Ramping Up

It's Friday of week 3 and this week was challenging.

I struggled a bit with Tuesday's workout. For the first time I took off without a quick yogurt or oatmeal and I also knew I had to get back home and showered quickly if I wanted to drop Levi off for his last day of school and then on to the airport. I didn't bonk but I definitely didn't feel like I was really all in and struggled a bit.

Being back on the road for work was great but challenging when you are trying to eat well. I threw in a few protein bars and asked for my steak grilled dry and substituted the potato for broccoli at dinner (thank goodness my friends are also habitually healthy eaters and did the same without ridiculing me). The wine was definitely off plan though! Coming back through the Phoenix airport was the worst as fast food reigned without even a turkey sandwich in sight. I am going to have to come up with packing strategies for my food. I have a conference in Colorado, another day trip to Phoenix and a week in Orlando coming up in the next month and need a plan to avoid food courts and banquet meals. Just think about all the sparkling water I'll be drinking during the social events, it makes me feel healthy just thinking about it!

Thursday's workout was also difficult. The weights were so heavy that I had trouble keeping good form and I think my shoulders are more tender today than my legs after an hour of squats. There must be a compromise here, we'll see if Christina agrees.

The tweak that I knew was coming but thought would be another week out... we are upping the cardio and getting stricter with the diet. The goal... a total of 5000 calories burned a week. I don't know where I am today but even with the daily workouts and dramatically improved diet I bet I have a lot of work to do to get calories down and exercise up to reach the goal. With this goal we are cutting out carbs after noon.Makes the afternoon snacks a bit more challenging. More list making in my future as I adapt to these new changes.

I think I'll take a quick run despite the fact that I already did spinning this morning, 5000 is a really big number! We are headed to the neighbors for our usual Friday night happy hour and what better way to end a run than in the pool.

The Most Useful Thing I've Learned...

Did I mention that the diet hasn't been a problem yet? Yes, I would like a piece of pizza and I'm really thinking about a taco on my day off Saturday or maybe a chocolate croissant or lemon tart from the new French bakery opening just down the street.

Besides those occasional thoughts though I'm really not feeling deprived at all. I eat constantly trying to get in 5 small meals a day and they are all substantial meals. They might be small but with protein and carbs in each one I'm seldom hungry unless I sneak up on four hours between meals at which point I start to go into a mild panic. This doesn't feel like a diet and really probably isn't... it's just a better way of eating.

We have found some absolutely outstanding recipes that still have me looking forward to dinner and the leftovers. Can you believe it? I'm eating leftovers and enjoying them.

Thank goodness Joel and I are good cooks. Poorly cooked chicken breasts deserve their reputation but a perfectly cooked one, particularly when you buy local/organic, are awesome. Grilled or cooked over dry heat, braised in broth. You name it and I've been eating it and loving it. With grapefruit salsa. Grilled with Peri Peri courtesy Neale. In fajitas (who knew corn tortillas were a good choice?). Slow cooked with pintos and a classic mirepoux.

Fish has been my other stand-by. Seared or grilled tuna, salmon and halibut with a big side of vegetables is one of my favorite. I'm also getting out for lunch once a week treating myself to sushi/sashimi. Next week I think we better throw in some beef just to up the variety.

Not to say that we aren't going to throw a good rib-eye on the grill at the end of the summer or that I'm going to pass up the puffy tacos at Vivo's. But nice to be building up a whole variety of things that I can eat all week long so that I can have that puffy taco on Saturday before I slip on that swimsuit.

Speaking of food... time for lunch.

2 of 24 training sessions down, week 2 done.

Well, not done. I still have to find time for cardio on Friday and Saturday which is the part I tend to find myself dreading. I actually look forward to the training sessions. But still, the really measurable part of the week is behind me.

Today's workout was upper body with enough mat work where my head was below my heart that I'm still a little lightheaded and nauseous three hours later.

WO4:
Warm-up
3 sets 12 each side standing DB rows
3 sets 20 DB chest press followed by 20 DB flies
3 sets 20 caterpillars followed by 20 oblique push-ups

3 sets 20 ? - lay on the ground gripping DB and pull from behind head through to chest
3 sets 20 ? - plank position raising alternating hands

3 sets 20 DB curl-ups

This morning as I dropped Levi off at school I introduced myself to a mom who I had heard is also training with Christina and Mariah. Turns out she is in week 12 and she was headed for her last session. She looked fantastic and was not thrilled that the 12 weeks were over but disappointed that it was coming to an end. I was pleased that I took the time to stop her as it was an encouraging reminder that I can continue to take whatever they throw at us even as it ramps week by week.

After a few months off she plans to start up again in August and invited me to join her as she lives in our neighborhood only a few blocks away. I'm actually thinking about it. First things first though... weeks 3-12.

Week 2, Workout 3

It is easier to knock out a big goal if you can break it down. When the reps are just too much (and 3 sets of 20 of everything we do almost always is!) then I close my eyes and just try to push through to 10 then start again and see if I can't get another 10. That last 10 sometimes has to be broken down into 5s.

We are in week 2 of 12 and I'm still loving this. Week one -check. Week two - in progress; one of two workouts with Christie down. Only 10 more weeks after that. I can so do this.

Sure, 5am is early. But if you put those feet straight on the floor and into your shoes and leave yourself time for a yogurt before heading out the door it is not so bad and at 7:15 when I'm driving down Bee Cave absolutely exhausted yet feeling great I know I've already done something good for myself and still have my entire day in front of me. It definitely helps though that I know I only have to do it 2 days a week. Yes, I have to workout pretty much everyday but I can jump on the bike at home at 6am which seems like a luxury or even hit the gym at work over lunch.

This past weekend we had an extra upper body workout to do on our own. I think that will be the norm. Strength training homework assignments above and beyond the 3-4 days of cardio that is.

3 sets of 20 each:
Dumbbell Bicep Curl, Tricep Pushups, Burpees (Burpees suck)
3 sets 10 each:
Dumbbell Hammer Curl, Overhead Dumbbell Extensions, 40 Mountain Climbers
3 sets:
30 second run followed by 25 chair dips and 30 second plank

This morning was a lower body workout. You burn between 500-800 calories in the hour and the idea that it is lower body is completely false. I can feel every muscle in my body right now from my ears to my toes.

WO3:

3 sets 20 step-ups followed by 10 lateral squats each side
3 sets 12 stand from wall with overhead weight followed by moving lunge & twist
3 sets alternating skips followed by 10 toe dips each side
3 sets 20 incline push ups followed by 20 squat jumps

It's been 4 hours since my last meal and 2 hours since my last latte which counts as a snack at this stage in the game given the protein in the skim milk. I'm starving. A chicken fajita for my 4th 'meal' of the day at 1pm.

Training Tidbits

So the first week of 6am workouts is behind us.

I've certainly been sore all week but the workouts are manageable. The cardio leaves me incredibly winded and I'm forever slow but the second day was better than the first and I expect it will only continue to improve. I enjoy the strength training although with the heavier weights I find I can't always do all twenty reps three times each. My arms in particular turn to jelly before the end of the set and just refuse to lift another weight. I just have to remind myself not to give in too early as I'm only cheating myself if I give in when it merely gets hard rather than when I'm physically tapped out.

I had the thought this morning that it might be smart to try to document the workouts so I can repeat them on my own later when I don't have the luxury of a trainer. So to the best of my recollection I'll try to capture each days workout here.

WO 1:

Orientation, Foam Rolling Techniques & Warm up

• 2 sets ten seconds high knees, fast feet, & jumping jacks;
• 2 sets ten reps squats, trunk extensions, push-ups;
• 2 sets there & back high knees, butt kicks, punter kicks, & lunge with a twist.
• Out & back jog. Quarter mile?

Strength Training: Some combination of squats, dead-lifts and shoulder presses.

WO 2:

• Foam Rolling, warm up, out & back jog.
• 3 sets push-ups 10 each, 20 each I'm not sure.
  
• 3 sets 20 tricep presses followed by 20 alternating oblique push-ups.
• 3 sets 25 kettle ball swings.
  
• 3 sets 25 kettle ball rows.
  

Sunday, Monday and Wednesday were cardio session on bike. I'm looking forward to changing it up a bit this weekend with a run around Town Lake.

It helps that each morning Jacob asks me, "Mom, did you exercise yet today?"

And Then There Was Protein

4 days in and so far so good.

The diet, surprisingly, is the part I am enjoying the best. Probably because it is a puzzle of sorts. No Atkins or South Beach or any other diet that focuses on eliminating certain food groups. This is just about balanced meals, portion control and getting your metabolism up.

My typical diet would consist of a latte around 8:30am, maybe lunch out (Mexican, Thai, pizza, etc...) or maybe I would miss lunch if I got distracted at work, and then dinner out or in. If we eat in I had been cutting back portions and trying to do more meat/veggies and less carbs but if we eat out all bets are off. The worst of days were the ones where I ate no breakfast or lunch and showed up at 6pm with dangerously low blood sugar and an attitude to match.

Now I am eating 5 meals a day, all balanced between carbs and proteins. Ok, that's doable but add in a target to reach 100g of protein a day and do it in under 1050 total calories then it becomes tricky. That is where the puzzle comes in.

I did go grocery shopping last Friday and bought what I thought I would need for the week and once I started putting the puzzle together real-time found that I went through ALL the protein by Wednesday morning.

I suspect as soon as I have the puzzle solved they will modify the diet and I'll be back at square one but for now one week at a time and this one is going well.

Ready to Rumble?

Yes, yes I am.

Am I motivated? Absolutely.

Am I nervous. You better believe it!

Today is the first day of a 12 week fitness challenge that I’m throwing myself into with every muscle in my body.

My goals? To improve the way I eat and lose a few pounds, to tone up this body that has gone soft from years of neglect, and to improve my overall fitness level. I’d like to be able to snow ski with the boys, I’d like to learn to wakeboard this summer, I’d like to be able to hop back on my bike and do two loops at Muleshoe again.

How am I going to get there? Well sitting around and thinking about it hasn’t gotten me much of anywhere in the last several years. What all that thinking did was help me to realize that what I needed was nutrition training, motivation, routine, and most importantly… accountability. That’s when I seem to excel. When someone besides myself is really expecting me to get something done. Then I can move mountains. If I'm only accountable to myself I tend to move wine glasses.

Enter Andrea who, driven by goals of her own, invited me to join her for a 12 week body camp with Revelation Fitness, owned by her friend Mariah MacDonald. Perfect. 5 minutes later and a quick scan of the program I realized it had every element I needed to get this body moving again and I jumped in before I could think twice.

Now the start of that 12 weeks is here.

I met with Mariah last week for an orientation session before we begin training Tuesday. Basic nutrition counseling, goal setting, measurements, and even the dreaded “before” pictures.

I’m glad I got started early because it gave me a few days to fool around with the food logs and learn that grilled cheese sandwiches just really aren’t a great choice when you are looking to lose weight. Of course I knew that but until you see the numbers you don’t realize just how bad a choice it is!

So remember my somewhat modest goals above? Improve my nutrition, tone those arms and legs, maybe lose 5-10 pounds along the way and generally improve my fitness level? Yea, no. New revised goals after 30 minutes with Mariah...

• Run the Hill Country Twilight 5K in 32 minutes at the end of June.
• Lose 22 pounds,
• 3 dress sizes,
  
• and 14% body fat by July 29^th!

I can only imagine how intense this is going to get. But I can do anything for 12 weeks. Particularly when someone is expecting me to do it and has absolutely no intention of letting me fail.

Twelve weeks. That is 3 months. One quarter. Half a semester. One trimester. It is the blink of an eye. And likely the longest 12 weeks I can imagine. I’m sure there will be day,s many days when my commitment wavers but… it’s only twelve weeks. Put one foot in front of the other. Turn the crank. I’ve surprised myself before.