Switch it up

Today I went to the gym and kicked my own butt with this workout. 

Warm up

5 Minute jog (fast pace) on treadmill
Squats:                       3 sets of 8-12
Pull-Ups:                     3 sets of 8-12 (assisted if needed)
Incline barbell bench-press:  3 sets of 8-12

Workout

6 rounds:
200 meter sprint
100 jump ropes
15 box jumps
12 alternating release push-ups
15 wall balls
>>>Do this as fast as you can with little to no breaks between sets.

2 :45 second planks (side & front)

STRETCH

This workout totally exhausted me--in a good way. I am trying to work a little more cardio into my workouts, and I am also trying to switch it up as well; muscle confusion is very important.

Nonetheless, if you try this workout, let me know what you think! It totally kicked my butt, and I'm sure it could kick yours too. 

Some good eats

As I have mentioned once or twice before, I am living what I like to call a "gypsy lifestyle." Moving from one house to the next, depending on where I need to be that week. 

Anyhow, these are some of the "carbless meals" that I have been eating for my "march challenge."

Breakfast

2 whole eggs, 1 egg white

1 C. of spinach

1/4 C. low fat cheddar cheese

1 Chobani yogurt

1 handful of mixed nuts

1 mug of Good Earth spiced tea

Dinner

1 4 oz. Chicken breast (no hormones) baked w/ Italian spices & low-fat, all natural, caesar salad dressing (from WholeFoods)

2 C. fresh spinach sprinkled with dried blueberries, cranberries, and candied walnuts

1 Nectarine

I have learned, and am continuing to learn, cleaner eating is much easier to cook and prepare in a hurry than i fully realize. 

Also, don't forget the H2O!

Pure opinion

I feel like the "how far is too far" question isn't asked enough, but I don't think that it is always articulated to it's fullest extent in the realm of fitness. 

Today I tweeted, on my Twitter account:

Notice how much Sprint's service stinks; anyways, a friend of mine responded to this tweet by saying "you can eat whatever you want, you're only 22 years old--if you want a cookie, donut, or cake eat it!"

Also, my sister said to me today, after talking to her about my fitness goals, and she responded with, "You take things to the extreme."

So, after my tweeting this morning and my conversation with my sister this evening, I began to think to myself,"Am I too extreme? Have I reached the point to an unhealthy obsessed mindset?"

I concluded, no; I am not too extreme, nor am I unhealthily obsessed with my fitness goals or wanting to eat clean and healthy. When I said, "but then I realize how long it takes me to work it off..." what I was really trying to say is, it's not helping me meet my fitness goals, nor is it going to benefit me physically. You may ask, are you never going to eat a cookie, cake, or donut? My answer: Did you read my last post? Yes, I'm going to eat them, but when I do eat them, it will be rare. Yes, rare; however, whenever I visit my in-laws... Watch out clean diet, cookies coming through! How could you not, they're delectable! 

As for my sister, I don't think that I'm "extreme," but more so determined. I have set goals, and I will do what it takes--in a healthy way--to meet those goals. The goals that I have given myself are goals that challenge my fitness on a performance level, and I believe that when you meet fitness performance goals, the visual benefits of being physically fit will follow. 

It's not as if I am aiming to look like this:

Obviously that's a little extreme, but some ladies actually find themselves wanting to look this way. If you must know, I would much rather aim for something much healthier.

More like:

I can guarantee that this girl (Andrea Ager, CrossFit coach) has to perform fitness, not just wear it--if you know what I mean.

I have challenged myself to meet my goals physically, but I have essentially challenged myself mentally. I believe in setting goals, and I believe in reaching those goals to the best of my ability, and if that means no cookies, then no cookies it is. 

But like I said, it's not like I'm NEVER going to eat another cookie in my life--that would be ludicrous. Especially my mother-in-law's cookies.

Also, I found this blog, and I thought maybe some of you like to it check out; it proved very interesting to me.

Skinny Fat

March challenge update

OK, so apparently drinking 1 gallon of water per day makes you pour, literally pour, sweat. I cannot even begin to express to you, through my writing, how many strange looks I get at the gym after running an 8 minute HITT training on the treadmill due to the amount of sweat that is dripping from my body.

I'm happy to see that my body is hydrated, but my goodness! I can't be without a towel, that's for darn sure.

Anyhow, my March challenge has been really hard, due to one factor, mother nature. If all of you ladies can feel with me here, I'm not sure what it's like when "mother nature" makes its monthly visit to you, but my-oh-my do I ever crave chocolate, and it is the biggest challenge just to get my bloated butt to the gym; however, I can honestly say that my bloated butt and I went to the gym.

My gallon of water was harder to drink today, mostly because I was so darn busy, but also because I wasn't thinking of it like I have been. Nonetheless, I only have 1/4 of my gallon left, so it shouldn't be long before it's gone.

As for the "no carbs" portion of the challenge, not easy. I am going to my in-laws this weekend, and my mother-in-law makes the world's BEST gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that you will EVER have in your entire life! I'm not kidding, the BEST gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. I think I could write an entire blog post about my love for my mother-in-law's cookies. Not even kidding. So, now that you know about my slight obsession with my mother-in-law's gluten-free cookies; she also makes the best gluten-free carrot cake, and pistachio cookies... OK, so she just rocks at gluten-free baking--in general.

Because I am heading there this weekend, and I know that she made those devilishly delicious cookies... I am going to need some prayer. Seriously, a lot of prayer. Those cookies speak to me in my sleep sometimes. Alright, so maybe that's a little far fetched, but I do crave them; especially when mother nature is visiting. 

Other than my slight obsession for cookies, not eating ANY carbs has been pretty darn difficult. I can honestly tell you that I have not cheated, but I have definitely thought about it. I was at a local co-op today and they had some delicious gluten-free breads, crackers, and many of the foods that I am cutting. They even had gluten-free apple pie and donuts; Come on!

Nonetheless, I conquered my cravings and I will continue to meet my challenge, and then eat a piece of delicious-carby-goodness in April when I see my husband. I know you shouldn't reward yourself with food, but I'm a firm believer in celebrating with it; you don't celebrate everyday, or do you?

Meal time

I didn't have a lot of time to prepare dinner tonight--gosh darn homework, and my queazy stomach--but I put together something mildly delicious. 

Two handfuls of fresh baby spinach, one white plumb--or whatever they're called, and one organic chicken breast baked in tinfoil with 3 tablespoons of fresh organic salsa, and a little feta sprinkled on top. Notice, no carbs!

I went to the grocery store tonight, since my gypsy lifestyle has led me to provide food and shelter; no, I'm kidding, but I really did need some groceries for the next two days, and these were it; not in photograph, eggs, 3 Chobani yogurts, and chicken.

I'm nearing the end of my gallon of water, and before I know it... Day 1 of March Challenge will be conquered. 

Day 1 no carbs: easier said than done

OK, I don't know about you, but my goodness! Going "carbless" is one of the hardest things to do, if you're me. Not that I eat a ton of carbs as it is, but to have a few tortilla chips crumbled on top of my salad for some "crunch" sounds very tempting. Anyhow, I'm sticking with it, and 3/4 of my gallon of water for today is left. 

I got a little sick, from a gluten product I ate the other day, on accident, and now my stomach is doing a few unmentionables that I need not to allude to. Nonetheless, this drinking a gallon thing helps quite a lot when you're not feeling 100%.

I went to the gym, but as you can imagine... As soon as I hit the treadmill, it was time to leave, so it's yoga night! I'm going to do some stretching and focus on my breathing and strength. As for tomorrow, I'll be hitting the gym pretty hard.

When you're pushing yourself, make sure not to forget to listen to your body and what your body needs; such as a yoga night. Rest is just as important as a balanced diet--at least I think so.

Anyhow, wish me luck!

March challenge

     

 

Tomorrow I cut "carbs" completely out of my diet until the end of March, and I am going to drink one gallon of water per day. Now, my reasoning for this is one, my husband has been gone for his job since January and I get to see him in April and I want to get the best results as possible--if you catch my drift. Secondly, I was talking to a friend of mine, who is very much into the nutritional side of wellness, and she informed me that our bodies don't necessarily need grain-type carbs simply because our bodies can turn other foods such as spinach, broccoli, and other nutritional foods into carbs.

So, with that said, I am taking on the challenge and also eliminating sugar from my diet as well; however, I'll still need a little dark chocolate every now and then... Antioxidants, right?

Anyhow, throughout this month I am going to test myself and see how well, within a little under 4 weeks, how this whole challenge works for me. After I am finished, I will let you know how my progress went, and if it actually "did anything."

I don't, by any means, believe that healthy grains are bad for you; however, I encourage them.It doesn't help that I am slightly allergic to gluten and that I am completely gluten-free, but the fact that I am cutting even those grains out of my diet is going to be difficult, but something that I am willing to do stemming from my pure curiousness.

So, it shall begin tomorrow morning--we're having eggs and no toast... I shall need prayer!

 Word.