Sinuses BE GONE!

Yesterday i was wayyy down with nasty sinuses...headache, nasal drip, awful tummy ache..everything. i did LOTS of resting, mainly because my head felt like 100 pounds, and ate a little bit throughout the day to not be too sluggish.


Today, I woke up feeling much better (despite the fact i had a TEST at 8am...)


7am:
1/2c wheat bran
1/3c oat bran
1tbsp chia seeds
1/2 scoop protein powder
splash unsweetened coconut milk


9:15 iced coffee---very rewarding after taking a test!! 
my AMAZING mom came all the way down to 14th street to pick me up and bring me home for the weekend! 
when i got home, around 11:

GRAPES...they were just WAITING on the table for me. My favorite thing in the world i swear.


Some time passed, i got tired of picking at the grape bowl.. and was ready for some real food.


Lunch:
1 cup egg whites
spinach
1 sliced red pepper
1 mini sliced cucumber
a few slices of avocado
2 bran crackers *unpictured*




Around 3, I got dressed for the gym and uh..ate some more grapes. Told you they're my favorite.

How friggin cool are these new workout pants? 
Thanks to Mom and the Nike kids section of modells! 


I was even MORE excited for my workout because i had cool new pants to workout in. Like my last post, what I wear REALLY can positively impact my workouts ! 


Thursday sweat hour:


Stair monster: 26 minutes. Levels 8-10, some 15 sprints. Killer. 1 minute cooldown at level 5


circuit 1: 3 x 10 reps
close grip bicep barbell curl
skull crushers
lateral raises
body weight squats


circuit 2: 3 x 12 reps
cable double arm rear delt pull
cable chest fly
cable tricep extension w/ t-bar


circuit 3: 4 x 8 reps
alternating bicep curls
bent over one arm row
kbell upright row w/stiff leg deadlift


end workout with plyo's and resistance band pump
--burpees 2 x 10
--skaters 2 x 30 sec
--sidekicks and front kicks 2 x 15
--squat jumps 2 x 15


resistance band:
tricep pull and pulse 2 x 10 reps
delt pull and squat 2 x 10 reps
standing row 2 x 10 reps


Stats:
Time: 1:08
Cals: 564


Post-workout
5oz eggwhites
1 scoop sunwarrior protein
1 super ripe small banana
blueberry chia jam




YUUUMMMMM.


Tonight's dinner menu is wild salmon with shiritaki noodles and spinach. yummo

JUST PUSH IT

The title of the post speaks for itself. If you don't PUSH your own limits, who will? I know, it's easier said than done, but I challenge you--next time you're in the gym, pick up the HEAVIER weights. Up the incline on your treadmill. Increase the resistance to the HIGHEST level on the elliptical. You cannot expect different results if you continue to do the same things. You've probably heard and seen that time and time again, but I'm telling you ONE MORE TIME! If you push your own limits and succeed, its an AMAZING and redeeming feeling. You can walk out of the gym like, damn i can deadlift my own bodyweight 6 times ..cool! And if not..guess what? It doesn't mean anything. Try to curl the 30 pound dumbbell, and the weight doesn't move anywhere? Too heavy? Fine. Try again next time! You will never know if you don't TRY. 


Anyway..here's some of the highlights of my day. Tuesday= early mornings, 4.5hrs of class, and LEG DAY at the gym.


6:45 -- yummy breakfast 
1/2c wheat bran
1/3c oat bran
1tb chia seeds
1/2scoop protein powder


then , the best part of my day came: WORKOUT TIME. Before my workout, all i wanted was some freakin grapes. so, I had a cup full of grapes, a ZERO monster, and was amped out of my mind. To make things even better, I had a really cute outfit put together for the gym. I love when I wear cute matching gym stuff, such a nerd I know. And on days when I don't run, I can wear little sports bras with no double-bra (ugh, the struggles of having BOOBS), because I don't care about support when I'm squatting and deadlifting my life away.
Check out how perfectly this goes together!
I like to workout in tight clothes and little tank tops because I like to see the definition and contour of my muscles, it motivates me to keep going and keep on gettin sweaty! Not to mention, tight clothes make it easier to see your form and spinal alignment when you're working out and such.  I like to feel sexy in the gym, not wear baggy clothes that would make me feel like a bum! 

Don't mind my retarded pose..wanted to get the sneaks in the pic !

I had to put a protective wrap on my forearm today for my workout. It starts to get sore every now and then because I lift so many heavy weights, and pole dance, and carry my heavy grocery bags in that arm! LOL.. I had to protect the forearm, especially regarding the 135lb deadlifts I was doing


My leg workout was this:


--Arc trainer warmup 20 minutes. Incline 20, Resistance between 5-15


Legs:


circuit 1: 3x10reps
Squats 45/45/65/85
Deadlifts 45/45/65/85
Side lunges (10 per side)


circuit 2: 3x10 reps
Wide stance turned out squat 45/45/65/65
Split Squat 45/45/65/65
Deadlifts 65/85/115/135 (6 reps on max)


circuit 3:
Leg press: single leg/both legs/turned out variations (3x10 each variation no rest)
Alternating reverse lunges
Swiss ball hamstring curl
Swiss ball glute bridge


circuit 4: 20 reps x 2 sets
cable lateral sidekick
cable kickback
cable stiff leg extension
cable stiff leg turned out extension


All done! Stretched out my hip flexors and hamstrings, and left.
Stats:
Time: 1:20
Cals: 456


Solid!!! 

Day after Easter WORKOUT

Alright, who ate lots of yummy Easter candy yesterday? Might as well use all that sugar you put into your body and sweat it out at the gym. Try out my workout from today. I combined treadmill, stepmonster, chest, and some triceps and upper body strength


Treadmill:
--Run a mile to warm up (8:30 for me) or until you hit 10 minutes
--minutes 10-20: run fast or sprint 1 minute, walk 1 minute (9.0/4.0 for me..no crazy sprints today.)
--minutes 20-25: walk up a big ass hill (10% incline, 4.0 speed)
----decrease incline to 0% and walk it off for the last minute


Stair monster: (Stepmill/big revolving stairs of death)
--5 minutes, level 8-10 (high intensity, but not too high. dont hold on!!)


Strength:


superset 1
assisted dips and wide grip pullups 2 sets 10
(i use 1/4 of my bodyweight for assistance)


superset 2
Bench press and reverse fly  4 sets
*Bench 45/65/75/85* (10reps/10/8/5)
reverse fly 8s/10s * (4 sets 10 reps)


superset 3
narrow grip bench press and fly 4 sets 10 reps
*bench 45/65*
*fly 15/20lbs*


superset 4
stiff arm lat raise and dip station shoulder shrug 2 sets 15


end:
hop back on treadmill:
5 mins: side shuffle (4.0mph for me) 30 secs each side, switch, repeat.


pushups 2 sets 10 reps
handstand pushups (playing around) 2 sets 6 reps


DONE! 
Time : 1:10
Cals: 550


Foam rolled and stretched for 5-10 minutes, and peaced out!


post-workout
1 cup eggwhites
spinach and yellow pepper
2 slices ezekiel


--snack a little later: snap peas
...more snap peas...


dinner:
1 can tuna
2 baby beets
1/2 small avocado
spinach and handful raw cabbage
cucumber


CAN YOU SAY YUM....

An Easter 6 miler

Happy late Easter! Hope the Easter Bunny was good to you. He was good to me...
instead of showing you tons of candy and milk chocolate that I couldn't eat even if I WANTED to... here's my favorite Easter treat :-) 
I guess Peter Cottontail knows me better than I thought!
Before the Easter egg hunting and family festivities began, I made some pink oatmeal with bunny poops .. uh.. i mean *1/2c oats 1/2c wheat bran + fresh raspberries +1tb chia seeds* and went to the gym for a nice date with the treadmill.
I wanted to run for a long time, I had SO much energy from my easter breakfast and coffee. So, once I got to the gym, I hopped on the treadmill with the intention of doing 5 miles. Well, when I hit 5 miles, I didn't want to get off, so I did 6!! 


Stats:
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 51:12
Calories: 534


I only incorporated some sprints after I had hit 3 miles. The run felt REALLY good, and I had no soreness the following day. 


post-run shake: 1 scoop sun warrior protein/ 1 FAT RIPE NANA/water/ice cubes


Throughout the day, I had lots of yummy fruits, an eggwhite with stevia, cinnamon, and wheat bran, and yummy wild salmon with fresh sliced cukes and peppas on top.


Did you workout on Easter?
Did you eat peeps, pastel m+ms, and chocolate bunnies?!

Weekend Eats

Besides my not-so amazing food intake... here's some really good healthy meals i DID partake in this weekend:


Friday lunch: 
1 cup eggwhites
4 cups spinach
2 baby beets
handful sugar snap peas
2 TB fresh avocado

Saturday 1st meal:
5oz eggwhites
splash water
splash almond milk
1scoop sunwarrior protein
1 scoop green vibrance
1tb coconut flour
1 packet stevia
1/2c frozen blueberries, 3 strawberries, 2tsp chia seeds

6's. A SIX WORKOUT!

Because of this silly oblique, I've been a cardio BUNNY, fiending for my weight training workouts. Here's my upper body burnout (NO CARDIO WHATSOEVER) from Friday. Straight to the Bench:


"6 Circuit" --I had this idea of using 6 reps for 6 sets , lifting heavy as possible and drop-setting at the end. This was a giant set, meaning lots of exercises back to back with no rests


--kb upright row 16kg *
--standing shoulder press 25lb dbells *
--bent arm lat raise 10lb dbells 
--stiff arm lat raise 10lb dbells 
--kbell deadlift 16kg *
--lateral step ups on bench
--regular steps ups on bench


*Used this weight for the first 4 sets, and dropped by one weight increment for 5+6th sets


round 2: 3 sets 10
stiff legged deadlift 45lb bar w/ bicep curl
military press 45lb bar
single leg deadlift w/row 12kg kbell


round 3: 3 sets 10
Lat pull down
Seated row
Lat pull w/D rings, palms face each other


Round 4: 3 sets 12
Tricep extension w/rope
Delt pull w/ rope
stiff arm lat pull w/rope


Round 5: 2 sets 12
cable reverse fly
cable lat raise
cable stiff leg kickback
cable lateral kickback


Round 6: 2 set 12
Skull crushers 35lb ez-bar
narrow grip chest press 35lb ez-bar
narrow grip bicep curl 35lb ez-bar (6 reps)
wide grip bicep curl 35lb ez-bar (6reps)
single arm bent over row 30lb dbell
**round 6 is where i had the best moment of my workout. I was doing my LAST reps of skullcrushers, and I was listening to "Patiently waiting" by 50 cent and Eminem, and the track says, "And I'll break yo face" JUST as I was lowering the weight toward my forehead. Talk about perfect timing, I squeezed out my last 2 reps because of that line! Didn't wanna break MY face!! LOL
TALK ABOUT 6's!!! 
The craziest thing is, this was one of my BEST, HARDEST workouts ever..and I burned less than 300 calories. Because there was 0 cardio, it was ALL lifting. But the feeling afterwards was better than a 1000calorie workout could have given me. My entire upper body was pumped, swollen, fatigued, and SWEATY. That's all I wanted! My average heart rate was 105bpm *love my polar HR monitor* .. Just over an hour with the dumbbells and I felt like a new woman! Notice how I didn't use a single MACHINE...just cables and dumbells and barbells and kettlebells.. love my iron :) 
That's a 25lb dbell in that photo, in case you were wondering. I'm in the 30's and 35's now.
If you never INCREASE your weights, you'll get stuck. Don't underestimate your STRENGTH. If you keep lifting, you're going to get stronger. Embrace it!! 


**immediately after workout i had 1scoop sun warrior protein mixed with water and a huge ripe banana**
Happy Lifting !

Thursday HIIT blast

On Thursday, I finished class at 12:15 and wanted to be in and out of the gym really quick so I could go HOME for Easter Weekend to be with my family. My goal was 45 minutes in the gym. Check it:


Treadmill HIIT:


Format---Run for 3 minutes (7.0 minimum pace, end run with sprint 9.0+), walk 1 minute @4.0
*If you are not an experienced runner, maintain 5.5 minimum pace, sprint 7.5+ , etc. Modify the speeds I give to your own ability. If you think that sounds SLOW, then UP THE ANTE and show me up!!)

Check out my stats: 
Sick right? Here's the thing: I started using my ability to run as a way to TORCH calories on the treadmill, utilizing sprints and intervals instead of just running "x amount of miles" For me, 4 mile runs are easy. That's a prelude to a workout. Not when I do it THIS WAY. I use my 3 minute running segments to gradually climb from 7.0 to 8.5, and try to beat my sprint speed each round. Towards the beginning, I sprint at 9.0 to warm everything up. By the 3rd round, I start upping the sprints by .5 each time, so by the end I'm pushing 11.5mph, praying for my 4.0 recovery minute. This way is much more challenging, and more FUN for me. i LIKE to bust my ass in the gym. I'm not a fan of comfort and ease. Sprinting is also great for your lower body musculature: it adds nice shape to calves, glutes, and quads. Not to mention, you feel so ACCOMPLISHED after finishing a tough sprint workout! 
After 36 minutes of treadmill work, I did:
Wide stance pushups 2 sets 10
Narrow stance pushups 2 sets 10
Dive bomber pushups 2 sets 10
Tricep dips on ground 2 sets 20
*NO RESTS*


---45 minute workout: 451 calories. BOOM! Felt GREAT, and peaced OUT of the gym, packed my stuff, and got my butt on the train home!