Blog redo coming soon… Yes, I’m still here

A lot has changed since my last post which was July 2014…whoops! At that time I thought I was training for my first marathon, looking back now that just makes me laugh. Changes were a comin’ and by changes I mean another baby!!

Now almost 1 year later and many many changes, we have 2 kiddos under 2 and I am now a stay at home mom. Jeez, a Stay at home mom, I never thought I would be one of those. Stay at home mom really isn’t a true statement because I feel like we are rarely home.

I am adjusting and getting the hang of this and I want to get back to this blogging. More to come soon!

It feels good to be back!

Marathon Training Playlist

Still can’t believe that I am even saying that…”Marathon Training”  – I am def. not 100% there mentally yet but I did a 6 mile run yesterday that felt great! I think my run jams helped me feel great and they did push me through some tough spots. Since I teach Group Fitness classes, my playlists are a pretty important part of my planning for classes. I do the same when it comes to my own workouts, running especially – I am driven by the beat of the music. I’ve caught myself singing out loud during training runs and even more embarrassing, during an actual 1/2 marathon with people all around me!

Here is my playlist for Marathon Training – for now at least. I tend to change it up frequently. I love it, including a variety of tempos makes me push my pace every once in awhile! 15 more weeks until the actual Marathon – I think I will be able to fully commit as my training progresses & I see how my body is doing.

Something funny to share: I found this while browsing some health/fitness websites and thought it was hilarious!

http://www.fitbie.com/2014/07/14/thoughts-every-woman-during-summer-runs

 

Possibly Marathon Training

I say possibly because I am still not 100% committed to the idea of running that far…I always thought marathoners were a little bit crazy and could never see myself ever doing one! Here I am now, actually in a training plan to complete a FULL marathon! Holy Crap! I wanted to share my training plan and get some feedback on it. It is a 16 week plan, but as I said before I was pre-training for the actual training plan. I had to get my stamina up to comfortably run 3-4 miles without a problem – I am there now! The 16 week plan started this week, here is what it looks like:

Mondays – Run 3 – 10 miles (increasing miles every other week – so 2 weeks in a row I will run 3 miles, the next 2 weeks I will run 4 miles, and so on)

Tuesdays – Run 3 – 5 miles easy (mostly 3 or 4 mile runs, in month 3 – I run 5 miles)

Wednesdays – Cross Train: I teach cycling on Wednesdays so this is easy for me!

Thursdays – Pretty much the same at Tuesday but I may focus on increasing the speed a little

Fridays – Cross Train: I post a Workout of the Week for my members, they are modeled after Crossfit WOD’s and I modify them to match our group. They always include some form of cardio, mostly rowing. This will be my cross-training!

Saturday or Sunday – LONG RUN!!! Depending how I feel after doing a WOW on Fridays, I will choose which day is best for my long runs!

Week 1: 7 miles                  Week 9: 18 miles

Week 2: 5 miles                 Week 10: 12 miles

Week 3: 9 miles                 Week 11: 20 miles!!!

Week 4: 10 miles               Week 12: 18 miles

Week 5: 7 miles                 Week 13: Half Marathon

Week 6: 12 miles               Week 14: 22-24 miles -WHATTTTT!

Week 7: 10 miles               Week 15: Half Marathon

Week 8: 15 miles               Week 16: 8 miles

FINAL GOAL: RICHMOND MARATHON!!!

I get a little sketched out when I see miles longer than 13.1 – I am not so sure about this! I have read the race change policy and I do know that I can switch to the Half at anytime – I like knowing this fact. I do plan to train as if I will complete the Full but just knowing I have an option is a good thing! There are 2 half marathons in the training plan and I figured I would just time them around when I would have needed to do those miles anyway.

I know I just need to mentally commit myself and my body will follow but I am just not there yet..any tips on how to get there?

 

The Gallon Baggie Method – my new & improved Food prep!

Since I decided 2 years ago that eating high protein – low carb was the best for me – I have been prepping my food ahead of time and storing it in a million Tupperware containers. The food prep process is essential if you are trying to eat healthy, make good food decisions, and it’s great for overall preparedness. I know personally, if I don’t prep my food and have it easily accessible – I get stressed out and end up making horrible food decisions. So basically food prep for me is a necessity and I feel a little bit stressed without it!

Yes I am!

I mentioned in a earlier post that I started following MshellFitness on Instagram – she posted about her #gallonbaggiemethod for food prep and I can’t believe I had not thought of it already! I have done this method for the past 3 weeks and I absolutely love it – I know exactly what I have to eat every single day of the week and it’s all in 1 bag! No more tupperware! It’s also great to only bring my cooler in once a week, one less bag for the bag lady. MshellFitness features a calorie intake of somebody striving for competition (figure/bikini) I have tweaked it to match my goals and to stick with mostly high protein – low carb:

Monday & Wednesday (high activity days):

• 1 apple – I keep the PB at work
• 1 chicken breast and a veggie (mostly creamed spinach, sugar snaps, or cauliflower)
• 2 string cheese or a hunk of mozzarella cheese
• Dark chocolate almonds
• 1/2 of a sweet potato
• 1 quest bar
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 a cucumber
• Steak and a veggie (same as above)

Tuesday, Thursday & Friday (lower activity days): all the same minus the sweet potato

• 1 apple – I keep the PB at work
• 1 chicken breast and a veggie (mostly creamed spinach, sugar snaps, or cauliflower)
• 2 string cheese or a hunk of mozzarella cheese
• Dark chocolate almonds
• 1 quest bar
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 a cucumber
• Steak and a veggie (same as above)

So far it’s been great and I have seen the scale finally respond as of last Friday!!

 

 

Your body’s “set point” or “happy weight” – what’s the deal with that?

I can definitely say that my body has this one number that it seems to like. I can eat crap or eat really great healthy foods in a 1 week span and I will see the same number.

I have seen this number more times than I can remember! Before I was pregnant and on my weight loss journey, I was stuck for quite awhile at this “happy weight” (not so happy for me) Once I got past it, it was a constant fight to stay below. Now, after baby – I am stuck again! For the past 3 weeks I have bounced up and down but when it comes to weigh day (Friday) I see that dag-gone same number. I’m over it.

I thought for sure that adding regular running to my routine would help me bust through but it has not – I also started using a new method for my meal planning. I started following MShell fitness on Instagram and she has a method called #Gallonbaggiemethod. I will post on that later in the week. Follow the links to check it out in the meantime.

Anyway – there is some information to support the “set point” that your body has..but that’s not to say you cannot BREAK through it!! Your body may have a weight that it “thinks” it is happy but if you follow think below you can see how your body can be easily tricked!

http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/BIDMCInteractive/BreakThroughYourSetPoint/WeekOneTheScienceofSetPoint.aspx

Do you feel like your body has a weight that it really enjoys?

Have you broken through and reset your “set point”?

I’ve been MIA – sorry

Oh life..

I have neglected this blog big time – all 3 of my followers have probably given up on me ever posting again! I’m sorry!!! I’ve been a little busy with this one..

A quick summary of what has happened since my last post (late April)

• 12 week challenge results:lost 7 ish lbs and inches pretty much stayed the same (Total lost: 19.4 lbs!!!)
• I am officially back to pre-baby weight!
• Running has been re-introduced to my life (on a semi regular basis)
• I started the Jamie Eason 12 week LiveFit trainer a few weeks ago – this is great because there is an app for the program and you can add it to your “Body Calendar” so it keeps you accountable, tracks your progress, and makes it easy to stay motivated to keep going! Currently on Day 23, already feeling the difference and seeing progress
• A few weeks ago I decided that I would train for a marathon, I have always said I would never do one 😦 My friend Sara has talked me into it and I actually believe I can do this! The official training program started yesterday but I had been pre training (so sad) I needed to get my stamina up to 3-4 miles at a time prior to starting the actual marathon program

I still have about 15-20 lbs to get to my ultimate goal – I will get back to posting regularly!

I will be posting more food related stuff since I am trying a bunch of new foods/methods..

 

6 week Check in (A little late)

We are currently in week 9 of the 12 week challenge!! I did my 6 week check-in on April 4th –

Results from 1st 6 weeks:

– 12.4 lbs

– 15 inches overall

Since then, my weight has kind of stalled. I can tell my body composition is changing but the scale is not budging. I have a plan for the next 3.5 weeks to increase my exercise intensity – I have been doing the same workouts for awhile now. I am longer “training” for a half marathon (that’s a whole different post) so I can now focus on HIIT training! HIIT training is High Intensity Interval Training – the good news is I can cut my workout time significantly – bad news: it’s really tough!

Pinterest has some great HIIT workouts that are mindless – I love mindless exercise (I hate thinking about what to do next) here’s a few to try:

 

12 Week Challenge

Starting today!!! Challenge yourself for 12 weeks – No excuses!

What to do today:

1. Determine what you would like to accomplish during the 12 weeks
2. Record your starting weight
3. Take circumference measurements (bust, waist, abdomen, hips, & thigh)
4. Have your body fat tested (most gyms have a handheld device to test)
5. Take your before photos (front & back) in whatever clothes you prefer

What to do for the 12 weeks:

1. Weigh in weekly (same day every week)
2. Plan & cook your meals for the week on a set day (My day is Sunday) Schedule it!
3. Plan your workouts for the week (there is a great plan here and here) Try to workout most days of the week: 5-6 days (no longer than 2 hours each day) Take a REST when you need it.
4. Record your progress: weigh ins each week, circumference every 2 weeks, & body fat every 6 weeks
5. Take a progress photo at the 6 & 12 week marks (your 12 week photo will be your “after” photo
6. Log what you eat (if nutrition is an issue for you) seeing exactly what you are putting into your body can make a HUGE difference in your success rate
7. Stay focused on your goals and have fun!!

Training has begun!

I finally registered for the Rock n Roll 1/2 in Raleigh! This will be my first 1/2 since Emma was born – I thought I would bounce back and get into running very quickly…not the case at all. Running hurts – just like it did when I first started, building endurance is much more difficult this time around. I definitely feel like I am starting from scratch (in a lot of areas fitness related)

The 1/2 is in the middle of April so I have 11 weeks to train, I really just want to finish this 1/2 so 11 weeks is just fine. I won’t start trying to increase speed until the summer months. Today it honestly took a lot out of me to complete 4 miles…and I didn’t even run the whole time. I walked about 1 mile of the 4 and ran at a pretty slow pace. The general plan is to run 4 days/week –

Tues/Thurs – short runs 3-5 miles

Saturday – long run increasing a mile every week or every other week until I get up to at least 10 miles

Sundays – medium runs 5-7 miles (for the first few weeks, my Saturday and Sunday runs will be about the same distance)

Rock n Roll Raleigh is going to be hosting some fun runs leading up to the race day – these runs are on the 1/2 marathon course. I think I will participate in a few of these to make sure there aren’t as many hills on the course as the Ramblin’ Rose in Durham had! That was miserable – I hate hills!

I will have a friend to run this one with – she is actually running the Disney Princess 1/2 in a few weeks, she is way ahead of me in terms of training and running. We have never run together before – but we are good friends so I know it will be a lot of fun!

I am really looking forward to training for this – it will be good for me to have something else to do and something to work towards (along with my weight loss goal) Getting my focus back has taken me awhile but once I get it – I am pretty locked in!!

Inspiration

Haven’t posted in awhile…just wanted to share these!