Chris’ Contest Corner

And I’m fighting the old urge to chuck everything and just be a slug.

 Not this year. I’m tightening up the food RIGHT NOW. It’ll be on program until dinner Thursday.

Aside from that, here’s my schedule:

Sunday: Full Body W/O, 30-45 minutes cardio

Monday: 30-45 minutes Cardio

Tuesday: Full Body W/O, 30-45 mins cardio

Wednesday: 30-45 mins cardio

Thursday: Off–out of town

Friday: 30-60 minutes cardio–out of town

Saturday: Travel Day

Sunday thru Saturday next week back on schedule of M, W, F Full Body W/O and 4-5 days cardio 30-45 mins.

There. I’ve written it down.

Seems autumn has finally decided to take hold in S. Indiana. I enjoy doing outside fitness activities this time of year and into the winter months. I tend to pick up running during the cool months, opting for indoor cardio when it’s wicked hot out. Fair weather fitness person..lol.

I took advantage of the brisk morning and did a run/walk at the local park. Kept a 12 min mile pace. Not bad for run/walking. After 45 minutes of alternating 5 mins walking 5 mins running I met up with an acquaintance and walked another 25 minutes at a pretty brisk pace. She’s 66 and we were truckin’! I hope I can be as energetic in my golden years.

Did my weights at the gym, got one day of 5 under my belt. Been tracking my calories on Fitday.com and I’m doing better at meeting my calorie needs…uh, it helps when you add some ice cream, pizza and mike’s hard lemonade into the mix it helps get you to your calorie max!  I got to 21 pounds lost last week and needed to celebrate!~ Of course, I reward  myself with food…kinda twisted, huh?

So what kinds of milestone rewards to you grant yourselves?

Onward!

They say it takes 21 days to develop a habit. Well, I’m on day 17 of daily workouts. I only count Mon-Friday since I take Sat and Sun off due to time constraints and family commitments.
So far I’m sticking it out every morning 830-1030 or 11. It takes me awhile since I am trying to make this gym thing fun and  socialize a bit. My favorite gym friends and my trainer are usually there the same time as me, and it makes it more fun.

I started splitting my weight training up instead of doing full body all the time. I think I like it.  We’ll see what the tape measure says next week.  Cardio is going as well as it can go. I usually split it between the treadmill and elliptical. I can tolerate it a bit better that way. I get so bored.
I’ve been logging my food and  thought I was doing ok. Well yesterday I started actually setting a calorie count to things on fitday.com. Much to my surprise, I was only going to get in about 1100 cals yesterday. Ouch! Not enough considering I’m burning about 500 or more just in cardio. No wonder I’m stuck! So I’ve made a commitment to count the calories and make sure I’m at about 1700 and see what happens.

Time to thaw out some ground turkey and slice the cucumbers for supper….mmm…I’m telling you, a Grilled Stuffed Burrito sounds lots better….

I’m on a good run today I think. After yesterday’s motivations from my trainer I’m feeling more in control.

Found The Dirty Dozen Workout on this site and decided to do that 2-3 times this week. It was fewer exercises than I’m used to but I went heavy and did more reps with fewer sets. By stepping up my cardio to nearly an hour a day to get rid of my ass, I can’t be spending another 1.5 on weights on those days. It’s gotta be a two hour max session.

Today I did 25 mins on the treadmill pre-lifting. Helped the energy level. Ran out of time for the other 25 minutes, but doing it this evening.
Weights:

Smith Bench Press: 50×12x2

Leg Press: 210×12x2

Pull Downs: 90×12x2

21s: EZ Curl+10×2 (instead of reverse curls…those bother my hand)

Leg Extensions: 95×12x2

Shrugs: Dumbells 12×12x1; 15×12x1

OH Dumbell Tricep Extension: 30×12x2 (tricep cable extensions replacement)

Seated rows: 90×12x2

Leg Curls: 65×12x2

DB Bicep Curls: 15sx12×2

Shoulder Press: 35×12x2

Ab Machine: 120×12x2

Bicycles: 24 repsx2

Here’s a sample of my nutrition for the day. I’m not entering amounts but they are the appropriate servings.

Breakfast: Kashi waffle, banana, cottage cheese

10 am snack:  Protein Shake, Oatmeal, Craisins

Lunch: Fried egg(no oil), 2 Whole Wheat 35 cal bread, Banana

3pm snack will be Protein shake, apple, PB

Dinner: Chicken breast, green beans

9pm snack: cottage cheese, mixed berries

That’s what the CPA I used to work for would say when he wanted a bank rec done. He wanted a good balance..basically that meant reconciled, verified, double checked. My trainer did my measurements again and we now have ‘good’ numbers. So
Eating was clean as can be today. One meal at a time.
Cardio:

25 minutes treadmill in the morning

30 minute run/walk  outside (5R/5W/5R/5W/2.5R/2.5W)

Doing weights tomorrow. I spent too much time gabbing with my trainer, but it was goal setting and planning and rehashing her trip to the Olympia, so worth it.

Time for my bedtime snack.

As part of the accountability I desire, I’m going to attempt to post my goals each week.

First, I’ve started out by printing my Outlook calendar for the week and scheduling, in print, just about everything I’m doing. There’s also ample space there for food journaling.
So, here goes:

Cardio:    45-60 minutes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Combination of treadmill intervals and elliptical

I’ve realized I’m a dud on the weekends but a creature of habit weekdays.. I don’t wanna leave the house unless it’s for shopping or family things past Friday Noon. So, the argument that I can skip the middle of the week once or twice and get it in on the weekend. Nope. Not gonna do it. If I end up with an extra lite cardio Sat or Sun, then whoopie for me. Going to try this out this week.

Weights:  Standard that I’ve been doing, heavy weight, full body, 3 sets of 10-14 different exercises Monday and Thursday.

I have found that the last several solo strength training sessions I’m doing pretty well at pushing myself such that I need 2 days rest between them. Going to share the w/o with my trainer and see what she says based on our past time together. I’d like to work up to 3 strength training a week, but I just can’t seem to get the scheduling in, plus that third session really aggravates my tendonitis in my hand right now. If I’d spend less time lurking around BB.Com that wouldn’t be such an issue..lol. I also don’t want to burn out mentally since I’m stepping up the cardio.
Nutrition:

As usual, I want to tighten this up and be very strict. I feel like I’m doing about a B-/C+  in this area. Look for boring ‘what did I eat’ blogging this week. Just making me see it is helpful. Water not usually an issue to get in but I’ve gotten too addicted to Cranberry Apple Great Value Drink mixes. I MUST alternate 32 oz h20 with 32 oz of this stuff.

Other:

Fish Oil. I plan to add this back in this week. It’s so hard to remember the stuff so I think I’ll have to clutter up the counter in the kitchen with the bottle so it’s within my sight.

I’m having my trainer do pinching and measuring today. It’s been about 6 weeks. I’m not expecting much as my weight really hasn’t changed much. But, at least they’ll be updated.

Stick with me here, there’s a fitness related thing coming. I do nothing without trying to maintain a sense of humor.
Item 5132 of Murphy’s Law:

States that when you are having trouble with your internet and call the cable company to come out and fix it then one of two things will happen:

1. Within 12 hours of call being made, appointment being scheduled after rearranging schedules to accomodate the 5 hour appointment window, your trouble will stop.

2. As soon as technician walks onto your property, you have the best up/download speed ever. (also applies to that noise in your car that only YOU can hear).
So I’ve been testing the ‘net waters, twiddling my thumbs, this morning before technician gets here and managed to rename the blog, fiddle with settings, make a post etc. I really should have been doing some housework but here I sit.

EDITED: Ok, something else is bound to happen. All works great until you try to reconnect your wireless network/router. GRRRRRR…..some kind of IP conflict…WTF??? My network was FINE ’till the cable guy was here. Here’s to an afternoon wasting time finding out the issue with the router.
Anyway…

Why I named this blog ‘Contest Corner’. Well, I was tinkering on here the other day and one of the profile questions was about upcoming competitions etc. Well, since I have NO desire to be on stage for any reason, aside from an academy award for best drama queen interpretation, I just decided to make every day a competition.

After all, it is don’t you think? Today I competed with that little devil on my shoulder saying ‘you had a disappointment (nothing major really, but an excuse just the same) today EAT BAD STUFF cuz it’ll taste so good’. Nope. Didn’t do it. At least not in the way I normally would have. Ahem…dairy queen. I came home from the store and made myself ONE serving of pasta and mixed it with some veges and a little spray dressing. I’d been craving pasta for a couple days so I figure lunch was the better choice to get my fix. It was yum. In a bit I’ll have a chocolate protein shake partially frozen with a dollop of FF Ready Whip and I’ll feel spoiled! I won the contest today. To me, these kinds of victories are more rewarding than getting on stage.
So that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with this life is a contest thing. How many can I win each day?

Let me start by saying that I’m a girl, and I’m not much on the vocabulary and correct name for things. I just know what I’m doing. My trainer understands my lingo and is entertained by it.(ie, that pulling the weight thingy over your head thing when you are lying on the one bench) So, correct me gently if you will. K? I’m learning.

Second, I bet there’s better ways to work certain body parts, for instance pushups, but I have tendonitis in my right hand and if I do push ups/bench dips/etc, I’m in pain for days, and not in a good way!

Cardio:

25 minutes fat burner mode treadmill, bits of jogging thrown in. I hate the treadmill, but I get bored on the elliptical after about 30 mins.

25 minutes fat  burner mode elliptical.

Machine calculated calorie burn: 500.

Weights:

Smith Squats: 70×10x1; 90×10x2 (am I writing this correctly? total poundsxrepsxsets? yes I’m a ‘dumb girl’ and never can remember)

Smith Bench Press:  50×10x1;40×10x1

Stiff Leg Dead Lift: Heavy Bar+70×10x3 (heavy bar 45#, yes?)

Dumbbell Pull over lying on bench: 30×10x3

Barbell Bent Over Row: EZCurl+30×10x3 (EZ Curl 15#????)

Rear Delt Raise:  Dumbells 12sx10×3

OH Press: Heavy Bar+10×10x3

Bicep Curls: EZ+20×10x3

Overhead Dumbell Tri Extension: 35×10x1;30×10x1

Cable Skull Crushers: 50×10x3

Ab Machine: 110×10x2;120×10x1 (like this machine since being shown the right way to use it…go figure!)

Plank Twists: 10repsx3

Hanging Leg Raises: 15reps tuck position; 10reps pike position; 10 combination tuck/pike

I’m sore today. I like that. I’m off and on with my trainer so I worry I’m not working hard enough when I’m by myself, but if I’m sore the next day, just a bit, I realize I did ok.

Total Cardio to date since Monday (my weeks start on Mondays and go to Sunday) is 3 days, 50 minutes each session. Big step up for me. I hate cardio so I was doing 30 minutes a session 2-3 times a week. I know its a necessary evil to get rid of my gut and butt, so now I’m stepping up to 50-60 minutes per session 4 days a week. I still hate it.

I’m putting it all out there for accountability and reality checks.

I just attended a friend’s competition for OCB where she placed 2nd in her group. Incredibly fun time. And motivating beyond anything I’ve ever seen. I don’t want to compete, but I’m kicking things up for sure.

I’m impressed with how positive this site is for those starting out. Thanks for the messages and encouragement.

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