a struggle to find enough food to eat. Today is going to be another struggle, I think, because Dave worked late last night and we weren't able to do any preparation or shopping last night either. We'll figure it out.

I really hope that all of this hard, hard work pays off by my birthday. I'm struggling because I can't see any changes - I can't see them and there are no changes on the scale. I'm working my bum off and my body is constantly sore and tired. I'm frustrated because I don't know how much its going to take if this doesn't work.

***********************************************************************************

Just finished lifting weights and doing one round of ab bootcamp. I increased weights and/or reps on every exercise. Ab bootcamp wasn't too bad, but I was just going through the exercises slowly to get a feel for what it was. You're supposed to do it 3 times through, but I just did once. I'll definitely do it again.

Workout felt good tonight. I feel strong. I feel like I'm working hard.

C2W7D43

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: 20:00 HIIT, 10 minute steady state walking at 5% incline, Chest/Shoulders/Tris
2.298 total miles, 2 miles in 25:02

Weekend was good. We went to Grand Rapids and we packed all of our meals for Saturday. We did good for most of the day, but got stuck in really bad traffic on the way out there (flooded expressway) and our meal times got off because of it. We went to the fair and ate protein pancakes instead of fair food, but by the time we got to mom and dad's we were one meal behind - so I chose to have some low fat ice cream to replace both meals. It could have been much, much worse. I'm happy with my eating performance over the weekend:)

Yesterday was the summer birthday picnic and we had hamburgers and hot dogs and chips. I had 2 hot dogs (& buns) and a hamburger. I had some chips and 1/2 of a cookie, but definitely did not go overboard. I didn't even feel like it was hard. I had cereal for breakfast and some buffalo pretzels on the way home & 1/2 of a candy bar. Cereal for dinner and a klondike bar afterward. All in all it was a good free day - I was not controlled by food and I didn't go overboard and didn't feel horrible by the end. Sounds like a lot of food, but in comparison, it really wasn't.

I'm feeling good about how things are going. I have no idea if I am progressing at all. My weight seems to be stuck around 131/132 and doesn't want to go anywhere, but at least I'm not gaining. Dave says that my legs are different and my body is just different - more toned and less fat. I can't see the changes, but he can. I didn't take any measurements or pictures this weekend and am trying to figure out when I want to do that again - I just don't want to be disappointed by lack of progress. I feel like I'm working soooo hard and if I don't see progress I'm going to get disappointed and discouraged.

STC - C2W6D39

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: steady state cardio - treadmill 30:00; Chest/Shoulders/Triceps Total: 60:00

Workout was good this morning. I pushed myself to run a little longer without taking a rest than I have before. I want to be a runner, I just need to work myself up to it. I think I'm going to try to figure out how to do the couch-to-5k training program soon. I just have to sit down and figure out if it will fit into my workout schedule as it is designed now.

Lifting was good, too. I increased weights and/or reps on every excercise. Good progress.

Yesterday was my med/high calorie day. I felt like my stomach was going to explode all morning. I'm just not used to eating that much food.

M1 - 6 whites & 2 yolks, onions, peppers, tomatos & 1/2c. dry oatmeal (cooked) for breakfast. M2 - I had 1 1/2c. cottage cheese & 2 apples.
M3 - 6 oz italian tuna salad, 1 1/2 c. corn relish
M4 - shake
M5 - buffalo burger, whole wheat bun, cucumbers & tomatos
M6 - protein pudding, bran muffin

M4, 5 & 6 were my normal sized meals; 1, 2 & 3 were super sized. Today, thankfully, I'm back to 1600 calories and my normal daily eating.

STC - C2W6D37

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: Steady State Cardio - 30:00, 2.413 miles total; 2 miles in 24:30

Still need to lift tonight after the girls go to bed. Things are going well and my body is tired.

9:19pm -

Just lifted. Legs/Back/Biceps. I increased either weight or reps on every exercise. I sweated my bum off, my heart rate was up and I was out of breath - I would say that I was doing it right:)

I really do like this new workout schedule - I feel like I'm accomplishing so much more and my progress is much more measurable. I can see progress on my workout sheets.

I'm eating clean throughout the days and am tapering my calories on days that I can (I couldn't yesterday because of having guests over for dinner). Sticking to right around 1600 calories/day (give or take 10 calories). Tomorrow is my medium/high day - 1900 calories.

I looking forward to seeing how I look on October 7 even more than ever before - I really think things are changing and going well. Cornbread said my legs are a lot more muscular and I have less overhang on my bum and less cellulite on my legs - all things I can't see because they're in the back. I have noticed, though, that the lower part of my thighs are smaller.

STC - C2W6D36

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, HIIT on treadmill: 2 miles in 26:43, 3.064 total in 40:00

Workout was good. I lowered a couple of my weights in favor of doing the exercise in perfect form. Not sure which is better to do.

My weekend was good. I ate totally clean on Saturday even through Grandpa D's birthday party. I showed up a little later and I worked on helping Georgia eat fried chicken so that it kind of looked like I was eating, but I didn't have a bite. Then when I was not surrounded by anyone who would ask, I broke out the protein pancakes. Afterward I made s'mores for everyone and had a bite of Georgia's, but I opted to have pudding and a muffin instead. My FIL said something about how everyone was eating pizza and drinking beer and here I bring out something healthy. I just responded by saying that I worked too hard over the past week to throw it all away with pizza. I did work too hard to do that. I stepped things up a lot and I'm seeing changes, Cornbread is seeing changes and I don't want to give that up just for a piece of pizza that I don't need and won't enjoy.

Sunday I was a whole lot more in control of my free day. I had protein pancakes for breakfast and I just didn't eat all day like I normally have done. I had a bit of chocolate and I had a free meal at night for dinner, but for the most part I ate really well and I don't feel at all bad about my day. I'm working hard and its going to show.

STC - C2W5D34

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: Legs/Back/Biceps, walked 10 minutes at a 5% incline for calves

I was able to increase my weights and/or reps on every exercise today - good signs of improvement and increase in strength. I'm enjoying these workouts a great deal and I love having a treadmill again.

I weighed myself this morning and I was at 134. I'm not terribly upset - I can feel that I'm retaining some water due to the small dish of popcorn I had last night while watching a movie with the girls (my rings are tighter this morinng). I've done really well with eating clean this week and drank tons and tons of water. I also took my BF with my calipers and it was down to 25.1% after measuring 4 times and coming up with the same numbers.

We have a birthday party for Grandpa D today. There is going to be pizza and salads and stuff. I think that I can hold off on those foods at the party, and maybe bring something to eat while I'm there. The in-laws are coming afterward and we're supposed to have smores or dessert - I'm trying to decide if I want to resist that, too and wait until tomorrow to have my high calorie day (2100) or have my high calorie day today. We're going to a cottage tomorrow, so it might be difficult there to keep up with eating clean. I'm going to try to resist today, which means I have to figure out what I can bring with me to the party and also whether or not I should make my own BFL dessert for afterward.

STC - C2W5D32

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: Chest/Shoulders/Tris & Bike - 7.5 miles in 31:00

Was able to do the bike immediately after lifting this morning. I think the only time I won't be able to do one right after the other is on Tuesday when I'm doing legs/back/bis - either my legs are going to be tired from running or from lifting and the other workout will suffer.

Lifting took about 33:00 this morning. I definitely doing lifting and cardio on the same day are doable since lifting is now under an hour.

I like this workout schedule. I feel like I'm really hitting it hard and earing every calorie I put into my body. I had less than a handfull of chips last night at Doug's (like less than 10 of the mini tortilla round chips), but otherwise I've eaten totally clean this week. Yesterday was my 1900 calorie day and it was different - it was more difficult to cook 6 whites & two yolks and then eat that + 1 large bowl of oatmeal in one meal. I had a supersized portion of tuna salad & pasta and then two apples with my cottage cheese later. I think I'm going to enjoy this zig zagging thing - just varies my diet and routine enough so I don't get bored. I'm a little nervous about the weekend since it is Grandpa D's birthday party and then in-laws here for dessert afterward. Sunday we're supposed to go to a cottage with the family, which again is going to be tough. I'm going to to have to spend some time really trying to figure this out.

STC - C2W5D30

Summer Tracker Challenge
Beginning Date: July 16, 2007
Ending Date: October 7, 2007

Workout: Legs/Back/Biceps - 33:46; Steady State cardio on the bike - 7.65mi in 30:00

Yesterday afternoon I sat down and redesigned my weight lifting routines according to BFFM. I am now lifting weights on M/T/Th/S and have two groups of muscles: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps & Legs/Back/Biceps. Each group will be worked twice every week and I will be doing 2 exercises for each muscle, 3 sets of reps at the same weight with the goal of reaching 12 reps for each of the 3 sets.

I did C/S/T last night at 8:30 and it looked like this:
Chest:
Bench Press - 50#, 3 sets of 9 reps
Push Ups - 12, 12, 10
Shoulder:
Cuban Press - 8#: 12, 11, 10
Lateral Raises - 8#: 12, 11.5, 9,5
Tricep:
Behind Head Extension - 14#: 3x12
Kickbacks - 12#: 12, 12, 10 (R&L)

I did L/B/B this morning and it looked like this:
Legs:
Bulgarian Lunges - 25#: 3x12 (R&L)
Hamstring Curls - 40#: 8, 8, 7.5
Back:
Bent Over Row - 45#: 12, 10, 9
Pull Ups - 9, 9, 8
Biceps:
Seated Close Grip Concentration Curls (Barbell) - 20#: 3x12
Standing Barbell Curl - 20#: 3x8

So I need to increase weights on Tri extensions, Bulgarian Lunges (Ow), and seated concentration curls.

I like these workouts. They each took less than 35 minutes, which is really, really nice. I'm going to have to ride the bike later this afternoon or this evening for cardio. I think I'm going to take Saturday and Sunday off from cardio and Sunday off from everything.

My arms are killing me from last night. I think these are going to be good workouts - I'm excited to see the results:)