So yesterday after my training session with Michelle, she said so i think you have a good cardio base so now we have to increase cardio. I’m thinking what? I already get my cardio on 4 times a week. She tells me to do fat blaster workouts on the elliptical and the stairmaster-UGH! She said that will make me sweat the fat out. So we shall test that theory out. I have to say one of her clients came by during my session to tell her she lost 5 pounds. So she does have some success stories. Tomorrow is my next training session with her and tonight I will get some cardio in as I just couldn’t wake up this morning-too tired.
Latest Entries »
Sorry for the lack of posts, the week hasn’t been that exciting with my workouts. I had 2 good runs in this week, and some weight training but other than that nothing spectacular. Michelle continues to show me new exercises every time we train which is great because there is no monotony. She did say that if you do some key exercises for abs you will see a difference in no time. So let me share with you:
- Hold a 25lb plate, legs hip width apart and without moving hips twist side to side. She had me do 40 of these.
- Laying on floor with knees bent, crunch up and lift your booty up. It is a simple crunch nothing fancy but I did feel it as long as you concentrate to suck those abs in during the exercise, which may have been my problem in the past.
- This is another easy one. While on the floor legs straight up. Hold one dumbbell, a hand on each end, arms extended over head. Crunch up off the ground and try to touch your toes, back down and repeat. Remember hole that tummy in.
Today I was on my own and normally do a 60 minute run. Instead, I worked my Bi’s and Tri’s since yesterday we just did abs. Then after 20 minutes of that, I jumped on the elliptical for 40 minutes. I triedx keeping my pace between 12 and 14 minutes, since it is the only way I can monitor my intensity.
I was extremely tired after my workout and needed some caffeine. Dunkin Donuts to the rescue! I felt energetic after my coff coolatta. I know I shuld be going to DD, but it’s too much restriction. I don’t drink coffee, I quit soda, so I am basically not drinking any caffeine except for the snapple or two i am drinking each week. So this week I was just done and wanted my caffeine. And the weight watchers is great if you don’t go out. I feel like a big dejected loser when I have some scrambled eggs and ONE pancake and find out it is 20points+ like seriously? there is just no point. Anwyays that is my WW dieting gripe of the week.
Why do I feel like i haven’t posted in days? Anyway today I worked with Michelle and we did a lot of abwork. We did a couple of a crunch machines. She also had me sit on a bench with my feet secured and through the medicine ball at me as i crunched up and through it back. I did this exercise on the exercise ball Tuesday, this time it felt so much better-absolutley no back strain. The floorwork entailed me laying on my back and Michelle standing by my head, I grabbed her ankles and she pushed my legs straight and to the sides as i lifted back up. I felt those! What was interesting though and not sure why, is that when i was doing the leg lifts and when i was crunching up on that bench i felt my thigh muscles get strained too. Is this ok? I felt it more in the thighs than I did in my abs, but I did feel something in my abs. We did some punching bag work. I definitely have to bring my gloves next time, because they only had the half gloves that only cover the top part of your hand, and they didn’t seem to be padded much as my knuckles were red afterward. Then we ended the workout by me throwing a medicine ball up at the wall and squatting as I caught the ball. Those were kind of cool, and another exercise that made squats bearable. After my workout with Michelle was complete I hit the hip adductor and abductor machines and did 2 sets of 15.
So Michelle asked me so how is the eating going as I was doing the leg lifts. “Are you helping me out in that department?” Oh my god thank god I lost a pound I felt good about telling her that. And she almost screamed in Joy when I told her i quit soda 2 weeks ago. She was so happy. Now I fell bad because the last two days I havent really been counting my points because we went out to dinner last night and ate breakfast in the cafe buffet this morning. So I tried my best but it’s crazy. I had a cup of scrambled eggs, 2 sausage links and a whole wheat pancake-all that i think is like 20 points! So I am doing my best it is what it is.
I am so dead tired as I write this. I had a good workout with Michelle today. We did mostly machines which is better I think. I read an online article about how women should be working out like men. Women should not be afraid of bulking up because our bodies are just not made that way. If we want to build some muscle we have to confuse our bodies and challenge it every workout. So while I was warming up on the bike on the upper level, I was watching the guys weight lift on the lower level. I noticed that a lot of them were doing one-armed rows on a bench, same position you’re in to do a triceps kickback. I will probably do more of those on my own.
So the workout. We started off with me laying on an exercise ball and Michelle would throw a medicine ball at me and as I crunched up would throw it back. But after a few throws I felt some achyness in my midback, so we moved to one of the ab machines. This one you sit down, pads are on your chest, and you just push your torso down and then up. So much more better on the back! I did some squats on this barbell machine, that wasn’t that bad. Chest presses with 10 lb dumbbells were the first set, but it was a little easy so we moved to a 30lb barbell, I definitely felt it which is good. Another exercise was on those cable machines and with one hand would pull the cable from the left side of my body to the right and vice versa. I feel like one of Michelle’s priority is to widdle the waist down since most of the exercises have the obliques involved.
After working out with her I did a mini workout on my own. I layed on the exercise ball and did some triceps with a 15lb dumbbell. I did some biceps with 12 lbs. Then I moved to the hip ad and abductors. These were my favorite machines years ago. I did 85lbs on each machine. And that was basically it. I definitely feel like I can use a nap right now.
I had the biggest craving for a coolata today. I looked online and it was only 6 PLUS points, with skim milk though. I love skim milk so I didn’t care. Purchased the coolata and I guess skim milk doesn’t mix well with that coffee gunk they add to it.
Coolata with skim milk
It didn’t taste the same, and I had to constantly stir to get the substance beige again. I will have to check the difference between skim, whole, and cream which is what I have been drinking all this time.
Needless to say I ran today. I didn’t work out this morning so I figured the coolata would force me to go to the gym. I thought if I run for 60-70 minutes which normally is the time it takes me to run 6 miles I gain 9-11 activity points. So I am still ahead with my 6 point gross looking but slightly tasty coolata.
The gym was just insane tonight. I really am hating going the few tiems that I have in the evening. It’s a struggle to a machine and then you have to stop your workout halfway so no one thinks your on the machine for 30+ minutes. So I ran at a slow comfortable pace for me which is 5.1 and switched it up with a 5.2 and 5.3 here and there. So I ran straight for 4 miles then kicked it up a notch and ran at 6.5 for a .25 mile. Then I exhaustedly(Did I just make a word up?) walked my incline for .50, then finished it off with a .25 walk. I earned 9 activity points! I almost tried to talk myself into earning more but ten more minutes would have been 2 points, and I really didn’t need the extra points at that point. I’m glad I clocked out when I did because I’m sore. My left knee(the good one) has been bothering me the last few days. Not sure if it is weather related or not. I might have to swap knees with that Kneed it wrap I use. Keep you all posted.
No workout today. but I wanted to share my outing last night. Unfortunately Chili’s does NOT have a weight watchers section, so I was perplexed at the dinner table for a good 10 minutes. i was looking online because I didn’t want to find out after the fact that I screwed myself up with points. My mother said go with the fajitas and so I did. I only ate the beef strips and the bread, and I think I probably ate 15 points. Not bad at all.
Today we were at Walmart and my hubby is like wanna eat lunch? We are violators of eating almost every weekend meal outside the house. We have gotten better in the last few months, but it is hard sometimes since it can be so easy to just go out and not deal with what to cook, dirty dishes, and evil left overs. I told my husband, nope. We went home and ate sandwiches. I ate my weight watchers bread with 2 points worth of ham and 1 slice of cheese-2 points. Not bad at all!
Today I wasn’t feeling in the mood to workout, but once I got to the gym and Michelle was waiting for me the feeling went away. The workout actually flew by we concentrated mostly on abs. I also did some this back and chest machine. After the workout i felt like running so i ran only 15 minutes sort of a combo. I ran half mile at 6.5mph, then a quarter mile i walked at an incline of 8.0, then back to running at 7.0 for quarter mile, then walked the next and last quarter.
So exciting news I lost a pound! What’s exciting about it is that it has been a few months since i was under 195. And i am using my weight watchers scale, I tested it by putting 10 pounds of weights on it and it was right. So I am just going to use this scale from now. I do have to take my measurements, but I never know exactly where to measure, have to look into that. It’s been a week since I started the WW Plus Program and already a pound weight loss. I guess eating right really trumps the exercise, since I have been running for some time and haven’t seen a dent. Probably because I have been eating like crap.
Today I am going out to a movie and dinner with my mom and sis. I talked them into going to Chili’s since I know they have a weight watchers menu. This isn’t as hard as I thought!
This morning I was feeling my best in the running department, even with a few gulps of Gatorade. Apparently the electrolytes weren’t be replenished, who knows. In any case, I ran for probably 3 miles and walked on an incline for a mile. I completed this in about 48 minutes which gave me roughly 6 activity points. I really think that was my big motivator. It’s funny because now I don’t know if I am being motivated by doing another half marathon. What I have realized in the last few weeks is that I am content with 6 mile a day runs. I don’t need to overdue the time or mileage anymore. I know I was attracted to the half at first because it sounded like such an accomplishment, which it was last year. But now I am more along the lines of just running 10k’s and I think I would be pretty satisfied with that decision. So that is the latest news in my running diaries.
This morning I had a hungry gal breakfast…well points wise at 9 points. But it’s ok because I just clocked in 6 points for food. I measured my activity points with moderate because of the walking, I figured better to underplay the activity points then over count them. SO breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled(4 plus points-still surprised that an egg has 2 points), veggie burger meat(2 plus points-I was in the mood for sausage so I figured a veggie burger is the next best thing), slide of Kraft American cheese(2 points), and 1 point for 4oz of regular Snapple. The thing I am most happy about is being able to drink my Snapple, and just a little fulfills me since it has so much sugar.
Tomorrow I have a weight training session with Michelle.
This dish was super yummy, I think the key was the Basil. I don’t like mushy carrots, so I did not include carrots or the celery in my recipe. It was super easy to make and I am thinking of making the sauce separately for pasta because it was that good. There are 4 servings, at 4 Plus points each. They do say you can add some whole wheat penne pasta 2/3 cups for 2 more points.
Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
2 medium onion(s), chopped
1 medium carrot(s), chopped
1 stalk(s) (medium) celery, sliced
3/4 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of all visible fat and cut into strips
14 1/2 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp basil, fresh, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrot, and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until opaque, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
War on the Muffin Top 