Notching my belt

I forgot to mention a little fun milestone for the changes in my body. The belt that I wear all the time hocked into the 5th hole yesterday! I mean, its leather, so maybe its just stretching, but I don't think so. When I first bought the belt a couple of years ago, I could only fit it into #2. Then I lost a bunch of weight and alternated between 3 and 4 for the past year or more. But today it fit into hole #5! It's the last hole. I will have to buy a new belt if I lose many more inches!

Speaking of which, I keep taking photos that I mean to upload, but never remember when I get home in the evening. I've been measuring periodically, but after noticing the belt hole thing, I measured again to make sure I wasn't crazy and the belt had stretched.

My underbust was still 34, my waist still 29, my navel was 33(!!) and my hips were 41 (!!) over jeans! So it totally makes sense that the "belt" region is losing inches! I've definitely been able to see it around the lower abs where I have the little girlish belly bump. You know the one right below your navel? In old ladies it turns into this belly sack! I never, ever, ever want a belly sack, so I need to get rid of it before my body gets used to storing fat there.

Tonight I have muscle conditioning, which should be fun. I'll try to do a quick 4 mile run after class and before my upper body work. Today I think I'm going to go with heavy weights again, since I'll do a lot of lighter-rep work with muscle conditioning. I've read in some articles that you can change up within a routine rather than within a week.

Oh, bootcamp class was cancelled this morning so I slept in. :( But it means I Got 8 hours of sleep. I'm really working hard to sleep enough. Even if its pushing a lot of my workouts into the evening. Once I get the sleeping length in tact, I'll start to shift back to going to bed earlier to make everything a morning workout.

Food Log: I've been having a carb-heavy diet still, according to my ratios. Today I'm trying to add some whey protein in with my yogurt after my workout, to boost my protein consumption at least. Eventually I'll snag the info on the zone diet - see if I can pick things from the blocks. I don't think I'll start that until May, however. I just want to work within the food I have and enjoy now.

Last night I made the quinoa with just water and some garlic. In the future I'm going to need to find a good way to flavor it without boullion. I'm going to search for low-sodium broth/boullion this weekend, along with some low-sodium soy sauce. I like the protein content of the soy sauce, but hate the sodium aspect. So I don't think its a tool that I should entirely turn my back on. We'll see what I can find. Last night when I made the "sauce" I used 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce with water and garlic. It gave the veggies/tofu a little flavor, but not to much. I put the full amount on this list for nutritional info, but quicte frankly, most of it cooked onto the bottom of the pan. I'm sure I ended up with a lot less, honestly.

Breakfast (420/10.5/368/69/18/21)
1 cup Optimum Slim (180/2.5/250/38/11/9)
10 dried cranberries (40/0/0/11/1/0)
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed (120/8/8/8/6/4)
1 cup skim milk (80/0/120/12/0/8)

Snack
Barlett Pear (100/1/0/25/4/1)
12 almonds (81/7/0/3/1.5/3)

Lunch (222.5/6/240/24/4.5/16)
1/2 cup of quinoa, cooked (100/2/6/20/2.5/4)
1/4 tofu (100/4/0/2/1/9)
sauce (2.5/0/230/0/0/1)
mushrooms + baby bok choy (20/0/4/2/1/2)

Snack
1 blood orange (70/1/0/15/3/1)
12 almonds (81/7/0/3/1.5/3)

Post-Workout
4 oz nonfat plain yogurt (50/0/80/7.5/0/5)
1 tsp agave nectar (20/0/0/5/0/0)
1/2 packet Whey Protein Strawberry (55\0\75\0\0\12.5)

Dinner
1 egg (77/5/62/1/0/6)
2 slices deli ham (50/1/240/2.5/0/7.5)
1 Tbsp fat free ricotta (11/0/19/1/0/1.5)
*
1/2 cup pomegranate ff froyo (90/0/55/18/0/3)


Totals: (1327.5\24.5\1147\174\32.5\80.5)
Ratios: 220.5-696-322 (1238.5)
18%-56%-26%

1.5L water
2 16-oz teas
Totals: 83 oz

Evening Update

Tonight I went to muscle conditioning. Catherine was back, so the class was awesome. I was feeling shaky muscles as we went through this. She fell back to some of her classic high reps, but included plyometrics (jump squats x 3!).

We learned a very cool new ab move. "The Hover" - Imagine you're laying on your back. Your legs are lifted to tabletop, or 90 degrees in the air. Your back is in "imprint" (lower back touching the ground, abs tensed). With your legs pressed together, staying at the 90 degree angle, slowly lower your feet towards the ground to touch your toes. Except you don't. You stop with 1 inch between your feet and the floor. Then you start doing crunches. Your legs can't move. They're perfectly still. Your feet stay 1" from the floor. Yup, crunches. Oh, yeah, and is your lower back still in imprint? Totally flat against the floor? Because you can't let it arch. Hella hard, even for someone who does a lot of pilates.

We also did some teaser-like sit-ups with a barbell. Your feet are, again, not touching the ground. You execute a full sit-up and balance at the top with a straight back. Luckily you get to use a hand weight to help "pull up" which you hold at a 45 degree angle with straight arms (soft elbows). Fun times.

After a tough muscle conditioning class, I then went for a run. I was so sluggish. My legs were just busted today. I did the 4 mile lap in 36 minutes. Yikes. Embarrassing. My legs felt like lead weights though. I'm really not sure what was up. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

After the run, I returned to do upper body. I was in a crunch for time, so I only did 3 sets of exercises. I did heavy weight at 6-8 reps (10 for cable crossover). I did go heavier than Tuesday though! I feel my strength increase every week.

Cable Triceps Pushdown (75lb)/Biceps (62.5lb)
Delt Raise (12.5)/Crossover (25lb)
Assisted Pull-ups (10 reps x 2, 75 assts - I went down, but I was pooped tonight)
Rows (85lb/Chest Press (80lb)
Lat Pulldown (85lb!!)/Shoulder Press (44lb)
(We did a bunch of push-ups in class, as well as plank-to-pushups; her classes are always upperbody intensive)

Tuesday Night Workout

Tonight I ran around 8 mile around the river. I did fullout sprints every other telephone poll for the normal stretch. I was about three minutes slower than last week, but I was feeling pretty sluggish at first. My calves were killing me from the jump roping yesterday. That, in turn, made me a lot of sensitive to the cement sidewalks along the Mem Dr side.

After that I headed back to the gym for my upper body. I chose to do heavy weight-low reps today, keep it between 6-9 reps, mostly 6. I've been reading a lot about the various types of sets you can do, everyone suggesting that you change it up each routine. The low-rep/heavy weight is for strength building. Mid-rep/mid-weight is for muscle growth. High rep/low weight is for endurance. I knew these basics, but really never implemented them too much, at least not consciously. I kept my high reps to the muscle conditioning class and went 10-12 rep heavier on the machines.

So today I went about a bar heavier on the machines. Three supersets of 6-9 each.
Row (80)/Chest Press (80)
Lat Pull down (85)/Shoulder press(43)
Cable Triceps (69)/Biceps (57)
Delt raise (19)/Crossover (32)/12 push-ups
Pull-ups (70 asst) 10 rep x 2
Balance/Bosu ball crunches

I'm super sleepy, running late to bed and dread getting up at 5am. But I don't want to miss abs and pilates! I need to work in a run tomorrow also. Hopefully at night. Only 3-4 miles.

Weigh-In & Measurements

Weight: 159lbs
Underbust: 34"
Smallest waist: 29"
Navel: 34"
Hips: 41"


Food Log

Breakfast
1 slice homemade whole wheat bread (150/3/400/28/4/6)
1 Tbsp plum jam (50/0/0/13/0/0)
1 tsp butter (36/4/29/0/0/0)
*
1 cup Optimum Slim (180/2.5/250/38/11/9)
10 dried cranberries (40/0/0/11/1/0)
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed (120/8/8/8/6/4)
1 cup skim milk (80/0/120/12/0/8)

Snack
4 oz nonfat plain yogurt (50/0/80/7.5/0/5)
1 tsp agave nectar (20/0/0/5/0/0)

Lunch
1/8 pizza dough recipe (200/4/300/36/2/6)
1 Tbsp classico Fire-Roasted Tomato & Garlic sauce (6/0/40/1/0/0)
Some veggies (80/0/60/10/0/0)
1 Tbsp Sargento fat free ricotta cheese (12/0/15/1/0/1.3)
*
2 cups iceberg lettuce (20/0/14/4/2/2)
6 grape tomatoes (12/0/0/3/0/0)
1 tbsp Burgundy Basil Vinaigrette (35/2.5/175/2.5/0/0)

Snack
1 blood orange (70/1/15/3/1)

Dinner:
2 egg(150/10/0/0/13.4)
2 slices American cheese (200/18/820/2/0/12g protein)
1 slice homemade whole wheat bread (150/3/400/28/4/6)
1 tsp butter (36/4/29/0/0/0)
2 Yves veggie ham (50/1/240/2.5/7.5)

Totals: (1677/61/2980/227.5/35.5/79.2)
Ratios: 549-910-316.8 = 1776 (31-51-18)

1L water
2 - 12 oz herbal tea
2 - 16 oz herbal tea

Total fluids: 90 oz

All I wanna do, is go for a run...I gotta feeling, I'm not the only one!

This week is going poorly. After my 14+ mile run on Saturday, I didn't have it in me to work out on Sunday. Yesterday I got sick, and my eyes and throat were bothering me enough that I simply went home. Now it's Tuesday afternoon and while I still feel miserable, I can't put off going to the gym any longer.

My diet over the weekend was a mess also. Eating bad stuff and good things at weird times. No organization to it, which I suspect lead to an unhealthy variety of foods and consumption. I'm giving myself a quick snap-to-it today, recording what I've consumed. If I'm not exercising and I'm sick, I have to be especially careful.

Breakfast: (495/15.5/62/16.5/23)
4 oz nonfat plain colombo yogurt with 1 tbsp agave (110 cal/5g protein)
1 cup of Optimum Slim cereal (180cal/2.5g fat/11g fiber/9g protein)
10 almonds (80 cal/7g fat/1.5g fiber/3g protein)
2 tbsp ground flax (80 cal/6g fat/4g fiber/2g protein)
1/2 cup of nonfat milk (45 cal/62 mg sod/4g protein)

4-16 oz cups of herbal tea

Lunch:
3 cups of homemade vegetable soup (veggie broth, herbs, carrots, beet leaves, onion)

3-16oz cups of tea

Snack:
4 oz plain nonfat yogurt with 1 Tbsp agave (110 cal/5g protein)

Dinner: (315/24/126/10/19.9)
2 slices of pear-banana bread
2 eggs (150cal/10g fat/13.4 g protein)
1/2 cup spinach (20cal/126 sod/4g fiber/5g protein)
1/2 avocado (145 cal/14g fat/6g fiber/1.5g protein)


Totals (- soup/bread): (920 calories/ 39.5g fat/ 26.5 fiber /83.9g protein)
--------

Post-Work Workout:

I ran 7.8 miles around the esplanade in a double loop today. I ended up with an average mileage of 8:41min/mile. Not bad! I felt good when I was done, although my legs were starting to feel it near the end. The last mile involved an adorable floppy-eared German Shepherd running with his long-legged older owner. So I spent the last mile trying to keep up with them. The puppy was totally motivational. That's the kind of dog I want to run with! But two of them. Two sweet German Shepherds!

After the run, I went back to the gym, I busted through upper body fast. The one thing I really dislike about my gym are the old ladies on the weight machines. So I'm doing a superset between the lat pull-down and shoulder press. The room is nearly empty, so my hogging of two machines isn't really an issue. I left my towel on the LPD while I did a shoulder set, fast, when this lady comes up and stares in angry confusion at the towel on the seat. I finish my set and take a step over to remove the towel, since I figure I won't be a bitch a make her wait. But she asks me "Oh, are you using this?" And so, hey, I'm honest. I say "Yes, I only have one more set, it'll be super quick, then it's all yours." But instead of okaying that, she instead looks confused and points at the shoulder machine "Then are you using that?" And I'm like "Yes, I'm doing a superset, going back and forth between them, but I only have one set left, so this LPD is yours in under 20 seconds." She gives me a dirty look, still confused, and then goes over to the chest press. Ooooookay. So clearly I was speaking a foreign language. But literally, like 20 seconds. It would take her 20 seconds just to lower her ass onto the seat and contemplate starting.

The old ladies don't understand sharing or trading off on the machines either. So if I had more than one set left, I could just say "Oh, you want to just trade off between sets?" because she wouldn't get it. Then I'd spend 5 minutes explaining what I meant, which is five times more time than it would take for me to finish my workout on that machine. But these ladies just sit down on a machine and do wicked slow sets, and then sit there....for like five minutes between sets. And for women who are only doing two sets, this is ridiculous! I just wish they would observe gym etiquette, that's all.

We are strong, no one can tell us were wrong

It's mainly been running since Thursday, so as a quick overview (you can read more in details on my running blog), I ran 12 miles on Saturday and ran the 5K on Sunday with a barely-there-PR. My quads were actually sore on Sunday afterwards - probably a combo of the long run backed by a speed-fest then next day. I certainly felt it during the race.

Monday, I did nothing. I straight out confess. I slept in and then worked until 8pm, so it seemed pointless to go to the gym when it closed within an hour and then I probably would have missed my bus home anyway.

Tuesday, today! I got back on the horse. Okay, okay. I'm probably weird because I consider missing one day of working out falling off the wagon, but I'm sure if you're reading this blog by now, you probably already think I'm crazy. So I went for a run after work. I did the 3.97 mile loop in 34:28. I feel something is really wrong with that time, but seriously, I was there. My watch was working. Mapmyrun is on target. Even though a snotty girl made me get out of her way while running under this bridge along a path that's only one-person wide, and made me feel slow - I was not! Okay, I wasn't fast either. But that's an 8:41 min/mile average. Not bad for a casual, flat run. Along the flat, straight part of the esplanade, like where it loops out into the river, I did telephone pole sprints. They are seriously fun. Maybe later this week, I'll just do them back and forth a bunch for like 20 minutes. I'm trying really hard to get myself to integrate speedwork. Running along the esplanade has really helped out with this - because there are lots of other runners which bring out my competitive side. My goal is to run the half marathon at a 9min/mile pace in May. I'd love to do less, but I have two months to work with here, so I'm not setting my expectations out of range.

Anyway, I got distracted with the running business. I then returned to the gym and did my upperbody. One of the grunting, muscle-bound latino B&G guys stole the chest press from me mid-superset so I ended up doing push-ups between sets of rows instead. I need to remember that I can use dumbbells on a bench or ball instead. Push-ups just aren't the same, and I think they must overlap with the rowing muscles quite a bit too. Actually, I need to remember to really research more into the muscles I pair.

So after I gave up on getting the chest press back, since he was clearly there to stay, sipping on his whey protein shake in between sets, I went over to the cable machine. Tricep pushdown(56)/Bicep curls(44) for four sets of 15. Back to the bigger machines with a Lat Pulldown(70)/Shoulder press(40) for three sets of 10. Yes, that's right: 40 pounds on the shoulder press. This might not be so impressive to most, but I was in a RUT for the past year on that thing. I was trapped at 30lb, trembling to failure at 33lb. But lately, I've busted up and moved to 40lb! Yeah! It's like my birthday! But without cake. Oh and protein-man finally did get off the chest press, where I got in a couple more sets at 73lb. I'm moving up there too.

(Note: These weights are all relative, mind you. All equipment is different, with different lifting mechanisms, numbers of pulleys, etc. So I write down the actual pounds simply for my own records. It means nothing outside of my gym really. So all you can really take out of it is that I'm making progress.)

I did some flies on the ball, back extentions and crunches. Then went home. I'm still super excited after the run and subsequent increases in weight. :D Oh and I keep listening to Love Is a Battlefield. It's incredibly empowering while you workout.

Taking stock and a disappointing day of upper body

My workout:
10 minutes at 8-9 pace on Stairmill (machine of deathly torture)
16 minute on upright stationary bike
- 30 sec intensity 18, speed ~90rpm
- 90 sec recovery intensity 10, speed ~85rpm

Assisted pull-ups, neutral and narrow (80lb - this weight felt too easy today, I'm going to drop it down to 75 on Thursday)
Seated narrow row (70)/Chest Press(70) - 10 reps, 4 sets, no rest
Bicep Curl(44lb)/Tricep pushdown(56lb) cable - 10 reps, 3 sets, no rest

I was definitely feeling the shoveling from yesterday today in my back and shoulders. Which is why I opted out of the shoulder press, since I couldn't work out a cramp in the left shoulder. It made the workout somewhat light, but the cardio was intense so I got my heart rate up and kept it up with the sets. I'm not entirely pleased with my workout today. I also think that I may have eaten too much - I probably didn't need the half a sweet potato with dinner. I ate the Recovery bar only because my stomach was just achingly empty around 5pm. I didn't get to eat my snack pear, so that may have had something to do with it.


Food Intake:

Morning:
4oz Colombo FF plain yogurt
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp agave nectar

1/2 cup 1% milk with tea

Lunch:
1/2 cup quinoa/asparagus/red pepper dish
79g snap peas
85g baby carrots

Snack:
Egg with 1 slice of ff cheese

Pre-workout:
1/2 Powerbar Recovery bar

Post-workout:
1/2 Powerbar Recovery bar

Dinner:
75g sweet potato
1 portobello veggie burger
1 1/2 tsp Romano
60g asparagus
50g red pepper + chile pasillo
cilantro to taste

Measurements + Weigh In
Underbust: 33.5"
Widest Hips: 42"
Natural waist: 31"
Waist at naval: 34.5"

I'm not sure what to think about these changes. Down in some places, up at the navel. I guess its by so little that it fluctuates based upon activity and eating habits of the last few days.

Something new in bootcamp today

Thursday Morning

Wicked tired. I got 5 hours of sleep, which is normal for Wed nights, but it just kicked my ass this morning. My entire body is sore, like every muscle. When we were doing jumping-jacks today, my underarm muscles/obliques were preventing me from actually lifting my arms for the jumping jack until I stretched out my side a bunch during the 10sec rest.

I think my ass might be getting used to the ungodly number of lunges and squats I've started subjecting it to. Lunges and squats are just so powerful that I think they will be key to tighten things up and helping with my speed issues. I'm trying to incorporate more plyometrics into my self-run routines, since jumping-type activities really go a long way with running.

Anyway, this morning was Bootcamp Class. It was an easy day. She decided to do this 20-sec on, 10 sec off x 8 for all of the exercises. Wayyyyyy too much rest time. And she didn't evenly disperse the exercises, so there wasn't enough cardio/movement exercises in between the stationary ones. This is how I would have changed it:

Push-ups with one-arm raise ---> keep
Hamstring curl on ball ---> extend to 30 sec intervals
Side plank ---> extend to 60 sec each side, OR do raises/pulsing
Tricep chest crossover on ball ---> double hand overhead with bar
Plank train ---> no rest, do 4 straight
One leg squat ---> jump squats
Overhead weight with wall squat for 1 min ---> weight deltoids raise with wall squat
Cardio (fast feet/side shuffle; high knees; butt kicks, jumping jacks)
Add: 8-count body builders
Add: Walking lunges

After class, I biked for 3 miles and then did my upperbody routine. I did regular asstd pull-ups today, rather than negatives. Superset: row/chest press; Superset: lat pulldown/shoulder press; Superset: Bicep/Tricep curls. I kept getting interrupted at machines, so I did some push-ups for chest press; some 15lb one-arm rows for seated row; pull-ups for lat pull-down. Kind of a pain in the ass, but I wanted to get it out of the way, so I can go right home after muscle conditioning tonight.