Makin' Moves!

A huuuuuuge weight was lifted off of my shoulders today! 

I finally gave my 2 weeks notice at my corporate fitness job.  I've been thinking about this for a little over a  month now and I've secured another job to take its place.  It's bittersweet because on the one hand I am leaving to go to a better job (better pay, better hours, 1 mile commute instead of 25) but I will miss my clients and teaching my classes so much.  It's really crazy how close you get to these people and how much you get to know about them.  It's going to be really difficult to pass these people on to my co-workers because they really mean a lot to me.  I'm hoping that I love them more than they love me because then it won't be so hard!

I also registered for the spring semester at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to begin their Health Coach program!  The program takes a year to finish and it's done completely online which is awesome because I'll still be working weird hours, but just a lot less of them :o)  I'm really excited to start getting into classes again and I'll hopefully have a lot of good information to share.

Along with my new job and new school schedule. I'm going to have so much more time to take yoga, go food shopping, do laundry, whatever I want!  I usually have to cram all of these things in on Sunday afternoon after work, but since I'll be out by 1:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and have a few hours for a break on Tuesday and Thursday I'll have more time to focus on other stuff!!!  Maybe I'll even get to have a social life again...YAY!

I Love Saturdays!

10 hours of sleep and an 8 mile run....why can't every day be like this??

Once I finished 2 episodes of Party Down and got out of bed, I started to foam roll and do my pre-run exercises.   An hour before I ran I ate a banana, a whole grain corn muffin, some lemon water and coffee.  Then I took 2 ibuprofen and set out to run 8 miles.


I ran 4 miles, stopped and stretched my IT Bands and hamstrings and drank some diluted orange/carrot juice that I made this morning.  The juice took about 2 miles to kick in and I started feeling re-energized.  A little into mile 6 my hip flexors were pulling really badly.  I've never had an issue with them before but this was serious pullage.  After I stretched I ran 2 more miles and stopped at exactly 8 miles (thank goodness for my Garmin!  I'm in love).


I finished 8 miles in 68 minutes.  I'm really happy with a 8:30 pace because I hit some pretty decent hills and I feel like I didn't really fuel properly before or during the run.  Next weekend I'm running 9 miles, so I have to be sure to hydrate, plan a better breakfast and eat a gel along the way.  I love the power bar chocolate gel.  It tastes like brownie batter.


When i got home, I finished my juice and made a fried egg plus one egg white with a sandwich thin, some green beans and broccoli, and a luna bar.

Now off to watch The Other Guys and then later out to dinner with my Aunt :o)

I love Saturday!!

The Dissapearing Act

This past January I had my co-worker take my measurments.  Then yesterday, I took them again.  I lost 2 inches off my butt.  Now, most people would be happy with this, but I didn't lose 2 inches of fat...my butt is signifactly less firm than it was before.  I lost muscle and I'm not happy about it.  Here's what I think happened...

Problem #1
I do a lot of cardio (about 6-7 times per week), and not enough strength training.  I teach two Boot Camp classes which include both cardio and strength, but again it's not dedicated to pure muscle building like Body Pump is, for example.  So, I am trying to dedicate Tuesday evening for legs/glutes and Wednesday afternoon for upper body .  I really feel like 2 workouts are not enough so I'm trying to sneak it in where I can, like on a late Saturday morning after a run. 

Problem #2
I haven't been able to eat meat or poultry for about 2 months.  This happens to me every once in a while-I just can't stomach the taste or texture for whatever reason.  I was a vegetarian for a while back in college, but it wasn't something I was every really planning on giong back to (I didn't really know what I was doing and gained weight and felt really tired).  Now, I'm not saying you can't build muscle being a vegetarian, you absolutely can.  I just know that it's easier for my body to build and keep muscle on when I'm eating foods like chicken and turkey.  So, I'm adding it back in.  I don't know if I could sit down and eat a plain chicken breast, but I'm sort of hiding it in foods that I'm making.  For example, I used ground chicken in a zucchini lasanga recipe last week and chicken breast in a chili recipe this week.  This way I don't really know I'm eating it.  I'd rather do this than depend on powders and supplements (although I do love my Optimum Nutrition whey protein), so we'll see how it goes!

Problem #3
My schedule is jam-packed!!  I work over 50 hours each week and it's like once I leave one job, I'm off to the next-Tuesday through Friday are pretty hellish and my only real day off is Saturday.  I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I really love training and teaching, but it's starting to take over my life! I very rarely go out with friends because by the time I'm home at 8 on Friday, I just want to go to bed and  have to be up by 7 on Sunday to work, so Saturday night is out, too. I'm only 26...it's sad!  I have find a blanace which might mean leaving one job for the other. It's a really hard decision, but something I have to do.  I'm burnt out!

So anyway, in some way all of this relates to my butt and it's dissapearing act.  But, I'm going to take some action and fix the above problems!  It's good, it gives me a little project.

Here's my leg/glute workout from last night.  It took me about 30 minutes to complete and I'm feeling it today-it gets worse as the day goes on...YAY!

Walking Lunges (3x3 laps--about 13 lunges each way--10lb dbs)
Dead-lift (3x20--just the weight of the Smith Machine bar. I wanted to focus on my butt and not feel my lower back)
Smith Squats (3x15--again, just the weight of the bar so I could feel my butt)
Resistance Band Donkey Kicks (3x15 each leg)

The Sugar Addiction

Headaches, irritability, mood swings, and cravings.  This is what my life is like without sugar. 

At work on Thursday I felt a headache coming on around 4:00.  I very rarely get headaches so I knew something was going on.  I had plenty of caffeine so knew that wasn't the issue and I drink lots of water (usually 4-5 liters/day) so that wasn't it either.  When I thought back on what I ate I realized there was no sugar in my diet that day (aside from fruit).  Instead of thinking 'this is awful...I'm literally addicted to sugar' I thought 'I need to run to the cafe and get some rasinettes.'  So sad. $4.00 (rip-off) and a large container of chocolate covered raisins later, my headache was gone and I was on quite the sugar high for my Boot Camp class. 

Then yesterday I thought back on my week and realized how terrible my need for sugar really is.  I've given up candy and sugar before for a month or two at a time and I survived.  I think now I'm more addicted to it than ever.  Between the mini-eggs, conversation hearts, raisinettes, Crunch n' Munch, peanut butter M&Ms, yogurt covered almonds, M&M trail mix and lots of other things I'm sure I'm forgetting, it's time to get it under control! 

I know a lot of people say cold turkey won't work for them and it's just deprivation, but it works for me.  Since I'm not home baking cookies and muffins all week, my problem will  be not buying the candy at the store and at work.  I don't feel like I'm going to be depriving myself because half the time I'm eating the stuff, I don't even enjoy it or realize what I'm doing.  It's just mindless eating.  I'll have to find something else to do instead of stuffing my face...

My skin hates me.  I hate needing sugar.  I'm taking control and starting today...

Source

PS:  How ironic that the day I announce my break away from sugar, my sister announces she's going to bake tons of baked goodies...bring on those cheese wafers!

7 Miles

Today I ran 7 miles!  My game plan was to run 3.5, stretch, then run 3.5 more.  That's exactly what I did and I felt great.  I did take 2 ibuprofen before my run hoping that it would loosen things up a bit and I think it worked.  The run was tough for the first couple miles (treadmill runs always are), but after I hit the first 3 it was smooth sailing.  I finished my first 3.5 miles at 30:59 and my second 3.5 at 29:47 for a grand total of 60:46.  I'm happy with that because my only goal for this half is to finish under 2 hours, so I'm on track!


Here are some of my purchases from this week:

A new pair of sneaks--Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10

I bought these shoes about a year ago and they held up really well and didn't give me any issues, so I stuck with them.  I also had a gift certificate to the store where I bought them so they were only $46.00...that's a steal since they're regularly about $100.

I also ordered 4 jars of PB2 from netrition.com on Thursday and they came on Friday! 

Now I should be stocked up for a little while.  YAY!  I really can feel a difference in how I feel since I'm substituting PB2 for peanut butter.  Don't feel as uncomfortably full (only because I eat WAY too much of it at a time) and I'm definitely not bingeing on this stuff like I did with peanut butter.  I think it has to do with the fact that I actually have to prepare the PB2 so it's not just a spoonful away.  It also doesn't taste exactly the same as real peanut butter, which I think has decreased my cravings for the real stuff!

My LAST and probably most exciting purchase this week was a Garmin Forerunner 305!!!



Source

I'm really excited about this because I hate having to drive my running route to see how long I ran.  It never comes out right and I don't fully trust the internet sites where you can draw your route.  And you can use it on a bike and hiking!  This watch will make life so much easier!  But, I have to admit...I think I'm more excited that I only paid $140 for it and they're usually $300!  Wooohoooo...Thank you Amazon!

Now I'm off to rest and hopefully go look for a road bike! 

For some reason I think I'm rich...not so much...just keep diggin' into the savings...



IT Band Recovery Plan

So as I mentioned before, I'm having some IT Band trouble.  This has been a nagging problem for almost 3 years now.  It first started in 2006 after my first half marathon, then again whenever I would run more than 4 miles.  I took a LONG time off from running (almost a year) and now since I'm signed up for another half, I'm trying to get back into the swing of it.  This time around the problem is that I increased my mileage too quickly and tried to increase my pace way too quickly.  In my mind I knew I was doing more harm than good, but it felt so good to run that I thought I could just push through.  Right now I can comfortably run 5.5 miles, which is great, but not anywhere near the 13.1 miles that I am scheduled to run in April.

I have always known that my outer thighs are really weak because any time I would have to do leg raises or something similar in a class I would burn out after 2 seconds.  I never thought it was a big deal or really cared that much, until I realized that this was the root of my IT Band problem. 

I put together these 6 exercises to help strengthen my hip/glute area and I'm hoping that it will work!  If not, I might just have to stick to 6 mile runs after this half.

X-Band Walks

3x20

Squat

3x20

Dead Lift

 3x15

Hamstring Pull-Ins

3x15Lateral Leg Lift

3x20Rear Leg Lift

3x20

I'm going to do this at least 3 time each week (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday) and they're all things I can do at home, so I have no excuse!  I'm also going to stretch like crazy and live on my foam roller for the next 7 weeks.

First Check-In

Workout have been stellar.  The only thing I am going to change is adding weights to Tuesday nights.  I've been having some IT band issues so I have to really strengthen my hip/butt area.  I'm also going to add outer thigh work to all my classes so I can selfishly get some extra work in. 

Nutrition, on the other hand, has been more awful than ever.  On the plus side, I have been eating more vegetables and juicing regularly. On the downside, I have single-handedly finished a large bag of peanut butter M&Ms (since 6pm last night), finished a bag of gummy bears in one night, 2 small bags of mini-eggs and a bag of chocolate and nut trail mix.  I also had a night out last weekend fueled with alcohol and eating pizza and Crunch n' Munch. 

INAPPROPRIATE!

I recently bought Intuitive Eating, so I'm going to read that and hopefully that will help.  I mean, I don't want to look like a movie star, but it would be nice to begin seeing some results from all the exercise and also I hate the feeling after bingeing on sugar, but that doesn't seem to stop me.  It's beginning to get very frustrating because I have a degree in Nutrition and I work at a Fitness Specialist, but I can't seem to pull it together and that doesn't make any sense...

Here are some of my ideas for getting on track:

• subbing PB2 for peanut butter.  I can't be trusted.
• drinking lemon water every morning and throughout the day
• eating some kind of salad for lunch to keep my veggie intake up
• drink tea at night so I won't snack

This is just all too stressful







Ultra-Spin!

Thursday night at work we held a special 90-minute Spinning class.  It was really really fun! 

Here's the playlist:

Everyone I spoke with who took class said they loved it and wants us to hold the Ultra-Spin once a month!  I'm gonna need some new music....

Elliptical Intervals

I made this workout for my sister and did it myself on Thursday morning.  It was a killer and definitely got my heart pumping for a good morning cardio session: 

40 minutes total

5 minute warm-up @ level 5, incline 5

Set the Time column to Segment Time

Start the first segment with the Cross Ramp at 10 and the Resistance at 10

For the second segment lower the Cross Ramp to 5 and kept the resistance at 10 

Alternate between these two Cross Ramp levels for 35 minutes (or longer if you can!)

The key is to keep your Strides Per Minute above 150.  The first couple will feel pretty easy, but after a few intervals it gets much harder.

They gym I was at only has an elliptical without the moving handlebars so it might have been a little harder because I couldn't use my upper body.  If you use the elliptical that moves just set the resistance higher (12 or higher) or don't use the swinging handlebars.  In general, if you don't use the handlebars you will get more of a core workout  so it might be a good idea to not use them anyway.

Happy Ellipticalling!

Resistance Band Boot Camp

For my Boot Camp class tonight, I thought I'd shake things up a little bit by incorporating Resistance Bands as opposed to the usual free weights.  I very rarely use bands myself because they make the workout so much harder!  Luckily the gym has a huge variety of options as far as resistance (different color bands = different levels of resistance), so everyone could choose a few different bands and switch as we went through class to make it harder or easier. 

Here's what we did tonight!
I'm going to try to explain this as well as I can.  Any questions just let me know!  Everything is done with a resistance band...no free weights tonight!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warm-Up: No resistance

16  Easy Squats (just go about 1/2 way down)

16  Easy Lunges

16  Push-ups

Mountain Climbers- 30 seconds

Hold Plank-  15 seconds

Mountain Climbers- 30 seconds

Hold Plank- 15 seconds

Open up to the right for a side plank-  hold 15 seconds

Return to center- Hold Plank- 15 seconds

Open up to the left for a side plank- hold 15 seconds

Return to the center

Mountain Climbers- 30 seconds

  Whenever I am teaching and an exercise involves our arms extended up overhead, people's lower backs automatically arch--NOT GOOD!  Starting with core exercise helps to make sure every body's back stays flat and the mid-section stays engaged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Circuit #1--Repeat 2x

Squats (24 reps)

Side Squats (24 reps)

Same set-up as above, but start with feet closer together.  Step the right foot out to the side (using the side of the foot--don't let their toes point out!) and sink into the squat.  Bring the right foot back in and repeat on the left side.

X-Walks (10 each way)

These kill! 

Bicep Curls

16 curls both arms

Hold both arms at 90* so biceps are activated

Hold left arm at 90* and begin curls with right arm 16 times, then repeat left holding the right arm at 90*

16 curls both arms

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Circuit #2--Repeat 2x

Push-Ups with band (16)

Shoulder Raises (12 of each)

Lateral Raises, Frontal Raises,

Posterior Delt Raises (similar to lateral raises but palms face the back of the room, pinkies stay up)

Upright Rows

Tricep Extensions (16 each arm)

This girl is on the beach...that makes me sad...

Plank Jacks (45 seconds)

Get in a plank position (hands under shoulders, arms straight, up on your toes, heels press back, press the belly button into the spine).  Start with your feet together, then jump them apart, then back in again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Circuit #3--Repeat 2x

Stationary Lunge with Band Pull (1 minute)

Hold a lunge with the right leg forward.  Extend arms out in front of your body holding the band (with some tension) in both hands.  Pull your hands away from each other until they make a "T" and are straight across.  Squeeze the shoulder blades together, then release.  Repeat the band pull holding the lunge for one minute.

Reverse Flye Balance

Right leg is still forward, but come up and balance on the right foot, extending the left leg behind.  Holding on to the band, open up the arms to come into a reverse flye, squeezing the shoulder blades together.  Release, then repeat 16 times.

Lunges

Burpees (1 minute)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's it!  If nothing else, your shoulders will be screaming...or numb...either way is fine :o)

Summer Mix!

We're in the middle of another snow storm here in Massachusetts...another 18 inches.  Woohoo!  It's really starting to suck, but it might mean no work tomorrow!!! Fingers crossed!  So for my Spinning class this morning, I decided to make a summer playlist for my class to keep their spirits up because everyone is depressed and mopey...

Here is what the class looked like today.  Our bikes have computer screens which tell us gears, rpm's, miles, etc.  If your bikes don't have that, just go by turns in and off!

1.  Warm-Up (I have them alternate between seat, second and third to warm up)

2.  Seated Climb.  Turn 2 gears up or 1/4 turn every 30 seconds.

3.  Take 5 gears off (or about 1/2 of a turn).  3 sprints at the chorus

4.  Same resistance as #3.  Fast Flat.

5.  Take all resistance off for 30 seconds.  Seated climb turning 1 gear every 20 seconds...start easy, it's a loooong climb!

6.  5 gears off (or 1/2 turn).  4 Sprints!

7.  Same resistance as #6.  Second position to seat at chorus and pick up the speed!

8.  Same resistance as #6 and #7.  Get up in third position and stay there.  Push them to add speed.

9.  Heavy Seated Hill!!  This is whatever feels "heavy" for the individual...but if their legs are flying around the wheel, make them turn in--LOTS.

10.  Same resistance as #9.  Standing Hill in third.

11.  Take off 1/2 of your gears (or 1-2 full turns).  Fast Flat--HIGH SPEED for 5 minutes!

12.  Heavy Hill in or out of the saddle.  Riders choice as long as it's heavy and they're working!

13. Cool-Down/Stretch

It was lots of fun!  Some people suggested strawberry daiquiris and margaritas after class.  I thought it was a good idea.  I could always use a bevvy at 7 am.....

Other things that make me think of summer:

Country Fest Coffee Lurve...



 


...with my Sys



Hiking :o)

But not this.  No.  Never again.