Category Archives: exercise

Fueling post workouts

We are bracing for a heat wave here.  Ick.  Still a little cooler this morning, but you can feel the humidity building.  At least it was cloudy when I headed out for my lifting this morning.

Today’s workout was lower weights, higher reps and less rest time.

Exercise Set/rep/weight
1. Plank with alternate arm/leg reach 2 sets of 10 each side
2. Complex: Deadlift, High Pull, Push Press, Reverse Lunge 4 sets of 8 each exercise with 20# bar
3A. Bulgarian Split Deadlift 2  sets of 15 with 10# DBs (30 seconds rest)
3B. Single Arm Chest Press on ball 2 sets of 15 with 15# DB (30 seconds rest)
3C. Back Squat 2 sets of 15 with 45# bar (30 seconds rest)
3D. Chinups 2 sets of 15 with assistance (30 seconds rest)

I was surprised to finish up in about 40 minutes today. Normally these workouts are about 55 minutes. I was super, super sweaty and felt like I got in a great aerobic workout.  I almost took a picture of sweaty me and then figured you see enough of that on my ride posts 😀

I came back and made up a banana breakfast pudding!

Topped with coconut butter and orange marmalade. Such a yummy breakfast.

Busy work day today.  I busted out a lot of work before lunch.  I had premade some apple topping for my yogurt last night, so it was a quick fix for lunch!

This is topped with some of those Perky Flax nuggets.

Thought I would talk a little more about fueling after rides and more post recovery.  I am no expert and I am still playing around with this, but I figured that I would answer some stuff that came up in the comments.  Guess some of you aren’t tired about talking about biking (Yay!!)

 

Sharon: Knowing you don’t weigh often, this is a moot thought, but would be interesting to know. I ALWAYS gain a tiny bit of weight on the morning after I’ve hiked a long hike. Always thought that curious since there is always a calorie deficit!.

Yes – I *always* gain after long rides.  Usually 2 to 3 pounds, no matter what the calorie deficit.  That gain slowly goes down over a couple of days.  I know it is water retention, but it can feel annoying if I choose to weigh myself after a ride.

 

Shelley: Re the calorie burn/intake…do you think it’s critical to replace everything you burned on a day like that? Or could you just eat what feels comfortable, and hey, if you lose a pound, no biggie?

Helen: In fact, I’m usually more hungry the day after than the day of. When it comes to that sort of exercise, I think it’s more important to rehydrate properly than eat all the calories you burned. Just my opinion.

Hydration is really important.  On long ride days, I make sure I drink several glasses of water when I first get up.  I had 4 bottles of water on Saturday’s ride and actually ran out the last 5 miles.  No way to fill up then, though.  Then lots of liquid through the night.  That is part of not being hungry, but I think the body is too busy trying to repair than send signals for hunger and digestion is actually slowed way down.

I do try to get a good amount of food or I end up like a bottomless pit the next day.  Not just craving food, but like the food actually vaporizes when it hits my stomach.  Not a good feeling. I also like to eat salty foods that night and make sure I get in protein as well, not just carbs 😀

Ali: I know you don’t stretch too much, do you stretch at all before or after the long rides? If so, do you think that helps at all?

 

I don’t stretch enough in general, but one thing I am good about is stretching after a ride.  That helps with recovery.  We also stretch a bit mid ride as well because it just feels good.

I have pretty much decided I am going to purchase this book to help me out with the best way to do eating on the long rides with lifting in there during the summer months.

You know, we all need to do a big blogger cruise like the Low-Carb cruise so we can all get together and chat in real time.

Ready for that snack?  Latte and date with PB.

No cat hair on my snack taking this shot, so extra bonus for me!  That’s always a risk around here.  It’s hot now and Pixie is in eject hair mode.

I finished up work early, another bonus for me! With tutoring in the evening,  it’s nice to get that out of the way early.

Poor John was busy as well, so I cooked up dinner.   Sweet potato wedges on the grill with maple syrup and cinnamon.

Turkey burger for lifting day protein!

I am off for literacy tutoring.  This is the first real lesson with my new learner.  We met once to get to know each other and to give me some ideas to make lesson plans and now it will take a couple times to get on the right track.  Wish us luck!

Don’t let it stop you.

Don’t forget the Maple Syrup Giveaway ends on Friday!

Yahoo!  The end of my work week!  But, I should back up to the start of the day.

Since it has finally stopped raining and was to be warm today, I wanted to run outside, so that meant the early breakfast and planting my butt to work early.  I made a variation on the custard oats.

This bowl was made with 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce added to the cooking water, a boatload of cinnamon, and then the egg whites when almost done.

Topped with toasted pecans.  This was good, but either the apple was too subtle or it wasn’t quite sweet enough.  Worth playing around with in the future, though.

About 1/2 hour before my run, I had a snack of 1/2 of an Arnold Sucralose Sandwich thin spread with a tablespoon of Naturally Nutty.

Um yum!  Then I headed out for a hill run.  I haven’t done the hill run in a while, so it was high time!  The first steep hill didn’t feel so bad.  I remember when I used to huff and puff up the hill.  Now I just huff.  Then I tacked on an extra loop, just to go a little longer.  Distance – 3.75 miles and sunny!  I got my sweat on, too.

I was ready for lunch when I got back, where I tried a protein crepe.  I mixed 1/2 scoop of rice protein powder with 1 egg and 2 egg whites and put in a large pan and cooked like a crepe.  I folded it over some feta cheese.

It was a good idea, but didn’t execute well.  It ended up tough.  I think it would be better with less protein powder (or whey instead) and maybe as as sweet version.  The best part of lunch was this!

I hardly ever eat bananas straight up and I am not really sure why.

Regarding the title of this post, I have read a few blogs recently that have talked about how self-conscious they are about exercising in public.  Some of these people don’t because of this feeling, some people still do it, and some people change what they are doing or stop until the people have gone on.   Most of you have seen my running gear in warm weather – it doesn’t leave a whole lot to guess at.  Does it make me self-conscious?  Yes!  I am self-conscious.  However, I don’t let that stop me.  I can’t control what someone is thinking, so why would I let their (perceived) thoughts  stop me from being healthy?  I am certainly not out being all sweaty and in spandex to entertain anyone.  I think in general, very few people have negative thoughts when seeing someone exercise.  Those that do have them probably have their own issues with self-esteem.  So get out there and do it!

Phew… soapbox put away now, and the latte machine is out!  John was gone this afternoon, so I had to make my own today 😯

With an Attune bar!!  It’s been a while since I had one of my addictions.

John asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride after work.  We were trying to decide on biking for dinner or yogurt.  I was leaning towards dinner, but didn’t want pizza.  After puzzling for a while, we decided to bike to our regular pizza place, but I opted for a turkey wrap on wheat instead of pizza:

There are roasted peppers in this wrap, but you just can’t see them.  With a side salad:

Felt good about that choice.  Not to mention the 290 calories I burned biking 10 miles!   I am going to make a supreme effort to keep myself in control this weekend.  Particularly on Friday, because those are really one of my worst days of the week.  Saturday we have a ~ 40 mile bike ride planned, so I can eat more that day, but don’t want to go overboard.  I should be okay for Easter dinner at my sister’s house, unless she has mini PB cups there…..

Evening snack as I write this post:

Drizzled with a little maple cream – oh yeah!

Question:  Are you self-conscious when exercising?

Power lifter!

I totally rocked the weights today!  I puffy heart lifting and I missed it last week, but my muscles were glad for the break.

Today I tried some pyramids with a couple of the exercises.  That involves increasing the weight on each set while decreasing the reps.  Hard!

  • Chinups: 1 set of 2, 2 sets of 1
  • Barbell deadlifts: 1 set of 12 at 45#, 1 set of 10 at 65#, 1 set of 8 at 85#, 1 set of 6 at 95#
  • Seated Row:  1 set of 12 at 45#, 1 set of 10 at 55#, 1 set of 8 at 70#, 1 set of 6 at 75#

Supersets:

  • Barbell push press: 3 sets of 10 with 35# bar
  • Hammer curl: 3 sets of 8 with 15# dumbbells
  • Bench Dips:  3 sets of 10.

Supersets:

  • Dumbbell chest press:  3 sets of 8 with 25# dumbbells
  • Planks:  1 set at 1.5 minute hold, 2 sets at 1 minute hold

Superset:

  • Split squat:  3 sets of 10 with 35# plate
  • Good mornings:  3 sets of 8 with 35# bar

I was a shakin’ after I finished!  It felt so good.  No cardio today, just a little walking warmup on the treadmill.

Came home and made an interesting breakfast – I almost wasn’t going to put the photo on the blog, cause it doesn’t look so good LOL!

This was custard oats cooked with frozen blueberries.  Normally I make the blueberry sauce and top the oats with them, but thought I would save a step.  You know, the blueberry flavor was less intense this way, so I will go back to topping again.  John said it looked like black beans (ewww…)

Mid morning protein hit:

This is some protein powder mixed with water and cinnamon with a little nut butter.

So, with regards to exercise, I realized that I was doing a lot and I don’t really have an event to train for right now.  Not to mention that any smaller event (like a 5K) – I am totally ready for at this moment because of what I have been doing.  It’s almost like I am actually in training mode with no goal, which can be a scary thing because I don’t have a plan.  I have noticed a little fatigue and the insomnia is starting to creep back, so rather than risk over training, I am cutting back on cardio a bit and lifting a little more.  I don’t need to be running 6 miles at a pop if I am just scheduled for 5K runs.  Make sense?  I find myself incredibly hungry on those days and I eat too much extra (more than the 700 calories I burn).  I don’t want to feel like I am trying to out train a bad diet.   So – I am going to scale the mileage down a little with a max of 5 miles per run.

Lunch was an interesting experiment:

That thing that looks like bread is actually a modification of the 1-minute muffin.  I got an email from PubsGal that she made pancakes out of the recipe and they were very good!  So, I thought I would try a non sweet version for bread.  This was 1/4 cup of flax meal mixed with 2 egg whites and 1/4 tsp of baking powder.  I cooked it on nonstick skillet (which I should have sprayed, still).  This has a lot of potential, I have to say.  It was bland, but I topped it with some chicken mixed with hummus.  This will go into the experiment-on-again pile 🙂 Served with pineapple topped with cinnamon.

Afternoon latte snack and a little fat to go along with it:

I always thought I was a crow in a former life because I like sparkly things, but maybe I was really a squirrel based on how I love nuts…

We bought a new stirfry sauce this weekend:

This stuff is really good!  I made a shrimp stirfry with broccoli for dinner.

I *loved* this dinner.  Nice ripe pear, too.  With cinnamon.  Think I eat enough cinnamon?  I put it on almost everything that isn’t savory (and sometimes that, too).

Tonight’s snack will be the protein powder/ricotta cheese mix.  Need to maximize that protein for today’s lifting!

Pixie also wanted you all to see her after she is freshly brushed.  You can also tell spring is coming because she is starting to shed again.  She has such a mane, doesn’t she?

Can you believe she is actually awake? Seems like most of my pictures are of her sleeping.

Question: What is your favorite protein source?

Cruise fitness and chocolate and musings

The cruise was very nice and we would probably do another one at some point.  We did one 10 years ago, so I guess in another 10? 😀   One of the things that was very different on this cruise versus 10 years ago was the fitness system available on the ship.  I did post some pics of the gym a few days ago, but here are some more.

Here is the locker area:

And the sauna:

I actually never used the outdoor track on one of the upper decks except for a 1 mile walk on one night.  It was pretty windy, and the deck was wet in the mornings when I wanted to run, so I just did the treadmill.  Let me tell you, running on a moving boat on a treadmill is weird.  We hit some rougher seas, but the ship really barely moves because it has giant stabilizers in it.  Occasionally you can feel a ‘leaning’ sensation, which you get quite used to as the days go by.  The other morning we had gone through a storm and the boat was moving a little more than usual when I was on the treadmill.  If any of you have run across a field or grassy area probably can relate to how it feels.  You are going along and it will take a shorter or longer time for one of your feet to hit the surface because it is uneven and you can’t really see that.  Same thing running on the boat.

John went with me or met me a few times in the gym.

There were a good number of people using the fitness center, which was good to see.  I did a good amount of exercise, and I give myself a grade of A for that.  Foodwise it was more like a C.  I ate too much.  While it was not anywhere near what I would have eaten in the past, it was still more than normal and I have some puffiness on the scale today.  I can’t imagine what it would have been without the exercise 😯  No worries, though – that will come off.  While it is easy to eat healthy on the cruise choice wise, it is also very difficult to eat healthy at times just because of the availability of food.  I tend to fall prey to that.  It’s just my nature as a food lover 🙂

The last cruise we too, we actually enjoyed the ports of call the most.  This time, we were actually disappointed with our return to Cozumel.  It changed so much in 10 years.  We wanted to go to Chankanaab, which is the National Park in Cozumel.  Last time, we went there and enjoyed the beach and nature and did snorkeling.  When we got there, the base admission fee was $19 per person, which included a tshirt (??) and a beer (??) The view they must have of tourists….  Plus admission to ‘shows’.  We didn’t want to see hokey shows, we wanted to see the natural beauty!  It’s so weird because in the US, national and state parks may have a fee for a car to drive in which isn’t much, but if you walk or bike, it’s free entrance and you go there to see nature.  It was like the Mexican government was trying to turn it into a theme park or something.  Just weird.

Also at the entrance of the park was this sign.

At the entrance of a national park you can pick up antibiotics, muscle relaxants, or steroid inhalers.  I stood with my mouth open for several minutes looking at this sign. Gotta love it.  I was infuriated about this because this leads to antibiotic resistance.  There are reasons why certain drugs are prescription only.  Sorry about that rant….

Let’s sweeten it up a bit.  The chocolate buffet.  It was actually part of the lunch time buffet, which was different.  It used to be a midnight buffet.  At least we didn’t have to stay up!

Chocolate orange cake:

Chocolate cheesecake:

Chocolate torte:

Chocolate pear cake:

Diet raspberry cake (their words)

Pink marshmallows, mini donuts, jellied fruit.

Mini espresso paniers, candied nuts and biscotti.

Raspberry hazelnut torte.

Check this out – looks like sushi, but it’s all sweet!  Dessert sushi. The rice is sweetened and it’s topped or filled with fruit:

I loved this. 😀  I think I was irritating people because I was taking pictures and they wanted to fill their plates :mrgreen:

Hope you enjoyed!

Time to go watch the Superbowl – Geaux Saints!!

Different buffet today.

Tuesday was Chinese buffet – today was an exercise buffet!

The start of my weekend (other than 2 hours of mandatory overtime to be done whenever), so I was not in any hurry to get back from the Y. So I sampled a bit of everything!
15 minutes of swimming (appry 400 yards).
15 minutes of jogging.

Weights:
Barbell squats: 1 x 15 55 pounds, 1 x 15 65 pounds and 1 set of 10 at 75 pounds.
I am going to start at 75 pounds next week and work up from there. I am going to squat over 100 pounds by 2 months, that is my goal.

Push ups: 2 x 15
Seated lat row: 1 x 15 40 pounds, 1 x 15 45 pounds

Step ups: 2 x 15 with 20 pound dumbbells (these get my heart rate up!)
Stability ball jackknifes: 2 x 15. I fell off the ball once, I hope no one saw it LOL!

Then I rode the stationary bike for 35 minutes. I would not really recommend my exercise program to other people, as I am training for a tri, but I have to say that I really enjoy this fitness stuff!

New exercise guidelines.

Seems like the American College of Sports Medicine just gave us new guidelines recently, didn’t they? Well now they have upped the ante. Instead of 30 minutes a day 5 days a week, we should be getting in 50 minutes a day, particularly if you want to lose weight. And not exercise of the doing laundry, mopping the floors variety.

You can break up the exercise, but you should do a minimum of 10 minutes at a time at a level that keeps your heart rate elevated.
More than 250 minutes a week showed to have significant effects on weight loss.

An additional 2 days a week of full body strength training is also recommended. This should be a wakeup call to people that we need to move a lot more in any given day.

You would think that with my current exercise regimen, I would be dropping weight like a stone. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

nutrition for jogging and exercise thoughts

I was googling some information on calorie distribution for runners. Since I am running about 10 miles a week, which is a good amount – but certainly not elite LOL.
I came across this article, which says a good ratio is 50/25/25, about what I am trying to follow! That is good to know.

Funny how the jogging I have been doing has changed my outlook on exercise again. I feel more like an athlete now than ever before. Even though I strength train and do other cardio. Plus all the biking. Not totally sure if it is just the summer outdoor exercise, or just that I really am fit now!

Those people who can move, should move. I really don’t understand why people take for granted the gift of movement. There are those who have physical impairments who would just love to move the way others do.
I don’t care if you think you don’t like exercise, there has to be at least one activity you enjoy. Try different things until you find your ‘fit’. You cannot be successful at losing weight and keeping it off without some form of physical activity. I know you can get to goal without exercise, but you will be so much happier with how your body looks when you exercise. Plus it lets you eat more!!

So hot!!!

Geez, it is hot and humid here. 95 degrees and muggy. Yuck. Got up early to get my jog in, and it was already 80 degrees. I was soaked in sweat when I got back. No way would I have done any exercise later in the day. We don’t have central air in the house (just the bedroom a/c unit), so I don’t have the inclination to workout.

Will have to do the same thing tomorrow, as another hot one is on tap.

Got right back with good eating today. I decided to bump my calories up to 1400 per day. With the strength training, biking and jogging – I have been burning a lot of calories, and I don’t want my body to start conserving.

Today’s stats:
Calorie goal: 1,400 • Consumed: 1,379 • Burned: 297
Net calories: 1,082

C/P/F ratio: 56/27/17 a little low on fat

Back to my own schedule

It’s so good to be back in my own routine again. The conference was good, but I don’t like my personal schedule messed with LOL!

Hit the bowflex today, and did Cardio Overdrive. Tired, though. Geez, I am still tired. Going to take a few days to catch up on sleep, which will be hard enough with the construction outside the house.

Today’s Menu:

Calorie goal: 1,350 • Consumed: 1,338 • Burned: 389
Net calories: 949
C/P/F ratio: 54/21/25

Breakfast:
wheat bagel with light cream cheese
coffee with skim milk

Lunch:
Zone dark chocolate strawberry bar (new, and yummy)
Boca Burger

Snack:
1% latte
clementine

Dinner:
NS mac and cheese
steamed broccoli
strawberries
1/3 oz of cashews

Snack:
1/8 cup of dark chocolate M&Ms.

Hard workouts

Did a bit too much exercise today. I did my back/legs workout on the bowflex, then did Cardio Overdrive (The Firm). That would have been plenty of exercise for the day, but we went biking this evening. I went a different way, and ended up having to go up one really big hill, then a smaller one at the end of the ride. Good timing….

Anyway, I was not thinking I could bike up the whole hill, but I did it! I was breathing quite hard at the top, but my recovery was quick – which pleases me a lot.
I imagine I will be retaining water due to the exercise for tomorrow’s weigh in. Oh well.

Today’s menu:

Calorie goal: 1,350 • Consumed: 1,434 • Burned: 544
Net calories: 890

Food Item Servings Cals
Brekkie:
Nutrisystem Advanced Lowfat Granola Cereal 1.00 160
Fage Total 2% 0.50 65
Honey 0.30 18
Coffee 1.00 2
Hannaford 1% Milk 1.00 110
Wyman’s Blueberries 2.00 60

Lunch:
Nutrisystem Advanced Cheesy Homestyle Potatoes 1.00 210
Boca Meatless Original Burgers 1.00 90


Snack:
Hannaford 1% Milk 1.00 110
Espresso Shot 1.00 9
Clementines, Raw 2.00 70

Dinner:
Nutrisystem Advanced Beef Tacos 1.00 220
Birds Eye Baby Broccoli Florets 1.00 30
Hannaford Unsweetened Applesauce – 4 Oz. Cup 1.00 50
Fisher Whole Cashews 0.30 54

Snack:
Nutrisystem Advanced Blueberry Lemon Bar 1.00 160
Skim Milk 0.20 16