6 months ago, I would never have even dreamed of taking on such a challenge but….I think I’m ready to “up my game” and work my a** off to get the results I want.   The scale has started to move again (in the RIGHT direction!) and I’m feeling ON FIRE with my motivation and energy levels! 

Will report back on the specifics on the challenges when they are finalized.

Yesterday, however, I got back on track. I left the kids with hubby and went to the gym for my NROLW workout. I did Stage 5, Workout B2:

4 sets of 4 reps for all exercises:

rdl/bent-over row: 65lb, 70 lb, 70, 70

Partial SL squat: 25lb, 25, 25, 25

Wide-grip Lat pulldown: 80, 70, 70, 70 (I had to go down in weight since I hurt my shoulder last week. It’s still kinda tender…)

Back extension: 25, 25, 25, 25

YTWL: 16, 16, 16, 16

HIIT: 15 mins @ 3% incline, sprint: 8.5mph/ rest: 3.5 mph.

I don’t know how many cals. I burned since I forgot my HRM…..

Today, I got up early and did a 3 mile run. It was so HUMID (90% humidity right now!) and hot but I found it much easier than last week’s run. I burned 500 calories – woo hoo!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Lately, I ‘ve been  struggling with my lack of progress on the scale.  While I know my body is changing (at least, visually) it kind of messes with my head that the numbers don’t reflect that.  My sollution- hide the scale for a month!  That’s it.  Cold Turkey!  I refuse to let that machine dictate my self of self-esteem and progress.    My second sollution for this “plateau” is to add a bit more cardio to the mix.  My plan is to get up early and go for a run twice a week.  Today was my first day at it and here are my thoughts on it:

6 a.m. came EARLY today! Honestly, I haven’t been up that early since my youngest was still breastfeeding – LOL!

I used to get up early and go for runs back in the day. I’m not sure why I stopped – maybe because after having two kids back to back, I learned to jealously guard my sleep?….
It was a struggle to get moving….my legs felt like they were encased in lead – but once I got going I felt better. The air was cool and the sun had just come up. The streets were quiet and I had the company of The Black Eyed Peas to keep me going. In truth, it was perfection!

I ran for 35 mins (including about 5 mins of walking to warm up and a few walk breaks when I was going up steep hills.) I’ll wear my Polar HRM and footpod next time so I can track calories and my pace. It was a great start to my day.  It definitely motivated me to keep at it.  Despite waking early – I feel really energetic (okay, the coffee helped) and well-rested. 

Okay – the extra cardio is totally do-able.  My next plan of attack is to focus on feeding my body to fuel my workouts – as opposed to starving myself to see progress on the scale.  In short, I need to ensure I’m eating enough to maximize my muscle gain AND my energy expenditure during my workouts.  Now, this doesn’t mean that I’ll eat junk and go crazy with the calories.  I will just make a conscious effort to eat a minimum of 1600 high-quality calories a day (and much more on heavy workout days…)  Not obsessing over the scale should make this easier.  My weight may go up slightly while my body adjusts to this new intake amount but it should settle down in a few weeks once my body trusts that I’m no longer starving it and it’s okay to start releasing a few pounds. 

I’m feeling optomistic about these changes and feel like they are more in-line with my overall philosophy of what a healthy, fit lifestyle should be.  I don’t how I lost my way but….I feel as though I’m back on track.

I did my last Stage 4B workout and am ready to move onto Stage 5 on Friday! I didn’t have a pen to write down my weights so I’m going by memory, but….here’s what I did:

3 sets of 8 for each move:

Wide-grip DL from Box: 95lb., 85 lb (went down b/c my form was off), 85 lb.

Bulgarian split-squat: 25, 25, 25 (I finally got my form down on this one! I found the perfect bench to get my back leg/foot comfy AND stable!)

Rev. lunge from box with forward reach: 24, 24, 24

Prone Cuban Snatch: 20, 20, 20

ABS: I used the Ab Coaster (50 reps.) I hate doing floorwork at the gym so used the machines instead. I’ll do some other ab. exercises tonight while I watch TV.

15 mins HIIT. 4 min w/up, then I did 6 sets of 30 second sprints with 1 minute of rest at 3.6 mph. (all done at 1% incline.) Here are the speeds of my sprints:

9mph
9.5 mph
9.6mph
9.8 mph
10 mph
10 mph

The first few sprints were tough…but once my body got used to the movement, it was still tough but I felt I might be able to push myself a little bit more…..

So…the plan is to do our lifting together every Wed. and Friday. She is flexible and willing to do whatever exercises I’ve got planned (she may just tweak the weights and reps…) As the 1/2 marathon gets closer – we plan to add some long runs to our routine, as well. I’m just thrilled to finally have someone to work out with! YAY!!!!

I plan to behave myself the rest of the week and stay on track.  I’m pretty sure I’ll finish the week offf with at least 90% PN compliance – which still keeps me in the running for my “no cheat challenge”. 

45 seconds sprint at 1% incline at 9 mph
1 minute 30 seconds of recovery at 3.6 mph.
repeat 7X.
Get off treadmill and collapse…

Duration: 25 minutes
Avg. HR: 146
Max HR: 186
Calories: 370

TRX Metabolic workout B ( I did 4 sets of these. One set slowly to learn the moves….then three sets of AMRAP for 30 seconds each with 40 seconds of rest/ transition. 3 minutes of rest between sets.)

 Swimmer’s Start (leaning forward with straps tucked under arms – balance on one leg with other leg behind with weight barely on floor – then pump front knee and lift/bounce back leg like you’re kicking underwater. Does that description make sense…?)

Deep Chest press. Single arm row (I really need to watch the DVD- one of the straps came loose and I fell on my butt!)

 Suspended lunge (with hands touching down). This looks just like a sprinter’s start at the block. You have all the weight on the front leg and the back one is suspended in TRX and knee just touches the floor when you lunge.

Suspended pendulum: Feet suspended in TRX with your elbows on the floor (or hands if you’re strong -which I’m not.) Swing your feet side to side like a pendulum while keeping your body upright and stable on your elbows or hands. VERY CHALLENGING!

Duration: 43 minutes (this included the long trial run)

Avg. HR: 118 (probably during 3 minute rest…)

Max. HR: 171 Calories: 412 So…today was not a total loss.

Even though my lifting got derailed – I still got a great workout in!

Just as I was in the throes of a killer sugar craving, I happened to pull out the measuring tape and measured my waist. I’ve lost 1.5 inches since March!

I’m so thrilled to see that the hard work and dedication is paying off. Who needs chocolate when you can enjoy the sweet taste of…..dare I say it? SUCCESS!!!!!

Warmup on elliptical: 5 mins.

Wide-grip Deadlift from box: 3 sets of 6 @ 95 lbs.  ( I had hoped to increase this today but I just wasn’t “feelin’ it”.)

Bulgarian Split squat: 3 sets of 8 @ 25 lbs. ( I could have increased the weight but I wanted to focus on form and on sinking down really deep.)

Underhand wide-grip lat. pulldown: 3 sets of 6 @ 90 lbs. (this is an increase of 10 lbs!)

Reverse lunge from box with forward reach: 3 sets of 8 @ 24 lbs.

Prone DB Cuban Snatch: 3 sets of 8 @ 20 lbs.  (I went down on weight a bit to focus on form and it felt a lot better.  )

Treadmill: 15 mins of intervals.  Sprint for 1 min. @ 8.5-9.0, Recover for 2 mins @ 3.8mph.  I prefer to do my treadmill intervals at home.  I find I push myself harder when I don’t have to worry about my boobs flopping too much in front of others etc. 

On a related note, as I was finishing up my workout there was an older gentleman using the free weights that I’d never seen before.  I hate to say it – but he was really stinky!  It was really hard to finish my cuban snatches b/c I was holding my breath the majority of the time. Ugh. 

So far, my eating has been pretty good.  I would post my food log but it doesn’t cut and paste from livestrong and I’m too lazy to re-type everything.   I’m trying not to step on the scale….but it’s really hard.  I was trying to avoid it on my own, but I think I need an intervention!  Time to get hubby to tuck it away somewhere until I’m done my no-cheat challenge……

I really need to update my “program” section of this blog.  It’s kind of outdated.  I’m not really calorie cycling anymore….and I’ve added some new tools to my bag of workout tricks (TRX etc.)  When it comes to caloric intake, I’m still struggling to find the magic number for consistent weightloss.  It feels like I’m on a quest for the Holy Grail!  I don’t know why my body isn’t responding as consistently as it used to (before kids.)  Maybe it’s because I’m exercising so much more now – AND lifting a lot of weights.  I know for a fact that I’m creating a lot of muscle.  The downside is the progress on the scale is slow……  The upside is that WHEN the weight comes off – I’ve got a nice, muscular physique to reveal!  I guess the name of the game, right now, is patience, patience, patience.  Not my strong suit, but sometimes life throws you lessons that you really need to learn.

As a result of my muscle fatigue, I ended up taking and unplanned rest day from my NROLW workout.  I’ll have to do it tomorrrow, instead.  

I