Disney Fitness recap

I survived Disney AND I lost a pound while I was there!! I'll be honest, I broke some of my rules and didn't do one workout video. Can you imagine how much I would have lost if I did? But I digress, I still feel pretty good about what I did accomplish. Basically, I wore my bodybugg the entire time we were there so I was able to monitor how many calories I was burning. I did make it to the hotel gym twice for some time on the treadmill, but based on my bodybugg readings, I was burning tons of calories just walking around the parks. It helps that I always volunteered to run to the other end of the park to grab a fast pass for a wanted ride. I also turned down most of the desserts, or opted for the fruit. I did have some yummy birthday cake on my grandmother's birthday, and a small sliver the next morning too. :)

I basically discovered that when you're on your feet all day, you burn more calories than when you spend most of your day on the computer with an hour or so of structured exercise. Now that I'm back I'm trying to get myself moving more often. Whether it's short walks with the dog or the kids, or walking lunges when I get up to get something. Keep moving people!

As far as my workout program, I basically moved it back a week. I did my Wednesday workout the day we left, but nothing again till that following Tuesday. So, I just repeated that previous week's workouts and moved everything back a week. That keeps me on a program through the first week of April. Yay! I love being on a program. It's hard to get motivated when I have to think, what workout should I do today? What did I do yesterday?? Especially if you're like me and can barely remember what you had for breakfast that day! If you don't have a workout program, I suggest scheduling your workouts for the week on Sunday (use your FitME pad!). If you're looking for a workout program, check out some of the Beachbody workouts! They come with a calendar and nutrition plan! There's something for every fitness level. Don't know where to start? Ask me!

Now, get up and take a walk. You've been at your computer too long!

image from here

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!

catching up

Today is Week 2, Day 3 of my P90X/Turbo Fire hybrid. I'm still struggling with my diet, but given that today is a work day, I'm hoping to get it back in gear. Worst case scenario is me eating great the 3 days a week my kids are at preschool, and doing my best the other 4 days. I need to get better than that, but it's a start.

I tried to behave in Bryan on Saturday, but pretty much failed miserably. My kids devoured their cupcakes, which meant no leftovers. I swear, they normally don't eat them all! So yes, I had a whole cupcake. And two small cookies from my grandmother's cookie jar. I resisted them most of the day, but broke down in the end. There was also pizza for dinner, one cheese slice and one meat lovers slice. I probably should have stuck to the cheese, but at least the meat filled me up so there was no third piece. Silver lining?? I also have seriously slacked on my food diary, but I'm fixing that today. I am not good about writing stuff down when the kids are home with. It just gets a little crazy!

I also have not been drinking enough water. Tsk! Tsk! This is a huge deal for me since a lack of water will trigger a Meniere's attack. I loathe my Meniere's disease. Perhaps on a later date I'll write more about it, but I'll just say that's it's cost me most of my hearing (left ear gone, right ear with a hearing aide) and all of my sanity! (Okay, a little exaggeration there). Basically, an episode will cause me to be dizzy for up to days at a time. Not dizzy spells, but straight dizzy to where I can't look at a computer screen, watch TV, read a book, or even drive. I basically just sleep or try to play with my kids if they're home and awake. Oh, and the dizziness often causes motion sickness, and in extreme circumstance, vomiting. So yeah, Meniere's can kiss my tush.

But I digress, let's review my workouts! :) Sunday was tricky. Shawn was out of town and I lift weights on our back patio, so I opted to wait till the evening to do P90X rather than being out of ear shot from the kids in the morning. I did take the kids to the Y (yay for Sunday childcare) while I spent 40 minutes on the treadmill. I did my usual 3 min run/3 min walk, then a 10 min walk. I did increase my speed a little and did 3 miles total. After the kids went to bed, I started week 2 of my hybrid with a return to Chest & Back. I struggle with this one because I don't have the strength to do some of the push ups, specifically the diamond push up and the dive bombers. I sort of do my best.

Monday was Turbo Fire 45EZ. Still taking more breaks than I would like, but less than last week. Improvement, right? Unfortunately, the weather turned yucky and drizzly in the afternoon, so no long walks with the kids.

This morning I got back to P90X with Shoulders and Arms. I even upped my weights on some of these! Yay me! Confession: I haven't done Ab Ripper X yet. I've been having trouble waking up in the morning, so I didn't have time. My plan is to do it right before lunch, after I take the dog for a quick walk. Aiming for at least 2 dog walks today, maybe one a little longer than usual.

So, what am I eating today?

Post workout - Results & Recovery formula (~1/2 scoop)
Breakfast - Shakeology, fiber, 2 TB PB2, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 C ice, 1/2 C skim milk, 1/2 water
AM snack - coffee w/sugar free creamer, Cran Bran vitatop
Lunch (planned) - leftover deer chili-like meal, 1/2 avocado
PM snack (planned) - greek yogurt
Dinner (planned) - spaghetti squash w/deer meat pasta sauce

What are you eating??

image from here

week 1 wrap-up

I know I'm a little late with the latest update, but I promise I've been sticking to the plan! Since I've been tracking calories I've lost 1.5 pounds! I cannot stress this enough: If you want to lose weight, write down everything you eat. Even if you don't count the calories, just write it down. I was really bad yesterday, and since we're taking a day trip to Bryan to visit family, I'm guessing I won't do well today. BUT, I'll be back on track with counting calories on Sunday!! I also strongly endorse a cheat meal each week. Mine will be today! We're baking pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting at my grandmother's house. I'll try to just stick to eating the twins' leftovers!! Pray for me!

Now for a quick wrap up of the last two days. Day 5 (Thursday) was P90X Legs and Back. My kind of workout!! I love squats/lunges and all that. Probably because my legs are the strongest part of my body, so I feel really powerful!! I did pretty well except those damn one-legged wall sits!! I will improve on those! And it didn't really help that my hamstrings were sore from Yoga X.

Day 6 was Turbo Fire 45 (not the EZ). Again I found myself taking more breaks than I remember in the past. This workout is tough! It's probably the hardest of the non-HIIT workouts, except MAYBE Fire 60. There are 3 turbos!! Great music though! My favorite is the recovery with "Boom! I got yo' boyfriend!" I know with each of these workouts I do I'm getting more fit, but man, the journey is hard! I am extra thankful for doing Stretch 10 at the end of the workout. I was sore from Legs and Back, especially my tush and hips. Stretching is awesome for soreness!

Today is rest day!! And, I'm writing this at breakfast with the kids, so I'm being lazy with links and all that. If you ever want to know more about anything I write, just leave me a comment! Or leave me a comment anyway. They make me happy! :) And now I'm off for my rest day road trip!!

double workouts and recipes!!

Okay, don't get too excited because I'm only linking to recipes that I've tried. I can't even fathom how to come up with my own!! I can barely hard boil an egg... okay I usually google it because I forget how. :)

Moving on, I started this morning with Yoga X, the dreaded 92 minute, very athletic, yoga workout from P90X. Apparently the universe wanted to screw with me because my son woke up an HOUR early today. Yep, the last hour of my yoga. He did okay for about 10 minutes before getting bored. Then he had to go to the bathroom. Then he demanded I turn on his bedroom light, which woke up his sister. (If you've stumbled on here without knowing my background, I have boy/girl twins who are 3.5 years old and share a room.) So, when my daughter woke up it got really interesting. She considers any small space a challenge. If we sit down with our knees bent, that's a tunnel she must crawl through. So, every yoga pose that created a "tunnel" she had to crawl through. Occasionally she would hang out in said tunnel. At the end you are supposed to sit in lotus pose, which prompted my son to sit in my lap, so I sort of missed the point on that one.

Next week I'll have to wake up earlier. And maybe not be so noisy? I have no clue why that child woke up!! It's not like he EVER goes to bed early.

Since these first few weeks aren't too heavy on the cardio, and since I've set a goal of averaging 12,000 steps per week, I decided to hit the treadmill at the Y for my second workout. Now, I am not a runner. I tried to be once, but my knees couldn't take it. So, I'm taking it VERY slow. I'm only running once a week, and it's more of a run/walk. This month I'm doing a 3 min walk/3 min run for 30 minutes, then 5 minutes of walking. Except today I walked 10 more minutes because I have barely any steps!! So, there's workout number 2!

Now to be honest, working out is sort of the easy part for me. I worked out all last year, usually waking up between 4:30 and 5 to do it. The hard part? Eating right. I tend to eat healthier foods, just way too much and way too often. I started the year with the goal to avoid sugar and eat protein at every meal. No weight loss. So, yesterday I started tracking my meals. I've been using my bodybugg since January 1st to track the calories I've burned and steps I've taken, but to get the full effect, you have to suck it up and track what you eat. I need to see that I've burned more calories than I ate. Do NOT trust what machines or magazine articles estimate you've burned. ESPECIALLY if you're short. I burn way less than I thought.

I'm also trying healthier recipes so my whole family eats better. It's pretty easy to google "healthy chicken recipe" or "healthy meatloaf" so that's a good go to for me. Here are some of my favorite sites for healthy eating.

Cooking Light - these tend to be a little more involved, so I have to be really in the mood here.
Dashing Dish - super cute blog with simple healthy recipes and even desserts!
Michelle Myers online - not a cooking blog, but there are recipes and tips on staying healthy
PBS Parents Kitchen Explorers - I love everything about this website.

So, what am I cooking now?

Yesterday I made this mango chicken, but forgot the hummus. Oops! We poured it over quinoa, but I might have to do it over salad once Shawn starts working late!

Tomorrow I'm making these little meatloafs. Meatloaf is one of the few dinners everyone in my house agrees on!

As soon as I buy the ingredients, I'm DYING to try this. It seems so simple, which is right up my alley. And it looks delicious.

So, where do you go to find healthy foods?

image from here