Tag Archive | exercise

BeachBody Challenge Day37

Mar11

How did switching to DayLight Savings Time work for everyone? It didn’t hurt me too badly. No way to stop losing an hour but luckily I didn’t have to be up too early. Tried to get up at 7a but was feeling super tired so I stayed in bed until 8a.  I could have slept for longer but I forced myself to get up so I could go run.  I wanted to beat the crowds on the trail which usually start around 8a. I think the overcast and cool weather kept some people inside because there wasn’t as many people out as there usually is.

My run wasn’t all that great. I felt tired the whole time. I wanted to go faster but my body wasn’t working with me.  It was like I was stuck at just one pace.  I figured it was the lack of sleep and not eating anything, but I think it’s more because it’s that time of the month – again.  It’s a struggle to get my body moving during this time. Oh well, at least I went for a run. I did 3 miles and my knees haven’t bothered me all day.  I’ve run 3 days in a row and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to run up to 5 days in a row without knee problems. Really glad that it’ll be lighter out longer so I can do some later runs.

Spent most of the morning at my boys Hit-a-thon and Picture Day for tball. Then it was laundry and picking up the house a bit. I didn’t have much energy to do my usual cleaning.  Boys played video games with their Grandpa so I had to wait to do my workout.  I was able to rest for a half hour before dinner but for the next few days, I’ll be wanting to sleep All day long.

Turbo Fire Day 35

I finally got to my Turbo Fire workout after putting the boys to bed.  Luckily Core20 and Stretch40 don’t have any jumping or running so I can do this one at night without worrying about our super sensitive neighbors below us.  For Core20, I really tried to keep my feet up during the mat exercises the whole time.  I think that this workout has helped me get a mini six pack :-) Did all the pushups at the end too. After the doing the Mad Abs challenge, doing 8 pushups didn’t seem so bad this time around.

Stretch40 was absolutely wonderful for me today.  My body really needed a good stretch. It felt great :-) I’m really pushing myself in this one because flexibility is something that I want to work on. I can go a little bit lower on the forward bends and triangle poses.  No pain at all in my left knee when I straighten it. I do the tricep pushups on my feet but I do the hover on my knees. Hovering above the ground is hard! When I first tried it on my feet, I just fell to the ground. lol. I shake the whole time on my knees, but I’m working on it.

It’s rest day for Mad Abs March but I did a 2 minute plank to end my night.

On elbows - 30 second left leg raised, 30 second right leg raised, on hands for 30 seconds and tummy tucks for 30 seconds.

M1: Another Starbucks Spinach, Feta, and Egg white wrap.

M2: 4 Strawberries and 1/4 c. of raw almonds. This was so yummy :-)

Very yummy snack :-)

M3: I had a Luna bar at the park while the boys chowed down on hot dogs. Having the Luna bar kept me from eating a hot dog that did smell pretty good. As soon as we got back home I had some left over Panko chicken, snapea crisps and 2 clementines.

The healthy version of Chicken Nuggets and french fries :-)

M4:  5 dark chocolate almonds.

M5: Salmon burger with kidney beans, spinach, mushroom, and tomato mix with a side of broccoli.

This was the second Salmon Burger from a couple nights ago that I didn't finish.

80 0z. of water and 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day36

Mar10

I just realized that I’ve been doing this challenge for over a month. lol.  It really doesn’t feel like 36 days have passed. Guess I’m having fun? I really am enjoying doing Turbo Fire. I think that I picked the perfect BeachBody program to do for me.  It’s helped me a lot with training for my races. Exercising isn’t just something I do now. It has become a part of my life and I look forward to my workouts – most of time ;-)

It was another long day.  There aren’t too many people I know that get up at 6:30a on a Saturday – by choice! In order to get my morning workout in, I had to get up early.  Usually I ride my bike 10+ miles but Ben’s dad is visiting and the air mattress is right in the middle of my living room. It doesn’t leave room for me to get my back from the patio and out the front door. I decided to go for a run so I could quietly slip out. I had a mini Luna bar and some water before heading out. The boys actually got up while I was getting ready for my run so I didn’t head out until 7:30a.

Saturday Morning Run

My legs felt heavy during my run but my pace wasn’t too bad. I just felt like I was going super slow for some reason.  I planned on going for a 4 mile run but wound up going 5. I don’t think that I should have gone that far because my knees were not happy with me for the rest of day.  I try to keep my miles lower when I run back to back days.

The rest of the morning belonged to my boys tball games.  My legs were not happy about standing around filming the games. I could have used a nap today but there just wasn’t any “free” time for me.  I even considered skipping my TurboFire workout – but I didn’t :-)

TurboFire Day 34

I’m glad I didn’t skip my workout today. Fire45 is my favorite :-) I was dragging my feet getting to it but I immediately got excited once class started and I heard the music.  I couldn’t wait to do the first combo.  I know that one really well and I can really get into it. I decided to go for the star jacks and tuck jumps even though I was tired. I figured I was already tired, why not make the most of the energy I have left?  I was worn out when I was finished but I was in a good mood. I’m always happier after a good workout. Wonder how long it will take Ben to realize this is the best time to ask when he wants something? lol.

I really didn’t want to do much of anything else but I still had my MadAbs March Day10 and plank to do. I decided that if I’m going to stay up to work on videos and blogs, I must have some energy and there was no excuse for me. I took a break from my computer and did my workout.  The MadAbs challenge is getting a little tougher now.  I am still doing regular pushups but boy is it starting to get hard. I’m trying not to think about how many I’m suppose to do at the end of the month and just take it one day at a time. It’s hard to squash the doubt that I’ll be able to do 45 pushups by the end of March :-/  I will just keep doing my best. Ended with a 2 minute plank.

30 seconds on hands, 30 second tummy tucks, (on elbows) 30 seconds left leg lifted, (on elbows) 30 seconds right leg lifted

Meals:

M1: mini Luna bar (prerun) and a Starbucks Spinach, egg white, and feta cheese wrap – Ben’s dad is here and he always gets breakfast before I can decline.  Had a Zico to drink.

M2: Strawberries with cocoa almond butter.

M3: I know that Gene (Ben’s dad) means well when he takes us out to eat. I just get tired of it. I am just as happy to cook for everyone. It really isn’t an inconvenience. We went to Red Robin because that’s what the boys wanted. I got the Brushetta Chicken sandwich with no cheese and lettuce wrapped.  It turned out just being put on top of lettuce. Not to mention that it took over a half hour to get our food. It was barely warm. I just ate the chicken, tomatoes and a small amount of the lettuce. Ordered sweet potato fries which were also cold. This was the worse experience we’ve had at our local Red Robin :-(

Brushetta Chicken Sandwich on top of lettuce - no cheese.

M4: Larabar

Snacked on a few Snapea Crisps while making dinner – maybe 10 at the most.

M5: Panko Chicken and Green Beans. I made a double batch because it’s so popular with my boys. It will only last a few days.

Double batch of Panko Chicken - my healthier version of chicken nuggets/chicken tenders.

Lots of green beans with my chicken.

80 oz. of water and 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day 34

Mar8

I really need to get to bed earlier. I finished one of the boys’ videos last night. Finding and adding music takes me the longest. Despite how tired I was, I got up and got dressed.  I love that the sun is out bright and early now :-) Now, even though I am tired, I can get up and at least go for a nice 30 minute walk.  If I hadn’t been so tired, I probably could have gone for a run. My knees were still pretty stiff from my long run yesterday. I think that it will just get worse as my runs get longer so I wanted to get into the habit of going low impact the day after.

Sunrise Walk on the peninsula

The sun was just coming up when I went out.  It was a really nice morning and I could tell that it was going to be a beautiful day.  It was nice that the wind had died down a bit too. It was cool but I warmed up as I walked. I don’t take an easy stroll when I walk. I walk as fast as I can without going into a run :-) Low impact but lots of intensity!

I meant to do a workout right after dropping the boys off at school, but I got started on Seppe’s tball game :-/ I got a lot done by the time Ben got up. Finally got Ben to go to the gym with me :-) Well – I went with him.  He is really trying to get back into working out and I thought that if I went with him, it would help. I’ve stayed away from the gym – except for speed training – now that the weather has been so nice because I love running outside. And today was a big reason why I don’t hit the gym often.

Rockin my Tone It Up tank to the gym. Forgive the crazy lady appearance :-)

When we got there, a lady was on the bike talking on her phone. It is my biggest pet peeve! Why even sit on the machine when you’re obviously not getting a workout while you’re sitting there casually pedaling and talking up a storm – and talking loudly.  Ben got on an elliptical. An older lady was on the one working treadmill, so I decided to warm up on the other elliptical.  I decided to do Tone It Up’s Max Burn workout (minus the Itty Bitty workout at the end).  I figured the lady on the bike would be getting off her phone soon since I had no idea how long she was there before us. I finished my warmup, went through the first set of of exercises and lucked out! The older lady finished on the treadmill so I was able to hop on for the 5 min jog interval. I kept my pace easy for my knees. Lady on the bike was talking even louder. Second set of exercises and she was still talking. 2nd 5 min jog, she moved next to me and now I could hear her even over my headphones which I had up pretty loud. ugh! Thankfully Ben told her to quiet down because he was super annoyed. She just plugged in her headset and continued to talk. SMH. I finished up and did Day 8 of the MadAbs March challenge while I waited for Ben to finish. We were going to lift some weights but the lady was still on her phone talking so we left.  Our gym is small so there wasn’t any place we could really go to get far away enough to Not hear her.  Ok enough about that annoying bitch. lol.

Turbo Fire Day 32

I decided to be nice and let Ben have the tv for his video game. I used my laptop to do my workout. I started with Tone30. This one is killer on my arms.  I’m still getting use to the resistance band.  I kind of want to use weights instead, but I’ll stick with the band. Fire30 was also on the schedule for today.  Definitely did better on it today.  I kept it low impact so no jumps or tucks. I did do the sumo burpee  though. My favorite is the second combo. I can really get into that one.

Ended with a 5 min plank.

1 min on hands, 1 min side plank (30 second side dips) each side, 1 min hands (30 sec tummy tucks), 1 min elbows (30 second hip dips)

Meals:

M1: Chobani Champions with raw almond butter and chia seeds.

I try to get every last bit of yogurt :-)

M2: Chocolate Peanut Butter Shakeology. I usually use almond butter but I decided to change it up and use peanut butter.

M3: I bought some collard greens on yesterday so I could try out collard wraps like the one in Tone It Up Nutrition Plan :-) I’ve never had collard greens before and I was a little worried about the taste. I told myself that I’ll never know unless I try it so I bought it. I took my left over quinoa mix and wrapped it in a leaf. I made two because even though the leave were big, I didn’t a lot of filling in so it would wrap. I really like collard greens and I want to try cooking it :-)

Collard Greens

Left over quinoa, chicken, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, and squash mix.

Quinoa mix Collar Wrap

M4: Lara bar.

M5: I made burritos for the boys. Kept it simple for the kids – a little refried beans, ground turkey and cheese. For Ben, I added guacamole and plain Chobani yogurt. I was hoping that it would be a good enough substitute for sour cream for Ben. He can be quite picky so I was glad that he liked it with the greek yogurt. I used whole wheat tortillas. For me, I made salad using the ground turkey I made for boys, red kidney beans, and tomato avocado salsa on top of spinach. I added a bit of plain greek yogurt on top.

My No Taco Salad :-)

Topped with Plain Chobani Greek Yogurt - just as good as sour cream :-)

I wanted to something sweet so I decided to have 5 strawberries.

90 oz. of water. 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day31

Mar6

I meant to do have this up last night but I decided to catch up on some episodes of Spartacus. It’s my guilty pleasure ;-) And about the only thing I watch on TV.

I was up late again the night before trying to recover some old videos of my boys that I had lost. I still got up at 6a yesterday  to do my bootycall workout. It was tough though. I had actually woken up at 5:30a because I thought one of the boys were trying to climb into my bed but it turned out to be an earthquake. I just went back to sleep. lol. I found after getting up about the earthquake.

Before doing my workout, I weighed, measured, and took pictures to track my progress. The numbers aren’t that impressive, but I go by how I look and feel. I’m feeling great and I think I’ve toned up a little. I know that I have to really watch my diet in order to tighten and tone up my middle section more.

Weight – 106.4

Chest – 30

Waist – 25.25

Hips – 33

Right Leg – 19

Left Leg – 19

Right Calf – 13.5

Left Calf – 13.5

Right Arm – 9.5

Left Arm – 9.5

On Left - Day1 of the Beach Body Challenge On Right - Day 31 of Beach Body Challenge

Like I’ve said before – I’m not going for weight loss. If anything, I’d like to put on some muscle :-) I’m really focusing on getting a stronger upper body.

My Bootycall workout – Itty Bitty X3 and Mad Abs March Day 5. I did 13 regular pushups and I think that I’m going to keep trying to do regular pushups for the Mad Abs challenge :-) After dropping Gio off to school I came home and did NTC Razor Sharp Workout – reached 1000 minutes and unlocked Lea Michele’s exclusive workout :-) I can’t to try this one out.

Turbo Fire Day 29

When I logged into Team BeachBody’s Super Gym, it had Fire45EZ as my scheduled workout but my calendar said Fire55EZ. I double checked with the Class Schedule that came with the DVD’s and it was Fire55EZ. I guess the auto schedule messed up. Oh well. I did great with Fire55. I’m getting better at the moves so I’m really able to get into it.  Dripped sweat the whole time.  Did all the tuck jumps and star jacks for the fire drills. This is a long class and it wears me out but it’s so much fun.  I ended with a 2 min plank.

All on elbows with a stand up comedy act on tv that made me laugh which actually made it really tough to do :-)

Meals:

M1: Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with 1/2 tbsp of raw almond butter and chia seeds

I could eat this All the time :-) Adding Chia seeds gives it texture without adding any extra fat or calories.

M2:Choc Shakeology w/ avocado, mango, pineapple and spinach. Small bowl of frozen grapes.

Green tropical Chocolate Shakeology

Frozen grapes are like candy to me :-)

M3: Left over quinoa chk stir fry

M4: Originally going to have a Larabar but my 5yr old decided he wanted it so I had an Almond coconut Kind Bar

M5: Salmon and green beans. Used my girl Sharisse’s  (FitFoodJunkie) balsamic/honey sauce on the salmon and the green beans. It was soooooo yummy. It’s my new favorite :-)

Using the balsamic/honey sauce to season my green beans.

Clean, Lean, and Green :-)

Dessert – 4 dark chocolate almonds.

100 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day30

Mar4

Last night I didn’t set my alarm so I could sleep in today :-) It was absolutely wonderful not to hear the sound of my phone. I was awake at around 8a but stayed in bed until 9a.  I tried to go back to sleep but it was no use – that was as late as my body would allow me to be asleep today. It was still nice though. You wouldn’t think an extra couple hours would make such a difference – but it does :-)

I got up and had a mini Luna bar just so that there would be something in my stomach before heading out for a run. I decided to go a different way than my usual. I took the streets and realized why I don’t go this way that often.  The traffic lights annoyed me. I don’t like stopping and waiting. I jog in place but I feel like it messes with my flow. That and it slows my time down.

Sunday Runday :-)

The rest of the day was for laundry, house cleaning, and importing photos and videos.

———————- Turbo Fire Day 28 ———————

Of course I made time for my Turbo Fire workout. I wouldn’t miss doing Fire45 :-) Have I mentioned it’s my favorite? Lol. The first and last combos are the most fun.  I know those two the best so I really have fun with them. The second combo I’m still working on. I did the Star Jacks for the fire drills and the tuck jumps.  The only time I don’t jump is during the high low moves. I get mixed up when I throw the jump in there so for now, I stick to the low intensity version. Stretch10 felt Amazing today.  I think I was also tight from last night’s workouts and from the run this morning. It felt really great to stretch out my arms.

I’d love to do more tonight, but I have a mountain of clothes to fold so I can have a place to sleep. I will be doing a 5 minute plank and calling it a night.

PlankADay - 1min elbows, 1 min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 1 min hands

I’ve made it through the first 4 weeks! I will do measurements and weigh myself tomorrow morning. I’m not expecting drastic results – especially with my weight. I was never doing this challenge to lose weight. I was looking for something fun and challenging for me to focus on.  I like to do challenges – big and small.  They help me from getting bored and give me something to work towards. I think that it’s what has really helped me stay on track with exercising regularly.

So has there been any changes? Well, I’m not sure what the numbers will say tomorrow morning. I know I could have done a lot better with eating. I don’t think I ate too badly but I can always do better :-) I can say that I feel a lot stronger. I’ve gotten faster in my runs. I’ve gone further on my runs too.  I can do more regular pushups and I can do more reps with heavier weights. I’ve improved in my Turbo Fire workouts. My biggest win is getting my left knee back.  I was really worried that starting this challenge would make my knee worse or that because of my knee, I wouldn’t be able to give it everything.  But it turns out that as I did the Turbo Fire workouts and my other exercises, my knee got better and I was still able to run :-) I am ready to head into the next 30 days with even more intensity!

Meals –

M1: Mini Luna bar and water.

M2: I was going for an omelette but I can never get it right when I have the veggies and eggs in the pan at the same time.  I was really hopeful since it looked like it would be the perfect omelette but when I went to flip it, it just fell apart and became a scramble. It tasted great though.

Looked Like it was going to turn out to be the perfect omelette.

Turned into a scramble - 2 egg whites, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and 1 piece of Havarti Natural Cheese

M3: Brown Rice tortilla with the last of my chunky olive hummus, spinach, chicken, left over roasted zucchini and squash, and carrots. I only ate half of it.

Brown Rice Tortilla Wrap: chunky olive hummus, chicken, roated squash and zucchini, and carrot.

M4: Trailmix and a Larabar.

M5: Made a Quinoa stir fry – with a red and white quinoa mix, spinach, zucchini, squash, peas, corn, chicken and tomatoes. All I did was season with sea salt and it was actually very tasty. All the flavors worked well with each other.

Quinoa stir fry - red and white quinoa, zucchini, squash, peas, carrots and chicken.

80 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day29

Mar3

Today started off great right away :-) Even though I had stayed up a little too late last night watching a movie with Ben (well he watched it while I slept through most of it because I had already seen it) I got up at 6:30a and headed out for a bike ride. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do my usual hour long ride because I had a lot to do to get ready for the boys’ first t-ball games. I decided to to do a short 6 mile ride, I kept the gears high and pedaled as hard as I could most of the time.  There are times when passing and crossing streets that I had to slow down.  It’s been a while since I’ve done a bike ride and I could tell. I was able to get up to 14mph before but my legs felt heavy doing 12mph today. Maybe they were just worn out from yesterdays workouts? I just know that I need to get back to riding my bike more often.

The rest of the morning was ruled by t-ball. I packed snacks and drinks so we wouldn’t have to settle for the food at the Snack Shack. It’s mostly hot dogs, chips, and nachos. Gio’s game was at 9a and we were late because they switched fields on us. His game was short but he did really well. We don’t live far from the fields so we had time to go home after his game for snacks and so Gio could change. Seppe’s game was at 11a and he did a lot better than we thought he would.  I didn’t expect him to last the whole game without just walking off the field. He made it through 4 innings :-)

I was pretty tired after we got home. I record all their games so I was on feet walking around for both games. After lunch, I wound up laying down and fell asleep. A couple hours later I got up and made sure to do my Turbo Fire workout.

———————- Turbo Fire Day 27 ———————–

It was all about core and flexibility today with Core20 and Stretch40. It felt like Core20 was harder for me today. Maybe I was still tired? I’ve been working on keeping my feet off the ground during the matt exercises. Those hurt so good :-) Last week I felt like I was making progress, but I had to keep my feet on the ground quite a bit today :-( I did a lot better with the Stretch40 workout though. I can do the triceps pushups and the chataranga :-) My left knee did great. I was able to keep it straight for the triangle pose and when stretching with the band. I think that the stretching in this video really helped my knee get better and that I’ve gotten a little more flexible :-)

Mad Abs March Calendar

I found a Mad Abs March workout on Pinterest that I decided that I’d start today. Since I didn’t start on the first, I had 3 days to catch up on. I did Days 1, 2, and 3 back to back. For the plank – I just added up the time for all the 3 days and did all at once. I did the crunches and pushups separately for each day. I did regular pushups. The last set of 12 was tough. I looked at the calendar and saw that by the end of this month, we’re suppose to do 45 pushups. eeeeks!! Not sure if I’ll be able to do all 45 regular pushups but I’ll be trying :-) I figure if I follow the calendar, it will help me get to 45. Decided to do a 4min plank to end my  day :-)

PlankADay - 1 min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 1 min hands

Meals –

M1: last slice of zucchini loaf because Seppe took a couple bites and decided he wanted something else. Had a Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with raw almond butter and chia seeds. I’m kind of addicted to adding chia seeds to my breakfast.

Small but filling breakfast

M2: Grapes and a Luna bar in between the boys games.

M3: Ben decided to go to Panda for lunch and I was too tired to put much effort into making anything. I went for a Veggie Bowl with Chicken and String Beans.

M4: Snapea Crisps and Olive Tapenade.

M5: Panko Tilapia, broccoli, and roasted zucchini and squash. I used a little olive oil and sea salt for seasoning. This is the first time I’ve cooked veggies in the oven. I think it’s going to be my new way of cooking veggies from now on. It’s so easy to do :-)

Veggies going into the oven :-)

The rest got cut up and put in the freezer :-)

Fish and Veggies - had to finish off the left over broccoli and Tilapia

80 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day28

Mar3

Yesterday WordPress decided to suspend my blog :-( Apparently, I had violated their Terms of Service but I wasn’t given any information on How my blog did so. This was so upsetting to me. I wasn’t sure what I would do if they didn’t reactivate my blog. Yes, this stressed me out a lot! I’ve worked so hard on my blog for the past year. It would have been heartbreaking to lose everything. I contacted them right away but wasn’t expecting to hear back from them until their support team was back on the 6th. I was extremely happy to get an email this morning telling me that it had been a mistake due to their Auto Spam filter and that my blog was active again :-)

I had actually written this post last night so I wouldn’t have to try to remember everything. My short term memory isn’t all that great these days. lol. I blame it on the boys and lack of sleep.

So here is how Day28 went for me:

Today went pretty well. It’s the first Friday in a while where I didn’t do a long run. It was kind of weird. Lol. It was also the first day I was able to go out for a run again first thing in the morning.  I love that it is light enough outside at 6:30a that I can go run. My favorite bootycall workout is running. It really helps me wake up. I don’t worry about my speed this early in the morning.  I go on an empty stomach so I don’t have much fuel for a Fast run. I do try to run a good pace though. I do 3 miles and it’s perfect because I get back at the time I need to wake the boys up for school.

—————— Turbo Fire Day 26 —————-

I wound up doing a bunch of errands for most of the day. I finally got a chance to do my Turbo Fire 55EZ after picking Gio up from school.  I did so much better this time around.  I did the tuck jumps during the fire drills! I think I even got higher this time. I can really tell the difference when I’m going all out during the workouts. I’m out of breath most of the time :-) And it’s easier to crank up the intensity when I know the moves. This one has a lot of kicks. I had to take it easy on my left side because my knee wasn’t feeling to strong when I kicked.  I’m being careful and listening to my body so I can avoid getting injured. I want to be able to complete the Turbo Fire challenge and continue training for my half marathon.

I followed it with a quick M100. I beat my time by 10 seconds :-) And that was after a kick butt Turbo Fire class. The burpees are the hardest part for me. As much as I dislike burpees, they are really good for getting the heart rate up.

My new personal best for the M100's :-)

I also did the Tone It Up Happy Hour Challenge of 30 Lunges every hour.  I did miss a few hours but I made it up by doing several sets of 30 at one time.  I started at 8a and ended at 7p.  Doing my PlankADay (2min) and that’ll be it for me.

Meals –

M1: Maple Nut Oatmeal with unsweetened chocolate almond butter, cocoa almond butter (1/2 tbsp) and chia seeds. I really love adding chia seeds to my breakfasat.

A Very yummy breakfast. I couldn't even taste the Chia seeds.

M2: On the go – Zico and Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna bar with grapes. Zico and a Luna bar is my absolute favorite snack to have. I only had half of my Luna bar and grapes because Seppe decided that he was hungry and wanted me to share with him.

My Favorite Snack - only got to eat half the Luna bar.

Seppe took the other half of my Luna bar and ate most of my grapes.

M3: Same as yesterday – quinoa and veggie pasta with lemon pepper chicken.

M4: Larabar and handful of homemade trailmix.

M5: Panko chicken and broccoli. This is a favorite with my family. It’s a healthy version of chicken nuggets or chicken tenders. I think I’ll have to make this in bulk and freeze it so I don’t have to make it All the time. lol.

80 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day27

Mar1

Today started off pretty good :-) I forced myself up to do my bootycall workout. It was light enough to go out and even though it was cloudy, I decided to head out for a brisk walk.  I really like going out for a walk/jog first thing in the morning. It usually helps me wake up.  I knew it was going to be raining for most of the day, but I pulled on my rain coat and went out anyways. It only rained on me at the end.  I go for two miles and walk it as fast as I can. Walking shouldn’t be taken lightly. I think it is a really great low impact exercise that Anyone can do.  If you do it at a quick pace, engage your core, and focus on good posture, it can be a decent workout :-) Plus it gives my knees a much needed break from pounding the pavement.

My favorite part about early morning walks/jogs - the trail is pretty much empty. All mine :-)

Last little bit of the sky before the clouds took over

Then it was time to do my usual morning routine with the kids. It was a little difficult with Seppe this morning but we all got out the door in time. After dropping the boys off at school, I decided to do a workout.  I wanted to do some strength training so I turned to my NTC app. Went for the 45 minute Challenger workout. I was dripping sweat the Entire workout. A minute never seems so long unless you’re doing these intervals with NTC. If you have an iPhone – I highly recommend downloading this app! I wanted to do a set of M100’s but ran out of time :-(

————————— Turbo Fire Day 25 —————————

I was a little frustrated because my Turbo Fire workout got pushed back further than I wanted it to be. Sometimes Ben can wind up dominating our schedules. It was HIIT20 and Sculpt30 today. And let me tell you, I totally took my frustrations out on my workout. I jumped higher – not that it was super high – but I did all of the jumps.  I hit like I was really punching someone in the face – it may or may not have Ben’s that I imagined. lol :-) I was able to keep up pretty well this time around on the HIIT.  I remembered the moves and was able to really focus and venting my anger.

Sculpt30 was as tough as I remembered it. I did challenge myself even more this time through.  Added more resistance to some of the moves.Didn’t stop when it burned and did all the pushups at the end :-) I didn’t add the resistance band with the pushups though – maybe next time.

I wanted to do one more workout for today, but time wasn’t on my side.  Plus we got some frustrating news about our rent going up super high. There was lots to talk about. I ended with a 5 minute plank – 1 min elbows, i min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 30 second hands, 30 seconds elbows.

1min elbows, 1 min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 30 sec hands, 30 sec elbows

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Meals:

M1 – Chobani Strawberry with Raw Almond Butter and Chia seeds – gotta thank my TIU sister @GetFitCat for giving me this idea. She always adds it to hers so I decided to give it a try (It is Try It Thursday after all). Also had a slice of zucchini loaf and half a banana – the bigger half went to Seppe.

Trying Chobani with Chia Seeds and Almond Butter

Yummy Breakfast

M2: I had been craving bacon so I picked up some Turkey bacon from TraderJoes. I decided to cook up some egg whites and sauté some mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. I placed on piece of bacon on top of the veggies, set the egg whites on top of the bacon and added one more slice of bacon on top.  It was soooo good and just what I needed after the NTC workout.  Also had a small bowl of grapes.

Egg whites, turkey bacon, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes

M3: Left over quinoa pasta and veggies with a side of TraderJoes Lemon Pepper Chicken.

M4: Snapea Crisps, carrots and hummus.

M5: TraderJoe’s Turkey meatballs and grilled asparagus. I could have sworn that I took a pic but my boys had my phone for a bit so they may have deleted it by accident :-(

80 oz. of water.

Today is the First day of March and there’s a new Tone It Up March Calendar. I always make mine my Desktop Wallpaper so I can always check to see the challenges. Make sure to get yours – Just click the pic ;-)

Tone It Up's March 2012 Calendar - Make sure to print/save Yours!

I really can’t believe it’s March already! I have a feeling that this year is just going to fly by. New month means New Goals. For March, I will be focusing on getting at least 80 oz. of water a daily, running 8 miles by the end of the month, and continuing with my BeachBody Turbo Fire Challenge.

BeachBody Challenge Day26

Feb29

—————————– Turbo Fire Rest Day ——————————

It may have been a Rest Day from my Turbo Fire workouts but it wasn’t a No Workout Day.  I moved my Long runs to Wednesdays (the rest day for my Turbo Fire) because it was just too draining for me to do a long run And a longer Turbo Fire workout on Fridays. Going to bed early last night was just what my body needed to help me get through run today.

When I woke up, it was raining. I use to let the rain be an excuse to Not run, but not anymore.  It was raining pretty hard after dropping Gio off so I wanted to wait for it to lighten up a bit. I have no problem running in the rain but I didn’t want to be completely drenched. I timed it perfectly because when I went out, the sun peeked through for a little bit and even though the clouds came back, it didn’t rain – until after I was done. I did some foam rolling while I waited.  I highly recommend foam rolling for All runners :-)

7.3 Mile Run with my Nike+ App

I really love my Nike+ app. I love how I can “challenge” myself by going farther or faster.  I did 7 miles last week so I decided to go for 7.3 miles today. The beginning is always the hardest part for me. After getting myself out the door, the first 10-15 minutes is mentally challenging.  The thought of how far I have to go intimidates me and a part of me wants to stop right away.  I think about things I want to do and things I have to do to keep my mind busy. Once I get past that part, I’m usually somewhere else mentally so I’m not thinking about running. I’ll focus on the music or the scenery. I just run. When I get to the halfway point, I get a second wind and feel pretty good.  Towards the end, I start to feel it physically and I have to tell myself I Can Do It – I’m Almost Done – Just a Little Bit Further – Just Keep Moving – Don’t Stop….  And when I finish, I feel Great that I made it without stopping. I always feel like I’ve won a huge mental battle. I Beat the voice that told me to Stop and Quit! I don’t worry too much about the time.  Today, I needed to finish in time to pick Gio up though. I finished just in time to do a stretch, pull on my sweats and coat, and head out. I had to walk since Ben had my car (which had the car seats).  I brought my chocolate Zico to drink on the way.  I swear that stuff is Best post run drink ever!  We walked back home and my legs were pretty worn out.

After helping Gio with homework, I took a nice long shower.  It felt absolutely amazing. I did some stretching while in the shower to help my legs out. I wish I could have stayed in there all day. That’s all I’m doing for today – except for my plank. Going to try to get bed at a decent time tonight.

Meals:

M1: Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with 1/2 tbsp of raw almond butter and Zucchini Loaf. Fueling up for my run :-)

Breakfast: Chobani Champions and Zucchini Loaf

M2: Luna bar.

M3: Chocolate Shakeology with spinach and frozen blueberries.  I can’t even taste the spinach at all and this was so filling. If you hate eating greens, seriously adding it in a shake will help :-) Also had some Snapea Crisps.

Lunch - Green Chocolate Shakeology Shake with Spinach and Blueberries

M4: Carrots and Nut Thins with Chunky Olive Hummus.  Just had a little bit of Nut Thins left so I decided to finish it.

M4: Carrots, Nut Thins and Hummus

M5: Panko Tilapia and broccoli.

Dinner: Panko Tilapia and Broccoli

60 oz. of water. Had a Zico during my run and a chocolate Zico post run.

BeachBody Challenge Day25

Feb29

I was so tired last night that I actually listened to Ben and took a break from blogging. lol. I went to bed at 9:30p – and that is Super early for me. It felt great to get some Good sleep – more than my usual 5 maybe 6 hours. Yesterday was a great day though.

I was determined to get up for my bootycall workout. I really need to get back to doing these regularly. I decided to do Tone It Up’s Bikini Blast Circuit – 20 reps each X 3 sets. I followed it with a 2 minute plank. It maybe hard for me to roll out of bed and to do a workout but it totally wakes me up once I’m done :-) I got dressed and made Gio’s lunch all before having to wake the boys up. It felt great to be on top of things.

I went grocery shopping after dropping the boys off at school. I really think that grocery shopping should be considered exercise. lol. At least the part where I have to carry All the bags from my car and inside. I had 8 bags and it took me 2 trips to get it all upstairs. I was a little worn out from it, but I decided to get a workout in before having to pick up Seppe. I hadn’t lifted weights in a while so I did the Spartacus Workout.  I used 25lbs for the Goblet Squat, 15lbs for everything else except for the T-Pushups and Plank Rows where I used  5 lbs. I had just enough time to get in a round of M100’s. I timed myself to see how long it takes me and hopefully I can get faster :-)

How Long it took me to do M100's

—————————– Turbo Fire Day 23 ———————————

I wanted to do my Turbo Fire workout before picking Gio up from school so I did it after lunch.  On the schedule was HIIT20 and Stretch10.  I guess it had been a little while since I’ve done this one because I didn’t remember it. Lol. It felt like a new workout.  I attempted all the tuck jumps.  I liked that we did every drill Twice – and the last one 3 times.  It gave me a chance to do better because I was always behind a little the first time through. Hopefully I’ll remember more the next time so I can just focus on giving it everything I’ve got.  Definitely needed the Stretch10 afterwards.

I probably should have stopped after Turbo Fire.  It was a pretty intense workout. But there was a new Tone It Up Shredmill that I couldn’t resist trying. It was short one – 20 min so I did it before making dinner.  I’ve done most of Tone It Up’s Shredmill’s and their first one is one of my favorites.  I use it for my speed training. I figured I was pretty prepared for this new one…. But I was wrong.

Tone It Up's New Shredmill

I do Treadmill HIIT’s without much of an incline to save my knees.  This new one had inclines! Sprinting for 15 seconds on an incline was super tough. I really wanted to stop after the second round. I was breathing hard but I told myself that it was for only 10 minutes. The cool down at an even higher incline was intense! I was at 6mph but I wound up lowering to 5mph because I just couldn’t keep up. Yeah I got my butt kicked! Since this one is so tough, it will definitely be one I keep on doing. Plus I think it just gave me a good way to train for hills :-) I’m glad it’s  a short one though because I don’t think my knees would be too happy if I tortured them for too long.

How I Did with the New Shredmill - Going to Keep Working on it :-)

That Shredmill took the very last bit of energy I had. I was completely exhausted at the end of it. I have no idea how I made up 4 flights of stairs to my apartment. I could have gone straight to bed as soon as I got home. Originally I had planned on doing another plank, but I decided I had done enough for the day. My body needed to rest up for my long run tomorrow.

Meals:

M1: Chobani Strawberry with Raw Almond Butter and Granola

M2: 1/2 a Luna bar that Seppe didn’t want to finish, a slice of TraderJoe’s Zucchini Loaf and a bowl of grapes. I need to start makingzucchini bread from scratch again. I use to make it all the time when I was younger. This one from TraderJoe’s is pretty good. Gotta keep it to 1 serving though.

Meal 2 - I was hungry :-)

M3: Panko Tilapia Salad

Lunch - Panko Tilapia Spinach, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, and cucumber salad

M4: Snapea Crisps, pear, and homemade trailmix

M5: Quinoa pasta with Veggie sauce made from scratch – 3 roma tomatoes, zucchini, squash, and mushrooms.

Quinoa pasta with tomatoes, zucchini, squash, and mushrooms

Dessert – 4 dark chocolate almonds

60 oz. of water and a Zico.