tough mudder week 3, an awesome soup and measurements...

SO much to say today :)

Today was tough mudder training week 3. I was a sweaty mess! It took me 37 minutes to do the following
-run 1/4 mile, 50 count jump rope, 20 walking weighted lunges, 20 thrusters, 20 pushups
-run 1/4 mile, 3 thirty second sprints at 730 min/mile, 50 count jump rope, 20 walking weighted lunges, 20 thrusters, 20 walking pushups
-run 1/4 mile, 3 thirty second sprints at 730 min/mile, 3 45 second hill runs at an incline of 9, 50 count jump rope, 20 walking weighted lunges, 20 thrusters, 20 pushups
-run 1/4 mile

omg SWEATY mess! I took a pic but it was not even close to being anything I would want to put out there so trust me :)

Then since I was feeling awesome - afterwards I decided to redo my measurements. It has been a full month of major weight training and cardio workouts. I havent missed more than 1-2 workouts and I made them up. But my diet has sucked. And they werent kidding when they say you cant out run or out-workout a bad diet. My measurements are EXACTLY the same. Bummed. NEED TO EAT BETTER!

Made a rocking soup today - used the red pepper soup recipe off of greenlitebites.com that I make often. I roast the red peppers and onion in the oven before adding it to the mix. And this time I saved the pulp from my green juice yesterday and added two cups of kale/cucumber/celery/parsley pulp. OMG so so so good!

a plan... and wow what a workout!

First today was my first day of the second phase of Chealean Extreme.  Today was PUSH 1. OMG loved it! My arms are jelly!

Second - I sat down to plan out my workouts for the next few days.

Monday - 30 min swimming, 15 pushups x3, Push 1 video
Tuesday - 7 pushups x 3, Push 2 video, 3 mile run and speed work
Wednesday - 16 pushups x 3, tough mudder workout, video
Thursday - early spin class, 7 pushups x 3, video
Friday - video, long run 75 minutes, 17 pushups x 3
Saturday - REST
Sunday - video, yoga


Now to plan this weeks tough mudder workout :)

mia

Ive been MIA ... and Im sure you all know why. Its the only reason I tend to be mia for... I have sucked lately. I havent wanted to acknowledge my sucky-ness and saying it makes it real.

I have done EVERY single planned workout. That is never the problem. Its my eating. It has sucked. BIG TIME. I have easily eaten 2-3 times the amount of calories than I am supposed to. I have eaten dessert several times a day. Crap just to eat crap. Ate when I wasnt hungry. Binged even.

Why?

God I wish I knew. I hate that I do this. I know WHAT to do and I know HOW to do it but I just keep screwing it up. I feel bloated, sluggish, disgusting.

planning

I am a planner... for those of you that have been reading this Im sure your thoughts are "really?!?" ... well yes. I have a problem... massive need for planning :)

So after 5 days off I work 4 of the next 5 days. Yuck. 48 hours in 5 days... double yuck. So I just sat down and menu planned for the next few days and exercise planned to make sure I have it in my head :)

Food:

• Today - eggs/chicken sausage for breakfast, protein shake for lunch, left over chicken/cauliflower rice/veggies for dinner. And make a batch of paleo friendly chili in the crock pot for later.
• Wed - shake for breakfast, chili and salad for lunch, left over chicken/"rice"/veggies for dinner.
• Thur - Im off so meal prep. Attempting to make slowcooker chinese short ribs, large batch of chicken, tons of veggies. Breafkast will be chili and eggs, lunch = shake, dinner = something that I cooked that day :)
• Fri - Shake for breakfast, chicken/veggies for lunch, ribs/veggies for dinner
• Sat - repeat of friday
• Sun - shake for breakfast, large salad with chicken for lunch, shake for dinner or left over

Upcoming workouts:

• Today - run minimum 3 miles, more if it feels good, tuesdays video, tuesdays pushups
• Wed - spin class before work, wed video and pushups after work
• Thur - long run 6 miles, thur video, thur pushups and maybe some pool time if it feels good
• Fri - friday video and pushups before work
• Sat - rest or short run before work
• Sun - sundays video before work

Thats my agenda... 

What does the rest of your week look like?

Do you menu plan... if so love to hear something your having!

Whats the weirdest things you have eaten with eggs? Chili is up there for me but shockingly good!

Tough mudder week 2

Besides my running and weight training (and hopefully swimming soon) - I am doing a weekly workout geared towards my upcoming Tough Mudder.  Today was this weeks workout - week 2 :)

I decided this time around it would all be at home. I got the idea from the biggest loser to use a deck of cards. I had to go and buy a deck. I shuffled them like crazy, then layed them face down on my kitchen table and mixed them up even more. Then Gavin and I took turns picking out 5 groups of 5 cards. 

For each suite...

hearts = push ups

diamonds = a round of steps (12 steps) up and down

clubs = squats

clovers = thrusters with 20 lbs

We should have went to play pocker - holy moly ... every high level and face card was a set of steps. OMG ... my poor butt! 

So I did 5 cards, ran 2 min on the treadmill, 5 cards, treadmill, repeat until done. I was a sweaty mess. It was awesome. I wish it would have had more upper body mixed in though since MOST of what I did was stairs :)

Todays workout included 5 sprints on the treadmill, 33 pushups, 63 sets of stairs (omg), 29 squats and 52 thrusters. Then a nice brisk COLD walk with the dog. 

Now I need ideas to plan next weeks workout ... 

Surprising Gavin and his best friend with a trip to Medieval times - fun fun. TTYL!

yaaaa me!

Very proud of myself right now.

 I wanted chocolate or baked goods .. badly!

I did really well in the eating department today. Breakfast was a chicken sausage and two eggs. Snack was a handful of whole walnuts. Lunch was a protein shake. Dinner was baked chicken, cauliflower "rice" with tons of veggies and a mushroom onion sauce. I got my video workout in today. So first I told myself I "deserved" a snack.

Then I reminded myself that I dont reward myself with food! Then I went onto myfitnesspal.com to see where I stood calorie wise and journaled all of my food. I had about 200 calories left for the day.

Then I started thinking of everything I wanted. I thought about a caramel sundae from McD's so I went on their website... ummm 360 calories. No way. Then I decided I had to run to target and maybe I would get stuff to make cookies. Talked myself out of that since I knew I would eat WAY too many. Then I thought about a candy bar on the way out - looked at 4 or 5 different options and realized it wasnt worth it and wouldnt satisfy me. Then I thought maybe I will stop at panera on my way home and say screw it and get my favorite scone... CRAZY amount of calories. I then had to talk myself down off the ledge.

Instead I got NADA. I came home and made myself a snack - low fat plain greek yogurt mixed with powdered peanut butter, a swirl of choc sauce and 1/2 a diced banana.. mixed together and put in the freeer until set... my own little healthier version of a sundae.

Yaaa me!

Sunday

Sundays weigh in - 172.2. Up one pound. Am I surprised? NOPE. Here is the good and bad of the last week...

Good

• Rocked my first tough mudder workout
• woke up at 5am 2 of my 3 work days and got my workout done
• drank enough water on most days
• Despite starting the week off with BAD eating - pulled myself back together for Fri/Sat

Bad

• Stress/busy ate at work all three of those days :( including a LOT of crap. A LOT! 
• missed 3 workouts - 1 cardio video, 1 weight video, 1 swim workout
• Cut my long run in half yesterday
• Stayed up way too late most days  minly because on my days off I had to nap and nap ad nap so I couldnt sleep.

So we are starting a new week. My workout schedule is done. I will be adding a short run to todays workout and a swim workout at some point to make up for missing last weeks. Im focusing on getting my workouts done, get enough sleep and focus on clean eating one day at a time. Would love love love to see 169.9 next sunday!

Note to self

very important note to self.... green with envy/jealousy is not pretty on me. remember everyone has awesome moments. Be happy for them. You need to focus on you. Make you the best you can be....that's all you can do.

blah

BLAH - that has been the theme of the week. I worked 38 hours in 3 days. Tuesday and Wed I got up at 5am to workout before my 12-14 hour shift depending on the day. Thursday I just didnt have it in me and skipped my workout. Friday I was DONE. I was so exhausted that I thought I was getting sick. I had to take not one but two naps. Then I felt like me again and pushed through and got my planned workout in. No swim time though - it didnt work out. I will fit it in though - it is my promise to myself.

Mid week my diet sucked too - for no reason. I blamed exhaustion, stress, being busy... but they were all excuses for me to eat junk. And I felt pretty crappy too because of it. The last two days have been clean and I hope to feel more awesome as the days go on.

Today I was in super mom mode - we made a paper mache volcano, used our magic kit and built a catapult. Busy busy. Everything kept pushing my run further and further away. At 4pm I finally headed down to the treadmill hoping to get 6 miles in. HAHAHA. First at 2pm I was hungry so I took my protein shake. And then from 3-330 I had HORRIBLE stomach cramps and felt blah. And I went to run anyways. Got three miles in and the pains in my side just werent allowing it to happen so I quit. That is the problem with treadmill runs - way too easy to quit. I normally plan my outside routes to be a big circle so I have to finish to get home! Its a mind thing.  Anyways I stopped and I have told myself I have to run tomorrow now too which I wasnt planning to do. I was going to do another 3 miles tonight but it just isnt going to happen.

going to be a little quiet...

I work 36 hours in the next three days. Adding to the 12 hour days I have to get my work out in, get the kids up and ready for daycare and attempt to get to bed at a decent time for my beauty sleep :) So that means something has to give for the next few days... so I probually won't be around.

Just so you know what I will be doing - workout for the next 2 weeks is planned

Today - 2 mile run, 5 hill repeats. Pushups.
Tuesday - chalean extreme video, pushups
Wednesday - chalean extreme video, pushups
Thursday - chalean extreme video, pushups
Friday - BUSY day ... chalean video, pushups, 2 mile run with 5 speed repeats, swim meetup **
Saturday - pushups, 6 mile run
Sunday - chalean video, swim
Monday - Tough Mudder workout ***, pushups
Tuesday - chalean video, 3 mile run with 3 hill repeats, pushups
Wednesday - video, pushups
Thursday - video, pushups, 6 mile run
Friday - video, pushups
Saturday - REST or swim

** swim meetup... yes I FINALLY am getting over my fear of the pool. No Im not scared of the pool. Yes I can swim. BUT I can NOT swim and breath... which means I cant swim for cross training. And what is hard for me scares me. So I have asked my husbands cousin to help me. Fingers crossed.

*** havent planned the Tough Mudder workout yet but it will be different every week :) Im watching the biggest loser right now with Bob and the cards trick... my mind is spinning with ideas :)

I have prepped food for the next few days. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is packed for tomorrow. Lots of water. NO late eating. Get your sleep!

tough mudder training - week 1

Yes I have been working out a lot more lately and have been "training" but today marks the beginning of my actual training time for Tough Mudder Virginia Beach this summer. Starting this week I will be incorporating 1 workout each week geared just to the tough mudder.

Today was training for week 1.

I met with Laura at 8am about an hour from my house at a park near her house. We started off with a quick warm up run. That was followed by 3 x 10 box jumps, attempting monkey bars/pull ups/knee to elbow (Im really really bad at this), push ups, planks, walking push ups, climbing, more 3 x 10 box jumps and then 3 suicides. It was a filled 60 min workout. And not sure if it was just the workout or the workout plus the 2 hour there and back commute but OMG I was EXHAUSTED when I got home and quickly went down for a nap! My butt is screaming at me - it feels like they are clinched ALL the time when it isnt. Must be the box jumps.

Other exciting news - I have officially decided to run the Columbia Iron girl half marathon - its the day before we fly out to Texas at 6am! I am sure I will have a few choice curse words for myself that morning! But having something to get towards makes running so much more fun!

Now to search the web for great ideas for training for tough mudder ... any suggestions?

My walker

First I have to start with a very very important announcement.... we officially have a walker! She has been on the verge for 2 months. She could get to a standing position without holding on to anything, hop, bounce, dance, and with something with wheels she could literally run around my house but would NOT walk. Well I cant say that anymore. My best friends 2 year old came over and within an hour my girl was walking! And she was so so so proud of herself ... and I am so proud of her! Isnt she a cutie!?!

Im proud of me too -

• Since Wednesday I havent eaten after 8pm and I havent had a soda at all in about 10 days! 
• Today was a rest day from chalean extreme but not from half training so despite not getting a run in outside in the gorgeous freaky January weather - after the kids were in bed I pushed out 5 miles on the treadmill. I hate the treadmill! 
• I set up a meetup with my husbands cousin to work on my swimming. This friday... Im scared!

Tomorrow is my first official Tough Mudder training... Laura is planning the workout. Double scared! 

good and bad...

The good...
1. ate on point today without even really trying
2. had tons and tons of water
3. NO SODA
4. ran during Bre's nap time
5. already packed my breakfast/lunch/dinner for tomorrow
6. 8pm = stopped eating and enjoyed a nice cup of hot mint green tea

The bad ...
I planned to do my weight workout before dinner but that didnt happen. Planned to workout at 8pm once my filled stomach settled down. But I had the worst cramps ever and omg my stomach hurt so so so bad. So the video never happenned.

So to fix the bad - going to bed crazy early tonight to wake up at 5am and do the weight workout and the cardio video before work tomorrow. Fun fun.

having a great day - and some weekly goals :)

First I am having a great day!

Started the morning off with cleaning my living room, dining room and kitchen. When my house is clean it makes me feel so much more at ease! Picked out whats for dinner - grilling a rubbed pork tenderloin with an apricot glaze yummo! Ran errands. Played and was silly with the 1 year old - love hearing her giggle! And then she went down for a nap and my butt hit the treadmill listening to Jillian Michaels podcast (still listening to her as I write this).  And since I waited to have lunch after working out - its so much easier to make smarter choices. Im sitting being lazy for a minute then Im going to prep my cauliflower "rice" for dinner tonight so I only have to warm it up and can actually spend time with the family instead of in the kitchen.

Ok some goals. If you read my blog - then you know that I am doing a beach body 90 day challenge. That challenges weeks go from wed to wed. So while I am weighing in on sundays still - in my head new goals start wed to wed. Last week I successfully dropped soda. I havent had a diet soda in a week!!!!! It was so freaking hard! And I still miss it terribly but it feels better not craving it every 10 minutes!

So this weeks goal initially was to drop wheat for the week. While I LOVE LOVE LOVE all things wheat... I feel SOOOO much better when I dont eat it. So this week is wheat free.

But I decided last night as I was scouring the kitchen at 930pm... I should NOT be eating that late. Im not REALLY hungry. It is a bad bad bad habit. So this week starting TODAY.... im also not eating late. Late to me means on off work days 8pm and on work days 9pm (I dont get off until 8pm). I have awesome teas waiting for me if I need something...

Here goes another week :)
Ok off to roast some veggies for my "rice".

trail running... love it or hate it???

So I went on my first trail run a few days ago - I meant to post about it but time has just been flying by way way way too fast.

It was 8am. Gavin was on the bus. Bre was about to go down for an early morning nap. Hubby was home. So the dog and I headed out to a local trail. It was 25 degrees outside. COLD! We were the only ones there so Gracie, the lab, was allowed off leash. I went to set my Garmin because I had NO clue how far I was running and I only had an hour to run since Eric had court. Well my stupid Garmin wouldnt work. And of course my idiot self didnt bring my cell phone or a watch so I had to just wing it.

The first 10-20 minutes SUCKED. It was ALL up hill. The air felt like ice coming into my lungs. It hurt. Badly. I wanted to quit and just walk the rest of the route.

BUT I DIDNT :)

I walked when I needed to walk - especially up the hills. But I ran more than I walked. I was warm pretty quick into the run. The view was gorgeous. And I finished right under the one hour mark. On the way home I had a huge smile on my face and I cant wait to do it again!

:)

Sitting here while the kids eat breakfast - and of course I cant find my damn camera. They are both sitting next to me eating scrambled eggs and toast and for their drink  ... a green drink. We juiced this morning - cucumber, spinach, celery, parsley, apple, lemon. So yummy! And both kids love it! Makes me very very happy.

Today Im venturing out for my first trail run. Im a bit bummed out that I didnt plan a bit better and go to a different park like Gunpowder but Im on a time schedule today so Im heading to Susquahanna which is where we usually go hiking with the kids/dog. It is very very hilly. Very hilly. Have I mentioned its all hills? uhhh. And while its supposed to be crazy warm today for January but right now at almost 8 am its only 25 degrees. Holy moly!

I will be posting a master Tough Mudder training schedule in the next few weeks too. The reality of it being THIS year makes me so nervous. I have a long ways to go to be ready to do it safely. But I am so so so excited! I have the best team. My high school best friend Kathy is flying in from Vagas to do it! And one of my most favorite local people Laura. Then we are rounding it out with some awesome people from work and turns out we have a token guy friend of Lauras. Im not sure what Im looking forward to most... completing something I think is so hard, the teamwork that will be involved or getting away a whole weekend and just being a grownup ... no one to call me mom, well only over the phone anyways!

need to get better at pictures...

I really need to keep my camera or hell even my phone more handy for pictures - I would have so much more fun things to show you! And it would remind me all of the awesome things I did today.

I have tons to say today and it may be all over the place - sorry!

First, last night I was reading  Sarah's blog over at Operation Healthy and she was talking about a documentary called Hungry for a Change. Which got me intrigued and so I stayed up a bit too late and watched it. It didnt tell me anything I hadnt already watched or read but it was a great reminder and it was like parts of it were talking directly to me. Im so sick of being on a diet. Im sick of telling myself I "cant" have  x, y, z. Im so sick of having a bad relationship with food and letting it constantly dictate how I feel about myself. Im so so so sick of it.

So today I didnt write down a single thing I ate calorie wise today. I didnt say "damn it I cant have a poptart and Im miserable while Im eating this carrot so hell Im going to eat toast slathered in butter instead".  I made sure I ate before I was starving. I paid attention to what I was putting in my mouth. I sat down and enjoyed each meal instead of rushing it. I asked myself when deciding my meals -  does this food make me healthier or unhealthy and I chose healthy every single time. And now the day is over and I was curious what my total calories were without trying... 1300. woohoo! And I wasnt starving. I didnt feel deprived and I wasnt acting like a crazy person thinking about brownies or something all day since I "couldnt" have it.

Today food -
Breakfast - shakeology shake with almond milk
Snack - greek yogurt with almonds
Lunch - chicken chili soup
Dinner - tons of roasted veggies with goat cheese and a chicken jalapeno sausage
snack - hot tea and baked apples, small handful of semi sweet choc chips.
And sips of tasting different juices

Now the juices... the video talked about above - the very end talked about juicing. I was totally drawn in and loved the idea of making green veggie juices for better health. I went and bought a juicer and a CRAP load of fruits and veggies. Things I would have never ever thought to buy - fresh beats, kale, parsley.

We made the following
1. orange grapefruit
2. strawberry lemondade with an apple
3. beet carrot parsley celery
4. kale carrot brocoli lemon celery

shocker we liked ALL of them - even the 6 year old... his fav was the beet one :) And it was so much fun to make! We cracked up the entire time we were doing it!

And while today was an off day from chalean - I had running on the calendar. I told myself I was going to do 5 miles. But my day got away from me and with G in the workout room with me and not being able to find my ipod I only got in 3 before I gave in ... but happy I did something!

And tomorrow is weigh in ... uhhhh so scared. Its been an up and down week. And of course its that time of the month where bloating is not my friend.

me up early OMG!

Yes... ME, Ms. Sleepy head, the queen of the snooze button has woken up not once, not twice but THREE days in a row at 5am when my alarm first goes off. I have immediately put my workout gear on that I layed out the night before and headed down to do a video. Today was no exception. Today was the last workout of week 1 of Chalean. I will post my update about the week on the top page labeled for the challenge.

Feels so good to do what I tell myself I am going to do. Yes a little voice in my head (yes the schizo voice again) told me "just go back to bed, workout tonight" but I know I wouldnt do that. I know that extra hour of sleep wouldnt give me true rest. So up I got. WOOHOO!

The last three days from 6am-630am has been my me time. Drink a nice cup of coffee, catch up on emails/blogs/facebook. Then shower, pack lunch and get to work. Ive been having my protein shake once I get to work (I keep a small blender there) for breakfast. Its working :)

work is evil...

OMG the holidays are OVER... why on earth is everyone still bringing food into work?!? Today it was Pizza, fresh real donuts, fudge, cookies, pie, chips.  And the donuts were the super good kind from a local bakery - super doughy...ummmmmm. 

I was walking around like a crazy schizo lady hearing voices. I was literally talking to myself outloud most of the day telling myself I didnt want a doughnut, that it wasnt the last doughnut in the world, that  can enjoy one another day. I told EVERYONE at work that I needed to stay away from the break room. 

I packed all my meals and today made sure I actually ate what I had planned when I had it planned instead of when I was starving. I drank tons of water. I stayed out of the break room. 

I DID NOT EAT A SINGLE BITE!!!! woohoo! 

omg im sore!

HOLY MOLY soreness batman! I am crazy sore. You know that funny sore where every time you sit down your hands need to go down first and you say OUCH OUCH OUCH as you fall down onto the chair. Yes that kind of sore. My lovely coworkers got a good laugh out of it yesterday.

Todays video was burn circut three of Chalean... shoulders. And then some more shoulders. I doubt I will be able to lift my arms over my head later today ... lets hope I dont need to intubate anyone today.

A few months ago I pulled a muscle in my left inner upper thigh... all of these squats and lunges has aggravated it and I need to figure out how to stretch that area... any suggestions?

ok off to get ready for work - Im tired this morning. Atleast the workout is done. Todays goal WATER WATER WATER!

Happy!

First a little pat on my own back for a minute. Its 615 am... and I am DONE my workout already :) My alarm went off... I got up IMMEDIATELY and did NOT hit my snooze. NOT EVEN ONCE! That is HUGE for me ... huge! Today is just a video day since I work and the video was the cardio portion of chalean which is OMG and the abs. Next time I need to do abs first. I had nada in me after the first 45 min video. But regardless ... FREAKING AWESOME! Now Im sitting here catching up on blogs, enjoying a cup of coffee and then I will get moving for the day. Oh and for the record - crazy sore!

Now yes that makes me happy but the reason for todays post - to remind myself that I lucked out and have an amazing husband. Yes he is a giant kid sometimes, yes sometimes I want to strangle him but majority of the time he is just pure awesomeness and I sometimes forget that. Last night we were relaxing and I asked him what he hoped 2013 would hold - what he hoped to accomplish. His answer,  "nothing". I was shocked - nothing, really?!? Nothing for health, work, family... nothing?!? And his answer - I am very happy with how everything is right now. I like where we are right now. I want a year of this. My heart smiled. Sometimes its so easy to keep seeing the next big hurdle, the next goal... but sometimes you need to remember to sit back and enjoy the ride and enjoy where you are RIGHT NOW. Thank you honey for reminding me of that.

Secondly, I have been pretty down on myself in the body image department. Didnt help that the 6 year old was brutally honest as 6 year olds can be and told me on NYE that I was too jiggly and fat. I havent been saying the best things to myself. I have said things to myself that I would never say to anyone else. Eric reminded me that I am strong and that he loves me exactly how I am. That I am smaller than when we met and he would be very happy for me to stay as is. Love my man.

Ok enough of the sappy stuff - sorry :)

Today is a work day. Note to self - you are only eating what you packed and planned. There will be NO stress eating, no eating out of boredom. There will be no "omg Im so busy and only have time to scarf down chocolate and peanut butter on crackers"... none of that! And drinks some water why dont ya!

Today was a great day!

Its amazing how much better my day is when I get my workout in! Todays workout was a 3 mile run and a chalean video. The run was fun - 2 miles fast and on my own, last mile with G on his scooter and the dog and then 4 thirty second sprints. Felt great. I will feel the chalean video tomorrow - omg my legs were jelly! And tricept pushups suck. Just saying.

I joined Ronis challenge on dietbet.com

I stayed under my 1500 calorie goal today.

And at my moms for my step dads bday - I ate NADA... not one single bite! I had a protein shake before I went. Came home and did my video then made a healthy filling dinner with a spare for lunch tomorrow.

Going to pack tomorrows food - already logged it into myfitnesspal.com . I work the next three days so 1400 calories and a video each day. I have a hard time not munching at work when Im stressed, busy or bored which somehow links to each day.

I need to get through this week and it will get easier.

30 days of chalean will be a huge accomplishment and I think when I get there I will be celebrating with a massage!!!!