Working Out the Beer

Saturday morning I slept in (thankfully) and did not wake up with a beer hangover…Luck of the Irish!

I made an Amazing Grass Chocolate shake for breakfast.

I added protein powder, Benefiber, banana, Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries, cantaloupe, carrot, and oats.

I added water instead of milk.

Blended in my Magic Bullet and breakfast was served!

After breakfast, I went to the gym. I hadn’t been on the stair-master in over a month because of my injured sacrum but after yesterday’s run I was feeling surprisingly good so I gave it a shot. I eased into it and felt no pain, so committed to working out on the stair-master for my workout. I did the speed intervals and fat burner settings for about 45-50 minutes and then did my weight routine. Honestly I was feeling sort of tired but I muddled through the workout with decent results:

Today’s Stats:

Time: 1:07

Calories Burned: 592

When I got home, I ate a snack (Greek Yogurt and the other half of my banana) and later for lunch I heated up some Trader Joe’s Split Pea Soup (100 calories). It was good!

Now off to dinner!

Gym Pet Peeves

I had a great work out at the gym! I did 45 minutes on the stair-master.

I felt energized and not slow at all. I got sucked into “Flip This House” on A&E (I’m addicted to those HGTV type house shows!). Before I knew it,  2 episodes and almost an hour later I got off the stair-master and headed over to the treadmill to give my new shoes a try. I did about a mile on the treadmill at a medium pace and finished up with a bunch of weights.

New Shoes

I don’t want to give a review of my new shoes until later. I will see how I feel tomorrow and then hopefully I can get a real run in this week.

Gym Stats:

Calories Burned: 713

Time: 1 hour 18 minutes

Activities: Stair-master, treadmill, weights, triceps/deltoids, abs, hip abductors, leg presses, stretching

Gym Annoyances

About half way through my workout, a girl got on the stair-master next to me. I almost got off and left because she smelled so bad. Seriously! It smelled like she’d eaten a gallon of garlic and was sweating it out of her pores–oh and to hide the smell she was chewing watermelon bubblegum. It was so gross. Who does that? Note to all gym members: please don’t smell weird if you can avoid it. Thanks so much!

Around the same time, another chick got on the elliptical on my right side. She was wearing a dress and stripper boots! No joke! They were knee high boots with stiletto heels. I own a pair. And she wore that to the gym to work out? I was so baffled and I was also tempted to ask her if I could take her picture just to PROVE it happen. 🙂 But I didn’t.

Finally, the last annoyance was how very few people clean off the machine after they use it. I watched person after person sweat on and touch the machines and then just walk away. I wanted to yell, “Oh my god you are so vile!” But I didn’t. I always spray down machines BEFORE (and after) I use them because I’m so skeeved out.

QUESTION: What are your gym pet peeves?

Workout over and feeling pretty good, I drove home and decided to do some gardening before I hopped in the shower. I ended up doing almost 45 minutes of weeding! Our yard is completely out of control. The weeds have taken over.

Weeds Taller Than Me!

I filled the bin with weeds and blackberries.

Weeding burned almost 250 calories. I was shocked! I cleaned the house, showered, and fixed lunch.

Lunch was leftovers from yesterday – Indian food, couscous and steamed brocolli.

Added a little of this:

Lunch was the perfect size.

Now to do the Foam Roller and then I’m off to return the Asics shoes!

I Don’t Do Flip Turns

Last night’s swim was fantastic! I’ve said this numerous times but I want to say it again: any soreness I feel disappears immediately in the pool. It felt so great to stretch out and swim. I’m a really good swimmer. I’m fast, I have great form and I’ve been asked numerous times by complete strangers if I’m a professional swimmer (which was quite the compliment!) but the one thing I cannot do: flip turns. I hate them. I hated them as a kid, I was never good at it, and so I stopped. I was never on a formal swim team as a kid except for Synchronized Swim Team. Why do I hate the flip turn? It makes me dizzy, nauseous and disoriented.

*Not My Pic

Well last night at the pool I decided I needed to just try it. What’s the big deal, right? It’s been 15 years since I tried it, maybe I’d be good at it as an adult. Mmm not so much. I wanted to try it in the deep end of the pool (just in case) and every time I swam towards the deep end I lost my nerve and couldn’t do it. Dang! When did I become such a wuss?? I finally gave it a try and attempted the Flip Turn. It wasn’t graceful. I was too far from the wall, and I did feel dizzy and disoriented. But I tried it. I think I can try again. Tomorrow when I go swimming I’m going to try again!

QUESTION: Can you flip turn?

I had a great swim otherwise. I was fast and didn’t get tired. When I got home, Michael was making fajitas for dinner! Sweet!

I chopped the olives, cleaned and prepared the fresh lettuce.

Michael makes the BEST fajitas. And of course, awesome guacamole. I also saw that he got some ice cream for dessert! I had a debate in my head: “Do I drink a beer with dinner or do I have dessert? Because I can’t do both.” Ice cream won. But truthfully, ice cream always wins in my book!

The fajitas turned out pretty great. I put some pinto beans in chili sauce in mine with the lettuce, light sour cream, guacamole, salsa, olives and the fajitas mix. Delicious!

Fajitas

And for dessert I ate about 1 and 1/4 serving of the Ben and Jerry’s Heath Bar Vanilla. It was so heavenly! There are 4 servings in the carton.In the old days, I would have eaten all 4 servings at once.

I slept in until almost 10am Saturday morning. It felt great to sleep. I drank my Atkins Shake and headed to the gym. I did about 50 minutes of Speed Intervals on the stair-master. I fluctuated between level 6-10. It was hard but it felt good.

Stair Master

I did a cool-down for about 5 minutes, then switched to the Fat Burner setting for about 10 minutes. By that point, I was spent. I headed over to the weights and did some ab work and my arms. I didn’t spend a lot of time doing weights today because I just didn’t have it in me. I burned 708 calories!

Breakfast was a Bagel Thin with light cream cheese, an Anjour Pear, and the new Vitamin Water Zero. I didn’t like the Zero version. It has an “off” taste to me.

Breakfast

I am off to run errands and later tonight is a Bachelorette Party for my friend Erika! 🙂

QUESTION: What’s your favorite machine at the gym?

How Has Your Body Changed?

Losing weight is a transforming experience. I fluctuated between 220-250 pounds for awhile and when I was that heavy I didn’t really KNOW I was that heavy. I still wore revealing clothes, tank tops, etc. I had no idea my arms were huge and probably shouldn’t be shown off.

About 220 Pounds

I didn’t really get to know my body until I started to lose weight. Then the changes were noticeable.

I had a waist

I only had one chin

My thighs no longer rubbed together

Vegas 2008 - 143 Pounds

The big changes for me, were being able to do activities I couldn’t do at 250. I suddenly had stamina. I could hike for hours without having to rest. I could bike 52 miles (like I did this weekend: http://wp.me/pRrTx-qE) and not be laid up in bed for two days. 🙂

Why do I exercise as much as I do? Because I like the way my body changed. I like having stamina to do fun things. I have fun doing things outside! I want to run, hike, play in the sunshine, and explore new things.

QUESTION: How has your body changed? And why do you exercise?

On another note….

I got out of work early today, drank half of my Atkins Chocolate Shake, and headed to the gym. I did 38 minutes on the stair-master machine. I took a picture during my warm up phase. The levels looked like this:

Fat Burner Intervals

Since I’m feeling sore still from weeding yesterday, I took it easy and did level 6. I didn’t push myself too much. I wanted to do just enough exercise to stretch my legs out in hopes that I can run tomorrow. After the stair-master, I went upstairs and did some weights for about 10 minutes. It was really crowded and I was pretty done with the gym. So I did my arms and I did the ab machine and I headed home. Calories burned in under an hour: 350.

When I got home, drank the rest of my Atkins Shake and I did my Foam Roller for a bit. Note to self: using the Foam Roller on SORE HAMSTRINGS feels like TORTURE. I seriously wanted to whine and cry and scream! OUCH! But I know it will help my legs feel better. Reach the Beach is in 4 days. 4 days!