FAITH & FITNESS

I woke up with Psalm 23:1 on my heart. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing". I have everything to complain about this week, but I will not. Besides, what good will it do? I have everything I need and a lot of what I want..."I [shall] lack nothing."

As an attempt to keep the spirit of optimism going throughout the day, I decided do one of my favorite things I like to do to clear my head (besides cleaning & writing) and that was work out. Since the school year has ended and my son is home as well, my workouts have not occurred the same time of day no matter how hard I try. That can sometimes mean no workout at all. I decided after I fed him, I'd immediately workout afterwards (usually I start our home school lessons first), so I wouldn't have an excuse for becoming busy and then eventually skip it.

In the picture is a whole wheat waffle (fit & active brand from Aldi's), an egg with spinach, and two pieces of turkey bacon. I was going to skip the waffle because I'm supposed to be detoxing this week, but I was like "what the hey!". I'm counting macros/calories for a few weeks anyway, so as long as I don't go over my goal, I think I'll be good.

Now, for this workout. This was my first workout after a 5 day hiatus (I blame my cycle). I'm  training for a 10k, but just like clock work, I've grown bored with training for a distance over a 5k solo. It sucks. All of my long distance races I ran before I had my son, I was able to train with my running group or a partner. I swear that's the only way I was able to be so consistent with longer distances. Bottom line, I've grown bored with training again because it's started to seem more like a chore than be fun, relaxing, and accomplishing like running used to be for me. On top of that, I don't get outside very much and I haven't been motivated to run with my 40lb son in the jogger.

In efforts to just be active and be in SOME sort of shape for this race, I'm just going to do what I can. As I type that, I think about the two back to back family trips coming up. I've been switching between one of my Jillian Michael's DVD's and following a Nike+ Training Club workout. Today I did NTC Pace Breaker.

Today's workout was strength-based using body weight only (no gym equipment). It was challenging and I definitely feel the burn already. I burned almost 200 calories in 35 minutes.

I had to dust off my trusty rusty Nike+ GPS watch. I don't use it to run anymore. I track my runs with my Garmin. I use it to track calories burned when I sync it to my chest strap. The only reason I am still using this is because I haven't figured out which watch I really want to purchase. I want to track calories during workouts and my run, but that's for another post. Which do you use?

As mentioned above, I am supposedly detoxing. My lunch was this apple banana smoothie. I got the original recipe from Pinterest. This one consisted of 1 small apple, half of a banana, 1 serving of vanilla protein powder, a handful of spinach, 1 cup of water, and a few ice cubes. 

The rest of the day was blah...it's life. My dinner was on point and my snacks..... uh, yeah...I'm good on calorie count, but macros didn't go so well today. Tomorrow is another day. :-)

Thanks for reading! Comment below with your blog link. I'm trying to get back into reading fitness and health blogs instead of just the usual reading of Instagram posts.

WIAW: What did I do and eat today?

This morning I woke up well rested and kid free. My son spent last night and will spend tonight with my mom while I handle some business (his first time away 2 nights in a row :-( ). I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't know whether I should relax until my appointment and workout later or vice versa. Thanks to my Facebook peeps, I chose to get it in early. So I quickly made a green smoothie (I'm on Day 16 of the Simple Green Smoothie Challenge) and I was out the door for a 'dreadmill' run and a body works plus abs class at my gym.

Selfies with my smoothie

I arrived at the gym and to my surprise it smelled lemony fresh. I can really appreciate them doing that because I can be a germaphobe at times. All the machines had noticeably been wiped down...hooray!

I ran 3-miles on the hill setting, alternating between levels 1-5. The first mile was kind of slow and hard and reminded me of my bad run from last Saturday. I almost thought I would burn out earlier, but I focused on the really ratchet music in my earbuds and that helped me push through. I gotsta have my Southern Rap when I do cardio on a machine!

After my run I joined my fav instructor for a body works plus abs class. As I mentioned before, she does her class a little different. Today's workout was the start of another 6-week series. We did a little HIIT the first half of class and finished with circuit training. By the end of both workouts my cheap dri-fit shirt was soak and WET! It was pretty disgusting but I worked HARD today!

Had a quick post work out snack of Greek yogurt with a little honey and a banana before I had to get ready for an appointment.

I didn't plan for lunch, but knew I had to go food shopping later. I was starving. Have you heard the saying don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry? Let's just say a package or two was opened on the ride home.

I had to have those Kettle chips...I craved the salt. ;)

When I finally got home, I took pictures of my purchases for my upcoming updated grocery haul post and I drank the rest of my green smoothie from this morning. I made this smoothie for the first time using soy milk instead of cows milk. It was really good and filling.

my go-to: strawberries, banana, Greek yogurt, soy milk

For dinner, I cooked a taco salad without the shell for me (still striving for abs). I'm enjoying my fun, but semi-healthy meals as of late, because I know once August 18th comes around, it's back to the same meals every day with one cheat day a week. Why? Because I can tell a big difference in my performance when I eat super clean.

Oh yeah! Remember at the end of one of my posts, I said Nike and I had to have a talk? Well, I got my replacement in the mail for my broken watch. I was like a kid on Christmas Day! Yes, I'm ready to take "her" out for a run!

For the non- cows milk drinkers, do you prefer soy, coconut milk, or something else as a milk replacement? I have a nut allergy, so I don't think I'll be trying almond milk.

Hope you had a good day!

-Tiffany

Oh, so tired!

Happy Thursday! This week has been blah up until today for some reason. I started the week off right, but when Tuesday came... I don't know, it's like the tired monster came and attacked me. I skipped running Tuesday and said I'd make up for it Wednesday.

Wednesday came and the hubs and I actually made it to the park, unpacked the stroller, strapped the boy in the stroller, warmed up for .34 miles, and then the boy went hysterical. Needless to say, mama didn't check all basis before starting. That kind of stressed me so I gave up and went back to the car and let the hubs get his run in and said to myself, "well, I'll just have to do triple time on Thursday and Friday." I said that forgetting that I had plans during the day today that would interfere. Sounds like excuses, excuses, excuses...

So, my race is next Friday, it's Thursday today, and I haven't run all week. Fortunately, the hubs and I have plans this evening and will get to have an impromptu date night while the boy is spending the evening with Nana. :-) 

"Helping" me cook dinner

... and fold laundry

I miss my baby already, but I'm going to take advantage of the free time while I have it. My goals for this evening are to relax, have fun, and get at least 8 hours of sleep (preferably 10, lol) so I can wake up, run and go to the gym in the morning. 

Side note: If anyone had told me it's possible that I may not get a full night of sleep in over a year after becoming pregnant, I would of thought they were lying! But it's true. It's going on 15 months of no sleep PEOPLE! I might crack, I tell ya!

Any random tips that aren't in the books for getting a child to sleep through the night are SO welcomed.  :-)

-signed,

Sleepy Mama

Slow Improvement

Saturdays workout: I ran 4.3 miles of steady inclines. Although my pace differed from last Saturday's run (4.5 miles) by 5 seconds, it was an improvement because the route was much harder. Imagine if that were a flatter course, hmmmm...

After the run, I went to a Body Works Plus Abs class at the gym. This class is a total body workout using body weight and free weight exercises. I've taken this class before but never at this location. I could tell a difference. Either this instructor was tough or I've been too lenient in my home strength workouts because I had to modify MOST of the exercises! I'm typing this on Sunday and my entire body hurts in places I forgot I had. I will definitely go back next week! 

I was supposed to run for 30-40 minutes according to the training plan, but Mothers Day festivities trumped. I enjoyed my first Mothers Day, but honestly being a self proclaimed fit fanatic, I was itching to workout.

Well tomorrow starts a new week and my goals are to finish some professional develop things, redesign this blog, and workout like crazy. July 4th will be here before you know.

Tiffany

Sorta like a 2-a-day?

What were once quick and easy tasks are now long and I must get the timing right if I plan to be successful. Bellies must be full, naptime mustn't be near, and colorful objects must be attached to something. I'm simply referring to grocery shopping with a 6 month old. Getting out the house and back are much different these days. 

That tiring task almost set the tone for the rest of the day. 3.5 miles was the plan. I ended up walking over 2 miles with a friend and going to the gym later to run 3 on the treadmill and 5 min on the stair climber.

I almost skipped the 3 miles until I logged on Instagram and saw everyone's workout posts. I didn't want to be a slacker so I bathed the boy, gave him to his dad, and went to have "me" time.t 

Technically that was a two-a-day but for me, I don't feel like I've done anything if I walked most of the time. But I guess it's better than couch surfing.

I came home to finally try this spaghetti squash. I was iffy but I'll try almost anything once. This will most definitely be a staple! I'm so surprised I liked it. I mean it IS squash. I followed instructions found on Pinterest and I didn't use any seasonings. Ate it plain I guess. Now to get my husband to even put it on the tip of his tongue.

Tiffany

Daily Happenings

Today I woke up and weighed myself as I normally would. To my surprise I'm back at my pre-preggo weight!!! Woot! I'll spare you with the picture I took of my un-pedicured feet standing on the scale that I sent the hubs.

So naturally that set the tone for an awesome eating day. I finished the 30-day smoothie challenge. I think this challenge has a lot to so with me meeting my goal. At the beginning of the month I was 5 lbs heavier.

This was my lunch since the hubs took all the leftover baked chicken for his lunch.

Later on I did a 5-minute strength training workout using the app Sworkit, ran 3 miles on the treadmill, and spent 20-minutes on the stair climber. Still waiting to get a new watch. I would loooove to know how many calories I REALLY incinerated.

I'm praying the weather will be good enough so I can take my baby with me to run outdoors. We shall see.

Tiffany

Daily Happenings 4-27-2014

Today was a good day. After my family gathering which did include Golden Corral (buffet restaurant), I made my way to the gym. I didn't eat horribly but I still had the itch to workout. 

My gym workout was 20 min on the stairclimber and 30 min of intervals on the elliptical. I came home and did an ab workout using the Nike Training Club app. 

I bought a new heart rate monitor today from a guy on Craigslist.  It turned out to be an older Polar watch that doesn't track calories, so back to the drawing board. Good news is the watch is brand new so I should be able to resell it.

Well tomorrow's fitness agenda (if it doesn't rain) will be continuing with the couch to 10k app, week 4, day 2.

Tiffany

Almost A Year Later

I guess I just feel like writing today. It's almost a been a year since I've written my last blog post. The blog post that was all about my new series for the year of writing about all of my workouts, ha. Yeah, well, that was a daunting task I obviously didn't know what I would be setting myself up for. I mean, I worked out. I just didn't write about them all afterwards like I wanted to. Actually, I ran my last half marathon at the end of January, became preggo, scaled my workouts back a lot, and then eventually stopped. They were so spread out I wouldn't consider my physical activity while preggo really working out. But anyways...

Here I am, 8 weeks and 1 day postpartum with only 11 more pounds to lose before I will reach my pre-pregnancy weight (gained about 37 while preggo...really good). How do I plan to reach my first goal of the last 11lbs? Well, eating as clean as possible and revamping the cardio and super revamping the strength training. I can't cut calories because I am breastfeeding. 

The first time I set out to lose weight (60lbs), I did 90% cardio and ate clean. It took me a year and a half to lose that 60lbs. I know losing slow is the way to go, but it shouldn't have went that slowly. The one thing I want to do differently this go around is take strength training more seriously, whether it is by weights or calisthenics. This time I am starting out with the gym membership, whereas before I worked out at home for almost 3 years before considering a gym membership. Well, I need to take advantage of all the weight machines and more of the classes. There's so much material and actual results out there from people who have lost weight.... well not weight, but FAT (I'm trying to lose fat), from people who really focus on their weight training. I want a specific shape and I definitely want my running speed to increase so I need to pump the iron more consistently before.

So, we'll see what happens...

#1

Trying something new. I want to track my workouts, so I can better pinpoint and reach my fitness goals. *Given no natural forces of nature interrupts that. ;-)

Today's Workout

I ran 5 miles on the treadmill between 1 and 2.5 incline. My average pace, according to my Nike+ GPS watch was a sloooow 11:23/mile. I hate running on the treadmill, but it was raining and I just got my weave done.

Afterwards, I sat in the sauna. Still trying to test the benefits on that out for me. I'm going for clearer skin more than burning calories on this one.