Yesterday I went to Mt. High, but didn't snowboard for long. ...And.. I missed my work out. eek! Weekends are tough. I have no problem putting good diet and exercise as a priority on weekdays, but weekends I tend to give in to chocolate (hey! It's Valentines Day!), starchy foods and playing Lumines on PSP rather than exercising. Gladly, Cardio Recovery isn't HIIT, although I'll admit it is quite a work out; I'm going to resolve to not miss any more work outs and eat better, even on weekends.
My problem areas are still my tummy and thighs. It's so unbalanced. I can see my sternum to the point where it's gross at one point when I put my arms up to tie up my hair, but I still have this gut and my thighs are still rounder than I'd like. My arms are ok.. could use some improvement but I'm not worried about them. Ah, well, gotta keep at it.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Insanity, Day 17: Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs
As I mentioned before, yesterday was my rest day. It was a good rest day, but probably not great in terms of eating. I actually ate all raw yesterday, unintentionally. Mind you, just because something is vegetarian, vegan or raw, it doesn't mean it's good for you!!! Breakfast was my hemp shake smoothie and post-breakfast/pre-lunch snacks were some fruit. Lunch was a raw salad which included veggies (I <3 Food+Lab!). I ate nuts as a snack and I planned to drink a hemp shake but I couldn't down it as I was just so not hungry. Up until this point my eating was going well. For dinner, my beloved boyfriend took me to Planet Raw in Santa Monica. I had a raw version of a bacon cheeseburger and it was delicious! There was a raw veggie patty and lots of vegetables around it, plus a side salad (there were "fries" and I don't know what they were but I did NOT like them.). And here is why I said "up until dinner I was eating well." A lot of raw places use thick sauces to complement the food, which is great. This place, while delicious, used too much for my personal taste (not that that would prohibit me from going here again!). The problem with this for my diet is that these sauces use lots of fats. Nuts made into a paste via a food processor makes for a really thick and creamy base. So, my dinner had lots of that, AAAAAAAAAANNNNDD I got chocolate cheesecake (freakin delicious) and strawberry mousse (could not tell at all that it's raw), both of which contained lots of nuts and sweeteners. (For those health foodies like me, I must note that the raw desserts and possibly parts of the main course were not vegan as they contained honey.) Anyway, I loved it all.
Today I did pure cardio and cardio abs. I wasn't at all in the mood to do it. I was not thinking and I started to work out right after I ate. Bad idea. 4/5 into the warm up I started to get naseous and I stopped for a bit, took a rest and started up again and luckily I didn't get sick. I got through it all and thought that I didn't need to do the cool-down of the Pure Cardio and warm-up for Cardio abs, so that cut out 5-10 minutes that I did last time cooling down and re-warming up. Pure Cardio was normal -- I'm not starting to get bored, per se; I know all the moves and I've even memorized some of the stuff he says. The thing that prevents me from being bored is that I'm not master at all the moves yet. I still HATE mountain climbers and I still died exhausted in the end with the get up/get down drills. The Cardio Abs was slightly easier this time around, and it's nice to be able to focus on endurance and stamina after I've got form covered.
Tomorrow I'm going to Mt. High, and it's Cardio Recovery day. Depending on how hard I snowboard I may or may not do Cardio Recovery. We'll see.
Today I did pure cardio and cardio abs. I wasn't at all in the mood to do it. I was not thinking and I started to work out right after I ate. Bad idea. 4/5 into the warm up I started to get naseous and I stopped for a bit, took a rest and started up again and luckily I didn't get sick. I got through it all and thought that I didn't need to do the cool-down of the Pure Cardio and warm-up for Cardio abs, so that cut out 5-10 minutes that I did last time cooling down and re-warming up. Pure Cardio was normal -- I'm not starting to get bored, per se; I know all the moves and I've even memorized some of the stuff he says. The thing that prevents me from being bored is that I'm not master at all the moves yet. I still HATE mountain climbers and I still died exhausted in the end with the get up/get down drills. The Cardio Abs was slightly easier this time around, and it's nice to be able to focus on endurance and stamina after I've got form covered.
Tomorrow I'm going to Mt. High, and it's Cardio Recovery day. Depending on how hard I snowboard I may or may not do Cardio Recovery. We'll see.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Insanity, Day 15: Plyometrics
Last night:
56.6% tbw
18.6% body fat
This morn:
117.6 lbs
26" waist
I can't win... seems like if my body fat is high my weight is low? It's water weight. If I were more hydrated last night, I would have had a lower body fat but a higher weight. But obviously what's more important for me right now (for me right now meaning, I know I'm healthy the way I am, I would just like to improve my physical fitness and lose more body fat) is how I look. I'm not sure if this dress I'm wearing today was always this loose, but it is. So is the belt that goes at the top of my ribs. I know the belt was always loose, and I was pretty small in 2008 when I bought this dress, but I may or may not be imagining that the belt is more loose than it was before.
Plyometrics was last night. It was really tough. The parts that were tough were the parts on the floor -- the push ups, the ski push up sit up things, the in and out. Those started to hurt my shoulders and I would rest for my shoulders, not my core. The part in the end, with the jabs and hooks, is a good way for me to calm my heartbeat while still keeping it up, but I don't know if I'm doing it right: are my hips supposed to move? Am I supposed to go side to side? I notice I bounce -- is that bad? Am I squatting down far enough?
Also, is it just me or is it sometimes hard to follow along with the video? When the camera cuts to some of the other participants, I feel like they're going at a different speed than the speed I was just going. It's as if they cut together parts of the same exercise but in different circuits.
I suck at following a food plan. Food yesterday consisted of berry hemp shake, apple, asian pear, Gardein crispy chiken strips, lots of nuts ( :( I had no snacks...), garden burger patty, 2 non-chicken nuggets, some dark chocolate and lastly, soy protein powder. Not going to do the break down as I was eating much on emotion yesterday. I haven't been getting great sleep lately, and I got home later than I wanted to. I reeeeeeeaaally didn't want to pay attention to what I was eating or even work out. I'm glad I did.
Since this is an exercise blog and I wanted to share everything, I will -- but be aware that the rest of this post may fall into "TMI" so you can stop reading -now- if you don't like details!
Usually, I exercise great for three weeks and then stop during "that time of the month." It is so hard to work out during that time as I'm going through the natural hormonal changes of my body that dictate how my body and mind feel, always in a bad way. So it always discourages me. I will need motivation to get through that when it comes... I can do it! I can't quit!
56.6% tbw
18.6% body fat
This morn:
117.6 lbs
26" waist
I can't win... seems like if my body fat is high my weight is low? It's water weight. If I were more hydrated last night, I would have had a lower body fat but a higher weight. But obviously what's more important for me right now (for me right now meaning, I know I'm healthy the way I am, I would just like to improve my physical fitness and lose more body fat) is how I look. I'm not sure if this dress I'm wearing today was always this loose, but it is. So is the belt that goes at the top of my ribs. I know the belt was always loose, and I was pretty small in 2008 when I bought this dress, but I may or may not be imagining that the belt is more loose than it was before.
Plyometrics was last night. It was really tough. The parts that were tough were the parts on the floor -- the push ups, the ski push up sit up things, the in and out. Those started to hurt my shoulders and I would rest for my shoulders, not my core. The part in the end, with the jabs and hooks, is a good way for me to calm my heartbeat while still keeping it up, but I don't know if I'm doing it right: are my hips supposed to move? Am I supposed to go side to side? I notice I bounce -- is that bad? Am I squatting down far enough?
Also, is it just me or is it sometimes hard to follow along with the video? When the camera cuts to some of the other participants, I feel like they're going at a different speed than the speed I was just going. It's as if they cut together parts of the same exercise but in different circuits.
I suck at following a food plan. Food yesterday consisted of berry hemp shake, apple, asian pear, Gardein crispy chiken strips, lots of nuts ( :( I had no snacks...), garden burger patty, 2 non-chicken nuggets, some dark chocolate and lastly, soy protein powder. Not going to do the break down as I was eating much on emotion yesterday. I haven't been getting great sleep lately, and I got home later than I wanted to. I reeeeeeeaaally didn't want to pay attention to what I was eating or even work out. I'm glad I did.
Since this is an exercise blog and I wanted to share everything, I will -- but be aware that the rest of this post may fall into "TMI" so you can stop reading -now- if you don't like details!
Usually, I exercise great for three weeks and then stop during "that time of the month." It is so hard to work out during that time as I'm going through the natural hormonal changes of my body that dictate how my body and mind feel, always in a bad way. So it always discourages me. I will need motivation to get through that when it comes... I can do it! I can't quit!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Insanity, Day 14: Fit Test
Today's supposed to be my off day, but I've got a hot date on Friday, so I'm going to exercise today and tomorrow and have my rest day be Friday.
I did the Fit Test today, and wow, did it make me sick again. To those of you who are thinking about doing Insanity or have tried it and gave up after the first day... the Fit Test is a different kind of difficult. I'll tell you right now that I hardly ever get sick or dizzy from the other work outs but the Fit Test just rips you a new one every single time. However, this time, I only stopped to rest ONCE!! Which is a huge improvement from the first time's 3x 5min+ rests. Let's see how I did:
Huge improvements here minus Power Jumps -- I'm actually wondering if I counted my Power Jumps correctly the first time. I know the first time I was so exhausted that I kept losing my count. Actually very dubious about that number being correct because those were awful last time. Also, THESE are the ones that made me nauseous. After these, I stopped the video to take more than a breather. Huge improvements though, I improved quickly. Kind of wondering how I was only able to do 23 low plank obliques...
Food: berry hemp spirulina smoothie, grapes, asian pear, apple, nuts, spinach salad with tofu, hemp shake (hemp powder + water), 6 non-meat meatballs, soy protein powder.
Protein: 121g
Carbs: 95.5g
Fat: 15-20g?
I did the Fit Test today, and wow, did it make me sick again. To those of you who are thinking about doing Insanity or have tried it and gave up after the first day... the Fit Test is a different kind of difficult. I'll tell you right now that I hardly ever get sick or dizzy from the other work outs but the Fit Test just rips you a new one every single time. However, this time, I only stopped to rest ONCE!! Which is a huge improvement from the first time's 3x 5min+ rests. Let's see how I did:
| Date | 1/27 | 2/10 |
| Move | Fit Test 1 | Fit Test 2 |
| Switch Kicks | 52 | 90 |
| Power Jacks | 43 | 57 |
| Power Knees | 77 | 80-90 |
| Power Jumps | 38 | 35 |
| Globe Jumps | 9 | 13 |
| Suicide Jumps | 14 | 20 |
| Push-Up Jacks | 20 | 22 |
| Low Plank Oblique | 23 | 55 |
Huge improvements here minus Power Jumps -- I'm actually wondering if I counted my Power Jumps correctly the first time. I know the first time I was so exhausted that I kept losing my count. Actually very dubious about that number being correct because those were awful last time. Also, THESE are the ones that made me nauseous. After these, I stopped the video to take more than a breather. Huge improvements though, I improved quickly. Kind of wondering how I was only able to do 23 low plank obliques...
Food: berry hemp spirulina smoothie, grapes, asian pear, apple, nuts, spinach salad with tofu, hemp shake (hemp powder + water), 6 non-meat meatballs, soy protein powder.
Protein: 121g
Carbs: 95.5g
Fat: 15-20g?
last night & this morn
WOOHOO! See what a positive attitude does? It decreases your body fat, that's what it does.
Last night:
17% bf
57.7% tbw
I've been noticing that my hydration level has been pretty high... I hope hope hope that means I have more muscle since muscle holds a LOT more water than fat does.
This morn:
118.8 lbs
26" waist
Ok, so a quarter of an inch lost at the waist since 2 wks ago. I weigh more, but I've lost body fat, which is the way I'd rather have it be. I haven't noticed any changes in how my clothes fit -- although I will admit that the majority of my pants are a bit loose. It's this mentality that I'm a size -whatever- and even when I lose weight I still wear that same size so when I get even skinnier the clothes are even looser. After this body change I want to go on a shopping spree for pants that don't get loose :) Can't wait! Not sure if my wide hips will let me fit into a smaller size though. We shall see.
Btw, I mixed spirulina with my hemp berry smoothie this morning. Now my smoothie tastes like ass. I think I'll keep the spirulina for my face...
Last night:
17% bf
57.7% tbw
I've been noticing that my hydration level has been pretty high... I hope hope hope that means I have more muscle since muscle holds a LOT more water than fat does.
This morn:
118.8 lbs
26" waist
Ok, so a quarter of an inch lost at the waist since 2 wks ago. I weigh more, but I've lost body fat, which is the way I'd rather have it be. I haven't noticed any changes in how my clothes fit -- although I will admit that the majority of my pants are a bit loose. It's this mentality that I'm a size -whatever- and even when I lose weight I still wear that same size so when I get even skinnier the clothes are even looser. After this body change I want to go on a shopping spree for pants that don't get loose :) Can't wait! Not sure if my wide hips will let me fit into a smaller size though. We shall see.
Btw, I mixed spirulina with my hemp berry smoothie this morning. Now my smoothie tastes like ass. I think I'll keep the spirulina for my face...
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Insanity, Day 13: Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs
Man was I sweating buckets today! So, nothing new here... turns out I only last through the warm ups in Pure Cardio. Cardio abs was interesting and not at all easy. Some of it was reminiscent of abs at Pop Physique, so I'm glad I got personalized training from there.
My loyal readers know that I've been feeling discouraged lately. I'm pretty moody... I get amped up about something and then a week later I'm over it. My spirits were lifted today when Armando told me that a work friend of his is in month 2 of Insanity and is seeing results -- and ISN'T changing his dietary habits!!!! I get the impression he's not as health conscious about food choices as I am on a daily basis, so my hopes are up again.
My protein powders came in today! Man, does allstarhealth.com rock. Going to finish up the GNC protein powder that I have before I move onto the NOW Soy Protein powder, but gosh that stuff gets clumpy. I spend a good amount of time unclumping that stuff. Tomorrow I'll start the hemp protein powder and follow my food plan.
Food: berry soy protein shake, grapes, apple, asian pear, part of a banana, 4 nilla wafers, vegan garden burger, TJ's meatless meatballs, some nuts, more protein shake. wow.. that's like 90-95g of protein, 75-80g carbs, 15-20g fat. It is SO HARD to eat double this protein and 1/2 more carbs. Fat i'm ok. I just literally do not have the desire to intake more food.
Tomorrow is the fit test :) :) I'm excited to see how good I am this time!
My loyal readers know that I've been feeling discouraged lately. I'm pretty moody... I get amped up about something and then a week later I'm over it. My spirits were lifted today when Armando told me that a work friend of his is in month 2 of Insanity and is seeing results -- and ISN'T changing his dietary habits!!!! I get the impression he's not as health conscious about food choices as I am on a daily basis, so my hopes are up again.
My protein powders came in today! Man, does allstarhealth.com rock. Going to finish up the GNC protein powder that I have before I move onto the NOW Soy Protein powder, but gosh that stuff gets clumpy. I spend a good amount of time unclumping that stuff. Tomorrow I'll start the hemp protein powder and follow my food plan.
Food: berry soy protein shake, grapes, apple, asian pear, part of a banana, 4 nilla wafers, vegan garden burger, TJ's meatless meatballs, some nuts, more protein shake. wow.. that's like 90-95g of protein, 75-80g carbs, 15-20g fat. It is SO HARD to eat double this protein and 1/2 more carbs. Fat i'm ok. I just literally do not have the desire to intake more food.
Tomorrow is the fit test :) :) I'm excited to see how good I am this time!
Day 12: Cardio Power & Resistance continued
Alrighty, slept an hour past my bedtime -- bad Chloe. Getting enough sleep is imperative to good health, good exercise performance and keeping to my diet.
So to continue my last blog post, I've been working on an eating schedule. I went to TJ's yesterday and bought a bunch of proteiny things that aren't meat or have dairy/eggs. As a staunch supporter of vegetarianism, even I have to admit that it's not easy getting half of my caloric intake of protein from non-meat (including fish) sources. I'm happy I have a TJ's nearby so I picked up a bunch of fake meat. My worry is that because all this is so processed that I'll break out, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Fruit and vegetables have so many carbs. Need to replace some of them with straight protein. And the sheer AMOUNT of food I have to eat is overwhelming. I never ever thought I would have a problem of not eating enough. (That being said, I would much rather have this problem than the alternative eating-too-much problem.) On the plus side, my fear about gaining weight eating this much isn't coming true. At least not yet.
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my hemp seed and soy protein powders. I did so much research on them... there are so many to choose from, and so many opinions, but I think I did the best I could. The soy protein powders I have currently are from GNC. The idiot who was helping me the first time said he didn't have an soy protein powders that didn't have any carbs, but when I went again I found one that had no carbs. I compared the ingredients in the first and second ones and the second one ONLY has soy protein isolate. The first one has a couple of other ingredients, one being fructose, which 1) explains the carbs, and 2) explains why it actually tastes good. I was mad disappointed when the second tasted like muck. I'm getting used to it, though; it just takes a longer time to down than the other one.
So as I mentioned yesterday, I skipped Day 11: Cardio Recovery because I was at Mt. High until 8pm. I mean, I wasn't snowboarding until 8, but I got home too late and needed to go to bed. Snowboarding in the daytime should be okay for the workout for that day. Yesterday's was Cardio Power & Resistance, and boy was it tough. I didn't last through the whole warm up this time either. The log jumps killed me. I fared better this time in the end with the 8 squats + 8 push ups. I still don't go down all the way, but I last through 7-8 of them; is that better than going down all the way for 4-6 push ups? And will someone please tell Shaun T what the Heisman trophy looks like? It looks nothing like the exercise he's calling the Heisman. Oh, speaking of which, I just figured out that log jumps are just a modified version of the Heisman. Hm... oh yeah, I think by the third circuit I only did 2 reps of get down, jump back, 4 push ups, run it out, stand up, get down, etc -- that was so tiring. And then moving onto moving push ups after that was tough too! Good thing is I can feel my endurance lasting longer. I still have no hops, but I'm looking for that to improve over the coming months.
So to continue my last blog post, I've been working on an eating schedule. I went to TJ's yesterday and bought a bunch of proteiny things that aren't meat or have dairy/eggs. As a staunch supporter of vegetarianism, even I have to admit that it's not easy getting half of my caloric intake of protein from non-meat (including fish) sources. I'm happy I have a TJ's nearby so I picked up a bunch of fake meat. My worry is that because all this is so processed that I'll break out, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Fruit and vegetables have so many carbs. Need to replace some of them with straight protein. And the sheer AMOUNT of food I have to eat is overwhelming. I never ever thought I would have a problem of not eating enough. (That being said, I would much rather have this problem than the alternative eating-too-much problem.) On the plus side, my fear about gaining weight eating this much isn't coming true. At least not yet.
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my hemp seed and soy protein powders. I did so much research on them... there are so many to choose from, and so many opinions, but I think I did the best I could. The soy protein powders I have currently are from GNC. The idiot who was helping me the first time said he didn't have an soy protein powders that didn't have any carbs, but when I went again I found one that had no carbs. I compared the ingredients in the first and second ones and the second one ONLY has soy protein isolate. The first one has a couple of other ingredients, one being fructose, which 1) explains the carbs, and 2) explains why it actually tastes good. I was mad disappointed when the second tasted like muck. I'm getting used to it, though; it just takes a longer time to down than the other one.
So as I mentioned yesterday, I skipped Day 11: Cardio Recovery because I was at Mt. High until 8pm. I mean, I wasn't snowboarding until 8, but I got home too late and needed to go to bed. Snowboarding in the daytime should be okay for the workout for that day. Yesterday's was Cardio Power & Resistance, and boy was it tough. I didn't last through the whole warm up this time either. The log jumps killed me. I fared better this time in the end with the 8 squats + 8 push ups. I still don't go down all the way, but I last through 7-8 of them; is that better than going down all the way for 4-6 push ups? And will someone please tell Shaun T what the Heisman trophy looks like? It looks nothing like the exercise he's calling the Heisman. Oh, speaking of which, I just figured out that log jumps are just a modified version of the Heisman. Hm... oh yeah, I think by the third circuit I only did 2 reps of get down, jump back, 4 push ups, run it out, stand up, get down, etc -- that was so tiring. And then moving onto moving push ups after that was tough too! Good thing is I can feel my endurance lasting longer. I still have no hops, but I'm looking for that to improve over the coming months.
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