Tag Archive | health

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.

Beach Body Challenge Day12

Feb21

Turbo Fire Day 10

Rest Day from Turbo Fire Workouts

Even though it was a rest day on my Turbo Fire schedule, I still did a workout. Wednesdays are usually the days I hop on my bike and ride to the park to do Tone It Up’s Stair Circuit. Hump day is when I like to focus on working my booty :-) But I had to change it up for this week.

I knew that I would traveling again on Friday to celebrate my dad’s birthday. I wanted to get my long run in so I decided to do it Wednesday.  I went for a 6.5 mile run. I did it in 57 min :-) I felt great on my run.  I think it helped that I went in a different direction. My knees didn’t bother me at all.  Enjoyed a cold Chocolate Zico when I got home :-)

My Mantra to help keep me going

Post Run Treat - Chocolate Zico - The Best!

Long runs take a lot out of me so I decided that I wouldn’t do anything else besides a 2 min plank for my PlankADay.  I did a long stretch after my run. My knees got a little stiff through out the day but not nearly as bad as they use to get.

PlankADay

M1: oatmeal with almond butter and half a banana. Wanted to fuel up for my run.

M2: mini Luna bar – had this a half hour before I went for my long run.

M3: Snapea Crisps.

M4: Almond coconut Kind Bar

M5: Shakeology with water and ice

Beach Body Challenge Day11

Feb21

I was determined to overcome my period. I got up and did a 2 min plank followed by Tone It Up’s Valentine’s Day workout in honor of Valentine’s Day :-) I did 2 sets with light weights for my bootycall workout.  After dropping the boys off at school, I went for a 3 mile run.  I had a great run. My knees didn’t hurt and I felt much better. It gave me a nice energy boost.

First Plank

Since we had gone to Vegas a few days ago, that was our Valentine’s celebration. So we didn’t do anything special. It was just the usual for us. Ben had work, Boys had school, and I had workouts :-)

————————— Turbo Fire Day 9 ——————————

HITT 20/ Stretch 10

Did my Turbo Fire workout in the afternoon. It was HIIT 20 and Stretch 1o today.  These  HIIT workouts are no joke! Did 3 different HIITs – 2 of them we did two times in a row and the third one, we did 3 times. My heart was racing the whole time. Definitely needed the Stretch 10 afterwards.

After dinner I decided to do FitFoodJunkie’s 100 challenge and another 2 min plank.

Second Plank

Meals were pretty good:

M1 – Luna bar

M2 – 2 clementines

M3 – Shakeology with half an avocado, water and ice

M4 – almond coconut Kind bar

M5 – Balsamic Tilapia with broccoli and quinoa

Balsamic Tilipa, Quinoa and Broccoli

Beach Body Challenge Day9 and Day10

Feb21

I’m combining Day 9 and Day 10 because these were really tough days for me. I was very low on energy and lacking motivation to do my workouts – hence the lack of pictures.  It’s always difficult to get the boys back in line after having their grandma around.  I have to work extra hard to remind them of the rules and how things work while trying not to get too upset when they say they’d rather have their grandma around. It’s just how it goes.  I’m not suppose to be the fun one.

-Day 9 –

Sunday wasn’t that great of a day. I really had no energy and wanted to do absolutely nothing. But I couldn’t. I had the boys to entertain and the house to clean up.  Ben was at work so it was just me and the boys. I told myself that if I wasn’t going to do anything, I’d at least do my Turbo Fire workout.

————————— Turbo Fire Day 7 —————————

Core 20 / Stretch 40

Today’s workout was Core 20 and Stretch 40.  Surprisingly, I was able to do it with the boys around.  They were pretty good about letting me do the workout without bothering me too much.  I got to use to resistance band for the Core 20 workout.  I stuck with the modified version so I could learn what I was suppose to do. The exercises on the matt were killer.  Stretch 40 was Yoga.  It focused on increasing flexibility which I really needed to do.  Even though my left knee was still a little sore, I think the stretching helped loosen it up.  I really liked this workout.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

I can’t remember what I ate during Day 9.  I’m pretty sure I had a Luna bar, some greek yogurt, a Shakeology shake, and some clementines.

-Day 10-

Found out why I was so tired yesterday. My period started. I am always drained when it’s that time of the month. I feel like it’s getting worse.  I spent most of the day sleeping/napping.  I did a little better with my meals today.

M1: Luna bar

M2: 2 clementines

No M3 because I was sleeping.

M4: Almond coconut Kind bar

M5: Shakeology with half a banana, water and ice.

Just like Sunday, I made sure to at least do my Turbo Fire workout.

————————– Turbo Fire Day 8 ——————————

Fire 45/ Stretch 10

Today was a new Fire workout: Fire 45 and the same Stretch 10. I went with the New to Class option to learn the moves.  I loved the music in this one.  The first combo was so much fun. I think I’m getting better because it’s not taking me as long to catch on :-)

Since I missed doing a plank on Sunday, I decided to do a 5 min plank to make up for it – 1 min on elbows, 1 min on hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 30 sec plank jacks and 30 sec tummy tucks.

Today was also the day I weighed myself. I really didn’t want to since I knew that it would be off because I was bloated and retaining water. But I did step on that scale in the morning: 109lbs. I guess a .4 lbs increase while on my period isn’t too bad. I’m not too concerned with my weight. I’m happy where I’m at.  My main focus is on getting this last little bit of fat off my belly :-) I  use my weight as a reference for progress but I mostly go by how I look in the mirror. I’ll be weighing myself once a week and taking measurements once a month.

BeachBody Challenge Day8

Feb20

After Friday’s workouts and late night camp out, I was so worn out.  We got up around 10a Saturday morning and got ready to check out. Another Luna Bar for breakfast.  We realized that with all the shoes we bought, we had to get another suitcase. lol.  We headed back to the Cosmo so Ben could say good bye to his new friends and walked over to Walgreens to pick an extra suitcase.

We had to return our rental car and make our way to the airport. We wanted to be there earlier rather than later because last time we were rushing to make our flight.  Ben was hungry so we decided to have brunch at a restaurant at the airport. The closest one to our gate was a Mexican restaurant. I went for a chicken taco salad but didn’t eat any of the taco shell. I stuck with water. I slept for most of the flight home – that was how tired I was. I got up as we were making our decent.  The bay area was very overcast but it was kinda cool to look out the window.  We saw our apartments and the park I ride my bike to.

Bay Area Clouds

San Mateo Bridge

Our Apartments and Neighborhood

Ryder Park - where I do TIU' s Stair Circuit

I was very happy to be home.  I love visiting Vegas. I always have fun when I go, but I missed my boys and missed my busy life. Who would have thought? Lol.

So happy to be home with my Seppe

Meal 4 was 2 clementines. I was craving some fresh fruit :-) Dinner was a simple Shakeology shake – just water and ice.

———————————- Turbo Fire Day 6 ————————————

Fire 30 Stretch 10

I really didn’t feel like working out at all. I was tired from traveling and there was so much to do around the house to get things back to normal. After relaxing for a little bit,  I made myself do my Turbo Fire workout.  Fire 30 and Stretch 10 was on the schedule.  This time around, I went straight to class and skipped the breakdown.  I wasn’t perfect but I did pretty well.  I was able to bump up my intensity a little bit now that I wasn’t as concerned with the moves. The stretching really helped me relax and unwind from traveling.

I ended with a 4 minute plank – 1 min on elbows, 1 min hands, and 1 mean side plank (each side).

PlankADay - Alternating Postions

Beach Body Challenge Day6

Feb20

It was really nice sleeping in. I woke up around 8a and just enjoyed Not hearing the sound of my boys fighting. lol. It is amazing how quiet things are without them around. I almost forgot what it’s like.  The beds weren’t too bad at the hotel. It’s hard for me to ever be comfortable in a bed that isn’t mine.  We have a Temperpedic and it is worth every single penny!

Our room didn’t have a fridge – besides the mini bar, so I had a Luna bar for breakfast. Ben had a Cliff bar and he decided that he’d come with me to the gym :-)  After doing a 2min plank (just me), we strapped on our running shoes and walked through the hotel to get to their Cardio room. I went over to the treadmills and he headed for the ellipticals. I love hotel gyms because they have the Best equipment.  These treadmills had a TV, attachments for iPhone, and a fan.  I chose to do a 5K program. Did pretty good and stuck to a 7mph pace.

Morning Plank

Ben finishing up his workout

—————————– Turbo Fire Day 4 ———————————

I decided to do my Turbo Fire workout when I got back from the hotel gym. I wanted to get my workouts out of the way so we could do whatever we needed to for the rest of the day.

Today was Fire 30 and Stretch 10. I still did the New to Class option.  I definitely did better.  This workout is so much fun.

Fire 30 Stretch 10

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Meal 2 was skipped. By the time I was done working out and showering, it was time for lunch. We headed to my favorite place: Bahama Breeze. I use to work at one when I lived in Florida and Vegas is the closest place for me to get their amazing food.  I Always go there for lunch when I go to Vegas. Their menu has changed a little since I’ve worked there but their atmosphere and quality is still great. It always brings back happy memories of my good friends and good times I had when I go there.

I decided to try out one of their new salads : Grilled Chicken and Tropical Fruit on Greens.  This was soooooo good! In hindsight I should have asked for the dressing on the side. It was Raspberry Vinaigrette but they had more on there than I would have liked. I am not big on salad dressing and I only ever use a very tiny bit.  The salad was still amazing though.  It had pineapple, grapes, oranges, and strawberries. I ate every last bit :-) I did have one drink: their Pineapple Coconut Martini.  It’s one they’ve added since I’ve worked there and it’s my favorite.  Usually I’d just have them keep them coming, but I stuck with just one and lots of water :-) Ben got his usual Jerk Shrimp appetizer.  I was very proud that he didn’t order an entree too. He’s working on getting use to smaller portions.

Ben with my drink and his

Chicken and Tropical Fruit on Greens

Jerk Shrimp

After lunch we  toured the Las Vegas Tower.  For those that don’t know, Ben is an air traffic controller.  He wanted to see if the Vegas tower was some place he would want to transfer to after SFO. It is very interesting listening to them talk about the differences between the towers.  It looks like that they are already fully staffed so it will be a while before Ben can go there.  They were all very friendly and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

We headed over to the Cosmo for Ben to talk with a few people. He was very happy to have found a store that was carrying a shoe he really wanted.  The Cosmo is just so hip and fun. lol. I loved the Chandelier hanging from the ceiling and going all the way down. It was just so pretty :-)

Inside the Cosmo - 2nd Floor

We walked across the street to the Miracle Mile Mall. We walked the whole thing :-) Now I remember that we also walked it the day before… our first day in Vegas. lol. I had seen some shoes I wanted the day before. I went back in and got them today. Well, not exactly the ones I wanted.  The shoes I wanted were sold out in my size. They had my size in different style so I went for one that wasn’t as crazy as some of my other choices.

New Kicks - BlowFish

These shoes are super comfy!! I thought that they’d be stiff, but not at all. I took off my boots and wore these around and my feet felt great :-)

Meal 4 was Almond Coconut Kind Bar. We went back to our hotel and relaxed for a little bit.  We were a little worn out so we decided to stay at our hotel for dinner.  We didn’t want to do a fancy restaurant again so we decided to do California Pizza Kitchen.  I ordered a thin crust Spinach Artichoke pizza made with whole wheat flour.  Again, Ben liked it better than his pizza :-) I only had two slices.  I heard about the Kardashian Khaos Store inside the Mirage so we went to check it out after dinner.

I’m not a huge fan of the Kardashians, but I am a Huge fan of Stila Cosmetics.  I was surprised to see that they did an exclusive makeup collection for the Kardashian Khaos store.  There were two sets and I had the hardest time deciding which to get. I really wanted both but I decided to exercise some will power.  I chose the Bronze set since I use more of those colors on a daily basis than the ones inside the Night time set.

Stila Makeup for Kardashian Khaos

We went back to our hotel room and got ready to head over to our friends’ house out in Henderson.  We don’t get to see them much so we wanted to make sure we stopped by for a bit.  We always have a great time with them. Malissa and I will be doing the Disney Half Marathon in September together :-)  We stayed for a couple hours then headed back to the hotel.  Ben had to be up early the next day.