fit focused

August 25, 2014

Monday Motivation – Keeping the Momentum

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Remember when last week I made the statement that I was taking back my life and creating an equal work/life balance?

Well, I did it.

The gym and I have made amends.   It kicked my ass – I was sore – and it was great.

That gym and I?  We are becoming BFF’s again.

If you remember, Monday morning I got my butt up before 5am and ran to the gym, lifted and ran back home.

The rest of my week in fitness looked a little like this:

Tuesday

4:23am – Alarm

5:00am – Upper weights before class

5:30am – Taught the new Round 60 TurboKick

4:45pm – Taught again!  TurboKick Round 60

Wednesday

4:35am – Alarm

4:55am – 1.25 mile run to the Gym – Lower Weights – 1.25 Mile run back home

Thursday

4:23am – Alarm

5am – Lunges, Situps

5:30am – Taught Insanity

4:45pm – Taught a second Insanity

Friday

4:45am – Alarm

5am – Slow run 1.25 mile run to the gym – That hill kicked my bootay.   Upper weights – 1.25 mile run home.

Saturday

8am – Subbed for a gal at the Y.  Offered Insanity to a class of 14!

 

My nutrition was slightly better last week.  Sugar is still a huge deal for me.  And Diet Soda.  They are a real life struggle.  It’s a deep love the three of us have.

The weekend didn’t go so well in the nutrition area.  A lot of booze, pizza, burgers, cookies… you get the picture.   It’s summer.  I have a lot of fun.  One step at a time.

 

Goals This Week:

Fitness –

  • Make the gym every morning M-F
  • Add an early Saturday morning distance run of at least 5 miles. (which is a LOFTY goal considering Friday is my B-day and we have plans that involve liquor that evening)

Nutrition –

  • Add in a few more glasses of water each day
  • Cut back on the sugar Monday – Thursday.   What about Friday, you ask?

It’s my birthday!

I eat frosting on my birthday.

It is straight up ILLEGAL not to.

 

Cheers to staying on track, keeping the momentum going and accomplishing new goals.

 

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May 4, 2014

Lincoln Half Marathon- 2014

You guys…

SERIOUSLY on a high right now.

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Completed my second ever Half Marathon today.

 

And you know what else?

I hit my PR!

2:05 

 

That is 5 whole minutes FASTER then last year.

And you remember how I trained this go around, don’t ya?  Weekends.  I ran on the weekends and cross-trained by teaching during the week.

To say I am elated is the understatement of the YEAR.

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To anyone in the Lincoln, Nebraska area….  Thank You!  You guys know how to organize a race.

I have never seen so much support for runners IN. MY. LIFE!

There were people cheering, bands playing, kids giving high-fives, water, gatorade and kleenex every step you took.  I am not kidding when I say every last stretch of that 13.1 miles was filled with someone or something.

 

Lincoln- you made that 13.1 miles seem like 6.   It was fantastic.

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This morning started off in a little bit of a cluster.   My 4:30AM alarm didn’t happen.

Nope!

What happened was my 5:21AM internal alarm clock that was FREAKING OUT!

Race-7am.  Drive time- One Hour.  Parking time and walk to starting line PLUS last minute bathroom break – OMG I am gonna be late!

Ninja like moves happened and somehow my race clothes made it on, my teeth got brushed, my lucky hat made it to my head and my race bib made its way into the car.

And off we went.

No water.  No fuel.

Usually I eat a Clif bar before a long run.  Sometimes I even have a little caffeine.   Clearly THAT wasn’t happening this morning.

Thankfully, I calmed down once we were on our way.

It was going to be ok.

We made it to Lincoln just prior to 6:30am.   Found a spot to park relatively quickly (miracle in itself), hit up the porta-pottys (a must, if you know what I’m saying…) and made my way to a spot in the middle of the pack.

In the middle of 10,500 other runners, that is.

 

And then the wait.

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The race started at 7.  It was 7:32am by the time I made it up to the starting line.  And off I went for the most enjoyable, exhilarating, hyped up 13 miles I have EVER run.

I paced myself at around 9:30 the entire way.  Sometimes I was little faster, sometimes a little slower, but I never broke that average pace of 9:30ish.  Thanks to MapMyRun, my trusty GPS sidekick.

The final results?

halfmarathonlincoln

 

Finishing inside the Nebraska stadium was pretty fantastic as well.

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And my sis-in-law Jamie ran her FIRST ever Half-Marathon.  She did SO great!  Very proud of her for committing and conquering.  Way to go, Jamie!

 

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And of course, a shout-out to my #1 supporter for getting up at the crack of dawn to drive me down to Lincoln to just ‘hang-out’ for two hours while I ran.  He’s pretty awesome.

 

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And THAT my friends, is the end of my Lincoln Half-Marathon recap.   Will there be another?  Not sure.  Time will tell. 🙂

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May 1, 2014

Let’s Chat Fat

fat crying

 

About a month ago I went to see a Sports Nutritionist.

Why?

Body Fat

That’s why

I’ve always been calorie conscious. You name a food item and with 99% certainty I’d be able to tell you the exact calorie content.  It’s a a weird obsession.  I admit.

I’ve always eaten a fairly healthy diet.  But, I also never denied myself sweets and alcohol.   I mean, come on.  I love candy.   And I sure do love a cocktail.  Happy Hour!!

Speaking of Happy Hour; now that warm weather is here, HH means Friday at 3 through Sunday afternoon.   It’s hot, we make plans, we have fun, we ride motorcycles.  And Sunday Funday?  Duh!

Annnnyway…

 

About this Sports Nutritionist.

 

I am in the best shape I have ever been at this point in my life.   I can run 13 miles, I teach Turbo Kick, I teach Insanity, I lift weights.  And I don’t lift baby weights.  I go heavy.  By rep 8 I am gritting my teeth and the ol’ limbs are a-shaking.  I teach 8 fitness classes a week for goodness sakes.  And while I don’t always give 100% during Insanity, I give nearly 90%.  I do the workouts.  I walk around.  I stand next to others and push them and in return that pushes me.

 

I am fit.

 

And I am also sitting at a higher body fat percentage then most people with an equivalent activity level.

 

Cue the nutritionist.

 

My friend, Tyree, has been seeing him for over a year now while she preps for a fitness competition.   Tyree has always been physically fit.  But to see her now?  She looks damn good.   Lean, mean fighting machine that girl is.  So, she hooked me up with an appointment.

What was I told?

My 1500 calories intake a day was too little.  My body was in near starvation mode and holding on to any and all fat that it could.   You know what else he said?

 

TOO. MUCH. CARDIO.

 

Well, kid.  We’re gonna have to work around that because I am not giving up teaching.  Period. End of sentence.

 

However, this running crap?  I am so over it.  So, once I get through this half-marathon business on Sunday and my 75 miler relay on the 10th… running will become like a hobby that I take up occasionally.  Like 5K occasionally.

 

runner_no

 

So, this works great for his suggestion of:

“You need MORE weights in your life”

 

Why, yes.  We CAN work on this.

 

rosie

 

Are you all still with me?  Hang in there… I’m almost done.

 

I am now sitting around 1800-2000 calories a day.  Nutritious calories.   For two weeks he had me following a strict 6 meal a day plan.  Each of the 6 meals has a set carb/protein ratio.  And not white potato carbs.  We are talking whole grain, brown rice, sweet potato carbs.   And not beef jerky protein.  Think chicken, fish, egg proteins.  At the end of the day my total gram intake should be roughly  152 carbs and 198 protein.

And guess what?

I felt bloated.  Full.  Chubbier.

But, what did my numbers say after 2 1/2 weeks?

DOWN!  

DOWN 2.5% body fat.

That’s HUGE!

Up 1% lean body mass.

That’s AWESOME.

 

This sh!t is working, friends.

 

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So, let’s hear it for sports nutritionists!  They know what they are doing.

 

I am SO stinking excited to see where I am at in June.  I am not going back for my pinches until then.  I want to get these long runs out of the way and get back to my weight training.   Suns Out- Guns Out.  Let’s see those babies grow.

 

I am also looking into a few nutrition certifications as well.  I am obsessed to say the least.  This seems right to me.   Feeding your body is what we are to do.  I want to know more.  I want to be able to help others, the RIGHT way.

But, first.  I am working on me.

Stay tuned!

 

 

Cheers!

 

February 10, 2014

MNB February Challenge Week 1 Recap

Hey, Hey!  We made it through another Monday!  For me, this was a Gigantic accomplishment considering I spent the weekend in Vegas for a 40th Birthday Party.  Loads of fun!  I deserve a high-five for making it through today after that kind of weekend!

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If you recall from a previous post, I am taking part in the Sweat Pink and Lorna Jane February Move Nourish Believe Challenge.  I had a lot of fun checking out Instagram and looking up the rest of the #mnbchallenge participants and what they had been up to on a daily basis.  I look forward to Week 2!

Recap Time!

Day One: February 3, 2014

Challenge Topic: Sweat it Out! Show us your Favorite way(s) to workout!

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My fave ways to workout is Kickboxing, Teaching Group Fitness, Running and Working Out With Friends!

Day Two: February 4, 2014

 Challenge Topic: Change it Up!  Sweat a New Way!  Select a workout from Move Nourish Believe and show us your post-workout selfie.

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I chose the Summer Series Travel Workout and had a hard time taking a post-workout selfie.  But I did it.  I usually make fun of selfies.  Not the selfie with your friend kind.  The kind where people take pics of themselves all the time and post them kind.  #truth

Day Three: February 5, 2014

 Challenge Topic: Let’s Get Planking! Plank for at least five minutes today!  You can split the planks up.

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After I taught TurboKick, I invited a few to stick around afterwards and plank it out with me.  It made the 5 minutes FLY by as we laughed and supported each other by saying things like: “Don’t sink your butt.”  or the opposite “Don’t stick your butt up.”

Oh, the things you can say and get away with during workouts.

Day Four: February 6, 2014

 Challenge Topic: Buddy Up!  Workout with a friend today!

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My girl, Tyree, stopped over on Thursday night to help me run an errand.  I love that she is a trooper and threw in a few workout moves with me.  We chose oblique twists with a medicine ball and plank taps.  Go Team!

Day Five: February 7, 2014

 Challenge Topic: Show us your five fitness favorites!  Exercises, people, whatever gets you moving and motivated!

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My Five Faves with affiliate links:

  1. Pink Polar Ft4
  2. Champion C9 Capris
  3. Quiet time for focus, stretching and relaxation before teaching a group x class
  4. Nike Air Max
  5. Funny Workout Tanks.  Suck It Up Buttercup

And that my friends, wraps up Week One of the Move Nourish Believe February Challenge.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and are off to a great start to the week!  

I have a few recipes for you this week as well as a fun Valentine’s Day post coming up Friday.  Stay tuned!

Cheers!