Arms Day - yeah right!

Oh my what a work-out. I only had 4 hours sleep. I haven't been eating enough either, so my energy level is down, so working out this morning was a work-out as I was sluggish, but I did get through it and after I shower I will have a nap and then begin my day.

Warm up: 5 minutes on treadmill

Stretches x 4 minutes
Arms: Pushups x10, Pull-ups x10- repeat 3 times. After my 3rd set of pull-ups I did another set of pushups till failure and could only do 8 and then I collapsed. My arms were tired as was my core.

Tri-ceps: Dips x10, plank hold for 30 seconds, BiCep Curls (7,7,7) repeat 3 times

Shoulders: Shoulder raise x10, Shoulder Ups x10, Squat row x10, Chest Fly x10- repeat 3 times

Abs: V-sit on ball for 5 reps of 10 seconds, V-sit hold for 1 minute- repeat 3 times, crunches x50

Stretches x5 minutes include superman 10 on each side

I made Vegan Banana Muffins this morning and they turned out wonderful. They are small and just the perfect size for kids' lunches. I used 2 T. of vinegar instead of an egg. Worked out great!

Todays Goal: Drink more water- I am only drinking about 40 oz. a day.

Leg Day-

I am not very fond of leg days. They are my strongest muscles right now as I do lots of walking- but working them out more- ouch! Here are the exercises that I tortured my body with today. Well not tortured but strengthened my body with.

Legs:

Warm up- 5 minutes on treadmill
Stretches
Superset: Reverse Lunges x10, Hamstring pulls on ball x10 (Repeat 3 times)

Walked 2 mintes on Treadmill

Superset: Single leg squat x10, plank x30 -45 min (Repeat 3 times) On the single leg squat I could only do 5 on each leg on the last set- My thighs were burning and shaking.

Superset: Wall sit x1 min, Calf Raises x10 (Repeat 3 times)

Cool Down: Walked on treadmill for about 17 minutes at 3.7 speed, so ended up walking 1 mile.

Ball Exercise for Abs: Basically doing a V-sit - I did that for 5 reps, where you lean back and hold and then sit up and repeat-

Stretches x10 minutes.

Afterwards I came up and made a wonderful breakfast of oatmeal, blueberries, flaxseed, and whole wheat toast (homemade with freshly ground wheat- it makes wonderful toast). I do sweeten my oatmeal with maple syrup and used a bit of soy milk to make it creamy. It is delicious!

Need the Endurance

Good Morning and Welcome to a new week and a new month. It is very vital that if you are exercising that it is so important to fuel your body. I found out the hard way this morning when I was trying to strength train- I had no energy and felt very sluggish. Guess why? Not enough eating and not getting enough sleep.

A new week with new goals. Plan out my daily food journal of what I will be eating and what I actually did eat. I should be eating every 2-3 hours upon waking and my last snack should be 2 hours before bedtime.

I need to make sure I am taking my much needed supplements. I use ones from a company called http://www.quietminds.net/ - they are really the best of the best. I have tried ones from melaleuca which are good so if you want to give them a try at http://www.melaleuca.com/ I use alot of Melaleuca's household cleaning products and I love them.

Well I did my monthly measurements and here they are:
Body Composition:
Upper Arm: 11½
Chest: 37" (43" in Sept.)
Waist: 36" (37 1/4 in Sept)(34½ in Nov)
Hips: 40" (40 3/4 in Sept)
Thigh: 22 ½" (23½ in Sept)
Calf: 15½" (16 in Sept)

So as you can see I have lost some inches since September. I did gain a few inches since November on my waist- which isn't good. Time to re-focus and commit to doing better this month.

Weight: 176.4 (182.8 Sep.) (174.8 Nov.) as you can see I have gained almost two pounds since November, which isn't a good sign. Once again- time to re-commit and really watch the extra calories going in my body.

I am Vegan for the month of February, so it will be nice to see how I feel and look at the end of February. My goal weight for February 28 is 170.

Today's Workout: Arms Day
5 minute warmup- treadmill x5 minutes
Stretchesx 5 minutes
Arms: Pushups x10, Pullups x10 repeat 3 times
Cardio- 2 minutes
Tri-ceps: Dips, plank, Bi-cep Curls x10 repeat 3 times
Shoulders: Shoulder raise, Squat Row, Shoulder Ups, Chest Flyx10 repeat 3 times
Pushups till failure
Alphabet Abs
Stretches X 5 minutes.

Arms Day!

Good Morning,
Today was working out the arms day. Here is my routine. Enjoy!

Warmup- Run 3 minutes on treadmill
Stretches: Lower-back, seated hamstring stretch, straddle stretch(middle, left and right), Right and left hamstring stretch, gluteal stretch.

Arms: Push-ups x10(regular), pull-ups(wide grip)x10, push-ups (wide)x10, pull-ups(close grip)x10, push-up(close)x5, pull-ups(alternate grip)x10

Cardio: Run 3 minutes on treadmill

Triceps: Dips x10, bi-cep curls 7-7-7(blue bands), plank for 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. The last plank I held for 1 minute.

Shoulders: Blue Bands (golds gym)
Lateral Raise x10, shoulder press x10, squat row x12, chest fly x12- repeat 3 times. Squat row and chest fly I use a black and pink band together.

Abs: V-sit with going side to side for one minute. Bicycle for 30 seconds.

Stretches: Superman x10 on each side, straddle stretches, right and left gluteal stretch, lower back stretch, left and right quad stretch.

Protein Shake: 3 T. protein powder, 1 cup water, 1/2 c. blueberries, 2 scoops fiberwise(melaleuca brand of a metamucil)

Using a Personal Trainer pays off!

So, if any of you are waivering on if to find a personal trainer- I say "go for it". You will not be dissapointed. My husband did just that back in September and the results are amazing. You get pushed to fatigue and it feels great. Yes, I do feel like I want to die or throw up, which I have by the way- thrown up- not die.

The workouts are hard, but you feel better about yourself and you feel as if you have accomplished something beyond your potential. You push yourself beyond your comfort zone and it feels good.

Our trainer uses no expensive machines. She brings an exercise ball, medicine ball and some strength bands and that is it. We use our own body weight to lose weight- it's true! We do pushups, pullups, lots of core exercises, bench dips, shoulder presses, bicep, tricep curls, core exercises, ab exercises- did I mention core exercises, and lots of wall sits (ouch!). It is all good.

Here is my progress from the last 3 months.

Upper Arm- 11 3/4(sep), 11 1/2(Oct), 11 1/2(Nov)
Chest- 43 (sep), 42 (oct), 40 3/4 (nov)
Waist- 37 1/4 (sep), 36 1/2 (oct), 34 1/2 (nov)******3 inches********
Abd- 41 1/2 (sep), 39 1/4 (oct), 36 1/2 (nov)******5 inches********
Hips- 40 3/4 (sep), 40 3/4 (oct), 40 1/4 (nov)
Thigh- 23 1/2 (sep), 23 1/2 (oct), 23 1/4 (nov)
Calf- 16 (sep), 15 1/2 (oct), 15 1/4 (nov)
weight- 182.8(sep), 184(oct), 174.8 (nov)

I am very pleased with my results. I am working hard to lose another 10 lbs by Christmas.

Training day #6

Well I survived the first two weeks. I will go in two week increments until I reach my goal. My first goal is to weigh 179 lbs. Look what all that junk eating and lack of exercising does to oneself. Anyway it is time to press on and just look towards the future and to push myself to be better.

The workout today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as yesterday was my birthday and we traveled to the states to go to the temple and do some shopping. I ate pretty good and didn't binge. I didn't even snack at Costco, so that is a bonus right there.

Had a good warm up with lunges, jumping jacks, burpee's- then on to wall sit, push-ups, pull-ups, bench dips, plank, ab work, band exercises - I am sure I am missing some, but she pushes us for about 60 minutes till we can't do anything else. We have a nice cool down stretch then off to begin our day. I usually then go and make a protein smoothie with blueberries.

Here is to healthy eating, healthy friends and to a healthy lifestyle!

Training day #5

Wow! I feel great- my trainer is amazing and she knows how to push your body so you actually gain from the intensity. Once again- I did burpees, lunges, ab work, bench dips, push-ups, pull-ups, wall sit, plank, band exercises for biceps, triceps, shoulders and back.

It was a good day today. I had a nice work-out yesterday on my off day- I did hill training for 20 minutes.


My waist is getting slimmer and my legs are getting stronger. I think you might even see some calf muscles in there somewhere.

Training day #4

Never and I say never- take a cheat meal and turn it into a whole day. What does that do? Well for starters once you start snacking you can't stop- it is like a smoker not smoking for a while and then having just one smoke and the next thing he knows is that the pack is gone. Note to self- "no future binging"- it doesn't do any good- it just makes it so you have to work that much harder.

On that note- my workout this morning was hard and I had no energy- my trainer asked me "if I cheated", which means meal wise- I told the truth and she just shook her head and then continued to work me hard. After just the warm up I was about to pass out, so what I learned from this experience- is don't punish your body just because you are weak.

I survived the fourth day of training. I did burpee's, bench dips, plank, lunges, pull-ups, push-ups, ab work, and exercise with the bands. It is amazing how you can work your body so hard that you can't give anymore- and it is using your own body weight. Amazing!

Training Day #3

Well I survived another hour with Kate. This is a typical session that consists of warm up, cardio, strength training, balance, core training, push ups, burpee's(which I don't like), wall sit, calf raises, bench dips. It's hard, but feels good. On a scale to 1-10 I was at a 9 with almost wanting to throw-up. It is all good.

I will now go and plan out my meal plan. It's going to be a great day!

Training day #2

My husband and I are having a personal trainer come into our home three days a week. She works us till failure and it feels good. My first day was okay, but I puked after she had left. Today was alot better. I had eaten about an hour before she arrived. That helped me alot. I didn't feel so light headed and had more stamina and better endurance. Because she is strength training us I need to make sure on the off days that I am doing some sort of cardio/yoga.

She also makes sure we do a good warm up before and lots of stretching after.

She has us on a strict eating plan and I am finding I follow it better if I am organinzed and have my meals planned out the day before.