Disney Rules

So, I'm scared to death of what Disney will do to my fitness/weight loss goals. I like to think I have the strength to insist on working out and eating healthy, but who knows what will actually go down. It's especially hard when I have to unknowns in the form of the twins. How hard will it be to get them back to the hotel in the afternoon for rest time? That's when I plan on doing my workouts, so it's crucial we can pull this off. First order of business is to be completely packed before the kids get out of preschool on Tuesday. This way I get to bed early and wake up at 4 am to workout before our flight (we must leave by 7!). I feel like pulling this off will set the tone for the whole trip. Next I've set up some eating rules to hopefully get me through this week:

1) One desert during the trip - my grandmother's birthday cake!
2) One pancake breakfast - otherwise sticking to eggs, oatmeal or Shakeology
3) No fried foods
4) No bread, with the possible exception of one burger, but only one. No biscuits, no toast, no other bread!
5) Pack healthy snacks and eat them unless presented with an even healthier option (fruit?)
6) No candy
7) Write down everything I eat. I never remember to do this at home, but I have a new plan. If it's not handy to write it down, I'm taking a picture with my phone. Of every single thing that goes into my mouth. (Dammit)
8) Carry water with me at all times and drink at least 64 oz a day, more if I workout (which I will).

I don't remember too many Disney World specifics since I haven't been there in forever, but I do have vague memories of sweet shoppe type establishments. Must not be tempted...

So, that's what I've got so far. Any other tips? I know there will be a lot of walking, so I'm hoping that makes up for the inevitable added calories that eating out every meal will bestow upon me.

I'll let you know how this goes and how successful I am at following my own rules. Wish me luck!

My side workout

So, I've been doing good sticking to my P90X/Turbo Fire hybrid program. I did have one sick day last week causing me to miss my Wednesday workout. I tried to do it on Thursday and got through about 25 minutes. Then I decided to go ahead and push through the program doing my Thursday workout on Friday, my Friday workout on Saturday, and counting Wednesday as my rest day instead of Saturday. So, basically I haven't had a rest day since last Wednesday, when I was sick! I'm ready for tomorrow!!

Add to all that the fact that I've been seeing another workout on the side. In addition to my Beachbody workouts, I've been spending 2 days a week with the lovely treadmill. Let's be clear. I suck at running. I just can't do it, never could. My biggest problem is my knees. I get this sharp pain that shoots through my knee and almost makes me fall over. I went to a doctor and he basically told me that my joints were too flexible to keep the knee cap in place. He said that I should never run marathons (if you say so doc), but that if I strengthened my legs I could get to the point where a few miles would be okay.

Given my running suckness and knee issues, and the fact that I'm already doing a pretty serious workout program, I'm taking the running very slowly and lightly. Again, only 2 days a week and more of a run/walk interval program. I started with walking 3 min, running 3 min for a mile. Did I mention that I also run slowly?? Then I moved up to doing the 3/3 interval for half and hour, then walking till I hit 3 miles. Now I'm walking 2 min, running 4 minutes for 30 minutes, then walking till I hit 3 miles. There's a lot less walking at the end now! I'm not quite sure what the next interval will be, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

So, what about my knee? I've been doing a lot of reading about running techniques. The most helpful was that you should run toe-heel, not heel-toe. This creates a lot less impact on your knees. And a helpful salesman at Luke's Locker suggested focusing on keep my body centered, as opposed to leaning forward. So far, it's been going very well! You know, for a slow runner who can't run more than 4 minutes at a time. :-)

Side note, I'm thinking of doing a Shakeology giveaway. Would anyone be interested?

image from here

Intensity Matters... and sorry I've been away!!

This past week has been brutal nutrition-wise, but I've been holding strong with my workouts! Let's just say that spending two days with not much to do, and surrounded by sweets is NOT an ideal situation for weight loss. I've been much better this week, but there's always room for improvement.

One thing that I learned in week 3 of my P90X/TurboFire hybrid is how important intensity is. Basically, the first three weeks follow the same pattern, Sunday - Chest and Back, Monday - Fire 45 EZ, etc. BUT, it wasn't until week 3 that I really became sore with some of the workouts. With Chest and Back, I pushed myself to do an extra couple of pushups. With Legs and Back, I went lower into my lunges and squats. Intensity matters!! I just try to remember that when I think I'm done, I do a few more reps. Try it!!

I am very excited that this week is more cardio intensive with HIIT workouts and everything! I love the Turbo Fire HIIT workouts since they're really high intensity and, honestly, shorter than the P90X workouts. I know!! I don't want to sound lazy or anything but the P90X workouts are about an hour, then you do ~12 minutes of abs! I was NOT getting enough sleep! Today with HIIT, Stretch and Abs-- 45 minutes total! And I did the Abs after lunch!

My goals for the remainder of this week (that yes, is almost over) are to eat no refined sugar, no snacks after 7pm, stick to my workout plan, and get to 12,000 steps per day (only 464 more today!!) I might add in 20 push ups per day. I did them yesterday. Hmmm, there's still time today. Okay, gotta go!! Push up time!