Baking & Prepping, Belaying & Climbing

Today I spent 2 1/2 hours in the morning preparing food.  I made pumpkin and banana bread and chopped and sliced a whole bunch of things a whole bunch of different ways.  I'm prepping for a big New Year's Day meal and the prep will continue tomorrow and, of course, Tuesday.  :)

In myfitnesspal.com, "Cooking or food preparation" is considered a cardiovascular activity.  OK!  I only counted 2 hours because I felt a little guilty about it.  Only a little guilty.

This afternoon, my husband and I went rock climbing.  We usually climb Mondays and Wednesdays but with tomorrow being New Year's Eve, we moved that session to today.  With all of my out of town travels and the holidays, I hadn't been for awhile.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was able to dive back in and feel good about my climbs.  I even had good technique.  :D

I finished up the trip to the rock climbing gym with 15 minutes on the elliptical.  I like to get my heart rate up a little bit on climbing days if possible.

When we got home, I made monkey bread the way my mom does (it's different from everyone else I have encountered).  I wanted to do a test run for my meal on Tuesday as I haven't made it in years and don't remember nailing it back then.  It came out SO GOOD!  I had 2 pieces (which fit in my calorie goal due to the exercising) and am sending the rest in to work with Josh tomorrow.  :)

Back Again...Again.

I'm back!  Again!  I am very not so good at blogging/keeping up with my goals while traveling.  It has always been a weak point for me.  Throw in the holidays and whew-ee.

I was so very nervous about my weight gain due to the reduced activity and increased deliciousness.  I am happy to report that I only gained 0.8 pounds.  Not bad considering some of it is likely water retention and will come off fast!!!  :)

Additionally, I am very happy that my husband and I returned to our routine the moment we got home.  We try to plan out our meals at home to be healthy and save money (versus eating out).  Also, we try to do cardio 2-3 times per week and climb twice a week.  We got home on Thursday afternoon and cooked at home.  Previously, I may have tried to get a meal out to extend the fun of off-routine vacation for one more meal.  I am very happy that we bounced right back.  We ellipticalled yesterday and I have been under my calorie goal for yesterday and today. 

Like I said: I'm back.

Today!

I know, shame...shame.  Haven't posted since the 6th.  Haven't done much...  I think I ran/walked once.  :)

My official weigh-in was on Friday, the 14th.  I am down 0.2 pounds!  I consider this a major success because for near 3 weeks I was away from home and routine and I not only didn't gain weight, I even lost 0.2 pounds! 

I did REALLY well the first 7-10 days.  Then REALLY not so well.  Again, I consider this a win.

Today, I got back on the horse.  For the first time in a bit I was under my calorie goal and Josh and I did a Couch-to-5K run.  We are repeating last week.  Today was 5-3-8-3-5 (alternating between run and walking intervals). 

Felt good!  :)

10-3-10

Couch to 5K; Week 6, Day 2:

Run 10 minutes, walk 3 minutes, run 10 minutes.

Done and done.  I am not sure which is more noteworthy: 

a) that I am finally feeling like I am in running shape again (although am slow, very very slow); or
b) that my husband actually did the program (even walking for 3 minutes) and didn't just run wicked fast like he has done for every other run since I've been gone and we were supposedly doing this together long distance.

:)

Even if he runs wicked fast the whole time I am gone, he's still pretty great--so I'll keep him.  <3

Easing Into Cathe

My sister-in-law (yes, of MSILAHG fame) has a workout crush on Cathe.  As such, she has tons of DVDs and accessories (like barbell, dumbbells, medicine ball, etc) to go with them.

For those who don't know, Cathe is hard core.  She doesn't mess around.  I have wanted to try one of her workouts.  At some point.

This morning was my first morning in New Hampshire that I did not feel like working out.  I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, but it had been very nice to enjoy working out everyday.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  :)

I bumped into my sister-in-law on the way down to MSILAHG and told her that I didn't feel like working out but today was a strength day so I'd do something.  She suggested I try Cathe's Muscle Endurance.  I decided I would, but only the parts I wanted to.  I feel like something as hard core as a Cathe DVD needs to be eased into...

So, once I decided a muscle group was adequately worked, I fast-forwarded through all subsequent exercise on that muscle group.  It was quite satisfying.  :P

What I *did* do:

LEGS:
Weighted Step-Ups (I used a 10 lb weight plate)
Deadlifts (I started to do these, then decided I didn't want to destroy my legs before a run tomorrow so only did about half of it--still with the 10 lb weight plate I think...?)

BACK:
Single Arm Bent Over Dumbbell Rows (2 5-lb dumbbells in one hand)

BACK AND SHOULDERS:
Bent Over Barbell Rows into Clear and Press (bar)

BICEPS:
Barbell Biceps Curls (bar)

CHEST:
Dumbbell Chest Flyes (5 lb dumbbells)
Chest Squeeze Thing (sit, press palms against each other in front of your chest, hold, move out and back, etc)

The pace of the DVD was high reps, so I used extra-light weights.  I think I still got a good workout.  In the future I could probably go heavier, but am definitely going to be sore tomorrow, so I consider it a win.

Cathe did two things of note for me--one good, one bad. Let's start with the bad:

Cathe calls each rep a 'set'.  

It drove me crazy.  Now the good:

Cathe had us do halves on biceps and chest.  

What I mean by 'halves' (a term I made up, she did not use it) is that you take the bicep curl (for example) and take it up to 90 degrees (halfway) then back down.  Then you do a full curl and only lower it 90 degrees.  We did whole sets of the bottom and top halves.  Same with the chest flyes.  I don't think I have ever done this before and I really liked it.  It flavored things up and I am sure it engage the muscles differently.  Thanks, Cathe!  Maybe next time I'll try your whole workout...maybe..

Back in Luxury

I didn't post for a few days, but I rested on Sunday and did 20 minutes on the elliptical at my mom's again on Monday.  That brings us to today. 

I did Week 6 Day 1 of the Couch-to-5K, which is run 5 minutes, walk 3 minutes, run 8 minutes, walk 3 minutes, run 5 minutes.

Went well!

My favorite part about today is that I'm back in MSILAHG.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.  AND.  BONUS!  I learned that MSILAHG has a professional grade scale.  So I weighed myself!  I don't know how this scale compares to mine back home, but I'm 3.5 pounds less.  This means I have to have at least lost 1 or 2.  WIN!  Actual weigh-in scheduled for 14 Dec--nothing official til then.  :)

And the Winner Is...Easy Cardio!!!

Recall that I was unsure of my workout plan for today.  Well friends, I decided to do easy cardio.  Several considerations factored into my decision-making process:

1) After back-to-back running days, I could have easily taken the day off and let my legs recover;
2) I knew we had dinner plans at a local Italian (read: high carb) restaurant this evening; and
3) My mother has 3 machines in her great room that I have never tried but have always been curious to.

So, after catching up on some DVR-ed TV with my mom (Grey's Anatomy and Modern Family, of course), I decided to do some easy cardio.  I changed, got water and then asked my mother which I should use.  It was no question, the NordicTrack.  She has a NordicTrack elliptical, a different elliptical and a Gazelle--you know, the thing from Tony Little.  (She also has an Ab Lounge, but to be completely honest, it scares me.) 

I decided to just take it easy and go for anywhere from 30-60 minutes.  I found that even taking it easy, I sweat a decent amount and had burned 341 calories after 30 minutes, so I stopped then.

As I was stopping, my mother asked me how long I went and I told her.  She then insisted that I do 5 minutes on the Gazelle.  I had already cooled down on the NordicTrack, but she was persistent.  And my mom.  So I did.  While I was on the Gazelle (and quite confident that I was using it incorrectly...somehow my knees never bent...), my mom decided to get some exercise in on the NordicTrack.  As she is still recovering, this made me very nervous, but my step-father was with her to make sure it went okay.  She was so happy to be back on it.  <3

I asked if I could stop using the Gazelle and she said that was okay.  Then she promptly told me to walk 3-4 laps around the couch.  She's adorable.

And in the interest of fairness, she *also* walked a few laps around the couch after her fitness session for the day.  :)