40 Pound Challenge Week 3

Here we are at week 3 of my 40 pound challenge! Wow. In general, I had a good week. I was did my best to stick to my weekly goals, I know I wasn't 100% successful, but I sure did better than I had been. Apparently, just having those goals written down helped. Learn something new. :-) Here are the weekly goals overall:

increase my protein levels (approximately 79 g per day) 

eat approximately 1500 cals per day 

work out 3-4 days a week

 Day 14/ June 25, 2013

* Just under in calories (-175)

* Just under in protein (-8)

* Upper body workout

* 35 minute stationary bike (7.5 miles): 477 calories

Day 15/June 26, 2013

* Just under in calories (-158)

* Under in protein (-21)

* 30 minute TRX: 250 calories

* 30 minute stationary bike (6.3 miles): 450 calories

Day 16/June 27, 2013

* Over in calories (+330)

* Under in protein (-20)

* No workout

Day 17/June 28, 2013

* Over in calories (+761)

* Unsure of protein 

* No workout

Day 18/June 29, 2013

* Official splurge day

* 30 minute upper body workout

* 60 minute stationary bike

Day 19/June 30, 2013

* Unsure of calories, but believe approximately within calories (went out to eat last minute)

* Unsure of protein

* 2.5 mile run

Day 20/July 1, 2013

* Just under in calories (-17)

* Under in protein (-22)

* 30 minute TRX: 250

* 35 minute stationary bike (7.6  miles): 477

This morning got on the scale and somehow I was down...by quite a bit. This week, down by 3, for a total of 7.2. That's more than I anticipated. I suppose keeping track of what I ate, even if I didn't stay completely on track was helpful. Amazing. So, did I follow-through on my weekly goals?

1.  KEEP FOOD/EXERCISE JOURNAL EVERY DAY - Yes, even if I didn't know the calories I still wrote everything down. I could at least do that.

2. Be at 1500 calories 6 out of 7 days. - No. There were two days I was over. Though I was under a few days, so maybe that's what evened things out overall?

3. Reach 79 g of protein 2 out of 7 days. (In two weeks, I've done this once) - Only close once. Seriously. This is frustrating. Do I need to eat a can of tuna every day???

4. Workout 4 out of 7 days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Monday) - Success! I actually worked out 5 days rather than 4. Go me! Pretty happy about that.

5. Reach the next 10 pound weight range. - Woot! Made it! Very excited about this! Now to get to the next 10 pound range! (Don't worry, I know it won't be next week. But, positive thinking, right?)

Since those weekly goals worked so well, let's do them again! :-)

1.  KEEP FOOD/EXERCISE JOURNAL EVERY DAY

2. Be at 1500 calories 6 out of 7 days.

3. Reach 70 g of protein 3 days out of 7 days

4. Workout 4 our of 7 days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Monday)

5. Lose weight.

Alright. I had a great week in Week 3. Hoping Week 4 is just as great!!

 

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Weekend

It's the weekend and plans usually call for a run on Saturday and then to just chill. Saturday morning I woke up later than I thought I would. By the time I got out of bed, hubby had been up for hours and wanted breakfast, so I skipped my run and went to breakfast with him (we go to Dunkin Donuts every Saturday. It's a tradition we started about 5 years ago when I started running.). When we came home I tweeted, "A Saturday with nothing to do. What to do...what to do..." One of my Twitter friends responded with "do a little more training then maybe you have planned and then reward yourself!!! Everyday can be a fun day :-)"

And with that, I felt bad for having skipped my run. It was too hot and too late to go out for a run (plus I had just eaten a wake up wrap, donut, and iced coffee. I can't imagine that would have gone well with a run), but I could do an upper body workout and use my stationary bike. So, I did 5 rounds of upper body lifting and 60 minutes of my stationary bike. Not bad considering I usually do 3 rounds of upper body and 30 minutes on the stationary bike. I felt better.

But, something strange happened. It felt odd not going for a run this weekend. Not that I've been the best at running lately, but it still felt strange. So, this morning I got up and went for a run. Sadly, Garmin was dead and I had no idea. I only used it for the 5k last weekend, but I guess I forgot to turn it off. So, instead I used my Nano, which has the Nike+ system on it. It's not 100% accurate, but it was better than nothing. It was hot. I don't like hot. I was slow, but I kept a steady pace and ran almost the whole thing. The last few meters I walked, but it was hot. I had water with Nuun Tropical and a cold wash cloth waiting for me in the car and it was heavenly. LOL!

Came home and made lunch. Finished off my Nuun and while waiting for my low-fat waffles to toast I found Lilo and Stitch on Disney! One of my all-time favorite movies! Apparently the universe rewards following through on your plans to run. ;-)

So, I got an extra workout this weekend because I couldn't just replace my run with upper body workout and a stationary bike.

Did you get your workout in this weekend? Do you enjoy working out in the heat or are you more a cold weather person?


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8 - 30 - 4.5

8 mile run

30 minute trainer session

4.5 mile bike

I'm thinking I went a bit overboard yesterday. I needed a long run over the weekend, but it didn't happen so I figured I would do it Monday. I went to the park and ran 8 miles at a local park. My mileage for the weekend was 10, but I just couldn't run around the park one more time. LOL! I was happy with 8 miles. 

At 6:30, hubby and I met with our trainer for 30 minutes. We did a fairly easy routine, then spent the rest of the time doing core work. Sadly, most of it involved legs which was not happening after an 8 mile run. Some of the stuff I just couldn't do. The legs were just not cooperating. 

After the trainer session, we hit the stationary bike to help with the soreness. We started doing this after our trainer sessions about a month ago and it has drastically cut down on the amount of soreness we have over the next two days. It doesn't go away totally, but it is much more manageable. We cycled 4.5 miles in 25 minutes. 

Today, I'm feeling a bit sore. Not awful, but I can tell I worked out yesterday. I'm thinking yesterday was a crazy workout day. Really not me actually. I'm hoping that the pounding I took over the course of the day though helps strengthen my legs for the half. The last time I ran 9 miles, it took almost 2 hours and 10 minutes. This time, 8 miles took 1 hour and 46 minutes, which if we take my mile pace and add one for 9 miles, I would be under 2 hours. Not a bad increase in a month. I have about a month until Shamrock. I really want to keep a 12:59 pace. Yesterday was a 13:19 pace. I'm getting there. Hoping I can bring my pace down a bit in the next month and I get a boost from those running around me.

How was your Monday workouts? Did you have a good one?

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Trainer Session

Squats

Last night hubby and I went back to the trainer after the holidays. We should have gone last Monday, but hubby was fighting an awful cold or some such and my knee was still unable to move much. We rescheduled for last night at 6:30 p.m. and went.

It was all legs. More to the point squats. I had no idea there were so many variations on the squat. We did the above, plus a few more and throw in some burpees and calf lifts for good measure. After the wall squats my knee made its displeasure known. I had to skip the jumping squats. I did do the side-to-side ball with throw (no idea the real name) and foot-over-foot planks.

Afterwards, I forced hubby into doing the stationary bike for 30 minutes. He wanted to go home, but I wanted to get in some cardio. Did 35 minutes on the stationary bike at incline 2 for 6.45 miles. I'm getting better since my knee injury on the bike. I started off 2013 at 6.33 miles, then got up to 6.65 before injuring my knee. Then last week I was in the 6.20 miles, then last night I got the distance back up. Not quite where I was, but better. I'll get back to it and hopefully even further.

Woke up this morning and my legs felt good. I was surprised. But, I'm starting to notice some soreness in the quads. Lovely. Hopefully this doesn't keep me from some form of cardio. It obviously won't be fast. LOL!



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Getting back on track

I have a post to come that will come once the camera comes, but for now this quick little one.

I ate a little too badly yesterday and today I'm trying to make up for it.  I started off by doing some core work - push-ups, sit-ups, and bicycle scissors.  Any other ideas are welcome.  I was able to do 100 sit-ups today, which is double what I was doing.  :-)  Not too shabby!

Then it was off to my arm weight lifting routine.  It's nothing fancy, but I'm trying.  I use an eight pound weight for my 15 minutes of arm exercises (not this one.  Mine is gray with a rubber handle).  I'm trying to tighten up my arms and whittle my waist a little.  The goal is every other day.  I'm not always successful, but I'm trying...

Then I did an exercise video. 

I'm trying to do a variety of exercises, while running.  I recently read that walking helps keep the muscles you use to run in shape without putting the stress of running on them.  This is the only video of her's I have, but not because I didn't like it.  I do enjoy using it.  I have it on my workout schedule about once a week.  Today, I used it without sound, which actually made it harder.  LOL!  It's a low-key exercise that I enjoy mixing in.

I'm debating whether to use my little stationary bike tonight as well. 

Sadly, mine does not have that fancy monitor, but that's the basic bike I use. I bought one about three years ago before starting grad school.  I knew that working full-time and going to school part-time would make working out hard, so I found this little bike that I could read for class and still work out at the same time.  I still use it a couple days a week as an easy workout, but the one I bought in 2008 had some problems last week.  The pedal kept coming off.  It was time for a new one.  Which was supposed to be Friday's workout, but I thought Target would have one.  Nope.  I was able to pick one up at Wal-Mart on Saturday, but with being out all day on Sunday I didn't get a chance to use it.  So, I'm still debating doing my Friday's workout tonight.  It's still possible.