Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Individual Exercise Descriptions

RF BICEP CURLS: (Rapid Fire Bicep Curls)
Standard dumbbell bicep curls done as fast as you can for a given amount of time.

RF TRICEP EXTENSIONS: (Rapid Fire Tricep Extensions)
Standard dumbbell tricep extensions done as fast as you can for a given amount of time.

BOSU UP-DOWN:
Start in low plank position on a bosu ball (resting on toes and elbows), then elevate your body to a full plank (push-up position), one arm at a time.  Lower your body back down to elbows and repeat.

WOBBLY PUSH-UPS:
Using a body bar, balance yourself in push-up (on knees or toes, depending on ability) position on a bosu ball and perform push-ups as normal.

TRICEP DIPS:
Sit on a bench, rest hands at your sides on the bench so that fingers are facing the back of your knees.  Walk your feet out so your arms are supporting your weight, bend your arms to ‘dip’ your body and then straighten to rise. Repeat.

6” KILLERS:
Lying on back, (place hands palm-down under butt/hips for support if necessary) raise straight legs to 90 degrees (straight in the air over hips).  Lower legs to 6” from the ground, spread feet apart to just beyond shoulder-width, bring back to center and raise to 90 degrees again.  That’s 1 rep.

SINGLE LEG BICYCLES:
Lying on back with arms behind your head, rest left foot on ground and straighten right leg out, holding approx. 6” off of the ground.  Bring right knee toward chest as you cross left elbow over to meet right knee.  Repeat for desired reps then switch sides and repeat with left knee/right elbow. 

BALL CRUNCHES:
Sitting on a stability ball, walk your feet out so lower back is resting against ball.  Perform standard crunches.

DUMBBELL SIDE BENDS:
Standing straight, hold a dumbbell in right hand straight down to right side.  Place left hand behind head and bend down to the right, lowering the dumbbell.  Repeat for desired reps then switch sides and repeat with left side.

BACK EXTENSION:
Kneeling in front of a stability ball, position the ball and roll out so that your lower abdomen is supporting your weight on the ball, balance on your toes.  Place hands behind your head, lower your chest down toward the ball/floor, then extend your back and straighten your body, lifting chest off of the ball.  Keep head in line with your spine.

TWISTING BICEP CURL:
Start with a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight down at sides with palms facing thighs.  Perform bicep curl and while doing so, twist hands so at the top of the curl, palms are facing chest.  Twist hands back while returning to starting position.

CROSS-BODY BICEP CURL:
Start with a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight down at sides.  Perform bicep curl, bringing right hand to left shoulder, left hand to right shoulder.

INCLINE BENCH DUMBBELL CROSSOVER:
On an incline bench, elevate bench to desired height.  Sit on top of bench with feet/shins hooked under the supportive arm.  With a dumbbell in each hand, lean back so upper body is supported by abdominals and punch the right dumbbell across toward left knee, left to right knee.  Repeat.

LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISES:
Start with a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight down at sides with palms facing inward.  Squeeze shoulder blades and lift arms to shoulder height, keeping arms straight or slightly bent. Lower arms back to sides and repeat.

BALL SQUAT:
Using a stability ball, rest the ball between your lower back and the wall.  With feet shoulder-width apart, roll down the ball into a squat position, and then raise back up.  Repeat.

PLIE SQUAT:
With feet a bit beyond shoulder-width, turn toes outward and raise up onto toes.  While staying on tippy-toes and with hands on hips, perform a squat.  Stay on toes until the end of the set.

CALF RAISES - 3 WAYS:
#1: Standard - face feet front, lower heels as far as possible and raise up on toes as high as possible. Repeat.
#2: Inner - turn toes drastically inward, lower heels as far as possible and raise up on toes as high as possible. Repeat.
#3: Outer - turn toes drastically outward, lower heels as far as possible and raise up on toes as high as possible. Repeat.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

# 101! 8/2/11

Happy Tuesday!  Well, dance was canceled last night so that took care of that ideaL.  Instead, I cleaned my house AGAIN (I feel like that’s all I do! Cook, clean, cook, clean…), cooked dinner (salad w/ grilled chicken & light balsamic vinaigrette) and then cleaned some more!  Honestly, I like to clean because I love when my house looks nice and it’s kind of a camouflaged workout lol…
I decided to skip the gym today.  Since I worked out Saturday and Sunday, I knew (and could feel) that my body needed a rest after yesterday’s workout.  I woke up and my legs were still sore from the workout last week, so I chose to use today as my rest day and I will be in good form to get back at 100% tomorrow morning! 
Nora has music class tonight and then I need to do laundry, so I probably won’t have time for much else. 

Food Today:
Breakfast:
Mocha Protein Shake

Snack:
Low Carb Yogurt

Lunch:
Tuna Salad
Small portion of leftover salad from last night

Snack:
Mocha Protein Mousse (I’m OBSESSED! I even have my boss hooked on itJ)

Dinner:
Chickpea and Chicken Salad (new recipe, I’ll post tomorrowJ)


BTW – yesterday was my 100th post on The Losing Path!  Thank you so much to all of my dedicated readers!  I can’t explain how much your feedback and support has helped me stay committed to my mission at hand!  Here’s to another 100!  I can’t wait to see how much I’ve lost at that point. J

That’s about all I have for today… Keep it classy J

Monday, August 1, 2011

No More Cheating! 8/1/11

Not a single pound was lost last week!  Not even half of a pound!  Good news though, nothing was gained either.  I stayed at an even 258.5, so I guess that part’s good.  I couldn’t believe that I didn’t lose anything.  Well, I’ve decided that there shall be no more cheat days/meals!  For the past 2 weeks I have incorporated these cheat days into my nutrition and for the past 2 weeks my weight loss has been minimal at best, so no more!  This week I am re-disciplining my workouts and nutrition and am DETERMINED to see some great results for the weigh-in this weekend!! 
Weekend re-cap:
Friday: It’s so strange but I honestly cannot remember what I did after work!  I know that I cooked Honey-Chipotle Salmon, sautéed broccoli and mushrooms and lemon rice for dinner… but that’s all I remember (and I only remember that b/c I read my food plan from Friday’s post! Lol)  Apparently someone from MIB did the flashy-thing in my eyes and erased Friday evening from my memory… hm… Conspiracy is afoot.
Saturday: I fed Nora breakfast then my sister and I went to the gym!  I did ½ of the C25K (ran out of time) and then Krispy and I did Zumba!  I forgot how much I like Zumba!  It felt good J  Then, Branden sent me a text and said he was going to jump soon (skydiving!) so I rushed home, changed shirts, made a quick protein shake, grabbed Nora and headed to Middletown, OH to watch Branden and his mom skydive!  It was pretty cool!  Well, actually it was like 100 degrees and smoking hot but you know what I mean J
After skydiving, we came home (too late to dance the fundraiserL) and I worked in the garden for a couple of hours.  After that, I didn’t feel like cooking dinner so I sent Branden to La Badiya in Erlanger and we got some DELICIOUS Mediterranean food!  It all tasted really fresh and relatively healthy but WAY more carbs than I would typically ever eat.  That was definitely a splurge meal! 
Sunday:  Went to the gym first thing and did a full C25K session.  Went home, weighed-in (disappointingL) and then started working on cleaning out my spare bedroom.  Throughout the course of the day, I cleaned out the spare room, finished cleaning out my back garden bed, organized and de-cluttered my kitchen and hung pictures/art throughout the house.  Watched True Blood (obsessed!) last night then put my little girl to bed. 

This morning, I woke up on time(!) and went to the gym and did the following:
TIME
ACTIVITY
REPS
LBS
SETS
26 MIN
C25K WEEK 2!
SEE BELOW
N/A
1

6" KILLERS
10
N/A
3

SINGLE LEG BICYCLES
15 EA LEG
N/A
2

BALL CRUNCHES
20
N/A
4

DUMBBELL SIDE BENDS
20
20
4
10 MIN
ELLIPTICAL
FAST
N/A
1


I worked up one hell of a sweat and felt great when I left!  Ugh it felt so good to get in a good workout and follow an actual prepared workout plan.  I’m excited to go back tomorrow! J
I’m FINALLY on Week 2 of C25K!  I’m excited to actually move beyond Week 1 lol.  Here is the Week 2 workout:
TIME
ACTIVITY
START
WALK
5:00
JOG
6:30
WALK
8:30
JOG
10:00
WALK
12:00
JOG
13:30
WALK
15:30
JOG
17:00
WALK
19:00
JOG
20:30
WALK
22:30
JOG
24:00:00
WALK
26:00:00
END


I’ve been jogging at a slightly faster pace than normal and I’ll be honest, this workout was a bit more challenging!  I think that is partially due to the fact that I did my final Week 1 yesterday and didn’t take a day of rest… so hopefully when I do #2 for Week 2 on Wednesday, it won’t be as hard J  As the jogging portions get longer, I’m going to slow my speed a bit.

Food Today
Breakfast:
-Mocha Protein Shake
Calories: 180
Fat: 2.5
Sodium: 150
Carbs: 6
Sugar: 4
Protein: 27

Snack:
-Low Carb Yogurt
Calories: 60
Fat: 1.5
Sodium: 100
Carbs: 4
Sugar: 3
Protein: 8


Lunch:
-Tuna Salad
Calories: 80
Fat: 2
Sodium: 575
Carbs: 2
Sugar: 0
Protein: 13
-Baby Carrots
Calories: 35
Fat: 2
Sodium: 60
Carbs: 8
Sugar: 0
Protein: 0

Snack:
-Protein Shake w/ Skim Milk
Calories: 210
Fat: 2.5
Sodium: 170
Carbs: 15
Sugar: 12
Protein: 31

Total Pre-Dinner Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 565
Fat: 10.5
Sodium: 1,055
Carbs: 35
Sugar: 19
Protein: 79

Dinner:
Salad w/ Grilled Chicken

Well tonight is open dance in Rabbit Hash… my brother-in-law is coming in town today so I’m kind of hoping that Branden and Nora will go visit so I can go dance J.  We’ll see!

I suppose that’s about all I have for today!  Countdown to NYC is at 2 ½ weeks!  I’m getting REALLY excited to go but I know that I want to BUST IT as much as possible before it’s time to jump on that plane! 

Hope everyone had a good weekend… until tomorrow J

Monday, August 1st: 258.5lbs

Friday, July 29, 2011

At Least My House is Clean...

Well, poo.  Last night, I was bad.  As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I made BBQ Chicken for dinner.  The chicken ended up being over-cooked by the time I got home (I cooked it in the crock pot on low while I was at work), but that wasn’t that big of a deal.  I made Sweet Potato Waffle fries for Branden and Nora… but I let my love of sweet potatoes get the best of me and I ate a serving of them.  2 redeeming factors: they were BAKED, not fried and sweet potatoes hold a variety of nutritional benefits.  Over-all, my meal (a scoop of BBQ chicken, Light Cesar Salad and Sweet Potato Fries) totaled about 450 calories, 11 grams of fat and about 30g of carbs (yikes!).  The calories and fat don’t bother me quite as much as the carbs… but it’s a little too late to take it back now.  I had every intention of getting up at 4:30 and busting some serious ass this morning to make up for that meal, but apparently Nora had other plans.  JK, the poor thing hasn’t been feeling well the past couple of days (teething L) and at around 4 this morning she woke up in some serious cries for her mama.  I made a bottle for her and got her back to sleep, then when my alarm went off at 4:30, she woke up again crying “Mamma, hold you.”  So, of course, I held my baby and put her back to sleep… and then the next time I woke up it was 6:30.  Boo. So I got up, took my shower and cleaned my house.  At least I did that?  I was on my hands and knees scrubbing my bathroom floor, so I mean… it was better than nothing!  I’m going to try to do something tonight, even if it’s just a Zumba DVD at my house!  Also, I’m hoping to be able to dance tomorrow so that will help.  Branden is sky-diving tomorrow and will be there almost all day, so going to the gym is kind of out… and I’m not taking any more walks until I can afford to buy new shoes (my hip can’t take it!).  I may try to talk my mom into watching Nora for 30 minutes so I can do the C25K and FINALLY complete Week 1 lol.
Good news – I woke up this morning and my legs are SORE from yesterday!  That means that I did something rightJ.  I do have weights at home and would like to get a good arm workout tonight, which is what I planned to do this morning. 

Food Today
Breakfast:
Mocha Protein Shake (love it! AND it’s saving me about 8g carbs by replacing most of the milk w/ coffee)

Snack:
Low Carb Yogurt

Lunch:
Greek Salad (lettuce, tomato, onion, feta, pepperoncinis, gyro meat, greek dressing)
The boss is treating us today… Greek to Me Prassino in Covington.  (It’s all organic produce/cheese/sauces!)

Snack:
Mocha Protein Mousse

Dinner:
Honey Chipotle Salmon
Veggie of some sort
Brown Lemon Rice for Nora and Branden

I’m expecting this weekend to be quite a busy one!  Tomorrow, as mentioned, Branden has sky-diving all day and I am going to watch him jump and then hopefully (either before or after, depending on the timing) will be belly dancing at a fundraiser that my friend is helping organize.  Sunday, I am committing to cleaning out our spare bedroom and working on making our living room more… pretty. I’m also hoping to get to work in my garden as I have neglected it for far too long at this point. Hopefully I can salvage some of my flowers L.   I plan to work up quite a sweat with my house-hold activities and I’m excited to do so!  I’m moving weigh-in back to Sunday.  I just feel like I’m not quite ready to weigh-in on Saturdays. 

Well, here’s to a sweaty weekend!  Until Monday…

PS, had to move my belt 1 hole tighter today J