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.

6 mile

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.

Weight Watchers Plus FREE 7 day online trial

So the snow/ice has gotten me a little off my routine. I didnt go the gym yesterday AM because of the icy roads. I was so turned off by the packed gym during evening hours that I really didnt feel like going yesterday evening and watched the Bishop family win 500k on Minute to Win It. Yeah I know I could have DVR’d it and gone to the gym, just been spoiled with the empty gym during morning hours. This morning I didnt work out in the AM either, i just wanted some sleep! My body has been achy for the past few days, probably from the ice shoveling. Will it ever end?!

Since I have no workout news to share, I wanted to let everyone know that they can go on weight watchers website and sign up for a free 7 day trial. I just did this yesterday and I was able to get my plus points, a yummy recipe i made for dinner which i will share on a separate post. This morning I was looking at their cheat sheet section which is kind of cool. You select Chinese Buffet and they have some foods that you can click on and it tells you 1 cup of this is X Plus points. For example, white rice 5 points, fried rice is 10 points. Stay away from the orang chicken it was liek 15 points yikes! suprisingly, 2 spare ribs are only 4 points. I would have that would have had more because of the fat. So check out the site, you will have to enter payment information but just mark your calendar and cancel on day 7 so you won’t have to pay and you can print and save on a word document any information you will  need to get you on the right path!

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!