Day 47: Busting out Reps and Supersetting

Hello one and all! Today was weights again. I love doing weights, I don't have to pep talk myself like I do with running! I can feel my legs are a bit tired, which is always a nice feeling. It lets me know I worked hard.

Tomorrow, I attempt the 2 1/4 mile run again. I'm really hoping it all goes well, no break down again! I don't have much to say. Sorry all!

Happy Friday, be safe!

Day 33: Supersets and Food Prep

Hello one and all! It was weights today, and I did not skimp on my arm workout. I did a full superset workout for both my upper and lower body, plus more ab work from the Oxygen special. I feel awesome! Then I went shopping to get some things I needed to make myself some frees able, healthy dinners. Breakfasts too! So, tonight, clean pancakes and waffles, clean bread and possible clean French toast too. I made 9 individual meatloaf cups, using ground turkey, grated carrots, half a red onion, finely chopped celery (lol fine for me honestly), black pepper, basil, oregano and time. I also made nine individual whole wheat lasagnas, using whole wheat noodles, ground turkey, low fat cottage cheese (the fat free stuff is full of chemicals), low fat mozzarella cheese and low fat Parmesan cheese. Yummy!

In the slow cooker right now, I have a great recipe from Tiffany at The Gracious Pantry. It's called red lentil stew! It's supposed to use an Indian spice called garam masala, but I didn't have that, and forgot to get it today when I was out, so I just used extra curry instead. Smells great! I used another one of Tiffany's recipes last night, for clean banana muffins. Big hit at this house! If you haven't checked out Tiffany's website, you seriously need to give it a read. She does great work!

In sad news, fitness legend Robert Kennedy passed away last night. My thoughts are with Tosca Reno and their family. Bob was a huge inspiration, and a role model for everyone trying to learn to eat right and exercise. I'll really miss reading Bob's Tough Love in Oxygen every month. RIP, Robert Kennedy.

Day 31: Working Hard and Still Loving "Ceremonials"

Hello one and all! Today, I felt an unnecessary time crunch when I went to work out. I had a quick per-workout snack (sprouted grain toast with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter) and waited twenty minutes before starting my workout. I'm one of those "lucky" people who can have breakfast and immediately work out without feeling sick. Yay me? Anyways. I decided to do supersets today. Except instead of doing a total body one, I did one superset workout for the lower body, then picked one upper body exercise from each set from a superset workout I found on about.com. Also...

Abs day! The Oxygen Abs Issue is out, and it's a gooder! I read it last night, and immediately decided to try one of the ab workouts in there. Was it ever tough! I skipped the final exercise for obliques, because I find oblique exercises bother my lower back a bit if I can't 100000% focus on what I'm doing. So I just did two sets each of the first four exercises, and I'll probably feel it tomorrow! Because I loathe working my abs, I decided to follow the advice from some superfit ladies in the magazine: do your abs first in your workout so you have no excuse not to. Great advice! I worked my way through them, then jumped right into my lower body stuff. I feel awesome!

Also, I can't stop listening to the Ceremonials album by Florence + the Machine. It blows my mind. Give it a listen already!

Have a great day, everybody!

Day Nineteen: Protein Shakes and Great Tunes

Hello one and all! Today was back to supersets. Good times! I added another set of calf exercises to this workout, because I want to see some definition in those puppies! I'd love to have legs that look toned and lean in heels. For now, I just look taller! Which isn't a bad thing either. I also decided that I would very much like a jump rope. I like to mix up my warm ups on weight days, and I think jumping rope would be a great warm up. Plus, it's great for your calves!

Today I decided to mix things up and listen to something that wasn't my exercise playlist. Today's album choice: Ceremonials by Florence + the Machine. Great music to lift weights to! I really enjoyed that part. Plus I am in love with Florence Welch's voice. I heard a rumor that Florence + the Machine are possibly first up in the return of Unplugged on MTV. If that's true, maybe there's hope for MTV after all!

In diet related news, I scoped out a bunch of recipes for the 17 Day Diet last night. I think I can do it. And with mom helping me, it'll be much easier. Sometimes I kind of flounder around on what I can eat. I find it hard to be creative without making a decadent cheese sauce... I'll have to work on that! So we're probably food shopping tomorrow or Sunday, and probably prepping food on Monday. I really like the idea of freezing a bunch of meals. It seems so convenient!

And only two more days until I post some horrifying pictures and embarrassing measurements and weights! So continue to stay tuned for that, friends. Happy Friday!

Day Fifteen: Doubling up on Supersets and Other Exercises

Hello one and all! So today was a weights day. I decided to double up on my supersets. Holy cow, hard work! You're probably wondering why I decided to double up. I have a confession...

I weighed and measured myself today.

Why? Because I am the kind of person who has to have results. I need to know how I'm doing, or my motivation goes kaput. Seriously. I can go from being crazy excited and focused to done exercising forever if I don't see the results that will keep me going. Perhaps you're wondering what I discovered. What did I lose? Where did I lose most? Well, I've decided to stick to my original plan of posting my results every three weeks, as well as progress photos, if I can figure that out...

In addition to doubling up on my supersets, I also decided to add some extra exercises for my trouble zones (being my inner thighs and my stomach). Because I work my abs on the same days I run, I only added inner thigh exercises. Well, in addition to the extra leg exercises I already added to my supersets, being calf raises and side lying leg raises with a weighted bar. Hard stuff! If you wanna blast your inner thighs, give those a try!

Anyways, ladies and gents, that's all for me. I'm waiting around to get ready for work, late shift tonight. Oh well. I'm just gonna drink my protein shake and relax. Have a great day!

Day Twelve: Supersets Again

Hello one and all! Mot much to say today. I did my supersets before I went to work, and could I ever feel it! But I was really energetic this morning. It wore off around four thirty. Then I was just exhausted! Maybe I'm an afternoon workout kind of girl.

In unrelated news, I've noticed since I started sweating daily, my keratosis pilarus (red bumps on my arms and legs) has gotten worse. What a bummer! I'm going to try to get that all sorted.

Night everybody!

Day Eight: Super Sets and Food Prep

Hello again, one and all! Back to working out today. I did total body super sets today, and what a workout that was! Hard stuff, but I feel great now. Last night's cheat meal was delicious. I had a burger loaded up with great stuff: mustard, barbeque sauce, pickles, extra old cheddar, lettuce, a hot dog, and some mushrooms and onions. Plus my french fries! They were delicious. I also had a hankering for ice cream, so Dan and I went to Dairy Queen and got a Blizzard for me (cookie dough and Smarties) and a chocolate shake for him. Plus a mint Oreo Blizzard for my dad. I couldn't even finish my Blizzard. It was great the first few bites, then it was just a really sweet, sticky mess. I think for my next cheat meal I'll avoid ice cream and have something else instead.

Blogging early again today, it isn't even noon yet. But I have things to do today! I forgot to mention that I actually did make the frozen "yogurt" on Saturday. I haven't tried it yet, but it smells good! Today, I'm making steel cut oats for me and momba to have for breakfast, and I'm finally going to try clean pancake making. Good stuff! Then Dan and I are hanging out after he gets off work. Probably going to play more Mario Party 9, because Dan is amazing and he bought it yesterday. It's actually really fun, and finally something different from all the other 8. For anyone who doesn't know, Mario Party is one of my favorite games ever. We had MP 2 and 3 for the N64, and I think we have MP 6 for the Game Cube, and now MP 8 and 9 for the Wii. I can't believe I've never been able to find MP 1, though I've played it before. Maybe I'll look for it....

That's it for me, happy Monday everyone!