Day 14, 15, and 16 - Walking and a Two-a-day

Is walking considered a workout?

Yesterday, Wednesday, I didn't workout per se but I woke up and went for a 2-3 mile walk with my neighbor. Does that count? I'm thinking of counting it... I didn't sit on my duff all day and truth be told, it felt just like what my body needed. After a few days of working out really hard core, a walk was perfect.

Today was a near perfect day!!

I woke up and went to a 90-minute flow yoga class this morning. It was a doozy, I was drenched in sweat! But I always feel so incredible when I leave there- long, limber, flexible, and strong. I love it.

I went to the office for a client appointment then went home for lunch. I have to be here at the office super late tonight for a group coaching webinar I do Thursday evenings so I thought I'd take a break and go home for a bit.

I ate lunch- I had little bread pieces with goat cheese, fig jam and proscuttio. Not exactly "clean eating"- with the bread and all. But it sounded really good! I was craving goat cheese for some reason and along with the fig jam, it was delicious!

Then I headed to the office and had another client appointment over the phone.

I had a few hour break so I opted to go for a run. I ended up doing 3 miles in about 33 minutes so nice & fairly easy. It's beautiful outside here today- a perfect 77*.  I loved being outside in the middle of the day!

I have a million other "work" things I should be doing but honestly, they can all wait. There's nothing urgent and there's something about getting out and going for a jog midday that feels amazing!

So I'm counting both of today's workouts which means I'm up to 16 workouts so far in February. With just two days left in the month, I won't likely hit my 20-workout goal but I did good considering I was sick the entire first week.

Day 13 - A phenomenal swim

I'm so happy with my life & schedule right now. Either it's all coming together because of the intentions of this blog OR it would have happened anyway and I'm just aware of it because of this blog. Either way, I'm happy. Things feel super balanced right now.

I woke up this morning & had a couple of phone appointments.

Then I headed to the pool to get in a swim.

I felt so strong in the pool today. I felt healthy and energetic. Here's what I did:

200 meter warm-up
8x 25-meter repeats on the 50-second mark
8x 50-meter repeats (each 50-meter takes me about 1 minute and 6 seconds and I'd start again on the 1:00 mark following (so about a 50-second rest).

It was definitely a full recovery but that's okay, it felt good. I was keeping a nice, slow, even pace.

Also, I tried to increase my lung capacity which you do by going under water and essentially holding your breath as long as possible. I can hold my breath for a whopping 10 seconds! It's bad!! I need to work on this!

I officially registered for a triathlon on May 3rd, which is in a 50-meter length pool. The one I train in is 25-meters so the purpose of the 50's today was not to go all out or anything, but just to get accustomed to that being my only option the day of.

I'm also proud of myself because I planned ahead and packed my lunch today!! The meeting I have next is further away than the pool so I packed my lunch and now I'm sitting at a coffee shop on the way, getting some work done, updating my blog and eating lunch. I ordered an iced coffee so I didn't feel bad using their wifi or taking up one of their tables.

I mean, how can I not be happy when I'm sitting outside enjoying this beautiful weather? Here's my set up currently... it's not hard to be happy!

Big Day

Big day in our world.

I scheduled an appointment to have my IUD come out.

It's a few weeks from now.

Eek.

That is all.

Making up for an unfortunate morning

Despite going to bed late, we got up early (before 6AM) to join some others for our first group ride on our bikes! I was nervous but also excited. It was a 15-mile loop we could do once, twice, or even three times.

Most importantly, I was excited to meet with other like-minded people. These were individuals in Michael's running group but they're the select few who also swim AND bike. I was so excited to meet them.

Unfortunately this happened on the way -

Yup, a flat tire. For the first time ever, I actually BLEW a tire. It went from fine to flat in seconds and we heard it. Crazy!

We have roadside assistance which was great b/c they towed it to the tire store where we bought the tires and we also bought the warranty. They put a brand new tire on it for only $10 and the tow was free too! Jam!

Unfortunately, the whole ordeal took about 3 hours so no bike ride for us.

I'm happy to report that today was still a SUPER PRODUCTIVE day. I can honestly say I accomplished everything I hoped to.

1. We meal planned, grocery shopped and prepped.
2. I cooked dinner tonight!
3. I ate a healthy snack of mozzarella cheese, grape tomato, cucumber and pesto.
4. I worked out (see below)
5. I took the dogs for a walk
6. I cleaned, put away laundry, picked up the backyard, wiped down the kitchen, etc. I always like starting the week with a picked up house.
7. I took a nap (I mean, I did get up before 6 :P )
8. I planned my workouts for the whole week
9. I took all the things I want to get done this week and added them as to-do's on my calendar so I have an idea of which day I'm hoping to accomplish each one.

I'm feeling great!

Here's the workout I did tonight, just a leg strengthening workout:

Back Squat on smith machine
60# 4 rounds, 8 reps each (hard!)

Dumbbell deadlifts
2-20#ers 2 sets of 10 reps and
2-25#ers 2 sets of 8 reps
***Can and will go heavier next time

Walking lunges
40# bar, 4 sets of 8 reps each leg

Leg extension
70#, 4 sets of 8 reps held the last 4 in the last round

Reflection + Intention

What do I think about this past week?

If I were to give myself a grade, I suppose I'd give myself a B+.

I worked out 4 times including one trip to the pool. Could be better but not bad. All really good workouts too so I feel strong.

I ate well this week despite a bunch of eating out. I made good choices with the things that I'm okay eating. My goal mostly with food is to avoid sugar or processed foods and to limit starchy carbs, but eat good fats and lots of protein. Friday night we went out to dinner at our favorite sushi place then we had plans to go hang out at a friend's out afterward. So I had a Coke at dinner for the caffeine just b/c I was tired and didn't want to be a dud later. I also had sushi, which by itself isn't bad but I love eel which of course has the famous eel sauce which is sweet & sugary. Then I had 2 glasses of wine at our friend's house. So that was probably my worst day all week, and I can live with that.

I had 2 work meetings during the week- ordered a salad at one and chicken pad thai at the other.

But I know I can do better. Recovering from being sick last week we didn't make it to the grocery store nor did we meal plan. Boy does that ever throw a wrench into things. We were scrambling all week to eat, make meals, etc. Not good. I also had a couple of opportunities a couple of the days to workout but I didn't. I was lazy and I knew I was doing it. I was purposely avoiding working out so not good.

What do I intend to accomplish this week?

• Meal plan and meal prep. I will do this on Sunday.
• Schedule all workouts - add to calendar before week begins
• Lift heavy weights 3 times (chest/back, bis/tris, legs)
• Do HIIT 2 times
• Do treadmill sprints 1 time
• Attend yoga 1 time
• Swim 1 time
• 10+ mile bike ride 1 time
• Schedule social media posts for March (work thing)
• Schedule appt to have IUD removed (or at least call about this)
• Begin process for new health insurance application
• Buy a heart rate monitor
• Register for the next triathlon

Status of February Intentions I set:

Given it's the last week of February and I had specific goals set for the month, I thought I should recap how I'm shaping up. I have one week left to try and accomplish these:

* means I did it

X means I did not or will not

Here are the things I WILL DO in February:
X 3 out of 4. See note above, missed this past week 1. Meal Plan & Prep each week  -

X 3 out of 4. Nope but I did ok working out w/ the exception of the week I was sick. 2. Fitness & Workout Plan each week

*Working on it (There's really no rush here)  3. Have IUD removed (Eeeek!)*Working on it (There's really no rush here)  4. Switch over health insurance (one that has maternity coverage)
*The one I'm doing is in May, I will do this by month end 5. Register for a triathlon in April
X SO CLOSE! 6. Exercise 20 times
X Nope and looking at my calendar for this week, there's absolutely no day I can bike. Bummer 7. Bike to work 3 times
* Will buy this week 8. Buy a heart rate monitor/Garmin triathlon watch and begin using it
*YES!  9. Make smart decisions over lunch meetings for work
*YES! 10. I will not cheat and I will make good decisions on Super Bowl Sunday.
*YES! 11. In February, I will enjoy the Wine Tasting party we're having at our house, but THAT IS IT!!
*YES! 12. I will not cheat & I will make good decisions at the party I was invited to on February 13th.

I have a lot to do this week in order to hit most of these. I feel like I would have really killed it this month if it weren't for getting sick right on Day 1. That just put such a kink in all my plans because it took me a week just to get caught up and rebound. Plus, when you're sick for a week and there's only 28 days in the month, it's really hard to workout 20 days total.

If I can finish the month strong and accomplish some of these goals that can still be achieved, I will feel really good about the month of February!!

Day 10 - Holy hell I sweat a lot

Today was such an amazing day.

I "slept in" until 8:00 AM. I say slept in because I didn't set an alarm but that's what time I awoke. That's a perfect time for a Saturday morning in my opinion - you don't sleep so late that you feel you've wasted too much of the day yet you still feel like you got to "sleep in".

We sat around and enjoyed our morning coffee than Michael & I headed to the office together for a few hours.

Then we went to lunch and sat outside on the patio at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Then we went to the dog park. It was absolutely gorgeous outside today- a perfect day to spend outside.

We came home and got ready to head to the gym. It was a doozy but I'm so proud of myself and I'm feeling phenomenal. I kicked my own butt big time!!

I started with a HIIT. It took me just under 35 minutes to get through this entire thing 3 times and by the end, I was a sweaty, sweaty mess. The last few exercises took me forever- I kept having to stop b/c I had pushed myself so hard I thought I was going to barf. But I finished.

BLOCK 1: 3 times through
KB Swings (10kg) 15 reps
Plank (jack + knee) 10 total (5 each leg)
Tricep dip with kick 10 reps (way too easy, need to do these differently next time)
Lunge + Bicep curl (12# dumbbells) 20 total (10 each leg)

BLOCK 2: 3 times through
Side plank left 10 reps
Burpees 10 reps
Superman w/ Pull 10 reps
Side plank right 10 reps

BLOCK 3: 3 times through
Tuck jumps 10 reps
Push-ups (modified) 10 reps
Donkey kicks (knee bent) 10 reps each leg
Mountain climbers 20 reps

BLOCK 4: 3 times through
Good morning w/ circles (10kg kb) 5 reps
Ski squat + Row + Tricep (8# dumbbells) 10 reps
Thrusters (8# dumbbells) 10 reps
Knee plank w/ Arm Pull (8# dumbbells) 10 reps (5 each arm)

Then I did bis & tris workout with some heavy weights but I gave myself a full recovery before starting. Trust me, it was needed.

Seated hammer curls 15#
4 rounds of 8 reps

Overhead tricep extension 25#
4 rounds of 8 reps

Seated Curl Bar Bicep Curl
(Bar w/ 2.5#s on each side)
4 rounds of 8 reps

One arm bicep curl w/ cable 20#
3 rounds 8 reps of each arm

Skull crushers 30# roll bar
4 rounds 8 reps, Did slow negatives on final round


***Post to follow with coming week's intentions and past week's reflections.***

Day 9 - Morning exercise

My girlfriend lives right down the street from me so for accountability, I've been picking her up on my way to the gym. If I know someone is waiting on me, I go. When it's just, I make every excuse under the sun.

I got up early after going to bed at midnight and REALLY wanting to hit snooze. Got to her house and texted her to tell her I was there. She wasn't feeling well so wanted to skip and apologized for the late notice.

I told her late notice is actually great b/c if she had texted 10 minutes prior, I wouldn't have gone.

Why?

Why can't I hold myself accountable?

That is so annoying!

I went to the gym and did the treadmill workout from the trainer a couple weeks ago:

1 minute on - 6.0mph
30 seconds sprint - 7.5 mph
30 seconds rest

12 times

The final round I sprinted at 8mph. It was a doozy and I was a sweaty, sweaty mess.

Then I headed over to do chest & back. My goal was to do 2 exercises for each but I ended up only doing one. This heavy lifting thing is tough work! I was fatigued quickly so it's something I really need to work on.

Narrow grip cable pull 75# 4 rounds of 8 reps each.
Chest press with 20# dumbbells 4 rounds of 10 reps each.

Felt good on both. I really should have kept going but oh well. Better than nothing I suppose.

I've been eating really healthy lately, drinking tons of water, and taking my vitamins. All around, I feel well-balanced right now which is no surprise since my work schedule isn't over the top. As soon as I have a busy week at work, all hell breaks loose and I can't maintain any other part of my life.

This blog helps me to document my awareness of it at least. It helps. Same w/ my awareness that had my friend texted 10 minutes sooner, I would have bailed as well. Awareness is the first step!

Day 8 - Swimming again

I finally made it back to the community pool yesterday for a nice, long swim!

Gosh, I love, love, love swimming. Seriously!

You must control your breathing...because you know, if you don't, you choke on a bunch of water...and I find it very rhythmic and peaceful, but also a good workout.

And today, woowee my feet, ankles & shins are killing me! It's from the paddling. I didn't even notice it yesterday but today, I'm definitely sore.

But a good sore.

I did 20 lengths in the pool, which I'm happy with since it was my first swim in months.

I didn't workout today but I'm getting up early to go to the gym and I'm so excited. I'm finally feeling better! Yay!

7th Day and Sick Day

Yesterday Michael and I went rock climbing, which I'm definitely counting as my workout. We were sweaty and we used muscles I normally wouldn't work. I loved it!! We got annual passes as a gift about 5 months ago that allows us to go as often as we want for just $5 each. It's the first time we cashed them in but we'll probably go back! It was fun.

For some reason, yesterday I felt crummy all day and as the day went on, it just got worse and worse.

I thought and secretly hoped it was just allergies.

Nope. Sick again.

Can you believe that? I cannot!!! I NEVER get sick and now it's twice this month! My throat all day today has been in severe pain, my sinuses are going nuts, etc. I pretty much did nothing all day and still feel like shit.

So today was my one day off this month which means I need to workout the rest of the month to hit my goal of 20. Not sure that will happen if I'm not feeling any better tomorrow and if not, I'm not going to beat myself up. 

6 of 20: Friday morning legs

I'm proud of myself AGAIN because I did get up early yesterday and workout before my busy day. And I'm glad I did because I totally forgot I had a party to go to last night. I went straight from work and arrived to the party late. I asked if she had food b/c if not, I was going to stop on the way. I was starving (it was 7pm) so I didn't want to get there, see only junk food, be starving and then end up making poor decisions because of it.

She said she had food.

She had junk food.

I was still MOSTLY good. I ate a lot of fruit, a few meatballs and only 1 dessert item. I had 2 glasses of wine.

Not perfect but also much better than I would have done a month ago. I would have ate a few of everything before!!

Here's the workout I did yesterday morning:

24 minute treadmill workout
1 minute at 5.5mph
30 seconds at 7.5 mph
30 seconds rest
Repeat 12 times
I did it all at a 2* incline

Next time I'll go faster, although it was still challenging, it could be harder.

Legs:
Back squat 4 rounds 8 reps each at 50#
Walking lunges w/ 40# bar 4 rounds 8 steps w/ each leg
Leg extension machine 70# 4 rounds 8 reps each ----> held reps at the top to make sure it was hard enough, will go heavier next time.

5 of 20: Biceps & Triceps

I'm SUPER proud of myself. Despite having a super intense and super crazy day, I got up early and went to the gym beforehand! Score 1 for this gal!

I really didn't have the time OR the energy to do cardio or a HIIT workout but I did do 45 minutes of solid weight training.

And I went heavy!

Seated Hammer curls 15# dumbbells
4 sets: 10 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps

Skull crushers w/ 30# curl bar
4 sets: 8 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps, 10 reps

One arm bicep curl w/ cable 20#
4 sets: 8 reps each
*Super hard

Overhead tricep extension 25#
4 sets: 8 reps each

Bicep curls (seated w/ curl bar w/ 2-2.5# added)
3 sets: 8 reps each

Each of the exercises was heavier than I normally would have done. By the 4th round, my arms were shaking and it all felt really good.

Friday is another INSANE day so I guess that means I'm working out early again. That kind of stinks because I worked until 9pm tonight (it's 10pm now and I feel like I'm JUST NOW winding down finally). It's unlikely I'll be able to go to bed soon so getting up early is not going to be fun.

There are 16 days left to February and I have to workout 15 more times. Dare I skip tomorrow then be forced to workout every other day this month? Or should I bank it for another day this month?

Record Keeping Workout Update

I did this workout on Monday but it doesn't look like I updated the blog with it.

I like to use this blog as a way of tracking these so it's out of order, but here it is.

Do each superset twice before moving on to the next grouping:

40 seconds on, 15 second rest

Deadlift
Lunge + Row

Deadlift toes out
Ski squat + Tricep Extension

Deadlift toes in
Curtsy lunge + curls

Squat + Overhead press (thruster)
Halo + Good morning

Wall sit w/ lateral raises
Side lunge w/ ventral raise

Bridge w/ chest press
Back superman + pull

24 minutes in all.

Quick little workout when in a hurry. Toughy but goody.

4 of 20: Critique from Personal Trainer

I'm in a marketing & networking group with a bunch of others. It's our duty to meet with one another and learn about each other's businesses so if I'm sitting with a client, I can refer them easily.

One of the other members is a Personal Trainer so this morning I went to his gym.

I showed him the exercises I've been doing lately and said, "Here - critique this." So he did.

I was so pumped up when I left his office, then just by chance I had a client cancellation so I headed straight to my gym!

First, he challenged me to do my HIIT stuff for 30 minutes at least.
Second, he challenged me to follow that up with heavier strength training.

He said if I want to lose fat and look better (yes, that's my goal... I want to look better...) then he said I'm close, I just need to do a bit more weight training.

So here's what I did:

THREE TIMES THROUGH!!!:

Squat Jumps x 10
Plank Punches x 10 each arm
Lateral Raises x 10 (8#)
Burpees x 10
Side Plank w/ Rotation x 10 each side
Tricep Kickbacks x 10 each arm (8#)
Step ups to a lunge x 5 each leg (2-15# weights)
Bicep Curl to Shoulder Press x 10 (12#)
High Knees x 20
Tricep Extension x 10 (15#)
Bridge w/ Chest Press x 10 (2-15# weights)
High Kicks x 20

My total time to do the above 3 times through was 30:16 and it was HAAAAAARD!!
He challenged me to break as little as possible. I really tried to picture him standing next to me :)

Then I followed it up with some chest and back work. He recommended 4 different exercises for 5 sets and 8-10 reps each.

I'm not gonna lie, I couldn't do all that. I did 3 exercises, 4 sets each. But, it's good to have something to work toward and I definitely felt great about what I was accomplishing. Here's what I did:

Narrow Grip Pull 75# 4 sets of: 8 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps
Straight Arm Crusher Overhead 15# dumbbell 3 sets of: 8 reps
Chest Press 15# dumbbells 4 sets of 12 reps


He also gave me a cardio interval to try.
60 seconds jog
30 seconds sprint
30 seconds rest

All on a 2* incline. 12 times through that 2-minute interval so 24 minutes total

He also said I should eat leaner beef and cut out the brats (which we eat a lot). He recommended adding more fish to the diet and brown jasmine rice instead of white, red potatoes, and walnuts.

3 of 20 - Long way to go

My original goal was to workout 20 times in the month of February. Sounded reasonable.

Then I got sick and was out of commission for a whole week.

Today is February 10th and I've worked out 3 days in a row. I didn't post yesterday but I went to the gym in the morning before work with a friend. We did a quick 24 minute workout that was full body. It was perfect - nice & quick but got it done before heading to the office. I was proud of myself.

Then this morning I'm just finishing up with Yoga.

So with 18 days left in February, I need to workout 17 of them in order to hit my goal.

I've decided I'm still going to shoot for it but I'm also not going to be super upset if I don't stick with it either. After all, it wasn't because I took  a week off due to laziness, I was sick, which was completely out of my control.

Today's yoga class was amazing - it was just what I needed considering all the strength training I've been doing. I get so incredibly tight from lifting weights and not properly warming up & cooling down. The lack of stretching really shows during yoga when I can barely get into some of the poses!

But, I always leave feeling super limber and my hips feel more open, etc. I need to make sure I'm incorporating it into my weekly workout schedule for sure.

3 down
17 more to go

Cheers!

Tough Workout Done

I headed to the gym and did another tough workout today, similar to the one last week just before I got sick.

I started with a treadmill workout

Minutes        Speed     Incline

3 warm-up     5             0

2 base            5             1

3 push            5             2

2 base             5            1

1 all-out         5.5          3

1 walk            3.5         0

_______________________________

1 base            5            1

2 push           5             2

1 base            5            1

2 push           5.3          2

1 base           5             1

1 all-out        5.8          3

1 walk           3.5          0

_______________________________

1 all-out        5.8          3

1 walk           3.5          0

1 all-out        5.8          3

1 walk           3.5          0

1 all-out         6            3

1 walk           3.5          0

Instead of sprinting, I tried to increase the incline and use that to get my heart rate up. It was easier than the sprint version I did a week ago. I need to push myself a bit more than this the next time I do this workout - either increase the incline some more and/or pick up the pace at the same time.

Total Distance 2.20 miles

Total Calories 268 

Time 27:02

After that I did 4 blocks of 5 minutes each. Here's the 4 blocks...

Block 1

Squat Jumps x10

Plank Punches x 10 each arm

Lateral Raises w/ 8# dumbbell x10

I made it through almost 3 full rounds (just a few reps shy doing the lateral raises).

Block 2

Donkey Kicks @ 40# on machine x 10 each leg

Side Plank w/ Rotation x 10 each side

Burpees x10

I made it through one full round then all the donkey kicks and about half the side planks.

Block 3

Step Ups to a Lunge (holding 12# dumbbell) x 5 each leg

Bicep Curl to Shoulder Press 12# x10

Mountain climbers x20

I made it through two full rounds then all the step ups and about half the bicep curls the 3rd round.

Block 4

Tricep Extension 20# dumbbell x15

Calf Raises x 10 each leg (on side of treadmill)

1-minute Sprint

I made it through one full round and ended with about 30 seconds left of the sprint the 2nd round. The next time I do this one, I will choose a 15# dumbbell instead of 20#.

Back to the World of the Living

After being sick and taking time off work for 3-4 days, I finally started feeling like myself on Friday. I pretty much slept all week before that day. No working out, barely eating, and when I did it, I was all about comfort food. I did okay with the exception of an ice cream shake one evening.

I have no excuses. I was feeling crummy and wanted ice cream. I'm a kid sometimes.

Today I'm committing to make February my best month yet, despite the shitty start.

I doubt I'll be able to hit my goal of 6 pounds lost this month but I'm okay with that... I still want to do everything I can regardless.

Today's Action Items:
1. Clean & put laundry away- my house is a disaster from being sick.
2. Do some food prep- we have a ton of food left from last week since I barely ate. I need to determine what is still good and edible and what is getting tossed.
3. Go workout.
4. Schedule all social media posts for February- I'm way behind with work stuff like this. So working on Sunday is a must.
5. Make a calendar of February workouts so I can see if I can still hit the "20 workouts this month" target. I'm thinking I'd need to workout everyday from now til the end of the month for that to be possible. So we'll see...
6. Schedule any days this week I can bike to work.

Time to honker down and get back into the swing of things.

Sick

Well, it wasn't a hangover I had, I had the flu.

And it's sticking around apparently.

Not a great way to kick off February at all.

Sabotage

Wow, I went from the best day ever yesterday... having tons of intentions for February and feeling like I could do this.

Then we went to a friend's house last night & I got super drunk and had a total fricken blast and now today I'm feeling like poop.

I'm not wanting to do anything except sit on the couch in my pj's all day.

Unfortunately that's not possible because we're having people over for the Super Bowl so I have to clean my house and get ready. I kinda feel like it's going to be 5+ hours wasted because I can't leave yet I don't really care to watch the game either.

Blah.

If I'm committed then I need to muster through today and get productive. I need to act on my goals regardless of how I'm feeling right at this minute and just suck it up cupcake.