A New Plan

So I let this space go to pot over the last couple of months.  I haven't exercised consistently in probably two months, but I haven't been too bad with the eating.  I'm down about 10 pounds from where I was a year ago. 

While there's no excuse, my explanation is that the last couple of months of Hub's student teaching were pretty tough.  I basically had to take on all of the household/kid responsibilities for a while there.  But, he did graduate and is now home with the kids for the summer.  So that's freed up a lot of my time.  So back to the mission. 

I think this go round, I'm going to focus a lot more on my nutrition and getting some general movement going on, rather than trying to stick to a hardcore workout program.  I think I was pushing myself too hard with the FBB program.  While I have decent strength in my arms and legs, my core is still very, very weak. I blame the c-sections.  But my back, especially my lower right, hurts from time to time and was really bad when I was trying to do FBB hardcore.  So I'm going to focus on walking, running, and doing some core-strengthening stuff for right now, and look at the more serious stuff in a month or two. 

On the nutrition side, Hubs is suprisingly much more on board about trying to eat healthy.  We've planted a vegetable garden and are making an effort to eat at home more with less packaged stuff.  I'm going back to tracking calories.  I'm going to keep the calories in the 1200-1550 mark and try to meet the protein and fiber goals.  I'm not going to worry about the fat limit too much, if I know all my fat is healthy fat - nuts, whole grains, lean meat, etc.

I think tomorrow I'll start a weekly report - weight, calorie intake, exercise.

Behind

I've gotten way behing in posting between the snow and a quick trip to San Diego.  Just for reference, I've done two more Define workouts (A at 3 sets, same weights and B at 2 sets, same weight).  Each of these sections of FBB workouts is supposed to be four weeks.  However, I think I'm going to stretch this to at least five weeks since the last two weeks I've only done two strength workouts.  That's fine - I'm still sticking with it!

My First Homemade Nutbutter

After having to comment on Matt's blog about my favorite nut butter, I decided that it was time to make homemade almond butter.  So I pulled out the food processor and we have this:

TA DA!  It's raw almond butter with just a smidge of olive oil in it.  When it finally came together, it was very thick.  I had wanted to avoid adding oil, but I knew I was keeping it in the fridge, so I considered it a necessity.  Besides, there's probably only a tablespoon, if that, in there.  Oh and I added a little sea salt too. 

Review:  it's pretty good, but I think I would much prefer it with roasted almonds.  I've got some walnuts leftover from Christmas in the fridge.  I think my next batch will be roasted walnut and almond butter. 
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It's official.  The jacknife on the stability ball is my new favorite exercise.  My stomach is deliciously sore today. 

counting and juggling

I was really glad when I read Emily's post yesterday about calorie counting.  I've been debating about going back to it, but was starting to get the impression from the blogosphere that it was a bad thing.  But, like with almost everything else, it can be bad for some and good for some.  Duh. 
So, I've decided to go back to calorie counting.  I need to count.  I'm overweight.  But my goal is not to just keep my calories under a specific amount - the real goal is to keep them in a range while meeting my macro-nutrient(?) recommendations too - seeing that I get enough fiber and protein particularly.  I have no problem eating a whole avocado (only because no one else in my family will eat them and I can't bear to waste it), but realize when I do that I've really got to watch my calories (but have almost certainly met the fiber goal!).

So back to the counting and I'm glad.
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This week has not been going well for working out.  I started the Define phase on Monday and I'm still sore.  So yay for that.  Tuesday I wanted to do a metobolic workout, but chose to skip it because of a weird work issue.  Then Wednesday my little boy was sick so I didn't get into the office until 1:30 and couldn't find the time after that. 

So I'm hoping today that I will be able to get in there.  Lesson learned:  pack enough clothes that you can make changes to your workout or locale if needed.  If I had had my running shoes with me on Tuesday, then I could have gone to the track for a HIIT workout.  But I only had my vibrams, so that was out.  Alternatively, if I had different clothes, I might have sucked it up and just used our gym. 
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Also, I've been having some stomach issues for the last several weeks.  Upset stomach pretty much every day.  So I think I'm going to lay off the dairy for a week and see if that helps.  If not, time to go to the doctor. 
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Today's workout:

1/5/2011	sets	reps	weight
rev wood chop	2	8 each side	60
prone jacknife	2	8
stepup	2	8 each leg	20lb dbs
t pushup	2	4 each side	0
single leg squat	2	8 each leg	0
alt lateral raise	2	8 each arm	10lb db
SHELC	2	8
inverted row	2	8

Me likey this workout.  The prone jacknife is a KILLER in the best possible way.  If you hold the plank position before bringing the knees back in it will make you oh so wobbly.  Love.  The single leg squat is so much harder than it looks.  The SHELC is not bad at all to me, so I added a little extra - I don't let my rear come back down and then afterward, I hold in the upright position for eight counts too.

First Define Workout A

It went pretty well.  I probably didn't push myself as hard as I could have.  The first week is learning the new exercises, right?  I'm not too sore, but I can certainly feel it in my back and butt. I'm still getting more sore so I'll have to update the soreness level tomorrow.

I was a little concerned about the chin up.  I didn't think we had a chin up bar in our gym and I knew there was no way I'd be able to do one unassisted.  And apparently that was one of the adds for the renovation, so now we have one.  And, just as importantly, we have those rubber bands to assist.  I'm also very thankful that I came in on an off day to attempt it the first time.  It wasn't pretty and would have been embarrassing in front of other people. 

Here's how it went:
 

1/3/2011	sets	reps	weight
Wood Chop	2	8 each side	60
plank	2	60-90 sec	60 sec
dumbell squat w/offset load	2	8 each side	30lb db
dumbell alt overhead press	2	8 each arm	15lb db
single leg bent knee deadlift	2	8 each leg	15lb db
chin up with band	2	8	6 3/4, 2 full
alternating lateral lunge	2	8 each leg	15lb db
two point dumbell row	2	8 each arm	25lb db

The chin up really was comical.  In the first set, I managed 6 of them coming up 3/4 of the way.  In the last set, I just wanted to do one full one, but I did two.  Hopefully this exercise will be a good indicator of how much I progress. 

End of Base Phase, Pt. II

Here's my last weight training of base phase:

1A	Upper Body Core Stability Russian Twist	2	10	4lb
1B	Prone Cobra	2	60 sec
2A	Overhead Squat	2	12	15lb bar
2B	Lateral Raise with External Rotation	2	12	10lb db
3A	Single leg, single arm romanian lift	2	12	30lb kb
3B	split stance cable single arm lat pullover	2	12	40lb
4A	Bulgarian Split Squat	2	12	10lb db
4B	Split stance cable row	2	12	85lb

For comparison, my first Base Phase workout B:

Upper Body Core Stability Russian Twist	2	10 ea	30	8lb ball
Prone Cobra	2	2	60
Overhead Squat	2	12	30	15?lb bar
Lateral Raise with External Rotation	2	12	60	10lb
Single leg, single arm romanian lift	2	12	30	15lb KB
split stance cable single arm lat pullover	2	12	60	30lb
Bulgarian Split Squat	2	12	30	0
Split stance cable row	2	12	60	60lb

Pretty good improvement in three of the areas.  The others I didn't really make any improvement in weight.  Oh well.

Fred Flinstone Feet

Merry Christmas to me!  This was one of the Christmas gifts I got from Hubby (although I went and bought them - he wrapped).  But I'm not sure though if I like them or not.  My little toes feel like they are  hitting the end of the shoes in an uncomfortable way.  I'm going to try and make sure that my heel is back far enough and see if that helps.  I will hate it if I don't end up liking them - they were $100 and that's alot to us right now. 
I've only been wearing them when I work out.  I noticed that alot of the FBB weight training has balance elements in it, so I thought it would be good to wear these.  I'm also hoping that wearing them will strengthen my leg and feet muscles so that the shin splints aren't so bad when I start running again in the spring. 

End of Base Phase, Pt.1

Okay, I haven't been perfect throught the base phase, but I think I've done pretty good.  Two out of the four weeks I did three weight training sessions, and managed twice a week in the other two.  I didn't get in a HIIT last week, but I will tomorrow.  The nutrition's been worse than the working out, but it was the holidays.  I'm really looking forward to next week and getting back on a more regular schedule. We're probably going out of town again this weekend, so that will throw a wrench in working out and eating, but hopefully that will be the end. 
Since this is the first of my last workouts in the Base Phase, I'd thougth I'd push to my limits.  Here's today's workout.

		sets	reps	weight
1A	Bird Dog	3	12
1B	Forward Ball Roll/stir the pot	3	12
2A	Stepup	2	12	17.5 db
2B	Three Point Dumbell Row	2	12	30 db
3A	Partial co-contraction lunge	2	12	5lb db
3B	Incline pushup	2	12	6 rung
4A	Hip-Thigh Extension	2	12
4B	Bent-Over Reverse Fly	2	12	12 db

For comparison, this is what I started with :

2 Bird Dog
2 Forward Ball Roll
2x12  Stepup	10
2x12 Three Pt Dumbell Row	15
2x12 Partial co-cont lunge
2x12 Incline pushup
2x12 Hip-Thigh Extension
2x12 Bent-Over Reverse Fly	8

Push it, push it real good

Yesterday's workout was great.  I realized that I haven't been pushing myself hard enough though.  So yesterday I increased the weights and did three sets instead of two.  What's strange is that the first set is actually the hardest.  And I also realized that if I'm not grimacing by the 5th rep in the first set, I don't have enough weight.  For instance, I should have been doing all my dumbell rows with 25 lbs.  For some reason, it's hard for me to feel the need to really push myself with the upper body exercises.  I think that the idea that women aren't supposed to use heavy weights is just so ingrained.  A couple of months ago, I thought I was bad ass for doing 15 lbs weights on a dumbell row.  Ha.

Our company just had our gym renovation celebration.  I didn't win any of the prizes.  And they were awesome - garmin, vitamix, gymboss, Ipod shuffles.  I really needed a new gymboss too.

It's A (Re-)Start

Weight in:  174.8.  Down 11 from my starting point a couple of months ago.  I'll only be weighing in on Mondays.

8 Breakfast:  Okay, I didn't start off so great with this - you're supposed to eat within 15 minutes of getting up.  I woke up at 5:30 because a certain small child was yelling.  I realized I was not hungry.  Not nauseated, but not at all hungry.  Anti-hungry?  So I plucked small child from his bed, put him in mine, and sorta dozed for a few (30) more minutes.  I did end up eating at work at 8:00, which is an improvement.  I typically have coffee at eight and eat at nine.  Breakfast consisted of:

instant multi-grain hot cereal
1TBSP sliced almonds
1 banana
1TBSP peanut butter
coffee with half and half

Not perfect, but not bad.  I need to switch peanut butters - even the "healthy" big brand tastes really sweet.   Not sure if this was enough protein, but whatever.  *later note - it does have sugar 

I tried the coffee without sweetener yesterday and it was quite good. However, the work coffee isn't nearly as good the coffee we buy.  I really don't want to start having to make my own.  Maybe I'll switch to green tea that much faster.

AM Snack:   Whoops.  Got busy.

11:30 Lunch: 
Brown rice
Butternut squash
hard boiled egg

Okay, I'm realizing that an AM snack might be a good idea.  I'm always at my hungriest at about 3:30-5:30.  I usually have a snack somewhere around 3, but am still starving by dinner.  I wonder if I have a mid-morning snack, if that will help later in the day:

1 PM snack:  I was already hungry.  I sat for a little to see if I was in fact hungry or just bored.  Yes, yes, I am hungry.  So, apple & string cheese.

3:30 snack:  carrot sticks and hummus

Post workout:  Another whoops.  Forgot my shake.

Dinner: ground beef tacos, corn tortillas, sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese
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Workout:

Base Plan Workout A

2 Bird Dog
2 Forward Ball Roll
2x12  Stepup	10
2x12 Three Pt Dumbell Row	15
2x12 Partial co-cont lunge
2x12 Incline pushup
2x12 Hip-Thigh Extension
2x12 Bent-Over Reverse Fly	8

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I was a little concerned with this workout at first.  The warmup was good - I was just starting to sweat when I finished it.  The first two exercises weren't challenging at all.  The second set was exercises that I had been doing, so I bumped the weight up.  A little challenging, but not much.  I'll definitely bump the weight again next time. 

But the partial co-contracting lunge.  Dear God.  It about killed me.  And I mean that in the best way possible.  I have been doing lunges with weights, so I didn't think it would be all that challenging.  But in the first 12, I was seriously struggling.  Oddly, the second 12 didn't seem to be worse. But my thighs were so burned out that the last set (extension and fly) was hard just because my legs were shaky.  I figured I would have trouble walking today. 

But I stretched and rolled after and I totally understand that weird foam thing now.  I was making the most embarrassing sounds on the foam roller.  Thank God no one was in the gym.  But today?  I'm just the right amount sore.  I feel it everywhere, but I can sit and rise from the potty without gasping.  Success!

***Edited to add:  Okay, I posted this first thing in the morning.  By 3pm, my thighs were so sore I was practically limping.

Okay, change of plans

So, I've been reading over at The Great Fitness Experiment.  I love how Charlotte takes a different fitness concept and tests it with her buddies.  I saw the post about about Rachel Cosgrove's new book at the beginning of November and thought it looked interesting.  Well after Charlotte's postive post on the results, I went to Books a Jillion and picked up a copy.  (I couldn't wait for Amazon even thought it was $10 cheaper.  Must learn patience.)

The beginning is a little too "girl power"-ry for me, so I skimmed the rules and the inspiration sections.  I've just gotten  into the meat of it, and I have to say, a lot of it makes sense to me on the anti-cardio stance.   Everyone's felt like the hamster on the wheel before.  Which made me think that maybe running (my "running" is a jog - 10 minute miles) is not effective.  You know our ancient ancestors didn't get this kind of exercise.  They carried, held, lifted, wrestled and sprinted.  Probably as much as they could but only as long as absolutely necessary.  So I think I'm going to give Cosgrove's program a try (hereinafter referred to as FBB). 

So no more running for now.  I will pick it back up because I do enjoy it, but I think I'd enjoy it a lot more come spring/outside only and didn't get shin splints.  I've always enjoyed lifting and had already decided pink girly weights were not doing me any good.  I want to feel the burn.  I love being sore the next day.  I'm fairly familiar with a lot of the excercises, but this is going to take a little research and studying on my end.  I need to be able to remember how to do all the exercises when I go into the gym (I know it's silly, but I cannot bring the book in with me.  An insecurity for another time.)  So that's this weekend.

The second half is nutrition.  I have cleaned up my diet a good bit over the last few months.  It's been slipping a little lately, but still way ahead of where I was.  I'd like to tighten that back up, so this is a ggod vehicle.  But there are a few things that are going to be major challenges for me. 

First, eating within 15 minutes of getting up.  Ugh.  I'm not usually hungry right away, but I guess I can give it a try.  I've noticed that the breakfast meals she suggests are pretty large, so I'm going to need to do some prep for that.  Second, the post-work out shake.  I'm a little hesitant on protein powder and how on earth would I make one?  I'll train at the office after work, so can I make it ahead of time?  Or use a pre-packaged shake?  Or just use chocolate milk?  Lastly, according to the plan, you should have six meals a day every three or four hours.  That's going to be hard to do, especially trying to have dinner with the family at six.  Need to do a little planning and thinking there too. 

The second time (of three - does that make me a yo-yoer?) that I lost a good bit of weight, I was running and doing a little weight training, but my eating was really strict about 90% of the time.  I was doing Sugarbusters, which focused almost entirely on removing white processed foods from your diet.  White table sugar and its evil twins, white flour and white rice.  It also focused on the "unseen sugars" - fructose, surcrose, corn syrup added unnecessarily to things; I think they were anti-HFCS 10 years ago. Looking back, I still think it had valuable lessons and was almost the pre-cursor to clean eating. 

Anyway, on that I avoided all white stuff (sugar, white bread, rice, potatoes) and products with added sugar in them.  I dropped probably 20 pounds without realizing it.  (Seriously, one day I put my bra on and couldn't figure out why it was so roomy.  For someone who is pretty book smart, I can be really dumb sometimes.)  So, while I think that RC recommends that you avoid all pasta and breads, I'm going to eat them in minimal amounts, but only if they are whole grain (whole wheat pasta, 100% whole wheat/grain bread w/o sugars).  But really, I think that's the only nutrition "cheat" that I'm planning on making. 

So, Monday I will be kicking of my own FBB experiement.  I'm planning on using the blog to track exactly what I'm doing.  So I'll report back on Monday.