water water water

Yesterday that hill on Palm Ave felt like it could go on forever...not mention the wind once I got to the top. Took a relaxing bike ride yesterday evening, which followed a chicken and veggie dinner. Of course I could have chosen other (healthier) veggies to throw in but I was feeling like I wanted a "comfort" food and this is what I went to, and it was delish if I do say do myself.

I continued my work out schedule straight into today...530am I work up and of course contemplated staying in bed. However, I got up and pedaled down to the gym. I got in a good morning of strength training, and a run. After several emails, texts and excuses...(yes, I make excuses) to my trainer I am hopeful that things will only get better and by get better I mean get even healthier. I am aware of when to stop and when is too much, however at this time I'm ready to continue and push forward. I need to remember to drink MORE water, two 24oz bottles down already. Followed by one egg and three egg whites with salsa.

Running is a pain in the ass...but it'll give you a nice one!

Food

As requested... here goes another try at documenting my food... you think it would be easy since I'm emailing it to my trainer, but...for some reason I've struggled with putting it on here.


545a
Banana

615a
Spin
Water

730a
6oz protein shake (EAS)

815a
One egg, two egg whites scrambled
Crystal light

1000a
Coffee
Fat free half and half
Splenda

1130aAlmonds/Craisins

100p
Garden salad (greens, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, Italian vinaigrette)
Garlic Knots (yes, they sound just as delicious as they taste...probably could have done without them, but...)Water

300p
Water
Almonds/Craisins

645p
Turkey hot dog
Green beans
Sugar free green tea

800p
Water

Also, I found a GREAT blog, click here ! I prepared these, "overnight, no-cook refrigerator oatmeals" 

Raspberry Vanilla and Blueberry Maple 

I used flax instead of chia seed...just happened to be what I had on hand. 

Almost finished project...I'll report back tomorrow on how it was!

Straight up, hard work

So, as I've stated this blog will outline the good the bad and the ugly...

Proud to say that tonight I'm ready to talk about the good.

And when I say good, I mean good old fashion weight loss and over all health improvements! The picture below is from late January to late July.

How did I do it, you ask:
Diet pills?
Excessive time at the gym?
Lipo?
Starvation?

My answer:
No
Nope
Negative
No no no

Adequate gym time, exercise and a life style change, including good sound decisions.

Have I slipped up?
Become unmotivated at times?
Ate dessert, indulged in beautiful meals?
Enjoyed cocktails?

Yes
Absolutely
Yep and they were good
Uh huh, more than my fair share

...and through it all, I've had results.

My fall is shaping up quite nicely, participating in a relay tri in early September, biathlon mid September hopefully another relay tri early December and October/November full of 5ks! Get out and get motivated, it really is a good feeling.

Running is a pain in the ass but it'll give you a nice one ;)

reunited and it feels so good...

not even exaggerating.  after a two week hiatus i'm back, and the sore muscles are feelings of health and feeling good about myself once again.  no, don't read that last sentence wrong and think that i only feel good about myself when i'm at the gym, but generally if you take care of yourself (however that is) you feel better.  for me, working out is one way of taking care of myself.

i ran on the treadmill yesterday, which i haven't done in, hmmm... forever! and i actually enjoyed it, time went by quickly and surprisingly it felt good.  i think the lower impact of a treadmill was a good choice for my first run back.  pushed out 2.5 miles and spent 25 minutes lifting, shoulders, back, biceps and triceps.

and i.hurt.today. 

the two weeks that i was m.i.a. from the gym were due to my tonsillectomy. let me tell you, worst pain i've ever had. not to mention for the first solid week i couldn't get any food down.  okay, i take that back; applesauce, protein smoothie here and there and some ice chips.  needless to say, the doctor told me i would loose weight and after all even though that's what i've been trying to do for the last 6 months, weight loss was the last thing on my mind as i was watching the anesthesiologist administer anesthesia. i'm going to consider my post-op just a jump start to getting back on track.  to date i've lost 11 lbs due to this surgery and for about a week now i've been back to eating more common foods, soft things, of course.  however, the -11 lbs means finally...i'm under 200, and i couldn't believe my eyes when the nurse told me, not to mention that when i told her how much i weighed in pre-op, her eyes nearly popped out of her head and she said,
"what, there is no way that's your weight, you can't possibly weight that!" 
to which i said
"generally, when people lie about their weight it's in their favor" 
we both got a good laugh out of that.

i'm going to greet 197 with a new face and new goals, more importantly, i feel good, wait i mean, i feel fabulous.

what i'm gearing up for next:
september - sprint biathlon, 10 mile bike 3.2 mile run (september 15)
october - couple 5k's most importantly, the color run in miami (october 21)
november - 5k's in key west
december - possibly a relay tri, i'll bike and run (sprint distance) if i can find a swimmer
january- that daunting half marathon around this quaint island...

if i can do it, you can too.  

check out this lady's blog ...so good 

Running is a pain in the ass...but it'll give you a nice one! 

Nap at 630am, why not?

Beep beep beep...not the most pleasant thing to wake up to, and especially not at 500am. As I got out of bed I was already planning when I would go to sleep tonight. I got myself out the door and down the street to meet with Raquel and begin our Wednesday session of training. Today, I opted to not stay for pedal and pump after our training for two reasons:

1. Interval training is a different kind of sore than regular running and, well...I was sore (okay, I know not a good reason, I should have stayed)
2. I have about one week till I get my tonsils out and didn't feel like paying for a whole month membership only to waste at least two weeks while I'm recovering. I do have one free pass left which I'll use tomorrow since I don't meet with Raquel on Thursdays (sounded better in my head)

Okay, so not very legit reasons but nevertheless, reasons...excuses whatever they may be. Important thing is, I did get out and got my work out in this morning, showered, got some protein in and a little recovery drink Now, off to take a nap, BEFORE work!

Remember, running is a pain in the ass...but it'll give you a nice one!

Making a sincere effort...

Monday - rest day, eat well
Tuesday - gym, eat well
Wednesday - gym, eat well
Thursday - gym, eat well
Friday - gym, eat okay
Saturday - gym(maybe), eat poorly
Sunday - gym(maybe), eat poorly


I'm back to making a sincere effort, instead of working my butt off during the week I'm going to be consistent during the weekend too... For instance I should have hit up the gym on Saturday but, visiting a friend and her baby, cleaning, grocery shopping, making dinner and enjoy a few beers took priority. So, I got up hit up the gym for strength class and spin this morning! Thank you Raquel and janeth at Stay Fit Studio! Just finished egg whites and veggie 'sausage'. But I know in order to keep making progress my consistency needs to carry over to the weekend, and staying out till 4:00am drinking delicious blue moon and cocktails isn't helping. No, you didn't hear me say that I'm not doing that anymore, what you heard, better yet what I'm trying to say is that if I chose to do that the next day I'm at the gym. It's simple what you put in, must go out. Each week I'll have to remember, I didn't put in all the work T-F to break even on the weekend.

Side note: today was one of the best spin classes I've been to in awhile, I don't know if it was the instructor, music, the energy from a full class or my own motivation, but...it felt great!

Running is a pain in the ass...but it'll give you a nice one!

Q: How long is a city block?

A: Long.

Especially this morning at 520! Raquel introduced me to speed training in an effort to mix up our work outs, increase time and build more lower body muscle. Prior to this morning speed training was something I had heard of but never looked into.

Well, folks...today was the day. I was speed training. The first few blocks were good, like keeping up with my trainer good...(if you remember a few blogs ago I posted a photo of a lady running "this is what I feel like when I run, this is what I look like when I run") I'm sure I was a hot mess sprinting but, I felt good. She said, "run like someone is chasing you"!

Then one of two things happened:
1. The adrenalin wore off and I tired (which is normal and what we're working to over come, heart/lung conditioning)
2. The city blocks got longer!!

I'd like to say number two, but let's be honest. I also decided not to wear my Garmin today, in an effort to focus on the health aspect and just praise myself for getting out there instead of how fast I went. When we were done Raquel told me that she tracked that we sprinted two total miles...WOW, that went by fast! So, if you're anything like me and unsure of what speed work is...we ran a block, jogged through the intersection and sprinted a block, repeat. Eventually we'll get to jogging the previous blocks and then sprinting, and hopefully get to timing out a distance, setting an attainable goal and meeting it.

I'm continuing to meet her weekly:
Wednesday - speed work
Friday - personal training and running
Saturday/Sunday - run

and attend strength training, spin, and yoga in between!

So, when Raquel asked me towards the end of the run, how far is a city block...my response was, long.

Running is a pain in the ass...but it'll give you a nice one ;)