P90x Back & Biceps

I think I didn't hydrate well yesterday. I weigh myself right after I wake up, after peeing of course. Today's weight was 2 pounds lower than yesterday. HAHAHA! As much as I would love to drop 2 pounds over night, I'm pretty sure it was mostly water. Haha.

Anyway, back & biceps today. My upper arms are growing. I'm hoping that training for the half marathon, my cardio, will allow for more definition! So excited for summer. That is all I have to say about the results I'm seeing. 

Lets not get ahead of myself here tho. 

First, my ankle is still stupid. With all the random aches, pains, & sprains I've experienced, I'm getting pro at wrapping my body and KT Taping as well! If it didn't cost half a thousand to get certified, I would do it!

I couldn't do the jumping jack for warm ups. I can do hopping jacks, does that count? Funny enough it doesn't hurt as much when I run. It hurts more to put my weight on it on prolonged period of times. So while running, it doesn't hurt. If I'm standing around, it hurts. Any intense jumping will kill it too. So maybe I should just run!

Today is National Pancake Day! In honor of that, and for those that know me, I love pancakes, lets watch my favorite pancake clip:

Post work out meal today was PANCAKES! Or rather, pancake! I only had one! I ran out of eggs so my batter was thick, but its clean pancakes and it was dense. Really dense. I didn't want to water it down too much. I would rather eat one dense pancake than a bunch of pancakes. I'm a lazy eater!

For clean pancakes, it is super simple! Grab a Magic Bullet or a blender, throw in oats [I used half a cup initially, but added too much water and added another 1/4], I used 2 egg whites [that was all I had], cinnamon [you know cinnamon has a great flavor and it is good for your metabolism! Use liberally! I put it on everything!], flax seeds, & water [check for consistency]. Blend it all and then:

Fry! Cook! My batter wasn't so pour-able. I could have watered it down some more, but that was why I had to add more oats, I put too much water. This pancake was dense, but if I had more egg whites, I would have added 4 egg whites.

Regardless of the density, I had a hard time finishing it, it was really filling & dense, it was yummy!!!

I topped it with almond butter which is so, so, so very good. It taste like a snickerdoodle cookie with the almond butter & the cinnamon in the batter. If I wasn't so full, I would make another one! Oh yeah, I'm out of eggs, never mind, I can't. Its time to grocery shop after work. Which is also why you don't see any lean protein in my plate. I'm sad. I want some turkey breast or ground turkey with some seasoning. Some meat. I love meat. 

Alright everyone, have a beautiful & strong pancake day!

4.5 Training Run

Schedule called for a 4.5  miles. I tweaked my ankle around  mile 3. Isn't that lovely?  I can totally tell that I haven't improved my time because I haven't done fartlek or hills in a while. I'm pretty upset about it, but I can wallow in my upset-ness or change.

I'll pick the later.

My "local" Nike Run store had speed training this past Sunday but due to ridiculous gas prices, I'm in California, so its highest in the country, I decided not to go. I say "local" because its the closest Nike store to me that has a run club. Its pretty far tho.  I feel the need to insert this disclaimer: SoCal far & NorCal far are very different. NorCal means distance far.  SoCal far means time. I travel back & forth the two, and me and a friend had a late night discussion on this. It was hilarious, but to us it makes sense. I'm still laughing about it.

Anyway, back to speed training. A friend suggested we do this at the track:

I'm the type of person who is down for anything! And if you don't know what that is, its a running parachute. Goes around your waist and the parachute creates resistance. Its pretty much resistance training for running! The more you train with it, the faster you'll be with out it! Makes for great sprinters and to just build speed. I of course being the Nike fan girl, has to have the Nike one. I hope I can hunt it down. I tried one that is generic, but it looks like a circus tent. It went back to the store. Like I said I'm pretty much down to try anything, but I'm afraid that when I "for serious" do the chute, as oppose to half hearted tries, when the chute opens, it will pull me back instead of me pulling the chute! This can created 15lbs of resistance. But I know as I build more muscle and drop some more fat, I'll be more compact. Not necessarily lighter, but more compact! If you know where to find these Nike chutes for the cheap, let me know!

So yeah, speed training will occur! But today, I just ran until I tweaked my ankle. It hurts, I'm about to wrap it right now when I find my bandage. Its one of those things that will go away over night but for now it hurts. I wanted to do the last mile up and down the steep stairs at the park, I did one round and my ankle was in pain.  I'm probably going to switch up my shoes too so that my feet don't get to used to the support of the Glides and I can correct my form. I'm thinking that its my pronation as well. I was able to correct it and I'm probably just being dependent on the support of the glides. So I'll use my Pumas or Kinvara or even my Frees to remind myself to land right. If not, whatever. I'll be okay!

Pre-run! I had work early morning and last I ate was at 9:15 am, I ran around 3. So I needed that GU. I used to train fasted all teh time. I'll just eat a GU. I can't eat anything 2 hours before a run, I just feel nasty. I didn't run with the hat tho, I always dress too warm when I run and I get irritated and go home. I'm anemic so I get cold easily, but I always end up getting super warm during my run.

Post run I had this:

I was really hungry and was looking for a bigger meal but this hit the spot for some weird reason. Two slices of cinnamon raisin bread, the Ezekiel kind, a wedge of brie, almonds, & ham. I don't normally eat pork but I wanted some meat.

Then I had to do this:

Because I get cold post workout. I was reading about it, and it just happens to some people. It was a very cool scientific explanation. I'll look for the link again, but it has something to do with the body trying to protect itself.

Anyway, later lovely people!

Have a strong day (-;

Hiatus

Sorry for the lack of posts/updates lately.

Been going through a few personal things that needed some attention. It is part of life, and you just do what you can and keep going. To keep it simple, always stand strong. Stand strong in your beliefs. Stand strong in your character. Stand strong in truth. Stand strong.

I'm still running and working out, I haven't been logging them on here.

I do some quick random posts on tumblr if you guys are over there

catherun.tumblr.com

I'll have some solid updates soon. February is almost over, which means I have a little over a month till my next half marathon in SoCal! So excited (-;

Love you guys.

Have a strong day everyone.

Brace!

how is your night looking right about now?


mine looked like this and some black ops! however, my TV decides to ix-nay itself today. hopefully its not my TV and just the hdmi cable, but anyway.

bracing the knee. my left knee has always been the one that has given me issues when i run. i need to remember to take glucosamine [i think thts what it is] for my joints. i know that running doesn't ruin your knees (-; no way do i blame running for this, my left knee just likes the attention i guess.
any body else here who constantly needs to brace their knee/s? its not that bad for me really, i'm being cautious here and when it starts to give me problems, i find that bracing it helps. it can be placebo for all i care, whatever works so i can get my run in.


ps. i'm officially cutting as well! perfect timing since base miles are going up. i also set a few more goals and started drafting a little plan to achieve them. so excited to share, but not tonight, soon tho! very soon!!

P90x Shoulders & Arms, Progress, & Pictures

First order of business, cute socks. 

Now that the world is in order, I shall talk about a few things:

Anyone else does P90x at home?  I really would love to join a gym, its just not financially feasible at the moment, but I keep on thinking my progress would be a lot faster if I join a gym.

But I'm also convinced this just means I should finally just buy this:

Because I'm out training the only free weights I have at home, which is why I haven't seen as much as a progress as I'm used to. I use 10 lb weights and I'm doing a lot of reps, but would love to stay on the 12-15 with the last 3 at a do-able but "struggling" degree of difficulty. The next free weights I have is 20 lbs, and I'm sure that jumping from 10 lb to 20 would result in injury.

Maybe when I get my income tax return. I would rather buy the Powerblock than join a gym. Gym = gas. Does anyone have any opinions on any adjustable sets? Two friends recommended Powerblock independent of each other. I read reviews on Selectech by Bowflex and found that a plastic piece that holds the weight can break! It can break mid use, and hurt you, and render the weight useless. I don't want a weight plate hitting my face!

Anyway, I'm also out of my pre-workout!

Sad face!!! I need to get some more. Do I still need to do a month cycle off? I use this stuff at most 3x a week, one scoop per round. Its jack3d by the way. I love that stuff. I think it won't hurt to cycle off jack3d, but I know if I cycle off a stim, I should cycle off from all its sources. No energy drinks, no coffee, no tea, no soda, which is okay, I don't drink soda.

But anyway, maybe I will. I'll see. I do have credit from bodybuilding.com =] Those awesome folks over there! We had a miscommunication which I totally would understand, and they didn't have to but they credited my account. So sweet of them. I wanted to try the green apple jack3d which is only available at GNC. I walked into GNC and the guy treated me kinda weird. Like "should I be selling this to her?" Weird. I know I look really young, I get mistaken for being 16/17 all the time. I don't think I look that young, but I get it all the time, partially due to the way I act, which isn't immature, but I'm not uptight at all. Anyway, yeah. GNC won't be getting my money. I'm sorry green apple jack3d, but GNC was not nice to me.

I'm also going to the forums at bodybuilding.com to read up on cutting. I don't want to loose muscle mass, which I've stated plenty of times before. But I can tell I'm loosing definition on my arms. I'm sad about that, but I maybe retaining water. I've consumed a good amount of popchips, which has a good amount of sodium! Any advice for cutting without loosing muscles? I know I'm a long way off from where I want to be, but I can tell I'm loosing definition =| I'm not sure what to do, but with you guys by my side, the internet side, I know I'll get a bunch of help (-;

But if you were going to snack on something, it might as well be popchips!

And this is to publicly admit that I failed my clean eating for today. I had popchips :-( I was at the store and needed something to munch and I knew I wasn't going to have "real food" access for at least 3 hours. And it was in a situation where I couldn't "pack" food. The sweet potato popchips are awesome!!! the chili lime was a bit salty for me, but I don't salt my food, ever. So I'm overly sensitive to saltiness.

What was the situation?

I went shopping >.< Unplanned.

No buts, I didn't eat super clean today, but the shopping was a success! I started at a size 16 denim when I started running/weight lifting. I'm now a size 10. I'm still wearing those size 16 jeans so I bought two pairs of size 10 jeans at forever21. Not the best quality jeans, but at $10.50 each, I won't feel bad if I have to buy another pair in a different size. I wanted to be at size 8 initially but I thought at size 8 I would be like at 160? I'm a size 10 at 175, so it makes sense right? I'll see tho. I know I should not look at the scale so much, but I would love to be at 140/150 with a good amount of muscle mass (-;

It was also successful because:

A skirt and a dress form H&M for $8.66!!!

SCORE!

And I guess a progress photo, but I'm wearing a dress, I should find one from when I started to change my mind about health, but that will be on my desktop, I'm on my laptop, Igor:

Alright, have a strong day everyone!

PS. I acknowledge that the last two pots were really not fitness related. H&M does sell work out clothes tho!  The items I bought fit, but not the way I like. Darn you H&M and your super skinny models! You skew the sizes! The skirt was a size 10, the dress 12. Just goes to show that each brand is really different in terms of sizing. Just like the scale, must ignore the sizing. The only size that matters is how big your heart is [cue post workout endorphin mushiness!]. But really, measure yourself and measure your progress by that. Not by a company's standard.

P90x Chest & Back, FAIL!

Maybe not a fail, but I still can't work my left shoulder and I'm not trying to get it injured.

I did maybe 10 minutes of the actual workout and stopped because of the pain. I did squats & lunges instead. A lot of it. Better than nothing right?

What sucks is that I took a pre-workout, 1.5 scoops of jack3d, and I'm all tingly and literally itching to lift, but I can't.

Being smart about injuries is part of working out, so I have to keep that in mind.

Have a strong day everyone!

Love

10 Reasons Why I Love Running

1. Its for me, by me.  There is a lot of satisfaction knowing that this crazy thing we do is really only by me, and its really for me.  I'm not running to beat the Halls, that would take a miracle or two, or to be the next Usain Bolt, its really just me for me!
2. I'm too cheap for the gym.  I'm probably not alone here, but I love my weight training too, but I'm too cheap. That is why I P90x at home and run outdoors!
3. Shoes. I'm a girl, enough said. Just kidding! I have six shoes I'm currently rotating, and I know opinions vary on their credibility as running shoes, but my love for cute shoes extend to running shoes as well! 
4. Racing! I'm not there to race the thousand other runners, its really me against me, but the environment carries a charge that no other environment does.  Its the contagious enthusiasm during early, cold Sunday mornings that I look forward too!
5. Runners! Meeting new people has been an awesome, surprise perk of running! I love meeting new people when I buy my shoes, when I race, when I run around the park, when I read other blogs, when I tweet, when I share life! Its amazing how genuinely kind most runners are! There are a few outliers, but they probably just didn't get their run in that day.
6. Chocolate Outrage GU! Frosting in a squeezable tube that I can eat without guilt! Amen.
7. My legs! Running, hills especially has tone my legs like crazy. Its not even "done" yet and I'm already amazed! I know my legs can tone up more and if the progress this early on is amazing, I can't wait till  I finish 1000 miles on hills!
8. Endorphins! Who doesn't love the after run smell, sweat, stringy hair, leg soreness and endorphin ride? I do! I look forward to it just as much as ice baths and showering after a good run!
9. Eating! When I'm struggling the last few miles, I think about what I'm going to eat after. It helps, a lot. I don't use running as an excuse to binge eat, but the last few minutes of a solid run, that slice of pizza, or something nice and carby with a glass of ice water [or chocolate milk!] makes me love running even more.
10. Alone time! I love my running alone time.  It a busy world, its nice to be alone and just be out there being in touch with my body and myself. Feeling every fiber in my muscle do its thing. Its being "alive," when you feel like the stress has killed you. Its a renewed sense of hope! 

P90x Shoulders & Arms

I figured I should start inputting my stats so that I can keep track of my improvements.

Stats [Weight (per arm), Reps (if different, 1st/2nd set), Sets]

1. Alternating Shoulder Press
   10#, 20 reps, 2 sets
2. In & Out Bicep Curls
   10, 20,2
3. Two-Arm Tricep Kickbacks
   8,15,2
4. Deep Swimmers Press
   10/8, 18/15, 2
5. Full Supination Curles
   10, 15, 2
6. Chair Dips
   BW, 15/20, 2
7. Upright Rows
   10, 18, 2
8. Static Arm Curls
   10, 16, 2
9. Flip-Grip Twist Kickbacks
   8, 12, 2
10. Seated 2-Angle Shoulder Flys
    8, 12/15, 2
11. Crouching Cohen Curls
    8, 12, 2
12. Lying Down Tricep Extensions
    8, 12/15, 2

Planks- 4 set of 30 seconds each. 

I didn't do the "bonus" round as he calls it.  My left shoulder is in major pain. I wrote yesterday that I was sore. Soreness in my back decreased buy my left shoulder is in pain. Mobility is limited, but not too bad. Obviously not bad enough that I couldn't do this workout but it did hurt and required more "push" than normal. If mobility issues increase, I'm going to lay off for a while. I did let it rest for two days, but it was yesterday morning/the night before that the pain really set in. I currently smell like Icy Hot.

I was actually pretty excited post workout. I was in pain but I figured if I push through it will go away.

Then I did it all and I was doing chair dips when my left arm was just like "what you doing to me?!"

I didn't run this weekend, which sucks and I'm kinda kicking myself with regret, but its okay. I need to build my base mileage, its really a lot about that base miles and I can't keep on doing 3-4 milers forever. Especially since I know I'm gunning for a full marathon as well. Maybe making up my mind when and which full I want to do will make it "more real" for me and light a fire in my derier.

Alright, have a strong day everyone (-;

PS. Updated my contact information and links over there to the right side bar near the bottom. Hello fellow fitblrs! Thanks for taking time to click over from there because I know a lot of us are link phobics.

Running & Strength Training

I love running and I love strength training. When I say running, I don't do it for the sole purpose of cardio, but to run distances. I've complete 2 half marathons and I'm training for my first full that is still to be determined.

What I notice tho is that when I up my miles, my muscle mass goes down. Which I don't like. I work hard for my muscles, I want to keep them! I mentioned this before & I've asked a few fitblrs on what to do.
I posted on Jamie Eason's facebook wall and got some good responses that I thought might benefit others.

My question:
hi gals & guys! i have a question. i recently watched jamie’s video on you tube. it was the 360 video for bodybuilding.com. she mentioned about how long intense cardio isn’t really helpful in terms of building muscles and stuff. the thing is, i love love love running. i train for half marathons mostly and i’m training for my fist full end of this year/beginning of next. how concerned should i be about losing my muscles? i strength train at home [p90x] with free weights consistently [i love strength training] as well. i take my supplements [whey & BCAAs] in hopes of not losing too much muscle especially when i increase miles for my runs. any other tips or advice on how to prevent/minimize muscles lost? i don’t think i can give up running, but im not an olympic runner either, but i love love love my muscles, a lot. haha. thanks ♥
Responses:
Guy #1
Hey Catherine- Running and resistance training work two separate muscles. You have fast twitch (the muscles used in resistance training) which are quick to fatigue, require a lot of oxygen, blood flow and nutrients. They are also a major fire for your metabolism. The more of this muscle you have, the faster your metabolism. They are the muscles that give your body shape and definition.

Slow twitch are your cardio muscles. They are slow to fatigue, small in size, require little oxygen, blood flow and less nutrients.

When running for long periods of time, you deplete your first energy storage in glycogen (blood sugar or carbs specifically). Then your body is forced to pull from amino’s (muscle it doesn’t feel as necessary for survival) and fat stores. Wouldn’t it be nice if we got to choose which one it pulled from?

Our bodies are mapped for survival, so it will always look to shed muscle. Muscle requires more calories to maintain it, while fat requires little calories to maintain.

The best way to prevent muscle loss while running is to eat half the amount in calories you will burn pre run and the other half right after.

I don’t know if this helps and of course this is my opinion and not Jamie’s. I can’t speak for her.

Hope the best for you and good luck with your goals! :)
My Response
thanks so much :-) i try to gather as much information from people i know, then people i believe i can trust [if people know who jamie eason is, i’m pretty sure they know a thing or two about fitness] online, then take what seems to work and see if it works for me. i kow everyone is different and our bodies respond differently but it helps to have a starting point to experiment as opposed to going into it blindly.
Guy #1 Again
Well if it makes you feel more comfortable, I used to be Jamie’s official admin for this page. My duty was to help people out and delete offensive posts, as she travels and isn’t available. I still help out here and there, I just don’t have the availability I once had. :)
My Response
thanks so much for responding! i really appreciate it. last time i trained for a half marathon, i lost quite a bit of bulk, but i wasn’t properly supplementing in terms of carbs & whey. i love bread so much i tend to over do it, so i cold turkey’ed it a few years ago and developed an indifferent attitude towards carbs & just got used to a low carb diet. then i started to run and weight train, but the carb diet didnt’ change. its changed now, so hopefully things will be a lot different :-) im excited to keep on going on this journey
Guy#2
Catherine - if it helps, I would agree with everything James says and I have worked with him in the past as it relates to training and nutrition for Jamie’s 12-week livefit trainer. He definitely is spot on with all of the nutritional advice and we all know, proper nutrition is the key to living a truly “fit” lifestyle. One thing I would add, and I know that you won’t like this, but be careful not to do too much resistance training and cardio for extended periods of time as it will have a detrimental impact on your body’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). Basically, if you aren’t following the correct nutritional guidelines that are linked to those types of training, your body will reach a burnout phase and you will suffer from chronic fatigue and possible insomnia. This is something that many marathon runners experience via adrenal fatigue. As long as you are eating complex carbohydrates and following a 40/40/20 macro split, you’ll be okay. Just make sure your calorie consumption matches your calorie expenditure.
My Response
funny you mention insomnia. i work and train for both running & strength training and i would thing it would knock me out, but i HAVE been having trouble sleeping for the past two weeks. i’m still trying to lose weight as well, so i’m “paranoid” about my intake, but someone has said to really up my intake when i train even if im still trying to lose weight. thanks for that as well. i’m usually on a 1500 calorie daily budget and i have a feeling it might not be enough at all. for basis, i’m 5’6.5” at 175 lbs, im not sure of my bf% but its still high as i can “pinch” quite a bit.
Guy #3
Catherine - I would recommend getting some tests done with your Doctor to ensure you HPA is functioning properly. I wouldn’t make it and urgent issue or stress over it, but you may learn a lot about your body by doing so. Your kidneys and adrenal glands will thank you later in life :-)

I found a lot of what they said helpful.  I was worried about the HPA comment. I am very very familiar with insomnia and its something that I know harms my recovery.  Like right now, I'm really sore, I should probably be sleeping, I've been trying to sleep since 7 pm, but I'm awake typing this! Haha!

From what I gather, I should always balance out at "zero" calorie wise as far as input and output. I'm just wondering if I'm still going to still lose fat, which I want to do. I think I'm over thinking that part because for the most of the population, eating less = weight loss. Anyway, I won't over think it, but when I start hitting double digits for training, I'll start doing what was suggested. Half the calories before and half after.

I really don't want to sacrifice my muscles for running. I love them both so much!

P90x Chest & Back & Food Friday!

Not even 11 AM and my workout is done!!!

I'm going to fit in a run later, just found out that my parents are having "company" over and I would like to be out of the house if possible. That means a long run! I have a scheduled 5 mile run tomorrow, so maybe a 3 mile run today since I haven't ran in a while.  Today's workout was good. Day 2 of trying out C4, and I like it. I can cycle that with jack3d. A friend also sent me a mix he made and it got me hyped up! I love long [like an hour +] mixes! Thanks Vivo! It just "gets me going," that shiz cray! Haha! This workout, even if its the one I have a hard time with, went by awesome and I did pretty well. I still have to improve form, but I'm working on it. Hard to do when someone isn't there to observe, but hey, if I can do it with shoulders & arms, I can do it with chest & back!

I seem to have a habit of starting some sort of "_______ [insert day of the week here]" and not keeping up with it. But FOOD FRIDAY seems do-able and it might inspire others for healthy eating.  I'm not the best at eating and I gather ideas from everywhere in order to inspire me to eat healthy but not get bored of it.  Why not throw some ideas into the internet world? It might help. Food is such a big part of getting fit, being healthy, being a live and its so much fun and yummy, I think a little motivation for me and for others is something definitely worth being consistent in.  I'll eventually break down the nutrient information in the future. But for now, lets keep it simple!

We shall see tho, I'm scatter brained [working on that] because I'm so interested in so many things, but here we go!

ITS PEANUT BUTTER TURKEY TIME!!! PEANUT BUTTER TURKEY!!!

This was my immediate post workout meal/snack/breakfast I have no clue what to call it. Its 2 slices of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread with Laura Scudders all natural peanut butter, two slices of turkey breast, & some frozen blue berries. I had it with my whey protein shake. Surprisingly, I'm not very hungry after working out, I was thinking of eating this with some oatmeal but I'm not hungry.  I'll probably get hungry in a couple of hours but right now, not too hungry. To make this a more complete meal, I would probably throw in some greek yogurt in there. I try to limit my fruits & carbs in the morning because of sugar content. So this is a perfect lunch/morning snack for me.  I love the sweetness of the bread with the savory peanut butter and turkey.  It has some healthy fats, carbs, & protein. So yay! I hope this is "simple carb/quick enough" to qualify as a post workout meal.  I really can't find much simple carbs here that isn't so sugary, we have kids cereal- does that count, but I guess sugar is okay.

Anyway, time to be productive! Go to the bank, gas up the car, buy some brie [I love cheese] and find some new pants!

Have a strong day everyone!

PS. For those lost on the reference, here you go, you're welcome!

P90x Shoulders & Arms and I'm Back!

Sorry for the absence! It was a last minute trip to visit my close friend for her birthday.  I brought my bands to work out, but it wasn't put to used. We danced in a studio instead. Danced a lot.  I learned a few things about dancing and myself. First of all, as a runner [and I guess a lifter] I tend to be pretty "stiff" in terms of my body movement.  My arm swings are controlled when I run, I was told not to waste energy flailing my limbs around.  Same when I lift.  Good strong form.

Dancing, especially the type of dancing that we did [it was in the smexy category, so much fun!] required loose & limber.  It took a while for me to limber up, but oh my gosh. It was really fun, but dang! Loose and limber is hard. Haha! I know there has to be some control there, strong, defined moves, not like jelly like limbs, but its so not controlled like running. You don't sway your butt when you run! Its bad form!  Maybe I just suck as a dancer. I used to dance a lot when I was younger, but that was like years and years ago! I'm a lot better at Tahitian than sexy hip hop, but whatever! Doesn't change the fact that we were dancing for 2 hours one night and another 2 hours in another. Sweat and sexy body rolls with the best friend, what else could you want?!  It was a good change of pace and I really want to improve that now.  See, my brain, its everywhere! Haha. Running, dancing, lifting, and art! And just so much more.

Anyway, as expected when I'm with my friend, we ate, a lot.

My normal eat every 2-3 hours was destroyed and I could tell my metabolism slowed down, but it was worth it for some quality time.  We ate at our favorite buffet twice [crab legs!] and it would just be one giant meal a day with small snacks maybe twice a day. Not bad. I had a ton of sugar too, but its okay. I've done this before and I've managed to "get back to normal" in three days.  I'm still the same weight wise, so that is super good!

Just let me reiterate that it was so worth it! I love food and its ok, believe it or not, to let go once in a while. Just don't over do it. Going there also helped because I don't see my friends very often, okay like every 2 months isn't very often, but it helps to get an "outside perspective," a.k.a. feed my ego [!] once in a while. I know we can be the hardest on ourselves, so we don't see how far we have come, but others can! I got called out by a comedian, we went to go see a comedy show, she said I was "adorable & cute." It was awesome because it was an unbiased perspective. I know, a comedian, maybe it was a joke on me, but I don't think so. Haha. I talked to her after the show she was really sweet! Yay for unsolicited compliments. I also need to buy new pants. I brought pants that are 6 sizes from my original size and um, they fit perfectly! I'm still wearing those pants 6 sizes up with a belt, haha, but I think its time to get new ones.

Anyway, just finished shoulders & arms and I really need to invest in new weights. I'm maxing out my 10 lbs and 20 lbs is such a big leap I just might hurt myself. Sigh. Soon my pretties, soon. I like having a job, it helps pay for my weight lifting and running obsession.  Good thing I'm also set on running, I have a great selection of shoes and clothes.

I also tried my sample of the Icy Razz C4 and dang! I like it! Time to put it in an order! I don't know what flavor I want, my friend recommended fruit punch, but I want to try it first.  But I don't mind Icy Razz, maybe I'll stick with what I know.  I need to cycle of jack3d so bad. There is a sale at bodybuilding.com for C4, buy one get one 50% off, but it has to be the same flavor. So, need to pick one soon. I also want to thank bodybuilding.com for their awesome customer service!!! My order, whey protein powder, was on back order and I wanted to add to it to save on shipping. Was initially told I could, then I was told they couldn't do that, but they credited me some money to cover shipping & then some on my account! If y'all need any supplements or vitamins, they are awesome and well worth it! I'm about to order C4 and if I can find some Tonalin (has to be Tonalin!) CLA I would, if not, maybe some Glucosamine for my joints or Oxy Elite Pro. Need to protect my knees as I up my miles!

Anyway, wouldn't be an entry without pictures!

bodybuilding.com's protein powder dispenser! I love it!!! 

post work out turkey sandwich. I could have gone crazier, but I couldn't find anything else and was hungry!

Oh dang, my sister just walked in with pizza! That could have been my post workout meal!

PS. I had some pizza! Haha. Half the crust with all the topping. I don't normally eat pizza unless its a post running event deal [its something that stuck] but this was $.05 pizza promo form Papa John's! It was good!

High Carb Day, The Right Way

I'm carb cycling the proper way this time.

Before, on high carb days, I would have at most two slices of Ezekiel sprouted grains bread and an oatmeal.

On "low" carb days, I would have none, on medium, maybe one.

So, yeah, pretty much doing it wrong.  So today is a high day, and boom sauce:

I found the generic brand of whole wheat pasta and 1 cup dry is about 210 calories.  Not bad at all! It could be worst, but when you're carb cycling, you do what you do.  I normally portion out my chicken so I know the calories, but I didn't this time around, which reminds me to buy a food scale. But anyway, this is 1 chicken breast sliced thinly, which according my approximations will be 100-150 caloreis. Plus the tomatoes, I have no clue, plus a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Sun Dried Tomato cheese, 35 calories, this meal couldn't have been more than 400-450 calories. Which isn't bad at all! My meals on my low/no carb days are around 300 calories each, fluctuating my calories daily won't hurt [its like carb cycling meets calorie zig-zagging] because I know I'm staying active and my body needs the fuel. If you can't tell, this is me rationalizing my carb intake, I hardly eat carbs and I'm feeling "guilty." Anyway, I loaded that up with some peppers [the ones you sprinkle on pizza] & also Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning. So spicy good.

For breakfast, I had oatmeal with blue berries, and greek yogurt with blue berries and a serving of almonds. I love almonds. I'll probably have a rice cracker with peanut butter later and for dinner. I'm not sure what I'm eating. Little carbs [I keep the majority of my carbs in the morning/early afternoon], but I have a ton of spinach and I'm looking forward to that. Maybe I'll buy a slice of salmon or something. I want some fish.

Training today calls for 3.5 miles, I'll do that in an hour or two when the food settles. After that run, its time to eat again! Amazing!

Also, I broke a weight plateau today! I know, its probably all food, and weight is NOT a good indicator of how well a job I'm doing, but its exciting none the less. Haha.174.9, 175 has been stuck on there for EVER. that .1 makes  difference to me and makes me happy. Body composition is changing as well. F*CK YEH! I don't know how people don't like doing this whole eat right and be active thing. Its fun!

P90x Chest & Back

Today's schedule called for Chest & Back!

My favorite thing at the moment because I want to sculpt my back! Its freakin' hard but its worth it. Shoulders & arms were hard when I began, looking forward to making this my b!tch!

I was watching this last night:

Jamie Eason is awesome and she is a great motivation.  Anyway, its very informational and if you have 14 minutes to spare, watch it. Some things that stuck with me was:

• simple carbs after working out
• no high endurance [or whatever word she used] cardio

I like how she said that simple carbs post workout acts like a broom to sweep all the whey protein to the muscles.  The high endurance cardio, or whatever term she used, kinda scared me because I love running and I'm doing a lot of high mileage running. I'm upping my lean protein intake and be strict on my BCAAs as well. I hope it will help. I'm going to try to talk to her about it. I love how she is personable and a lot of people I've contacted have answered. I'm still looking for personal recommendations, but I have a feeling she knows what she is doing. 

In honor of post workout simple carbs, I had my first slice of white bread it what seems like years. Its probably years!

I also posted on FB [deleted it off FB, I'm kinda scared of posting too much workout stuff there, I link this blog on occasion, but not as often, because I don't want people to think I'm the fit & food police. I'm not, I just love to share life, & this happens to be a big part of mine right now] & Twitter about understanding why guys & girls who workout do it without a shirt. Haha. I was told that some reasons were a)it helps you be aware of what muscles you are working out [which is true, I was wearing a long sleeve and it got too hot. I workout from home, so I'm okay with being shirtless. A gym is another story] and b)it shows proper form which helps avoid injuries. It just cracks me up because I was like  "Shirtless? For a leg workout? You're just making up excuses!" Haha. But no really, the little ego boost, even if its just you in the house, can get you through the last 5 reps, or 20 minutes of a workout. 

You also notice the subtle differences. I'm not sure if I'm imagining things, but damn. Abs 2012 is going to be a fun one. I really want to make it happen, and it will happen! I'm not sure if the Tonalin CLA is helping. I'm sure it is. I didn't do ab ripper today but I'll do it tonight to hopefully knock me out. I haven't been sleeping well. I slept between 11:30-12 last night and woke up at 3:30, tried to go back to bed, knocked out for an hour and woke up at 7:30. Its just all bad. Probably not helping my recovery.

I'm also doing a "30 Day Challenge," which really is more for habit forming than just 30 days then back to same old, that someone on Tumblr [I'm not as active on Tumblr, I'll link it when I fix it up, meanwhile, if you have the smarts, you can find me there!] is hosting! Its going to be so much fun and should only help me!!! Whee!!!

Anyway, I also ran yesterday. Following the schedule, was half a mile short but I ran after work and was starving. I skipped 2 meals and I still had to grocery shop. So 3 miles as opposed to the 3.5 it called for. Its all good tho. I've been running 4 miles, so its okay.

As for grocery shopping:

Four bellpeppers, thinly sliced chicken breast, oranges [for the house, I hardly eat fruits, except berries] berries, cherry tomatoes, whole wheat pasta [learning to carb up for reals, not just 2 slices of Ezekiel bread on high carb days], rice crackers, gum, a salad [I was hungry!], greek yogurt, tomato sauce, & almonds. The almonds I already divided to 19 pieces each, roughly 100 calories each. I love almonds. This should last me a week because apparently my parents are changing their eating habits too [yey!] and while this would last me a couple of weeks, sharing is caring. 

Time to go get cleaned up and go to work, after work, its work on design comps [I'm a free lance graphic designer as well]. Life is beautiful!

Have a strong day everyone!!

Updated My Calendar

A lot of people ask "what I do," in terms of losing weight. I guess the weight lost is the most noticeable things about me and what the people I'm around with  notice the most.  They don't really care for my PRs in running and stuff ::cries:: Haha. Its all good, I'll get people hooked into running, I've done it before, I can do it again!

Anyway, I'm always a little bit hesitant to share because it looks crazy in calendar format. Crazy looking things tend to overwhelm people, and I'm one of those people who if I get overwhelmed, I tend to give up. But don't be overwhelmed when you see it.  I also hesitate to share since what works for me, might not work for you. But I like to share because when I started, I was shared to. Not everything that was shared to me worked for me but it gave me somewhere to work from.  And it wasn't just from a place as vast as the internet, it was from someone I know and trusted. So if this gives someone somewhere to start, so be it.

Just reminding you dear reader not to get overwhelmed when you click on the picture to enlarge:

This is just for the tail end of January to February. I can give you access to my full calendar if you ask . Look at the left hand side, but if you can't tell:

• PURPLE = CARB CYCLING
• RED = HALF MARATHON TRAINING
• BLUE = P90x

Green is just the holidays and stuff .  

Please note that all of this is pretty flexible. The only thing I'm going to be strict with is that I get in my work outs and that my nutrition be clean. I'm going to be really flexible with Legs & Back for P90x because I have my long runs on Saturday. Those kind of things, we need to be flexible with. No schedule should be so strict that it drives you crazy. You don't want to get crazier, you just want to get healthier right? 

My schedule is pretty intense because of my goals. I'm carb cycling because I want my metabolism to be on high and I want to kick a plateau- as mentioned. It also works for me because it keeps me accountable to my high carb days because I'm constantly on a low diet that its just not good. I'm also training for a half marathon, Hollywood Half [link on side bar] on April 7, I just now realized that I'm 2 weeks behind. Oops! P90x is to maintain my muscles and I really wanted to stick to the P90x calendar as close as possible. As you can see, I skipped a bunch of non strength training things [Kenpo, Core Synergetics, Yoga, etc.] because of my running schedule [flexibility is on play once again].  I did shuffle it to include Chest, Shoulders, & Tri and Back & Biceps on phase 2 and end of phase 3. 

So yeah, that is my crazy calendar. On top of that I'm going back to school, still free lancing [dedicating a lot of my time here too, take steps towards where you want to be], & working a part time job. It can be done if you want it bad enough. I admit I'm not the busiest person, but honestly, if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way; if not, you'll find an excuse.  

So there you go. That is what I do. If you need help planning your own, as some people have expressed, let me know! We can totally make up a plan [both nutrition & fitness plan] that is geared towards you and your goals. I would love to help you out as long as you're willing to acknowledge that I am in no way a nutritionist or a trainer, not yet anyway, just someone who is passionate and would love to share this part of life with you!  And also acknowledge the fact that I'm still on this journey myself. It feels weird being asked for help when I feel like I still have light years to go.

P90x Shoulders & Arms and Chest & Back

I really need to get some sort of structure. LOLS. I'm just this and that-ing P90x and I'm not sure if its doing more harm than good.

Another double session! It felt good tho.

That carb up helped. Like I said I weigh myself everyday and this past week, and I was up a couple of pounds from my lowest weigh in. But I'm back where I was. I know, I know, its probably all food, but whatever. I'll take what I can. I really shouldn't focus so much on the number on the scale, but I think I want to drop at least 30 more lbs, I'm not its possible without losing muscles, but we shall see.

Of course, what kind of blog entry would this be with out pictures!

Pre-workout sanity.

I was actually kinda tired. I started my work out at 2:30, finished at around 4:20. So almost two hours, It would have been two had I done the stretching part of the chest & back, but I skipped some of it.  Last time I ate before working out was 12, so I was hungry (every 2-3 hours, hunger calls) but I can't work out if I had eaten within the hour, so I intentionally didn't eat.  So of course, after I worked out, I was hungry! This is how happy I was to eat!!! Super happy!!!

But I actually had this too! No quick/simple carbs, I had my whey protein shake, hoping that is enough because I can't find simple carbs in this house, (next workout, I'm getting ensaymada!) which is possibly a good thing?!?!

My pills! Haha. Thats lean turkey breast ground up with brussel  sprouts & tomato sauce! I love it. Its just super clean and its yummy. I seasoned it with Mrs. Dash & some ground up peppers. So its spicy!

Did I ever mention what supplements I'm on?

I think I did, but I added something new today, so if not, here is the list:

• Optimum Nutrition BCAA 1000s [not pictured]
• Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein [not pictured] (Rocky Road)
• jack3d
• Biotin 
• D3 [not pictured]
• Fish Oil
• One A Day Women [I also have GNC Active, I'm just finishing my One  A Day]
• Tonalin CLA

I started on the BCAAs because I want to avoid muscle lost when I start upping mileage for my runs. I maybe just paranoid, or I maybe not, but I worked hard for my muscles and I want to keep them! I'll see if they help, I don't want to be on too many supplements, but so far, I think I'm okay. I'm going to integrate all my workout and run calendars into one tonight, so yeah, running is coming! April can't come any sooner! Oh wait, I have a run on March 11! March 11 can't come any sooner! Anyway, My pre-workout is jack3d, going to buy some C4 (C4 to cycle with jack3d) & something else (maybe a thermogenic burner, [which I want to avoid taking] but I won't take it yet, I just want my shipping to be free- LOLS!) soon, like maybe tomorrow or tonight. 

Anyway, time to work on that calendar! Happy Sunday everyone!