pics from phone

Just so you know, these aren't high quality pictures. I do have a super duper phone and the picture quality is actually quite nice but my skills using the phone to take pictures of myself are sub par. As well is my lighting choices. But I always seem to take my progress pics by my bedroom mirror so....it is what it is I guess.

Only working abs twice a week although they do get worked when I do other exercises, say squats for example. You need a strong core for stability when you do squats. However, I would like to get my lower abs to show. That is all a matter of losing the fat layer.

Notice I have a LOT less hair. I went in to get it lightened and trimmed but I came out with a whole new style. I was SO SICK of the same old hair. I have had long hair all my life with the exception of maybe 3 or 4 times that I've gotten sick of it enough to chop it off. This is the second shortest cut I've ever had and I love love love it. I can blow dry it and style it or I can run my fingers through it, shake my head around a little and let it air dry, either way it's cute.

I love having long hair. It makes me feel sexy. But guess what, that's only when I have time to actually DO something with it. So if I want to spend an hour on it then yes, it could be sexy. But what mom has an hour to kill on her hair every day?? I needed something to make my life easier, and this has. I feel free. Free from hair hassle. I can go to the gym and workout and not look like a complete mess. I can run to the store without having to fuss over putting it up so it looks half decent. It's just so much better.

AND my husband loves it. So win win.

Wishing I could get a good cap on my delts without having to "pose".

Sorry, Pink, I'm raisin' my booty not my glass. Too much alcohol will not help your body goals. No more flat as a pancake butt!! Skinny flat butts are as unattractive as fat butts imo! It's not where I want it to be yet, got a lot of heavy lifting to do! But it'll get there. It's already MUCH better than it was.

I've found so many killer routines I want to try out, I just can't stand it! The most recent ones are more circuit type, fast paced, plyo, sweat your butt off type of workouts but they look soooo fun! I'm thinking of doing them on my "off" days (Tues, Thurs) and hope that I'm not setting myself up for over training. I'm thinking it will burn crazy fat.

Oh, and I have to add that today at the gym, while I was doing overhead squats, I could see one of the trainers helping some guy do the same thing. Difference? I was using an Olympic bar (45lbs) plus 10lb weight plates and he was using a body bar. One of those soft black bars that you can't add weight to. Don't know what weight it was or anything, but he was struggling. [proud girl moment]

p.s. overhead squats are hard.

I am getting stronger

I AM getting stronger!

I haven't done hamstring curls in a while so I decided to add them to the end of my routine today (along with others, see below) and I thought that I would implement the "heavy is better for hamstring growth" thought. I put the peg in 50lbs and cranked them out! WOW! For me, I was pushing it to lift 40-45lbs with good form so I was totally stoked. I added weight up to 65lbs and that's where my form started to suffer.

Not only that, but I did that damn glute/ham raise machine again today and ROCKED it! I did 10 reps (I'm starting out slow) and it was a beautiful thing. I really struggle getting the machine how I want it though, too many levers and knobs and settings. I climb on and off that thing 10 times before it is situated how I want it. One guy on a treadmill watching me struggle said, "looks like more trouble than it's worth". I ignored him.

I also added band walking and curtsy lunges to the end. Working my saddlebags, oh yeah! I also wanted to squeeze in some step ups and leg press kickbacks for my glutes but my workout was getting on the long side and I still had sprints so I thought I better wrap it up. Although, I felt so good, I could easily have been there another hour just trying out different things. It was a great gym day.

I took some pictures today with my phone as I was getting dressed. Only because I had an "overfeed" day and had pizza last night and STILL had abs and a flat tummy this morning. Whoot! If I can remember, I'll post them later...or tomorrow...or never, who knows with me.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday

by WP Plugins Pro

by WP Plugins Pro

This week is going very smooth as far as diet and exercise. I started taking a product called Prograde Metabolism and I think it's helping immensely to control my appetite.

I had debated and gone around and around about whether or not to get it but after reading about it for the 100th time I decided it sounded too good not to give it a shot. Any help I can get to reach my body goals by summer. I will stop at nothing.

You are supposed to limit caffeine intake while on it because it can cause sleeplessness, nervousness, irritability and rapid heart rate. I didn't read this until after my first day taking it. I was drinking coffee as usual and I had quite an interesting evening/night. If you can imagine how I've been feeling the last month or so, dealing with pretty much all those symptoms anyway, it was just amplified and it wasn't pleasant. After reading the bottle, I decided to cut out coffee and tea while I'm on this stuff and since doing so I have felt great. I'm hoping to see some changes to my body within 6 weeks.
Fingers crossed.

Yesterday I had a morning appointment so I got to the gym later. And mom had a lunch date so she couldn't go. I didn't mind flying solo yesterday. I tried the glute/ham raise machine again. And after watching serveral videos on youtube, I think I was able to perform the exercise correctly. It is tough! And I think that reassured me that I was, in fact, doing it right. I found another really interesting way to do this exercise. People are so creative!

I want to try it this way next time.

If you are a sprinter or a runner, this is a good one to incorporate into your routine. Read on:

"Many athletes are what is called “quad dominant,” meaning that their glutes and hamstrings are too weak and inactivated to contribute their full share of strength to movements like sprinting and jumping. As a result, the smaller, weaker quads are forced to take over.

No muscles are more important to running and jumping than the glutes and hamstrings. Some experts estimate that for sprinting and jumping, 40% of the power comes from the glutes, and another 25% comes from the hamstrings.

The glute ham raise directly targets these muscles together with the important spinal erectors. Unlike the common hamstring curl and back extension, this exercise works the hamstrings from both ends – extension at the hip and knee.

Training with this exercise has been shown to dramatically improve speed. The NFL’s Adam Archuleta went from running a 4.85 sec to a 4.39 sec 40 yard dash in part by incorporating GHRs as part of his training program while in college.

For me, I have noticed a dramatic improvement in my sprinting speed since I started doing the GHR. Now I often feel like I am smoothly gliding along, my feet “clawing” at the ground like a cheetah!"

That was taken from http://homeworkoutblog.com/improvised-glute-ham-raise-run-faster-on-a-budget/

Now I'm not looking for speed necessarily, although I do incorporate sprints into my workouts because sprinters, in genera,l have some pretty rockin' hams. And that is what I want. Oh, and a lifted booty. *wink wink*

Anyway, I think these moves can't hurt!

Oh, and before I forget, I also read that since hamstrings are mostly fast twitch fibers, adding weight to the eccentric movement is great for development. But since this is a hard exercise to do on it's own, adding weight might prove to be impossible (at least for me). I'll give it a whirl.

Trouble sleeping again last night

Last night wasn't one of the better nights I've had in a while. I was very productive and energized yesterday all day so I felt that it would be one of those nights where my head would hit the pillow and I would be out like a light.

Not so. I was having a restless, nervous (not panicky), fidgety evening. It was made slightly worse by the fact that Eden had a friend over. Not that they were overly rowdy, just that it isn't the usual atmosphere and it makes it a higher tension situation for me. I was irritable, I was wandering, I tried sitting but my legs just bounced up and down so I got up to wander some more. Then I realized that I had been feeling so good lately I had sort of forgotten to take my pill.

It seems really sad to me that I am so far gone into this anxiety anymore that I can't be "normal" without medication! And, they want me off medication by summer, which scares me.

So, after I took Eden's friend home, I went upstairs to try and relax in the bath. Other than getting intruded on by my kids and my husband upwards of 5 times, it was pretty relaxing. Afterward I had planned on going straight to bed but when I looked at the clock and it said 9:00 and I was still wired, I decided to get on my laptop a little bit. This was probably mistake number one. No screen time an hour before bed. I know better. I had trouble falling asleep and woke up several times. I just couldn't settle down. Finally at around 4:00 I came downstairs and took 2 pills. Went back upstairs, counted back from 100, massaged my hands and was able to calm down after about 25 minutes.

Then, of course, the best sleep I get is the hour before the alarm goes off. Oh, I didn't want to get up. Then my mom called to say that since it was my "off" day at the gym she just wanted to stay home. Needless to say, I'm not going to Bodypump this morning. I was pretty excited about it too. I could still go, there's plenty of time to get there, but I think since I have been so go-go-go-go for many days it couldn't hurt me to spend a relaxing day at home, editing photos and finishing laundry. Maybe even a movie....or a nap? That sounds delicious!

Mondays are one of my favorite days

Ok, so I promised I'd try track sprints and let you know how it went. Well, I wasn't bothered by walkers because I was there late enough in the morning for that not to be an issue. But I was right about the shortness of the track being a bit of a pain. Turning those corners while sprinting is rough. On a full size track, it would be ideal to sprint the straight edges and walk the corners, but we have to work with what we have, right? Anyway, I gave it a try. And I kind of liked it. Because I worked myself to what I knew was my limit. I wasn't held back in anyway by the setting of a treadmill.

I did sprints after my full workout routine. I'm liking my new routine. It's tough, yet it doesn't feel like I'm taxing my nervous system EVERY time I workout. And that is nice. I did 115lb deadlifts. It's been a while since I've done heavier deadlifts so I was very surprised at this weight. Hopefully my form was correct. I tried really focusing on that because on that exercise, form is more important than amount of weight. Of course this is true with any exercise, but especially with the deadlift. I think you could really hurt your back if you aren't careful.

Tomorrow is an off day. I'm trying 3 full body days and one interval day so that leaves 3 rest days. I thought that it couldn't hurt to try Bodypump on at least one of those days. So tomorrow morning I might take the plunge. I'm not entirely sure I should since I hear you will be mega sore afterwards, and I don't want to be sore for my next lifting workout. But, you never know until you try, right?

Today was a great day again. Energy was through the roof. I keep feeling like I better slow down before I just completely crash but it hasn't happened yet so I'm just going to go with it. Must be all the veggies purifying my system. Here's how I would describe how I feel: you know when your coffee pot gets sort of yucky after a while and you have to run a few cycles of vinegar water through it to clean it up and get all the gunk out? That's sort of what I feel like. It seems as though my system was clogged with "gunk" and now I'm cleaned out and running smoother.

Kids are home and needing my attention so I'm off to be a mom. Boy these relaxing school days are short!

Whoo....

Where do I begin...

Had me a busy weekend. Took the kids bowling. Made a bunch of crafts for Chinese New Year. Played out in the snow (finally).

I think I slept 8+ hours on Saturday night. I was bouncing off the freaking walls all day today. FULL of energy. Oh yeah! This feels more like me! I had literally forgotten what it felt like to truly feel great. I had been feeling crappy for so long, and trying to struggle through it - not very successfully, that now, I really appreciate the true feeling of happiness I have again. And energy - gosh, it's amazing!

I wish everyone out there realized the importance of sleep. I always knew it was important, I've read about how it can affect every aspect of your life (training and fat loss included), but I don't think I could understand the real impact of it until I experienced a lack of sufficient sleep myself. There are folks that say they can function normally on 4-6 hours of sleep. But I think they are kidding themselves. I have to get up at about 6:45am to get the kids out the door for school on time. I could probably get up 15 minutes earlier just so it would be a bit more relaxed but the truth is, I like to stay in bed until the last possible moment. And if I don't wake up numerous times during the night or have trouble falling asleep, that should give me between 7-8 hours.

I am lucky that I can workout at virtually any time of the day. There is no need for me to get up ridiculously early to workout before work because my work isn't dictated by 8-5 hours. I can go to the gym when I want. Not only that but all of my kids are at school so even if I wanted to workout at home, I wouldn't have them to worry about. If there is one thing I can't stand, it's the kids coming downstairs wanting to bounce on the trampoline or dance while I'm working out. I will send them straight back upstairs every time. But even that brief moment is enough to throw everything off and leave me feeling irritated. I don't like being interrupted during a workout, especially if it's intense.

My last workout was hill sprints. I put my treadmill to the highest incline possible and did intervals. My working intervals only lasted 25 seconds at a time. I kid you not, my legs could not go another second on that incline. It was 25 seconds....every....time. I tried to keep my rest intervals to 1 minute or 1 minute 15 seconds at the most. And my sprint was at 8mph. On an incline, for me, that's pretty good. I have never experienced total muscular fatigue in my legs like that before. Amazing! Here's something strange to note, I have noticed that the gym's treadmills seem easier than mine at home. For instance, if I do intervals on the treadmill at the gym, 8mph seems like I'm jogging. I kid you not. It feels like a huge difference. Maybe it's just the atmosphere.

There is something to be said about the atmosphere of the gym. It makes me work twice as hard. It amps me up in a way my basement never could. I love that. I love the camaraderie there is with other gym goers. We're all there for the same reason. There's no competition, there's no pressure, yet I work harder. It's an amazing thing.

Last week, one of the things I did was walking lunges around the track. I think I did a hundred of them. It's a small track, it took me about halfway around it (I think). I saw a guy doing sprint intervals on the track last week. I don't know if I'd like that because there are always so many slow walkers on it for one thing, and for another, it's so small that you'd be turning every few seconds. But I would like to try it just because I know I'm not "sprinting" by definition on the treadmill. All out sprints mean you give it ALL you've got, as fast as you can. And that's what I need to be doing. I'll try that this week and let you know how it goes ;)

Before I go, I will leave you with this:

These are donuts I made today. Not your typical fatty fried unhealthy donuts. But lighter, raised donuts baked in the oven. No sugar. They were delicious! Even my husband couldn't keep his hands off them!

If you'd like the recipe, check out this blog for AMAZING recipes.

The blog is called The Bikini Baker and it's wonderful.

Ah ha!

I've got it! The secret to my success. And I've had it all along.

I remembered a book I bought eons ago by a man named Mike Geary. It's called "The Truth About 6 Pack Abs". I took it out yesterday to read from it again, not because I want a 6 pack. I'm lean enough to where I have visible abs (unless I eat too much pasta or something else that bloats me), but because I needed a fresh new look at my workouts.

I don't like having to sit down and meticulously plan every workout because it just takes up too much of my time. So I like to have an effective plan already laid out that I can follow. Boy had I forgotten about this gem!

The information in this book is so useful and everyone can benefit from it. I love his theory that you need shorter more intense workouts that work multiple muscle groups at a time versus the long slow going kind.

Now I may be a tad biased about this but I LOVE his philosophy on weight training versus long steady state cardio. I blatantly say on my blog side bar that I am anti long boring cardio and pro weights. And it's not because I can't handle it, but because I don't want to do it (been there, done that...yuk). I've educated myself enough to know it isn't the answer to fat loss and a lean sculpted body. Also, I have WAY too much to do every day, I don't have time to spin around in that hamster wheel. If you're cool with hopping on that elliptical or treadmill (or whatever your cardio machine of choice is) for an hour, then by all means, do it! It's still exercise! But if you aren't just in it for the exercise, or the mental therapy, or the me-time, or because you don't know what else to do with all that extra time you find you have, and you want to change your body, read on.

"Studies have shown that intense weight training workouts stressing large muscle groups result in increased RMR (resting metabolic rate) for up to 1-2 DAYS following the workout (potentially even greater than 48 hours), whereas a steady pace cardio workout only elevates your RMR for 1-2 HOURS following your workout."

Days vs. hours....hmmmm, that's a tough one, but I think I'll go with DAYS!

He goes on to say:

"To get the best results you should focus most of your time training with exercises that you can move greater amounts of weight for larger distances. This burns the most calories and works most of the muscle groups in your body all at once, creating a metabolic environment that stimulates change."

Who wants change? Ooooh, I do, I do!! Or are you satisfied with what you are doing now and how you look. You're hot enough, right? "uh huh, I workouuuuuut" - you're sexy and you know it.

"Weight training builds lean muscle mass and therefore increases your RMR. Excessive cardio training actually can cause a loss of lean muscle mass, therefore decreasing your RMR. And the lower your RMR, the harder it's going to be to lose any more body fat AND it's easier to store body fat if you  happen to overeat. The result is people who use primarily cardio-based workouts and also have a poor diet frequently acquire that "skinny-fat" appearance where they have very little muscle definition coupled with excess body fat."

Another misconception is that you need to workout for HOURS on end every day. It makes sense, right? The more I workout the more I lose. Wrong! Studies show that training sessions over an hour promote higher levels of cortisol which can lead to excessive muscle protein breakdown. It also increases free radical production in the body. EEK!

"Once again, many people falsely believe they must train for 2-3 hours each day in order to get lean. But there are very few people who can train this way without over-training and doing more harm than good. It's very hard for the body to fully recover once you've over-trained. Think of it as taking two steps back, but only one step forward."

Give your poor central nervous system a break, sheesh!

I workout. I workout long. I workout hard. Some days I workout twice. And coincidentally, I'm not as lean as I'd like to be. So do I think what he is saying makes sense? Absolutely! I'm living proof!

And of course there is a whole large section of the book that talks about your diet. Let's just put it this way: you're poor diet habits are most likely the sole reason you've never obtained you're goal body.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Who cares, right? I want to eat cake. And I'm gonna eat that cake, darn it! I don't care if I have to workout 3 hours a day and go nowhere with my body goals. I want cake!! People think I'm skinny enough. Oh wait, nevermind, I forgot I don't want to be skinny-fat.

Now that I have TONS of get-lean weapons from inside this awesome book, I'll be ready for summer. I started one of the workouts today. It was great. It was intense and short and I sweat and felt like I worked. And tomorrow, I plan on doing one of the "secret" workouts that will guarantee me a leaner body within weeks! That's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh!!

Are YOU ready to say good bye to skinny-fat or just fat? I know I am!

Click here if you want to change too.