Archive for February 28, 2009

Saturdayssss

Ahhh the weekend is finally here. The week went by pretty quickly, but I am still happy to be able to enjoy the weekend. It is about 80 degrees outside and the sun is shining πŸ™‚

I woke up very early this morning (my body’s alarm clock doesn’t allow me to sleep in lately :-/) and decided to take advantage of that and get my workout in early. I just focused on my abs today. That took about 20 minutes, and then I did 50 minutes of some good, sweaty, heart-pounding cardio on the treadmill. Then i decided to take a yoga class, being that I am sore and that yoga always challenges me in a much different way than any of my weight training does. That held true again this morning. It was a tough class, but I enjoyed it! My sister tagged along with me, so that made it even more fun.

I told a friend I would hike Camelback Mountain with her this afternoon too. Many of you don’t know what I am talking about, but this is a tough climb! It ain’t no leisurely hike my friends. The last 1/8 mile is all boulders that you have to climb over, and there is a railing half way up that you have to use because it is so steep. It is a great workout, but I am already beat and still sore. My glutes are sore as hell from my leg workout yesterday!! (Lunges on the smith machine are my new favorite glute exercise by the way πŸ™‚ They never fail to make my ass feel like someone took a hammer to it.) Ahh i don’t know what to do. Should i go? Should i try to postpone it until tomorrow? Blech. I don’t know.

I will leave you all with this today. What is the difference on the scale between someone who loses 20 pounds in 2 months and someone who loses 20 pounds in 6 months??? Nothing. My point being that if you lose it quickly, or if it takes you a little bit longer, you are still moving in the right direction. Do what you can today and don’t put it off until tomorrow. If you ate a bunch of cookies at lunch, drink some water, brush your teeth, clear your pallette, and eat a healthful dinner. Every little bit counts and eventually you will reach your goals. The hardest part is being patient, but patience will win every time.

I am an athlete

It is funny how little things you say to yourself can completely change your way of thinking. My example of this is when I am doing my cardio usually. In the weight room, I usually don’t need to do this. I LOVE weightlifting, plain and simple. Cardio is different. Although I do love the feeling after a heart-pumping sweat session. And also do occasionally enjoy doing the cardio, sometimes, I don’t want to push as hard as I know I can.

I will use today. I was doing my 15% incline on the treadmill. Usually I start at 3.3 mph and bump it up .1 every 5 minutes. Some days i have to do it every 10 minutes, it all depends on how I am feeling. Well today as it approached the 10 minute mark (in which I would bump it from 3.4 to 3.5mph) I thought of many excuses. “i did boxing today already, this is hard enough,” blah blah. Then i said this…..”are you an athlete?? or are you an average, normal person?” I immediately bumped it up and started pushing hard!! That little phrase threw ALL of my excuses out the window because HELL NO im not a normal average exerciser, I AM AN ATHLETE!! And if I am an athlete, I better be training like an athlete=HARD. Needless to say today’s workout was freaking GREAT. Crushed it in the weight room, and pushed hard on the treadmill and stairstepper. Boxing was awesome this morning too!!!

Here is my food for today:
Pre-workout: Proatmeal and a grapefruit; 1 scoop of Dymatize XPand before boxing
Post-Workout: Protein shake,
Lunch: 1/2 sweet potato, 4oz chicken, a bunch of green beans(didnt measure) and some brussel sprouts
Before class: Protein shake, 10 almonds
Mid-afternoon: proatmeal, egg whites, 1/2 sweet potato, grapefruit (i was starving when i came home from class lol)
Dinner: Will be- 4 oz. chicken or egg whites(haven’t decided yet) and asparagus, and 10 almonds to make sure i get my fats in! (i also took a flaxseed oil, fish oil, CLA, and Green Tea complex supplement this morning)

That’s all for now. Going to a concert tonight. This will be a LONGGG day. 5am until probably midnight. eekk. Then back at it tomorrow at 630am! Thankfully tomorrow is friday so i can rest this weekend!!

Article

I have never been a fan of Soy products, for no other reason than i don’t prefer them and I have heard about the downside of soy products. I came across this article at BodyBuilding.com. It is by Jennifer Nicole Lee….the link for the full article is here.

….here is the part about Soy…

Bob Green’s Diet For Miss Winfrey
Heavy on soy products, such as soy milk, tofu, soy nuts, edamame. I too at one time was a victim of the marketing of all soy products. From soy milk to tofu, I was all about it. Until I started thinking for myself and stopped just accepting all that was told to me.
TofuAlso known as bean curd, tofu is made from soybean milk, water and nigari (a natural coagulant) and is probably the most common soy product. Tofu was first used in China around 200 B.C and is still used as an addition to many Asian dishes today.
The soy campaign is a fierce one, brainwashing all women to believe they need soy protein for some reason. Not once has soy protein been scientifically proven to reduce health illnesses. When I was on soy milk, tofu and edamame, my body became just as mushy and flabby as a block of soft tofu.

Ever looked at a piece of tofu, and even slapped it? It jiggles and wiggles, just like the fat and extra weight that it produces when you digest it. Now trying slapping a piece of grilled chicken breast or lean red meat. What happens? Its tight, solid, and toned. Just like what happens to your muscles after you eat it.
Tofu and all other soy products do another thing to your body. It’s been scientifically proven, even after a small amount of time (about a month) of someone on a soy rich diet, that their body starts to hold and hoard onto fat. Why? Because once soy is digested into the system, it causes one’s estrogen levels to do one thing – rise!

What do pregnant women all have in common? Raised estrogen levels. What do pregnant women look like and what is normal? They are more bloated, have a ring of fat around their mid sections, abs, hips, and buttocks. Even more stored fat in their arm area, and their back. This is what happens when someone is on a soy food plan.
Pregnancy Articles:
So You’re Pregnant: Now What? – By Shannon Clark
Weight Training & Pregnancy! – By David Robson
Staying Fit While Pregnant – By Simone Sziksai
Other Pregnancy Articles…
Therefore my one suggestion is to eradicate all soy products from your food plan so your body will unbloat, slim down instantly and finally release the fat it’s storing due to the rise in estrogen. And one thing is for sure. For any woman who is in her late 40’s to 50’s and who is facing the milestone of menopause, they should never be touching soy due to the link to the hormonal surge of estrogen.

Cardio update

I went to the gym this afternoon and did abs and 30 minutes of the stairmaster. I had to do something. My trainer gave me the glare and this was our conversation:

Dae: Your supposed to be resting! What are you doing here!
Lizzy: Would you rather me sit at home and eat? πŸ™‚

End of that! Hehe i have such a little attitude.

Anyways, that is pretty much it! Eats have been good today. I will have a bigger post later, but i’m hungry!!!

Wednesday already?!

I can’t believe it is already Wednesday! I had to check my calendar to make sure!

This morning I had my usual egg whites, proatmeal and 2 apples for breakfast. (I have totally cut down on the apples by the way! I only buy like 6 at a time and if I eat them in one day I make sure I don’t buy them for 2 days! I have been eating tangelos and grapefruits in much smaller quantities than the apples. I like having a mix!)

Back and Triceps was the workout this morning. When my trainer was done with me he said LIZZY…DON’T DO CARDIO TODAY. Ouch…i don’t know if I can do that. I left the gym but I have been antzy ever since and I am sure since I don’t have work today obviously, that I will have to do some type of cardio. Maybe I will just limit myself to a half hour. He just knows that I will workout until I can’t move anymore and is wanting me to rest. Which I agree, but at the same time I am a little bit psychotic and I just don’t feel right if I don’t get my cardio in!!! I will see as the day progresses. Maybe I will go for a hike or something!!

Anyways, I am feeling great today. My wallet is hurting after having to replenish all of my supplements. Fish oil, flaxseed oil, CLA, and Glutamine=$74!!! Yuck. But it should last me for months.

I really have done a lot of thinking over the last few days and along with my competition (which I am excited to do one, don’t get me wrong!!!) I feel that fitness modeling is where I want to head. I think it would be fun, so that is another thing that will motivate me to get leaner!!

I have also noticed after looking over my diet that I am not getting enough healthy fats in. So I have made a few goals:

-Eat 1 serving of almonds every day!!
-Drink a gallon of water every day(I haven’t been good about water…if i’m not working out, i have to remind myself to drink it and i am not drinking anything else, I just have never been a water drinker. Funny being a native to AZ ha)
-Have a serving of veggies at least 3 times a day and hopefully more! I really need to make sure i am getting all of my veggies in!!

Those are my goals for the next few weeks and I will make every effort to accomplish these goals!

Feeling better

Feeling much better today! So far at least. I always feel pretty good in the mornings because it is when I have the most energy. I took my boxing class this morning and again it was GREAT. I really love the class and also love the instructor. I found out he used to be a stand-up comedian too. Right up my alley. I make jokes all day long and find something funny in almost anything I do or see, and he totally has that humor. It makes the class even more enjoyable. Wish I could take it every day!!!

I followed the boxing class with Legs(glute focus). I did Smith squats (feet 18 inches approx. out front to focus more glute), hip abduction(i think, no matter how many times i study this and go over this, i STILL can’t ever get it right. The one where you pull your legs OUT.), single leg hip thrusts with ankle weights, reverse hypers with ankle weights, and then cable leg pulldowns?? i don’t knwo what to call these. My ankles were hooked to the top of the cable and i was laying down and pulling down with a straight leg. Whatever they were they worked well! My asss is on fiiiyahhh πŸ™‚

Then i did cardio. 25 minutes at 15% incline 3.4 mph; 15 minutes of running at 6.5 with six 8.5 mph intervals; 5 minutes at 10% 4.0mph and finished the last 5 minutes with 15% at 4.0mph which was HARD AS HELL. I thought i might die. (i was doing it for an entire song…of course i pick a like 4 minute and 55 second song) it was upbeat and everything so that was honestly the only reason i think i didn’t fall off the treadmill. But it was a great way to end the session!!

1 hour boxing, 1 hour weights, 50 minutes of cardio…I think im good for the day!!! Now time for classs πŸ™‚

How was everyone elses workouts?! I would love to hear what you did or what you plan to do!

Ughh

I don’t know what it is….is it the alignment of the moon and the stars?! (totally kidding) It seems as though so many people are in some kind of a “funk.” Whether it is not being able to control their eating, not getting to the gym, just being bitter, I feel that so many people are in this funk. Myself included.

I thought it was just Saturday. I had a great night Saturday night, and yesterday was pretty good as well. Today, however, started out well and turned gray. No, I didn’t go binging on food. (I did end somewhat high at 2302 calories for the day…basically maintenance) But that is not what is getting me down. I am just in a bad mood. I really hate feeling like this. I went through a few months of depression in the fall and don’t feel like i am back there, but I just feel BLAH. Nothing exciting me at the moment, and still being dragged by the feelings for my ex that are ever-there. Make them go away!! Haha. Although i am in a dumpy mood, i can still laugh and have a good time, but it is taking effort.

In other news, I lost my job today. Yes i became one of the millions of statistics that has gotten “laid off.” You might think that is why I am in a bad mood, but that was actually a highlight of my day πŸ™‚ I really disliked that job and they want me to come back next month when things in the office become busier. Not-a gonn-a happen! I am happy to be able to find a new job. I still have my exercise pole business, and also can pick up shifts at the gym, so money is okay for the time-being. I would really like to find a job that I actually enjoy, I feel that is VERY important.

Anyways, here is to happy job hunting, and getting out of this stupid funk im in! I hope all of you that are feeling this way, too, can get out of it. One thing that I learned from my little depression phase is that in order to BE happy, you have to put some effort into, and things will come together. You can’t just sit and wait for happiness to show up at your door because…it won’t.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day! I am actually feeling better now that I blogged.

Update

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I did for sure! I have a few updates for you guys, but first I will recap.

Saturday: I took a much-needed rest day. I was sore from head to toe, and really I could tell I needed it. I had to go to my school to finish an audio project, and pretty much just hung out the rest of the day. I don’t know if it was because of not exercising, but I was in a funk all day and was in a really bad mood. Just very irritable. I haven’t felt that way in a long time and I think part of it was that I didn’t work out, which makes my days start off so wonderful!

At night I went to a friend’s band’s show. It was SO much fun! Great music, great friends and a good time all night. We tried one of those oxygen bars that they had at the venue. Didn’t give me the “euphoric” feeling that they said it would and basically I paid $5 for air. Stupid haha.

Sunday morning I woke up ready for a great workout! I did chest and biceps, followed by an hour of cardio (incline walking and stair stepper) In the afternoon, my dad, his girlfriend, her kids, and my sister all went to a homeless shelter and volunteered. It was a great experience and I plan on doing it once a month. Everyone was so thankful and it really opened my eyes. There was, however, one woman who was so ungrateful and very rotten, but I guess it must be hard to be positive in a situation like that. I am so thankful for what I have!

Today my trainer (who is an ex-Marine Corps Captain) decided that he would make an example of me in the gym and put me through boot camp. No not like fitness boot camp, like yelling in my face marine corps boot camp!!!! It was funny to me because I know him, but everyoen in the gym was looking because he was yelling so loud. It was really funny, and i got a GREAT workout. He shows me ways to do different exercises with just little tweaks here and there that help with definition.

After my workout, we had a talk and decided that I should wait until June to do a figure competition. The reasons being, we both feel that I could put on some more muscle and think that March is coming up much too soon in order to do that. Him, me and another trainer at the gym who is planning on competing are going to go to the March show and check it out, but will both compete in June. I am very comfortable with that. It is not going to change anything that I am doing. I will still keep my diet(I have learned to love it honestly) and will keep working hard at the gym to build my muscle. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful trainer with SO much knowledge. I have had great trainers in the past, but they don’t even compare to Dae. He really knows how to “body-build.”

Anyways, that is where I am at so far. Comments are welcome!!! πŸ™‚

Questionaire!

1. Can you cook?
Not really. My microwave is my best friend. Chicken, sweet potatoes, vegetables, oatmeal. YOu name it!! πŸ™‚

2. What was your dream growing up?
I always wanted to be a personal trainer as a young kid. It is funny that I wanted that at such a young age and here I am today.

3. What talent do you wish you had?
To be able to play piano and guitar and all instruments better.

4. Favorite place?
Dana Point, CA

5. Favorite vegetable?
Green beans

6. What was the last book you read?
Eat Clean Diet Book. Currently working on Serious Strength Training

7. What zodiac sign are you ?
I’m a Pisces!

8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?
I have 8 ear piercings and no tattoos yet, but plan on it!

9. Worst Habit?
Biting my nails!!

10. Do we know each other outside of blogging?
Nope!

11. What is your favorite sport?
Baseball! (no not softball) I played up until high school and almost made the boys team! (Didn’t because of politics, should have made it.)

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude?
Very optimistic. Too optimistic and confident sometimes, but it’s better than being negative!

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Squats hahah

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
Hmm…I wouldn’t say any one incident was that terrible…but I have definitely had some rough patches in life that could have gotten the best of me. But i made it out okay!

15. Tell me one weird fact about you?
Just one? haha ummm i really am an all around weird girl so i don’t really know.

16. Do you have any pets?
Boxer!

17. Do you know how to do the macarena?
Yes

18. What time is it where you are now?
10:51 AM

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Neither.

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
I could obviously say I would like to be leaner, but with hard work I will get there!

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
Honestly i don’t remember who i copied this from lol

22. What color eyes do you have?
They are greenish/brownish/goldish

23. Ever been arrested?
Nope!

24. Favorite fictional character of all time?
Umm i don’t know!

25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?
Pay off my debt! Then save the rest.

26. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Fly or invisibility

27. What’s your favorite hangout?
It was the trashy hookah bar..but only because we had some great times there haha

28. Do you believe in ghosts?
yes

29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
workout and listen to music

30. Do you swear a lot?
yeah

31. Biggest pet peeve?
Oh i have many..bad form really kills me…espeically bad SQUAT FORM..it makes me uneasy and i feel the need to correct people.(although i usually just bite my tongue…literally)

32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
nerd!!

33. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Motivation

I have been getting a lot of questions about how I stay motivated, so here are my thoughts.

1) I have a picture of Kristal Richardson on my mirror. I want her body and staring at it won’t get me there!

2) I love seeing changes in my body. Seeing a new line in my abs or arms, noticing that I am becoming leaner, all of these things motivate me to do MORE

3) You bloggers!!! You keep me on top of my game because I know that all of you are working towards your goal constantly, so I don’t want to be a slacker. I like to keep up with others that I am surrounded by and I am also somewhat competitive by nature. You guys are also very motivating because some of you have kids and a family to take care on top of your 40 hour work week and I just can’t imagine!

4) I like to exercise. I feel strong, I feel powerful, and I feel like I am doing something good for me. I have never felt better in my life and want to continue to feel this way. This is also the source of my energy. I have the most energy in the morning when I wake up, so I utilize that as MY TIME to workout. What time of the day are you most energized? Try to make that your “workout time” and go EVERYDAY. Even if you go and walk in there and do one curl and then leave, at least give yourself the chance to do something. Most likely you will do much more than just 1 curl πŸ˜‰


What motivates you?!

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