SpinCycler’s BodyBlog

I am back from vacation and feeling like a new person. On Thursday, the boyfriend and I went on a 6 hour bike ride around Vancouver and through their amazing city park. Friday, we hiked Lynn Canyon (a rainforest) for about 3-4 hours, and Saturday, we hiked 7 km straight up a mountain and camped in the middle of no where. It really pushed my limits but was so amazing! The next morning we did another 2 km to view Lake Girabaldi and the glacier that feeds it and then came down the mountain 9 km. I hurt all over but feel like I can do anything.
 
I taped my goal weight (117) over the scale so I can’t see what I actually weigh, but I feel smaller. I am waiting a couple of weeks before I check out the progress. I just know I can reach it by Nov. 27 (the birthday). I feel great, and I can’t wait to use this renewed peace and sense of self to get where I want to be in life and enjoy the journey on the way.

Traveling for work….breakfast choices include bananas, bagels and muffiins….waking up at 4 a.m. after going to bed at midnight…bla bla bla.
I work for a non-profit. We had a bike ride and 5K fund-raiser to put on this weekend to help those who have been diagnosed with cancer. I ate some crappy food and didn’t get as many workouts as I wanted to, but I plan to consider it my tiny sacrifice for those who are fighting for their lives.
The people we raise money for are thankful for simply being alive and aren’t worried about what their abs look like, so it seems a little rediculous to stress about eating a bagel when others are going through chemo and still managing to ride a bike 100 miles.
Sorry I have not been that great at responding to messages, comments, and blogs. I am definitely thinking of you all and missing knowing what’s going on in your lives. GOD BLESS!

I head out for Vancouver for vacation on Wednesday and will be back Monday. I am so excited for bike rides and day long hikes. I can’t wait to come back and share the details!!!

Baby steps….I met my new running partner for the first time and we ran 2.8 miles at an average pace of 10:27 mins. I am so pumped to train for a race with her. We are looking at a 10-miler in mid-November. I feel like a champ. I honestly thought I’d only be able to push out two miles. The body is an amzing thing. I can ride 100 miles on a bike, no problem. Yet, 2.8 miles on foot is a stretch for me. No worries! I will change that. I know this is a little dorky to say, but the Olympics have been a huge motivator for me. I dreamed I won the 400 meter dash last night. LOL! 5′2" stocky weight lifter wins the GOLD. LMAO!

Results from last week:

Monday: 90 mins. heated Vinyasa Yoga class — DONE
Tuesday: AM — 60-min. circuit workout w/ trainer (ride bike to and from gym) — DONE; PM — 1-hour kickboxing class — Got sick and went to sleep instead
Wednesday: 60 min. yoga OR day off if feeling beat up — DAY OFF
Thursday: Bike ride 60-75 mins. — 90 MIN BIKE RIDE
Friday: 60 mins. Yoga at lunch AND 30 mins. cardoi in the AM — YOGA 60 MINS
Saturday: 45-60 mins. circuit weight workout ( as outlined by trainer) — DONE PLUS 30 MINS CARDIO
Sunday: Teaching 60 min. cycling class followed by a MASSAGE as a reward for a week well done — DONE WOO HOO!
This week:

Monday: Run/ 90 min. yoga

Tuesday: 60 -min. weight circuit w/ trainer plus riding bike to and from the gym (bonus points for extra cardio)

Wednesday: 90 min. yoga class

Thursday: Run (distance unknown)

I go out of town Thursday- Sunday so I must get in whatever I can.

I am so excited. I have been on a forever search for a running buddy and I finally found one who I think is at the same level. We meet for the first time on Monday. I am nervous and excited!

So I am a little late in doing this, but here is my super easy replacement for breakfast tacos. I live in Texas and most people have breakfast tacos at work. So instead of feeling deprived, I make my own at home, wrap them in foil, and take my own to work to eat with the others. They include:

Organic spelt or whole wheat tortilla warmed in iron skillet
4 egg whites scrambled

1-2 tablespoons of fresh salsa or chopped tomatoes

On occasion: grated part-skim mozzarella

Waaaaaay better for you than from a greasy Mexican restaurant who adds butter, sausage and bacon!

Monday: 90 mins. heated Vinyasa Yoga class

Tuesday: AM — 60-min. circuit workout w/ trainer (ride bike to and from gym); PM — 1-hour kickboxing class

Wednesday: 60 min. yoga OR day off if feeling beat up

Thursday: Bike ride 60-75 mins.

Friday: 60 mins. Yoga at lunch AND 30 mins. cardoi in the AM

Saturday: 45-60 mins. circuit weight workout ( as outlined by trainer)

Sunday: Teaching 60 min. cycling class followed by a MASSAGE as a reward for a week well done

Of Note: Thanks for everyone who encouraged me to continue eating clean. I plan to but I really can’t handle the stress of the challenge. It’s causes me to stress eat and I just need to focus on one day at a time when it comes to my eating habits. I have really been working on banishing emotional eating and most of you have that down. I must go at a slower pace. Still working on firming up the backside, though. 

I had beer at a concert on Saturday. Okay, I had several beers. I did get right back on track and have kept up with my clean eating diet, but I wouldn’t feel right about staying in the Last man Standing Challenge. So I am out. I will continue to eat clean, though.

As for baby got back, I am doing well firming up the behind with squats, lunges and more squats and lunges. Kickboxing is also help firm up the backside.

I hope you all had a fabulous week! 

I woke up with a case of the Mondays this morning, but I have re-adjusted my attitude to feeling good about the start of another week. Had a cheat on Saturday, which I will write about more on Friday, but I thought I would share my basic diet plan.

Breakfast: 1/2 cup rolled oats with a pat of real butter (I don’t like fake anything); 2/3 cup egg whites, some kind of low-sugar fruit or 1/2 green banana (don’t know why green ones are better, but apparently they are) OR spelt tortilla w/ egg whites and a sprinkle of grated part-skim mozzarella

Snack: Almonds, whey protein shake w/ skim milk,  8 oz. plain Bulgarian yogurt (no fat, no added sugar), or tomato and part-skim mozzarella

Lunch: 4-6 oz. turkey, chicken or fish, sweet potato or beans, small salad w/ olive oil and balsamic

Snack: Almonds, whey protein shake w/ skim milk,  8 oz. plain Bulgarian yogurt (no fat, no added sugar), or tomato and part-skim mozzarella

Dinner: 6-8 oz. Fish/ Seafood or on occasion lean beef, loads of green veggies (broccoli, kale, spinach, brussel sprouts, greens, asparagus, leeks, ect.)

Snack if needed: protein shake or plain Bulgarian yogurt

Not so bad as I love all these foods so much, especially seafood!

Yeah for me! I made it through week one of both challenges.

Here are my result for the Last Man Standing Challenge:

1) A ratio of 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat. I am allowed a 10% variation, but anything more than that will kick me out of the challenge. — DONE. I found myself slipping a little on the fats (no more than the allowed) but have worked out ways to make sure I keep it t 30%.
2) Aiming to eat every 2-3 hours during the day. If I go beyond 4, I am out of the challenge.–DONE. I never thought I could get sick of eating, but I might be.
3) Calories will remain between 1200 and 1600, but preferably around 1400. –DONE. But the last two days were 1600 days, so I must watch to make sure it varies between 1200 and 1600.
4) No beer. I said no beer! Only alcohol option is one or two glasses of wine no more than three nights a week. – DONE, thank you Lord for my strength. JK! It wasn’t too bad.
5) No refined sugar. NONE! (unless it is done within the bounds of the cheat rules and under extreme circumstances). – DONE. This has been easier than I thought.
6) Per the rules, I will have the option of one cheat per week, no more than 600 calories, consumed in one hour. I hope to not use the cheat, but I reserve the right. – I cheated in the form of a 225-calorie piece of a fresh baked French bagette with a gourmet (yet healthy) dinner my manfriend made. It was worth it and could have been worse. So I wasn’t perfect, but if I cheated with a piece of fat free bread, it can’t be too horrible.
Baby Got Back Challenge (1 of 6 weeks):

I got in a glut workout I found in the latest Oxygen magazine, did the glut workout on the elliptical, and kicked my own butt in two kickboxing classes this week. My hamstrings and lower back are super sore from my workouts, so that’s all about the back side too. I won’t test my body fat again until the last week, and that will be the real test.

What I have learned in week one:

That when you eat healthy, you feel really good. It’s like running on premium gas. I am a sports car. I have energy and my body is responding to my workouts where it wasn’t before. I am sleeping better and  thinking better. You would think because eating well made you well, it would be easy, and it is for the most part. But we all have that voice in us that says, go ahead and eat the junk food at work, have the beer, and rationalizes why it’s okay. I have to say because of all your support, I just tell that voice to SHUT THE F UP, that it doesn’t know what its talking about, and move on. This site and the people on it are truly inspiring. Goforitnicks had an amazing blog (http://blog.bodybuilding.com/goforitnicks/2008/07/28/im-thankful-for-the-fallen-tree) that Jules also linked. I had my own fallen tree this week, and I just stepped right over it when I would have let it get me down. Thanks to Nicky’s blog, which I had read before, I just kept on moving, so  special thanks to her as well.

Good luck to the rest of you. You are going to need it! (my lousy attempt to talk smack)

My diet for the Last Man Standing Challenge (Three Weeks) will consist of:

1) A ratio of 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat. I am allowed a 10% variation, but anything more than that will kick me out of the challenge.

2) Aiming to eat every 2-3 hours during the day. If I go beyond 4, I am out of the challenge. 

3) Calories will remain between 1200 and 1600, but perferably around 1400.

4) No beer. I said no beer! Only alcohol option is one or two glasses of wine no more than three nights a week.

5) No refined sugar. NONE! (unless it is done within the bounds of the cheat rules and under extreme circumstances).

6) Per the rules, I will have the option of one cheat per week, no more than 600 calories, consumed in one hour. I hope to not use the cheat, but I reserve the right.

Each Friday, I will list the six rules and write how I did with each one. If I break one, I am out of the challenge. I started this on Monday, so I have a leg up, getting all the junk flushed from my system. WATCH OUT!

Baby Got Back Challenge (6 weeks):

I am really going to focus on firming up the tush and will have to go by how it looks (I want that little crease underneath gone!), but I am not sure I am comfortable sharing those type of pics. However, I am looking to decrease my body fat, so I will set the goal of decreasing my bf by at least 1% in the next six weeks, but I am aiming for a 2% decrease. I plan to get there by increasing my weight workouts and the intensity of my cardio sessions.

I can’t wait to be a part of another challenge with such great, positive people, and I can’t wait to meet more of the same. Thanks again for putting this together and thanks for the massive support. It is so APPRECIATED!

For more information on the challenge check out Jules blog post and sign up by July 25:

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/julofthenile/2008/07/19/your-mission/