Tag Archive | exercise

BeachBody Challenge Day24

Feb27

Had to be up at 5a today in order to get Ben to work by 6:30a since we only had one car until later. The boys did not want to get up and I didn’t blame them. I didn’t want to be up either. We gotta do what we gotta do.  I wasn’t sure how traffic was going to be.  I assumed the worse since it was a Monday so I had the boys get dressed and ready for school in case we wound up stuck in traffic. Luckily, we were just ahead of the rush hour traffic.  It was slower traffic but it moved and we got home in time to relax a little bit.  I decided to take the boys to Starbucks and get them breakfast.  I haven’t gone grocery shopping in a while so my fridge is empty on breakfast items right now :-/

By this time the boys were fully awake with tons of energy.  It was time to drop Gio off at school and take Seppe to speech therapy.  After that we had to make a stop at the post office to drop off a couple pairs of shoes Ben had sold.  I was pretty tired and so was Seppe so we wound up taking a nap :-) I got up to do my workout an hour later but I let Seppe sleep some more because he just looked so comfy and sweet.

——————————- Turbo Fire Day 22 ——————————–

It was Fire 45 today – I doubled checked to make sure that was what I was suppose to be doing :-)  I think I like this one so much because I do so well with the first combo.  It’s so much fun and you can definitely really get into it. There’s a lot of kicks in this one.  My back kicks feel awkward so I have to work on those.  I did the star jumps during the Fire Drill this time. I also did the tuck jumps.  Stretch 10 always helps loosen me up.

I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do for my afternoon workouts.  I was running behind because we had to pick Ben up and drop him off at the repair shop. By the time Gio was done with homework, it was almost time to start cooking dinner. I wound up doing Tone It Up’s Rush Workout (20 Reps each X 3 sets) and M100’s.  Going to do a 2 minute plank before bed.

Meals:

M1: Spinach and egg white breakfast wrap from Starbucks

M2: 1 clementine and a Luna bar

M3: Salad with spinach, chicken, carrots, and avocado. Tiny bit of Raspberry dressing.

Spinach, Chickem, Carrots and Avocado

M4: Almond Nut Thins and Olive Tapenade

16 Almond Nut Thins and Olive Tapenade

M5: Panko Salmon and broccoli

Panko Salmon and Broccoli

Dessert: 5 dark chocolate almonds

80 oz. water

I feel that last week was super stressful and had me completely out of whack with my sleep.  Even though I was able to workout – I know I could have done more if I hadn’t been so tired most of the time.  This week and for the month of March, I really want to focus on pushing myself.  I looked over my workout schedule and rearranged a few things.  My long runs will be Wednesdays and I will adding more toning exercises.  I will be working on doing my bootycall workouts.  It’s starting to get lighter out earlier so I can go out for runs/walks first thing again :-) I also made a goal of drinking at least 80 oz. of water Everyday. I’m going to take it one day at a time. I know if I stay focused, I can reach my goals!

BeachBody Challenge Day23

Feb26

Gotta say that today was much better than yesterday :-)  I was very happy Not to hear my alarm at 4a And Yes! I took advantage and slept in.  It felt amazing. When I got up I was ready to have a great day. Since I had slept in, I decided to have something small to eat before going for my run.  I’m usually fine running on an empty stomach but I’ve found that I do better (and feel better) if I have something small when I get up late.

It was a windy and overcast day – typical bay area weather. We took the boys to the park to practice on some of their tball skills.  Seppe definitely needs the extra practice and Gio just needed to use up some energy.  It is definitely challenging with Seppe but the main thing we want is for him to do is Try.  He his easily discouraged and quick to give up. We are trying really hard to help him understand that as long as he tries His best, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t do it perfectly.  I got a little bit of exercise in running after the balls and throwing back and forth with Gio. It was just nice to have all of us together.

Daddy helping Seppe bat

Gio practicing his hitting

—————————- Turbo Fire Day 21 —————————–

I ran a 5k for my bootycall – beat my last time by 10 seconds. It feels like it is getting harder and harder for me to improve my times. I get excited when it’s even by a few seconds. lol. It was cold at first because of the wind, but I warmed up quickly.

Sunday Runday with my Tone It Up LongSleeve

Today was Fire55 EZ.  This one had fire drills so I’m not really sure what makes it EZ. I went straight to class but I think I should have chose the New to Class option because I was lost quite a few times.  I did do the tuck jumps during the fire drills. Gotta work on getting my knees higher. I tried to do the jump during the high low punches but it threw me off so I just stuck with doing the punches.  The boys interrupted a few times so I had to pause a few times. I tried to do it during the transitions or breaks.

It’s a long class with 3 fire drills so I was pretty worn out at the end. I want to get to bed early tonight because I have to be up early to take Ben to work tomorrow so I ended with a 5 min plank – 1 min on elbows, 1 min on hands (with 30 seconds of tummy tucks), 1 min side plank (with 30 seconds of side crunches) each side, 1 min on hands (30 seconds of each leg being raised off the ground).

Meals –

M1: Mini Luna bar and water

M2: Oatmeal with almond milk and almond butter

Oatmeal I Get from Safeway - need to get more.

MultiGrain Raisin with Almond Milk and Almond Butter

M3: Left over whole wheat pasta with spinach and turkey red sauce. Pasta always tasted even better after a couple days in the fridge :-)

M4: Chocolate Shakeology with almond milk and banana – didn’t spill this time!!

M5: Salmon Burger

Salmon Burger on top of Spinach topped w/ mushrooms, avocado and tomato

BeachBody Challenge Day22

Feb25

It was a Long day today – and not a good one.   Another 4am wake up call – this time bringing the kids with us. Helping Ben get his shoes with these super early mornings have really taken a toll on me. I was exhausted.  Granted, I did have a pretty intense day yesterday. Normally, Saturdays are my Take it Easy day.  I cross train and go for a 10mile bike ride for my bootycall. That didn’t happen today.

After breakfast, I went right back to bed. When I got up, I was still tired and there was so much to do.  The boys were difficult today. Then Ben’s car breaks down and we have to caravan over to the repair shop.  I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with car problems. It’s one thing we didn’t need to happen right now. I’m not too happy that I won’t have a car for the next two days while Ben takes mine for work – not to mention that on Monday I will have to drop him off to work early in the morning so I can have the car for the boys. Ugh!

—————————- Turbo Fire Day 20 ——————————

Core20/Stretch40

I had no idea when I was going to be able to workout. A part of me didn’t even want to with the way my day was going.  I made myself do today’s Core20 and Stretch40 workouts before dinner. This time around I tried even harder during the Core20 workout. I kept my feet up during the exercises on the matt – except for during the training camp move.  I could really feel the burn in my abs. My goal is to keep my feet up the whole time. I did the pushups on my feet at the end :-)

The Stretch40 really helped with my stress. I had sent the boys to their room for the rest of the day as punishment for not listening. Even though I could hear them from their room trying to talk me into letting them out, I ignored them and focused on my workout.  I really needed the relaxation phase.  Those few minutes where I just let my mind go was heaven. I also really pushed myself with the stretching.  My left knee is feeling so much better. I was able to work on my flexibility on my left side much more today. I could tell that I had gotten better since the last time I did this workout too.  Getting a little more flexible every time I do it :-)

I wanted to do more workouts. I probably should have done more. But I was falling asleep after putting the boys to bed at 8p. As much as I want to keep pushing myself – I also know that I have to listen to my body. I have been sore All week from my workouts. It’s not so bad that I can’t move, but combined with the lack of sleep, my body is telling me I need to Rest.  The only other thing I did was my plank.  Tonight I did a 2:30 min variation – 30 seconds on elbows, 30 seconds hip dips (that’s what I’m calling it) – where you lower your hips side to side while in low plank, 30 seconds with my right leg raised, 30 seconds with my left leg raised, and 30 seconds back in plank.

Meals –

M1: Starbucks egg white, spinach and feta wrap. It is the only thing I go into Starbucks for.

M2: 2 Clementines

M3: Snapea Crisps with Chunky Olive Hummus.

M4: Air popped popcorn. I was craving it.

M5: Half of my Shakeology, almond butter and banana shake. The other half wound up on the counter :-( I was craving KFC for some reason while I was making my shake. lol.

What A Waste!

What was left was Very Yummy :-)

BeachBody Challenge Day21

Feb24

My schedule was thrown out of whack a bit today.  For those that don’t know, Ben is an avid shoe collector – mostly Jordans. This week there was a release of a super limited shoe called the Galaxy Foams.  Hours of standing in line got Ben a chance to get one of only 15 pairs being sold in the bay area. I had agreed to help him get other shoes in the Galaxy series.  The late nights and super early mornings completely wrecked my sleep. I was up at 4a so we could be in line by 5a and waited an hour before they allowed us in. Fortunately, they had a good set up that allowed only people with wristbands inside. I brought a Luna bar and my water so I wouldn’t miss breakfast.

4 of the 12 pairs of shoes bought :-/

I was hoping to get some sleep when we finally got done around 8a. Grandma decided to take us out for breakfast at IHop before heading back home.  I did my best to find something healthy for me to eat and stuck with water to drink. At first I thought that I wouldn’t get any chance to rest because I had to take Seppe to speech therapy.  Luckily, Ben came home and took him so I could sleep for a couple hours.  It wasn’t the best sleep because I woke up thinking I missed Seppe’s therapy session. You know how hard it is to go back to sleep when you wake up all panicky? Yep that was me. lol.

I got up from my nap and ate a mini Luna bar and drank some water.  I needed to get my run in before picking Gio up from school.  Today I wanted to get to 7 miles. I had about an hour and 15 min to get my run done.  I honestly didn’t think I’d do all that well on this run because I was still feeling tired after my nap. I just hoped that I’d be able be back in time.  I did my best and was surprised that I was able to run 7 miles in just over an hour.

7 Mile Run w/ Nike+

———————————- Turbo Fire Day 19 ———————————

I originally thought that I was suppose to do Fire55EZ today, but when I logged onto teamBeachBody.com, I noticed that it said showed that Fire45EZ was on the schedule. I checked my printed schedule and yep – it was Fire45EZ.  I’m glad I checked because it would have been the second time I missed this workout.

Fire45 EZ

This was really fun.  Loved the combos.  I realized why the EZ is in the title – no fire drills :-) The combos were long though and I was sweating like crazy.  I chose the New to Class Option for the breakdowns.  I didn’t do too badly. I definitely picked up all the moves faster.  I did get lost a couple times though. I think it was because I was worn out from the long run and there would just be moments I’d forget what I was suppose to be doing.  I gave it my all and I was completely worn out at the end.

I’ve decided that while I’m doing this Turbo Fire challenge, I will be moving my long run days to Wednesdays – my Turbo Fire rest days.  I will be making my runs longer and longer in prep for my Big Sur race in April and my half marathon in September. I think it’ll just be overdoing it to do Both a long run and Turbo Fire.  Plus, I want to be able to give Turbo Fire my all physically and mentally.

Ending with a 2min plank for PlankAday.

Meals: A little off from my usual because I was out and about a lot, but I made sure to get 5 meals in.

M1 – Luna bar and water.

M2 – IHop Simple and Fit Whole Wheat French Toast combo – it was topped with banana and came with scrambled egg substitute, and 2 pieces of turkey bacon.  I put very little of the Old Fashioned syrup on top of the French Toast. I didn’t mind having a bigger meal because I wanted to fuel up for my run.

M3 – This was a little bit later than I would have liked – had it after my run. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cliff Bar and Chocolate Zico

M4 – I couldn’t find my olive tapenade :-( otherwise I would have had Nut thins with it. I decided to have Snapea Crips (which I had measured out into individual serving sizes ahead of time) and Chunky Olive Hummus from Trader Joes.

M5: Left over Chicken and Zucchini with a piece of Panko Chicken.  We needed to get rid of all the leftovers.

Chicken and Zucchini w/ Panko Chicken

I also had a Zico while on my run and had 70 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day20

Feb23

I set my alarm and got up. I was slow to get to my bootycall workout.  My living room was a bedroom for grandma and grandpa so I had to do my workout in my bedroom. I couldn’t decide what to do. I finally just made up something:

20 Squats with a alb medicine ball

20 Bicep curls w/ 5lb weights

20 Deadlifts with Upright rows – 5lbs

10 Regular Pushups

20 Tummy Tucks

Repeated it 3 times.

Then it was time for my busy morning to start. Get the kids ready for school, drop them off, come home to shower, then head back to Gio’s school to chaperone his field trip to the county history museum. I packed my water bottle and a Kind bar so I wouldn’t miss my Meal 2 :-)

The field trip went alright. I am always amazed at the amount of energy kids have. I think they just drain it from us. lol. It was tiring standing around for 2 hours. By the time I got back it was time to get Seppe and make lunch. I fell asleep for a half hour and woke up just in time to pick Gio up from school.

I finally got a chance to workout after doing homework with Gio.

—————————— Turbo Fire Day 18 ——————————

Sculpt30/Tone30

Today it was HIIT15 and Tone30. I’m not sure if there is a specific order I’m suppose to do the workout where I have 2 to do.  I normally would have done the HIIT workout first but Tone It Up had a post on their blog about doing Toning before cardio to help burn fat. So I thought I’d try it today.  I did Tone in 30 first.  This was a new one. Got to use both the resistance band and lower body band. Definitely worked my entire body. I never would have thought that placing the lower body band on my feet and lifting one leg at a time would really work my legs.

HIIT15/Stretch10

Before I did the HIIT workout I did the M100.This is a really great cardio. It’s quick but gets your heart pumping :-) For the HIIT15, I did as mana jumps as I could this time around :-)  I can’ get my legs up as high as they do on the DVD but at least I’m jumping.  My knees have been feeling really great. I made sure not to overdo it though. I felt great. I really hope I can get as intense as they do in DVD. Ending with a 2 min plank.

Meals: Today I had more carbs because I will be going for 7 miles on my run tomorrow and I wanted to make sure I fueled up :-)

M1: Flax plus oatmeal with cocoa almond butter and a banana

M2: Almond Coconut Kind Bar

M3: Orzo, Chicken, Mushrooms, spinach, carrots, and peas sauteed and seasoned with sea salt.

Chicken, orzo, spinach, peas, mushrooms, and carrots

M4: 6 dark chocolate almonds

M5: Whole Wheat pasta with turkey spinach red sauce and peas.

BeachBody Challenge Day18

Feb22

I am so sore from my workouts yesterday!! I set my alarm so I would get up to do a bootycall workout but it just didn’t happen. It’s something that I’m working on getting back to doing regularly. Got a little thrown off from my morning routine because I had to take both Seppe and Ben to the doctor. Turns out Seppe had an ear infection in both ears and needed antibiotics.  Ben had a virus that the doctor’s didn’t really seem to care about.  They didn’t even give him any suggestions on medicines to take. Not too happy about how they treated him. After the doctor’s office we went to the pharmacy to pick up Seppe’s medicine. Paid extra to get it flavored so he would take it without any drama. And yes, it was worth it!

Taking his Antibiotics with a Smile :-)

—————————— Turbo Fire Day 16 ——————————-

HIIT25/Stretch10

Made sure to get this done before having to pick Gio up from school. Today was a new HIIT workout- HIIT25 with Stretch10. 4 workouts 2 times each. Yikes! I tried to push even harder the second time through. I even did a few of the jumps. This went by so fast.  It felt like I started and then it was over.  All the different moves really help make it seem not that long.

I was going to do another NTC workout, but then I saw a post from Tone It Up to do the Lean Legs Pyramid and the Shredmill back to back. I decided to do it for my second workout. It hurt to do the squats and lunges. I always have to take a couple minutes to stretch after the jumping jacks in the Lean Legs pyramid to stretch out my calves.  They get so tight. I do 100 jumping jacks instead of 100 seconds.

Then off to the gym I went to do the Shredmill. Lately, I’ve just been doing the running to help me for my speed training, but I decided to do the complete workout today.  I upped my sprint speed to 8.7mph. Working on getting to 9mph. For the plank I did 45 seconds. It never fails to have me dripping in sweat when I’m done.

Shredmill!

That pretty much killed my legs. lol. I could barely move after dinner. I wonder if I’ll be able to walk tomorrow? I love it though cuz I know that I’m really pushing myself.

Ended my day with a 2 minute plank.

PlankADay

Meals:

M1: Oatmeal with 1 tbsp of almond butter and a banana

M2: 2 Clementines and 6 dark chocolate almonds.

Meal 2 - 6 dark chocolates and 2 Cuties

M3: Shakeology with frozen pineapple, mango, water and ice.

M4: Nut Thins and Olive Tapenade. I count out 1 serving for the Nut Thins (16).

M5: Panko Chicken and Asparagus

Panko Chicken and Asparagus

BeachBody Challenge Day17

Feb22

 It’s time to weigh in again. Stepped on the scale and… 107.4lbs. Not bad :-) Like I said before. I’m not worried about my weight. But it is nice to see my hard work paying off. I really wanted to start my week off right and push myself this week.  I did take advantage of it being a holiday and slept in a little. After having my breakfast, I started with my Turbo Fire workout.

————————— Turbo Fire Day 15 ————————-

Getting Ready to Workout!

I just realized that I was suppose to do Fire45 EZ today, not the Fire45 class :-/ Lol.  I gotta pay better attention to my schedule. I was not disappointed to do Fire45 again :-)  I think I had even more fun this time around. I cranked up the intensity since I was already pretty familiar with all the moves. I have to say that Chalene can really shake it. lol. I find that when I’m thinking about the moves so much, I do better.  I just listen to music and for her cues and I go with it. I know the mixes are made especially for the DVD but I’d really love to be able to get the mix for this workout.  It’s my favorite! Stretching afterwards always feels great.

I love my NTC app but I haven’t done a workout since I hurt my knee.  I decided to get back to it. When I was doing the NTC workouts while I did my Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30 DVD, it really helped get me stronger.  I picked an advanced cardio workout – Transformer. It was 45 min long. I was feeling pretty good for the first bit.  Every exercise is performed for 1 min. It doesn’t seem that bad but after the 3rd round of lunges for a 1 min, my legs were burning. I just kept myself that I can do anything for a 1 minute. That helped get me through the squat jumps.  I was exhausted at the end but I felt great.

Did 2 minutes for my PlankADay.

PlankADay

Meals:

M1: Chobani black cherry – this was the individual package. These are a little big for me but I eat them when I know I’ll be doing intense workouts. Added half a tbsp of raw almond butter and 1/8 cup of granola.

M2: mini Luna bar

M3: Shakeology with half an apple, water, and ice.

M4: Almond Nut Thins and Olive Tapenade – I love this stuff. I was saving the nut thins for it.

My Favorite: Nut Thins and Olive Tapenade

M5: Oven baked Salmon with left grilled eggplant and zucchini. I warmed the veggies up in the oven this time and it definitely helped crisp them up a little.

Salmon and Grilled Veggies

BeachBody Challenge Day16

Feb22

I woke up feeling great. I shook off my rough day and started new. Got up had a Luna bar and made it a Runday with a 5K run. My knees not hurting was great.  I know it probably sounds weird that I am always talking about my knees.  But if you’ve ever had knee problems, you know how great it is to be able to do something you love without having to worry about it hurting. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do back to back runs soon.

——————————— Turbo Fire Day 14 ———————————–

Fire45/Stretch10

I was looking forward to doing Fire45 again :-) I skipped the breakdowns and went straight to class. This is definitely my favorite Fire workout.  I could just do the first combo over and over again and I’d be happy. I didn’t do too badly either. I was able to keep up for most of it. I realized that I’m better leading with my right than my left… well it doesn’t take me as long to catch on when starting on my right.  When we switch to left is when I get confused. lol. It all seems a little awkward at first but then I figure it out.

Did a 5 minute for my PlankADay.

PlankADay

Meals:

M1- Lemon Zest Luna Bar

M2: Egg white burrito.

Egg White Burrito

M3: Fruit Salad with mango, pineapple, kiwi, and apples. Got it from Safeway and shared with my boys.

Tropical Fruit Salad

Seppe Loves Apples

Gio's Favorite - Mango

M4: Apples with vanilla yogurt and granola.  Got this for Gio but he only ate half so I finished it for him :-)

M5: Went shopping before dinner and finally restocked my fridge.  Wanted to make something fairly quick and easy and I found some Turkey Meatball and Frozen Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini at Trader Joes.  I took 4 meatballs and loaded up on the veggies.  The directions had me warm it up in the microwave but I think it would have turned out better if I had put in the oven.  They came out a little soggy but tasted great :-)

From Trader Joes

Eggplant

Zucchini

Turkey Meat Balls - also from Trader Joes

My Plate :-)

BeachBody Challenge Day15

Feb22

All the driving yesterday wore me out. I slept in and was grateful that my boys were able to entertain themselves for a couple extra hours in the morning.  There are days I think about quitting the challenge, and working out all together. Today was one of them.  It is a lot of work to live a healthy and fit lifestyle.  It takes a lot of energy to keep going. Days like these I am very grateful for my Tone It Up team. They help keep me going.  They are all so inspirational, motivating, and supportive.

——————————- Turbo Fire Day 13 ——————————-

Core20/Stretch40

I made sure to do my Turbo Fire workout.  Today’s schedule wasn’t going to be too intense.  Core20 and Stretch40.  I actually got an energy boost from doing the Core2o workout.  The Stretch40 really helped me clear my mind. I was able to refocus and remind myself of my goals. I felt really good when I finished my workout.  I had won a mental battle :-)

I did a 5 minute plank to end my night – 1 min on elbows, 1 min on hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 1 min hands

1 min elbows, 1 min hands, 1 min Side Plank (each side), 1 min hands

Meals:

M1 – Half a Luna bar.  When I get up late, I like to put a little something in my tummy right away since it’s empty longer than usual. I think I was hoping to do a workout too but just got side tracked.

M2 – Other half of my Luna bar.

M3 – Whole Wheat pasta with EVOO and a 1/4 c of parmesan cheese.  Finished off the last little bit of pasta we had.

M4 – I promised my boys I’d take them to see Journey2 today so I packed some grapes for me.  I got dark chocolate raisins as my treat and took a few bites of Seppe’s popcorn.

M5 – I wasn’t too hungry after the movies so I just had an Almond Coconut Kind bar for dinner.

BeachBody Challenge Day13

Feb22

I was starting to get some of my energy back. Got up and did Tone It Up’s Lean Arms and Lean Abs Pyramids for a quick bootycall workout. It was a busy day as usual for me. There was lots to do to prep for my quick trip to Sacramento.  Plus Ben and Seppe were sick. I Made time for my workouts though :-)

—————————– Turbo Fire Day 11 ——————————–

HIIT15/Stretch10

I did this in the afternoon before Gio got out of school. HIIT 15 was just as hard as the first time I did it. I like that we do different moves throughout the 1 minute work circuit. I think that helps get me through it. I’m mostly doing the low impact version. Mosly because I am taking it easy on my knees since they just started feeling better. Also because I live in apartments and I’m trying not to too loud. Although, I really don’t care because it is in the middle of the afternoon. lol. I’m hoping to work my way up to doing the jumps.

Sculpt30/Tone30

Sculpt 30 was tough, especially the moves for the biceps and shoulders. I don’t have much upper body strength. Hopefully this will help with that :-) I really focused on making the resistance hard enough so that I could get a good burn.

I ended with my PlankADay 2 min plank.

Meals:

M1 – 1/3 c. Chobani 0% Strawberry  w/ 1 tbsp of raw almond butter and 1/8c of granola. This is super filling.

M2 – 2 Clementines

M3 – Shakeology with 1 tbsp of almond butter and 1/4c of blueberries, water and ice.

M4 – mini Luna bar

M5 – Whole Wheat pasta w/ EVOO, 1/4 c of parmesan cheese and 2 pieces of Panko Chicken.