Week 1 workout

So here's the workout I did last week...I'm going to do it again in the coming week...

Superset with: do the first exercise immediately followed by the with exercise then rest 1 min. repeat for the number of sets

sets/reps

High Intensity Interval Training (HITT) workout - cardio exercise further explained at bottom

__________________________

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Workout 1 – Monday & Thursday
Chest
Incline Bench Press 3/9-10
-superset with-
Incline Flye 3/12-15

Flye 3/12-15
-superset with-
Dumbbell Bench Press 3/9-10

7-minute HITT workout

Shoulders
Barbell Overhead Press 3/9-10
-superset with-
Bent-Over Lateral Raise 3/12-15

Lateral Raise 3/12-15
-superset with-
Dumbbell Upright Row 3/9-10

7-minute HITT workout

Triceps
Pressdown 2/9-10
-superset with-
Cable Overhead Triceps Extension 2/12-15

Lying Triceps Extension 2/12-15
-superset with-
Close-Grip Bench Press 2/9-10

7 min. HITT workout
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Workout 2 – Tuesday & Friday
Legs
Squat 3/9-10
-superset with-
Dumbbell Lung 3/12-15

Leg extension 3/12-15
-superset with-
Leg Press 3/9-10

Leg Curl 3/12-15
-superset with-
Romanian Deadlift 3/9-10

7 min. HITT workout

Calves
Standing Calf Raise 2/12
-superset with-
Seated Calf Raise 2/15

7 min. HITT workout

Abs
Hanging Leg Raise 2/to failure
-superset with-
Crunch 2/to failure

7 min. HITT workout
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Workout 3 (Wednesday & Saturday)
Back
Barbell Row 3/9-10
-superset with-
Seated Cable Row 3/12-15

Straight-Arm Pulldown 3/12-15
-superset with-
Wide-Grip Pulldown 3/9-10

7 min. HITT workout

Traps
Behind-the-Back-Smith Machine Shrug 2/9-10
-superset with-
Smith Machine Shrug 2/12-15

7 min. HITT workout

Biceps
EZ-Bar Curl 2/9-10
-superset with-
EZ Bar Preacher Curl 2/12-15

Incline Dumbbell Curl 2/12-15
-superset with-
Alternating Dumbbell Curl 2/9-10 -

Forearms
Barbell Wrist Curl 2/12
-superset with-
Barbell Reverse Wrist Curl 2/12

7 min. HITT workout
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High Intensity Interval Training (HITT)
complete a cardio exercise for 7 min at the following levels:
Time/Intensity
1 min./high
30 sec./low/rest
1 min./high
30 sec/low/rest
1 min./high
30 sec./low/rest
1 min./high
30 sec./low/rest
1 min./high

Mantra: Make the Effort

Diane, at Fit to the Finish, asked the following question on Twitter yesterday:

Here's my response:

I think it is a great question, and it is one that I didn't have to ponder on. In fact, on my personal e-mail account, and facebook page that is my tag line. When I communicate with friends and loved ones about becoming more healthy (I'm all about changing your mindset long term so no diet talk around here), I encourage them to make the effort.

Make a small change one day. Do that for at least 5-7 days, then add another change. Keep making the effort and eventually you'll reach your goal. Yes, it take dedication, time, and a mindset change, but it can be done. One just has to make the effort!

Resistance is futile

Are their certain foods where resistance is futile?

cookies (as discussed in this post)
deviled eggs (lately and perhaps because I don't make them or get them often)
brownies (w/ pecans)
red velvet cake (especially if it is moist)

What about you?

My weakness

Cookies!

I

Cookies!

They are my all time favorite snack item to consume.

While I like pie, cake, chips, candy, and other items that have an abundance of calories, I can limit myself with those items. I can turn them down without a second thought. I attended several dinners a few weeks back where everyone ordered desert except me. Why? Because the extra calories weren't worth it. Yes, the desert items appealed to me, but not enough. Now, if a warm cookie had been on the menu I would have succumbed. I guess that is a plus to that being my weakness....knowing that most places don't serve cookies for desert. :)

I'm kind like Cookie Monster.

I. Want. Cookies!!!!!

If they are there, I will consume. No doubt about it.

I reflected on how I ended up at a weight of 236 pounds and one of the reasons was cookies. I used to make cookies on a weekly basis, either from scratch or those break and bake ones from Nestle (those were just too easy). I would also purchase cookies from the bakery in the grocery store of they were sold on the counter at the place I was eating lunch. That would be my desert.

Suffice it to say, I knew I had a problem with cookies. And I still do. It didn't go away because I lost weight or began eating more healthy. What happened, was I became better able to control my impulse. Yes, it is still there and I do cave at times, but not as often.

I don't keep cookies in the house and I don't purchase those break & bake cookies anymore.

I do purchase those 100 calorie cookie packs to feed my desire. Yes, they are expensive, but they work. They give me my cookie fix in a limited quantity and limited caloric quantity. I do what I have to do!

What's your weakness?

No derailment here!

I don't know about you, but the upcoming holidays will not derail my healthy lifestyle! I refuse to let that happen. I just read about her Thanksgiving Plan and it is perfect. In fact, here's my comment on her post:

Your plan is similar to mine: to continue to do what I know is right for ME!

I think my gym is open on Thanksgiving Day so it is likely that I will go per the normal (just not as early).

I’m going to a family gathering, as well, and I don’t plan on returning home with any leftovers. Generally, we don’t have any so that is a good thing. I’m not going to limit myself, just eat like I normally do and don’t overfill myself.

I’ll hit the gym on Friday as well and if weather permits will go for a 2-3 mile walk on Friday & Saturday.

Thanksgiving is just another day. It is another day for me to live a healthy lifestyle and the over abundance of food will not cause me to lose focus. I'll eat my normal breakfast, continue to drink water (though it won't be as much since we have a bit of a drive to our destination), and eat what I like. I'm not going to limit myself as I don't believe in denying myself, but I will only eat until I'm full. I will not be gluttonous and eat just because it is there.

Since our family gathering is about a 3 hour drive from here, we generally don't bring home leftovers. In fact, normally there's not a lot of leftovers to bring. So we're all good there! Friday will be just another day of living a healthy lifestyle.

So very sore

Although it has been quite awhile since I last posted in this space, I'm still around and still doing my thing. Trying to eat healthy every day and be an active person. Well, yesterday I was so active that I'm really feeling it today! Here's what I did:

• 3.2 mile walk (really dislike that I can't post from nikerunning.com anymore

Then I head to the gym for a leg workout:

• Warm-up
• Squats
• Romanian dead-lifts
• Lunges
• Leg-press & calf-press - 1 set of leg press then a set of calf-press
  
• Abs
• Stretch

For each of the exercises with weights, I did 6 super-sets, increasing the weight by 5-10 pounds with each set and decreasing the number of reps with each set. It looks like this:

Squats:
Set 1: 65 lbs, 8 reps
Set 2: 75 lbs, 7 reps
Set 3: 80 lbs, 6 reps
Set 4: 80 lbs, 6 reps
Set 5: 75 lbs, 7 reps
Set 6: 65 lbs, 10 reps

I rested for 90 sections between sets.

I alternated the lunges with the Romanian dead-lifts doing 10 reps of lunges.

Oh.My.Goodness. I am extremely sore today! So sore that I'm walking slowly, sitting & standing gingerly, and stretching throughout the day.

Despite the soreness, I made it to the gym this AM for more abs and 25 min. of interval cardio on the stairmaster.

I'm feeling the burn!

ETA: I forgot to mention that I'm only taking the stairs at work-that's 3 floors up and 3 floors down. Plus whenever I have to go anywhere in the building, I take the stars. So far today, I've gone up & down 10 flights of stairs (3 more will be added when I head home for the day). Despite the soreness, I'm pushing forward. I also plan on getting in a 2-3 mile walk this evening when I take my nephew to soccer practice. Not letting the soreness stop me!

Walking

I don't know what it is about cooler weather, but it gets me going with the walks. So far this week, I've walked 6.85 miles.

Monday evening I set out to complete 2 miles and end up doing slightly over: 2.18 miles. I continued my activity by dribbling & kicking a soccer ball with my nephew for another 30 minutes or so. I was worn out!

Yesterday, I set to do 3 miles and ended up doing 3.64 miles in 47 min.

I may get in a 1 mile walk this afternoon, but that's probably it. I think I will set a challenge on the nikerunning site for the month of November.

3.83 miles

I awakened this AM about 5:30 having to go to the bathroom. I checked the temperature and it was a cool 44 degrees. I love to walk in the cool weather, but it was still to dark to head out at that time. I laid in bed until about 6 am and decided to get up and get moving. I finally headed out at 7 am. I don't know why, but that to me is the perfect walking weather.

I set my Nike + to do a 5K. I ended up doing 6K or 3.83 miles.

2 walks

I got in 2 walks this week. One was during a 15 min break at work: 1.09 miles. The other was last evening at a local park: 3.05 miles.

It appears that Nike+ is now forcing all to use their new beta site, which really does look much better than the old site. I can't, however, seem to find the code to post my walks to the blog. That really bums me out because I really liked the information that those widgets provided.

There is a way to link your account to twitter and/or facebook, but that doesn't seem to be working for me either. Oh well..

What's your routine?

One day my nephew asked me, "Auntie, why do you come home and immediately make your lunch? Why don't you rest a little while and do that later?"

He's right. I come straight home and prepare my lunch & snacks for the next day. Then I immediately unpack my gym bag and repack it for the next day. My answer to my nephew was that if I do it as soon as I get home, then I'll have more time to rest later. I don't have to worry about doing it at 8:30 or later and pushing back the time that I want to go to bed. Basically, it is not a task that I have to do later.

Doing so keeps me on my toes and insures that I am going to make the gym the next day and eat healthy throughout the day.

What's your routine? How do you keep yourself accountable?

3.7

My usual walk is on Thursday night, but assistance was needed tonight with soccer practice. Also, I can't do my normal soccer practice duty tomorrow night. So a walk tonight it was!

What's your motivation?

I'm at the point in my journey to being healthy that one could easily lose motivation. In fact, many people lose motivation at the very start. They go really good and hard for about 2 weeks and slip up. That slip up can lead to a downward spiral that takes them right back to where they started. It is unfortunate, but a lot of times if we take that wrong turn we think it is pointless to try to get back on the right road. So how does one keep it years into that journey? How does one continue to lead a healthy and active lifestyle? I think it is important to have some sort of motivation.

Well, I have 2 motivators.

1. I want to live a long life. I basically outlined all of that in this post.
2. I never want to go back to this:


Yes, that's me back in 2004. Those were my favorite, favorite pair of jeans. I think they were a size 20 (or maybe 18). I still have those jeans and they are my motivation. Though I loved wearing those jeans, I never want to fit into them again. I keep them in my closet so that I see them each time I go in there. I see them catching dust and not being lovingly worn like my other jeans, pants, skirts, etc. They are just hanging out with nowhere to go, and that's the way I want to keep it!