Paleo for my birthday!

Post workout was an orange and a hard boiled egg. Man, that feels good after a heavy leg workout. Breakfast was two eggs and some bacon - makes the rest of the office jealous when I cook that in the microwave. For lunch I had the leftover Mediterranean Chicken and veg from last night, with a few olives and a scoop (or three) of almond butter for a snack while I made chili. What I'm calling Nom Nom Chili :D

Got two thumbs up from my husband

I've been pleasantly surprised by the lack of people at the gym.  It was quiet again today when I arrived - much to my relief!  I don't know if it's just this gym and where it's located or the fact that I get there so early in the morning?  I just know that I hope it stays this way!

Today was leg day, and as we've already established, I LOVE leg day.

Barbell Squat: 6 x 215 x 4*
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 6 x 175 x 3
Leg Press: 6 x 540, 6 x 630*
Seated Calf Raises: 6 x 145 x 3
*Increase in weight

I decided to really push on the squats.  I have a goal of being able to squat 2 45lb plates on a side - I'm close, oh so close!  Although, I did hit the milestone today of being able to squat my own body weight! hooray!

The Leg Press was busy when I finished with squats so I did Deadlifts next.  I decided to use my Weight Lifting Hooks because they let me relax my upper body and really focus on the hams and glutes while doing these.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the fit just right and ended up breaking a bunch of little capillaries in the back of my hand.  So, now I have this kind of weird redness/bruising.



 BUT - it did make the Deadlifts easier, and I think I can go up in weight next time.

Then it was over to the Leg Press.  I knew I wanted to go up from the 610 I did last week.  I figured I'd push myself and do 630 (makes it easy when loading plates when it's increments of 90) So, I start stacking plates on, get on the chair and PUUUUUUSSSSSHHHHed.  Oh! that was easy!  I was finished with my set before I realized that I had left off one plate and had only put on 540lbs.  DUH!  So, I put another plate on and did my second set.  And, I was right to go 630 - I'll wait 'til I've done two sets at that weight next week to decide if I should go up again, but my gut is saying yes right now.  (PS:  It's fun to be back at a Leg Press weight that makes the guys stop and count the 45's)

Then, I did a quick three sets of Seated Calf Raises, and I was done.

I was hoping to get a short spin in on the upright bikes at the gym, but I had an early meeting and had to go.  I'll probably set the up the trainer tonight instead.  We'll see.

Another day in the books, and I'm feeling great. I had a Orange and a hard boiled egg post workout, and then two more eggs and 2 slices of bacon for breakfast. For lunch I had some fresh zucchini and carrots with a chicken I had baked with apples, cranberries, and walnuts. So, so good!

I snacked on a hard boiled later in the afternoon and then some olives stuffed with almonds. For dinner I seared some chicken, and then smothered it with tomatoes, olives and capers before sticking it in the oven and letting it bake. We steamed some veggies and were set!

A few cravings later in the evening, but I said "No Way" and went on my way.

I forgot to mention...

Last week the focus was on cleaning up the diet.  I did that, and I'm quite happy with the results.

This week, I want to continue to eat clean, but I want to focus on my 'liquid intake'.  I'm very addicted to diet Pepsi.




I, like many others, don't think the artificial sweeteners are good for me.  But, it's been very very hard for me to get rid of this addiction.  There's the 1-2 punch of the sweetness of the artificial sweeteners, and the lovely dose of caffeine.  So this week, I'm switching to tea as much as posible, and I'm going to be drinking at least one of these a day.



I know 'drink less diet pepsi' isn't a good goal as far as 'SMART' goals go.  But I thought I would try a little positive goal setting (Drink 1 cup of black tea - drink one bottle of water) with the hope that it will have the effect of lowering my soda intake.

Here's to floating away! :D

Well, the weekend went great.  Other then the 'binge' on New Year's eve, I was 100% on plan.  I got lots of sleep, and enjoyed my days off - recovering.

Today, I was up early and back at the gym!  I did my shoulder and tri workout and tried pushing myself just a little harder.  It worked in some place, not in others.

Dumbbell Front Raises:  6 x 20 x 3*
Seated Dumbbell Press:  6 x 40 x 3
Side Lateral Raise:  6 x 25 x 2
Triceps Pushdown:  6 x 70 x 2*
Lying Triceps Extensions:  6 x 55 x 2*
Overhead Tri Extensions:  5 x 60

*Increase in weight

Then I grabbed an exercise mat and started my '100 pushups' program.  Given that I can only really do about 5 pushups right now - doing 100 by the end of the year seems a long shot, but I'm willing to do the work.

Once I had done week 1 day 1 of that program, I headed over to the treadmill to do my podrunner intervals program.  Once I got into it, I remembered why this program bothered me in the past.  This is week three and we went from a running interval of 90 seconds, to a running interval of 3 minutes!  For a slow struggling runner like me, it was a big leap.  But, I'm happy to report that I did the whole thing, and at the 1.5% incline that I've been using.  5 MPR on the runs 3.5 MPR on the rests.

BPM CHART
5-minute warmup @ 130 BPM
90 seconds @ 140 BPM
90 seconds @ 130 BPM
3 minutes @ 140 BPM
3 minutes @ 130 BPM
90 seconds @ 140 BPM
90 seconds @ 130 BPM
3 minutes @ 140 BPM
4-min. 10-sec. cooldown @ 130 BPM

Once I was done with that, I hit the showers and had my post-workout snack, an orange and a hard boiled egg.  It was EXCELLENT! :D

And, if you'll allow me a TMI moment...

After months of not having one, one week on the paleo diet and I get my period.  *sigh*.  For someone like me, who doesn't want to BE fertile,  I have to say, so far, it's the only negative.  heh

I hope everyone is enjoying the new year!  Out for now...

PS:  The gym wasn't as crowded as I was afraid it was going to be! Let's see what the next few days bring...

I was stuffed from overeating at the New Year's Party last night, so I didn't eat much before dinner - a few pieces of bacon, and a few slices of turkey and that was it. I was ready for dinner when it came time.

Chicken baked with apples, cranberries, and walnuts. along with fresh Brussels Sprouts and bacon sauteed in butter.

Nom Nom nom

Oh my!  Had a great New Year's eve at a friend's house.  Ate a lot, drank some.  I tried to minimize the blood sugar impact, but have to admit to diving into the fudge.  I complete avoided all the crackers and the homemade bread, so, while I did have some sugar, I didn't have any grains.  And I had a ball.  I feel like progress was made.

Today I focus on keep up the momentum that I started last week.  It's going to be a great 2011!  Happy New Year everyone!