First Mile!!

Yesterday morning I hit the gym at 7am, my earliest time there yet! I like getting up early and getting it done on Saturdays and Sundays. That way I have the whole rest of the day to spend with my family, or at work (unfortunately) lol. Sunday wasn't a running day, but I felt like running instead of using the elliptical.

Here was my workout:
Warm-up Walk 5 min @ 3.5 mph
Run 13.5 min @ 4.5 mph (my first full mile!!!)
Walk 2.5 min
Run 1 Min @ 5 mph, Walk 1 min @ 3.5 mph (2 of these intervals)
Run 30 sec. @ 5.5 mph, Walk 30 sec. @ 3.5 mph (4 of these speed intervals)
Walk 8 min, cool down

I RAN MY FIRST MILE!! (since Jackson was born)

It was a huge milestone for me, and I just wanted to prove I could still do it. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's run, which is the beginning of week 4 for my 5K training. I'm not sure if I'll hit the gym tomorrow night for crosstraining or not...we shall see. I def need to tomorrow running to get my run in since it's going to be snowing cats and dogs on Wednesday...so I'm not planning on going anywhere that day! :) I don't think I'll have lost any weight for tomorrow's weigh in either...I'm thinking my weight will stay put this week. I made some bad food choices...nothing too crazy. Plus, I've gained a lot of muscle this week...so eh.

Faster, Stronger

I hit the gym pretty early today! I can't make up my mind as to whether I like going first thing in the morning or in the evening. It's quieter in the evening, and I enjoy that. Also, I usually weigh myself every morning...don't worry I'm not obsessive :) I just like to see the miniscule changes throughout the days. Believe it or not, it actually helps. Then sometimes I'll do days between weigh-ins. Just depends on my mood, and lets me know if I need to work a little harder. The scale's weight has kind of been stuck the past couple days (which is fine) and I figured out why. I have a body composition scale that measures not just your weight but muscle mass, water weight, body fat %, etc. So since I've started working out, I've lost almost 5% of my fat and gained 4 lbs of muscle!! That's huge...so I'm guessing I've just gained muscle recently and thats why it's stuck because I've been doing everything right. The key is to not get discouraged! Keep on truckin! I also track all of my calories and fitness at Livestrong.com's MyPlate. It's statistically shown that when you keep a diary of all the food you eat, you lose more weight. I think it's because you're making yourself more aware of what and how much you are eating!!
Anyways, on to todays workout!!
Today was run #3 of week 3 of my 5K training! I also wasn't paying attention during 1 part, which made my run a little different than usual. I also improvised at the end, and did more running!

Workout
Brisk 5 min warm up walk @ 3.5 mph
Run 1.5 min @ 4.5 mph
Walk 1.5 min (all walks are at 3.5)
Run 3 min
Walk 1.5 min (actually was supposed to be 3 min, but I wasn't paying attention oops)
Run 5 min (was supposed to be 3 min, but I improvised)
....and this is where I completely added on to the run....
Walk 1.5 min
Run 1.5 min (all runs were @ 4.5)
(did those alternating intervals 3 times)
Cool down walk of 6 min @ 3.5 mph

Total Miles ~ 2.39 miles!

Also, my trainer gave the P90x dvd set. I tried the ab ripper one yesterday, and it was pretty intense. My abs are def. hurting today, especially when I laugh. I'm definitely looking forward to week 4 of 5K training! This is where it starts to be mostly running with only minimal walking! I'm psyched!!!

Cardio Fun Time

I told myself last night that I was taking today off. Well, that didn't happen lol. Well it wasn't going to take it off because I'm lazy or anything. I just had a lot of anatomy and physiology homework to complete before class tonight. Luckily, Jackson was up at 5 am, so I just stayed up after he ate to finish it off, which gave me time to workout today. My newest goal is that for any workout I go to do, whether it be 5K training or crosstraining on the days I'm not running, I need to go cardio for a total of an hour. So today here's what I did:

Workout
Elliptical (weight loss intervals) ~ 30 minutes
Walking @ 3.5 mph on an incline of 2-4 ~ 30 minutes

Instead of just doing the elliptical and burning 350-360 calories...just that extra 30 minutes of walking burns another 222 calories! It just allows me to eat a little more during the day, or not...depending on my hunger status. I usually am not hungry after a workout, but I always eat because I know it's bad not to refuel your body up! I already planned all my meals and snacks out for the day, so I know what times I'm eating and what exactly I will be eating. I have to plan...especially on days like today when I have class. We only get a 20 minute break during class to eat...and it's not like they have good food to eat there. So I started bringing a Kashi bar and something else thats low in calories.
Anyways, I am looking forward to my running training tomorrow. I seriously think I might become a long distance runner if I really push myself!

Weigh-in Week 3

Ah, week 3 :) I'm very pumped for this week because the 5K training seems a little more difficult. Or at least it did, until I did my first workout this morning. It actually wasn't too bad. Week 3's workout consists of:

Brisk Warm-up Walk ~ 5 minutes
Then 2 of these intervals:
1 1/2 minute run
1 1/2 minute walk
3 minute run
3 minute walk

Surprisingly, I was very able to do the 3 minute stretches. It wasn't easy but it wasn't super difficult at the same time! Afterwards, I went in the weight room (that scares me) and did a couple upper body exercises. Then I got my butt out of there fast! Seriously, I have a big fear of the weight room, not too sure why. I wasn't afraid when I was personal training with Pam, but that's because I had my own bodyguard lol.

I had a little lapse on Saturday in terms of my diet. I ate a little bit more of my dinner than I should have, but I was staaaaaaaaaaarving! I also was craving something sweet. So I bought a bag of those little Dove chocolate hearts. They make a great treat if you want to indulge but not use up tons of calories. There are only 230 calories in 6 pieces! Now, I won't eat 6...but eating 2 makes my craving go away and then I don't binge out on cookies, ice cream, and candies! I think it's important not to ignore cravings because if you do, it only makes it worse and then you end up having a really bad day in terms of eating!

Now for the stats!!

Pounds lost this week ~ 2.8 lbs
Total pounds lost ~ 14.6 lbs
Pounds left til my pre-pregnancy weight with Jackson ~ 4.6 lbs
Pounds left til my Valentine's Day goal ~ 5.4 lbs
Pounds left til my 10% goal ~ 6.3 lbs

Becoming a Runner

On Wednesday I had a really hard time with week 2 of the 5K program. I went through a lot of running blogs and articles between then and tonight. I came out of it with a lot! I learned that not every run will be a good one, and if you're feeling overworked, slow it down. So instead of running at 5 mph today, I ran at 4.5. And guess what?! The workout was a piece of cake! It definitely helps my self-confidence to know that I was able to do the whole workout and not cringe at all.
Also, my gym is having a "after the holidays" contest. You put $10 bucks in the pot, weigh in, have 7 weeks to lose 10 pounds (totally doable!), and then the people who achieve their goal of losing 10 pounds get to split what's in the pot. I am participating this year :) I think I can easily do it my controlling my diet and keeping up with my exercise regimen!
I happened to hit up CVS after the gym to grab a couple things for my husband, and ended up snagging a Women's Health book and a Runner's magazine. I'm really starting to enjoy running, and would love to make it a sport for myself. Maybe someday even run a marathon! I would love to achieve that long-term goal a couple years down the line!! I also bought the Jillian Michaels 6 week 6 pack dvd. I watched it today...looks pretty difficult but I'm up for the challenge! Jillian reccommends doing the workout 5 times a week. I think I will start off with 3...I don't want to overload myself. I have a lot going on between the boys, school, work, and the house!
I'm really excited for my Sunday run that will conclude Week 2 of the 5K program. As for the gym tomorrow, we shall see. I'm learning how important rest is :)

Weekly Weigh-in

Last night I managed to hit the gym at 7...AT NIGHT! This is totally out of the norm for me considering I always go in the morning and usually conform to the thinking of if I don't get it done in the morning, it won't be done at night. I guess I've just started changing a lot of things :)
I got there, and kind of liked it. There was barely anyone there, and I didn't have to fight anyone for a treadmill or elliptal! Kind of quiet and more low key for sure!

My workout
- 30 min on the elliptical doing the weight loss intervals
- 15 min on the treadmill (ran a mile in my fastest time yet)

I felt good but definitely know when I'm tired. I wanted to go for longer on the treadmill but I could tell my body was fatigued. So I listened to it, and stopped. Better to prevent injury than end up injured for 2 weeks, right?

Now for the exciting stats!
Weight loss for the week ~ 3 lbs
Total weight loss~ 11.8 lbs
Pounds left til I hit my 10% goal~ 9.1 lbs
Pounds left til I hit my Valentine's goal~ 8.2 lbs

So, I hit my first goal of losing 5% of my starting weight AND my new years goal of losing 3 pounds per week :) Today is a GOOD day!!!!

Motivation

Motivation is key in achieving your goals! Luckily, I think I'm becoming more and more motivated with each workout I do. I wanted to hit the gym today, but I began putting it off. I finally ended up dragging my butt out of the house around 11:30 to get it done! I got in a really nice workout, too! Originally, I told myself that I was going to do the elliptical trainer for an hour. Yikes...I got tired. So here's what I actually did :)

Elliptical Trainer for 30 minutes ~ weight loss interval program
Treadmill~ 1/2 of a 5K training workout...with some extra sprinting (I even managed to get up to 5.5 mph, a lot faster than I ever go)

My body feels fantastic, and I'm glad I got my bum out of the door. That seems like it's the biggest step for me. Once I get out the door, I'm totally down for some workout time!! Weigh in is on Tuesday...can't wait to see how much I've lost this week!!!

Week 1 of 5K Training DONE

This morning I woke up early, ate a good breakfast, and geered up for my last workout on this 1st week of 5K training. I hit the gym earlier than I ever have before...at 7AM! It's not that that time is too early for me, but the daycare isn't offered until 8:30 :) I followed the routine to a T, except that the last 4 "runs" of 1 min, I split into 30 sec @ 5mph and 30 sec. @5.2mph! It's just nice to prove to myself that I can run a little bit faster!

It was amazingly easier than the first time I ran! Next week the routine gets a little bit more difficult, but not by much. Here's what Week 2 of 5K Training looks like:

• Brisk warm-up walk for 5 minutes
• Alternate running for 1.5 minutes with walking 2 minutes for a total of 20 minutes
• Cool down walk for 5 minutes

Total workout time: 30 minutes

I can't wait to start! I'm feeling really good and getting into the running now. Also, I will be doing crosstraining on off days, probably just the elliptical for 30 minutes and strength training!

5K Training

Today, I started my 5K training program! The first week is pretty basic. You choose 3 workout days to run a week. I'm going to be doing Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The first week's workouts are all the same.

• Warm up with a brisk walk for 5 minutes
• Alternate jogging for 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds for 20 minutes

It doesn't say anything about a cool down, but I added one of 5 minutes walking to the end of it.

So, I did this workout today. I did all my "jogs" at 5mph and all my walks at 3.5 mph. Then I dropped the cooldown down to 3mph. It certainly wasn't easy for me, especially since the highest speed I've done so far was only 4 mph. I also did 1 mile in 15:15...my fastest time yet so far!! :) Very proud of that. I think the last time I had done it I was just over 16 min or so!

Now for the stat updates!

Total pounds lost ~ 8.8

Pounds left to lose before my Valentine's Day goal ~ 14.4

Pounds until my 5% Goal ~ 1.6!! (so close to this one!)

Pounds until my 10% Goal ~ 12.1

2011 Goals

It's that time of year again. Everyone always makes these unrealistic outlandish resolutions for the new year, and then they usually never follow through. In past years, I have been one of those people. But not this year. This is year WILL be different. One of my resolutions has always been to lose weight, but I never set specific goals for myself, leading to failure. So this year, I'm setting a specific guidelines so I can hit a bunch of small goals on the way to my big one! So here they are:

2011 Goals
Ideally I would like to be down to my goal weight before we go on our Disney vacation the 3rd week of April. So, I want to lose 70 pounds to be at my goal weight. That means I have to lose just under 5 pounds a week to get there. I realize that's not really realistic, but I can work my butt off to try and get there.
My first personal goal is lose 3 pounds/week. That would mean losing 43.5 pounds before April 15th.
So, that's one of my big goals.
I would also like to lose 15 pounds by Valentine's Day (6 weeks away). I just used Valentine's for a specific date...I don't really care that I look good for Valentine's day lol.
I would also like to run a 5K outside the beginning of March. This means I have to perfect my running, and get back on track. I've been avoiding the treadmill lately and just using the elliptical.

That's it for now. I plan to weigh in every Monday from now on. I've been kind of lax about it, but I'm going to start doing it every Monday now to track progress. I'll set more goals as 2011 progresses :)

Happy New Year

So, I managed to get in a little run today somehow between all the craziness. My older child woke up with what seems to be a migraine, but is better now, thank God! After caring for him for the better part of the morning, I managed to get him down for an afternoon nap which he needed so badly. I wasn't planning on running today either. I just spontaneously got dressed and headed down to the treadmill.

I actually walked/jogged a mile in 16 minutes. Previously, the fastest I've ever done a mile was in a little over 17 minutes, and it was strictly walking. This time, I was able to run for 5 minutes straight...shocking, since I haven't run in a while...just been doing the eliptical mostly.

This is how my workout went!

5 minutes walking @ 3.5 mph
5 minutes jogging @ 4 mph
2 minutes walking
2 minutes jogging
1 minute walking
1 minute running
and honestly can't remember what was after the mile...I alternated jogging and walking, but I changed speeds frequently. I was on the treadmill for a total of 25 minutes.

I'd say it's pretty good for my first workout of 2011! Bring on the new year and new me. I'm highly motivated right now, so watch out, here I come!! :)