Day 2 is always the hardest, right?
Oh man...it was a challenge. Here is what I did:
Foot to Foot Crunch – 30 reps
Alternating Curls – 30 reps
Recovery – 30 seconds
Push Through – 30 reps
4 Time Abs – 30 reps
Recovery – 30 seconds
Arm Reaching Crunch – 30 reps
Leg Up Touch Crunch – 30 reps
Recovery – 30 seconds
Cross On Crunch – 30 reps
Double Crunch – 30 reps
Time: 10 min
The rest/recovery was nice for the 2nd and last set, but the for the other two, it did not seem like I needed it, but I know that my abs did. I really suck at abs, so the fact that I'm even doing this is pretty awesome of me.
Here was the rest of my workout:
25 min on treadmill
5 min of stretching
I got a late start this morning. I set the alarm for 5:15am and finally got out of bed at 6:15. My first thought was, "I'm late. I can't go," but I knew I needed to go and that I wouldn't have anytime later today to do this. I really wanted to do 50 min on the treadmill, run through the ab routine twice and 10 min of stretching, but oh well. I was proud that I went to the gym and did it =)
For the treadmill...ugh. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Hate because I get bored with it really quickly, but love since I can train to keep at a particular pace and learn to focus on the music when I am getting tired. Usually when I am on the treadmill, I do interval work to help me keep focus and not get bored with what I am doing. Today, I was working as I was training for a sub 1:30 half marathon. Haha...I would never get to that type of time since that requires a 6:52/mi pace for 13.1 miles, but it doesn't hurt to try, right? So, on the treadmill, I ran my first mile at 8:30/mi, and then after the first mile, I ran 0.5 at half marathon pace (HMP). I was really surprised that I ran a half mile at that pace. I was only anticipating 0.25, so I surprised myself. Then I turned it back down to 8:30/mi until mile 2 and repeated. I only ran to 3 miles due to time, but I thought it was a great start. Maybe doing this speed work will help me get to a faster pace which would be awesome.
Anyway, can't wait to keep this ab party going with tomorrow's workout!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
My Half Marathon Race Results
I just wanted to take the time to post my race results before they disappear forever :)
Long Beach - Oct 2012
Huntington Beach - Feb 2013
OC - May 2013
It's amazing to see that I definitely got faster. And yes, each race is different and unique, but I know that I am faster and feel much better when running longer distances. Haha...Long Beach, I stopped at 11 miles. I had hit a wall. And then my goal for Huntington Beach was to not stop. And I didn't. For OC, my new goal was to be under 2 hours. I beat that goal by almost 4 minutes. From Long Beach to OC, I have improved my time by almost 40 minutes. It's amazing to see what I have accomplished. Sometimes it just makes me speechless...
Long Beach - Oct 2012
| Half Marathon |
| Runner Details | Race Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Split Times | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Huntington Beach - Feb 2013
| Half Marathon |
| Runner Details | Race Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Split Times | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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OC - May 2013
| Half Marathon |
| Runner Details | Race Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Split Times | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It's amazing to see that I definitely got faster. And yes, each race is different and unique, but I know that I am faster and feel much better when running longer distances. Haha...Long Beach, I stopped at 11 miles. I had hit a wall. And then my goal for Huntington Beach was to not stop. And I didn't. For OC, my new goal was to be under 2 hours. I beat that goal by almost 4 minutes. From Long Beach to OC, I have improved my time by almost 40 minutes. It's amazing to see what I have accomplished. Sometimes it just makes me speechless...
7 Day Challenge - Abs (Day 1)
I looked at the calendar and realized yesterday that I start training for the Long Beach Marathon in a month -----eeeek! I was able to find a 16 week - Marathon for beginners - training schedule. It is a similar training schedule that I used for all 3 half marathons.
But I do not just want to start the marathon training. I love lifting weights and doing drills, reps, and sets, so I was able to find these 7 Day challenges put together by Skinny Ms.
Skinny Ms. is a fabulous website with slow cooker recipes and weekly fitness challenges. The one that I started today is the Abs 7 Day challenge where it takes from top fitness trainers (i.e. Bob Harper) and other videos from online and put together a great workout. They have videos explaining all the moves, so you do not have to feel lost. I have to admit that this is my first 7 Day challenge, but I managed to get through the first one today, and it was a great workout.
Monday workout:
(25) sitted, straight arm body twists w/ feet on ground
(25) sitted, straight arm body twists w/ feet lifted
(25) in and outs
(30 sec) isolation
(25) bicycles
(10 sec) isolation of each leg
(25) crunches
(25) leg lifts
(25) body throughs
Total time: 8 min
For the feet lifted, I put my feet on the wall since it was uncomfortable for me to keep my legs up and still twist. I started to really feel it during the in and outs and then there is a sprinkle of isolation. And with the leg lists, slower IS better. It really works your abs. I'm excited for tomorrow and how I feel then, but I'm glad that I'm excited.
For the rest of my workout this morning, this is what I did:
(25 min) Sitting bicycle machine
(8 min) Ab challenge
(10 min) Free weights - interval circuit - Arms
(10 min) Stretch
Total time: 53 min
Not too crazy today. Just kind of getting back into the swing of things since I took a week off from the half marathon and then being too busy and tired to commit to working out, but now that I have a plan, I can definitely get back on track.
But I do not just want to start the marathon training. I love lifting weights and doing drills, reps, and sets, so I was able to find these 7 Day challenges put together by Skinny Ms.
Skinny Ms. is a fabulous website with slow cooker recipes and weekly fitness challenges. The one that I started today is the Abs 7 Day challenge where it takes from top fitness trainers (i.e. Bob Harper) and other videos from online and put together a great workout. They have videos explaining all the moves, so you do not have to feel lost. I have to admit that this is my first 7 Day challenge, but I managed to get through the first one today, and it was a great workout.
Monday workout:
(25) sitted, straight arm body twists w/ feet on ground
(25) sitted, straight arm body twists w/ feet lifted
(25) in and outs
(30 sec) isolation
(25) bicycles
(10 sec) isolation of each leg
(25) crunches
(25) leg lifts
(25) body throughs
Total time: 8 min
For the feet lifted, I put my feet on the wall since it was uncomfortable for me to keep my legs up and still twist. I started to really feel it during the in and outs and then there is a sprinkle of isolation. And with the leg lists, slower IS better. It really works your abs. I'm excited for tomorrow and how I feel then, but I'm glad that I'm excited.
For the rest of my workout this morning, this is what I did:
(25 min) Sitting bicycle machine
(8 min) Ab challenge
(10 min) Free weights - interval circuit - Arms
(10 min) Stretch
Total time: 53 min
Not too crazy today. Just kind of getting back into the swing of things since I took a week off from the half marathon and then being too busy and tired to commit to working out, but now that I have a plan, I can definitely get back on track.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Chicken Pot Pie Muffins
I heart this recipe!
It's healthy, cheap, fast, and delicious! The best 4 words for dinner.
Kitchen Tools:
Large bowl
Muffin tin
Spoon for mixing
Small pan
Time:
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients:
Can of biscuits (MUST BE A SERVING of 10. I have found this at the 99 cent only store and I would check Food4Less/Savon or any type of discount store)
Cooked shredded chicken (You can boil 1 breast of chicken and shred or buy a can of shredded chicken
1 stalk of celery chopped
2 small carrots chopped
1/2 onion (You can do more or less. I love onions)
1/2 cup of cream of chicken
1 cup of shredded gouda cheese (If you cannot find gouda, use mozzarella or WW cheese)
Dash of red vinegar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray
Press biscuits into each hole by forming a cup. Spread the dough up the sides.
In a small pan, saute the vegetables with a dash of red vinegar for 5 minutes.
Mix saute vegetables with cheese, shredded chicken and cream of chicken.
Scoop a spoonful into each hole in muffin tin where you placed a biscuit. Make sure that they are even.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. You want the tops to be brown.
Pop the muffins out and they are ready to serve.
Per muffin:
So you could have 2 muffins and a side salad and have an awesome dinner.
It's healthy, cheap, fast, and delicious! The best 4 words for dinner.
Kitchen Tools:
Large bowl
Muffin tin
Spoon for mixing
Small pan
Time:
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients:
Can of biscuits (MUST BE A SERVING of 10. I have found this at the 99 cent only store and I would check Food4Less/Savon or any type of discount store)
Cooked shredded chicken (You can boil 1 breast of chicken and shred or buy a can of shredded chicken
1 stalk of celery chopped
2 small carrots chopped
1/2 onion (You can do more or less. I love onions)
1/2 cup of cream of chicken
1 cup of shredded gouda cheese (If you cannot find gouda, use mozzarella or WW cheese)
Dash of red vinegar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray
Press biscuits into each hole by forming a cup. Spread the dough up the sides.
In a small pan, saute the vegetables with a dash of red vinegar for 5 minutes.
Mix saute vegetables with cheese, shredded chicken and cream of chicken.
Scoop a spoonful into each hole in muffin tin where you placed a biscuit. Make sure that they are even.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. You want the tops to be brown.
Pop the muffins out and they are ready to serve.
Per muffin:
| Calories | Carbs | Fat | Protein | Sodium | Sugar |
| 120 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 374 | 1 |
So you could have 2 muffins and a side salad and have an awesome dinner.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Cheating is Healthy
Okay...so this might sound like a way to excuse my "bad behavior" today, but I believe when it comes to food, cheating is healthy.
If you have been very regime with your diet plan, having a cookie or an all fat item - like macaroni and cheese - is not going to break you.
I will come clean and share that I had a Starbucks Tall Mocha Cookie Crumble w/ the Chocolate Whip. I know, all those words in that title just scream WRONG! But I really wanted it. I had it in my mind that I wanted one. I really wanted to get it when Starbucks was doing their Frap Happy Hour last week, but I missed that. I just looked it up on MFP and this is the damage:
And with a 1200 calorie a day allowance, yeah, it looks like I have ruined my whole day.
Not necessarily...
Let us look at the positives. And when I talk about the positives, it is thinking and remembering back to what I would have ordered before pre-healthy living.
If you have been very regime with your diet plan, having a cookie or an all fat item - like macaroni and cheese - is not going to break you.
I will come clean and share that I had a Starbucks Tall Mocha Cookie Crumble w/ the Chocolate Whip. I know, all those words in that title just scream WRONG! But I really wanted it. I had it in my mind that I wanted one. I really wanted to get it when Starbucks was doing their Frap Happy Hour last week, but I missed that. I just looked it up on MFP and this is the damage:
May 17, 2013
| FOODS | Calories | Carbs | Fat | Protein | Cholest | Sodium | Sugars | Fiber |
| Morning Snack | ||||||||
| Strawberries - Raw, 4 medium (1-1/4" dia) | 15 | 4g | 0g | 0g | 0mg | 0mg | 2g | 1g |
| Costco - White Hard Boiled Egg, 1 egg | 70 | 0g | 5g | 7g | 210mg | 80mg | 0g | 0g |
| Sargento Snacks - String Cheese Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese Sticks, 1 stick | 80 | 1g | 6g | 8g | 15mg | 210mg | 0g | 0g |
| Lunch | ||||||||
| In General Salmon Sushi - 1 oz. Farmed Fish on A Bed of White Rice, 1 piece | 56 | 8g | 2g | 3g | 0mg | 0mg | 0g | 0g |
| Sushi - 1 Stick Immitation Crab, 1 Stick | 15 | 2g | 0g | 0g | 0mg | 0mg | 0g | 0g |
| Sushi - California Roll, 8 piece | 150 | 8g | 2g | 2g | 1mg | 100mg | 2g | 0g |
| Sushi - Nigiri - Tuna - Plain, 1 piece | 37 | 4g | 1g | 1g | 0mg | 1mg | 0g | 0g |
| Moshi Sushi - Nigiri Salmon, 1 piece | 64 | 9g | 1g | 5g | 8mg | 29mg | 1g | 0g |
| Generic - Sushi - Nigiri Shrimp, 1 piece - 1.25 oz | 68 | 11g | 1g | 8g | 0mg | 30mg | 0g | 1g |
| Afternoon Snack | ||||||||
| Starbucks - Tall Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Whole Milk With Whip, 1 Tall Size 12oz. | 340 | 52g | 14g | 5g | 40mg | 180mg | 48g | 1g |
| TOTAL: | 895 | 99g | 32g | 39g | 274mg | 630mg | 53g | 3g |
And with a 1200 calorie a day allowance, yeah, it looks like I have ruined my whole day.
Not necessarily...
Let us look at the positives. And when I talk about the positives, it is thinking and remembering back to what I would have ordered before pre-healthy living.
- I visit Starbucks about once a season, so I do not go to Starbucks every day. (No offense if you do.)
- My normal order at Starbucks is the Grande Mocha Light Frap (130 calories)
- I got a Tall - not a Grande. Back in the day, if I thought I was really hungry and deserved a good treat, I would have easily polished off a Venti and had an additional afternoon snack.
- I did not finish my drink, but I left the full amount of calories on MFP.
Looking at my day so far, this choice might not have been soooo bad if I hadn't had such a big lunch. (I heart sushi.) It's looking at something that was so bad and turning it into something good, so I don't become my worst critic of how I should not bought that item, and that I am going to gain weight, and I am a failure, and blah blah blah. One full calorie frap is not going to ruin all my successes up to this point.
One note that I do want to make that - AND I AM NOT AN EXPERT - but from experience, I would not cheat in the first month of starting a healthy lifestyle. Within that month, your body is adjusting to the healthier food and eating schedule and introducing the old food only make the adjustment to a healthier lifestyle even harder. It might even stop you from continuing.
Oh...and by the way, the drink was okay. I was expecting it to be thicker, almost more like a milkshake with cookie crumble, and it just left me kind of eh.
I'm coming out and freaking out
I am no stranger to coming out. I'm a lesbian that is in an interracial marriage with a foster child. I have to come out pretty much every day.
But this blog is the official coming out that I'm running a marathon. It freaks me out. In a previous post, I stated that I have completed 3 half marathons. I can tell you, that before the first half marathon, I was completely freaking out. I was freaking out so much that I did not register for the race until a month out. And even during that time, 13.1 miles seemed like a daunting task. I was just barely feeling comfortable running 3 miles when I made a decision.
I think the part that scares me is telling people. Telling all the people who asked when I was doing a marathon, and I quickly brushed them off saying, "That's crazy! Who wants to run 26.2 miles?" Telling people that I want to spend a considerable amount of my free time to go run. That I want to give up my sleeping and vegging time to put myself through pain and soreness. I believe I did not tell people that I was running the first half marathon until like 2 weeks before.
It scares me to fail. It scares me to feel like I let people down. When I started MFP, I did not tell people that I was changing my diet until a month in when they started to ask if I was losing weight. Even with my first post to this blog, I was already sharing my doubts. Keeping the thought to myself is my safeguard. If I do something, and then do not follow through, then no one will know it except me. But what am I guarding? My self-esteem? My pride? And then that questioning snowballs into "Am I being selfish", "Why do I need to do this? You need to be spending time on something else."
Another reason for not telling people because I have not found the confidence in myself to believe. In other words, this whole process of being healthy, losing weight to FINALLY be in a healthy BMI, and running are things that I NEVER EVER thought I would be able to accomplish. And I have. I've done it. But it is surreal. It is weird shopping for clothes and picking up a SMALL. It is weird that a guy could offer his jacket and I do not refuse because I know that the jacket will be 2 sizes too big for me instead of barely fitting.
I think it's time to start a new thought process. It's time to come out of the closet and let people celebrate the successes. When I linked my MFP to automatically update to my Facebook whenever I lost weight, I was embraced with such kind words and encouragement. It was the same when I started running. I started to find out that other friends were running half marathons and losing weight.
So here is my big coming out party: I'M TRAINING FOR A MARATHON!! =)
But this blog is the official coming out that I'm running a marathon. It freaks me out. In a previous post, I stated that I have completed 3 half marathons. I can tell you, that before the first half marathon, I was completely freaking out. I was freaking out so much that I did not register for the race until a month out. And even during that time, 13.1 miles seemed like a daunting task. I was just barely feeling comfortable running 3 miles when I made a decision.
I think the part that scares me is telling people. Telling all the people who asked when I was doing a marathon, and I quickly brushed them off saying, "That's crazy! Who wants to run 26.2 miles?" Telling people that I want to spend a considerable amount of my free time to go run. That I want to give up my sleeping and vegging time to put myself through pain and soreness. I believe I did not tell people that I was running the first half marathon until like 2 weeks before.
It scares me to fail. It scares me to feel like I let people down. When I started MFP, I did not tell people that I was changing my diet until a month in when they started to ask if I was losing weight. Even with my first post to this blog, I was already sharing my doubts. Keeping the thought to myself is my safeguard. If I do something, and then do not follow through, then no one will know it except me. But what am I guarding? My self-esteem? My pride? And then that questioning snowballs into "Am I being selfish", "Why do I need to do this? You need to be spending time on something else."
Another reason for not telling people because I have not found the confidence in myself to believe. In other words, this whole process of being healthy, losing weight to FINALLY be in a healthy BMI, and running are things that I NEVER EVER thought I would be able to accomplish. And I have. I've done it. But it is surreal. It is weird shopping for clothes and picking up a SMALL. It is weird that a guy could offer his jacket and I do not refuse because I know that the jacket will be 2 sizes too big for me instead of barely fitting.
I think it's time to start a new thought process. It's time to come out of the closet and let people celebrate the successes. When I linked my MFP to automatically update to my Facebook whenever I lost weight, I was embraced with such kind words and encouragement. It was the same when I started running. I started to find out that other friends were running half marathons and losing weight.
So here is my big coming out party: I'M TRAINING FOR A MARATHON!! =)
Putting in the Time
Using MyFitnessPal (MFP), I have lost 71 pounds.
Yes. I'm allllllmost there. My goal is to reach 150 and I've been hovering between 151 and 155. Bad eating habits, no gym/running time, and plenty of other excuses have not gotten me through this last leg. It would be "hitting the wall" in marathon terms, but in actuality, it isn't. Yes, I have had MAJOR life changes in the last 2 months, but it has been 2 months. I need to buckle down and just finish it. I can see the end, I just need to get my body moving in that direction.
Last year, I started using MFP. I had hit a rock bottom of sorts. My sister was getting married, and I was a bridesmaid, and I had ordered my dress in February, and 5 weeks later, it did not even zip up.
Disaster.
I think I'll always remember standing in that dressing room at David's Bridal just looking at my back as my wife desperately tried to zip it up, to make everything okay, and it would not budge. It was only going up half way. Totally devastated. What was I going to do? My wife told me, "We are going to start something, and we are going to do it together." I agreed, and then we went to Lucille's afterwards.
But she found MFP, and I can say that I have logged over 400 days in a row. I have not missed 1 day since I started. I can say that I have accomplished a lot in this last year:
Yes. I'm allllllmost there. My goal is to reach 150 and I've been hovering between 151 and 155. Bad eating habits, no gym/running time, and plenty of other excuses have not gotten me through this last leg. It would be "hitting the wall" in marathon terms, but in actuality, it isn't. Yes, I have had MAJOR life changes in the last 2 months, but it has been 2 months. I need to buckle down and just finish it. I can see the end, I just need to get my body moving in that direction.
Last year, I started using MFP. I had hit a rock bottom of sorts. My sister was getting married, and I was a bridesmaid, and I had ordered my dress in February, and 5 weeks later, it did not even zip up.
Disaster.
I think I'll always remember standing in that dressing room at David's Bridal just looking at my back as my wife desperately tried to zip it up, to make everything okay, and it would not budge. It was only going up half way. Totally devastated. What was I going to do? My wife told me, "We are going to start something, and we are going to do it together." I agreed, and then we went to Lucille's afterwards.
But she found MFP, and I can say that I have logged over 400 days in a row. I have not missed 1 day since I started. I can say that I have accomplished a lot in this last year:
- I lost over 70 lbs
- I successfully completed 3 half marathons and completed the Beach Series Challenge
- I have went down from a 18/20 to a 6/8.
And something that I gained that cannot be quantified is the amount of stuff that I am finding out now on what I missed when I was younger. Simple things like swinging on the monkey bars. Climbing up a ladder. Playing on the seesaw and not having that worry in the back of my head that I was going to break it. When I was growing up, teachers would comment that I was a shy kid. Reflecting on it now, I think I was a scared kid that was afraid of being the butt of the joke. I was protecting and hiding myself.
No more hiding. It's almost summertime! Time to show it off!
But really, this is just another way of discovering me. How I want to be perceived in the world. I have a chance to make a new name for myself. That feels good....
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