The Shred Update

I came home and, as promised, got right to Shreddin' down. I still, on day 7 cannot keep up. The cardio is not a problem, and I do great in the beginning but I'm only using 6lb. weights for the first set (plie's with a shoulder press), the middle is fine (bent-over rows & biceps/lunges) with 8lbs, but I go back down to 6lb's for the mutliple-muscle section of the last set (anterior squat/lift) and I cannot do as many as "the girls" do. (How annoying is it when Jillian calls them that?!?) It's driving me crazy. I refuse to move on to level 2 until I can keep up and I just want to GET THERE DARN IT! Good thing I have 23 days to go...

I went to jazz this afternoon and was geared up for a great class but only one person came. I kind of hate that. I would say that 1/2 of my momentum comes from there being a lot of people in class and just having one person there makes it a lot more difficult. I don't know what it is about Thursdays but it's tough for people to make it to class for some reason. I burned 440 calories though- - which is pretty standard. I was worried that I wouldn't burn as much with only one person there. Combined with the Shred I got up to 650 calories burned for the day. Not too bad.

Tomorrow is Friday. Who else is pumped?!?!?

In the Interest of Full Disclosure

I did not wake up early enough to complete the Shred this morning. I was going to, but I woke up at 2 am and couldn't fall back asleep until 3:30 so when the alarm went off, I snoozed instead. I do have every intention of completing it when I get home from jazz this evening.

Also, my goal to not eat any sweets has *not* worked out. I had sugar cookies yesterday and today I had pancakes (three 1/2 dollar sized ones- - not a HUGE deal, but still) and a cupcake. Self control? What is that?

Wednesday High Mileage

I got home yesterday, got the laundry going and set up to get down with Jillian. It was awesome and I burned 150 calories for 20 minutes. Not bad. I finished with her right about the time the clothes were ready for the washer so I switched everything over to the dryer and set out for my run. I tried to mentally pep myself up for it all day so I started out great. I actually felt like the whole run was awesome. I did get a little tired around miles 5/6 but that's not surprising as I was running directly into the wind and I was on the busiest section of the road. Having to be super-aware of traffic stressed me out.

I ran the 9 miles in about an hour and twenty minutes. My average pace per mile was 9:34 which wasn't great and not at all the same as last week's 8:32 pace. I think I messed up the timing on one of them... who knows. I'm not overly concerned. I burned 1100 calories overall which pleased me. I think I need a new ipod nano though, in addition to a new Nike+ system... ack. Too bad I still need to pay of this semester of school. Being a poor graduate student totally stinks sometimes.

I think some summer employment opportunities are working out though and my summer is starting to come together nicely. I'm going to be very busy, but I'm always more successful that way anyway.

It's pouring rain in CT today. BLEH.

It is however, pajama day at school so I'm rockin' black stretch pants and my Wishbone Bowl 2008 tshirt. Life isn't so bad.

Weekly Goals

Being up 1lb for last week encouraged me to make some goals for this week. I'm not making any promises, but here they are:

Do not eat more calories than allowed even when working out technically gives me more calories. I'm going to try to stick to my 23 points/day or 1383 calories per day every day and not go over or use WAP or AP.

Stop the BLT's or the Bites, Licks, and Tastes. If I want something, fine- - take out the correct portion and account for it. No more just trying things out. It doesn't work.

Don't eat grapes for the week. I think those make me gain weight. I'm serious.

Cut the carbs (bad form) and sugar. I'm going to try to eat more wholly this week and eat less sweets and desserts.

NEVER EAT YOGURT COVERED RAISINS OR CHOCOLATE COVERED PLUMS AGAIN. I have no will power with these things and will easily eat the entire bag/container in one sitting. This, obviously, is unacceptable. I think I need to give them up like I have donuts. It's just not worth it.

Try to allow for peanuts/peanut butter because I *love* it and it makes me happy.

Realize that, sometimes, it's okay to be hungry. I am in the process of retraining my brain and body and hunger is a very nasty side effect.

Try to come up with something that keeps my hands busy. I don't have a lot of down time, but when I do- - I like to snack. This has led to mindless eating.


I didn't wake up early enough to do the Shred this morning. Well, I did. But I didn't want to get out of bed. I knew I would have time this afternoon, so I'm going to do it while I wait to switch the clothes (Wednesday is laundry day at the house) over to the dryer. While the clothes are in the dryer I'm heading out on a run. I'm hoping to go for 9miles, but we'll see how I'm feeling. I have all day to gear myself up for it.

Shameless Self-Promotion

My friend D (the one you will all love and IS getting her own blog soon) called me after school today to mention that all of my recent talk of exercise and food makes me sound anorexic and unhealthy. In case you were wondering or concerned, I am neither. I AM however trying to lose some weight so I guess it's at the forefront of my mind. All of the time.

I wish I was one of those people who wouldn't mention anything about dieting or losing weight to anyone, make some changes, lose the weight, then show up at a family function or after the summer 4 sizes smaller and have everyone be like, "Oh my god! Oh my god! You're SOOOOOO skinny!" I? Am not that person. Everyone in my family and at work knows that Tuesday? Is weigh-in day. (Ohhh, remind me to tell you about a really rude coworker sometime...)

Disclaimer, done.

I have had quite a few days of really great accomplishments that I should be REALLY excited about, but for some reason it's just not sinking in. I love feeling really proud of myself (who doesn't) and like my hard work is paying off but I haven't felt that, starts-from-your-toes, call-everyone-you-know, excitement lately and I'd really like to.

Maybe if I type it here it will start to sink in...

Tuesday: was down 2.4lbs at WW

Saturday: I found out that I got a 100 on my final paper for my Child Development class which left me with a 103% average for the semester. (Woo!)

Sunday: I ran the 5k with a good time- - turns out I won for my age group and won a prize! (I still don't know what it is, or who to get it from but... DETAILS people, I'm not worried about the DETAILS!"

Monday: Received email notification that I scored a 272 on the NYS LAST test (a teacher certification test). You need a 220 to pass. I won't know the specifics until I get the results in the mail, but I passed! WOO!

All of these things are great. REALLY great. And I should be excited about them, but I'm just kind of ho-hum about the whole thing... whatever to ME!

The Shred & a 5k

I woke up early enough to complete the Shred this morning before heading out for the 5k. I'm glad I did because it would have been tough motivating to do it when I came home. The 5k went well, it was a little cooler than I thought and I had to run with my jacket on which I wasn't planning to do but I ran it in 23:37 or about 7:34 minutes/mile. I think. I can't remember exactly. I was pretty pleased with that although I felt like I was running fast the whole time and that? Isn't EXACTLY fast, but oh well.

There is something inherently different about running a 5k than simply setting out for a 3.2mile run. I hate being chased and feeling like there are people behind me. This does not bode well for races.

I was proud of myself because I ate a great breakfast before going which I don't usually do but then I ruined it at the end of the race by eating cookies, 1/2 bagel, grapes, and 2 muffins. Yea... god help me on weigh-in Tuesday. I have basically zero points and 100 calories left for the day. Go me.

I came home and pulled out my exercise mat to stretch. I don't stretch nearly enough and need to get back into it. I think I have some stretching dvds at my parent's house but they were really boring. Does anyone know of a good stretch workout? I don't want it to be super intense, I just want it to be relaxing and enjoyable. And work.

I don't have too much going on today I think I'm just going to relax for the afternoon (and try to stay away from food) then I'm babysitting at 5.

Day 2- - The Shred

I set out for an 8-9 mile run last night, made it .75miles down the road and had to stop. I was exhausted. That really *never* happens to me so I figured I should listen to my body and head home. I took the long way home so I ended up walking 2 miles then stretched for a while. I think my body needed some rest.

I did want to start the Shred though so I popped that into the dvd player and got started. From everything I read about it, I was expecting a fitness nazi (Jillian) to be screaming the whole time, but the dvd was much cooler and toned-down that I expected. I figured that since I'm in pretty good shape I might to start on level 2 or 3 but decided that I was just going to start at 1 and take it from there.

The dvd is challenging, that's for sure and it gets your heartrate up. In 20 minutes I burned about 110 calories which is just average, but that was okay with me. I'm glad I started at level 1 becuase I couldn't complete each movement perfectly without getting tired. I figured I'll stay at this level until I can complete each section successfully. The cardio or ab parts isn't hard for me at all and I actually jump to the next move before they do, but the pushups and lateral lunges could use some (serious) work. It is quick though and was over before I knew it.

I woke up at 6 this morning (I went to bed at 8pm last night...) and wanted to make sure I got in day 2 of the Shred so I got right to it and did that before I headed to Jazz for PT and double classes. I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say?!?

Tomorrow I'm running in a 5k and as much I would like to do the Shred before I go (just so it's over with) I think I might wait until after to make sure that my body is feeling good for the race.

May is National Fitness Month and to celebrate our jazz center came up with a May Fitness Challenge that I'm inviting all of you to participate in too- - it's very doable. All you have to do is:

For each of the days left in May (30) complete 1 set of each of the following:
30 crunches
30 pushups
plank for 30 seconds
v-sit for 30 seconds

That's it! It will take probably 3 minutes total and you'll feel GREAT about yourself! I challenge (and encourage) you to start today!

Also- - I watched Made of Honor (Patrick Dempsey) for the first time last night. SO funny. Rent it if you haven't seen it yet!

30 Days

I think I'm going to try Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Everyone who's done it raves about it and today (the first day of the month) seems like a great day to start. The dog is away for the weekend so I don't need to rush home to tend to him so I think I'm going to stop at Target and pick it up.

We'll see how this goes.

Has anyone done it before? I'm wondering if I should do all three levels or just start at 1... any recommendations would be much appreciated!

Happy May Day and FRIDAY!

100 Push-ups

I'm doing it. Who's with me?

http://hundredpushups.com/