Exercises

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Shred Routine - continues. Thoughts, tired, wondering what's up

It was a good week last week. Finally got the bowflex together and started using it. It is different than the cable machines at the gym...but it does a decent job. I drank my shake every single morning---the one morning that I didn't----I got heartburn! Seriously, I had to take anti-acids.

I went up to Rochester this weekend into yesterday. I had my cheat day but honestly, I could have cared less. There's been a change in me for sure. I used to like food...get excited about a good meal. Now...I don't much care. It's like another thing to think about. I don't care if I have a sweet or don't. I don't care if I eat the best food ever or not. I hate anything greasy, fattening, or unhealthy...which is awesome I guess in one aspect and kind of crappy in another. I'm sure I'll get cravings at some point...but if not than oh well.

I have also been SO TIRED for the last week. I think it was from getting back into my routine but I can literally sleep for hours---at any point during the day.

I hope my pre-workout supplement comes soon! GNC has my Ab Cuts pre-work in back-order for two weeks now. I really need that to propel me forward!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Shred routine program - Day 1

I got my shit together and finally sat down to write out a legitimate exercise program along with diet. I was taught how to do this and kind of slacked. It's hard to be your own personal trainer.

How many of you know what a shred routine is? Or what you have to do in the gym and in your kitchen in order to lose weight without depleting your nutrition or over-training? According to the ACSM textbook it's something like this:

There's a few rules of weight loss (easy to follow-hard to follow through)

1. Caloric intake descrease. You need to find your maintenance calorie intake and deplete it by 250-500 calories per day.

2. There's a pie chart that shows what ratios of carbohydrates to fats to proteins you should consume everyday. I can't remember the fat/protein ratio. The carbohydrate ratio is something like 60%. I found my text book in a box from moving the other day. I'll post it once I look it up.

3. High reps-low weight-increased cardio. High weights, low reps, won't do much good for shredding weight. There's too much rest in between sets. You need to get your heart rate a consistent beat (your target heart rate) and keep it there for a length of time

4. You don't start burning fat until after 30mins of THR. Your body has different metabolic levels. Depending on which stage it's in, it uses carbohydrates. proteins, and fat differently. Your body burns carbs/sugars first, uses fat once it's depleted it's carb stores, and uses protein to repair itself up to 30 mins post-workout. You'll want to:

  • Drink a pre-workout supplement that has limited sugar, but increases your metabolism. If you workout in the morning all you need is a cup of coffee/pre-workout before you workout --- eat breakfast after. - UNLESS your doing a long intensity workout which means you'll want to have some carbs stored so you can maintain stamina. You'll want to consume carbs a few hours before your workout which makes morning sessions hard.
  • Drink a post-workout (milk or something similar will do the trick to) with a simple sugar. This will help bring your blood sugar backup.
  • Drink a protein shake or a high protein meal 30 mins after your workout. I used to shower and get dressed after I drank my pick me up before I ate breakfast. This would give enough time.

5. You'll want to do at least 5 days a week of cardio. Interval training works great.

So, my session goes something like this:

Exercise days - Mon - Fri:

Monday: Session starts at 5:30am ET. - .5hr on Treadmill, .5-1hr on bowflex and coreball
Tuesday: Session starts at 6:00am ET. - .45min on Treadmill, .15hr on coreball
Wednesday: Session starts at 5:30am ET - .5hr on Treadmill, .5-1hr on bowlfex and coreball
Thursday: Session starts at 6:00am ET - 45min on Treadmill, .15hr on coreball
Friday: Session starts at 5:30am ET - .5hr on Treadmill, .5-1hr on bowflex and coreball.

Saturday/Sunday off.

I give myself 5 days of cardio but weight train in between and two days off.

On Saturday, I'll give myself a fun day.

Dessert days are Wednesday and Saturday.


Diet...I hate that word so "Healthy living eating style is as follows"

      Breakfast: go lean shake
      Snack - low calorie/carbs okay - like oatmeal, etc.
      Lunch: go lean shake
      Snack - low calorie/high protein/healthy fat/fiber - keep me full and focused through the
      afternoon doldrums (cheese, apples and almond butter, etc.)
      Dinner: whatever we're making. try to keep proportions in check - fit dish works great.
      After dinner: depending on how I feel, most likely strawberries in milk.


I have started the diet portion of this today. tonight we're putting together the bowflex so hopefully I can start my session tomorrow.

I'm going to be writing a helluva lot more to get myself through this.

Start date: 6/12/2013
Until date: 7/27/2013
Goal: 20lbs lost - drop one size comfortably.

After I meet this challenge, I'll decide my next steps. Small pieces at a time.



Friday, June 7, 2013

Two shakes a day keeps the doctors away

Starting tomorrow for the next two months I'm going to do two shakes a day. Morning breakfast, snack, shake for lunch, snack, dinner. I'm going on vacation in 2 months and I'd like to be able to drop around 15 more pounds before I go.

I'm running 1-2 miles every other day and working out. This combination is definitely a shedding routine.

I'm also going to renew my personal training certification (I got to take more continuing ed classes, which I actually want to do.)

I took that certification for a reason and I'm going to use it.

It's only a matter of time before I kiss this cubicle goodbye.

Monday, June 3, 2013

My success....where am I today with it all?


Exercise wallpaper

Hey everyone, happy Monday! 

I was looking at my google analytics for my GNC blog and I'm almost up to 10,000 views. Thanks for everyone who's been following my weight loss journey. Not just with the GNC total lean which is where this all started but also just through my ups and downs and giving the motivation to continue on. So, thanks!


Where am I today with my progress? "GOD has she LOST any WEIGHT?!"

The answer is, yes. I lost about 15 lbs when I included the shake into my life. For all of you who are just stopping in, I went through a period when I took a break. Stresses of purchasing a house, moving, etc. added a few of those lbs back on me. I've since then decided to regroup in my new home and move forward. Some of the things I noticed that are holding me back are:

1. Portion size. For everything NOT in a shake, portions although may look small on a plate are really not that small. I purchased a dish to take with me to work. It's perfectly portioned and can refrigerate your food through an ice pouch top. It's great...accept I left it in my car unwashed by accident and at a certain point...we don't wash things anymore. So, I'll be throwing that one out and purchasing a FEW more. I'm going to start bringing my lunch in it again AND eating my dinners from them. That will help the cause. Also, dessert items will only be available certain days of the week. I'm thinking Wednesday and Saturday.

2. Time to get to the gym. ARGH! There's nothing more annoying than NOT being able to get to the gym. The WORST thing is early in the morning. I got great advice from someone else's review on this pre-workout supplement shake I'm going to be purchasing as well called "Ab cuts". Anyway, the advice was "Don't make any decisions when you first get up. make it your goal to drink coffee or pre-workout. If you make it your goal to workout first thing in the morning your automatic thought is "screw that I'm going back to bed." BUT your body LOVES getting its morning fix. Once you got it revved up and ready to go, it's not going to want to go back to bed and you can convince yourself to go and hit the gym

In this case, I'm hitting my basement! One of the great features of my new place is the finished basement. I love it. I can go ahead and workout downstairs. I've purchased an investment of health in the form of a Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE. It's on its way to my house right now. I can't wait!

I also purchased an exercise ball and treadmill. Some free weights, a bench, and another cardio machine and I will have a complete home gym.

So, I continue on in the never-ending journey. I hope that these tools, not miracles, will get me to where I want to go...and quickly it's almost swim suit time.