Have Weights, Will Work Out

When I am not doing Cross-Fit at work twice a week, I have to supplement and be active at home.  I bought a yoga mat, not with the intention of doing yoga, but with the intention of not sweating into my apartment's carpet.  But I'd be lying if I said a little yoga wasn't happening here or there.  One of the best investments I have made for my body and health is the purchase of adjustable dumbbells.  Each has enough plates to go up to 52 lbs (which I am nowhere near).

When I work out at home I always try to combine cardio and strength because you will see results fastest by doing both.  My little "gym" consists of my yoga mat, my dumbbells, and my trusty Nalgene bottle with a splash guard.  Good ol' gravity does the rest for me.

Tonight was my home workout night and I did 2 different parts.

Warm-Up:

Invisible jump rope for 2.5 minutes

Part 1: 8 minutes

20 lb dumbbell in each hand

4 reps/minute with the rest of the minute to rest.  8 rounds (minutes) total

Start off by doing a hang clean and then dropping back down into a squat.

(here's a good video to show you if you don't know what a Dumbbell Hang Clean is)

Part 2: 

7 minutes of max reps possible of the round
1 round= 5 burpees+ 10 kettlebell swings (you can use a dumbbell!)

Cool down:
jog in place for 2 minutes and stretch it out

Just because it sounds simple doesn't mean it is easy.  You can DO this!  If I can, you certainly can.  Be strong, be brave, and love yourself!  You got this!!

Making due

Today was filled with laughter, love, and amazing Salvadorian food.  The boyfriend, T, and I are out of town visiting T's parents and tonight we went to his Tio's house for a birthday party.  And when Salvadorian's get together you can guarantee dancing, laughter, loud stories, more dancing, and foooood.  So much food.  Pupusas, curtido, yucca, frijoles, coffee, platano, y mas.  It. is. so. darn. delicious. (below is a picture of a few of the women making pupusas.  Mmmmmmm.

But when you are watching what you eat very, very, very closely and when you are trying to make active change in your life, it makes a person feel guilty for partaking.  So today I worked out three times as hard to justify eating the oh-so-good but oh-so-bad food.  With us being out of town, I didn't have my usual weights and had to settle for using a small guitar amp (15 lbs or so).  Below I jotted down my routine I was going to do.  I pulled up an online stop watch and did the maximum amount of repetitions for the time allotted.  My initial plan was to make it through this and call it good.  When I remembered what was going to be at the party, I decided to do 3 rounds of the circuit.  Ouch?  Ouch.  But YAY!

One of the Tias has been struggling with her weight since her thyroid has gone out (hypothyroidism! uy!) and she said she is struggling because she has been eating healthy and walking the dog after work and she's just not seeing changes.  I had to break it down for her kindly that walking alone will not do it.  Walking is good for you and it is a start in the right direction, but until you put in sweat equity, results will not be drastic.  Drastic results will require drastic actions.  I'm not saying crash diet or go to a boot-camp and then expect to stay that way once you stop doing what you are doing.  What I am saying is find a really healthy, clean, lifestyle to live and live it!  Let it stick.  Let it become your new way of functioning.  You CAN do this.  I can do this.  I still struggle and slip up.  But I am making an active, sweaty effort to change my life and it feels sooooo good.

What are some of the ways you are making an active effort to change your life?  I'll take all ideas- because who Doesn't like to see their life get better??

Relapses and Pushing Forward

Last night I relapsed to carbs and sugars.  And not by a little.  Last night I was working on my homework while the boyfriend was at class.  I decided to treat myself to my favorite frozen pizza.  After looking at the nutritional information, I deemed I could have 1/4 of the pizza and still be within my numbers.  I have also been having one 5 oz glass of red wine each evening.  Last night, I have no idea what kind of carb demon overtook me, I ate the ENTIRE pizza!!!  The whole thing.  Gobbled it up.  And then drank 2.5 glasses of wine!  Was I in some sort of stupor?  How did this happen???

Well, I slept terribly (part guilt and part not feeling well at all) and this morning and alllll day I have felt sick.  Really sick.  After living on veggies, protein, and water, the carb and sugar assault on my body was overkill.  So, bad thing?  My body feels disgusting.  Good thing?  I don't crave pizza and I can't imagine I will for a while!

Today I had my workout after work with my trainer.  Our usual workout area in the warehouse has been filled with product (just unloaded shipments) so we were "forced" into the brilliant SoCal sunshine accompanied by a chilly winter breeze.  Perfect weather to work out in.  We were told to grab a dumb bell we could do quite a few lunges with.  I grabbed a 20 lb.  Not too heavy but certainly a challenge.  We warmed up by jogging a bit and then were told our entire 40 minute workout would consist of lunges.  All. the. way. around. our corporate. building.  Which is HUGE!  The circumference of the building is right at around a half mile.  Absolutely massive.  And lunge we did.  10 forward lunges, turn around and keep doing 10 backward lunges forward around the building.  I couldn't keep up with the other two in my group (both runners).  But I did it.  I made it around my business. Oh, and on every corner were 10 burpees.

I'm proud.  Everyone, I lunged all the way around my office- while feeling sick and under the weather!  It was a very big deal to me.

I got home and did this amazing workout below by Melissa Bender.  The abs were a great touch to my glutes and quads.  After my workout and shower, I made up some stir fried chicken and green beans and broccoli.  A little soy sauce and a little ginger and you have an easy masterpiece.

So here is my challenge!  To anyone who is just starting their fitness journey, it starts with the mental aspect of claiming TODAY is the day I start really working towards I want.  TODAY, not tomorrow, not on Monday so we start to set up the week- TODAY.  Because why wait until tomorrow?  Your dream version of you will come sooner if you start right now.  So start with 10 minute HIIT workouts on youtube.  Work your way up.  Clean your diet up and drink water.  Tons of water!

Do any of you have stories of slip ups and how you got back on track?

My Addiction

I am one of those "goody-two-shoes" kinds of girls.  I have never smoked a cigarette in my life, I am allergic to pot smoke so that is out of the question, I occasionally will have a few glasses of wine or a couple beers, but that is infrequent, and I maintain a pretty well balanced life.  If you were to ask me if I am addicted to anything, last week I would have told you "no way!"  Well, I have recently started my new diet.  And this isn't a fad-diet, it's about eating really cleanly. (excuse the fact it is on a napkin, I wrote it down for someone at a gathering last night and decided to take a picture of it.)

So this is what I am doing. It is a slow process and it is taking a few days to adjust.  I am still trying to figure out how to get 136g protein in my life on the daily.  Today I will buy an excellent protein powder which was recommended to me by a fitness coach.  In the past few weeks doing just the cross fit twice a week, I have gone from 170 down to 165.  I don't see where the weight has been lost but I gladly accept the change in number!!

Back to addiction, I am, for sure, addicted to sugar and carbs.  I am going through withdrawal and feel weird... I cannot wait for the withdrawal period to be over.  But despite my weird feelings, when I am not craving cookies or bread or french fries, I actually feel pretty energized and good!  I am excited to see how much this helps.  I will also be starting HIIT training in between my cross fit days at work and I cannot.  My life is changing and I am so motivated.  Last night I did slip up and ate the piece of toast that came with my chicken salad, but today I am back on track and will stick to the plan.  Ready to make waves, people!  I'm ready to make waves.  

NO EXCUSES

From Tues, Feb 17

NO EXCUSES!  No excuses.  When you want something you push hard for it.  No excuses.  Ever since I was a little girl my wise father told me

Pain is part of the mind and the mind can be controlled."

Dad, thank you for these words.  People, be in control of your bodies and your mind.  You can do this- whatever "this" is.  Go, go, go!  No excuses!

Today, I have a migraine from my tumor, I have a stomach ache from being too exhausted(slept terribly), but I went to my workout and I worked my toooooshy off.  I hurt so badly I want to cry.  No excuses.  Some people want fame, some want fortune, I want good health.  And getting back to a healthy, strong body is what it will take.  so NO excuses.

Be amazing, push forward, and make your life the way you want it to be.  No excuses.  

Feeling Proud

I wrote this and never published it.  Written on January 24

I woke up this morning, every muscle hurts. I am craving cheese and carbs and I don't want to do anything today.  But I am proud.  I work for a very wonderful company and while the work I do is entry level and there is no room for growth with the company without a degree, I really do love the company.  The beautiful company I work for?  LD Products Ink. (Shameless plug: www.ldproducts.com for all your office supply needs including craaazy affordable ink and toner products for nearly every printer on the market.  Also, our customer service is top notch and we have a 2 year warranty on our products.)

One of the reasons I love LD is because they know how to take care of their customers as well as their employees.  Even though I am entry level, I still have loads of perks for working there.  Every year they throw a "Retreat" day and we go and bond as a company with different departments.  We play at the beach, have a catered lunch and dinner, get free shirts, water bottles, and such and we get paid to do it!  We have a gym available to all employees and a huge break room with tvs, refrigerators, vending machines, freezers, microwaves and even plates, mugs, and coffee for use.  Lastly, this year they implemented a fitness program for employees.  For only $20/mo we have access to personal trainers on Tues and Thurs who run us through a Cross Fit class after work.

Let's rewind now.  I moved to CA back in 2012 for love (and it has worked out fabulously!!)  Since moving down and being with my boyfriend and allll the amazing, good food there is down here, I have put on 38 lbs.  38.  38!!  That's a lot of weight.  I went from being 132 to 170.  I hate the way my body looks but more importantly I hate the way my body feels.

On Thursdays I take a pill for my brain tumor and on pill days I usually get migraines, I am cranky, lethargic, and generally want to hibernate until Friday or even Saturday.  One of my coworkers who is very fit mentioned he was going to the gym after work.  I said I didn't feel well so I may just go use an elliptical in our gym at work.  and then he told me

"J.  The ellipitcal isn't going to do shit and you know it.

If you are serious about changing your life, go to the class tonight."

We both got silent.  That was real talk right there.  It hit me hard.  It sucked to hear that.  He was so freaking right!  Ugh.  So I went.

I clocked out, put on some clothes, and went to the class; migraine and all.  And work out I did.  For a 170 lb woman who hasn't worked out hard in almost two years, I did a 21-15-9 series of burpees and weighted squats.  21 burpees, 21 weighted squats, 15 burpees, 15 weighted squats and so forth.  I was only using 10 lb dumb bells in each hand- the other man working out with me?  35 lb dumb bells.

I have what I like to call a "pizza addiction."  I crave it all hours of the day.  But after that workout, all I wanted was chicken, salad, and more water.  My body craved healthy food!  Friday I could barely move.  I made it through work and I did slip up last night and make myself a small 8 in. personal pizza (cheeseless though!), today I will get back on track.  Today, Saturday, my muscles still hurt.  But alas, I will be working out today to get the acid moving in my body and to keep my strength building.  I am proud of what I put my body through.  I am proud I made it through that series! That's a lot of burpees!!  I am proud.  2015 is my year.  I am proud.