oh wow

Yesterday I finally purchased new running shoes. They are Mizunos.

They look just like the picture, except replace all the black parts with green and that is my shoe! It is super comfy and since I pronate a tad, it helps me feet stay in line.

So this morning I met up with my friend Kat at the Lakeline Gold's Gym for the BodyPump class. Which is basically a class that does routines of low-weight, high repitition weights for the whole body. So there is a lunge part, back part, tricep, chest, lunges, and abs parts.

It was hard. But good. My body is going to be sore tomorrow.

I did about 17 min of cardio before the class and 25 min afterwards, followed by some hyperextensions. Last night at Ann's house, she had a little gathering of folks from her church and I ate one lemon bar, one cookie and a big cup of ice cream. I realized this morning that I was eating so much because I felt slightly awkward and out of place at the party since I only knew Ann. Everybody was nice, don't get me wrong, but since they didn't know me or why I was there, it felt a little awkward, a situation I created for myself and "rewarded" myself with sweets.

Not good.

But instead of feeling too bad, I just did more cardio today after class and promised to not eat anything sweet today and maybe tomorrow since this will be three days where I consumed a sweet item: Monday I had a vegan cookie; Tuesday I had a thick, dense chocolate/espresso cake and then the sweets at the gathering. Too much.

The good news is when I weighed myself today, I haven't gained any since traveling back to Austin. Which is good because I was worried that when I started working back at the store where temptations are everywhere, I was going to gain all that I had lost since January.

Tomorrow I plan to workout before heading to Sherman. I don't know if I will be able to run this weekend, but we'll see.

See you all on Monday!

gymin' it

So, long story short, my Gold's Gym account is still active so I will be working out there instead of the Y. At least for now. But it's good because I like to go to the gym downtown and I can walk to Town/Lady Bird lake from there and run outside and still do gym stuff too.

Today I did 10 minutes on the elliptical and then 20 minutes on the stairmaster, which always kicks my butt, but I love it.

Then I did some crunches. Wish me luck as I am now back full time at Whole Foods, where all my temptations lie!

See ya' around! Let me know if you wanna go walking!

Great!

Yesterday was the same as Tuesday but I worked out harder before kickboxing. The actual kickboxing class was hard though because I was getting really hungry. I did manage to at least sit in the sauna for 20 minutes, with a robe on, and I was sweatysweaty by the time I hopped into the shower.

I have lost one pound this week though! Yay! One pound down, many more to go! Or I guess I could look at like, one pound at a time.

I am going to try and come back to workout after class today. But usually by the time class is over, I am so ready to get home to Chris. Maybe we can go for a walk/jog together. At least then I will have done something today. If not, then I can always get up on Sat morning. I hope it is as beautiful as this morning is shaping up to be.

I have been adding more vegetables to my diet. Since we moved to Sherman, our veggie intake has gone slowly down. I am planning on when moving back eating a lot of salads and steamed veggies. Chris doesn't like steamed veggies, but I lurve them! With some lemon juice and a little salt, they are perfect. I love veggies! It truly is amazing how much better I feel after eating them. They sustain me for so much longer than anything with a lot of carbs.

So that will be another goal. Let's talk about diet (as in what I eat daily, not what I am following);

Goals:
Eat more veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, edamame, mixed greens, greens.

Lay off starchy, carby foods for dinner. In fact, just lay off all the time. They only make me sleepy throughout the rest of the day.

Drink more water. I do drink a lot of water, but I should be drinking more.

Take my vitamins!!!Daily!! Multi, folic, ginkgo, etc...

Intake more omega-3s in my diet. Through fish or pills or liquid form or avocadoes (yummmm).

EAT MORE SLOWLY. Oh gosh, this is the biggest challenge for me since i have a very bad habit of eating too fast. I have been thinking of syaing the ABCs in between bites just to slow me down. What do you think?

Yeah, I like these goals and am actually excited about eating more veggies. Chomp!

Reality of goals

So, I am really glad I blogged about my goals yesterday. Because that means I actually need to take steps towards them instead of just saying "oh this is something I wanna do..." and then never taking those crucial first steps.

So, on my way to completing a marathon and triathlon, my first step is to run a 5K, which is 3.1 miles. And luckily, Austin has the greatest running resource in the US, a little shop called Run-Tex.

This store rocks. They analyze your feet and how your feet land when walking and running and then find the shoes that help to correct whatever your feet's natural landing abilities are. Online they also have free training programs.

So yesterday I downloaded the one for a 5K and it's a three month training program. Which mean I will be ready to run one in June, which, unfortunately is not a big race month. But I figure if I can sustain the program and the running until September, then that'll be okay.

My next goal will be to run a 10K, then a half marathon and then when I can do that, i will join a triathlon training for women that usually starts in April in Austin. Luckily, there is a half marathon in January and plenty of 10Ks before then. So as long as I stick with the program and work towards my goal, by this time next year I could be training for a triathlon!

And since I am starting to run more, I have decided when I finally get my financial aid check, I am going to use some of the money to go down to Run-Tex and buy myself some nice, new shoes!

Rewards rock.

Awesome awesomeness

I worked out yesterday! And it felt soooooo gooooood.

I did a touch of cardio and then some core exercises before heading into kickboxing for an hour. Then I sat in the sauna, with a fleece robe on, for 25 minutes. I am wearing the robe now because I am trying to get my body acclimated to the heat since I will have to be dealing with that during my internship this summer.

Also, since joining sparkpeople, I have been re-thinking about my goals. Most of them are still the same, which is good and that probably means I really want to do them. And hopefully, through the site, I can meet some workout buddies in Austin to helpme along the way of realizing my goals.

The Marathon Goal:
I used to be a competitive runner, so the marathon idea has always been in the back of my mind. Plus, my dad is an inspiration for this as well as he has run three (or four) and is currently training for one in November. And there is just something to be said for completing an marathon, all 26.2 miles of it.

The Triathalon Goal:
This is hardcore. I used to do triathalons when I was younger, but they were kid triathalons and that was a long time ago. It holds the same appeal that the marathon goal does: to prove to myself that I can still do it as I once did. There's something so powerful at completing a tri. Pushing yourself through the water, knowing you have two more events: the biking and the running. It's exhausting, mind wrenching and the greatest feeling in the world when it's completed.

Hike the Appalachian Trail:

This one is a far away dream. I would love to hike the whole thing (with Chris of course). Hiking the whole thing means starting in Georgia and ending in Maine or vice versa. Usually you have people send you care packages along the way at certain towns along the trail and it takes anywhere from 4 to 6 months to complete. This is another hardcore task. I probably will never have the time in my life to take off 6 months with Chris (not while we own a house and have student loans and credit card debt). But this is one of those things that whenever I win the lottery, I will immediately start training.

Long distance biking:
This one isn't too hard to reach since technically I could do it around Austin on Louise (my Raleigh cruiser). But what I would really love to do is ride for several days, camping at night and riding during the day. That'd be fun. I wouldn't want to ride down back roads though, those drivers are crazy. Ideally, I could ride frontage roads and find a campsite on the outskirts of a town. A trip from Austin to the coast would be awesome! Then you could camp out on the beach to finish your trip! Cool.

Of course, these are just my fitness goals. I have other goals too, like getting my weight to the healthy range, lowering my BMI and fitting back into my skinny jeans.

What are your goals? What do you dream about doing once you are in shape? What do you work towards when working out?

Spark plugs!

So, I didn't workout yesterday due to an excessive amount of schoolwork I am trying to cram into this week before heading to Austin. I didn't eat too badly, though, so I don't feel that guilty.

I did join an online weight loss website called Sparkpeople though. It is basically a support group, where you can track your calories, your fitness regime, your goals, etc...It seems really cool and it's so much better than other online support websites I have seen/been apart of.

Today is kickboxing day though, so I will get a workout in and I already have my workout clothes in the car so there really is no excuse for me NOT to go.

Here's the plan:
work till 9
schoolwork 9-1130
lunch 1130-12
labwork 1230-330 or 4
schoolwork 4-5
gym at 5, core exercises (go strong back!)
kickboxing 6-7, sauna and shower
home by 8
eat and collapse in bed

I am hoping to remember to take my vitamins which should help my energy levels. Wish me luck!

PS A big shout out to Alicia! Thanks for all the comments you leave. They are so encouraging. Thanks for being a great friend! And you were in my dream last night, you drew a road map of Austin on a chalkboard. Crazy fun!

Shocked and good

Here's a quick workout/health aspect of my weekend:
Friday- didn't workout, but was extremely tired as didn't get any sleep on Thursday night. Ate all right with one milkshake on the drive but finished the night with a bowl of ice cream at Chris' parents house in Tyler.

Saturday- went running! Ran about 2 miles. Had one cookie but other than that, ate pretty well.

Sunday- no workout. Bad eating day. Our breakfast was too carb-rich and when that happens, my blood sugar drops really low. I had two helpings of dessert (blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream) and a milkshake on the drive home.

ACk! So much ice cream!! Which I don't really feel too bad about since I don't do it all the time, but I do need to cut back my sugar intake. It's starting to creep up on me.

This morning, when I got to the gym, I decided to weigh myself to see how much weight I gained this weekend. The scale put me at gaining 15 pounds!! I stared, quivering lip and teary eyed at the scale. Fortunately, I realized that the scale was not calibrated! Without any weight on it, it took 10 pounds to balance it. So that means I only put on 5 pounds since Thursday and really, I know it's water weight because I hardly drank any water all weekend, so my bod is holding it in.

Whew.

Here's my plan for today:
Work till 10am
Workout 11-1
Schoolwork 1-5 or until the labs are done
Home, dinner with Chris, bed by 8

My workout today will consist of 45 minutes of cardio work and working out my arms: bicep curls, tricep extensions, upright rows, tricep pull back, and shoulder raises.

Yay for a new week!

Working all the muscles

Hi there. Yesterday was awesome.

Although getting through it was hard.

I arrived at the gym at 510 and walked for 23 minutes (3 min cool down) and then did some ab work, using the pilates ball. I did crunches and leg lifts.

Then I stretched for a good while and had my little energy gel pack (since this was during dinner time and I was starving) and kickboxing started at 6.

You guys. It's hard to really get into kickboxing when you are a little...well, how should I put this...gassy.

I had a black bean soup for lunch and although I eat beans almost every day and don't get this gassy, whenever I have some commercially made soup, it hits hard. Geez. I don't know how they prepare it but it's nothing like how chris prepares it and I never get this bad with his soup.

It was also hard doing crunches.

Plus I was a little tired.

BUT! I was wearing my new workout top I got at a dept. store for 7 bucks! It's bright blue, long sleeve, made of that moisture wicking material. I still sweated a bunch though. I sweated so much that you could see sweat spots from the bottom of my bootie all the way to my knees. It was like someone had misted me. But it's an all women's gym and it obvious I was sweating, so instead of being embarassed, I was quite proud.

Then in the sauna, I did something different. This is an infra-red sauna which is supposed to help pain and help you burn calories. This time, instead of just wearing the big towel, I wore a robe. I am trying to get my body used to the heat, so this heated me up even faster but I was able to stay in the sauna for my normal 30 minutes.

When I got home, Chris had prepared a salad and half a tuna sandwich for me. He's the best.

It's amazing how being productive snowballs into more energy and getting more things done. I hope I can sustain this in a positive and non-draining way.

Yay!

I worked out yesterday! And I am sore today! Yay!

I did cardio for 40 minutes, with a 5 minute warmup and cool down. Then I did a lot of lower back exercises and some leg exercises.

The back ones killed me. I did hyperextensions on the pilates ball, which means you balance yourself, stomach down, on the ball, and with your hands behind your head and you lift your upper body up.

Like so.


Then I did a move that I am not sure what it's called. It's a pilates style move, where you get into a position and by tightening your core muscles, hold it there. You get on the ball stomach down. Then with one leg and the same side arm lift up. You hold it there for about 10 seconds.

Like so:

Then I did dead lifts, which is always really hard for me to do but I can feel them working right away.

Like so: (from:http://www.healthline.com/hlbook/strt-stiff-leg-deadlift)

Then I did some sumo or plie squats, where you put your feet wider than shoulder width apart and with your toes pointing out.
Then I did some reverse lunges where you step back into a lunge as opposed to stepping forward.

And that's it.

As you can tell, I am trying to really get my back nice and strong for when I start my new job this summer. There will be lots of lifting and although I have pretty good form when I lift heavy objects, I should make my back strong and ready.

Today is kickboxing day, so I won't workout until this evening.

Here's my daily plan:
Work until 10am
Do errands (rent, mail letters, fin aid!)
Labwork at Winery 12-330
Pick up Chris at 4
Gym at 530- cardio warmup, abwork before kickboxing 6-7
Sauna 7-730
Hopefully in bed by 830.

I usually don't like to workout so close to going to bed, but staying up past 9 and getting up so early is wearing me out. Last night I made myself go to bed at 8 and I feel great today. I did the same thing yesterday and as you can tell, I felt great yesterday too.

I am still dreaming about Lady Bird Lake though. Austin here I come!

Two in one day!

Not workouts, though I do like the idea of breaking workouts up. If only we had the time to do that, right?

Anyways, here is what I have been dreaming about lately, specifically when I move back to Austin:
*jogging at Lady Bird Lake
*doing yoga (Tues nights at Mosaic and I found another free yoga place)
*working out with friends, jogging, yoga, walking, gardening
*Eating more greens! Eating healthier in general! More fruit! More salads!
It used to be, when I lived in Waco, I always ate salads. I loved them so much I never tired of them. I might try to go back to that because when I was doing that, I was also super skinny, in shape and very healthy.

I am also going to try and get a good support working out network built up in Austin. I will need help in motivation. So, you wanna walk with me on the hike and bike trail? Good.

Must overcome...

Yesterday: no kickboxing. No workout. A beer, ice cream and snickers instead. Gads!

Today: promises of working out. But food already started off on a bad foot. Didn't have time to make breakfast (all out of yogurt) and nowhere to go at 445am, so bought a cake doughnut and two pigs-in-a-blanket. Feel like curling up with blanket.

Must do better. Must overcome the backsliding into bad habits.