Battle of the Post Holiday Weight Gain

 

Did any of you over do it like me this past holiday and gain weight like me?

Who am I kidding? With me breastfeeding for the majority of 2015, I let my eating habits go awry, anything and everything I wanted, I ate inhaled. Now all that post baby weight I lost, is pretty much toast. I’m back to my normal weight which is not bad, but for me, I know that I can do better. I can tell by the bloat that the carbs I’ve been inhaling are not doing my body any good. So, it’s time to get my food portions and meals in order. I’m not going to go on a juice or tea detox, because it takes a lot to oil this 6 foot machine! I am just going to do some meal planning and eat less processed foods, eat more veggies and fruits, and drink more water. I’ve done this before if you have been following my blog posts.

I am also back in the gym! I started back last week and it felt glorious! The Fitbit is the reason ‘m back full fledged.

Image Source: FitBit.com

I bought a Charge HR(In purple!!!!) to inspire me to get off my butt and on me feet as well as track my heart rate. What I didn’t think would happen was my competitive spirit to kick into full blast! On the Fitbit app you can add friends, and can challenge them during the week, cheer their progressions and taunt them in competitions. It’s an amazing device and they have many different kinds.I got this one on sale during the holidays and I must say it’s one of my best purchases in 2015.You can check out the various Fitbits here. Today I did about 45 minutes of intervals on the elliptical, as well as took 5 flights of stairs back to my desk and took the 15 minute ab class they offer at the gym at work. I also make sure to track my food and connected my Fitbit to the wonderful app MyFitnessPal which helps you track your food and helps you set goals for eating. Before I put something in my body I will put it in MyFitnessPal to see if it’s a good food or a bad food. Food planning helps and they even help you set goals for exercise and things. I really love the app and it helped me lose 25lbs a few years ago. I am SO excited that I am back on track and I can bring you guys some great fitness content and potential yummy recipes  soon. I am so happy to be on my journey again!

 

 

Weekend Recap

 

It twas the weekend!

It came and it went! At least for me it did. I am working weekends this month so my weekends are like any old weekday for most people.Minimal social activities and lots of Football watching. This weekend some epic Football was played for Divisional Finals in the NFL. I am going to say that Seattle impressed me! I was surprised at the Saints. My Patriots won! The Chargers made great effort to try to win but no dice!

 

Also, my dog has decided to bark at Lord knows what in the middle of the night. Last night I had had it. I love his protectiveness that all his little 12 lbs have to offer, but excessive barking at imaginary intruders wore me out. So his little life might have been threatened at 3:30am . The most I threaten my lovely dog, is him “going to his room” (his crate) which he hates. My dog loathes incarceration. Crates, and Leashes are his worst nightmare. So he came back to my bed and cuddled.

This up and coming week I am back in grad school taking two courses and trying to get back into workout mode. I have been a sloth, of all sloths! 7lbs of slothfulness to be exact. Hope someone has more plans than me! I may make crab cakes. I have had a taste for them lately! Until next time my fellow bloggers!

Vacation Re-Cap

Hey guys,

It’s been a while since I actually blogged, and it was all thanks to school, work, projects, and just plane ole life getting in the way. Let me tell you what I have been up to!

I have been semi-consistent with my workouts, thanks to school, I even rode my bike to the rail and took it into work. My bike ride to the rail from my house was about a 15 -20 minute ride, then about a 5 minute ride into work. I even found time to get a decent workout in during my lunch. I should have taken pictures but I was in the zone!

This weekend I took some vacation time. It is the end of the year and I have about 68 hours of vacation time I need to use or, I will lose it. So I took off this past Friday and Monday to make it a lovely 4-day hiatus! I went to Austin to visit some friends, and we had an excellent time together. I certainly will be back for a visit. Austin is wonderfully outdoorsy and my type of place. Friendly people, bike trails galore, excellent scenic views, great music, and food! Here are a few pics from instagram:

 

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Being silly as usual

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Coach Lowe, whom I met up with for drinks and the game at Domain

Anthony!

On my last day there, I got to get my Workout on around the neighborhood I did 1.5 miles of cardio, Lunges to the stop sign, 1 minute planks and 25 sit-ups. It was beautiful! I cannot wait to own my own home and continue to do things like that. Running outside versus the treadmill, makes for an excellent experience!

 

I headed back home, and stopped at Rudy’s BBQ for some brisket. Austin always makes me crave barbeque for some reason and then proceeded to come home relax and start working on my paper that was due. I worked on it for most of Monday and editing a 20 page paper, and mellow out. Hope everyone’s weekend was fantastic. This week I plan on working out, playing with my pooch completing my Grad school work, and attending a pot luck for work!

How was your Weekend?

What are your plans for Thanksgiving in the Office?

DOMS?

 

DOM DOM DOOOOOOM!

Let’s talk about DOMS aka Delayed onset muscle soreness. It is also know as muscle fever to some. It’s that pain and stiffness you feel after an epic workout. Only you do not feel it the next day, you feel it 48 hours later. How can you prevent such a travesty? By hitting the Sauna, stretching, massage, hot baths, and a foam roller, or even going for another workout  I am a victim of DOMS, and it can be brutal. 24 hours after your workout, you feel fine and then when you hit the 48 hour mark after your workout, and things get real. It feels like you slammed yourself into a brick wall at 180 mph. Yikes. I honestly find comfort in the discomfort. How? I like that I feel my muscles growing. I like that I feel myself getting stronger. Sure it hurts to climb stairs, and squat, and sometimes stretch, but I have a goal and I am seeing major results. Don’t let a little DOMS stop you in your tracks, push though it and let’s all get sexy!

Tomorrow is my Company’s Cook off and I need to figure out how I am going to do that and get my Back and Biceps workout in. I may have to forgo seeing scandal and set the DVR and go work it out tonight. I also have midterms this weekend. Wish me luck!

Shoulders, Calves and Abs

 

Yesterday I hit the gym pretty hard and rocked out my workout. I did my shoulders, calves and abs. I thought the workout would be easy being that there were not that many exercises. No. My shoulders were on fire and I had the slow disoriented waddle, when I walked out the gym yesterday. My workout consisted of:

20 mins on the elliptical

150 reps, per side of Seated bar bell twists w/ 20lb bar

3 sets to failure in 15 reps of Side Lateral raises w/10lb 

3 sets to failure in 15 reps  of Front Dumbbell Raises w/ 10lbs 

Superset of 

3 sets to failure in 12 reps of Side lateral raises w/ 5lbs

3 sets to failure in 15 reps of Front Dumbbell Raises w/ 10lbs 

Machine Shoulder Military Press w/ 25lbs

1 warm up set of 8 reps

3 sets to failure in 15 reps

7 sets of Seated bent over Rear Delt Raises in 15 reps w/ 15 lbs 

Standing Calf Raises 1 warm up set of 10 reps and 5 sets of 20 reps

3 sets to failure 20 reps each of Sit ups

Elliptical for 20 mins

150 twists w/ 20lb bar

 

I was pooped I tell you!!!  I also noticed this amazing phenomenon. A lot of women do not lift. I got a lot of stares and questionable looks as to why I was in the free weights area. Usually a woman is accompanied by a man in this area to be trained briefly or they are just passing by. So, it is overall a male dominated area. Most women dominate the cardio equipment. I would like to encourage all of my female fitness enthusiasts to join me! Come to the weight area. It is not a scary place, it actually is a great place to look at men! lol See the various forms and different workouts that other people do. I am a beginner out there in the weighted world, but I would like to see women get their weights, and toning in too! I am all about showing these guys what I can do! The stares were welcomed by me, and I even got a few smiles out the guys when they saw me working hard!

 

Today is leg day and I have my handicap sticker ready lol. I may be crawling out the gym when I finish wish me luck.

 

 

Photo credit: Womenshealthmagazine.com

Leg Day!

Today was Legs day!

I started out my workout by carrying boxes to my car (Cardio) from my soon to be old 3rd floor apartment.

After that I put in this type of work.

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I really did not want to do this workout, I was thinking of the bajillion things I needed to do today and was like, how in the heck will I even have energy to even look at this. I looked at the workout and it was simple quick and I worked it out!

Tonight I need to break down my bedframe, get lots of newspaper to pack my dishes, find my check book, I packed it somewhere and I have no clue where it is, pay my last little rent and pack up some more kicknacks that need to go to my new space.

I forgot, I need to do homework, but I think I will do all of it on Sunday. I have to secure my move first. Wish me luck!