Tag Archives: nrolw

Biking morning!

Funny how it feels like a holiday, and yet Friday is my normal day off!  I don’t get a 3-day weekend as I work Sundays.  Got up and went to the Y for my final lifting workout before the triathlon next weekend.   No formal workout plan as I finished the NROLW stage 2, so I picked some of my favorites to do today:

  • Barbell squats:  1 x 10  45 pounds, 1 x 10 65 pounds, 2 x 8  85 pounds.
  • Seated rows:  2 x 10  60 pounds
  • 1 point dumbbell rows:  2 x 10  25 pounds
  • Stationary lunges:  2 x 10  25# plate
  • Pushups:  2 x 10
  • Planks:  2 x 60 second holds
  • Cable woodchop:  2 x 50 pounds
  • Step ups:  2 x 10  60 pounds

Hasta la vista weights, I’ll miss you!  Got back home and had some banana oats with some of those cinnamon chips and pb.  Yum!

oats

The sun actually was out; the forecast was not calling for a nice day – apparently they were misinformed, the sun actually showed up today.  So, John and I hopped on the bikes and took a long ride to areas we hadn’t been to before.  We stopped at the beginning of the feeder canal, where they used to do logging from in Glens Falls:

p7030009

Me in the Triscuit!!  I can’t tell you how comfy this thing is to wear.  Yesterday it was great for the bike and run, too!  Yay!

John wanted to be in the picture, too (gotta love the self-timer option!)

us1Found a nice park on the path that has open water swimming, so I might try that this week if the weather is warm enough.  Almost went today, but things were a bit murky with all the rain, plus I didn’t have a towel with me.

We were hungry by this point, so bike close to home (in case of rain) and stopped at Arthurs for lunch.  I love this place.  Everything is made fresh and it is inexpensive.

arthurs I got a mini calzone with feta cheese – awwww… it’s cute!

zone

And fabulous, too!  Yum!  Across the street is what might be my new gym.  I only go to the Y because of the pool, which I needed to train for the triathlon.  I won’t need the pool after that (swimming just isn’t my thing), so instead of paying $42 a month with a 15 minute drive each way to work out, I can pay $25 a month and be only a couple miles from home.  They are remodeling this gym and putting in a juice bar (a juice bar in Hudson Falls, who knew??).  Plus – they have nice clean free weights and a squat cage!  I’m all set.  I can bike there, too – or even jog!

So, a very satisfying day so far, I must say.

Question:  Do you have a 3-day weekend?

NROLW and bagels!

What a dreary rainy day.  The morning actually was a little sunny, but it’s been rain ever since!   It sure doesn’t feel like July.  Today was the last official workout for stage 2 of NROLW:

* Barbell deadlifts: 1 x 10 80 pounds, 1 x 10 85 pounds
* Bulgarian split squat: 2 x 10 with 25 pound plate
* Underhand lat pulldown: 2 x 10 60 pounds
* Reverse lunge with forward reach: 2 x 10 with 12# dumbbells
* Prone cuban snatch: 2 x 10 with 10# dumbbells
* Swiss ball crunch: 2 x 10
* Reverse crunch: 2 x 10
* Lateral flexion: 2 x 10
* Prone cobra: 2 x 60 second holds

I tried the cuban snatch with 12# weights, but couldn’t quite do it.  That is one tough exercise!  I am actually going to do one more strength workout on Friday just to finish off the complete week (I am AR that way).

Wednesday is a bagel day for us, so I called John and he biked to meet me.  Multigrain with plain cream cheese today!

bagel

Yum.  I could eat bagels and cream cheese all day long and be perfectly happy.  😀

Did have something strange happen with my phone. While we were eating, John’s phone rang with the ringtone that is assigned to me.  He thought I was playing around, but my phone was in the car!  It rang him 2 more times, so I went out to see if something weird was happening to either the car or my phone.  Nope – my phone was just dialing him.  Isn’t that bizzare?  We called Verizon and they installed something on the phone which seemed to help until about 20 minutes ago when it did it again.  Spooky.  It only seems to be happening to John, though and not everyone else in my contact list (thank goodness).

Green smoothie for lunch, guess you don’t need to see another picture of that.  I think that will be the last one of those for a few days – the weather is turning cooler (it is July, right??), so not in the mood for those.

Snack with my latte:

chipsCinnamon chips!  I got these to put on oatmeal, but I haven’t done that yet,  just nibbled out of the bag.

Dinner was an old standby of omelet with broccoli and strawberries.

dinner

We were supposed to go to an outdoor concert tonight, but it has been raining and pouring, so we didn’t go.  Went to Panera Bread instead and I only had coffee there:

coffeeSaw this as we got out of the car:

rainbowNot sure how well the rainbow comes out in the picture, but it was pretty. Didn’t last long!

Managed to stay away from all the luscious baked goods at Panera, which was a little hard, although I had a bite of John’s chocolate pastry 🙂   That’s me trying to be moderate.  Since I had a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, there was no room in the bank account balance (so to speak) for a carby treat at night.

Think tomorrow is brick day depending on the weather.  No rain = bike/run brick!

POM Wonderful and giant salad!

Had a great workout today.  I was sweating buckets – so at least it felt like a great workout LOL!

30 minutes of jogging, then NROLW Stage 2:

    • Barbell squat/push press:  1 x 10 22 pounds,  2 x 10 45 pounds (my balance is much better going up to my toes now)
    • Step ups: 2 x 10 with 30 pound dumbbells
    • Dumbbell 1 point rows: 2 x 10 with 25 pound dumbbells  (balance getting better with these, too!)
    • Static lunge with rear foot elevated: 2 x 10 25 pound dumbbells
    • Pushups: 2 x 10
    • Plank: 2 x 60 second holds
    • Cable woodchop: 2 x 10 50 pounds.

This is the last week of stage 2!  Then no lifting for at least a week before my tri.  We went for a bike ride tonight, so there was another 13 miles of biking.  Wasn’t really planning on that, but John wanted to ride and I love to bike 😀

The generous people at POM Wonderful sent me some bottles of their pomegranate juice to sample.  Pomegranate juice has the highest amount of antioxidants of any kind of juice or wine.  I should make John drink more because studies have shown it is good for the prostate.

pomI was thinking the juice would be more tart like cranberry, but it isn’t.  It is not overly sweet and I actually think it is quite tasty!  We tried it plain and I put a splash in some seltzer for a fun drink.

The highlight of today was making a pomegranate vinaigrette for a wonderful dinner salad!  This is a super antioxidant salad!

salad

Vinaigrette:

  • 1 ounce of POM Wonderful juice
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon of light oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • several grinds of black pepper

Combine everything in a covered container and shake to blend.   It took 2 minutes to do! I poured this over a mixture of salad greens, along with grilled chopped chicken (love that precooking!!).  The dressing has a sweet flavor, and I thought blueberries would be awesome on the salad and they were!  Plus a sprinkling of pine nuts.  Welcome to Bistro de Lori!

salad2

YUM!!!

Ordered my trisuit!

Trisuit news later in post!  Had a good workout today, but so incredibly sweaty.  I did some walking and jogging on the indoor track today, then NROLW:

  • Barbell squat/push press: 1 x 10 22 pounds, 2 x 10 45 pounds
  • Step ups: 2 x 10 with 30 pound dumbbells
  • Dumbbell 1 point rows: 2 x 10 with 25 pound dumbbells
  • Static lunge with rear foot elevated: 2 x 10 25 pound dumbbells
  • Pushups: 2 x 10
  • Plank: 2 x 60 second holds
  • Cable woodchop: 2 x 10 50 pounds.

My balance is getting better on the 1 point rows now.  Called John to meet me for brekkie.  Then I jogged around the outside track for about 15 minutes before I left to meet him (he was biking).  I was totally drenched in sweat by the time I finished.  The heat has hit upstate NY!

bagel2

Yum!  I noticed more flowers in bloom today in the garden when I got back home, so took some pictures:

lily2Daylilies (divisions from my parent’s house)

clemsHeliopsis clematis – this thing gets enormously tall!

speedwell

Speedwell – these look cool on breezy days.

And now the exciting news – I placed an order for my triathlon suit!

I am so excited!  This will be great because I can use it just for my general bike rides and runs.  I am a little nervous about a body hugging outfit, but it really isn’t that much worse than the picture of me in the side bar with bike shorts.  Here is a pic (wish that were me in the photo!):

trisuit

I wasn’t too thrilled about the pink (I have sworn off buying any more pink stuff!),  but this actually was the cutest one out there that was affordable to me.  And you can’t beat the price – $67.50 plus free shipping!   It’s hard to find just the shorts or a top for much less than that.  I guess it’s on sale because it isn’t a 2009 suit style?  I can’t wait for it to arrive!  I hope it fits, I fell inbetween sizes, so I upped to the large per their recommendation.  I think the worse thing would be to have a compression suit too small!  It’s only coming from NYC, so it should get here pretty fast.

Thank you!!

Thank you so much to everyone for their wonderful comments and emails on my anniversary post yesterday!  It made me so energized to keep going and helped me have a great workout this morning!

Preworkout fuel:

kashi

This was tasty, kind of like a Luna but crunchier and chewier.  It only lasted me about an hour, though and my stomach was roaring!

Jogged for 35 minutes and then did NROLW:

Barbell squat/push press:
1 x 10 22 pounds
2 x 10 45 pounds

Step ups
2 x 10 with 30 pound dumbbells

Dumbbell 1 point rows:
2 x 10 with 20 pound dumbbells

Static lunge with rear foot elevated:
2 x 10 25 pound dumbbells

Pushups (man -style!)
2 x 10

Plank:
2 x 60 second holds

Cable woodchop:
1 x 10 45 pounds
1 x 10 50 pounds.

Came back to some banana/PB2 oats.  This is soooo good!

oats2

Pretty much enjoyed my day off, not doing a whole lot but hitting the library, the smokehouse and the natural food store (they have 1# Fage tubs for $4.79!!).

Made some almond butter today, so I had to have a snack with that.  I dearly love almond butter!  This is dangerous stuff to have around when I have a spoon in my hand.ab

Highlight of dinner was some of the Maple BBQ sauce from Susan.  Fresh chicken from the smokehouse on the grill.  Yum!

dinner3

John and I watched Hitchcock’s “The Rope” tonight.  Very good movie.

We are actually going to go out tonight for something other than just coffee.  Either to listen to some live jazz or possibly the cafe cabaret and see what’s playing there.  That’s something for us homebodies!  Let’s just see if I can stay awake 😀

I’ll let you know tomorrow where we ended up.

NROLW and pizza!

Did Stage 2 workout B of NROLW this morning.

Barbell deadlifts:   1 x 10 75 pounds,  1 x 10 80 pounds

Bulgarian split squat:  2 x 10 with 25 pound plate

Underhand lat pulldown:  1 x 10 50 pounds, 1 x 10 55 pounds

Reverse lunge with forward reach:  2 x 10 with 10# dumbbells (coordination is hard on this one LOL)

Prone cuban snatch:  2 x 10 with 10# dumbbells

Swiss ball crunch:  2 x 10

Reverse crunch:  2 x 10

Lateral flexion:  2 x 10

Prone cobra:  2 x 60 second holds

Cardio:
25 minute walk
15 minute HIIT on the stationary bike

Nice workout today!

I tried another green smoothie for lunch.  I amped it up with protien Lori-style!

blender1

Into this mix:

3 cups spinach leaves (30 cal)

1 serving of frozen tropical fruit mix (pineapple, mango, papaya 100 cal)

30 grams vanilla whey protein powder (100 cal)

1/2 cup 1% milk (55 cal)

1/2 cup water

Without the strawberries – I got that wonderful bright green color!

smoothie

I actually got almost 2 full glasses out of that, which I sipped on for quite a while while working.  I liked this one much better than the one with the banana.

John was going to make pizza for dinner, and I remembered an easy wheat pizza crust recipe from Steph Chows for a 30 minute crust.  I forwarded it on to him and he made the most delicious pizza out of it!  With fresh mozzarella and basil off the back porch.  This was not really a lot of cheese, but the fresh mozz melts more completely than the fresh stuff.

za

Half the pizza had some locally made andouille sausage on it.  Here is my 300 calorie slice (mostly cheese with one small sliver of sausage):

dinner2

It was phenomenal!   Nom, nom!!  It was all I could do to not eat more!  Definitely have leftovers LOL.  What an easy crust recipe, too.

Big milestone post coming tomorrow………..

NROLW Stage 2

So, today I got back to lifting.  Yay!  I also need to get back in line with food.  Today was a good eating day.

New preworkout fuel was A Stonyfield yogurt smoothie!   I drank half of it, and think this is definitely about at the top of the list.  This may be what I take with me on the tri.  I’ll have to experiment with a brick to see how it works.

Today’s strength workout:
New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 2A

Barbell squat/push press:
1 x 10 –  15 pounds (hit myself in the chin, too ooppppppppps.gif )
1 x 10  –  22 pounds
1 x 10  –  45 pounds

Step ups
2 x 10 with 30 pound dumbbells

Dumbbell 1 point rows:
2 x 10 with 20 pound dumbbells

Static lunge with rear foot elevated:
2 x 10 25 pound dumbbells

Pushups (man -style!)
2 x 10

Plank:
2 x 60 second holds

Cable woodchop:
1 x 10 40 pounds
1 x 10 45 pounds.

Good workout.   Still finding my way on the exact weight amount to lift, but getting close.  The planks were easy at 60 seconds – I never knew my core was that strong still.

I was embarrassed to hit my chin with the bar, but at least it was with the test bar and not the Oly!

At the LARAC show on Saturday, I bought a piece of pottery from a local artist and I love it!

bowl

So I had my oats in it this morning.  I tried some canned squash instead of pumpkin (the store was out of small cans of pumpkin).  It was almost like pumpkin but not quite as pumpkiny – so not sure I would buy canned squash again.  It also was more liquidy.

oats1

You all saw my lunch earlier with the spinach smoothie.  I have to say that this did not fill me up for very long.  2 hours later and my tummy was rumbling, so I had a Zone bar with my latte.

Dinner was so tasty and quick.  I had cooked chicken breast on hand (love having extra of this stuff around).  I sauteed my broccoli in coconut oil, then tossed in the chopped chicken and some Indian simmer sauce.  Quick and delicious.

dinner1

I will tell you, I have had a lot of servings of veggies and fruits today!  It’s exciting! LOL  (okay, does that mean I do not have a life??)

I think I need to get some lifting straps or something.  I am struggling to hold on to the 30# dumbells.  I just don’t have the grip strength.  My arms are okay, but the hands have trouble.  Do any of you use the straps?

Thinking I’ll have a random musings  post tomorrow on something I have been mulling around in my head for a couple weeks.

Challenge Day 12 – Finished!

Felt like a busy day today.  Went to the Y and did a bit of biking and walking, then the extra bonus NROLW workout – goal to do as many reps as possible at starting weight.

Dead lifts – 25 # bar  32 reps (I could have kept going, but got bored LOL)

Pushups at 45 degree angle = 30 reps

Seated lat rows at 40# = 25 reps

Step ups with 20 pound dumbbells = 30 reps each leg

Stability ball jackknife = 18 reps.

Now I have a whole week off from strength training!  I’ll take that time to concentrate on bricks and fueling.

Came home to protein pancakes:

brekkie

I left out the protein powder today since I had a lighter workout.  That makes them a little fluffier without the extra protein.

Got started at work early – since I have a 3-day weekend starting tomorrow! Woo Hoo!  Sooner I got done, the sooner my mini vacay starts 😀

Dinner was a buffalo chicken wrap.   I had some cooked chicken breast which I chopped up and put on a smart carb wrap with a tiny bit of blue cheese dressing, lots of hot sauce and some spring mix salad.  So good!  And fresh blueberries.  I am going to turn purple pretty soon!

dinner

After dinner, we went for a bike ride and got some frozen yogurt.  I tried carrot cake flavor, which was pretty good, but not great.  The ride there and back is around 13 miles or so, which is great to have a treat and burn off all the calories getting there and back!

So the challenge ends today!  I ate pretty well today to finish off the challenge.  I had 10 good days and 2 not so good days, so overall I am pleased.  Plus, I lost about 2 pounds, which is awesome for me!  I have gained a few while training for the triathlon, so it is nice to see the scale go the other way.

Tomorrow is my birthday (41 eeek!), and I have a nice long weekend to enjoy!  I’ll post pics of my dinner tomorrow.

Challenge Day 9 and workouts

Today was a bit of a struggle food-wise. I fueled with a protein drink before hitting the Y.

Ran for about 3.5 miles with pace work and then did one of the bonus workouts from NROLW. This was to show the progress I had made and was supposed to do as many reps as possible with the starting weights from 2 months ago. It would probably have been more dramatic if I had started with no weights LOL!

For today:
Squats with the 25# bar = 30 reps  (finish weight was 110#)
Shoulder press with 15 pound dumbbells = 21 reps  (finish weight was 25# dumbbells)
Wide grip lat pull down at 40# = 25 reps (finish weight was  60#)
Lunges with 20 pound dumbbells = 20 each leg (finish weight was 30# dumbbells)
Swiss ball crunches = 32

I definitely have gotten stronger in the last 2 months. I will post workout B in a couple days after I do that. Then a week off from weights!

Anyway, I was eating well up until dinner, and I just got a snack attack big time while we were cooking dinner. I started munching on wheat thins and then some Kashi cereal. Ugh. Probably an extra 400 calories (so much for the run today). I did stop myself from having a donut though, John wanted to go to Dunkins, which is only a mile from our house. So I walked with him and had a coffee with skim milk and decided against the donut, which I really, really wanted – but certainly did not need. I am fighting that “It’s not fair” feeling today.  Think it is PMS or something.  Ever get those feelings?

I did try something new today:
attune

I had some coupons for these, they are really expensive, so it was certainly a treat.  These are very, very good!   3 grams of fiber and 100 calories, sweet and crunchy.

Plus it had blueberries in it!  I also had some fresh blueberries today:

blueberries

I am a berry girl.  I eat strawberries almost every day – for some reason, upstate NY has berries available at a really good price year round, which is amazing.   Fresh blueberries only come in season in early summer, so I eat as many as I can during that time!  The pint packages are available now, which makes me happy!