Back to the gym!

Whoohoo! Wednesday will be my first trip back to the gym since my membership expired in May! Thank goodness!

While I've only gained about 5 lbs, my muscles are gone, so my butt and thighs are having to squeeze into my jeans... 2 sizes up jeans! Sigh...

I'm not to concerned about it, simply because I anticipated this... AND because I haven't been eating as well... It definitely has a lot to do with exercise. I'm not going to bust my rear end on the elliptical or stair master and eat garbage. But, if I'm not working out... there's no accountability to myself (or my workout) and so the vicious cycle begins.

So, this week (starting Wednesday...) I'm saying goodbye to all diet soda. I'll still have my a.m. coffee, but that's it. It's H2O from now on! I'll also get back to my healthy eating habits. More chicken, veggies, salads and soups. In addition, I'll be cutting out the sweets. I've had a sweet tooth the last few weeks and I've been eating more candy, cookies, cake, etc. With all of our August birthdays in our family, there has been a lot of celebrations!

Work will be hard, since I'll be limiting my snacking there, but I'll bring healthy stuff... like protein bars, cottage cheese, fruit and yogurt.

The first month back to the gym, I plan on sticking to straight cardio to build my metabolism back up. I want to build up to one hour of mixed cardio the first month. Then, by October, I hope to begin lifting weights again! Gotta have a plan, right?

I'm excited to get started again! I miss my workouts! I miss how it makes me feel, and of course, how I fit in my favorite clothes! :)

Oh where, Oh where has my little blog gone...

January to July - that's quite a blog break, don't ya think?

Since January, I've gotten a job, became quite stressed with the new schedule, cut back on working out, my girls' school ended, my gym membership expired... you get the gist! There wasn't anything to really "keep up with" in my life.

But, I'm so proud to report that I haven't gained a ton of weight... only about 5 pounds. Sigh...

I'm counting the days down until school starts again. Not so I can ship my kids off for the entire day... but so that I will get back into routine and get back into the gym.

It hasn't been a complete waste though. I have been running in the evenings (not my favorite activity by far!!) and this week I completed a 4 day bootcamp. (Well, it was a four day program, but I only completed 3 days!)

Aside from being really sore, I discovered that I wasn't as out of shape as I thought I was and that my body is still efficient in burning calories. So... it was a great experience. The whole month of August I'll be doing the bootcamp and then by September, I'll be back in the gym! I cannot wait!

As a side note: Maybe I need to change my blog name from "Keeping Up with My Life" to "Bloggin' Once, Twice A Year"

Talk soon!

Whoa!

Whoa... it's Jan '09. That's crazy!

Well, since my last entry in November a lot has happened. For one, Thanksgiving break happened. Little to no gym time because we had family in.

The following week, back to the gym, but a few days later... my grandfather passed away. No gym time that week, plus I spent several days out of town.

Third week of December was the last week of school before the Christmas break and I was swamped with school parties, but managed to make the gym only two times.

Week of Christmas I hit the gym only two times. Blah!

Week after Christmas - no gym at all! Randy was home for the week and I didn't dare take time away from my hunny while he was off work!

So, here we are, the first Monday of January and fortunately I made it to the gym! I'll be there on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as well. I'm ready to get back into my routine of working out at least 4x/week.

Luckily, I didn't gain any weight during the holidays... whew!

What I did this week!

Since my last entry, a week ago I've worked out three times.

Realistically speaking, I'd like to be at the gym 5x a week. But, believe it or not, it seems I can't find as much time to get there these days. (I at least strive for MWF, but even then... I can't make it some days.)

Last week was no different. I skipped the gym on Wednesday because I scheduled of a long-overdue get-together with a friend. As much as I wanted to be in the gym, I wanted more to visit with my friend!

Thursday was Bible study day, so I skip the gym on Thursdays. However, the Bible study ended last week, so hopefully I'll get back into a Thursday routine. Friday was a gym day and I did NROL4W stage 4, workout "B".

Saturday - nada, zip, nothing! Sunday, we took the girls on a nature trail. I dare not say 'hike' since it was paved with concrete, but it was at least a 2-3 mile trek. Not bad for my usual rest day.

Monday was NROL4W stage 4, workout "A".

Tuesday... -sigh-... I have every intention of making it to the gym, but I had to get my van serviced and it took longer than I expected. So, I ditched the gym and went home and tended to the laundry and cleaning. Not what I wanted to do, but what I needed to do.

Wednesday was NROL4W stage 4, workout "B".

So, there's my accountability for last week. I want to do better... I wish I could do better... but I've been busy. The remainder of the week will be no different as I have a Women's Luncheon at church tomorrow and Friday I am helping out with Kyla's class party at school! That's fun stuff too, so I'm not too bummed out!

NROL4W - Stage 4

So, over the weekend, I cracked open the NROL4W book so I could organize the coming week's workouts and quickly noticed that Stage 4 is a repeat of Stage 2. And... Stage 5 is a repeat of Stage 3. (With the exception of the number of reps/sets.) What's up with that?

I'll admit... I'm very disappointed.

Randy is doing the NROL book geared for men and he is on stage four and it is not a repeater stage. So, why make the women's version a repeat? I'm stumped.

But, I took it like a man and did stage four as listed in the book. And, I'll probably do stage 5 as listed in the book as well. Or, I may just ditch it after stage four and begin Randy's book, NROL.

I don't know. Like I said, I'm bummed out.

Honestly... I'm still working out!

I'll be honest here... right now, due to some recent health concerns, working out is not a top priority for me right now.

But, I've been forcing myself to go to the gym, if anything, to keep some kind of semblance of normalcy for myself. With that said..

I've worked out 6x's in the last 3 weeks. And the Lord willing, I'll be there tomorrow, and that will be my seventh trip to the gym in three weeks. Not my usual 3x/week for sure, but it's better than nothing.

I've also lost some weight and I've noticed that I've lost some of my muscle definition. But, I'm hoping to recover the weight and muscles in a few weeks! I was amazed at how quickly my body changed in just three weeks time. The weight loss was due to not eating because of stress/worry, etc., and I know that it affected my muscle tone.

But, just so you know, I'm back on track and I hope to complete stage III of NROL4W by the middle of next week. Yippee!

I have to admit, I haven't enjoyed stage III at all... but I have to blame my lack of concentration and stress.

So, onward and upward!

I'll keep ya posted!

I can't keep up!

Don't let my lack of blogging fool you... I've still been hitting the gym hard. I just haven't made time to update!

I've entered stage 3 of NROL4W and workout A is HARD! Workout B is not as hard, but still challenging. I tend to like workout A better because I feel like a whipped dog when I done. Weird huh?

This week though is crazy and I can see that I'll probably only get one more workout in before the weekend is here. I'll have to hit it extra hard come Monday... oh, wait... that's Columbus day and the girls' are out of school and I'll be watching my niece that day. So, no gym on Monday either. Hmmmm, I guess I'll work out at home. Not as fun, but still, it's a workout!

Bootylicious

Okay, I have one complaint with the NROL4W workout... The workouts are making my butt and hamstrings huge! My butt looks like Beyonce's... {sigh} I don't want to be bootyliscious.

What I did this week!

This week was a good week for working out... not so much for eating.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday I did NROL4W Stage 2 Wkout B, A and B. I lifted as hard as I could and I felt great! I also did 20 minutes of cardio on those days. On Tuesday, I ran into the gym for 30 mins of cardio and I took Thursday off completely.

Now, for the food part... I did great all week until Thursday, my off day. As I mentioned in my last post, I had the munchies all day that day. My popcorn that I ate? Well, I failed to mention that I added REAL BUTTER to it... so that's why it was a major indulgence! Yikes!

Friday, I met a friend for lunch and we ate at Wing Stop, which is my all time favorite place to eat! I love wings! LOVE THEM! So, I blew it for the day. But, then that night, we had our small group meeting with our church friends and it was Mexican potluck! Argh! There were two big ol' dishes of enchiladas and cheesy casseroles. Yum! So, I blew it again on Friday!

Saturday, another "off day" was good until I attended a birthday party and had cake and ice cream with the kiddos.

And, to top it off, tomorrow is another birthday party that I'll be attending with Elisan and then once we get home, we'll be celebrating Randy's birthday with an ice cream cake I made for him today!

So, as you can see... it's been a rough coupla days! Hopefully Monday I'll get back to the routine of 'good for me' foods!

EDITED TO ADD: Sunday Night - PF Chang's for dinner.... {sigh}

Junk Food Day

What it is about off days that make me want to eat junk food?

I didn't work out today and I couldn't keep my hands out of the chips bag AND I just had to have popcorn tonight while watching a movie.

I guess a little indulgence never killed anyone, right?

Oh golly, my glutes!

Man, oh man... my glutes hurt. That's fancy talk for BUTT! Yes, my butt hurts.

I need to figure out what exercise I did that caused my bootay to feel the burn (so to speak!).

New Rules of Lifting for Women - Stage 2

I've now completed Stage One of NROL4W and I just began Stage Two. I'm pretty sure that stage two will definitely kick my butt!

Stage Two, Workout A is comprised of some lifting moves I've never done before... like the front squat push press, the one point dumbell row (which is going to totally rock my rear-end!) and the horizontal wood chop! Workout B is equally as challenging with the reverse lunge with forward reach, the dumbbell prone Cuban snatch and the Bulgarian split squat (which has a sneaky resemblance to the static lunge with rear foot elevated... must be the placement of the weights that is different!) I couldn't find any links for the other two.

I've decided that posting my stats is a fruitless exercise, since they haven't changed in three weeks. I'm still at 121, which, hey... that's great! I'm not complaining and my jeans still fit, so I'm happy with that. I will say that I've noticed that my hamstrings are making my jeans more snug in the back. Better there, than in my butt, right?

I'm excited to begin this new stage in NROL4W. It is definitely more challenging and the workouts are much longer and involved. It never quite felt right heading out of the gym after only doing 30 minutes of lifting. This new stage takes me at least 45 minutes to complete, if not longer. And, I'm burning more calories! Yippee!

Keep up the good work!
Erica

Slumber Party Confession

A good friend from church asked me to help her out with her daughter's slumber party on Friday. And, since Elisan was invited to the sleepover, I decided it was a great idea to join her!

DeAnna served the following foods:

• Pizza
• Cake
• Ice Cream
• Sugar Cookies
• Popcorn
• Chocolate from a fountain w/strawberries, pretzels and marshmallows

Confession time... I ate a little bit of everything. Yes. I did.

• Pizza - two slices
  
• Cake - small slice
  
• Ice Cream - one scoop (or was it two?)
  
• Sugar Cookies - half of one (They were the most unbelievably yummy cookies! YUM!)
  
• Popcorn - handful
  
• Chocolate from a fountain w/strawberries, pretzels and marshmallows - one dipped strawberry, one dipped pretzel and one dipped marshmallow
• 2 roasted marshmallows (yum!)
• Unlimited coffee...

So, you only live once right? I mean, there won't be many more slumber parties that I will be invited to, so I thought I might as well have fun!

The Big Payoff

Our good eating habits must be paying off... at least in regards to Kyla...

Today, as I was packing her lunch, she asked for (leftover from dinner last night) English peas and chicken fajita meat (from HEB's "Fully Cooked" line.)

Elisan? She asked for a chocolate sandwich... -sigh-

It's been a week already?

Wow... it's been a week since my last update! That's insane! Where has the time gone?

So what have I been doing? Here's last week's run down:

• Wednesday - I followed through with my plan to do 30 minutes of cardio and NROL4W Stage 1 Wkout A (week 3).
• Thursday - Met a friend for lunch, so I skipped my early morning workout, but managed to workout around 2:00 p.m. before I picked the girls up from school. Let me just say, my energy level at that time of the day is diminished! I did 45 mins of cardio - elliptical, stair stepper and interval training on the treadmill, but lacked the energy I normally have!
  
• Friday - Body Step class. I LOVE THIS CLASS! I burned 400 calories in this class. I then had my NROL4W Stage 1 Wkout B (week 3) to do, so I did that as well and burned another 200 calories. I was starving ALL day long! (Not good!)
• Saturday - Rest Day
• Sunday - Rest Day
• Monday - 20 mins interval training and NROL4W Stage 1 Wkout AMRAP (as many reps as possible!) I did better than expected, but I'm especially proud that I was able to crank out 20 military style push ups and 4 unassisted pull-ups!
• Today - I plan on doing 20 minutes of cardio and some stretching. Then I'm heading home. I have a pile of stuff to do at home!

Keep up the good work!
Erica

I 'fess up! I started it!

The other day on the phone I was chatting with my mom. We were talking about one of my favorite things... food! She mentioned what they had for dinner the night before and I said, "Oh. We don't eat that kind of food anymore." (It was fried okra and I LOVE fried okra, but it's true, we don't eat it anymore.) Then she said, "Well, you are just in a [healthy food] phase right now."

Well, truth be told, I got a little defensive. I quickly responded that if I was indeed in a phase, then it has lasted for over a year and I didn't have any intentions of changing my habits now.

After I got off the phone with my mom, I marched into the office and told Randy what my mama had said to me. He stopped me short and said, "So, basically you started it?" He had me there. I had started it. I should have just kept my mouth shut.

But, the moral of the story is this: Don't make your healthy lifestyle a phase, make it a habit. I'm sure I will "fall off the wagon" here and there, but that doesn't mean I have to toss out my new healthy habits because of it. I just hop back on and give it my best the next time.

Mom, sorry... I did start it. I 'fess up!

Could it be?

Could it be that I haven't been in the gym since Friday when I took the Body Step class? Holy-moly! I hate it when I have a two day stretch between gym visits, but four days... my body is having withdrawals.

What have I been doing?

• Saturday: We ended up running around most of the day, that working out wasn't going to happen.
• Sunday: I was able to squeeze in Stage 1 Wkout B (week 2) in NROL4W, but it just isn't the same doing it at home. I push myself much harder at the gym. Maybe it's the shiny mirrors.
• Monday: LABOR DAY (gym closed)
• Tuesday: I had great intentions of making it to the gym, but I got so busy burning calories in my housework, that I decided I'd rather finish cleaning the house, rather than go to the gym. Who does that?! I'm usually looking for reasons NOT to do housework!

So, today, Wednesday, I'm hitting it hard. I'm going to do about 30 minutes of cardio today and NROL4W Stage 1 Wkout A (week 3).

And just so you know, with the exception of our Saturday Dining Out, I did extremely well on food. Saturday is my "free" day where I eat normally during the day, but then eat whatever I want for dinner. It works out great for me!

No stats today. No time!

Keep up the good work!
Erica

Keeping up the good work!

One of my goals for this blog is to hold myself accountable in my exercising and eating.

• Tuesday: NROF4W Stage 1 Wkout B (week 2); 20 mins interval training on bike
• Wednesday: 20 mins interval training on elliptical; 10 mins on stair machine
• Thursday: NROF4W Stage 1 Wkout A (week 2); 20 mins interval training on bike
• Friday: Body Step class
• Saturday: I'm hoping to sneak in Stage 1 Wkout B (week 2)...

My food intake has been good quality, but not good quantity. I haven't been eating enough. I've been eating around 1700 calories a day. I really should be eating at least 2000 calories a day with these workouts. My protein intake has been good, but it could be better. I'm shooting for 120 grams (or 1 gram of protein per pound of weight) and I only hit the 120 grams mark about once a week. Other days, I range between 80-110 grams. Still good, but not great!

I'm proud to say that my only "splurge" this week has been HEB's Jalapeno Tortilla Chips. (HEB's version of "Doritos" but with a kick butt jalapeno flavor! YUM!)

Stats and Stuff

I haven't been in the gym since last Wednesday. (Today is Tuesday!) But, that doesn't mean I haven't been active... on the contrary!

Thursday was my "off" day.

Friday, I had good intentions to make it to the gym, but I sat in traffic most of the morning instead! Oh, the joys of having to travel via an interstate highway! (You can read about it here!) By the time I got home, I was too exhausted to even think about working out.

Saturday morning, I worked out at home. I had to crank out Stage 1 Wkout A of the "New Rules of Lifting" before the end of the week. Randy and I bought a used weight bench and weights a week ago, so I was able to do the workout. After that, I mowed the grass. My HRM reported I burned about 500 calories doing those two things.

Sunday, we took the girls for a nature hike. They only lasted about one hour, but in their defense, it was high noon with little to no shade.

Monday, I took the day off and didn't do anything remotely related to cardio work or weight lifting, unless you count bringing the laundry down (and back up) the stairs!

Today, I hit the gym again for Stage 1 Wkout B (week 2). That is, after I drop the girls off at school for their first day back. I hope I'm not a complete blubbering mess when I leave the school.

Later!

"The New Rules of Lifting for Women"

Read my review of "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" by Lou Schuler, Allwyn Cosgrove and Cassandra Forsythe on my personal blog.

NROL4W - Stage 1 wkout B (week 1)

Today I did my second NROL4W workout in stage 1. I have to admit... I wasn't as impressed with today's workout as I was with Monday's (A) workout. I didn't burn as many calories, which makes me wonder if I did everything correctly, or used enough weights. One thing I did notice was that my quads were not liking the lunges in this workout. My muscles felt tight. So, I had to drop my weights down to 10 lbs dumbells, which did not make me happy. Mental note: I need to spend a little time stretching my quads next time.

In addition to workout B, I did 20 minutes of interval training. 30 seconds of fast/hard cardio and 90 seconds of recovery. That makes for 10 interval rounds. It goes by pretty quickly and by the 7th interval, that 90 seconds of recovery doesn't seem nearly enough!

Thursday, I will take off completely. I need to rest.

I'll hit it again on Friday.

Just Skip It!

Today, I tried a new recipe for breakfast. The recipe called for Steel Cut Oats which are whole grain oats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which have been cut into only two or three pieces. They are golden in color and resemble small rice pieces. Steel-cut oats are also known as coarse-cut oats, pinhead oats, Scotch oats, or Irish oats. (Wikipedia)

Let me just save you the hassle... steel cut oats are just bad! Total ick factor! I even followed the recipe by adding vanilla flavored protein powder, milk and sliced almonds... and STILL, it was bad. I don't think I need to eat steel cut oats again. Ever.

It reminded of "slop" made famous by the television show "Big Brother". I would almost bet they are feeding those poor folks steel cut oats.

Today I begin!

Today I began a new workout regimen from the book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" by Lou Schuler. The program is 6 months long. I'm excited about the prospect of changing my body even more... I mean, the tag line of the book is "Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess!" I mean, who doesn't want to look like a goddess? Right?

The first workout was great! To start off, I did 20 minutes on the stair climber. I just can't live without cardio! This is a big decrease from my usual 30-45 minutes of cardio I usually do.

I then hit the weight room for some squats, rows, push ups, step ups and jack knifes. It was a good, hard workout! I was most impressed with the fact that I was able to crank out 2 sets of 15 (military style!) push ups! Whoohoo!

My workout lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes and I burned a total of 477 calories.

Each week, (time permitting) I'm going to try to post my weight and measurement stats. I am ambitious, aren't I?

Why?

I wanted to begin a fitness journal of sorts. A place to record my progress and stats in a safe, fitness oriented atmosphere.

Since I began my fitness journey (and it is a one-way journey to a lifelong destination...not just a summer vacation!) back in June 2007, I have immensely enjoyed the results of exercise. I know, I know... blah, blah, blah...

Believe me, I was very resistant to the idea of 'going fit'. I was happy in my size 10 jeans and didn't see myself as being overweight. But, I was. I was slightly off the chart of being within my healthy weight range... In other words, I was considered overweight by today's medical standards. In case you are curious, I am 5'4" and weighed 150 pounds.

But, even that didn't encourage me to make it to the gym. I joined the YMCA because of the kids' play area. Yep. That's right. My girls needed an outlet for the summer. I couldn't take the constant fighting, so I decided I'd join the gym so they'd have a place to play with other kids their age and then I'd be able to have some "me" time.

After a few weeks of "me" time, I began to see some changes. I felt better and my clothes fit better. I had more energy and I actually enjoyed working out. Oh, sure... don't get me wrong... I struggled at first. I hated the cardio machines. I hated that I could only do 10 minutes on the elliptical machine before I felt like I was going to pass out. I hated the fact that lifting 6 pound dumbbell curls wore me out!

But, I kept at it. By October 2007, I had lost 20 pounds! And, by January 2008, I had lost another 10 pounds for a total loss of 30 pounds. All that hard work and "me" time paid off!

Here are a couple of before/after pictures:



I hope that this blog will help anyone who needs encouragement to get movin'! It's like the old saying goes, "Nothing tastes as good, as being FIT feels!"

So, join me on the journey as I rant and as I rave all about fitness.