Snow Day, Updates and New Goal

Good Friday morning everyone!

First thing..

Today is a snow day. SO I am hoping, if the icy rain quits, to get the kids outside for some snowman making, sledding, and dragging them around on the sled.

Ok onto yesterday.
So I survived. LOL. I made it to the gym in the AM and got 2.6 miles done on the treadmill. I only went 5.8 mph (5.5 was way too slow) because I knew I would be doing a lot that day. Then I had Zumba. Love Zumba. And it was fun to take it with a different instructor. Melissa does a LOT of the old songs that I know from the original dvd's and she even had Maggie and I come up in front of class to do part of one song. Calories burned: 809.

Then that night at the gym I ended up walking another 2 miles but I ranged my speed and incline. Depending on the song, I ranged from 2.0 incline, 4.5 mph all the way to 15 incline, 4.0 mph. Talk about working the butt and legs!

Then I headed to the weights and did more leg lifting. Glutes, quads, inner and outer thighs. My upper body is getting into shape but my lower body is lagging behind. Once I was done, I still had some time to kill so I started taking some pictures of my arms. Arent they looking fabulous?

I still need to work on the triceps. I have loose skin that I am hoping will tighten as I tone up and build muscle.

Then I had RPM. I took it a little easy after all the exercise I had yesterday but it was still a great class. I did have to leave at the beginning of the mountain track to run and pee. All the jumping to climb and bouncing back and forth takes its toll. Calories burned: 858

Total for the day: 1667

For lunch I was ravenous. I am sure it is from the exercising in the morning. For lunch I had my ab juice, celery, tuna (nothing added), and hummus. I did have a snack of some tortilla chips, grain crackers, edemame and some chocolate chips.

Then before I left for the gym I had some nachos I made with left over taco meat and shredded cheese we had. I shouldnt have but I did. And it was yummy.

After I got home from the gym I was starving again.

So I had a clementine, a cheese stick, some scallions, celery, the other half of my can of tuna, hummus, a few of my 5 grain crackers, some edemame and I think that is it. And I was STILL way, way within my calorie allowance for the day.

And my weight today? Up a frickin half pound to 158.0. Oh well. I dont care. I am sure it is because I am sore. My calves are killing me probably from doing the inclines on the treadmill.

And I have decided to make some new goals. I have reached one of my year goals which is to be in a size 6 jeans or 154 lbs. While I havent gotten my weight goal yet, my size 6 jeans are now a little big on me. So I have decided that my new focus will really be on toning the body.

I did message Eric yesterday asking him about how much protein I should be having. On one of my sites on Facebook, a few of the girls are eating 1 g of protein per pound they weigh. That means many of them are taking in over 150 g of protein a day!! That just doesnt seem right to me. So I messaged Eric. I was concerned because I want to really gain muscle that maybe I needed to up my protein. Nope. He said that right now I am fine at my 45g a day. And that once we start working out 3 times a week that I can up it just a bit but not too much.

Too much protein affects your kidneys and can shut them down. Did you know that?

These silly gals have the wrong calculation for how much protein they should be eating. Think about it. Protein is measured in grams. Grams is METRIC. Pounds is not. Which means that you need to convert your weight to METRIC.

At most per day you should be eating 1g of protein per KG of your body weight.

How the heck do you compute that?

Take your weight and divide by 2.2. That is the MOST protein you should be eating a day.

Your welcome!! LOL.

So getting back to my new goals...
I found this yesterday while googling fitness body building and I really want to start training like her to get her body. It even has her work out routine on the site along with what she eats a day.

This is Nicole Wilkins. 2011 Ms. Figure International.

She is built without looking like a man. Of course she is pumped a bit for the competition. I am sure she doesnt look quite like this in real life and I am sure she can put her arms down to her side. LOL. (Aaron was teasing about that this morning when I showed him the picture).

This is what I am going to strive to look like.

Here is her workout schedule (incase you are interested):
______________________________________________

Day 1: Shoulders

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 10 reps
• One-Arm Cable Lateral Raise: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Upright Barbell Row: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Plate (35 lb) Front Raise: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Rear Delt Raise: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
  
  Printable Page PDF Document

Day 2: Chest/Arms

Tri-set:

• Dumbbell Incline Chest Press: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Standing Dumbbell Curl: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Seated Two-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension: 3 sets of 15 reps

Tri-set:

• Standing Cable Flyes: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Cable Straight-Bar Curl: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Cable Rope Pushdown: 3 sets of 15 reps

Tri-set:

• Pushups: 3 sets to failure
• Machine Preacher Curl: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Bench Triceps Dip: 3 sets of 15 reps
  
  Printable Page PDF Document

Day 3: Legs

• Box Jump: 3 sets of 1 min (30 sec rest)
• Bench Step-up (holding 15 lb dumbbells): 3 sets of 15 reps
• Leg Presses (one leg at a time): 3 sets of 15 reps
• Switch Split Jumps on each leg: 3 sets of 20 reps, 30 sec rest
• Leg Extension: 3 sets of 20 reps
• Lying Leg Curl: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Stiff-Legged Deadlift: 3 sets of 15 reps
  
  Printable Page PDF Document

Day 4: Back

• Wide-grip Pull-up (unassisted): 3 sets of 10 reps
• Seated Close-Grip Cable Row: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Lat Pulldown: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Bent Over Barbell Row: 3 sets of 15 reps
• Pullover With Straight Bar: 3 sets of 15 reps
  
  Printable Page PDF Document

Day 5: Light Shoulder Circuit

Giant set:

• Military Press: 4 sets of 20 reps
• Upright Barbell Row: 4 sets of 20 reps
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 4 sets of 20 reps
• Standing Rear Delt Dumbbell Flyes: 4 sets of 20 reps
  
  Printable Page PDF Document

Days 6 and 7: Rest

Notes:
Nicole incorporated Crossfit into her schedule one time per week and Sanga Vinyasa Yoga one or two times a week.

Pre-contest, cardio begins at 45 minutes, six days a week, and increases to 1½ hour seven days a week.

She does a lot of running and sprinting as well, particularly high-intensity interval training.

 ______________________________________________________________

Now they also have what she eats a day. I will post that as well. I know they also use a lot of supplements which I will not use, however, once I start really training I will probably get a vegan protein powder to use on my lifting days.

Daily Meal Plan

Meal 1:

• ½ cup Oat Bran
• 4 Egg Whites

Meal 2:

• 4 oz seared Ahi Tuna
• 15 Almonds
• 1 cup Veggies

Meal 3:

• 5 oz Chicken
• 4 oz Sweet Potato
• 1 cup Veggies

Meal 4:

• 5 oz Ahi Tuna
• 15 Almonds
• 1 cup Veggies

Meal 5:

• 5 oz Cod
• 1 large Salad with Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 oz Avocado

Meal 6:

• 4 Egg Whites or 1½ scoops MET-Rx Ultramyosyn Whey Protein Powder

Note:
As the show gets closer, fats and carbs begin to cycle and she adds in salmon and filet. Nicole generally keeps her carbs pretty low the entire prep.

She mixes up her vegetables among broccoli, green beans, peppers, onions, asparagus, cucumbers, etc.

 ____________________________________________________________

Ok so yes, I may be crazy. We shall see if I can stick with it. But I think it is at least a good goal to try to achieve even if I only do HALF of what she does!!

Onto today...

 Tonight is the gym. I am going to do just a bit of walking and then focus on lifting for my shoulders. I will be getting my cardio during my Zumba class so I will be giving the running a little bit of a break for my legs to recover.

For eating:

Breakfast: lemon water, cheese stick (first thing when I woke up at 6am), oatmeal with cocoa, PB and maple syrup (about 7am)

Snack: almonds

Lunch: roast beef, celery, scallions, hummus and a clementine

Snack: hard boiled egg

Dinner:  Clementine, string cheese, roast beef

I really want to try to space out my meals and add some more snacks in. We shall see how it goes!

This post has turned WAY longer than expected. Thanks for still reading if you have made it this far.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

Super Fast Update

Morning everyone!!

I want to give a quick recap of yesterday and what is on my schedule today. Today happens to be jam packed so get ready to hold onto your shorts.

Yesterday I stayed on track with eating with the exception of dinner. Normally after I workout I have a piece of string cheese and a Clementine. Well I was out of clementines. So I thought I would have an apple and PB. I went to grab one and my husband had had the last one. How frustrating! So instead I had some 5 grain crackers, a little bit of roast beef and a cheese stick. I did however stay away from the frozen pizza and popcorn chicken hubby made last night. Victory for me.

At the gym I ran 3.1 miles at 6.2mph. Then I recovered and walked the rest until 4.0 miles. After that I was on my own for working out. I did rows, I did band work, I did wood choppers, I did twists, and I did tricep pull downs and all sorts of other things. Then I did something crazy and decided to stick around for kickboxing. I normally dont do this class but I thought "what the heck, I am here" so I signed up. Along with kickboxing moves with kicks and punches, she has you do a TON of fricken jumping jacks. UGH!!

After that class I was done. Spent. Wiped.

Calories burned:1254. Not as much as I would have thought but with the weight lifting, my heart rate didnt get up very high. I purposefully didnt do much cardio while I lifted knowing I would need reserves to get me thru class.

This morning I weighed in at 157.5. Not bad. 1.5 lbs gone.

Onto what I have going on today. Getting the boys off to school. Then I am going to the gym. There is a Zumba class now on Thursdays at 9:30 that I can make while both the kids are in school.

Then I come back, get Landry, take him to speech (hopefully I dont smell too bad). Then it is home to get him lunch and to bed for a nap. Yesterday he didnt take one but I am hoping he will today. I really want a nap. LOL.

Then it is up to get Xavier from school. Then I leave for the gym again at 6. Do some more running and then have RPM. Whew. And I still need to figure out how to get to the grocery store in there somewhere for basics like milk, eggs, apples, clementines, oatmeal (my husband dumped almost the entire huge container this morning. What a mess!), cereal etc.

And to top it all off, we are supposed to get a winter storm tonight. 4"-6" is predicted. Which means that I will probably be shoveling tonight as well!!

Lots of exercise today BUT yesterday I bought two bikinis, a size too small, so I am thinking that I need to kick things into high gear. Luckily I realized yesterday that I can work out at the gym with Eric next week on Tues and Thurs mornings while both boys are in school because he doesnt have to go back to work yet. Woo hoo!

I even messaged Eric letting him know I bought the bikinis too small so to bring it. He told me he hopes I hung onto the receipts because he things they will be big by summer. Hey I just want them to look good on!!

And come March I will be working with Eric 3 days a week instead of 2. We are ready to take it to the next level and really tone up.

Ok onto my meals for today which is a little different than normal due to going to the gym in the morning as well as the evening.

Breakfast: warm lemon water, hard boiled egg, Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar
Lunch: celery, hummus, a piece of peppered turkey and a small serving of my AB juice
Dinner: string cheese and hopefully a clementine if I can get to the store. Otherwise it will be a glass of orange juice.

You are probably wondering about the lemon water thing but that leads me into my Tip of the Day...
Have a great Thursday everyone!

Tip of the Day! From Juicing Vegetables on Facebook

Here are 7 reasons why you should start your day with 1 cup warm water and 1/2 lemon.

1. Immune Booster

Vitamin C is probably one of the easiest and fastest ways to boost your immune system.  Lemons are packed with vitamin C. Vitamin C also helps neutralize free radicals that are associated with aging and disease. Vitamin C is great for the skin as well. It helps decrease blemishes and acne. Drinking one cup of warm water and lemon everyday will dramatically decrease acne problems and wrinkles as well.
Since lemons are high in vitamins, toxins, unwanted minerals and other substances are pushed out from the body.
Lemons are also high in potassium. Potassium is especially important because it helps regulate blood pressure and is important for nerve function.

2. PH Balance

Drinking warm water and lemon helps you maintain an alkaline state. Even though lemon juice is acidic, it doesn’t create acidity in your body, it’s actually one of the most alkaline foods.

3. Liver Function

Lemon juice is amazing for liver function. Lemon juice promotes healthy liver function because it strengthens liver enzymes, regulates carbohydrate levels and increases the production of enzymes. Adding lemon juice (1/2 of  a lemon) to warm water and drinking it everyday works as a great liver detoxifier.

4. Blood Vessels

Lemons contain vitamin P (bioflavinoids) which prevent internal hemorrhage and thus is another great way to reduce blood pressure.

5. Cleans You Out and Aids in Digestion

Lemon juice like most fresh vegetable juices contain pectin fiber. Pectin fiber is a type of water soluble fiber that helps reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Another great thing about pectin is that it keeps you feeling full and reduces cravings.

6. Natural Diuretic

Lemon juice and warm water also help increase the rate of urination. This is great because toxins and other harmful substances are pushed out of your body, leaving your body in a alkaline state.

7. Hydration of Lymph System

Warm water and lemon juice supports the immune system by hydrating and replacing fluids lost by your body. When your body is deprived of water, you can definitely feel the side effects, which include: feeling tired, sluggish, decreased immune function, constipation, lack of energy, low/high blood pressure, lack of sleep, lack of mental clarity and feeling stressed just to name a few.
When you have these symptoms it might mean that your adrenals are “fatigued.” Your adrenals function in secreting necessary hormones, regulating stress response, regulating blood pressure and much more. So keep your adrenals happy by staying hydrated.

 

Opted Out

Yesterday was a good day. I still have a lot of balls up in the air but I think that they will work themselves out hopefully by months end.

And I also think I mentioned that I thought we might be eating at McDonalds for lunch.

We didnt. (Whew). We ended up eating at a coney island and I had a grilled chicken salad in an edible bowl (I just had a few small pieces of it) with a hard boiled egg, tomatoes, black olives. No cheese or anything. And some balsamic vinegar dressing in which I hardly drizzled anything. It was awesome. I didnt even eat all the chicken. I maybe ate 1/4-1/2 of the breast from it. I ate all the salad though.

I ended up opting for a rest day last night. I was exhausted and sore from the weekend still. My inner legs were starting to ache from the machine work I did the night before and well honestly, I just didnt feel like it and Eric's voice kept running thru my head about a rest day. So I took it.

I ended up eating some clean chips and really super hot salsa, a piece of string cheese and a clementine for dinner while Aaron and I caught up on The Following.

Today I am up to 159.0. Doesnt surprise me because of the sea salt on the chips, sodium from the black olives and not exercising. Frankly I am ok with it and have sort of given up on a "goal weight". I know my body will be going thru a BUNCH of changes once I start working with Eric 3x a week so I know that the 150's is not the end all, be all number. And really? I am just happy to BE in the 150's.

Today I will be fully back on track with my eating. Here is what I have planned:
Breakfast: String cheese, english muffin with PB, hard boiled egg
Lunch: celery with hummus, clementine, some roast beef
Dinner: string cheese and clementine and I may or may not bring a Larabar with me. Havent decided yet.

Tonight is the gym. I plan on running to stretch my legs out on the treadmill for about 45 minutes. I am going to keep trying to bump up my MPH's every time I run so tonight will be 6.2 mph. We will see how long I can do that for. Remember that I have a goal of running at 6.5 mph for at least 10 minutes. I would love to be able to run an entire 5k distance at that speed. Eventually I will get there.

Then it is upper body and core focusing on triceps and chest. Oh yeah! So in the works will be tricep extensions, chest presses, and all sorts of things. Not quire sure what torture I will dig up for my core. I really like the wood choppers so maybe I will do those again...

Next week Aaron leaves for a business trip so I will not be able to go to the gym until MAYBE Thursday night, for sure Friday. So because I wont be making it to the gym, I will be doing P90X at home in its place. Monday will be the legs, Tuesday night will be elliptical, Wednesday will be the arms dvd, Thursday will be the gym OR elliptical and kenpo, then Friday will be back to the gym. It is nice to have that safety net of having some dvd's at home. Or instead I may do Jillian instead of P90X...not sure yet. I think it will be good for the body to mix it up a week as well. I know in P90X they have you take it easier a week for the muscle confusion so this may be just what my body needs.

So thats about all my news for the day. I am going to take a nice relaxing day until the gym tonight. I really need some new gym clothes because my yoga pants are literally falling off when I run SO once I drop Xavier off at school, I will come home, shower, then pack up Landry to run to Kohls. They are having some deals and sales on athletic apparel. Then it will be time for Landry's lunch and nap. WOO HOO!!

Have a great day everyone!

Tip of the Day:

Monday Updates

Thank you for all the congratulations on the Zumba job. I will be feeling better once he calls to say we can start.

Onto my yesterday recap.

Yesterday I ended up shoveling snow three times. The first two times was light fluffy snow and I just really wanted to keep ahead of major snow fall totals. It was about an 1", or just over, each time and I shoveled 45 minutes the first two times.

The third time the snow was getting heavier and where there was no ice on the driveway and sidewalks the snow was melted. That time I ended up shoveling for 30 minutes but I worked away at getting the ice off the driveway where the tire treads had gone over the snow and packed it down. I probably burned more calories that time even though I did it for less time.

I had no idea how many calories I burned because I didnt wear my HRM. I mentioned on MyFitnessPal that I had shoveled and someone told me that there was a calorie burn under cardiovascular! So all I had to do was plug in my minutes. I plugged in 80 minutes (even though I did more) and it said that I burned 598 calories. I think that is way high for what I actually did but I knew I would be working out later that night anyways.

I stayed on track with my eating yesterday. No binges or unplanned snacks.

Last night I ran 3.1 miles at 6.1 mph. Then I cut it back to 4.0 mph to walk til 4 miles.

Then I did leg presses, alternating step ups onto a bench, and mountain climbers for the first circuit.

Second circuit I did the glute machine and the abductor machine. Someone was using the adductor machine. So I did two circuits with the glues and abductors when adductors opened up. Then I did one time adductor and one time glute before switching to adductor and abductor to finish up three sets of each.

Then I moved to kettlebells. I did the pelvic thrusts with kettlebells. Then I did thrusts tossing the kettlebell up, catching and then going into a squat. Then I used a medicine ball for ab work. And I used the BOSU ball for balancing squats. And finally I finished up with Turkish Get Ups. I only did one set of those, 6 on a side.

Then I went back to the treadmill to walk out the legs. I did one mile at 4.2mph and then another half at 3.8.

In total I burned 1023 calories.

Eric messaged me last night saying he was glad I was gung ho but he was concerned I was over training. LOL. I told him that I do about half of what I used to do back when I was doing P90X too but that I was getting much better results now. That I was sticking with what we were doing- my 45 min warm up and then 30 minutes of weight. I also let him know that this weekend was an anomaly. Saturday was Maggie and I practicing for Sunday and well, Sunday was Super Bowl. I had no idea how many push ups and sit ups I would have ended up doing that day.

He thinks that I should be able to work out 45 minutes a day and be good. That 2 hours a day, 6 days a week, just isnt sustainable for the rest of my life. Frankly, I agree with him.

I told him that once we go to 3 days a week for weight training, that I should be able to cut back on the major cardio because the muscle will help burn the fat and calories more efficiently. He agreed.

He said he would be back next week. Woo hoo! I messaged him saying that I wanted to make sure he spent enough time with his family. We shall see.

So this morning I woke up and weighed 156.5. 3 lbs down from yesterday. I could tell yesterday that I had been retaining a ton of water by how much I was peeing all day. LOL.

Tonight is the elliptical. I am going to mix it up and not go to K's to run on her treadmill. I think the non impact will be a good rest for my legs but will still have the resistance. Plus after last night I will definitely need to stretch them out. And mixing up the workouts is good to confuse the body.

Today I am taking a little road trip. I am keeping Landry out of school because my errand I have to run is an hour away and will take a couple hours. Then I need to drive an hour back in time to get Xavier from school. So I know fast food will be in there somewhere. I went thru MyFitnessPal figuring McDonalds will be where we stop (Landry got some coupons for free things from Grandma and Grandpa for Valentines) and made a pick based on the calories on there.

Breakfast: String Cheese, english muffin with PB, hard boiled egg
Lunch: McDonald's parfait, clementine (when I get home), roast beef (lunchmeat)
Dinner: String cheese and a clementine (post workout)

I also packed some snacks for while we are on the road. I dont think I will eat any of it but I packed them just in case. Some pretzels, crackers and PB (for Landry), chex mix (homemade), water, some suckers, beer bread, and I dont remember what else.

Ok so that is my news for today. Please keep me in your prayers today. Positive vibes would be greatly appreciated!! :) I will let you know tomorrow if I am really super happy or not. Sorry. I just cant get into what it is about. LOL.

Update on Mike and Tina:
Mike will be undergoing a heart cath and biopsy today. His chance of survival from this is 50/50. Please keep him in your prayers as well today. Depending on how he does, he might have to be survival flighted to either a hospital in Grand Rapids or to U of M in Ann Arbor. Personally I am hoping for U of M. I know the survival people there and I trust them. This is what they do. Mike will probably need to go on the transplant list if they determine from the biopsy that medicine wont help.

She just posted that it is "go time" and that it can take up to 2 hours to complete. As I write this it is 7:12 am.

Tip of the Day:

Super Bowl Challenge recap and more

First I want to say sorry for not recapping how my interview went yesterday. We went to Aarons grandma's house and didnt get home til 5:30. Then it was kids haircuts, showers and get them to bed. Then Suuper Bowl!

But I did make an AWESOME vegan tortilla soup yesterday. It was low fat, low cal and even Mr. No Vegan (Aaron) enjoyed it. Let me know if you want the recipe and I will post it!!

Here is how the interview went.

Maggie and I got there and walked in together. The owner was there and knew who we were and showed us around. Said that he wanted us to start for a month on a trial basis on a Saturday to see how we did. He never asked to see a resume, or our licenses. We started to show him and he said "You came recommended by Tee so I dont need to see it". He doesnt like to micromanage his people so if we have a class, he expects one of us to be there. No problem. That is why Maggie and I want to co-teach so if one of us wants or needs a day off then the other can pick it up.

The gym is brand new and just opened in Oct. They only have 67 members so far and so they are going to do an advertising blitz in the spring with a grand opening in hopes to draw in more people.

We never had to show him any of our songs. But he did break out the Cross Fit tower for us. You can tell it is his baby. So he broke out the big fat ropes like you see on the Biggest Loser and had Maggie and I doing different things with them. LOL. Those are fricken hard! Then he had us using some resistance bands around our waist having us do push ups with them. Hey I am always game for a workout! And he said that if we work there then we can work out at the gym too. So while I will be staying at Power House, I will be working with those fricken ropes.

This is definitely more of a man's gym with more emphasis on weights than what you see with a girlie gym with more emphasis on cardio BUT I think if they can build up the gym it will be really good. It is a small gym as well and definitely more intimate. I did have my heart rate monitor going before we walked in because I thought we would be getting a bit of a workout doing some songs so I wasnt surprised to see that I only burned 131 calories. So now Maggie and I wait until we get the call from him saying to start.

Yesterday morning I was given the challenge of doing a Super Bowl Challenge that I posted above. It didnt look too hard and I thought it would make the game go by faster. I apologize for not getting a chance to post it on here but then again, once you see my totals, you may be very thankful! Aaron had a blast and I was having a good time until I started having to do bicycle crunches over and over....and blasted push ups. I was having Aaron help me to keep me honest because as you do some of the exercises you are missing the game and missing things you have to do. A couple of times I had to do three different things one right after the other because of the play. Lots of times it was 20 bicycle crunches for a first down and also 10 push ups for a 20 yd running play. Aaron also helped to keep a running tally of what I have done. Do you blame me? I wanted credit for the work. LOL. After the lights went out and came back on, I started really feeling tired. Aaron said I didnt have to continue but I really wanted to see the challenge thru. I was curious of how much I was going to have to do of everything. So I stuck it out and as soon as the game was done I went upstairs and collapsed into bed. I slept great last night. LOL.

So here is my Super Bowl Challenge recap from last night: 175 jumping jacks, 80 single leg hops (40 a side), 100 reverse crunches, 200 push ups, 740 bicycle crunches, 50 bridges, 40 walking lunges, 30 seconds jogging in place, 3 times of doing the chicken dance, 225 squats, 10 burpees, 30 seconds of high knees, 45 second wall sit, and 5 one minute planks.

I burned 629 calories (because of all the time between moves) and I feel like I have been hit with a Mack truck on my upper body today. Thank goodness tonight is lower body!!

I still managed to gain a half pound and am now up to 159.5. I should be able to get most of the weight off tonight. I am not quite sure why I gained this weekend. I know I was really thirsty on Saturday night and drank a ton of water. I really didnt eat anything salty that day but Sunday morning was when I went up to 159 lbs. The half pound gain from yesterday is probably a combo of sore muscles and some salt from chips and salsa I had for dinner.

Either way, this has to go. Time to sweat it out tonight. This week is my week. I want to get to goal this week.

Here is todays meal plan:
Breakfast- string cheese, coffee, english muffin and PB and a hard boiled egg
Lunch- clementine orange, celery, hummus and a bit of roast beef for protein
Dinner- clementine and sting cheese

Tonight will be running and lower body. I want to get 4 miles in and then really work the lower body hard. Then I will be walking to stretch everything back out.

Maggie and I will also be working together at a couple points this week to work on our routines to make sure we have an hours worth. Not sure what days yet.

So thats my weekend. How was your weekend? How was your Super Bowl?

Tip of the Day:

Pray for me!

So last night was Zumba.

But before that I did sprints for 3 miles ranging in speed from 5.5-7.8 mph. I had to stop at one point to stand in line to sign up for Zumba so my time was off, but it said that I did my three miles in 32 minutes. Actually it was probably 28-29 minutes. Instead of pausing the machine and loosing my running time, I took the machine down to 0.5mph and let it run.

I was in line at 4:44 to sign up for Zumba (sheet comes out at 4:45) and I was #13 in line. Class only holds 20. That means class filled up 2 minutes after the sheet came out! Insane!

Once I finished up my 3 miles, I went and worked on some chest and triceps. Wood choppers, rows, tricep pulls, chest presses, chin ups, and weighted sit ups.

Then I had Zumba. Rocking class but I hate, hate, hate when people sneak in. I think we had 2-3 people sneak in without having a number. While I understand if you are a regular and you dont get a number you get tempted to come in, it makes it hard for the rest of us to move.

Calories burned at the gym: 1258

So last night I ended up getting Chinese for Aaron and I after the gym. It has been forever since I had some General Tso's chicken and I ordered it uber spicy. Yeah right. It wasnt. So I added a ton of red pepper flake to mine. It was a huge portion and Aaron had some too and I still have half of it left.

I also had a mixed drink last night. Orange juice, pineapple juice, blue curacao, and whipped cream vodka. So yummy! I only had one drink so that was good.

But it didnt surprise me to be 156.5 today. No biggie. I didnt gain 2 lbs of fat overnight.

Here is the meal plan for today:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with PB, cocoa, and real maple syrup, and a hard boiled egg
Lunch: clementine, english muffin with PB
Dinner: cheese stick, glass of OJ

Today Aaron and I are taking Landry sledding while Xavier is at swim class. Then I plan on shoveling snow. Tonight I plan on running on the elliptical for an hour.

Now for the reason to pray for me...

Tomorrow I have another interview for a Zumba position. Different gym than before. This one my instructor knows the owners of. So say some prayers. He wants morning instructors and weekend instructors. Perfect for me especially if they have daycare. So keep your fingers crossed!

I will be sure to post how it went tomorrow afternoon. So just incase you dont hear anything from me right away tomorrow morning, that is why.

Then we will be going to Aaron's grandmas house tomorrow for dinner. I will be making Tortilla Soup from the Happy Herbivore cookbook. Yummy!!

Ok so that is all for today. Have a great Saturday everyone!

Tip of the Day: Snacks for Superbowl!!

January Stats and February Challenge

Hey Everyone! Here is a new challenge for February if anyone is interested in doing it. I posted the challenge on my FB fitness page as well. I think there are quite a few of us that are going to do it.

Also now that January is done, I thought I would go over how I did for the month.

Starting weight Jan 1st was 169.5
Ending weight Jan 31 was 155.0

Total loss of  14.5 lbs!!

Running:
For the month, between elliptical, running outside and on the treadmills, I ran a total of 119.31 miles! Holy Cow!

Ok so onto last night.

The gym had a screw up. Initially they said that last night was now going to be Combat instead of RPM while Eric was gone. Well ok. I thought I would give it a go. Combat is like martial arts. I thought maybe this is what my body needs to mix it up and finally lose the one pound til goal.

Then Eric let me know that it was a screw up. Which is good. I think lots of us may have revolted if that was going to be the new Thursday schedule until Eric came back.

So I didnt get an early start like I hoped from home. I got a late start. Aaron made it all the way in to his office yesterday but then had traffic and weather to contend with coming home.

So by the time I got to the gym it was 45 minutes til class and I could sign right up.

I ended up just doing an easy 3.5 miles because I knew I would be working my legs more in spinning. I also did my song technique and put the towel over the readout and said that I wouldnt check my progress til song 9. By then I had just under 3 miles in.

Nina did a great job teaching RPM. She isnt as technical as Eric but she did a LOT of really good old school songs that made it fun. A lot of them I had never even done before which makes it refreshing too.

All in all, I burned 944 calories last night.

I stayed on track all day with my eating yesterday too but when I got home I added a few extra things. Some of the gluten free, multi-seed crackers, a smidge of chex mix that my FIL made (its a weakness. I love his chex mix), some coconut water, my orange juice, cheese stick and my regular clementine.

This morning I weighed in at 154.5. Now normally I would be happy with a loss. But really? The scale is KILLING me! LOL. Half pound til goal. Really? Ugh.

Here is my plan of attack for tonight.
Tonight is my Zumba class. Normally I would run before hand. This time I think I am going to switch it up and see if I can confuse my body a bit.

I will start off by running to get the heart rate up. If I get to the gym 45 minutes before class, I will run for 25 minutes. I am going to challenge myself and try running at 6.0-6.5 intervals.

Then I am going to do some kettlebell work. Some squats with them and maybe use the BOSU ball. Get day one of my challenge done.

Then do Zumba. Afterwards I may run again. Not sure. I will have to see how I feel.

Today for my meals:
Breakfast: Ab juice, English muffin with PB, hard boiled egg
Lunch: celery and hummus, pretzels, peanut butter, hard boiled egg
Dinner: string cheese and clementine

I am cutting out the apple from lunch today to see if the reduced sugar and increased protein help me burn that last pound at the gym tonight. Sort of an experiment and we shall see.

Have a great Friday everyone!!

Tip of the Day: