Breathe in, Breathe out…Suck in that tummy!

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:

1. Hold a 25lb plate, legs hip width apart and without moving hips twist side to side. She had me do 40 of these.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Abdominals Engaged

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.

Exhausted but had a good workout

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.

Keep Ulla Running for Dunkin Donuts

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.

It works-1 pound lost!

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!

WW calculator APP

Last Night after my 5.75 miles I felt like I ran a marathon. I was a little surprised at the feeling. I can’t explain it either. I went to bed early and got started at 5:30 this morning. I trained with Michelle for 30 minutes. We worked with the Bosu and exercise ball. We also started working with the medicine ball. She stood about 3 feet away from me threw me the ball, I caught it squatted and touched my ankle and then threw it back to her. That made the squats interesting.  She also had me go on that double crunch machine as I call it. She put 30 pounds on it, I did 2 sets of crunches, then did side crunches by shifting my legs. I notice I have no problem feeling my obliques when I work out, but my abs not as much. Maybe it is due to the extra layer of fat that the frontal abs have compared to the side abs. I could be wrong.

Anyways I finished my workout with 26 minutes on the elliptical. What’s funny is the thing that was motivating me was earning the activity points. I felt like I was yelling out mama needs a WW ice cream, let’s earn it in 15 minutes. Too funny. I tried doing the points before but it was just a hassle remembering my points for the day. I even went out of my way to create this excel spreadsheet, with the formulas for activities and logging in my food points. But I’d have to remember to log all the food in. Now, they upgraded the WW calculator app to include the activity points calculator as well as a daily tracker. So I can look at my phone at 12pm and know how many points i have left etc. The new app has the new PLUS points calculations which take protein into account int he formula. So much easier now! It is definitely worth the 99cents!

Sneaky treadmill & Aspartame

I wasn’t feel well thru the night so I decided to not do my AM workout. It’s amazing how it affected my day, feeling tired and rundown for most of it. I got home after work knowing that I  need to go to the gym, especially since I clocked my food on my WW app only to find out when I eat dinner I will be 7 points over my allotment. :O So that kicked my butt into gear to get to the gym.

I do not miss the evening gym hours, with the parking lot full and the machines crowded as well. I finally found a treadmill and no one was going to get me off of it. I ran 35 minutes and then quit and restarted as I looked around me to make sure no one could call me out on it. I ran/walked incline for 19 minutes, restarted again. Then I ran 19 more minutes. What I found interesting was that because I restarted a few times, my brain saw 5 minutes, 10 minutes not 40 minutes or 50 minutes so I think that gave me more energy and didn’t make me feel bored. So I logged 73 minutes 5.75 miles. The best part when I logged my minutes in my WW activity app it said i burned 12 points! OOO I have some room for dessert now! 🙂

Since Friday, I have had no diet soda because I am trying to give up soda but most importantly the Aspartame that is in the soda. A few years back a coworker and I gave up the diet soda because we had read for the first time all the bad things Aspartame can do to your body, from headaches to breathing problems.  After the gym I went to the supermarket to stock up on fruit and some low cal snack. To my surprise Aspartame is in the sugar-free Jello, so I got regular. Aspartame was also in Dannon yogurt, so I got the WW yogurt. I didn’t realize how much stuff that I eat on a regular basis has this junk in it. Food for thought.

Feel Good Workout

I had a good workout with Michelle today. I feel like we did everything. Here’s the rundown, of course the order isn’t exact as this is from memory. Sorry for the boring post of a list but I know some of you have told me you like seeing what I am doing. All I can say is that I really felt good after the workout.

1. Warm Up:
   1. Step on stepper, then twirl backwards and repeat. Don’t know the official name for this.
   2. Mountain climbers on the Bosu ball.
2. Bicep curls while standing on an upsidedown Bosu ball. It took me a good minute to get my balance, I was surprised how fast I was able to stabilize.
3. Walking lunges while holding a 20lb barbell on that ball of my neck/back.  I thought these would hurt my neck, but the positioning was perfect. J
4. Free Motion Machine: two arm push.
5. Free Motion Machine: Split Stance Two Arm Push-Pull
6. Standing on Bosu ball holding a plate, I bent to my left ankle and then up high to my right side. This one was hard to balance and my sneakers were digging into the top of my ankle since they were angled on the Bosu to balance.
7. Standing crunch with plate on the Bosu.
8. Standing with the plate and just twisting side to side without moving hips.
9. Crunches criss-cross

10.  Jump Rope for 2 minutes.

11.  I call these swimmers. While lying down legs extended just before my back arches and just move the legs as if you were swimming.

12.  Laying face down, stomach on an exercise ball, feet against the wall for support, I did back extensions or supermans. I have done this on the ground before and have felt back ache, but the ball and my feet against the wall provided so much support. I kind of liked this one.

13.  While in the same position, I did reverse flys with some dumbbells.

14.  Laying on the exercise ball on my side, holding a plate, I did side crunches.

Easy Rider

This morning I was supposed to run: 2 miles easy, 3 miles at short tempo 6.0mph, and 1 miles easy. I decided that I just wanted an easy run, I was concerned with being able to run 3 miles at the 6.0 without stopping many times to catch my breath. So I ran: 2 miles @ 5.2mph, 2 miles @ 5.4mph, 1 mile @ 5.6mph, half mile @ 5.8mph, and the last half mile at 6.0mph. Total of 6 miles run and I felt great during the run and the gradual increase gave me something to shoot for. 

I wanted to mention this product called KNEED IT. When I was training for my half marathon last year my knee was in constant pain with high mileage. To preface this I should mention that I have a slight tear in my right MCL from playing volleyball. I knelt for a ball 3 yrs ago and both my knees crunched. ugh. not a pretty sound at all!

KNEED IT

So the fact that I was able to run a half with the banged up knee says a lot. So I purchased this product towards the end of my training, and when I started running again in December I continued with KNEED IT. I haven’t had to ice my knees at all, and I haven’t felt any pain at all. I don’t know how it works because there aren’t any magnets in it. I am thinking it helps stabilize your knee so when you’re in motion the knee is in its proper position and not slightly twisting with each step. Below is some information if you are interested. You can basically search KNEED IT on google and find a ton of places that sell it.

Kneed-It Knee Brace – Knee Guard

Support Your Knee and Relieve Minor Pain  

 Kneed-It knee guard is an innovative and unique device scientifically designed to assist in the relief of minor knee pain commonly associated with Arthritis, Tendinitis and Chondromalacia by placing gentle pressure along the medial and lateral soft tissues of the knee. The knee guard provides pain relief by gently absorbing force at the knee and by exerting concentrated compression and warmth across the soft tissue in front of the knee. Its patented technology is a superior therapy and may be used in conjunction with traditional methods such as taping or wrapping of the knee.

 •Wrap around application for easy use

•KNEED-IT’s Knee Brace anatomic design works in concert with the motion of your knee. As you move, it gently applies pressure to the joint liner and patellar tendon and assists in the relief of minor knee pain, soreness, stiffness and inflammation. By stabilizing the inferior pole of the patella, KNEED-IT also may improve patellar tracking .

•A safe, natural, non-invasive, low cost device which helps the body heal itself of minor discomfort from daily activities

•KNEED-IT enables muscles to relax, which reduces stress on tendons and muscles… may be worn for long periods of time with complete comfort

•It can be worn on the right or left knee and easily adjusts to fit the contour of the patella and patellar tendon…ONE SIZE fits most

Pushed on thru

Today was my long run, I didn’t get to run yesterday because my schedule was messed up.  The plan was 9 miles, which I knew I wasn’t going to be able to complete because of time constraints.   From the get go I just didn’t have the energy I needed. I felt like the run was lasting forever and I was only able to complete 2.5 miles in 33 minutes.  To save face I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. After all, my journey is not specifically tied to running but also to toning up my body.

While I was doing the elliptical I was watching the latest Turbo Jam(now it is Turbo Fire) series. I did turbo jam a few years back and it is energizing, the music is awesome making you come back for more. I figured tonight I can do the dvd I have at home(turbo fatblast),  but this morning I had no luck locating it. I was thinking of finding some of the new rocking ones on ebay and get back into it. I figured they can supplement some strength training days, since I see the trainer only twice a week (30 min sessions). 

The soda habit is fighting strong. I drank about 30 oz. of soda at my desk. It’s like habitual. I don’t even think about it. I like the way the soda bubbles in my iced glass. I am not as fond of the taste as i used to be, but that still hasn’t stopped me. I know I should quit cold turkey but I don’t think that is possible. I was watching strange addictions a few weeks ago and there was a girl that drank a crazy amount of soda cans a day, it may have been 30 cans or so a day. And they had to ween her slowly off the caffeine, granted my addiction isn’t to that extent maybe I am just making excuses.