P90x2- x2Core

Holy Crap.

You would think since its P90x2 and I've been P90x-ing for a while I'll be okay.

Wrong.

I know I don't have a good sense of balance, but I'm struggling here. Haha!!! The fact that I'm working out on sliperry hardwood floors suck too. I need to get a set of mats that I can work out on.  I know that this particular session wasn't as good, or even half as good as I wanted to. I'm in a rush to finish. I started late and had a hard time starting. But its all good. I'm really looking forward to P90x2! Its a nice change of pace from P90x and maybe just what I need to break through this plateau and stay motivated. I do love how they incorporate planks and foam rolling in P90x2. I love planks. I would rather do plank intervals for 25 minutes than do ab ripper, but thats probably the lazy in me speaking.

I should probably devote more time to P90x2. Time when I'm not rushing because I have somewhere to go. I need to pay attention to my form and I can't do that if I have to be done in an hour. When I get more familiarized with the moves, then I can go my own pace. Since I'm beginning, I want to do it right.

Aside from that, I've been really mentally struggling with working out. I've been discouraged lately. I know I've come too far to give up now, but I'm seriously discouraged. Its a bunch of things and its just translating into frustration when I work out. But the funny thing is, when I'm working out I'm like in the zone and I just want to keep going [unless I'm rushed] and when I'm done and the endorphins wear off, I'm like back to blah. It happens tho. A bigger part of working out and being over all healthy is our thinking.  Stay positive. Life is beautiful, its a gift.

Anyway, I'm off to shower. I'll probably do a P90x [normal one] round later the day after everythigns done. I'm not satisfied with this round.

PS. I don't feel well at all now -_______________-

Monday Night Whine & Cheese, Fitness Edition!

I like simple prompts to gather my thoughts when they are all over the place. I have a personal blog that I do a "Whine & Cheese" post in when I need to gather thoughts. The idea came from a great friend, Ivy! Fitness thoughts are all over the place right now, so Monday Night Wine & Cheese is here! Might become weekly or monthly. Who knows!

This Monday, I'm

Whining over

• Being anemic.  It sucks. If I don't take my daily vitamins or eat super clean and be mindful of my iron intake, I have no energy and I'm freezing. Take today, it was a nice sunny 50s, but I was freezing the entire day up to now. I'm wearing a tee, two hoodies, two pants, & my soccer referee socks. I'm wrapped in a blanket, the heater is on, and I'm still cold! I also have significantly lesser energy. Its insane.
• Plateaued again! Its okay because I would rather plateau than gain, especially this season, I was planning on dropping 10 pounds this December, however I'm swinging back and forth in a 5 pound range. I know weight varies, and isn't really a good indicator and 5 lbs is really a low number to gauge a solid weight lost, so I'll take the plateau. I've pretty much know by now how my body responds to certain food & workouts so I  know how to break through plateaus.

Cheesing over:

• P90x2!!! I'm so excited. I know I don't need all the medicine balls, but I've been wanting some anyway and also a weight bar. New gear always motivates me to workout harder! I'm really so stoked about P90x. Its amazing how efficient it is and I can't wait to get into x2. I was watching the videos today, I didn't start yet, and it just got me all excited. I'm going to revamp my strength training schedule to maximize my time while I'm not running as much. These days, I'm running about 3-5 miles... a week. So different from my daily 5ks before, but its okay. I need this rest before I start half marathon training for April!
• Hollywood Half! I'm so looking forward to this half. First of all, its in my favorite part of the country, SoCal. Second, its an inaugural event. I love inaugural events. The energy is insane! The first half I ever ran was an inaugural and I loved it. Third, the medals are gorgeous! This also means I get to see my SoCal family in April! I'm so stoked! I'm also cheesing over training. I get to test out my new shoe, the one hanging on the tree!
• Abs! I know my core is stronger and some days I'm convinced I can feel em even through my belly,  now I just need to see em! If you didn't know, my goal for 2012 is abs! Its going to be way challenging than running for new PRs and moving up weights because its heavily incorporating eating.  I eat clean Monday-Thursday. The weekends, not all bets are off, but I don't eat as clean as I should be.  New challenge abs are, and I accept that challenge.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Random

Saw someone I haven't seen in a long while and they said:

"You look great! What are you on? Are you taking anything?"

I wanted to say:

"Steroids, all the red velvet cupcakes I want, and laxatives."

I can be pretty snarky, but seriously? Why is it "What are you on? Are you taking anything"

-_-

Dear Body

Thank you for being forgiving when I go a week eating like a beast. Nothing too bad, but nothing clean. Thank you for being constant in my metabolism so I'm not gaining.  Thank you that you're still working.

I'm looking forward to working with you again.

Abs 2012, you are mine.

Or as close to abs as possible.

2013, I'll be hard core!

Thumbs Up!

Thumbs up for vacations (;

Run didn't happen, the weather has been unpredictable, but will run tomorrow for sure, hopefully, I probably should. Haha. As far as I know, I didn't gain, but I'm bloated, but that comes and goes!
I love it here.  Will probably updated my personal blog for this, but I haven't seen a lot of people here for a year and hearing their progress reports about me help a lot because I've been discouraged lately.

Love you guys. Stay strong.

Getting Ready

Getting ready to run! Lets see how this goes seeing as I haven't had a serious run in forever and I'm in a place notorious for their hills. Also I'm runing with a friend who doesn't run, were probably gonna be in the same level.

But wouldn't you run too if you saw this everyday?!

I'm seriously 85% sold on moving to the southern part of the state. The remaining 15%, I know what it is, but it really shouldn't be a factor. I should just do it.  I just wish I could take my family with me.

Sports Wash!

To Andrea (; The SportsWash works well! I notice a big difference after washing compared with normal detergent which is possibly harsh for the material of running clothes especially technical tees.

I wanted to do at least 3 cycles of the wash before giving a solid answer, and yeah! I'm nto sure about the other claims in the bottle regarding clothes/jackets for snowboarding that has waterproof coating, but it washes the stink away and I do notice the difference in the fabric.

Been Out

I'm out of town, living life (-:

I should probably time to get a run in, where I'm at is notorious for their hills.

Hidden speed work?

Or to not feel guilty for all the home baked ymmies?

No guilt! Its so good.

Oh Man...

I follow alot of other fitness blogs, and I saw this in one of them:

Damn.  I'll be honest, I was kinda angry when I read this! "Did someone just call me a dog?!" Then I was like I like dogs, they are awesome and keep me warm.

I'm not trying to be the fit police or the food police here. This one really just "hit home" so to speak.

I don't really eat food as a reward, its not like I work out and then use that to justify why I ate cake.  The closest thing I do is my "simple carb" right after a workout. This one still spoke to me in terms of eating healthy & clean.  Healthy as in eat enough to fuel myself & clean as in you maybe meeting your calorie levels, but not your nutrients.

I know if I am more strict about intake, I can seriously seriously improve by leaps and bounds.  If I can eat not as clean and see this much progress imagine if I re-vamped and amped up intake? Which is a big big big part of fitness. I would see progress quicker and feel better over all.   Eating clean or super clean isn't necessary for everyone, but for my goals, 2012 is the year of abs, it is a big part of it. 

Anyway, something to chew on think about.

Strength Training 12/13/11- Shoulders & Arms

Today, I did some SUPERSETS!!! I'm only this happy after a bit of jack3d.

Ignore the boxes, online shopping is fun. 

P90x Supersets! HIGH FIVE!

Rocking my USAP Triathlon shirt. I love it, but I haven't done a tri (;

How amazingly hard it is when you superset & use heavier weights.  But I like supersets.  Normal has now become slow, I am now Thor. Just kidding! I just find it a lot more challenging and the heaviest weight I have in my free weights is 10 pounds. I'm still "struggling" with ten pounds in some moves, looking at you flip grip tricep kick backs [even tho I'm not sure why thats a struggle] but I'm getting some solid 12-15 super set reps in some! Definitely noticing a lot of difference in my arms from when I started.  I'm so stoked. My arms are getting where I want them and its amazing what honest work will get you in terms of your body.  I'm no where where I want to be, but I'm getting there and I'm a whole lot closer than where I was when I started, and even yesterday (;

Also did planks. A total of 2 minutes broken into 30 second intervals. How freakin' hard, but it as fun.

I'm about to shower and live life.

Have a strong day everyone!

Meal Time! More Food Talk

Been working on eating right, but still enjoying food since I can't really work out due to my pinched sciatic nerve issue going on. Today is one of those days when I want to eat everything. Since I lost weight, my basal metabolism went down to 1600. I used to limit myself to 1200 calories but I'm going to bump that to 1500 and add working out. 1200 worked but I was fatigued physically and mentally. I just pushed through it cuz I was determined as f*ck to drop weight. It wasn't smart. I'll save my 1200 clean days for when I need to break through plateus.  So I'm adding 300 calories more and when I get over this nerve thing, I'm upping intensity to burn through stores, HIIT & weight lifting supersets galore. February, mid-february, starts half marathon training! My next one is in April, and quite possibly another one in May.

Calorie couting isn't bad, its not hard either.  Figure out your basal metabolism, and "use up" more than you take in for weight lost. Make sure you consume at least 1200.  The higher your starting weight, the more it will be, but if you starve yourself, your body will keep/store everything.  So don't starve yourself. Strict counting can benefit you if you want to break through plateus or if you're into body building and  you do shows, or just want that look and not necessarily have to do shows.  Its good "discipline," but by no means be a stickler about it. I would also eat 5-6 smaller meals. For my 1500 plan thats 5 meals at 300 calories.Or 3 meals at 400 calories and 2 snacks at 150 calories. Break it down however you want! Its up to you.  Enjoy food :-) Just make sure you're with in your "budget" and make your calories count. But don't give up if you give in, "every breathe is a second chance."- Switchfoot

As I've said before, I'm a pretty lazy eater. One reason I tend to binge is because I'm so repetitive with what I eat. Nothings wrong with that, but I've been almost at it for a year and I pretty much eat the same thing. So now, I'm trying to think of ways that I can still eat healthy and maintain what I need. Especially this season when all I want it something sweet.

Heres one of my favorite meal, part of a meal, or snack!!!

I normally use berries [Black, Blue, Strawberries, Raspberries] but I ran out so I had to use this. Peaches, mangoes, & strawberries. Not bad, but I prefer the berries and I believe its healthier. But anyway.  This is perfect for post workout because it has some natural sugars for quick energy replacement & protein [greek yogurt is awesome] and it has fiber- well, in forms of children's Benefiber]

Recipe is pretty much the same!

1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
1 cup of frozen fruits
1-2 tbsp of water
2 tbsp of Childrens Benefiber [Yes, I do put this in my smoothies.  I don't get enough fiber even tho all I seem to be eating these days are salads & protein]
small handful of Bear Naked Protein Granola
drizzle of honey.

Blend the first four ingredients in a blender, add water if its too thick, it will be thick, the fruits are frozen and greek yogurt is just thick. Blend until desired consistency[ I like mine chunky & eaten with a spoon]. Top with granola and drizzle of honey!

I love this meal.  Its about 200 calories, give or take and greek yogurt has a lot of protein.  Its sweet, and its filling! If I'm having this for breakfast I'll eat it with an Ezekiel cinnamon raisin toast. Its so good. I just had one right now, that one in the pciture.  I'll probably have a salad with turkey for dinner.

Variations
I've found other "smoothies" that work too! I have weird tastes, so really try it, experiment and find what you love! Calories vary, so just pay attention.

Chocolate
This one is awesome post workout. I normally have my whey protein shake with water and thats it, but if I'm headed out right after working out and won't be able to eat for a while, I'll have something a little bit more substantial.

-greek yogurt
-chocolate whey protein powder
-ice if you want it to be smoothie-like, no ice if you want a "mouse"

Chocolate & Berries
If you like the flavor combination, its pretty much the above recipe (with the fruits, sub mixed frozen berries) with the addition of chocolate whey protein powder- its what I have so its what I use!

-greek yogurt [or you can use just water/soy milk/milk]
-frozen mixed berries
-chocolate whey protein powder

Thats really it. Haha. I only have so much I can work with but I'm sure you guys can be creative and come up with your own.

Today...

Today, will be the last of my ugly eating days.

I just had some chocolate covered Ritz. Umm... what?!

Add that candy bar from earlier today, and I fucked myself over food wise today.

Start over Sang, start over. You're starting from a new, better, beginning. It will come with its own challenges but as you know, it will be worth it.

This was dinner,

Its a good dinner, minus the tortilla, if I hadn't eaten all the other unnecessary calories.  I should have skipped dinner, but home made "fajitas," someone grabbed the wrong tortilla, and mango salsa was calling my name.

Tomorrow is a new day.

You're too young to give up.

Sad News :-(

Some years ago, I pinched my sciatic nerve.

Its acted up several times since then and its acting up now. Supposedly I'm not "allowed" to run until this is permanently fixed, but I don't know a permanent fix of this. I don't want surgery for it, I'm too young to deal with an ailment like this, but its part of life. I've always been able to wait it out, but its been a while. It might have something to do with my bed/the way I sleep as well, so trying to isolate cause to prevent future triggers. Its just saddening to me right now.

I'm going to try to push through the pain, at least strength training because I haven't been watching what I eat at all. I ate a candy bar today. I shouldn't feel guilty, but I did. That is 300 calories of pretty much sugar.  I wanted to run because temps are rising where I'm at to perfect not too cold not too hot temperatures but I can barely walk at times. I just feel so bad that I'm eating not clean I know I'm going to gain -_-

Dear Cat,

You've come too far to quit now.

Love,
Cat

"Crispy Tenders" & Cinnamon Raisin "Bread"

That is a whole lot of " " up there, but I had such a good lunch today, I had to share:

The grocery store I frequent is FINALLY stocking other flavors of Ezekiel Bread! I'm so happy. Now they just have to carry the Ezekiel tortilla then I can be set for LIFE! FOR LIFE! I'm such a fan girl of the Ezekiel breads because I really love bread but I'm careful of carbohydrates because I just am. Its something that has to change when I start adding miles to my runs again, full marathon next year, I'm scared; but the Ezekiel breads are wonderful! They are sprouted grains, low calories, and low GI.  A slice of bread is 80 calories [nutrition information] and no fat! I love cinnamon raisin bread, its perfect when I want something sweet. Ezekiel Breads can be found in the frozen food aisle, so look out for it. I'll eat eat the cinnamon raisin one frozen, but the normal bread can't be eaten frozen.

I also love chicken fingers. I can wax poetic about my love for chicken fingers. So I wanted to try these gardein crispy tenders.  They were surprisingly good. They were pretty tiny [the plate I'm using is a salad plate for comparison] but at 100 calories for 2 [Serving Size: 2 pcs Calories: 100 Total Fat: 3.5 Carbs: 8 Protein: 8] its not bad at all! The taste isn't bad either! You just have to toast it as microwaving it leaves it super soggy.  I probably will just sub chicken breast for these because these things are pricey. For a bag of 10 pieces, its almost $5.00

I also had turkey breast deli slices because I had some I need to use up. I have no clue why I put mustard. I just saw it there and put it on my turkey. On after thought, I probably shouldn't have. I'm normally not a fan of mustard.

But that was my lunch and it was lovely.

Today's workout will be at night! I'm doing a long, fast paced weight lifting circuit. I have a love hate relationship with cardio right now because I know I'm going to be doing a lot of running really soon.

Have a beautiful day everyone!

Dehydrated?

I'm apparently dehydrated.

I get cold easily, anemic, and drinking water is the last thing I want to do when I'm cold. I'm already super cold to begin with and when I drink water, my insides get cold. I can't drink hot water, unless its tea and lukewarm water also makes me cold.

I'm usually a fish. I love water. I breathe water. But winter times. Maybe I've just solved my "why are my lips always chapped and my skin always dry" during winter problem.

LIGHT BULB!

I also hardly sweat during winter even if I'm running and working out by a heat lamp.

Anyway, a simple fix to a problem thats been bugging for years and has been bugging me for the past few days as well. My digestive system is NOT on point. I've been eating clean and working out, but not loosing weight. I think I'm constipated. I'm going to do a flush and "restart" my system. Hopefully that will help. I'm still aiming for that 10 pound drop every month, but I'll consider not gaining anything this December a success as well.

Eat healthy everyone :-)

Strength Training 12/05 & Cardio 12/06

12/05 I did Shoulders & Arms.  I really want to work on my arms, as you can tell. Its coming along nicely.

12/06, today, I did some cardio. I haven't been running so I wanted to do some cardio. I did Plyometric Cardio for Insanity. It was insane! I did half then I did some dance workout I found on TV. I guess thats how out of shape I am, I haven't had a serious run since my last half. Which really sucks. I want to amp up my cardio. I need cardio to blast up my calorie use. Its the whole concept of calories in versus calories out. I need to use up a lot more.

Eating has been a challenge too. I've been eating persimmon, like a lot, and just learned that it can cause constipation! Haha! I think that affected my system and I've been eating so much fiber but nothing. But everything from not eating enough, eating too much, not getting my vitamins & nutrients.  One thing I hate is being anemic, I'm so energy less at times. I know being diligent in taking my vitamins would help. So I need to do that.  It just sucks not having energy a times.  But work with what you're given with.

I really want to loose 10 pounds a month. I need to get my mind off the scale and into just being fit and healthy in general. Been hooked on that damn thing and its discouraging at times. But its okay, I know that scale doesn't measure how hard I work.

I know I can work harder and I'm determined to get rid of that 10 pounds this month. Or at least not gain.

:-)

I'm "Back," Well, Almost...

"I'm back!" In probably the loosest way of of "back" possible. I may look like the harbinger of death, and I felt like it, but it got done! I'm not feeling well, I haven't been for over a month, but pushing this whole no run thing any further will not help me at all. This sicky thingy has been pushing at me, I'm going to push back harder, & smarter.

I decided to just get out there. Wanted to do my 5k route, but I wasn't feeling well and my knees weren't up to it, I ended up doing a mile.  Knees and outer thigh muscle [?] were in pain. I feel like I'm starting over with the whole running thing after this month long break. I was thinking about it and I really am. I'm down a lot of pounds so thats something new.  I'm running and focusing more on improving time as opposed to just "finish" is new and while this start all over again may seem very discouraging, its actually a good thing. I'm starting over in a new level.

I only did a mile, and I was cold, but it got warmer. But this was hours ago and now I'm feeling a lot worst than I did before I ran. I really need to get rid of this sickness whatever it is. I don't get sick often, but when I do, I get sick for a really long time.

Anyway, 1 point something miles, about 2 miles for reals, I tend to turn off my watch at random points, is a lot better than no miles!

I just woke up from a nap, so I'll be doing Shoulders & Arms in an hour or two.

Happy Sunday everyone!

PS.  Good luck to all those running R&RLV tonight! I know a few people who are doing it! Jealous that I can't be there, but I know y'all will do me proud!

PPS. The latest patch for the Nike+ Sportswatch GPS is AWESOME! Picked up GPS signals really quick and is more accurate and just makes me happy! I want the heart rate monitor for it and its for sale for $60 at my local Nike Outlet, and I have a $5 off coupon. I wish the HR reader was standard with it, it would make it a nicer, more complete package. And I want to start paying more attention to my HR. It seems wise.

PPPS. I have other news, I'll anounce later. Its awesome, its epic, and I'm blessed to be able to dream big and follow my dreams.

December Goals

• PR in a my mile, officially.
• Sub 10 minutes please. I never logged my 10 minute mile. Yes, I'm a slow runner. No, I don't care that I am. Yes, I want to improve. No, I'm not in a rush. Yes, I will sub a 7 minute mile. No, I'm not sure when.
• Run at least 50 miles.
• Been slacking on running, I'm not burning through my chubs as fast as I want. I know running killed a lot of my energy stores and P90x still benefits my weight lost, but a good balance of two is what worked for me. Get back on that running!
• Drop 10 pounds while maintaining my muscles.
• This goal will be on my monthly goal till I'm satisfied of my weight. I know weight is such a bad indicator of things because everyone carries weight differently and BMI/jean size is such a better indicator. I'm trying to change my mindset, going to take a while, but at least I acknowledge it.  I gave myself a year to "get my weight where I want it," that year will be in May. That gives me December, January, February, March, & April to meet my goal.  If I drop 10 pounds a month in those 5 months, I'll be in an unhealthy weight range. For reference, I'm 5'6", female (duh), & 25 years old.  I originally wanted to be at 120, which is at the low end of my spectrum, and also after learning alot more about fitness is really too low for me. So I'll evaluate every time I hit a new weight "bracket." So when I hit 150, 140, 130. I really want to hit at least 130, but the way its looking, thats gonna be too low, because I HAVE GUNS <3  Also, going by size, I wanted to be a size 8. I'm size 11/10 already and no where near 130. Okay, to stop over thinking.
• Not gain weight.
• Going to my home away from home for a while and I'm looking forward to it, but this is when I usually gain weight. We shall see what happens tho. No regrets, its the land of awesome food.

Happy December everyone!