Archive | April 2012

BeachBody Day59 – Visualize

Apr16

Finally caught up on my Beach Body posts :-) I was able to get up early even though I was still wanted to stay in bed. I decided to weigh and measure myself because it was the end of the 8 weeks for TurboFire and the beginning of the Bikini Series. I knew that it wouldn’t be lower than the last time because I did take a couple weeks off from working out and I am on my period :-/ That always affects my measurements. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Week 8 –

Weight – 109.4 lbs

Waist – 25 inches

Hips – 33 inches

Thighs – 18 inches

Calves – 13.5 inches

Arms – 9.5 inches

Even though my weight is heavier – and I knew it would be. My measurements didn’t change much from the last time.  Not bad considering I spent two weeks eating out a lot and even enjoyed some cheesecake :-p

Today’s challenge was to do the Drop10 Toning and PlateauBuster workouts. I did the Drop10 x3 for my bootycall. It was a great way to wake up.  After dropping Gio off to school and taking Seppe to speech therapy it was Turbo time.

Turbo Fire Day 57 – First day of a month long of HIITs. Today was HIIT15/Sculpt30. The HIIT workout was tough – especially the last one. Lots of tuck jumps and it was hard for me to keep up. I tried to do all the jumps but I think it would have been better if I had done the modified version at the end. I was definitely out of breath at the end.  My biceps are sore from Sculpt30. I made sure to stick to the tougher resistance when doing the curls. Pushups were kind of hard for me today but I think it was just because I was tired from the HIIT. lol.

I was on a different schedule with my Drop10 workouts but for some reason last week, I stopped getting the emails that told me what workout was next. I had already done Plateau Buster on the treadmill last week but I decided to do it again.  I wanted to hit the treadmill but the two that my apartments had were broken so I did it on the elliptical instead.  I raised the resistance to 12 for the 3min interval and lowered in to 8 for the 2min interval.  If you have the resistance high enough, you will sweat with this workout :-) As usual, I end with my PlankADay – 2min.

PlateauBuster on Elliptical

Used GymBoss timer App this time :-)

Another Bikini Series challenge for today was to make a Vision Board for the next 8 weeks. I focused on quotes that motivated me and on people who inspired me – of course I had Karena, Katrina, and Chalene on my board :-) I use to think these were kind of pointless since I write my goals down and that’s good enough for me. But after making one and Seeing what I want to focus on, I see how helpful it is and I’m glad that I made one :-)  I’m not much of a cut out from magazine kind of person so I used my iPhone to make my vision board. I also made it my wall paper on my phone so I can be reminded of my goals every time I look at my phone – which is a lot! lol.

Vision Board created on my iPhone :-)

Meals –

M1: Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with Almond Butter and Chia Seeds.

M2: Shakeology with spinach, blueberries, and peanut butter.

Enjoying my Shakeology after my TurboFire workouts.

M3: Tried out Trader Joes Chickenless Strips in a salad – spinach, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, carrots, and cucumber. Small amount of raspberry vinaigrette.

Chicken-less Strips - Not too bad. Actually has a chicken texture to it.

Yummy Salad

M4: Luna bar.

M5: Quinoa, chickenless strips, spinach, tomatoes, black beans, red kidney beans, and avocado mixed together with broccoli on top. Back to my Meatless Mondays :-)

Quinoa mix Bowl with Broccoli on top.

80 oz. water. Forgot my green tea again :-/ Not doing too well with that goal – gotta really start making an effort.

Sign up for the Bikini Series at ToneItUp.com

You can also still sign up for Self Magazine’s Drop10 Challenge

BeachBody Day58 – New Challenge

Apr16

Tone It Up started their 2nd Bikini Series on Sunday. And like all the rest of my wonderful ToneItUp Team, I am so excited! I started with their first Bikini Series last year and that was the beginning of a beautiful love affair between me and Tone It Up :-)

The Challenge for Sunday was to write down our goals for the next 8 weeks, to share two of them via twitter, facebook or the ToneItUp community, and to plan/prep for Monday and the rest of our week :-) I shared my goals in the community and two of them on Facebook.
Here’s My 8 Week Goals:
1. Complete my Big Sur 9mile race without stopping :-)
2. Drink 80 oz. of water everyday.
3. Drink at least 1c. of Green Tea everyday.
4. BootyCall Workouts 5X a week.
5. Try out new healthy recipes – especially from the BeachBabe Edition of the Nutrition Plan :-)
6. Finish my TurboFire Program.
7. Stick to Clean, Lean and Green Dinners.
8. Enjoy every moment I have with my husband and sons.

I am really looking forward to all the new workouts and other challenges for the Bikini Series :-)

Sunday Runday :-)

Workouts – Bootycall was a 3 mile run. I went without any music and had the best run I’ve had in two weeks. I don’t it was because I didn’t have music that had the  most impact on my run. I think I was more rested and better fueled. Despite an overcast day, we decided to go to the beach for a picnic. It was actually really nice.  Not too windy and cold.  The boys even went into the water and go wet.  Luckily I brought a change of clothes for them.

Boys playing in the waves.

Turbo Fire Day56 – I did Core20/Stretch 10 after dinner. I really made an effort to keep my feet up the whole time during the matt exercise. Stretch10 is always nice after a workout. It’s a short stretch but helps loosen you up.

I followed it with Tone It Up’s new Bikini Ab workout. And boy my abs were sore after that. There were a couple really tough exercises for me but I’m going to work on those.  I ended with a 2min plank.

2min on elbows.

Meals –

M1: Luna bar – something small before my run.

M2: Bowl of grapes.

M3: 6 inch Turkey Avocadio Subway on whole wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, olives, and cucumbers.  No sauce, mayo or cheese.

M4: Almond Coconut Kind Bar.

M5: Ben has to have steak because of all the blood he loss so he made some tri-tip for dinner.  I took a small piece and had some Quinoa mixed with bell peppers, mushrooms, and bean sprouts. Also had some asparagus.

Steak for dinner.

80 oz. of water. Didn’t get my green tea in :-/ It’s something I have to work hard on because I’m not use to drinking tea regularly.

Sign up for the Bikini Series at ToneItUp.com

You can also still sign up for Self Magazine’s Drop10 Challenge

BeachBody Day57 – A Long Day

Apr15

Saturdays are long days for me.  When many people get to enjoy sleeping in, I get up to my alarm around 6:30a. If I’m lucky, I can sleep until 7a and even 8a sometimes. I get up so I can I get a workout in before getting the boys up and ready for their tball games. This morning I did Tone It Up’s SelfMagazine Drop10 ToningX2 and their new Bikini Booty workout – from their BeachBabe DVD :-) My booty was feeling sore as soon as I finished!

I don’t get much of a chance to just relax at the boys’ games. I record the games and take pics so I’m on my feet the whole time walking around.  It gets very tiring. Today wasn’t that great of a day.  Seppe was fussy at the beginning of his game but cheered up eventually.  Gio was just a complete jerk to us, his coaches, and his team.  It was really embarrassing and it upset me quite a bit :-( Their games were far enough apart that we were able to come home for lunch after Seppe’s morning game.

Turbo Fire Day 55 – I decided to get my Fire45EZ and Stretch10 out of the way  before Gio’s game started.  For not having any fire drills this one still works up a really good sweat – especially if you Push yourself. I can’t really decide which combo I like the best because I really like them all :-)

After Gio’s game, I was really tired and upset. I probably should have gone for a run like I had planned on, but I didn’t. I just tried my best to relax and get through the rest of the day. It was nice that Ben prepared dinner because I didn’t feel like doing anything. PMS probably has something to do with that too :-P

Ended with a 2 min plank. So glad this day is over!

Meals –

M1: Went for a big breakfast – Egg whites, Whole Wheat toast with raw almond butter and half a banana sprinkled with cinnamon, and fruit (grapes and strawberries).

Big Protein Packed Breakfast :-)

M2: Luna bar.

M3: Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich with tomato, spinach and bell pepper.

This was Delicious :-)

M4: dark chocolate raisins w/ almonds.

M5: Left over Salmon with asparagus and quinoa.

80 oz. water and 1 c. of green tea.

BeachBody Day55 – Stretched Out

Apr15

It’s amazing what foam rolling and a hot shower can do to worn out muscles! I woke up Thursday morning and my legs felt much better. I could walk without pain.  I’m glad that I took it easy yesterday after my long run.  I was able to get up and do a bootycall workout :-) I went with Bikini Blast – 20 reps X3sets. I was planning on starting the new  5 Day Slim Down from Tone It Up’s Beach Babe Edition but I realized that with my training for my Big Sur race coming up in a couple weeks, I would need to eat more.  I decided to wait until after my Big Sur race to do the slim down :-)

That didn’t stop me from trying out the new recipes though :-) For breakfast I tried the Banana Split recipe.  I didn’t have carob chips but I did have Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk so I used that instead. I also added some chia seeds.  This was soooo good!! After I dropped Seppe off at school, it was time for some Turbo Fire.

Decaf Green Tea w/ Stevia to start my day.

Turbo Fire Day 53 – For Core 20 I really pushed myself.  The floor exercises are always hard for me but I really made an effort to keep up with them today.  It burned so bad! I know it’ll be worth it though :-) Stretch40 was amazing! It was exactly what my body needed.  Even though the beginning moves work up a sweat, by the end of it, I am completely relaxed and all stretched out :-)

Last Interval before cool down. Love the Seconds Pro App!

Afternoon workout was Tone It Up’s and SelfMagazine’s Drop10 Engine Revver HIIT workout.  Since it was cold and rainy out, I headed to the gym.  I don’t mind running in the rain, but my knees needed a little break from pounding pavement. The elliptical isn’t too bad when doing a HIIT and it was actually easier for me to do the workout on the elliptical instead of the treadmill. Ended my day with a 5min plank for PlankADay.

Elliptical HIIT - Drop10 Engine Revver

Meals –

M1: Banana Split with Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk and chia seeds.

Banana Split from Beach Babe Edition

M2: Apple

M3: Chicken Cranberry Walnut salad from Carls Jr. Had to be out of the house during lunch while our carpets were being cleaned.  This is what Ben and the boys wanted so I made the best of it.  The salad wasn’t too bad.

M4: Luna bar and chocolate Zico.

M5: Salmon Burger on whole wheat sandwich thins with mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach and bean sprouts.  Ben made dinner :-) I added the mushrooms and the bean sprouts.

Salmon Burger made by my hubby.

Did not do well with my water today :-( Only 40 oz. and 1 Zico.

BeachBody Day52 & Day53

Apr15

Combined Day52 and Day53 because they were pretty much the same. Monday was my first day back to my Turbo Fire workouts. Gosh! I really missed doing these.  I picked up where I left off so this was the beginning of week 8 for me. Luckily, this is the recovery week from the month of cardio and perfect to help ease me back into my workouts before starting the last month of HIITs.

Day52 – It was really really hard to get up for my bootycall, but I did it! Having Ben home recovering and the boys home for Spring break had me kind of on vacation mode. lol. I enjoyed sleeping more :-) Even though it isn’t March anymore, I still wanted to finish the Mad Abs Challenge. I had 6 days left to do and I had started back up last week.  I did Day30 with 43 pushups, 55 second side plank, and 58 crunches. I am able to do regular pushups but I take mini breaks in plank. After I reached 40 it really started to get super hard for me. I would be really sore so I decided to do the last few days of the challenge every other day. Does that make sense?? lol. Basically, I take a day off then do the next day :-)

Turbo Fire Day 50 – It’s been a long time since I did Fire45EZ. I almost did the New to Class option but decided that I could figure it out.  I really didn’t remember the routines but I was able to catch on really quickly. This one doesn’t have any Fire drills but it’s still an amazing workout :-) It was so much fun and definitely a favorite now.  I did get a little lost at one point and little out of breath.  I had forgotten how intense these were when you really push yourself.

First run after a week.

I also got back to the Drop10 Challenge from SelfMagazine. I was trying to catch up on the workouts, but the only thing that changes are the cardio workouts. I decided to just do the current workout for me and that was 5K run.  Ben’s schedule is different for this week so I had to do my run later in the day.  I went at an easy pace.  My legs have been really tight because I was out of my Zico and bananas so my potassium intake has been a lot lower.  I swear by Zico.  Ever since I started drinking it – especially after my runs, my calves have not cramped up even after my long runs. And I could feel them quite a bit during and after my run. I’ve been doing PlankADays for the last week.  I ended with a 2 min plank.

Started back up with my PlankADays. 2min on hands.

Meals –

M1 – Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with chia seeds and almond butter.

M2 – Apple and 5 dark chocolate almonds.

M3 – Egg Salad and Tuna Salad on top of Whole Wheat Bagel Thins w/ spinach. Used plain Chobani greek yogurt to make the salads.  The boys love these salads and I’m so glad that I can make it with greek yogurt instead of mayo.

Lunch for the boys - I had the same thing but on whole wheat bagel thins and minus the cheese sticks. Added tomato slices and spinach on top.

M4 – skipped :-(

M5 – Turkey Meatballs and Grilled Veggies (egg plant and zucchini)

I love these Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini from Trader Joes :-) Very yummy with Turkey Meatballs.

60 oz. of water.

Day 53 – Had to get up a little bit earlier today because Seppe is back in preschool.  Gio is still on break until next week so I knew it was going to be tough getting him up.  I did the Drop10 Toning workout for my bootycall.  I did an extra set and boy does that make a difference.  It gets tougher the third time around :-)

Turbo Fire Day 51 – It was Fire45EZ again today and I had no complaints.  The routines were fresh in my head so I was able to keep up the whole time. I also cranked up the intensity and had a blast the whole time :-) I was suppose to do Stretch10 too but I was running a little late on picking Seppe up so I skipped it.

I was worn out from the Turbo Fire workouts and didn’t feel much like doing an afternoon workout. I kept putting it off. It was rainy and that always makes me just want to stay in bed. I fought the urge to just sit on my butt and headed to the gym for a HIIT workout. I did Drop10 Fat Fryer HIIT on the stationary bike. The intervals were short and it’s easier for me to do it on the bike than on the treadmill.  So thankful to my TIU sister @JulesTones for letting us know about the Seconds Pro app. I now have an interval timer and it worked perfect for my HIIT workout. It was a very short workout only 10 minutes but I was drenched with sweat and could barely feel my butt and legs at the end.  Best of all, I felt great that I did my workout when I didn’t want to :-) Ended with another 2 min plank for PlankADay – this time it was on my elbows.  I will be trying to get back to my 5 minute planks again soon.

Meals – Finally went shopping so I was able to really stay on track today :-)

M1 – Almost forgot to eat breakfast! I was in a rush to get the boys out the door so I grabbed a Luna bar and ate it on the road.

M2 – Shakeology Shake with spinach and frozen pineapple.

M3 – Left over EggSalad on the last of the whole wheat bagel thins w/ spinach and tomatoes and an apple.

M4 – 1/4 c. of raw almonds and yogurt raisins.

M5 – Whole Wheat pasta with a turkey spinach red sauce with peas, squash and zucchini.

Whole Wheat pasta with Turkey and Spinach Red Sauce. Also added squash, zucchini and peas.

60 oz. of water, 1 Zico and 1c of Chamomile Tea.

BeachBody Day51 – A Close Call

Apr14

And I’m back! Well… I’m trying to get back to my BeachBody Challenge and my workout routine in general.  It’s been a couple weeks :-/  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I had a family emergency with a really scary close call with Ben in the hospital for 5 days. I am truly grateful to live in a time where modern medicine was able to save Ben’s life without having to cut him open.  He’s doing very well and already back to work :-)

The day he was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance was Day51 of my Beach Body Challenge and I was actually able to finish my workouts.  I went for an 8 mile bike ride in the morning. The boys wanted to go for a swim and Ben wanted to workout at the gym as soon as I got back. I couldn’t believe that the boys actually jumped into the pool. It was only 58 degrees out! In hind sight, Ben probably shouldn’t have worked out because he wound up throwing up when we got back home. The vomitting is what tore his stomach and it just happened to be right over an artery so he started to bleed out without knowing it until much later.

The beginning of our day: Top (R-L) - Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich, Seppe enjoying his lunch, Core20/Stretch40 workout. Bottom - 8 mile bike ride and the boys jumping into the pool.

He got through most of his shift before he started to feel light headed and looking really pale.  He had gone to the bathroom throughout  the day but didn’t realize that he was bleeding out.  He decided to take the rest of the day off but went to bathroom one last time and that was when he started throwing up blood :-( This was when they called the ambulance and sent him to the hospital.  I got the call just as I was starting dinner for the boys.  My heart sank but I focused on doing what needed to be done. I got the boys ready and out the door. I immediately called his parents hoping that one of them would come.  I wasn’t sure how bad Ben was. I was worried how the boys were going to handle the ER.

Fortunately, the ER wasn’t busy or crazy at all. Ben was in a room and looked terrified.  The boys were ok until they tried to put a tube down Ben’s nose and throat.  It started a vomitting fit and he threw up so much blood.  This scared both of the boys and I knew that it was time to go. It broke my heart to leave. I didn’t want to leave Ben there all alone. He kept asking what was wrong with him. Seppe was in full tears and Gio was doing his best to be strong but I could see tears in his eyes. I promised Ben that I’d be back. I was grateful that Ruth called and said that she would come that night.  I took the boys home and made them a late dinner. I didn’t have an appetite at all. I had to wait 2 hours for Ruth to come from Sacramento.

Turbo Fire Day 49 – While I waited, I did the Core20 and Stretch40.  I needed to keep busy. I was trying not to freak out and cry in front of the boys. It was really hard, but doing the workouts helped, especially the Stretch40.  The yoga really helped with the stress and tension. I didn’t enjoy the relaxation part as much. It was hard to clear my mind. I was so worried and scared. At least I didn’t spend an hour just sitting there freaking out.

As soon as I was finished, I got dressed and waited another half hour before Ruth arrived and went back to the hospital as soon as she got here. I went back to the ER but they had already transferred him to ICU.  This, of course, added to my worry. I had to wait a half hour before they let me in to see him.  He as so weak and pale.  He was half asleep. I was allowed to spend the night and I did. It was a Long night.  Neither one of us slept that much.  Ben was restless but was not allowed to get up at all. I helped bring him his bed pan and anything else he needed in between the nurses coming in to help. They were great at being there for pretty much everything. Ben was not happy because he wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything.  The enoscopy was scheduled for the morning and they needed his stomach to be as empty as possible.

Anytime Ben went to the bathroom he would also throw up blood. They were giving him blood to try and stay ahead of the blood loss. I think they didn’t realize how much he had already lost while at work and in the ER. They hoped that the procedure would help them find the cause of the bleed (they didn’t know yet) and stop it. The procedure in the morning didn’t help much.  It ruled out their first diagnosis of a stomach ulcer but there was so much blood that they weren’t able to see where it was coming from.  They decided to repeat the procedure in the afternoon with Ben completely sedated so they could suck out all the blood in area. It was a long 4 hours in between the procedures. Ben wasn’t doing well at this point. We knew that if they couldn’t find the the source of bleeding with the second enoscopy that he would need surgery.

The second enoscopy took longer so I was worried that he had gone into surgery. I was relieved when the nurse told me that they found the source of the bleed and were able to stop it.  When they allowed me back into his room, he was still sleeping but I could already see the color coming back to his skin.  I hadn’t noticed how pale he really was until I saw him with some color.  A couple hours later he was awake enough to talk to his dad and the boys :-) They were still giving him blood though because his blood count was still low.  I think this was when they realized that he had lost more than they originally thought.   It took 2 more nights in the ICU to get his blood count back up.  All in all he was given 12 units of blood. The GI doctor that worked on him told him it was the worst bleed he’d seen and all the nurses kept telling him that he was very lucky. They kept him one more day in MedSurge for observation and then let him go home. I stayed with him every night.

I am truly grateful for his parents who both came to help with the boys. We are extremely thankful for the Doctors and Nurses who saved Ben’s life. Also, Thank You to our Family and Friends who reached out to us by sending us your thoughts, prayers, wishes, txts, messages, calls and emails. I apologize if I did not reply to everyone. This whole situation has really shown me who I can really count on and what is really important. I have been focusing a lot on spending quality time with my family and enjoying Life.  Sorry that this was so long. Thank you to those of you who read the whole thing :-) Life is too Short and too Precious to waste.  Tell those that you care about that you Love them and Make Every Day Count!

5 days and 4 nights at the hospital (3 days in ICU): Top - Seppe and me in ICU, Gio playing w/ Ben's phone, Seppe with the skeleton doctor. Bottom - Ben's ICU room and Gio in Ben's MedSurge room.

 

Pretty much what I lived on while I was at the hospital with Ben. Didn't have much of an appetite for the first few days. Brought my water bottle to stay hydrated.

BeachBody Day56 – Hydrated!

Apr14

It’s been really hard for me to get back on track with drinking enough water.  I’ve fallen back into my bad habit :-( So I made it a point to stay hydrated today.  I was doing pretty well, up until we made a quick trip out to the city.  I think I hesitate to drink while in the car because I know that I will have to go to the bathroom. lol. But I got back on track once we got home :-)

Plateau Buster on the Treadmill

Started Friday the 13th of with Tone It Up’s Self Magazine Drop10 Plateau Buster HIIT workout.  This was a long one.  Decided to do it on the treadmill since the intervals were longer.  I set the incline to 2. My work speed was 7.5mph and my rest speed was 6- 6.5mph. It worked up a good sweat :-)

All Sweaty!

Turbo Fire Day 54 – After Seppe’s speech therapy class, it was time for Fire30 and Stretch10. I think I have this one almost memorized. It was nice to have a couple fire drills again. I got Gio to join me for the Stretch10 part.  It was funny to watch him copy the moves. Some of them he did really well and others he needs some more practice on :-)

I was actually pretty wiped out after those two workouts. Even though I didn’t want to, I did my PlankADay.  I decided to do a 2min PlankADay.

Meals-

M1: Soy Protein Banana/Chocolate Chunk muffin from TraderJoe’s. I really like having these for a quick on the go breakfast.  I had it before I went down to the gym so I’d have a little fuel for the HIIT workout.

M2: Luna bar and chocolate Zico. There is just something about Luna bars and Zico that just works perfectly together :-)

M3: Shakeology shake w/ unsweetened vanilla almond milk, spinach, and half a banana.

M4: Almond coconut Kind bar.

M5: Teriyaki Salmon and Broccoli.

80 oz. of water, 1 Zico, and 1c. of decaf green tea.

Beach Body Day54 – Doubts

Apr11

TurboFire Rest Day. That meant it was a long run day for me :-) I decided to do it first thing in the morning to get it out of the way. Ben took the day off so we could spend the day with the kids before they went back to school and before Ben went back to work.

I got up and made breakfast. I always eat before my long runs and I like to give myself a half hour to and hour after eating before I run. I also decided to do some foam rolling because my legs were so tight from my HIIT workout last night.

I was hoping to beat my time from last week but it didn’t happen :-( My legs were sore from the HIIT and I could feel them the whole time. I had side cramps and there was several times I just wanted to stop. But I didnt. I ran the whole way even though towards the end I wanted to cry. My legs hurt so badly. I am definitely not going to do a HIIT workout the night before my log run again.

I was completely wiped out when I got home. I was also feeling a little bummed that my run didn’t go well. I was doubting whether or not I was going to be able to do a half marathon. 9 miles was so hard – 13 seemed impossible. It was hard to get out of my little funk. I had to keep myself busy so I wouldn’t think about it. I know that I just have to keep working on it and I’ll get to my goal. I won’t give up.

My legs were pretty much dead for the rest of the day. It hurt to walk. I decided to take rest for the rest of the day so I can have a decent workout tomorrow. I did a 5min plank to end my day.

1min hands, 1min side plank each side, 1min hands, 1min elbows.

Meals –
M1: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal w/ almond butter, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, chia seeds and fresh apples.

Fueling up for my run :-)

M2: Grapefruit with a handful of almonds.

My favorite - Grapefruit.

M3: Chocolate Shakeology w/ strawberries, blueberries, frozen pineapple and spinach.

Ready for my Shakeology.

Seppe decided he wanted some too.

M4: Luna bar.

M5: Left over Turkey and spinach red sauce on top of quinoa, grilled veggies, peas, mushrooms and olives.

Leftover Turkey spinach Red sauce with quinoa and peas.

60 oz of water and 2 Zicos.