So about those gym mats...



I was really excited about the gym mat that I ordered from walmart for my home workouts that I do on an almost daily basis before my son wakes up. I actually purchased two mats so I could cover a 6 x 6 foot area. They arrived very quickly and after pulling them out of the box, I realized they were fantastic.

 

They're light weight and fold up easily for storage.

 

Well, here they are after ONE workout:

They're not so fantastic after all.

Tomorrow, I'm returning them to walmart and will have to figure out an alternative. My wrists need some cushion for the sideways plank and the workout was so much easier on my back with this mat. It just didn't hold up to the trials of a Jillian Michaels video.

Eating Healthy's Anomaly

The little things in life..

...that are sometimes, the big things.

Like accomplishing a friggin' side plank! In Jillian Michaels' Six Week Six Pack Abs, she does side planks but she doesn't just do them, she does them and adds another move onto them. I've just been working towards accomplishing HOLDING the side plank for the entire time that she does it. I planned to add the second move when I conquered said basics.

 

Well, I finally conquered holding my side plank position!!

 

I guess this means that I have to start the second move during the video tomorrow now!

This says it all for me.

 

I want to do the Tough Mudder in June & I want to do it right. :)

I worked out Monday & this morning. Both times, was Jillians six week six pack abs. I'm hoping the gym mats arrive today so I can start the 30 day shred tomorrow. I need to lose weight and build muscle, more specifically, upper body strength for the Tough Mudder! I will continue to keep running, as I said yesterday.

Changing Gears.

Time to change gears!

From Pinterest :)

I think, if I want to stick with it....stay the extra mile....give it all I got....I'm running out of cliches....BUT, if I am going to "stick with it," I have to do something that I want to "stick with." I've found myself more interested in doing Jillian Michael workouts than what has usually lit a fire under my butt, running. I am going to continue with running but back down from the attempt at distance running. I think distance running will be something for me to accomplish once I meet some other goals first.

For now, I really want to do Jillian Michael's Body Revolution but I have to wait a little bit until after the holiday financial crunch. Instead, I've used my money on purchasing two gym mats to save my aching 33 year old bones.

Truthfully, my reason for the investment in this gym mat (it is an investment because I've contemplated this purchase for awhile!), is both due to softer impact but also subdues the sounds/wall shaking effect of the impact. Have you ever jumped up and down in a living room with stuff on the shelves and end tables? I find myself not really giving the workouts my full effort because I'm afraid a fire engine is going to roll off the playroom shelves during a burpee, hitting the floor with a glorious lights 'n sirens effect. This will wake up the whole house, as I usually workout before dawn.

The plan is for the gym mats to cover a six by six foot area, which is a majority of my son's playroom that I've been working out in....hence, the reason why I do it before he wakes up. Otherwise, he'll come in the playroom with every intention of playing with his toys but will instead find his sweaty Mom. Well, back to the plan, the mats will arrive sometime before Christmas. In the mean time, I will continue on with the six week six pack abs and once the mats arrive, I will give 30 day shred a try.

Cheers!

WEEK FIVE - Paleo

This past week is kinda "the good, the bad and the ugly."

The ugly, I started the week off after re-gaining everything I've lost since I started in November, back. That's pretty ugly, if you ask me.

The bad, I really only was eating paleo on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The other days, I snuck in sweets or things I shouldn't have been eating. It truly showed in how I felt energy wise and my desire to exercise, which I didn't last week, except the first two days.

The good, I went down a clothing size (bought new clothes) and lost 2lbs!


Cheers!

Exercise? What's that?

It's been a LONG week with a four year old that has stayed up way past my bed time, yes, that's right, he was up later than his Mom was. This means, I slept in his bed with my arms around him so I knew when he was up and wandering the house. This whole Santa business has him on guard, or something, where he wants to be awake at night and downstairs. My body is all sortsa discombobulated with sharing a much smaller bed than I am use to with him.

Exercising was down graded from the top of the list of things to do this week, with that problem being an on-going issue. I did eat healthy but just only squeezed in two work outs.

My advice to self for the week:

Jillian Michaels: 6 Week Six-Pack

Wow!

This workout receives five stars from me!

I've incorporated it into my workout routine but I have quite the midsection at the moment, so I am doing my best to complete her workout entirely. Some days, I make it through the first circuit but others, I make it through both circuits to the end.

After a conversation with my brother-in-law last week, about Jillian Michaels being a "man," I paid much more attention to her this week while working out. How the heck could she be a man? I'm going with, she's hardcore and he's intimidated by her strength and dedication. More importantly, I'm not intimidated by it! I'm just jealous and hope to soak up some of her intensity. She should really figure out a way to put it in a bottle and sell it to the rest of us.

If only, that were possible.

Best.Race.Shirt.Ever.

While I run tonight, I will be thinking of my next race shirt.

WEEK FOUR - Paleo

Well, to put it concisely, week four was a total bust.

I regained everything I had lost completely back this past week, which started with some french toast, a cinnabun and a mint chocolate chip sundae on my 5k race day (12/2/12). Yeah, I ate all of that after the race because it felt like a good idea. Well, it just snowballed from there. I think only one or two days in the last week, did I eat on plan. The rest, I just said screw it.

Now, I have to say, in my first weekly review of paleo, I explained that I was giving this lifestyle a shot. I figured, four weeks is good enough to see if it works for me, after seeing friends and so many other people succeed on it.

I've figured out a few things.

Lesson Learned #1. If I'm doing paleo, the only way it works is if I actually do it without any cheats. One small cheat (like the one over Thanksgiving), cancels out any weight loss for the week. Anything larger than a small cheat results in a gain (like this past week!)!

Lesson Learned #2. I love ice cream, cookies and all those wonderful things. I don't exactly crave them while I'm doing paleo but I do remember the enjoyment of consuming them. I can easily stay away from them if I remind myself that this will only hinder my progress.

Lesson Learned #3. Eating on paleo is encouraging and inspires me to conquer my weight loss/fitness goals. Overall, I do a lot better on this plan than I have on other plans in years.

Lesson Learned #4. Eating on paleo actually gives me extra energy. I am less likely to sleep through my alarm clock the day after eating paleo than I am doing what I would have normally done.

These are four reasons why I am sticking with paleo from now on. I had considered Weight Watchers and other diet/lifestyle changes that I have tried over the years. Some have worked with a lot of success but not for the long term.

So paleo, you and I are going to be sticking together through this windy path to fitness.

Jillian Michaels

and I have a date tonight with her six week six pack abs workout.

My long run debacle.

There are a few basic things one must do before one's weekly long run.

• Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and to prevent cramping due to dehydration.
• Stretch!
• Eat a good breakfast.
• Don't eat too much before a long run.

A lot of people recommend eating things like bananas to prevent cramps but I'm allergic so that will never be me. I'd likely eat eggs and/or an apple beforehand.

Well, this past Sunday, I didn't do any of those! I ate french toast for breakfast and lived off of coffee, as well as, diet coke for the 24 hours prior to my long run. Not very smart of me! I also didn't stretch. I did a five minute warm up with a walk but was distracted from stretching, when I noticed some random men off the path in the woods near I was running. I'm not sure about you, but I wouldn't want to stop and stretch when seeing that! I decided to just go ahead with the run.

I really struggled about a half mile in but by a mile, my left leg cramped to the point I was limping and hoping stretching might help. Unfortunately, the cramp was in full swing without any intention of letting up anytime soon. I pretty much limped the mile back to my car while going through the pre-run checklist to ensure a good run. That's when I realized, I didn't do any of the preparation. I was so busy thinking about other things going on in my life that I did not put the effort into preparing for this run.

As far as reasons why my run turned out terrible, I'd rather it be this one. My other fear is that I wasn't cut out for distance running. I thought that maybe I should cancel my ten mile race in March, etc. etc. etc. My mind was leaning towards the worst possible reason, until I realized that I didn't do the work to prepare.

Next week, I will do better!

My approach...

Now that I am moving towards an 8k race on January 1, 2013, I think it's time to alter my approach to running. I can no longer do my usual, just start running and whatever happens, happens. Nope. Not going to work. I need to have a mindset when I go out.

Yes, I have a training plan in place but I think increasing your distance and obtaining new goals, requires more than just a training plan. It's an overall mindset to your approach.  This way, when I go out for a 2 mile run, I will understand how important those 2 miles are to my overall goals, so I won't do this....

This is what happens when I use my "whatever" approach:

It's embaressing.

It took me longer to run 2 miles than it did for me to run 3.1 miles last week. Now, it was four-something-am, I wasn't fully awake but still. I also did a little speed work and played with the incline on my treadmill.

I'm going to spend my spare time over the next week re-evaluating my approach to running. I am going to do better even if I am running at four-something-am!

Eau de....breakfast!

 

Eating on paleo, my breakfast tends to be the same thing because I found something I really enjoy. Green peppers, onions, eggs, sausage and a little bit of bacon thrown in. Any idea how potent this combination is in a kitchen?

I decided this morning to shower before breakfast. I thought it would help leaving for work without wet hair in the winter cold. Now, I remember why I always did it after breakfast.....I'm sitting at work smelling myself, I smell like sausage, eggs, bacon, green peppers and onions.

One would think this makes me hungry but it makes me wonder if others can smell it too in the hallway....on the elevator....an excellent way to give a woman a complex. :)

Trial and error....

Dream Big People, Dream Big.

I'm dreaming big! Really, I am!

For the next six months, I am preparing for the Tough Mudder, which I signed up for the June 1st one in VA Beach. In preparation, I am running a ten mile race in March and a half marathon in April. I also aspire to lose weight, become trim and work on my upper body.

WEEK THREE - Paleo

I stayed on plan the entire week, save for Friday night. I had a pumpkin spiced latte, which was very yummy.

 

I lost 1.5 lbs!!

What I learned? It's really easy to stay on paleo when you set your mind to it & ignore "desire" for other food. I wouldn't call it a craving because your stomach is full and you know you can't have it. I'd call it desire because you have experienced it before and liked it. It's easy to want what you like/love. The trick is to remind yourself that you will only hurt yourself and will not achieve your goals, if you go off plan.

Here's to hoping week four has some solid results too!

Cheers!

An Awesome 5k Race

 

 

 

The weather was perfect for a race, in my opinion. Cold enough to keep me comfortable with no breeze to chill me mid run when I'm covered in sweat. The goal for this race was for me to run (or jog) continuously to improve my running and try to take it to the next level. I have goals and it's time to achieve them so I have to put the work in.

 

The race started off with my friend Christina, Lynn and Lynn's daughter and me running together chatting about stuff. Around the first bend, Lynn's daughter, who I call Short Stack dropped back. Then Lynn dropped back with Short Stack to take a walk break with her. This was Short Stack's first 5k race. Christina and I kept going. Now, Christina is a much more experienced runner than me so she was going at my pace just to keep me going. She could have easily left me in the dust, but didn't.....and I'm enormously grateful for this!

 

There were two slight hills, which I slowed down my pace to make it through so I wouldn't stop running entirely. Then, around the point we hit the two mile mark, I really started feeling the burn in my thighs. I had to slow my pace down so my body was feeling like it's getting a break with a walk but really wasn't.....mind over matter battled a lot at that time period for me. I knew my body could do it but my brain wanted to go easy. Christina kept telling me "don't you dare walk," whenever I showed the inclination to do so. Oh so effective, drill Sgt.! lol

 

It was around this point that we noticed the intersections were no longer being watched by a police officer or a volunteer to stop traffic to keep runners safe. Thankfully, we hit intersections when the lights were green but the other runners weren't so lucky. More importantly, random drivers were honking at us for taking up a full lane of the road as they tried to pass us. We were honked at and one car came dangerously close to another runner. To top it off, the roads weren't marked so unless Christina was with me, I would have been lost.

It was the best and worst race that I've ever run. Best, as I ran the 5k continuously for the first time after having my son and being injured from running but it was the worst organized race I've run!

 

Cheers!