Day 2 of 30 Day Shred

First off, I will admit that I took the weekend off from exercise and watching what I ate.  But I’m over it now, felt a little guilty and have started fresh this Monday.

I actually woke up this morning and did The Shred.  Yes, it’s shocking since I truly dislike getting up and exercising in the a.m.  My body hurt and I was still partly asleep when I did the routine.  But, I am happy to say, that I did complete it and my body didn’t hurt afterward.  It actually felt better.

The push-ups still suck, but I’ll eventually get over it and master them!!  Well, that’s my plan anyway.  My knee’s hurt at the beginning of the routine when I had to do the jumping jacks (both in the warm-up and in the 1st part of the workout).  But, by the end of the routine (the last circuit of cardio) when I had to do the jumping jacks again, my knee’s were fine.

I don’t know why, but I am not really wanting to run so much at this time.  I did the same thing at around the same time last year.  I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but running doesn’t interest me.  But I know it’s only temporary so I’m just going with it and doing what I feel like doing.  So, right now I will concentrate on Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred and getting back into a regular yoga practice.  Then I will add things when I feel up to it.

Today I’ve eaten only when hungry:

breakfast: Shredded Wheat with 1% milk

lunch: Venti sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte (actually this was going to be a snack, but I was full after I drank it–around lunchtime–and am now only getting hungry again!)

***I haven’t eaten dinner yet. Below is what I’ll be eating***

dinner: Turkey meatloaf, Summer Squash, and dinner salad.

dessert: watermelon (yummy!!) and maybe an It’s It ice cream sandwich during the SFGiants game?!

I haven’t decided on the It’s It, yet.  Depends on whether I finish my To Do List for today.

I still need to drink more water.  I think that’s why I’ve been getting headaches and haven’t really felt well.  I’m dehydrated, yet again.

Sleeping hasn’t been an issue, although I have had 1 night of insomnia recently.  Overall, I’ve been getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night with a couple of 8 hours thrown in.  And that’s straight through the night, which is awesome for me!!

Well, off to work on my patio and get dinner ready.  Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and a Happy Monday!!

Back to The 30-Day Shred: Day 1/Level 1

Yes, you read that right, I am starting all over again–yet again!  I’m going to do Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred.  But, hopefully this time, I will do all 30 days!

Well, of course I am starting on level one again.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve done this workout, and to be honest, it’s been quite a while since I’ve exercised in general!!

I was a little nervous to start this workout again.  My body has been tight since it’s been on hiatus so I figured I would have a horrendous first workout.  Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I, for the most part, kept up with the cardio–MUCH better than the first time around!  The strength part was good, but I did lower the weight amount and it definitely helped…in a positive way.  The push-ups were still a struggle but I will improve.  My goal is to be able to do a “regular” push-up instead of the “girlie” push-up (using my knee’s).

What spurred me on to finally come back to exercise?  Well, it could be:

1) the fact that my body is so tight that it’s hard to do anything, or

2) my kinda crappy mood lately, or

3) my utter lack of energy…which isn’t like me, usually I have a lot of energy!

OR

4) the fact that I gained back ALL, yes I said all, of the weight I had lost.  I am sad to report I now weigh 174 lbs.  The most I’ve ever weighed is actually 175 lbs.  I’m both embarrassed and saddened by this fact.  OR

5)  I really missed working out

Honestly, it’s all 5 of the above!!  Yes, it’s true.  I bitch and moan, but in reality I always feel better after working out.  And, it also makes me want to improve my eating so I don’t negate the workouts.  My mood has already improved dramatically today.

As for my eating, the past month I have not been eating well.  I went on a– well I can’t really call it a frenzy or a binge– but I really did eat so much more than I normally ever do.  The worst part was that I never felt full.  But whatever it was is over and I am back to eating normally so I have a fridge full of fruits and veggies, turkey meat, and overall healthier choices.

Today so far I’ve had to eat:

breakfast: Shredded Wheat, strawberries, & 1% milk

lunch: Venti sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte (On a side note, I have cut back on these.  I no longer have them every day, but only 2-3 times a week).  My goal is to only have them 1-2 times a week.

Snack: 1 Wasa cracker, 2 Tbsp peanut butter (skippy), 1 tsp apricot jam

for Dinner tonight I plan on having a  turkey burger on rye bread w/mustard and horseradish (just a little of both to wet the bread) turkey meatloaf (well, one slice anyway!), sauteed squash (zucchini, crookneck, pattypan) and a salad w/olive oil & balsamic vinegar dressing.  Then, for Dessert I plan on having watermelon w/ 1/2 cup Ben & Jerry’s Fro-Yo Cherry Garcia.

I tried Ben & Jerry’s Fro-Yo Chocolate Fudge Brownie recently and although it’s a little icier (lighter) than the regular ice cream, I fell in love.  Even better, the calorie’s and fat grams are less.  I don’t feel deprived at all.  Don’t worry, Ben & Jerry’s won’t be an every day thing, just a treat once or twice a week.  I just bought the Cherry Garcia today so I thought I’d try it out.

As usual, I still need to work on my water intake.  I’m nowhere near 8 cups for the day and the headache I’ve had all day is a testament to my dehydration.  Why is this such a problem for me??? Ugh……but, like the push-ups, I will conquer it!!

Wishing everyone a great weekend!!

Back to the beginning

Okay, so I’ve slacked on just about everything lately!!  It’s now time to get back on track, yet again.  I can’t believe we are already into July!?  This year is just flying by isn’t it?  And, I’m back where I started from…….

I have slacked on my exercise and gorged over this holiday weekend.  I am tired of going down this road and need to get it right once and for all.  Besides overeating over this weekend and not really exercising much lately, I still am not drinking enough water and definitely not sleeping more than 4-5 hrs at a time.  I do believe that if I can conquer those 4 things: eating, drinking enough water, exercising, and sleeping enough–I will be successful.

My mistake has been trying to focus on, and fix, everything at once. Now I will try something different.  I am going to set my menu’s and exercise schedules and follow them.  I don’t feel these are my biggest problems. My biggest problems are lack of sleep and not drinking enough water.

I think I’ve said in previous posts that I get insomnia every couple of years and it wreaks havoc for a few months before finally disappearing.  I’m in the midst of it at this time and need to find steps (non-medicine) to get myself to sleep at least 7 hours each night.  I wake up every day still exhausted and it takes me forever to get up the energy to get myself ready.

Each morning I get up I tell myself that this is the day I will finally get to 8 glasses of water.  The closest I got was on this past Monday when I actually drank 7 cups of water!  So, let’s see if I can surpass that today?!?! 

Oh, and I didn’t yet mention that over the holiday weekend, I managed to gain 5 lbs.  How does one do that?  Honestly, I ate a lot of crap……..and I mean A LOT of CRAP!!

I hate doing this alone, but I am realistic in my knowledge that I won’t get help from family and friends.  This is a sad truth I keep hoping will change, but I know won’t.  So, I will be my own motivator.  How I will do this, I’m not quite sure at this time.  I am going to take it one step (and day) at a time.  That’s the best I can do for now.

Eat. Exercise. Sleep. Drink Water.

Starting today, I need to start posting what I ate, how much water I drink, my sleeping patterns and my workouts on a daily basis because I’m definitely doing something wrong.  So, I’ve made the decision to start counting calories and measuring my food again (things I haven’t really done regularly in years and truly dislike!) as well as logging my sleeping and workouts.  I need to figure out what the problem is so that I can fix it.

So, here goes:

Breakfast:

1/2 cup Shredded Wheat, 1 cup 1% milk, 1/2 cup blueberries

Snack:

1 small Fuji apple, 1 Tbsp peanut butter

Lunch:

Turkey burger (3 oz–no bread or condiments), 2 slices of watermelon

Snack:

1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese, 2 Wasa crackers–Light Rye, 1 cup chocolate milk (1% milk and 2 Tbsp Nestle Quik), 1 cup watermelon

Dinner:

6 oz whole grain pasta, 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, 1 cup Summer Squash Medley (zucchini, crookneck squash, pattypan)

Nutritional Value for the day:  1799 calories, 41.5 g fat, 583.5 mg cholesterol, 1236.5 mg sodium, 208.5 g carbohydrates, 29 g dietary fiber, 51.5 g sugars, 79.5 g protein.

I have had about 4 1/2 cups of water (but I’m still drinking).  Hopefully, I’ll be at 6 cups when I go to bed (and I hope that won’t be at 2:30am again!!).

I didn’t exercise today.  Honestly, I didn’t feel like it.

I didn’t sleep well last night.  I fell asleep around 2:30am (I’m an insomniac) and slept for 4 hours, up for about half an hour, fell back to sleep for about an hour, woke up for about 45 minutes and then fell back to sleep for another 40-45 minutes.  This really has to stop…

Right now I am exhausted…..but once I take my contact lenses out, I get a second wind and get all of this energy!  My family and friends think I’m weird.  Does this happen to anyone else???  Or, am I the only freak????

30 Day Shred-Day 10

Yes I know, I’ve slacked on Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  I took the last 2 days off from the workout–too many things going on.  But, I am back on track and have completed Day 10!!  And today is the last day of Level 1.  I’m both excited and nervous to move up to Level 2.  I don’t know why….I just am.

The workout was great as always!! A butt-kicking sweat-fest.  I’ve seen so much improvement in my day-to-day life due to this workout.  I can lift heavier items more easily than before, I have more energy, and I can see a difference in my core.  So far, this tape is amazing!!  Can’t wait to get to level 2 tomorrow!

Breakfast:

1 cup Shredded Wheat

1 cup 1% milk

1 Tbsp Whey protein

Snack:

2 Wasa crackers

1 triangle of Laughing Cow cheese

Lunch:

1 turkey burger (no bun/bread or condiments)

Summer Squash Medley

Snack:

1 Fuji apple

2 Tbsp peanut butter

Dinner:

White Roughy

1 cup steamed broccoli

Still trying to drink enough water.  I’m averaging about 5-6 cups a day now.  I know this isn’t enough for me so I still need to work harder!!

I was planning on running tonight.  The local Fleet Feet store has Wed Ladies Night drop-in but I couldn’t make it in time.  Will have to try again next week!

Tonight at 12:01 am SATC 2 premieres in theaters everywhere!!  Can’t believe it’s finally here!!!  Who’s going??

In the meantime my SFGiants game is on right now and later I will watch the season finale of Criminal Minds and after that Top Chef Masters.

Happy Wednesday!!

Monday’s run, but no 30 Day Shred

Normally I try to run Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturday or Sunday.  However, I haven’t been very consistent with my running lately….a little laziness maybe??  Anyway, I also looked up the weather forecast for this week and made the decision to do something different.  Instead of waiting until Tuesday, I decided to start my week of with a run.

So, this afternoon I checked the weather, changed my clothes and went running.  The weather was a cool 64*F, but the humidity was 50%, and the winds were 13 mph.  I wore shorts (because of the humidity) but wore a long sleeve cotton shirt (because of the winds).  It ended up being the perfect outfit!!

I ran my usual route but changed it around a little.  Running the neighborhood is 1 mile up and 1 mile back and running around the park trail 3 times equals 1 mile.  Normally I run the neighborhood first and finish up with the park.  However, too often I am finding myself finding excuses to stop before I run the full mile in the park.  So, I ran the 3 laps first and then ran up and back down the main street.  It worked out perfect!!

When I run the neighborhood, it is opposite from where my car is parked so I can’t quit….I have to either walk or run back.  See, sometimes I have to use psychology on myself!!  How sad is that?!  I started my run a little too fast because my legs were exhausted the last 1/4 mile and it took everything I had to run my intervals and finish somewhat strong!

I am continuing my interval schedule from last week: 2 minute run/2 minute walk X 9.  However, since I ran 3 full miles today what I actually ended up running was:  run 2 minutes X 11/walk 2 minutes x 10, + 1:13 min walk.  It was a great run and it put me in a great mood for the week.

Because I ran so late–6:15pm, I have decided not to do my 30 Day Shred workout tonight.  I debated this with myself but decided that whenever I do the workout after my run (usually a few hours) my knee’s are “not right” ( I don’t really know how to describe it, they don’t necessarily hurt, but I can “feel” them).  I would have been doing the workout within a half and hour from when I got home from running.  I don’t want to mess up my knee’s, so I am going to err on the side of caution. Don’t worry, I will be back tomorrow to do Day 10….the last day of level 1!!

Tonight I will do some ab work and a little yoga.  Dancing With The Stars is on tonight as well as the premiere of The Bachelorette.  I have never seen The Bachelor or Bachelorette before…but the girl is from the Bay Area, so I thought I’d check it out.   Besides, Real Housewives of New Jersey is on at 10pm so I probably won’t watch all of it anyway.

Today for breakfast I had a Sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks –no whip.  I know, not the best choice, but it’s better than nothing!  For lunch I had a turkey burger and Summer Squash Medley (leftovers from the other day).  After my run I had a Fuji apple w/2 Tbsp of peanut butter.  For dinner tonight I am going to have whole grain pasta and broccoli. Also, for snack earlier today I had a few walnuts.

I’m still not drinking enough water.  I know I’m dehydrated, even though I don’t really feel like it.  So far today I’ve had 4 cups of water.  I am going to go guzzle some more and maybe I can get to 8 cups by bedtime?? Fingers crossed!!

30 Day Shred-Day 6

I’m so happy today was a beautiful warm sunny clear skied spring day!! And the best part….no humidity!! I was going to run late this afternoon but my mom invited me to an early dinner and grocery shopping so off I went!

We went to Rubio’s.  I had a chicken burrito.  Yes, it’s huge but I only ate half and took the rest home.  It was so good! I was really thirsty so I ended up drinking a lot of water!!

Afterward we went to Nugget Market.  Bought lot’s of fruits and veggies.  I think I mentioned this grocery store in a previous post.  This store has the best produce dept!! The whole store is fabulous! It’s very clean and the employees are the nicest!!  I know why they are considered one of the best employers in the state (I think the country too?!).

After watching my SFGiants lose again to AZ Diamondbacks I watched Real Housewives of NY and then Watch What’s Happening Live.  Sarah Jessica Parker was on WWHL tonight and I couldn’t miss it!! SJP was fabulous as always!

And, like a good girl, right after WWHL was over I turned on the dvd and did my workout!.  The Shred was awesome tonight! I finished everything even when it burned like crazy!  I can’t believe I’m saying this but the push-ups were great tonight!!  Did I really just write that?  Yep, and I meant it! I only have 4 more days of Level 1.  I am getting a little nervous, but I’ll get over it!

As for my eating….no ice cream for breakfast today! lol  I had a bowl of Shredded Wheat.  But I didn’t have lunch today because I wasn’t hungry.  I did have a Fuji apple w/2 tbsp of peanut butter and then the early dinner.

Still feeling a little dehydrated so I need to drink more water!! What the heck is wrong with me!?!?!?  Goodnight!

The Shred-Day 3 AND Running

Well…..let me start by saying that I probably should have done Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred first!! Let me explain what happened…….

I went for my run today.  It was 74*F and 45% humidity.  I was wearing the wrong top (a 100% cotton L/S shirt) but luckily, at the last minute, I changed my bottoms from long pants to shorts.  I changed my schedule to run 2 minutes/walk 2 minutes X 10.  I planned on doing 3 miles today but cut it short because I became dehydrated and didn’t bring water with me (yes, again!).  I ended up doing 7 of the 10 and 2.1 miles.  I also increased my speed a bit. I could definitely feel it in my legs!! They were sore, but a “good” sore. And, I don’t think I have ever sweat that much from running!!  Thanks humidity!!

However, earlier tonight I did Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.  Unfortunately, when I planned out my day I didn’t take into consideration the changes I had made to my run and how it may, or may not, affect my other workout.  My knee’s were still sore from my run and it made a slight difference!

I do have to say, though, that there was a slight improvement in my push-ups! Well, at least the first set.  I was able to do decent “beginners” push-ups without stopping the first time around, but then when I did the second set of push-ups I could barely get through them!  But, to me, that’s improvement! Even the first set of arm raises later in the program were a little easier the first set!

I finished feeling exhausted but happy that I was able to get two workouts into one day!! And, yes, I was smiling at the end!! Bring on Day 4!!!

I am troubled by my dehydration.  I used to drink plenty of water, but in the last year or two I know I haven’t consumed enough water daily on most days.  Each day I tell myself I’m going to drink at least 8 cups of water, but normally it’s been more like 4.  I know that if I plan on all this running and working out I need to make sure I drink plenty of water or I’m going to make myself really sick…..or worse!!