Archive for Workout

Remember me?!

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Holy crap!! I have completely neglected this blog. Life has been nuts, but that isn’t why I haven’t blogged on here. I just haven’t felt compelled to write about fitness/nutrition lately, so I started a music blog called It Just Sounds Good.

The good news, though, is that I plan on updating this blog as well! I miss blogging on here, and miss interacting with my awesome readers! I hope there are still some out there!

So what have I been up to?? EVERYTHING!!!! In keeping things simple, I still work out daily, but my workouts are somewhat different. I’ve been running a lot more, doing more plyometric/circuit/compound exercises in the gym and have shyed away from heavy lifting. My reasoning? For one, I just haven’t felt like it. I’m really liking the fast-pace movements lately. The other reason…well I have a pretty decent amount of muscle, I don’t want more, and I tend to put on muscle fairly easily! I know that many people say this, but I actually got a blood test and my testosterone levels are slightly higher than the average female (maybe i’m a man? haha justtt kidding) but this is common for weight lifters, actually. With that said, I will still throw in some conventional lifting days here and there, but for the most part I’m running 5-8 miles 3 days a week, doing 2-3 circuit/plyo workouts in the gym per week, and on then some track workouts and boot camp style workouts usually about once per week. I occasionally am boxing (when I can wake up that early!) and have also been riding my bicycle around to run my short errands!!

The Food

Well in January, I decided I needed to overhaul my view on food. I have to be honest with you guys, I’ve gained a pretty good amount of weight since I competed. I no longer have that tiny lean body, but I’m not a big tub of lard either. I am muscular, with some extra padding is the best way to put it! My weight around competition time was about 130, these days I’m about 155. A 25 pound weight gain….It’s embarassing, frustrating, and is completely my fault. I will say, however, that I’m at a healthy weight for my height and build, and besides my elevated testosterone levels(sounds so funny haha), all of my blood tests came back saying that I’m a healthy bean, so I really have to remind myself to be thankful of that!

How Competing Changed Me

Competing was an amazing experience. I decided in December 2008 to get in the best shape of my life and compete, and I DID! I will be honest, my body looked smokin’!!! (Of course at the time, I only saw my flaws.) I  guess being so naive to the sport was a blessing, because I had a great prep (no crazy carb-cutting) and did well. It was after competing that things got a little hairy. Suddenly, those who saw potential in me, started giving me advice. They told me what I should/shouldn’t do, and it was coming from many different angles. It really made me view everything differently and I got a very bad mental view on food, eating and working out. I could go on and on (and if you’d like me to, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and I’ll do an entire post on my thoughts/feelings on everything). I started to try to put on muscle, and also was eating more to do so. This slight weight gain looked to me like I had gained 50 pounds! Your body image gets really screwed up when you get super lean. Anything above that, and you truly believe you’re fat. From there, it was downhill and I have basically yo-yo’ed my weight for the last year and a half.

How I’ve Changed Recently

Going back to my “overhaul” this past January, I decided to STOP restricting the types of foods I was eating, and be a “normal person.” I have still been counting calories, but I haven’t been restricting WHAT I can eat. I’ve eaten gummy candy (helloooo sour gummy worms!), sandwiches (oh, how i missed those turkey sandwiches), and even the occasional sweet treat. In doing so, I haven’t really lost weight, but I haven’t gained weight either. I haven’t been “perfect” but that wasn’t my goal. My goal was to rid myself of viewing foods as good or bad and stopping myself from being so obsessive about the types of foods I was eating.

The Verdict

I finally feel good about food. I feel like I have made LEAPS in the last 3 months. Had I done this a year ago, I think things would have been much easier. As dumb as it sounds, I feel very proud of this. I know many people who absolutely fall into eating disorders from competing and seem to never free themselves, but I finally feel freed from it. I don’t think that I had an eating disorder, but did I have a skewed view on food? Heck yes I did. Very screwed up.

Body Image Now and Goals

I still suffer from some body image issues. After all, I’m not lean anymore(and hello, i’m a girl!), and it’s a hard pill to swallow. I don’t look the way that I want to, but my goals have also changed. A happy weight for me these days would be about 140. I think I was a bit too small at 130, and although I did love that look, it was hard to maintain. I think that I could maintain a 140 pound body without being “crazy” about a strict diet. So, with April 1st being tomorrow, and me being cliche, I’m going to start tightening up my diet a little bit. I know you’re probably thinking “Lizzy, you just told us you were getting away from that, what’s with this?!” But the fact of the matter, is that my mind is different now. I feel comfortable cleaning up my diet a bit (less junk, more wholesome foods, slightly less calories) without falling back into a distorted view of food and eating. While I don’t believe you have to eat squeaky clean to lose weight (you absolutely do NOT) I prefer to eat this way for the most part. It doesn’t mean I won’t have the occasional turkey sandwich or beef jerky (another recent obsession) but probably not as frequently. (Not to mention beef jerky is too damn expensive!)

GOALS

-Lose 15 pounds

-Continue viewing food in a healthy way

-Keep doing the work outs I love

-Stress out LESS

-Don’t dwell on my flaws!

Wow, that was a marathon of a post!! I also want to note, I’m VERY HAPPY with life right now. I’m following my dreams in the music business and I couldn’t be more blessed with everything going on. Hopefully I didn’t portray that I have been depressed or anything, because that definitely ISN’T the case. I’m very happy, but ready to make some changes as well.

Anyways, I’m not sure what direction to take the blog, so your input would be greatly appreciated! For now, I will be posting workouts, healthy recipes, and my thoughts/feelings toward my weight loss and fitness. Share this with your friends too! I’d like to share my experiences with others and build a network on the Fit Lizzio blog.

What are your goals for April?

Here are some recent pictures as well. My sister is getting married next weekend too, so I will be sure to post pictures from that!!

From left to right: Aunt Suzie, my sister Rachel, me, Grandpa(just turned 90 and still works out everyday!!), little brother Ben(so little right? HA), mother, Aunt Nancy

My best friend Taylor(left) myself and my sister Rachel(right) on my birthday

Most people go to Ostrich farms on their birthday..right?

My friend Maggie, myself and Morgan at my other birthday dinner. This is right before I ate a RAW QUAIL EGG. and it was good….

That’s all for now folks!

Posted in Fit Lizzio, food, motivation, pressure, Running, Workout tagged with , , , , , , ,

Peg Legs

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Hola!

Hope everyone’s short week is starting off nicely. Tomorrow is already Wednesday!!(actually it’s probably already Wednesday by the time you read this..if you read this.. ;-))

I was glad to see that some of my readers spoke up to say they are still out there! I know I kind of just ditched out on you guys like a bad boyfriend, but I am hopefully going to get back into some type of “regular” schedule with the blog. Whatever that may be, considering I’ve never really had a schedule, per say :).

I know you are all wondering by now why this post is titled Peg Legs….well I think that I will just let you see the work out my trainer put me through today and maybe it will give some clarity. I’ll be honest, I just wanted to say Peg Leg really bad. Don’t forget to check out the my-pharm-blog of this post for a frequently asked question that I MUST address…..

The Workout (cardio was a little over 4 mile hilly run)

Low Box Squats: 1 warm up set, 5 sets of 10 reps with 60 second rests, 5 sets of 5 reps with 45 seconds rest and an increase in weight by 40%

Hack Squat superset with Elevated Dumbbell Single Leg Deadlifts

Walking lunges AROUND THE ENTIRE BUILDING. He counted 600 reps……

Let me just say that my legs were shaking after the box squats…needless to say I was about to murder him when he took me into the 110 degree weather for the lunges….moving on….

The Question that I Get All The Time

“Lizzy…if you’re a trainer and know what you’re doing…why do you have a trainer????”

I’ll give you the short and simple answer to that: Because EVERYONE can benefit from having a trainer, it’s just a matter of WHO that trainer is and what your goals are.

Reasons to Hire a Trainer(one that is well-educated, experienced and can think OUTSIDE the box)

-You can learn new exercises and learn new ways to pair exercises that you wouldn’t have thought about on your own.

-I don’t care how hard you push yourself, a good trainer and one that knows you well enough can(key word is can because not all trainers do this or know how to do it efficiently…) push you harder.

-You can learn the reasons why this particular trainer does a different variation of an exercise you already do.

There are many other reasons why a well-trained and knowledgeable person can GREATLY benefit from having a trainer…..why do you think NBA players have a coach? or power lifters? or volleyball players? As smart as we can be, there is ALWAYS more to learn, and as soon as you start thinking you know everything, you will fall farrrrr behind my friends.

I also believe in training with different trainers. Many people will stick with their same trainer for years and years, which is fine, but I prefer to learn as much as I can from one trainer and then it’s time to move on. I am not saying to bounce around, because that isn’t effective either. Personally, I’ve had 3 trainers(including my current trainer) in my entire life that truly changed me, the way I workout and my mindset. I’ve been with these trainers for at least 1 year or more at separate times since I began training. These are highly educated individuals who have a lot of experience: a strength and conditioning coach who taught me proper form on all of my foundational exercises, a professional body builder/ex marine, and currently a former world champion power lifter who has been lifting for 35 years. 3 very different worlds, but SO much knowledge to be gained.

I leave you with a quote that my current trainer keeps reminding me of “Get outside of the box.” Really think about what that means for your training. Just because it’s a rule or what you were taught, it doesn’t mean that’s the only way it can be done. Our bodies were made to move and there is more than one way to skin a cat….get outside of your box and see for yourself.


Posted in Legs, mantras, motivation, quotes, Workout

Exhaustion sets in…..

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Hey guys…

I’m running on about 2.5 hours of sleep so if something doesn’t make sense, just forget abahhhht it. 🙂

It’s finally hitting me. The exhaustion has caught up and I am ready for a few days of absolute nothingness.

This week is going by SO slowly, yet I’ve done SO MUCH.

Between Monday through today I’ve done:

6.5 hours of cardio

About 4 hours of weight training

6.5 hours of class

13 hours of work at the gym

7 hours of work at home

1 hour of posing practice

8 hours of homework

Lots of errands and tying up loose ends with a few things

Needless to say, I’m TIREDDDDDD!

All of that with a contest diet really takes a toll on the body. I couldn’t sleep last night for no reason at all, and had to wake up and open the gym today. I get to sleep in tomorrow, and you can bet that all electronics will be in the OFF position until I choose to turn them back on. 7 weeks from tomorrow is stage time…..body is doing what it needs to. I lost another 2 inches in my legs, 2 inches in my butt, waist and arms stayed the same. My upper body is really coming together and just needs a little more work and the lower body has finally joined in, but still needs more work.

Upper Body Workout

This was hard, but a really fun workout for me.

T-Bar Row – Burpees – Assisted Chin Ups – Med. ball mountain climbers (3 sets)

Pushups – Bench dips – Jumping jacks – pec deck – OH DB Extension (3 sets)

DB Military Press – Rear delt raise – kettle bell swings – lateral raises – front raises (3 sets)

My reps were at 15-20 for each lifting exercise. Plyos/cardio intervals varied.

LOVED this workout. Pretty quick and left me pretty wiped.

BEDTIME!

Posted in cardio, contest prep, upper body, Upper Body Workout, Workout

Whirlwind

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Wow. Today has been crazyyyy. And it’s only going to continue. I can’t complain because it’s all good things, but I’m tiredddddd.

Let’s see this morning I headed to the gym for cardio, upper body workout and more cardio.

I finished up and headed to summa school. I actually go to class these days….weird.

Finished with that and headed home to do some client plans and homework and then it was off to work at the gym.

Workout this morning was upper body with kettle bell swing, jump rope and burpee intervals mixed in.

Comp Prep Update

Legs and butt are finally starting to come down!! That’s always an epic moment and I was worried it would never happen…but it has started and I’m feeling really good about prep. Less than 8 weeks to go!! CRAZY.

Posted in contest prep, Workout

Sunday Rest Day!

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Today I am taking a much needed rest day. My cardio is up to 2 sessions per day, plus my weight training workouts and although I didn’t really want to take a rest day, I KNOW I absolutely have to. If I want my body to keep working at a high level, I have to treat it with respect.

Yesterday’s boot camp was absolutely gut wrenching. It was a HARD boot camp, but also HOT outside. I was drenched by the end.

This weekend has been filled with homework, client’s workouts/nutrition plans, and writing articles.

I’m at work now and have more writing to do, so this is going to get cut short!

I wrote on Twitter that if you e-mailed me within an hour, I’d knock off 10% for any of my services. Visit www.fitlizzio.com and if you e-mail me before 12PM EST June 7th (tomorrow) I will give you all the same deal. E-mail me at [email protected] for more info!

Posted in boot camp, Fit Lizzio, Workout, writing

I’m in!!

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…to my new place!

I somehow got my stuff together today, found someone to take my table, got my bed, couch and tv moved and am now in my new house!! I’m living with another fellow fitness gal, so it works out well. Different part of town that I’m not used to, but I’m excited!!

 

This morning’s leg workout was awesome! I got some groggy morning cardio in (at a lovely 4AM) and then ate breakfast and hit the gym floor. Changed it up quite a bit today.

The Workout

-Leg Press superset with  Up and Overs

-Hack Squat superset with jumping split squats

-Front squats superset with walking lunges(no weight, high reps)

-Leg extensions superset with front kicks, side kicks and scissor kicks on the heavy bag.

The addition of the boxing kicks into my leg workout was AWESOME. It was a change of pace and lots of fun.

58 days to show time!!!!

Some days I think I’ll be ready, some days I’m not sure…..but either way I’m doing what I need to do to get there. Power of positive thinking + hard work = success. That’s my view at least.

What is the HARDEST thing you’ve ever had to do in order to achieve your goal??

Catch ya later!! 🙂

Posted in contest prep, front squats, Legs, motivation, Plyometrics, Work Hard, Workout

60 Days

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The big count down has begun!! I am 60 days away from stepping on the national stage 😀

I am about completely excited and completely nervous at the same time!! When I imagine show day, I get butterflys. It’s going to be so much fun. Still have some details to hammer out, but everything will all work out.

Today, I slept in later than usual(7:30AM haha) and took my time getting ready for the gym. I had absolutely nothing on my agenda today other than to clean/pack for my moving day. (Windows Live Writer, I <3 you and your linking simplicity.)

Glutes were on the agenda for today! Keep a look out for my article  regarding some unconventional, yet extremely effective glute exercises. I will publish a link to it when it’s done and up.

Glute Workout

I just did normal sets today. No supersets, no drop sets. Just focused on my form and mind to muscle connection.

-Quadruped Hip Extensions

-Single Leg Hip Thrusts

-Reverse Hyper

-Hip Abduction

-Smith Sumo Squats(normal reps, pulses, and holds)

I also spent a good 60 minutes on the stairmill and another 20 on the recumbant bike(mostly so I could finish a chapter in the book I’m reading.)

I found this book behind the front desk at work and decided to read it one day while doing cardio(I always read when I’m doing incline walking or stairmill. It makes the time FLY by, and it doesn’t affect how hard I push myself because I set it at whatever level I normally would.)

I have to say, this book surprised me! I still have about 50 pages left, but from the first few chapters, I got hooked and it totally has been stringing me along the entire time like an ex-boyfriend. I highly recommend reading this if you get the chance. Kelly have you read this???

Time for more cleaning/packing. Have I mentioned that I love moving??? :-/

–

Posted in Books, contest prep, Dean Koontz, Glutes, Reading, Stairmill, Workout

Open, Shut

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Yello!

Hope everyone’s having a good Monday. Today has been and will continue to be a very long day.

It started this morning at 3am when my alarm clock went off, reminding me that I had to be at work in exactly one hour. Lovely.

I got to the gym, opened it up and then it was cardio time!(My boss lets me work out when I open in the morning. Sweet deal if you ask me!)

I did 50 minutes on the Stepmill at level 10. It.kicked.my.ass. I was burnin’!!! “T! T!”(Along Came Polly anyone???)

After I ate my breakfast (egg whites and oats) it was time for Chest and Abs.

Let me just say, there’s not many workouts that are less exciting than Chest and Abs. Sorry, just something about working my pecs doesn’t get me stoked 😀

Afterwards I met with my coach and weight dropped a little, some inches dropped and things are smooth sailing. I feel really good and am only 10.5 WEEKS OUT!!!! Crazy soon. I’m getting nervous about all the details now. Posing, nails, hair, makeup, hotels, tanning etc.

I also have a photo shoot scheduled for the end of June, so it’s one more thing to be excited about! Same GREAT photographer as last time. He rocks 🙂

Anyways, I’m now at work AGAIN closing the gym haha. I am covering for someone. Gotta love opening the gym at 4am and closing it at 9pm. I told you I live in the gym….

Posted in Abs, Chest, contest prep, Stairmill, Workout

Work Hard Play Hard

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Wowza I’m exhausted today!!

Yesterday was a looooong day. It started with a Back Workout at the gym:

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns

Close Grip Seated Row

T-Rope

One Arm Row

I kept it simple, since this was my second back workout of the week. Monday’s back workout was mediocre at best, so I wanted to hit it again. I feel redeemed 🙂

I ran a few errands and got my TRUCK WASHED(this happens 2-3 times per year, so it’s kind of a big event ;-)) and then headed to Pinnacle Peak to RUN the mountain. This was my first time ever running it, but a trainer at my gym was going and invited me. It was actually much easier than I thought, but still a great cardio workout. There was some downhill running, which I don’t really condone since it can be really hard on your knees, but I made sure to use my feet as shock absorbers as much as possible. My knees feel fine, so I think I did okay. I worked and closed the gym last night and pretty much passed out as soon as I got home.

Boot camp

Today’s boot camp was tough. We warmed up with 3 sets of: 5 bleachers, squats on the way down, “plyometrics”(I use that term loosely because although some of the things we do are plyos, some of them aren’t i.e. pushups, dips, etc. ) in between and then a run through(you run up and down each set of stairs and then around the bleachers.) We did this 3 times and THEN hit the track for the rest of the boot camp. Tough stuff, but I feel awesome now.

Worky work

I’m not at work at the supplement store all day. I’m working 9-5 today, 12-6 tomorrow at the gym, then opening the gym at 4am on Monday. I can’t wait to take a nap Monday afternoon. Wednesday I’m heading out with my roommate to LA(she’s moving!! :-() and then flying from there to San Francisco for the weekend. Working hard so I can play hard 🙂

Have a great weekend!

Posted in back, boot camp, Play Hard, Plyometrics, Uncategorized, Vacation, Work Hard, Workout

11.5 Weeks Out

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Jello!

Time is flying! I think I say that everyday, but it’s da troof 😉

I’m at work and just finished cardio. I do 30 minutes on leg days because, let’s face it, leg days rock my world. A.K.A Take all of my energy and leave me wanting to nap all day.

My plan for today’s workout is Quad Focus and Plyometrics:

Full Squats, Hack Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats, Single Leg Leg Press, Leg Extensions, Box Jumps, Switch Jumps, Up and Overs, and the SLED.

As daunting as they are, I LOVE leg workouts. No joke, I get nervous before leg workouts. I think it is because for one, I know it’s going to be really really hard. If I don’t go balls to the walls on leg day, I am disappointed afterwards, so I always make sure I put in all my effort no matter how worn out I’m feeling. I think that I get nervous when box jumps are on the list because I’m afraid I’m going to miss and fall flat on my face, but that’s besides the point. The box is about 2.5 feet tall and if I don’t pay attention, I know I’m gonna eat it big time.

Today is also a LAKE DAY 🙂 I’m a very spoiled girl and have not one, but TWO friends with wakeboard boats. My tan lines are definitely making a come-back……



Other than that, life is good. I’m done with school until June(summer school) and just enjoying my prep and working hard.

Posted in box jumps, contest prep, full squats, Green Beans, Lake, Legs, Plyometrics, quads, sled, Stairmill, switch jumps, Uncategorized, Workout
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