Kate

I’m feeling rather lazy since it has gotten darker so much earlier. I don’t want to drive to the gym nor can I run alone outside at night. I’m just feeling like a bum! I will have to try harder to motivate myself, instead of “rearranging” my workouts to give me more days off.

Plus, I haven’t got a chance in hell of winning any of the Brooks Run Happy Challenge groups. I’m still trying, but seeing the hours, miles and calories other superhumans have put in… it’s not happening. I’ll be lucky if I can achieve 300 miles in a few months of running, let alone two weeks!

Hopefully I’ll stop eating halloween candy and run tomorrow! My semi-six-pack reappeared after my 8 mile run. Now, only if I could keep up the good work and not spoil it with those tasty little chocolate morsels called Heath bars! It’s slowly disappearing…

I forgot to mention the other day at the gym I got my body fat taken. I used a similar electric hand held machine back in April 2007 when I ran my first half marathon. I was 17% body fat at that time, not that I truly trusted the little gadget.

At the gym this time around, I’m at 21% body fat. It’s cool, the best is to be around 25% or lower for women. So, I’m right on target, but I’d like it to be lower. I really would love to have less body fat and more muscle or just less mass overall. I don’t think looking at pictures of Keira Knightly or Victoria Beckham helps any… I have to stop reading gossip blogs…

Today it’s raining. I’ve been pretty distressed the past week and today is no different. I haven’t written much here because I don’t want to sound like “Debbie Downer” as my husband refers to me at various times (see: character from SNL).  So, I’m not going to get into much, other than the fact that I’m down in the dumps and not sure how to pull myself out at this point.

I haven’t had any real interest in working out in the gym the past few weeks. I’d rather exercise at home in the mornings, whether it be lifting or yoga or running.  This is great, but I’m still going to pay for the gym anyway. I’ve wanted to quit it before, but it’s kind of an insurance policy. Luckily, my gym only costs $20 a month.

Therefore, once the cold weather comes (and I no longer have an interest in outdoor/home workouts) I can use it more often and not feel guilty about not using it so much when the weather is still decent out. I’ll get back there soon enough, I’m sure. Just for now, I’m stressing out and don’t feel like leaving the comfort of my home.

As for today, I’m heading home from work soon and plan to do squats, lunges, stretching and some upper body work. I am stressed to the point where I might even just go for a run in the rain to sort things out for myself. I need to do something…

Hopefully I’ll be in better spirits soon! I did donate to StandUp2Cancer and bought a t-shirt that says “In Memory Of” for my dad who passed away this March. The weird thing is that their website has been changing daily and now they don’t even offer the same shirt I bought a few days ago. I hope I get the right item, otherwise I’m not going to be happy!

…but little was accomplished. I was watching US Open tennis last night, therefore I felt like I was exercising for hours! Gosh, after watching all those Olympic sports last week and mentally competing myself, I was sure I had lost some weight from exercising almost 24 hours a day… Sadly, I never physically moved a muscle and gained a few pounds. Impossible!

The Olympics and grand-slam tennis usually motivate me to exercise more, not less. Lately, they’ve had the opposite effect. When will they invent the ability to *think* about exercise and have that just be enough to keep in shape?! Yeah, I have been lazy, I have to find a way to motivate myself and get off the couch. So far, little has worked and I’ve been more tired as the days continue. I’m not sleeping well, which could be a reason for such a drag of my feet on this issue…

Instead of hitting the gym yesterday after work, I headed home to “exercise outdoors”. That never happened, but I squeaked out some forward and back lunges as well as 3 sets of squats and some shoulder lateral raises. Very lame! I really have to stop skipping the gym for the great outdoors, because I go home and sit down… never to make it outdoors anyway!

Do the Olympics motivate you to workout harder or just sit back and relax?
I wonder if the effect the elite athletes are having on me is me realizing I’ll never be that good, so unconsciously I’ve stopped trying at all. What I have to remind myself is that there are tons of people out there running who do it just because they can or love it, not to be the best. I’ve got to follow their lead… and get off the couch, as well as get better sleep!

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 08/26/2008
• Time: 18:00:00
• Total Time: 00:15:00.00

I have been off from work all week, which has been nice. Unfortunately, instead of working out like I had planned, I’ve spent all of one day at home this week. Just today. We’ve been out everywhere, to relatives and even to other states. I’m kind of upset, I’ve gained weight and I feel it and see it when I put on jeans, etc… I’m annoyed with myself. It’s my own fault.

Today I attempted a short run with new running shoes I just bought at the Adidas outlet. They are lightweight, so I’m going to have to take it easy in them until I build up foot/leg strength to keep my knee healthy. Chris rode by next to me on his bike, with Bambi in the basket.

Poor Bambi, she decided to jump from the bike (she’s never done that when I am riding) and landed on her side. She has a scrape on her butt which I have to wash. Luckily, she seems to be doing okay other than the scrape. This week has been a horrible week for her. She had some good tasty steak juices on her food on Monday… this led to two days of vomitting and diarhea. Then, she had to go get her nails cut, which she absolutely hates. I have to muzzle her and squeeze her tight to keep her still while they do it at the pet store. The next day, she had to see the vet for her yearly vaccines. Shots, blood taken, exams… She’s had a rough week and tomorrow she’s getting a bath I guess dogs have bad weeks too, but she sure seems to be bouncing back easily from it all.

Maybe I could learn something from Bambi. I’ve gained weight, I’m upset and feeling like I’m getting nowhere. I just have to live like her a pick myself back up. I’ve been eating out all week, eating junky and not on a schedule. Each day I just have to keep starting over and one of these days it’ll all stick.

Have a good night or morning…

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/22/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00
• Distance: 1 miles
• Average Pace: 20:00/mile

I attempted to run the 2 miles I had planned for this morning. Read the post below as to why I didn’t get it in this morning…

Unfortunately, my left knee felt a little twinge into the run. So, instead of make matters worse, like I used to do. I decided to stop, walk home and get on my bike for a short ride to relax the legs.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/11/2008
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 00:06:22.00
• Distance: 0.6 miles
• Average Pace: 10:37.17/mile

I have decided to try to get up a little early each day and stretch for 10-15 minutes. I am shocked that it’s been almost a year since I’ve done yoga as a regular daily routine. It was last August that I fell off the bandwagon. Shame on me! I definitely noticed it in my tight muscles this morning!

I have also started using The Daily Plate to track my nutrition. I have been hesitant to use it, therefore writing everything down and using my old nutrition book from college for the info. I have found I like it though and hope to continue to use it, even if I have to remember what I ate for a bit to put it in.

I’m not using their calculator for exercise, because I don’t like how it subtracts that from your daily calories. If that were the case, some days I’d be able to eat like 3,000+ kcals and I would still lose weight… I don’t think so. I just want an accurate total of my macro-nutrients and calories. Also, Sweat works well for me

So far, so good ~ and they have all the info on the protein powders I take too!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 07/29/2008
• Time: 06:30:00
• Total Time: 00:15:00.00

I have been fine tuning my nutritional plan with one that I’ll enjoy and can stick with through my bodybuilding process. I’ve learned a lot in the past few weeks, I’ve changed things around and I’m trying to rely on food sources for my protein instead of powders. I still use powders, but I have been trying not to make them my focus, because they are easy to just have all the time instead of real food! I have limited myself to 2 scoops a day and hope in the future I can do even less and use more real food sources, if I can stomach them!

This week I found some good plans and created a great plan of what I’d like to eat all day. I eat 6 meals a day, about every 2-3 hours. So, I have a lot of scheduling to do! I ate almost as many before but I wasn’t as diligent and I had ’snacks’ in between meals, not actual well rounded meals. Now I log everything so I can see that my percentages of macronutrients is spot on. Also, I have started to pack my entire day of food from Meal 2-4 for work, the night before.

I’ve found that I just cannot eat egg whites for breakfast, or any egg for that matter! I am just not an egg person. I tried them again this morning, for the second time… just won’t work for me. I also have tried and tried again to stomach cottage cheese. I have given up on it 3 times to try it again. Here goes try number 4! This time, I’ll be mixing in fruits with it to make it a bit tastier. I tried cinnamon and plain. Just choked it down…*cough cough*
So, after my oats and eggs this morning, I’ve re-evaluated and re-designed I think finally a plan that I can deal with… and I’ll share it with you

Meal 1:
1/2 cup oats
1 scoop protein powder

Meal 2:
1 c fruit
1/2-1 c low-fat cottage cheese

Meal 3:
chicken salad, tuna salad or some type of meat protein source
vegetables (today it’s soy beans) or brown rice or whole wheat bread

Meal 4:
1 c fruit
1 scoop protein powder

~Workout~

Post-workout snack if meal 5 is a little time away… fat free chocolate milk or plain yogurt!
Meal 5:
chicken primarily, beef or some type of meat protein source
vegetables

Meal 6:
protein pudding ~ so yummy!

Depending on the day, I’ll mix it up a bit. This is pretty much a pre-show type of plan with a bit more carbs mixed in. I would like to work with this a little and keep it as a regular ideal for eating.

After 4 weeks of toying with different meal plans, I think I’ve found something I can enjoy. I don’t diet and this isn’t a diet, but actually how I’d like to eat continually, with changes here and there. I’m not strict. I’m sure over time things will switch up and move around, but otherwise I’m enjoying this new idea. Lets see how it pans out over the next week…

I was eating 2,000 kcals a day, but I’m going to cut that back just a bit to 1,800 kcals if possible. I am doing about an hour of weights 4 times a week and 4-5 hours of cardio a week if I’m good. So, this is enough for me to burn fat but continue to build muslce. I always see how I’m feeling and enjoy a high calorie day every week or few weeks.

It’s amazing how when you cut out a lot of processed foods you notice in a day how much junk food feels and affects you. I ate very well in 2002-2003, but then went back to quasi-normal eating with some junk mixed in. I maintained my weight well and exercised, but I have remembered how I just hate that bloated feeling from sugar or alcohol.

Another goal is to try to get at least 60 oz of water a day. I’ve been doing well some days… but I hate having to pee so much! I drink it fine if I am home all day, because I don’t worry about anyone noticing my potty breaks. At work though, I feel a little more self-conscious even though I told my boss who shares my office that I go every hour. Most people who know me know that I have a small bladder and pee a lot. Now with sucking back 60+oz of water… well, you can imagine!

Hope everyone is doing well out in blogland!

My bodybuilding journey has been going very well, but you know me. I always put pressure on myself to do better, work harder and be stronger. This week I’ve started using two different protein powders than the cheaper stuff I was buying at Walmart. It makes a big difference in taste and also digestion, that’s for sure!
1. Drinking more water!
I haven’t been drinking nearly enough water. I’m good if I get down 8 glasses a day, which with a higher protein intake and more exercise, this is not sufficient. So, my goal over the next week is to increase my water intake, even though it means many many more trips to the bathroom.

I was doing drinking water last week, but I was sick of peeing every hour. So, I just stopped drinking water unless I was thirsty. I guess peeing more will just have to be a part of life, because I can’t continue not sleeping at night because I’m dehydrated. Also, my bowels have been a bit strange this week, which I equate to dehydration.

So… I’m going to have a love affair with H2O
2. Eating a bit less protein!

This week I’ve been a bit more diligent with writing down what I’m eating all day and keeping track of the protein grams at least. I want to know my calories and how much protein I’m taking in. Once I understand how to best achieve these things, then I will be able to do this without writing it all down.

Over the past 3 days I’ve noticed my protein intake is higher than it needs to be (around 150g protein). I’m following suggestions of what a college friend, who bodybuilds for figure competitions, eats. I am also following nutrition plans that I’ve found at bodybuilding.com. From these things I’ve created a general plan for myself of foods I like to eat and when to eat them. I do tend to like the protein shakes a lot and really have found I hate cottage cheese!

Still, with these guides as my base, I think I’m getting way too much protein. I have to figure out where I can cut back a little and maybe add in a few more carbs. I am eating also about 2,000kcal daily and still find myself very hungry in the afternoons.

My nutritional plan needs a bit of tweaking

3. Do a bit more Running/Cardio!

I have been really good this week! I ran on Sunday and Monday. I barely did cardio yesterday though. I also need to up my cardio for the simple reason that I’m consuming more food and I need to burn that off. I have wanted to get up and ride my bike in the mornings, but have been so exhausted to get up early enough to do this.

My main goal over the next week is to get to bed earlier, no matter what. Sleep well, get up early and ride in the mornings for a 1/2 hour. I have had cycling for 1/2 hour on my list of daily activities with lifting and 1/2 hour cardio after that. I have found I am exhausted after working out and can’t seem to squeak in that extra 1/2 hour bike ride.

My only option is to get to bed early, get up early and ride on fresh legs. Then the afternoon lifting & cardio sessions will go well too. In college I exercised for 2 hours a day sometimes, that’s how I made this transformation from overweight to athletic. I’ve got to find *that* thing in inside me to get me going… it has been bubbling up and I can feel it rising to the surface ~ or is that just gas?