Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Hump Day

I am very happy that it is wednesday. Only 2 more days this week and they are both half days at work. Then it is a long weekend ahead!

Workouts are going well I am still very sore but nothing that I cannot handle. Lots of sleep at night and tylenol are still my bestest friends. I am looking forward to getting on my bike tonight and riding. Hopefully I will be able to keep up tonight. Last week because I was so sore I had a hard time keeping the pace. ;) Tonight is going to be different!

Question to coach! I am going to have to leave early both Thursday and Friday. I will not be able to go to the gym. I don't have issues with doing my core workout and stretches at home especially since I have a stability ball but I will not have the eliptical machine. Suggestions for other forms of cardio. Bike on a trainer? Running? Walking? And for how long?

Food is going really well! I am starting to get the hang of it. I was a good girl this morning and brought all of my snacks and lunch so that I don't have to go out. But I do have a confession to make.... I want a soda! :) An ice cold Diet Dr. Pepper. I haven't had a soda in over a week and haven't really thought about it until today. OH and I have pretty much given up caffeine and coffee. I know that this will be a shocker to some of you but I have. Coffee really screws up my tummy and the caffeine I just don't need anymore. Go me!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Beginning of Week 2

As I posted in my email to my coach, I lost 2lbs last week. That is a great start!

This weekend was hard because it was a pretty laid back weekend so I had a lot of down time. Luckily the pool is nice and inviting so that helped a little bit but it was hard to stay away from the food. I did ok. Just ok. I kept up with my healthy snacks and I rode on the trainer one day and with the group on the other. That helps me feel better about the one chocolate chip cookie I had this weekend. Let me tell you how yummy that tasted. ;)

Today is day one of week 2 and I am excited! I just returned from the gym. What a great workout!! I was able complete ALL of my core work and stretching, including doing 8 hanging leg lifts (!!!!) and 8 transverse planks on each side! I wasn't able to do that last week ya'll. This is good news. I am sure that I will be sore tomorrow though. Which is all part of the process and it makes me remember that I am doing my body good.

I am going to grocery store this evening to get some supplies to make some new recipes. They sound really yummy! I am very happy that my family is so open to trying new things. Paul has even turned to eating the more healthy options. Wraps for sandwiches instead of bread/rolls, coffee is at a minimum, soda is prety much non-existant. I am really proud of him. He has started taking vitamins again too. The big kicker is that I started buying 2% milk for the house and he is open to it! I am so proud of him.

I hope that everyone had a great weekend!! :)

Week One Check In Email to Coach!

Good morning

Week one was good! I was sore most of the week but that I expected. :) I am looking forward to week 2 starting today. I lost 2lbs last week. Not too shabby. For now I cannot think of anything that needs to be changed. I was able to complete 2 transverse planks on Friday which was a miracle for me and I am still working on the hanging leg lifts.

There are only a couple things that I struggling with, one being tired and two what foods to eat. I am eating the same things over and over again because I know that they are "safe" to eat. Getting boring. I have cooked a couple of meals and they were pretty yummy hopefully they were pretty healthy. The kiddos don't care for the brown rice but they will get used to it. ;) The weekends are harder on my food choices than the week days because I am at home.

I didn't make the ride on Saturday morning because I just plain overslept (tired!!) but I did get on the trainer for 45 mins and rode my little heart out. It is so much harder on the trainer than on a group ride! Sunday was a good ride. I felt really strong for a change. I usually feel sluggish in the mornings but this was a good day.

I think that is about it! I will let you know what else I am thinkin. ;)

Annie

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Eliptical is my friend

Workout is over for the day. I did 30 mins on the eliptical machine today. Normally I wouldn't have been able to do 30 whole minutes without stopping but today was a good day. Everyday I am feeling stronger and more confident. I averaged a 12 minute mile. Not to shabby for me! Next week I will be even more strong and faster. :)

WWW Ride

It was a beautiful night for a bike ride. I was in such a bad mood yesterday that I knew that I needed to go! We started off with a pretty good sized group of riders. Skill levels ranged from advanced to newbie. The pace was pretty decent going out International and down Wayside but then it kicked up a few notches going down Sylvan Lake (max speed 25.7mph). At that point I was being dropped by the front group. I knew that I had tried to push myself too hard too fast especially since my legs are so very sore from my workouts this week. But I was able to catch back up at the the stop sign to regroup. I have finally come to the realization that I am not always going to be with the front group but I am a lot stronger than I used to be. I don't have to kill myself to keep up with the guys that have been riding for years in order for me to have a good time. On the ride back to the car I stayed with a very small group and had a great time. I even helped "coach" a new rider back. I was able to get out and spin my legs without dying. I still have an 18mph avg last night and felt wonderful when we hit the parking lot. :)

The speed and the strength will come! :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Ride Night

I am have been looking forward to ride night all week long but now... I am just tired. I had a bad day at work and I just wanna go home and curl up in bed. This stinks. I even had to cancel lunch with my bestest friend because of work that just isn't right!

I think that the hardest part about today is that I just don't wanna eat. I have zero appetite because of my mood. BUT I still ate. Whole wheat bagel and low fat cream cheese for breakfast, with a small cup of OJ, my left overs from yesterdays lunch with some more carrots for lunch with a nice big glass of green tea and I had two snacks today one being and apple and two a yogurt with fresh strawberries. ALTHOUGH I would have loved to have had the free pizza that we ordered in for lunch and about 4 of the cookies from my afternoon meeting. The temptation was there! :) But I was a good girl.

Tonight is the St. John Cycle's ride. About 19 miles at a 18mph avg pace. It should be fun minus the initial muscle soreness I will feel. Paul and Josh will be there and that is always fun.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Sore

Yes that is the title of days journal entry, sore.

My body is sore. Only day two and I am sore. LOL Guess that means I am doing something right. It will all be worth it in the end.

Today was my lower body blast day. Some walking lunges, tabada squats and step ups to a 12"box (someone was using the 18" box and they were very stingey) mixed with some time on the eliptical machine. It was a great workout and I perspired (that's sweat people) a lot. I am just thankful that I didn't have to do any core workout today. My core doesn't like me much today. Even sitting here typing this blog entry I am thinking that it is time to get some more tylenol. ;)

Still working on the food issues. I have to think a lot right now about what I can and can't eat. What a should and shouldn't eat. It makes dinner prep harder but I know that this will all come with time. This morning I had a bowl of grapenuts (MY FAVORITE and 14g of fiber) and a big glass of water. Pear was my morning snack. Half a HUGE chicken breast sandwich with a little olive tampanade and a tossed spinach salad, carrott for a little more crunch was lunch! Then to top off my day at work I finished with a lowfat yogurt and some fresh strawberries. That helped me cool down from my workout. YUMMY! I am drinking lots of water and at least one glass of green tea a day. Amazingly enough, green tea is very yummy. Dinner will be a surprise since I will be dining at my mom's tonight. Hopefully I will find something good to eat.

I am feeling good energy wise. I am certainly not tired until I sit down at night then I sleep pretty darn good until my kids wake me up. :( Their little colds are just killers. Tonights goal is to have Paul help me take some body measurements. I want to be able to document that lose as well at the pounds.

I have been asked if I want to participate in a century ride (100 mile bike ride) at the end of this year. I think that I will do it (or attempt it anyway.) I told her that as long as the ride doesn't in 'gap' or 'horrible' I would do it. 100 miles. That is a long way. :)

Monday, May 17, 2010

Day One

It is the easiest place to start. Day one.

What does that mean to me? The start of a new me. The start of something I have always wanted to do. The start of my goal to a healthier and happier person.

I have started training with David Houle from D2 Cycle http://www.d2cycling.com/. I have two goals that I would like to achieve in the next 18 weeks. Goal 1, to be able to complete the Assault on Sugarloaf in Clermont, Fl. 60 miles of riding and climbing through the hills of Lake County. It is going to be a long one. ;) Goal 2, to lose about 45 lbs. I think that this might be the more difficult of the two. But I am positive that I will be able to do them.

I am armed with a training/workout schedule for the next four weeks to start and a lot of knowledge about the foods and nutrients I need to put into my body. I have learned from the week of food diary that I just completed that I am undereating. NO wonder I was so damn tired. ;) Makes sense now.

Today was day one in the gym. After a long weekend of cycling it was kind nice to do something else. Even though my body was tired my muscles weren't all that sore. But I know that this is going to change soon. I started with 5 mins on the eliptical machine at level 3 and honestly at the end of 5 minutes I was shocked that it was over. Next time I will bump it up to level 4 maybe. HR stayed under 130 the entire time. Good warm up. Next came the core work out. I was able to complete them all except for 2. The hanging leg lifts and the tranverse plank. HARD! I tried them both but I just don't have the ability to lift from my core yet. I did some extra crunches instead. I will try them again on Thursday. Finally it was stretch time. This was awesome. It felt some wonderful to stretch out. I did them all except for one. I couldn't remember how I was supposed to do it. LOL Gotta google it again to remember. It was an awesome first day at the gym. I am looking forward to it again.

So far so good with the food today too. I had to go and have blood drawn this morning at the lab so breakfast had to wait until 9:30. I stopped at subway and got one of their new sandwiches. Very yummy! Egg whites a piece of cheese, some bell pepper, onion, tomoato and cucumber. It was really good. For lunch was a chicken breast pita with lowfat swiss cheese and a piece of ham. LOADED with spinach, mushrooms, peppers and tomatos. Very good and very filling. My am snack was an apple and my afternoon stack will be a yogurt. Overall I am FULL! Lots of water today and getting ready for some green tea.

I wanna keep this blog for two reasons. The first being a place for me to come and keep track of my progress. The second so I can communicate with the blogosphere how this training really can help.

Currently I am a 34 year old woman that is 50lbs overweight and I AM going to change my life starting now.