Tag Archive | 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 Day33

Mar7

TurboFire Rest Day :-)

Today didn’t start off all that well. Yep, I was up late again last night working on the boys’ tball games. Since I was doing a long run, I skip my bootycall workout to help give me more energy.  But I still had to be up early to get Gio to school.  I was running a little late because I had fallen back asleep after my alarm went off :-/  It was a rough morning where I was rushed and very tired at the same time.

After getting Gio to school, I had to get some grocery shopping done.  I was hoping to take a nap just so I could have energy to do my run. At this point, I didn’t feel like doing my run at all. I got a frustrated that there was always something that I had to do – feed Seppe breakfast (since he hadn’t eaten anything since getting up at 7a), help Ben do dishes that have been sitting there for 2 days that he now felt needed to be done, and get Seppe showered and dressed.  I was relieved when Ben took Seppe with him to run his errands and said he would pick Gio up from school. I was starting to think that I wasn’t going to have time to do my run at all.

I felt much better after my hour nap.  It was just what I needed to shake that exhausted feeling. Got dressed, filled my water bottle with some Zico, set my Nike+ app to do 7.5 miles and headed out.  It was a windy day but it felt good once I warmed up. I felt really good my whole run. I felt my knees a little bit after the 5.5 miles but they didn’t hurt.  I do like to do my runs earlier because at the time I went today there tends to be more people to weave through – like middle school kids getting out :-/ Then there were the people who decided to feed birds in the middle of trail and take pictures of them without moving at all.

Getting closer to 9 miles. Big Sur race coming up in April :-)

Got home and Gio was pretty much done with homework :-) Did some stretching and made myself a protein shake. Then I hit the shower and wished I could stay there.  Gio had practice to get to so I didn’t have time to relax after my shower.  I decided to take pictures today so instead of sitting down and watching, I walked around. My legs were pretty tired once practice ended.

I don’t usually do much more on my long run days. Over an hour of running really wears me out. Even though I had a nap today, I could fall asleep right now. I did Day7 of the MadAbs March Challenge. Up to 15 regular pushups :-) Then I did a 5 min plank to end my day.

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

Meals: I have been really making an effort to stick to 5 meals a day and not eating more than one serving.

M1: Flax Plus Oatmeal with chia seeds, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and just a tad bit of cocoa almond butter.

Fueling up for my long run.

M2: Choclate Shakeology with unsweetened almond milk, spinach and half a banana. I ate the other half of it while I blended my shake.

I also had a mini Luna bar after my nap before heading out for my run. I didn’t want to eat a full lunch but I needed a little something.

M3: Post run Protein shake. This is from the Tone It Up Slim Down and it is my absolute favorite. I usually use almond butter but I used some natural peanut butter that Ben doesn’t like so I’m the only one who uses it.

M4: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar.

M5: Quinoa, Black beans, chicken, spianch, zucchini, squash, onions, and mushroom mix – seasoned with sea salt. I could have easily had another bowl but I made myself stick to one :-) This is a big deal for me since lately I’ve been going back for seconds ;-) I also passed on pot stickers, rice, and chow mein that Ben and the boys had. I count these moments as small victories that my willpower won.

Protein packed dinner.

60 oz. of water 1 Zicos, and 1 Chocolate Zico. I had the chocolate Zico after dinner so it was like dessert.

The Best!

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 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.