Workout and Meals 7/2/09

I got up this morning at 5:30 am to do my weight workout in my new Chucks. I will say there is a huge difference. Those cushy running sneakers were doing me NO favors!

Here's my day:

Meals
a.m. - workout
1. immediately following - syntrax nectar protein drink w/brown rice cake
after shower - green drink w/1 tablespoon flax oil, green tea

2. 1 cup strawberry kefir w/scoop of Miracle Reds, serving of Mrs Mays nut berry crunch

3. 2 egg whites, 1 egg in a brown rice tortilla with salsa and chopped raw red bell pepper, honeydew and watermelon salad

4. chocolate almond smoothie -2 tablespoons raw almonds, 1 pitted date, 1 small frozen banana, 1 cup cold water, 1/2 tablespoon each of raw cacao nibs, ground flax seed, and hemp powder.

5. SPICY thai green curry w/shrimp, green beans, and zucchini over 1/4 c white rice

6. cherries, nut and seed crunch bar

Workout
New Rules of Lifting Phase 1 workout A

warm up - 5 mins bike + bridges

squat - warm up 45x5, then 3x8 - 65, 75, 80

alternating
push up 3x8
seated row 3x8 - 90, 100, 110

alternating
step up 3x8 - 15, 15, 20
prone jackknife - 3x15

cool down - 5 mins bike + stretching
Weight portion of the workout 28:48 so about 40 mins total.

I could never seem to progress in my squats. Now I know why (form and footwear),but for the longest time I couldn't get past 70 lbs. Well today I did 80 so I'm thrilled. Now that phase 1 is nearly complete I'm a little bummed. I would have really liked to keep working at it but I'll move on and see where the program leads me. By next Thursday I'll be done with phase 1.

Tomorrow I think I am going to take a spin class but I could change my mind and hit the track. We'll see how I feel in the morning!

Workout and Meals 7/1/09

Wow, first day of July! That means I've been going at this pace for 9 months and that my daughter is 10 1/2 months old. I can't believe I'm planning her first birthday party! Where does time go? The little extra time I have, I've spent working towards my goal of getting leaner. The only way I know how to do that is high intensity short duration workouts, change it up often, and watch the food intake. Which brings me to today's meals and workout.

Here it is:

a.m. - workout - treadmill intervals from 8 to 10 mph in .5 increments and down again. 23 min intervals, but 30 mins total time and 2.75 miles
1. syntrax nectar protein drink
after shower - green drink w/1 tablespoon flax oil, green tea

2. 1 cup strawberry kefir w/scoop Miracle Reds, Mrs Mays nut berry crunch

3. 6 inch turkey and provolone on wheat from Subway w/green pepper, tomato, cucumber, vinegar, and black pepper, water

4. snack pack cottage cheese, watermelon and honeydew melon salad

5. thai shrimp green curry w/green beans and zucchini over 1/4 c white rice

6. cherries, nut and seed crunch bar

My mom is on vacation from work this week and I was out shopping with her and the kids today. My choices for lunch were Nathan's hot dogs, pizza, or Subway. Now I probably could have gotten a salad but the chicken breasts were kind of weird looking and I was in the mood for a sandwich. I figured a wheat roll was better than white pita bread. I skipped the chips and got a water. Maybe some extra carbs will give me some extra energy to squat massive weight tomorrow? Let's hope so!

Workout and Meals 6/30/09

I was up bright and early at 5:30 a.m. to get my lifting done!

Here's my day:

Meals
a.m. - workout
1. syntrax nectar protein drink w/brown rice cake
after shower - green drink w/organic spinach, kale, collards, celery, cucumber, parsley, ginger, apple, lemon juice, apple juice, 1 tablespoon flax oil mixed in and a cup of green tea

2. chobani plain greek yogurt w/a mango and Mrs Mays nut berry crunch

3. 3 oz chicken breast, green beans, 1/4 c quinoa, watermelon

4. snack pack cottage cheese, cherries

Meals 5 and 6 - Girl's night at a friends house. Snacks and fajitas are on the menu : ).

Workout
New Rules of Lifting for Women, Phase 1 workout B

warm up - 5 mins bike, bridges
deadlift - 45x5 warm up, then 3x8 - 65, 70, 80

alternating
db shoulder press 3x8 - 12, 15, 20
wide grip lat pulldown 3x8 - 60, 70, 70

alternating
lunge 3x8 - 12, 15, 15
swiss ball crunch 3x15

cool down - 5 mins bike + stretching
Weight portion of this workout was 28:48 so about 40 mins total.

My deadlift weight is going up now that my form has improved greatly and I've been doing it barefoot. I noticed some instability doing lunges with my running sneakers so I did go out and purchase my Chucks today. I hope things improve in future workouts.

I am just terrible at wide grip lat pulldowns. In most cases, my grip gives before I can finish the set. I really need to work on this. Looking forward to incorporating some kettlebell training and maybe some farmer's walks to help me with grip strength.

Also, I can normally use 20 lb dumbells for a shoulder push press and today was able to do regular shoulder presses with the 20s so nice improvement there.

If the weather is nice tomorrow morning, I'm going to rock the sprints and stairs at my local high school track with my friend Gymboss. If it's not so nice, I'll head to the gym for sprint intervals.

Workout and Meals 6/29/09

Monday again and the start of a busy week. I tried another raw meal for meal 5 today.

Here's my day:

a.m. - workout - spin class
1. syntrax nectar protein drink
after shower - green drink w/1 tablespoon flax oil

2. chobani plain greek yogurt w/handful of blueberries, Mrs. Mays nut and fruit crunch

3. 3 oz chicken breast, roasted asparagus, 1/4 c quinoa

4. cottage cheese snack pack, cherries

5. zucchini spaghetti w/raw sun dried tomato marinara sauce, 5 oz shrimp cocktail (not raw)

6. watermelon, nut and seed crunch bar

The spaghetti was good but it called for briefly stir frying the zucchini in coconut oil which is supposed to be tasteless when used for frying. I felt you could really taste it so I would use extra virgin olive oil next time. Otherwise it was good. Here's a pic for you.


Tomorrow gonna hit the weights!

Update on Workouts and Plans for Upcoming Week

I have been slacking on my workout and meal posts but not to fear everything is moving along nicely. My eating has been the same. I didn't try any new raw food recipes but I have one planned for next week. Last night we went to dinner with some friends, and my husband and I had sushi and I had a glass of red wine because I didn't love the dessert menu. I was either going to do a glass of red wine or dessert ;-).

Here were my workouts from last week:
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - run - treadmill sprints
Friday - lift
Saturday - OFF
Sunday - lift

Here are the details of Friday's and Sunday's workouts:

Fri, 6/26 - NROL4W, Phase 1 workout B
5 mins bike
deadlift - 45x5 warm up, then 3x10 - 60, 65, 75

alternating
db shoulder press 10x6 warm up, then 3x10 - 12, 15, 15
wide grip lat pulldown 50x5 warm up, then 3x10 - 60, 60, 70

alternating
lunge 3x10 - 10, 12, 15
swiss ball crunch 3x12
5 mins bike + stretching

Weight portion of the workout 31:16 plus bike and streching about 44 mins.

Sunday, 6/28 NROL4W Phase 1 workout A
5 mins bike
squat -45x5 warm up, then 3x8 -60, 65, 70

alternating
push up 3x8
seated row 3x8 - 90, 100, 110

alternating
step up 3x8 - 12, 15, 20
prone jackknife 3x15 (this was tough!)
5 mins bike
Weight portion was 26:43 plus bike and stretching about 40 mins.

I'm down to the final workouts in Phase 1 which are 3 sets of 8 reps. I felt stronger in today's workout especially with the squats because I did them barefoot. I am positive this has improved my squat tremendously in addition to the workshop I attended last Wednesday which really helped with my form. I feel that a previous knee injury has kept me from really being able to push the weights when it comes to squats and deadlifts but now I feel more confident in my form so we'll see what happens in future workouts.

This is my plan for next week:
Monday - spin
Tuesday - lift + sprints
Wednesday - OFF (or sprints if not done Tuesdsay)
Thursday - lift
Friday - sprints or spin
Saturday - lift
Sunday - OFF

I've got to take Sunday off instead of Saturday next week because I will be traveling up to Long Island for a family bbq. I have many eating challenges next week. Tuesday night I've got a girl's night get together and I'm bringing spinach dip with tons of vegetables. Friday night I have a bbq and Sunday I will be traveling in a car for a few hours each way with a bbq in between. UGH! So as always I must stick to the workout schedule!

What challenges do you have in the coming week? Have you adjusted your plan accordingly?