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.