Update for Week of 5/9/09

It's been 2 weeks since I've updated pictures and I can see a difference even though it is slight. Waist is getting smaller and abs are looking better. I did notice this week that my hip bones are more prominent than they usually are.





Measurements - last week (this week)
Height 5 ft 6

Weight 131.5 (129.5)

Bodyfat 21% (21%)

Waist 28 1/8 (28)

Hips 35 1/8 in (35 1/4)

Right arm 10 1/2 in (10 1/4)
Right bicep flex - 11 1/2 (11 1/8)

Right thigh 20 3/4 in (20 1/4)
Right calf 15 5/16 in (14 15/16)

Chest (at largest part) 32 in (31 1/2)

Chest (under) 26 3/16 in (27 1/4)

This is how I'm planning next week:
Sunday - OFF Mother's Day :)
Monday - Spinning
Tuesday - lift + sprints
Wednesday - Run 3.5 miles
Thursday - lift
Friday - Run 3.5 miles
Saturday - Off
Sunday - either lift or run a 5 mile trail run (depending on the weather)

I made a comment on a previous blog post about the lifting program I use. I have this thing about committing to a program since I did Body for Life many years ago and after 12 weeks I looked like a bloated marshmallow with some muscle underneath.

Since then I really have just stuck with the rule of picking compound exercises that are quad dominant, hip dominant, a unilateral leg movement, push, pull, and some kind of ab work and working them into straight sets, super sets, and giant sets. I used http://exrx.net/ as a guide to picking the exercises and rotate among them. I will say that since purchasing New Rules of Lifting for Women, I have been setting up the workouts similar to how Cosgrove has them. I usually write out my workout the night before looking at past exercises as a guide for what I'll do next.

I think after I do this 5 mile race on May 23rd I'm going to think about whether I'll actually do NROL4W as it's written or figure out what my next move is.

Once again, I will be purchasing plenty of fresh produce at the market this week. Keeping the water intake up and have my few cups of green tea every day.

Looking forward to a killer week!

The Challenge - Randy Couture Grappling Workout

A few nights ago I found my husband looking up something on the internet before going into our basement gym to work out. He left the web page up on the computer so I took a look at it. It was a Randy Couture grappling workout and it looked good so I posted it on Twitter. A few people looked at it and someone suggested a bunch of us do the workout on Saturday. What a great idea!

This workout is meant to be done with a barbell at a continuous pace without resting until you get to the end of all the exercises. Then you get to rest for 60 seconds before starting another round.

bent over rows x8
upright rows x8
military press x8
good morning x8
lunges x8
squat/push press x8
deadlift x8

I did 4 rounds of this with a 35 lb barbell in 19 minutes 22 seconds and it was tough! I would totally do this workout again. For an even better explanation of the exercises check out this video. Randy Couture is actually commentating the video. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x27krr_team-quest-grappling-workout_sport

Meals for 5/9/09
a.m. - workout
1. immediately following - syntrax nectar w/1 tsp glutamine, brown rice cake
after shower - green drink, green tea

2. plain greek yogurt with a scoop Miracle Reds, serving of almonds

3. 1st b-day party - had a piece of melon, some chicken breast with cheese on it, a few small red potatoes and a ton of vegetables and water (skipped the cake even though it looked yummy!)

4. snack pack cottage cheese, sesame crunch, a pear

5. leftover turkey chili from the other night and 1/2 cup white rice

4. syntrax nectar w/1tsp glutamine, nut and seed crunch

I did take progress pics and measurements this afternoon and hoping to post those tomorrow. I am so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and enjoying my day off from the gym.

Workout and Meals for 5/7/09 and Random Thoughts

So glad it's Thursday! This week has been a tough one for me. I am going to change my workout schedule slightly. Tomorrow I'm going to run 3+ miles and Saturday I'm going to pump some iron. Don't laugh but I have a birthday party to go to and there are going to be people there I haven't seen in a decade. I want my arms to be pumped. Is that so wrong?

I have to say that I have a really great feeling about this week's measurements. I am going to take them on Saturday at 5:30 pm instead of Sunday. Sunday is Mother's Day and my day off from the gym this week and I plan on sleeping late and eating some yummy food : ).

Here's how the day went:

Meals for 5/7/09
a.m. - workout (below)
1. immediately following workout - syntrax nectar with 1 tsp glutamine and a brown rice cake
after shower - green drink made w/apple juice, green tea

2. vanilla bean greek yogurt, 1 serving almonds

3. spinach salad w/ 3 oz chicken, 1/2 avocado, 2 sliced strawberries, feta cheese, fresh lemon juice and EVOO (so delicious!), green tea

4. raw cauliflower and red pepper with 3 tablespoons hummus, sesame crunch

5. turkey chili with onion, carrots, corn, black beans, fire roasted tomatoes and spices, 1/2 cup rice, piece of dark chocolate, green tea

6. syntrax nectar with 1 tsp glutamine, nut and seed crunch


Workout
Straight set
RDL 1x8, 4x5 - 45, 55, 65, 70, 75

Superset
reverse grip pulldown 5x8 - 50, 60, 70, 70, 70
burpee/push up combo 5x8
step ups 5x8 - 8, 10, 12, 15, 15
standing shoulder press 5x8 - 10, 12, 12, 12, 12

Straight set
Squat 1x8, 4x5 - 45, 55, 65, 65, 65

Superset
stability ball crunch 3x8
decline sit up 3x8 - 10, 25, 25

Body weight superset
24 squats
12 lunges (each leg)
12 lunge jumps (each leg)
24 squat jumps

I was DONE after this! It was my first time doing lunge jumps and yeah it's not so easy. Took me about an hour.

Gonna crank out 3+ miles tomorrow! I'm on fire!

Workout and Meals for 5/5/09 and 5/6/09

Feeling a little behind here with my daughter teething and lack of sleep. Here's the info.

Meals 5/5/09
1. syntrax nectar drink
Green drink, green tea

2. 1 cup kefir w/Miracle Red, fruit and nut crunch

3. 3 oz chicken, asparagus

4. raw cauliflower, red pepper, and grape tomatoes w/ 3 tablespoons hummus. Sesame crunch. Green tea

Workout - below

5. 3 oz salmon, 1/2 cup rice, steamed broccoli, green tea

6. syntrax nectar with 1 tsp glutamine, nut and seed crunch

Workout 5/5/09
5 minutes bike followed by pop squats to warm up

Straight set
front squat/push press 1x8, 4x6 - 35, 40, 45, 45, 50 (only did 4 with 50 lbs)

Superset
push ups - 5x10
barbell row - 1x8, 4x6 - 35, 45, 50, 55, 55
bulgarian split squat - 1x8, 4x6 - 10, 12, 15, 20, 20
incline db press - 1x8, 4x6 - 12, 15, 20, 20, 20

Straight set
sumo deadlift - 1x8, 4x6 - 45, 55, 60, 65, 65

Superset
incline reverse crunch - 3x8
plank - 3x30 second holds

47 minutes to complete THEN outside for sprint intervals for 12 minutes for total of 59 mins

Meals 5/6/09
Workout - run 3.5 miles
1. syntrax nectar with 1 tsp glutamine on the way home from the gym
green drink, green tea

2. 1 cup kefir with a scoop Miracle Reds, fruit and nut crunch

3. spinach salad with 3 sliced strawberries, handful grape tomatoes, 3 oz chicken breast, feta cheese and balamic vinegar / EVOO.

4. raw broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers with 3 tablespoons hummus, green tea

5. 4 oz sesame crusted ahi tuna with 1/4 c rice

and soon to be last meal

6. syntrax nectar with 1 tsp glutamine, nut and seed crunch

Weights on tap for tomorrow! Hauling ass this week!

What's With the Green Drink?

People often ask me why I would blend vegetables every morning and drink them. There are many reasons but first I'd like to talk a little bit about how I got to this point.

After having my son in 2004, I wanted to lose the baby weight and didn't go about it in the best way. Fat burners, not eating enough, barely resting got me down to my goal weight but I was not healthy at all. In 2005 I had an abnormal pap test. Turned out I had some lesions on my cervix that were precancerous and had to be removed by laser at the hospital.

After the surgery, I got a recommendation for a nutritionist from a chiropractor friend. I set up a consultation and she put me on a good vitamin regimen and made suggestions about diet and exercise. I was not new to this so I felt like they weren't huge changes to what I was already doing. Almost a year passed and I looked the same and my health was really deteriorating. I caught all kinds of colds, sinus infections, and had horrible joint pain especially after exercise.

At one point I was playing outside with my son and when I came in I had about 12 welts on my body. Immediately I thought they were bug bites. They weren't itchy though just painful like a bruise. A day later I went to my doctor to find out they were boils. I have no idea what they were from but I was tested for MRSA and it came back negative. From there was I was on antibiotics and steroids and had to reschedule a vacation to Disney. This was my breaking point.

Also, during this time I went to see an orthopedic for my knee pain. He sent me for blood work. Immediately he thought my numbers didn't look good and referred to me a rheumatologist. The rheumatologist sent me for more blood work.

Between the time I saw the orthopedic to the time I saw the rheumatologist, I read a book called the 100 Year Lie by Randall Fitzgerald and in it he talks about how industrialization of the world over the last 100 years and how it has affected people's health. He talked about people who were gravely ill with cancer and other illnesses completely turning their health around through eating greens and adopting an organic way of eating. He talked about getting his own blood tested to gauge his toxic load and after adopting a healthy organic eating plan, the changes in his blood levels in 30 days were amazing.

I decided to give it a try. What did I have to lose really? When I returned to the rheumatologist (after doing the eating plan for 3 weeks), he said my blood work was great. Nothing at all to be concerned about. I believe it was the action I took that made the real changes to my health.

From there things just improved. I removed wheat from my diet suspecting gluten intolerance and without even trying weight was coming off me. I felt like I had a tremendous toxic load and my immune system was just breaking down leaving myself open to illnesses. I found out I was pregnant in December 2007 and continued with the greens until it made me sick one day and had to stop it. I resumed the drinks about a month after having my daughter was born and still feel great.

The green drinks used to be a green salad every morning. It would take me forever to eat it though. I saw an Oprah show with Dr. Oz and he said he drank a green drink a few times a week and I gave the blender a try. SO much easier! I find I like to blend it rather than juice it so I can retain the fiber content in the vegetables.

Here's the recipe I love:
1 stalk each of celery, kale, collards
small handful parsley
1 apple
juice of a lemon
handful organic baby spinach
couple slices of cucumber
1 to 2 inch piece fresh ginger
apple juice, water, or coconut water to blend

This makes 2 servings. My husband drinks this in the morning also.


Some benefits of including this into your diet:
-Powerful raw food antioxidents as well as vitamins A, C, K and magnesium. Kale and spinach have a good amount of calcium in it as well.

-A day's worth of vegetables in a drink. Even if you didn't eat another vegetable the rest of the day, you'd still be getting more than the average American.

-A natural way to stay regular. With having so much plant fiber you will definitely not have a problem staying regular.

-Detoxify your body and alkalize your blood. Fruits and vegetables alkalize or pH balance your blood and reduce the amount of acid in your body. Excess acid in the body leads to many diseases including cancer. Here's a complete list of acid/alkaline forming foods. http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

If you want to experience amazing health and reduce your toxic load, give a green drink a try. Make sure they are organic vegetables to avoid exposure to pesticides and chemicals.

Update and Progress on Goals for Week of 5/3/09

Last week was one hell of a week. Hope this coming week has me sticking to my schedule and making great gains. I am going to update measurements but not pics (don't be sad) because the honest truth is I have horrible cramps and well just not feeling up to putting on a bikini and flexing. I'm thinking that updating every few weeks will also show greater gains. As long as my measurements are progressing I'm thrilled.

Last week's stats (this week):

Height 5 ft 6
Weight 132.5 (131.5)
Bodyfat 21% (23%) I am not concerned this went up. I'm sure it's my "cheat" meal and my monthly friend : ).
Waist 29 in (28 1/8)
Hips 35 1/2 in (35 1/8)
Right arm 10 1/2 in (10 1/2)
Right bicep flex - 11 1/4 (11 1/2) NICE!
Right thigh 21 1/2 in (20 3/4)
Right calf 15 1/2 in (15 5/16)
Chest (at largest part) 32 1/2 in (32)
Chest (under) 27 15/16 in (25 3/16)

Goals for this week:
Once again making an effort to have a variety of fruits and vegetables. Purchased organic strawberries, red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower in addition to the vegetables for my green drink.

Purchased coconut water to use in place of apple juice in the green drinks to reduce the calories.

Stick to my schedule as best as possible. I did not run today as planned and had to switch days around last week.

Drink more water.

Foam rolling every night.

In general, kick ass so watch out people!

The Plan -
Sunday - off
Monday - Spin
Tuesday - lift + sprints
Wednesday - run 3 miles
Thursday - lift
Friday - Spin
Saturday - run 4 miles
Sunday - OFF - Mother's Day : )

If I can make it through this training schedule next week, I'll be well on my way to those 5 miles I'm running in a few short weeks. I got my bib number in the mail yesterday! I'm running ready or not!

In my next post I'm going to talk about what is behind those green drinks. I always get alot of questions about it.

Make it a positive and productive week!

Workout and Meals for 5/2/09

Here's how the day played out:

Meals
1. syntrax nectar protein drink, greens drink with Macro Greens, flax oil, green tea

2. 1 cup plain organic kefir with Miracle Reds, fruit and nut crunch

Workout - below

3. vegtable curry with 3 oz chicken added, 1/4 c rice

4. hibachi dinner, steamed soybeans, salad w/ginger dressing, salmon, fried rice, lo mein, vegetables, glass of red wine

5. green tea and a tasting of an assortment of cupcakes (for my sister's b-day) Yep those are the gigantic cupcakes!


Workout

5 min bike warm up

straight set
dumbell squat w/heels on 10 lb plates - 5x8 - 10, 15, 20, 30, 20 (30 lbs each hand turned out to be too heavy LOL)

superset
flat bench dumbell flyes - 5x8 - 12, 15, 15, 20, 20
barbell split squat - 5x8 - 35, 45, 45, 50, 50
dumbell push press - 5x8 - 12, 12, 15, 15, 15
push ups - 5x10

superset
dumbell single leg romanian deadlift - 5x8 - 12, 15, 15, 20, 20
negative chin ups 5x2

superset
45 degree plank - 3 sets - 45 second hold
cable reverse woodchop 3x8 - 20, 30, 30

5 min bike and stretching

I was exhausted and pumped after this workout!