Good morning, happy Monday and happy Lent season! I am proud to recap last week’s workouts because they were my best yet! Here it goes…

Monday: Always the worst workout day of the week for me because it usually follows Sunday night binge fest and I rarely have the energy to workout, however today marks the day where all my Mondays will forever change!

Started with toning exercises:

Followed by 30 minute incline walk (because I couldn’t even think about running after these moves) and 30 minutes on the stepper while watching the bachelor. “Winning!!!”

Tuesday: Got up for a morning 2 mile jog with a ten minute walk and ended the day with Jillian’s Ripped in 30 level 1.

Wednesday: Morning 1.5 mile walk @ 5 incline, Ripped in 30 plus 20 min HIIT on the shredmill

Thursday: Yoga Melt Down and ripped in 30

Friday: 30 min HIIT on the shredmill and new DVD – Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones (product review to come)

Saturday: Off day

Sunday: 1.5 hour morning walk through the city (4 miles) and Ripped in 30.

I don’t mean to toot my own horn here, but this week’s workouts were definitely “winning!” I officially completed Ripped in 30 week 1 and can’t wait to see what week 2 is all about! Also, I shall have a product review for you soon and a detailed description of week two’s circuits!

This morning I got up and did a little 15 minute walk and 15 minute jog/walk to get my blood circulating! I made this yummy breakfast right after: Protein Packed Oats and Coffee

Protein packed oats:

• 2 tbs oat bran
• 1 tbs organic golden flax meal
• 1 tbs vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/3 C frozen blueberries
• sprinkle of walnuts

Mix first three ingredients with some water and nuke for 2 minutes. Add in blueberries and walnuts! Done and done

Happy fun-fit Friday!!! I woke up less stuffed up today- could be all the drugs I’m taking or my workout madness! Anyway, I forced myself to get up and do a 30 minute workout (20 minutes of HIIT) with warm- up and cool- down. Trust me, when you can’t breathe out of one nostril and have a hard time sleeping, the last thing you want to do is get up earlier than you have to – especially for strenuous movement. It wasn’t easy, but there’s a reason why Nike says “Just do it.” I’m not saying I know what that reason is, however I thought that quote applied

Morning Workout:

Warm-up: 3.0 @5 incline for 5 minutes
HIIT: 10 reps of 30s sprints @8.0 followed by 90s walk @3.2 (the last 2 reps I did 8.5 sprints)
Cool-down: walk @ 3.0 for 5 minutes followed by some yoga stretches

Once this lovely routine was over I immediately went straight to the kitchen to eat the breakfast I was dreaming of…

What you see here folks is the breakfast of champions; 2 slices of Ezekiel 4:9 toast with 2 eggs and coffee. Yum and yummers!

Well, that’s all the goodness I have for you today. Remember, weekend doesn’t mean binge fest (reminding myself) stay strong and stick to your goals! If you’re gonna cheat make it a cheat meal not cheat day!!

Happy Friday!!!

Yay, it’s closer to the weekend! Okay, so the pain that I felt yesterday is just indescribable. I couldn’t sit properly, couldn’t stand up with ease, and couldn’t lift my arms without whimpering. Despite walking like someone who crapped their pants, on my ride home from work I put on some major jams to get myself motivated – and it worked. 

The day after a killer workout your muscles are obviously sore and you feel as if your body is telling you to rest, but you need to do the exact opposite. It’s always a good idea to workout the next day to break up the lactic acid – which is what causes the soreness – and I promise you the next day you won’t feel as sore. The key is to just shut off your brain and push through the pain! (Wow, I am just full of rhymes lately aren’t I? Maybe Jay-Z will hit me up for some artistic flow.)

That’s exactly what I look like in my sports bra, too! I’ll have to show you a picture sometime…

Anyway, I completed ripped in 30 level one again last night, but this time my heart rate monitor was working properly which means I can give you a better guestimate of calories burned! The total workout with warm-up and cool-down is 34 minutes, however this time I paid attention to the ‘actual’ workout which lasted 25 minutes (I’m not quite sure how it adds up – even I know 6×3= 18.)  Whatever, as long as I’m getting my ass kicked, I don’t really care! So, I looked at my watch right before we went into cool down and it read: 30 minutes, 250 calories burned!!! Pre-tty amazing! I cant say week one is that difficult for me (watch out workout warrior over here) but she shows you the ‘easy’ version and ‘hard’ version, so I’m striving to perfect the ‘hard version’ before I get to week 2.

After reading this article by my fave girls @toneitup, it motivated me to add a little extra to my workout. The article talks about doing toning exercises first and cardio last – something I have always done (not because I knew the science) because I find that cardio wears me out and then I get lazy to do strength.  They go on to talk about why this format is the correct format and how it accelerates the fat burning process when incorporated with HIIT.

Here’s the article, read it:

http://toneitup.com/blog.php?Toning-First-Cardio-Last-The-ultimate-fat-burning-workout-5405

Soooooo after completing ripped in 30, I got my ass on the shredmill and busted out a 20 minute HIIT workout which consisted of 30 second sprint @ 8.0 followed by 90 seconds walk @ 3.0 for 10 reps. That covered 1.59 miles! My total workout was +55 minutes, – 400 calories.

The proof:

That was yesterday. Today, I feel so much better!!! I told you it really works! I woke up this morning and decided to try another video I bought – Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown.  As you can see, I really enjoy her videos because they are short and sweaty I originally tried attacking this two days ago after doing ripped in thirty, but after 5 minutes I literally collapsed. Fail!

Back to the video- it’s definitely not what you’re imagining if you’ve ever tried basic yoga. The entire 30 minute workout is done barefoot on a mat and using complete body weight. She takes regular yoga poses and adds repetitions to the movement so you’re working your muscle groups while in the poses. This method is similar to interval training as your heart rate goes up and down throughout the workout. It’s difficult enough to where you don’t feel like you wasted your time. Honestly, there were poses where my legs and arms were shaking and burning – to give you an idea. I think it’s definitely worth the 10 bucks to add some variety to your workout routine!

Jillian’s motivational words:

Well?

Good Morning! Oh, how I wish I was off of work today like so many others. Apparently President’s day isn’t important enough for a day off at my place of work… whatever!

My workout recap for week 2/13-2/19:

Monday: off

Tuesday 2/14: 3 mile run

Wednesday 2/15: Cross-train 60 minutes which included 20 minutes on the bike for 5.5 miles, 20 minutes on the stairs and 20 minutes interval run/walk on the shredmill.

Thursday 2/16: 30 minute HIIT shredmill workout that kicked my ass. I started with a 5 minute jog to warm up and then completed 20 minutes of sprint/walk intervals that went like this; 30 seconds sprint at 8.5-9.0 with one and a half minutes of walking to recover. I ended with a 5 minute jog to reach 30 minutes and walked for another five. I thought my legs were goign to give out on me – no joke.  My quads felt like I did 1k squats and the soreness I felt on Friday was indescribable aka amazing!

Friday 2/17: off day because I couldn’t walk

Saturday 2/18: 60 minutes cross-train. 20 minutes on the bike for 6.75 miles, 20 minutes of stairs and drum roll please… I ran a 9:35 min mile on the track!!! I nearly cried when I finished my final lap. I have no idea how I did that or what was going on, but my legs just kept going and going. My heart rate was definitely not happy with me, though. Now, I definitely couldn’t run another mile if you paid me and I can’t believe people can run anything more than a mile at this pace, but I guess with patience, persistence and consistency anything is possible

Sunday: off

Total Mileage: 20.75 (Bike 12.25, Run 8.5)

Words of wisdom for the week:

No pain, no gain….

Good morning! I think this past week was a pretty good workout week and I feel that I’m getting my stamina back, slowly.

Monday 2/6: 30 minutes of step and walking @ incline 10
I woke up early this morning and decided to do some low intensity cardio to start off my day. Monday’s are typically my off days, however I ate so much the night before that I had to do something.

Tuesday 2/7: 30 minutes walking @ incline 10 (1.5 miles) and a 4 mile run
I started my day off with 1.5 mile incline walk again and ended my day with a 4 mile run.  I started with a one mile warm up, followed by 2 miles (one at 5.5 and one 5.5-6 quarter intervals) and ended with one mile cool down. It was one of my better runs!

Wednesday 2/8: 1.5m walk and 30 minutes step mill
Woke up and did my 1.5m incline walk and ended the day with 30 minute interval training on the step mill. I went up to intensity level 8 and got my ass kicked.

Thursday 2/9: Off

Friday 2/10: 2 mile run
For some reason I woke up this morning and had energy to run. It wasn’t a fast run, more like a ‘recovery’ run.

Saturday 2/11: 20 min Bike (6 miles) 20 min step mill intervals, 20 min elliptical intervals, 1 mile run and 10 min walk
Today I had a crazy intense workout, one that I did not anticipate at all. I felt guilty for not running my afternoon 2 miles that I had planned to run Friday night, so I decided to make up for it today.  Cross training is really important when you’re training for marathons or races and it’s something I tend to shy away from – for reasons I don’t quite know. I guess I find it boring and I get lazy. Today, however, I felt lazy to do a long run so I chose cross-training instead. It was HARD. The stationary bike (not the one where you’re sitting in a full seat, the ones that resemble a real bike) left my legs on fire. It was after that 20 minute session where I started to realize that cross training will actually help build my leg muscles, which in turn will help me during my long runs. It’s very easy to get into the run-run-run mentality, but cross training is necessary to help prevent injury and help increase your endurance.

Sunday 2/12: off
Today was a total lazy Sunday.

Total mileage this week was 17.5 broken down like this; Walk = 4.5 Bike = 6 Run= 7. I may not have run a lot this week, but I felt that I covered a lot of distance and had great endurance during my various workouts.  I’m hoping this week will be even better!

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and didn’t eat as much as I did yesterday Anyway, onto the important stuff – my mileage!!

Workout Recap Week of February 1st:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: 60 minutes stepper
Thursday: 4.5 mile run
Friday: 2 mile run/ 30 min step mill
Saturday: 3 mile run outside!
Sunday: 3 mile run

Total miles: 12.5! I don’t even think I ran that many miles in one week when I was training for a 10k so this is a major mission accomplished moment for me! Friday, my leg started to act up again so I decided to stop at 2 miles because I didn’t want to injure myself.  I hopped on the step mill because it’s been a while and it’s one of my favorite machines. I usually put it on the ‘fat burn’ setting level 5 or 6 and step away. At the end of 30 minutes you have yourself a great thigh and bum workout that leaves you drenched!  

On Saturday, I don’t know what inspired me to go outside but I just couldn’t contain myself. I wasn’t feeling the treadmill and it was 40′s outside (perfect run weather for me.) I bundled up in three layers and hit the pavement. This was my first run outside since the Turkey Trot and it was remarkable! Besides having to wipe my snot on my sleeves a few times, it felt so great to run and breathe fresh air and it reminded me of the reason I started running in the first place; it puts me in a good mood. Believe it or not,  a quick run can change your mood almost instantly.  Next time you need to clear your head or need a quick boost, just hit the pavement – it works every-single-time!

Running Disclaimer: I’m not -in any form- a ‘serious’ runner and I don’t get crazy about my running schedule  (I did use Hal Higdon’s 10k training in November since it was my first race and needed some form of structure.) I simply enjoy how I feel after a good run and believe it’s a great way to stay in shape, so don’t expect any ‘runner talk’ (tempo runs, sprints and the like). However, I definitely want to be able to say that a 5 miler is a short run  I find that when I start getting very technical about when to run, how long to run etc etc… I become neurotic and it has the opposite effect on me. I guess that applies to everything in my life. As soon as I feel confined or ‘stuck’ to one particular format and feel that I don’t have options – it’s over, I’m doomed. That’s why journaling my food, tracking calories or points or whatever number system you want to go by never worked for me. I start obsessing about food and gain 5 lbs before I even write what I ate in my journal.  It’s just not for me, I’d rather base it off how I feel because we all know some days are better than others. When you have the energy, push yourself as far as you can go so on the days you don’t feel so hot you wont feel as bad! My motto is simple: run-run-run so I can eat-eat- eat

Motivational QOD:

Happy Monday! I know we haven’t reached February just yet and I don’t mean to jump the gun here, but it’s Monday and what better day than Monday to set your monthly goals? Before I go into those I wan’t to go over last week’s workouts.

Workout Recap Week 1/23

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 40 min stairs and TIU leg workout/abs
Wednesday: TIU Rush workout and Abs
Thursday: Off
Friday: 3 mile run – straight!
Saturday: 3 mile run- straight!
Sunday: Off

Call me crazy, but I can honestly say that I genuinely miss running. I know! Insane, but it’s true. I hopped on the treadmill Friday and set out to do a three mile run (I’m not going to mention the donut I ate earlier that day – yes, full size donut) like I used to and was so happy that I actually completed it with no walk breaks!  After my run I felt spectacular and realized I need to get back into my running routine because it’s been way too long. I finished in 34 minutes, which is my average time and I’m totally okay with it.  My first mile is at a jogging pace and I gradually increase for each mile. Saturday morning I did the same thing and had energy for the rest of the day, however I did pull a hip muscle – or so I  believe- and took Sunday off so that it could heal and that it did!

Looking at my calendar for the month of January, I can say that I have averaged 4x a week workout. I’m not going to complain about it because its 4x more than I did last year and like I always say, “any movement is better than no movement!” Okay, back to today’s topic: February Goals. Many of us have set resolutions for ourselves, but I find that revisiting them monthly really helps keep you on track and in general, setting smaller goals at a time are easier to reach! I’m going to try to be as specific as possible for the next month…

February Goals:

1. Grocery shop on Saturday or Sunday
2. Prepare lunch and dinner for the week ahead of time
3. Run 3-4 days a week (3 miles and maybe a long run on weekend)
4. If I’m going to cheat on the weekend… only one day/one meal not all three

That’s it. Four simple, realistic, and very manageable goals. These goals are specific, easy to remember and definitely doable – it’s just a matter of mindset! I believe goal number 4 will be the hardest one for me, however it can also be an incentive (even though we should never reward ourselves with food) to be super good the other 6 days of the week.  And who knows? Sometimes when you know or allow yourself the option to be “bad” you might not even want to anymore Oh, the psychological games we play!

Quote of the Day:

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson 

The winter blues have officially arrived – for me anyway.  Luckily, I broke the streak before it had a chance to survive.  Honestly, my workouts have been complete crap. I worked out four times last week, but mainly simple cardio machines – no intensity whatsoever. I’ve been eating really well up until this past Sunday and Monday – I really don’t want to get into it

I know it’s incredibly hard to stay motivated in the winter when you constantly feel tired and lazy and cold, but if you let one day pass after another it turns out to be an entire month of laziness and you most certainly will regret it. Any movement is better than no movement, and that’s the attitude I’m going to stick with this winter as opposed to getting super technical on what types of workouts I should be doing. Come spring I know I will be running outside so I’m not going to sweat it right now, instead I will focus on keeping myself active in other ways.

Last night’s beat the winter blues workout:

35 minutes HIIT on the stair machine @ resistance 15. I chose a super hard pre-set workout that had intervals and on the harder intervals I pushed myself to my max heart rate of 180 and on the easier intervals I dropped it back down to my low heart rate of 130. After 35 minutes I decided to do some strength training and chose TIU’s 4 move leg circuit.

15 reps x 3 sets:

• Squats w/ leg abductors and lateral raises w/ 3 lb dumbells
• plie squats
• deadlifts w/ 8lb dumbells
• curtsy lunges

Followed by an ab circuit that I put together:

• 25 flutter kicks – 4 sets
• 30 bicycles – 3 sets
• 2- one minute planks (one on arms and one on forearms)

I was lazy, exhausted and bloated before I got to the gym, but I forced it and had a killer workout. “You will never regret a workout!”

Since I know I’m probably not alone when it comes to the winter blues, a little motivation can go a long way…

It doesn’t matter how long, how short or what workout you’re doing – it’s still better than no workout so keep that in mind when you start feeling discouraged. Just get your ass up and do something- you’ll feel better I promise

“You’re only one workout away from a good mood.” – TIU

The constant debate if one should eat less and move more or eat better and exercise harder? Which is most effective for optimal fat loss?

Eat less, move more seems to be basic logic like energy in verse energy out, however that may only work in theory. “While energy balance is a significant factor, fat gain and loss is also strongly affected by your hormonal state which is the result of the type of foods you eat.” There are some hormones that influence metabolism including; cortisol (stress hormone) ghrelin (is basically when your stomach is growling) and thyroid. The key is to have your hormones in balance in order to effectively burn fat.  As you know, sugar and carbohydrates elevate your insulin levels which inhibit fat loss and promote fat storage, but it’s not just the type of food you eat it’s also when you eat it.  For example, you probably shouldn’t be eating pasta at 9 pm unless you plan to run a marathon the next day. The key is to eat the right types of food that are nutrient dense and will provide you with energy throughout the day.

Even if you restrict your calorie intake you will inevitably produce the hormone cortisol which promotes fat storage, therefore your workouts are going wasted. Not to mention as soon as you increase your calorie intake even a little bit – you’ll gain back everything you “lost” and more (which was muscle, not fat btw). In simple terms – you lost muscle and gained more fat. Cool! “The proper role of exercise in a fat loss program is not to burn calories, but to maintain muscle while fat is lost.” In order to do that, you need to eat the right types of foods (lean protein, some dairy, healthy fats, whole grains in true form not processed, legumes, fruits & veggies), nix the processed foods and exercise the right way (combination of cardio and strength training with HIIT).

“Precautions when training with HIIT:

• The number one precaution is to make sure that you are eating healthy and that you have had 2-3 cups of water an hour before this kind of training. Also, you want to make sure you are getting adequate protein and carbs at least an hour before and after your workout as well.
• A great ratio to consider is 2:1 carbs to protein. The best carbs to consider include: bananas, mangos, carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, whole grains, and brown rice. Some smart protein sources include: lean meats (such as chicken breast, fish, prawns/shrimp, extra lean beef), beans/legumes, dairy products (low fat milk, yogurt, cottage cheese), and of course whey protein powder and hemp protein.
• The second precaution is that you should never do two days of High Intensity Interval Training in a row. This kind of training puts a great amount of stress on your muscles, joints, and bones and a minimum of 24 hours is required to allow your body to recover. Be smart and make sure you get adequate sleep or you may be compromising the integrity of your immune system. Read more…

This may sound too complicated for your liking, but we know that 70% of fat loss comes from your diet and 30% from your exercise. If you can find the right balance of the two you will burn the most fat!

Good morning and happy happy Friday! Started my morning with my usual peanut butter and banana on toast. This time I used a whole banana instead of half and I drizzled very little honey – so yum!  My morning workouts this week were non-existent, however my nightly routines were bomb.com! Last night was the first time since November that I actually ran 30 minutes straight through. Sounds like nbd, but trust me I was drenched! For the past month I have been doing interval training that included some walk breaks in between bursts of running or sprinting, so I decided that I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could run 30 minutes straight with no walk breaks… mission accomplished!

It technically was like interval training because I started at 5.0 speed and  every two minutes I went up .1 until I reached 6.0 and the last five minutes – since my heart rate was on crack- I jogged at 5.0.  I honestly think this has been my hardest run yet because I had to sustain a good 10 minutes of running at a faster pace than my average.  If I keep the speed at 5.0 I could probably run an hour straight, but I have never ran at anything higher for more than a few minutes at a time so I was pretty proud of myself in the end! I finished my workout with 10 minutes of incline walking, reaching a little over 3 miles! Sometimes the simple workouts are the most effective. When you’re in doubt about what to do,  stop over-thinking and  go back to the basics!!

Also, if your goal was to start exercising this year, don’t start off with impossible tasks that will ultimately lead you to give up. Like yesterday’s post, take it a day at a time. Start with small goals like ‘workout twice a week’ and gradually increase! I started getting serious about working out June 2011 (7 months ago) I started small with standard elliptical 3x a week and since then I have come so far fitness wise and health wise. Before then, I probably averaged 2x a week and could barely run a mile without stopping to walk.  I never believed I would ever run a race, let alone two in a period of three weeks. My weight has fluctuated often and no drastic weight loss has occured, however my blood pressure is incredibly close to 120/80 and my resting heart rate is 65 bpm (where it used to be over 70.)  That’s just in 7 months – pretty amazing! My point here is that anything is possible if you put your mind to it!

Before I leave you to the fabulous weekend ahead, I want to post a few workouts that look insanely awesome that you should attempt

For some reason I am not able to post the actual video on my page so below are the links to printable and video versions:

The printable circuit training workout.

Videos to show you how it’s done:

circuit part 1

circuit part 2

HIIT Workout: (no equipment needed)

HIIT #1 video

Printable HIIT #1 workout

I stumbled across this blog on twitter and it’s pretty fantastic – and she has a killer body!! If you want to see some yoga flow workouts or new circuit workouts go check her out http://beyoutifulliving.wordpress.com/ and get motivated:) I plan to try at least one of these workouts this weekend and I will let you know how it goes!

Words of wisdom for the day:

“Change is uncomfortable” Toneitup