Summer Challenge Day 28

Okay today has been awesome....let's start with nutrition...
Breakfast: Kashi cereal with milk and blueberries, 1/2 apple

sorry this one is blurred...

Snack after morning workout was a chocolate whey protien shake made with soy milk...

Lunch: Tuna Salad (Tuna, onion, 1 boiled egg, tomato, mushrooms, carrots and olive oil), 1/2 apple

Afternoon Snack: Strawberries and nuts

Snack between Power Hour workout and Zumba: 1 banana

Dinner:Chicken, sweet potato and asparagus

Drank around 100 oz of water...

Workouts today:
Run: 3 miles in 28 minutes (It was HOT!)
Swim: .25+ miles (great way to cool it off!)
Power hour: Let me explain this crazy hour workout!
after warming up by jumping rope
3 circuits doing a 10-1 count...4 exercises each
Circuit 1: push ups 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,3, 2, 1, wood chops 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, shoulder press 10, 9, 8,7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, jump squats 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
The other 2 circuits followed this pattern.
Circuit 2: diamond hand push ups, t-arm extensions (You are in almost a side plank using your legs side to side for support, taking the weight from the opposite side under you to straight up above your side---reps performed on each side!), back flyes, high knee jumps.
Circuit 3: knee up push ups, kickbacks, bent over rows, jumping lunges.
following this was an ab workout and cool down..

Then I turned around and did a 50 min. Zumba class!
I am now tired!!!!

My discovery today: I am stronger than I thought and I can push my body way further than I ever thought! I have stayed away from this power hour class. I know this instructor from kickboxing. I knew she was tough and pushes hard..I had thought I couldn't do it...let alone follow it with a Zumba class! When she invited me check out this class, I decided to and I loved it!

I also discovered that I can listen to my husband vent about his drama without letting it become my drama! It doesn't have to effect me!!

This challenge is off with a bang and I am excited!

Summer Challenge Days 26 and 27

Okay...this sporadic blogging needs to stop! I really need to use this to stay focused on goals!! My challenge this summer was to try some new stuff! In the first month of this challenge I have added Tri training, kickboxing, zumba and cardio dance. I have gone to three days of full body workouts and added cycling and swimming 3 days a week to my running 3-4 days! I am loving the mix up!! My body loves the mix up of activites and has responded with weight and inches loss!

I have focused a lot on my workouts, now it is time to focus on the nutrition...I am going to go back to posting my pics of meals...hey...you can scroll through them if you need to! I need the accountability of eating the right foods at least 90% of the time...I am realistic and know with summer there will be cookouts and stuff where I will eat what is served, but as long as I am in control of the choices, it will be clean, healthy foods...

We are starting a new challenge on my Fab Fit team on FB and my goals for that are
1. Get my nutrition where it needs to be with clean, healthy foods...I need to fuel my body with good fuel for the workouts I do...

2. Add more definition to my muscles...I want toned muscles, not big muscles...hey I am an endurance athelete...this should result in lower body fat and inches loss..

3. To discover just what my body is capable of and be comfortable in my own skin...

I will continue to blog and plan to on a daily basis about workouts, nutrition and share any discoveries I make along the way...

Let the challenge begin!

Summer Challenge Days 23-25

I know it has been a few days...things have been a little crazy for me and I have been trying to deal with some mental obstacles in my journey...I needed the time to journal and process through some stuff...but I am still on this journey...Many times we make it all about working out and our diets, but the mental stuff can be the biggest hurdle...glad I found a friend that I could open up to some and let some stuff come out...is it over...probably not, but I am in a better place...

Workouts this week have been intense...my usual routines of kick boxing and zumba, full body weight workouts and tri training. The tri training is fun! I really enjoy mixing up the three events and even trained in all three one day this week...Right now I am keeping runs on the shorter side and working on speed, cycling is up to 15 miles in about 40 minutes and I actually amazed myself swimming and completed pool lengths in about 30 sec! Maybe not fast for some, but for me that was amazing! Swimming is my weak link in this, so I am spending more time in the pool than anywhere right now...

Aparently my body likes the mix up in activity as much as my mind...I remeasured this week as I gear up for a challenge with my Fabulous Fitness team and had lost 3.5 pounds and 3.5 inches since June 12! I was really pleased with this...my goal isn't weight loss, but can't help but smile at the loss!

This is really amazing because nutrition has been all over the map recently, from not eating enough to eating the wrong foods...I am working on this and I think that is going to be a focus of the next part of this challenge...

The goal will be to get back to clean eating and to eat enough to support the level of exercise I am doing...

I can tell on days like last night when I was doing cardio dance, that I am not fueling my body as it needs...this has got to change...

My goal is health and that has to include proper nutrition...nutrition is 80% of the equation according to Tosca Reno...so if I can get the nutrition back on track...I can only imagine what this body can do!

Summer Challenge Day 22

Today has been a good day workout wise...a kick butt kickboxing class from my favorite kickboxing instructor! She told me before class she didn't feel well...trust me, you wouldn't have known it in class!! The only down thing is on Tuesdays I have to cut out a little early to get my youngest to swim lessons, but it is still a very intense workout and I love every minute of it! It feels good to feel strong and tough!

Little one had swim lesson and is working on breathing as she swims...this one is hard to teach, because I don't do it well...so we are learning together! FUN!

This evening I headed back to the gym for full body st workout...really focusing more on upper body since most of my classes, cycling and running attack my legs...did some push ups and dips as a part of this workout...taking some suggestions from a friend to help build up my upper body for the swim portion of my upcoming Tri....also did chest press, bi curls, tri ext, lat pulls, back rows, upright rows, Tri press, leg press and leg curls....it was a much needed workout...used semi light weights and moved from set to set...so it was some cardio as well...

Came home and went for an easy 10 mile ride. I had thought about riding to the gym and back for my st workout, but with storms coming and the time of day being high traffic decided against it...I enjoyed most of my ride until my dh started calling and wouldn't stop until I answered the phone! I cannot ride a bike and talk on a cell!! Had to stop at about 8 miles to talk to him for a few, but it was a good ride and I needed the time to think today...

Nutrition wise...not a good day...started out okay with all natural peanut butter whole wheat toast....turkey breast on whole wheat bun for lunch with veggie straws luna mini bar for post workout morning snack...other wise it went down hill and I made some bad choices....really struggling with the nutrition side of things right now...got to figure out why and get back on track!

Tomorrow is a zumba, run and swim day! Hope to throw in some ab work and yoga in the evening!

Summer Challenge Day 21

Getting back on track! Got up this morning and had 2 slices of whole wheat toast with all natural peanut butter and headed to the gym! Morning workout for today was suppose to be 2 miles running, ran 2.5 miles in 22 min! I was running on the treadmill using intervals but not going all the way to a walk...this was fun and a really good workout. After my run, I headed to the pool for a nice swim...trying to find a base on swimming...250 meters...really not sure of the time...had several interruptions...that is the only thing about swimming at the gym...we have only one lap lane and the pool is always open for rec swim and lap swim at the same time...someone was in the lap lane so I was dodging kids as I swam....still a good workout and it did give me some time to focus on breathing...my weakness...after the swim, I enjoyed a lemon zest luna bar...this was new for me and very good! I had one of the mini bars, could have eaten a couple, but only had the one with me...

Picked Autumn up from child watch and went back to the pool for play time and swim practice for her. She is getting brave and figuring our how to come up for water when she can't touch! I love seeing her start to swim!

Lunch was a banana and veggie straws...I had a greek yogurt with me, but it had gone bad! Got to boil some eggs for tomorrow for lunch!

Headed home to get some stuff done around here and then decided to take my new bike out for it's first ride. Normally, I ride my run route, today I decided to go a different route...tons of hills! going down felt great, the air cooled me off...going up...what a workout! ended up with about 10 miles...felt great and I found the perfect route for brick training with my run in a few weeks...a good ride that will circle around and end up at home, then i can run! YAY


When I got back I had a class of chocolate milk and a banana for recovery.

Dinner was turkey breast, sweet potato fries baked, squash (first ones from my garden!) and green beans...yummy!!

Tomorrow is strength training, kickboxing and maybe another ride...sure there will be some pool time in there as well!

Summer Challenge Days 18-20

Well, this has been a crazy few days! My car had the starter go out on it Thursday and it was waiting to be fixed on Friday, so I was pretty much stuck at home until Friday evening. Managed to accomplish some stuff at home, but not any dedicated workout time....I did play with the kids and stuff...so I was active, but not my normal...

I got to see my oldest as well....My son is almost 23 years old and a Marine...but he is still my baby boy....

Friday evening, I went to look at a bike I had found on craigs list. My daughter, Celeste, and I had been sharing her bike and it was time for mommy to get her own. I really wanted a road bike, but couldn't find one in my price range. I came across this mountain bike on craigs list that really seemed to good to be true for the price, but when I went to look at it, it was what had been represented, so I bought it....I am suppose to have pics, but for some reason it will not upload....I will try to get some tomorrow on my phone and get them up...for the tri I want to do this bike will be fine and then I can decide if it is something I want to invest money in for next season, plus this gives me one for trail riding with my daughter...something she loves to do!

Saturday, we did make it to the pool to play and swim for a couple of hours, then it was a fireworks festival in the evening...the kids had a blast and the fireworks were amazing!

It was really a late night for us and today I was so tired that I really didn't feel like doing much of anything outside of going to church. Church was awesome! Spent most of the day just chilling out....

So several days here of not working out and unfortunately not eating very good and I am feeling like crap...headaches, tired and not the I have been busy tired, but drained tired...I also didn't realize how much my mood is affected by what I eat...I am feeling more emotionally blah today....you know normally I am the odd ball through holidays of any kind...I can stick to my plan and eat the right stuff...I am the one that loses weight through Christmas! I don't know if it was because I was not working out or just so busy I didn't plan, or maybe some emotional eating...but it was really not a good few days...I have got to get back on track! I truly hate how I feel right now physically and it is not helping the mental state! This has got to change...

The plan is to get up in the morning, have something resembling clean and healthy for breakfast and then go for a long (for me) bike ride on my new bike! Hopefully I will be able to get some lap swimming tomorrow as well....

I have got to find the motivation back....I know what I want and I know what it will take to get there....now just kicking my own booty in gear is the next step!

Rambling Rose Triforlife Tri Training Program

One of my readers asked for a link to the free tri plan I spoke of a couple of days ago. This is a plan geared for the Rambling Rose Women's Only Triathlon...I took this plan and used it to build my own to prepare for my tri....but for you here is the link....

Let me know if you need any other plans...I have found several on Tri Fuel and beginnertriathete.com as well...there are a ton out there...I like the simplicity of the rambling rose one to build mine from...