Today I’m officially starting over on Phase 2 of Jamie Eason’s LiveFit trainer.

Why? Because I punked out. Big time.

I let the scale get to me. Yup. I said it.

I know, I know. I posted some totally-awkward-panties-progress photos last week and mentioned that I was gaining weight.

I got scared of gaining weight, even though I was clearly losing inches and gaining muscle. And my workouts started to reflect that.

How did I punk out? First, I started lifting lighter weights. And I started doing the trainer whenever I felt like it instead of on the days prescribed. Other days I was running — which I’m still doing as I plan to add 1 long run day in there and not pair it up with a trainer day. And I was also skipping exercises that targeted areas that didn’t need extra help becoming larger [ read: my butt ].

Then Janetha from Meals and Moves posted her review of the program. She mentioned that she felt pretty large during Phase 2 … which was pretty much how I was feeling when I read that post.

That’s when I decided that I was going to start fresh. I finished out my plan for the first few days of this week [ long run on Sunday, rest day on Monday, bootcamp on Tuesday ], and today I’m starting new with this:

You might have noticed that I mentioned Bootcamp. I’m doing this intense program at Surefire Fitness on Tuesdays and Thursdays this month at 6 AM since I’m teaching a crochet class in the evenings and wanted a Surefire way (haha, pun intended) to get my workout in those days so I wouldn’t stress about it. I can’t even begin to describe this to you, but if you’re interested, msg me and I will see if I can set you up with a freebie trial session.

This month will be odd with those bootcamps, which honestly, I might continue to do after this month because I’m loving them. But my schedule looks like this:

Monday: Active rest — walk over lunch
Tuesday: Bootcamp, walk over lunch
Wednesday: walk over lunch, Jamie Eason’s Livefit trainer — hoping to use running as my cardio so I can get back into it.
Thursday:Bootcamp, walk over lunch
Friday: [ optional rest day — Friday or Saturday ] walk over lunch, Jamie Eason’s Livefit trainer (whichever day is appropriate) — no running for cardio if I’m running on Saturday
Saturday:[ optional rest day — Friday or Saturday ] Jamie Eason’s Livefit trainer (whichever day is appropriate) — no running for cardio — OR — long run
Sunday: Long run (6-8 miles — for now — not training for anything specific YET) — or Livefit Trainer (depends on what Saturday entails)

Mentally I start my week on Sunday. If I started my week with a rest day, I wouldn’t work out all week. But this schedule looks awesome with a rest day at the front.

Okay, for those of you who are going “HOLY CRAP THAT’S A LOT OF WORKING OUT YOU’RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF,” this is no more than what I normally do, except I don’t physically schedule it out like this. If I’m training for a race, I schedule my run days, but that’s it.

I usually just do what I feel like. I always walk over lunch at work (unless I have plans) and most often I do a long run on the weekend, and I usually do 4-5 days of strength training + cardio for 45-60 minutes. I try to take 1-2 rest days — 1 if I’m actively trying to build muscle or lose weight, 2 if I’m in maintenance mode or if my schedule doesn’t permit.

I like having a schedule — makes it easy for me to mix things up. I have a habit of getting into a rut, which makes me prone to injury and less importantly — boredom.

Anyway. I’m starting this over today. And I thought I would share.

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Hi guys. It’s been a while since I posted those awkward in-my-undies photos to show that I’m making progress with LiveFit.

I just have to say … I fucking rock. I feel awesome. I feel great about all the choices I’ve made (except that horrible decision to drink my weight in Grainbelt last Friday night). I am owning it.

For reference … here’s Week 2 and here is Week 5.

I think adding the diet component really added to my progress. I mentioned I joined WeightWatchers, right? I eat a TON of fruits and veggies. I’m eating way more food than before, and I’ve gained weight (YES GAINED muscle … and water weight, but that’s a different story and I fixed that — I was drinking almost 200 oz of water a day. no joke.).

And here I am now. Week 9ish? I have no idea what I weigh. It’s close to the same as in the first two progress reports. Which means I’ve lost fat and gained muscle.

Time for awkward underwearness! I even wore heart panties JUST for added awkwardness. Maybe next time I will wear an actual bikini. Still don’t feel comfortable in one of those.

And um, excuse the ginormous pile of laundry in the mirror. Let’s hope my mother doesn’t see this post.

[ everything tends to stick around my hips ... i'm working on lower back stuff ... it's a slow process ]

[ look ma, obliques! ]

So it looks like my abs went away. WRONG. I lost belly fat so the part in the front doesn’t poof out so much … so they don’t look as awesome as before. which I know sounds weird? But it was total shadow play. FLAT TUMMY.

Mostly I noticed that I lost a lot from my sides around my waist and hips. I feel like I’m finally seeing my  hard work I’ve put into my body. GO ME!

Also, I got up at 5 AM today to do a bootcamp with a bunch of tweeps I know from twitter. Let’s hope I made it.

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I’ve been obsessing over smoothies.  Big time.  One every day for breakfast.  I keep this one for the weekend because sometimes bananas give me stomachaches, but it is SO worth the tummy ache for this smoothie.

Chocolate Banana Smoothie

1 frozen banana
5 ice cubes
2 T cocoa (unsweetened)
1 scoop whey protein powder
1/2 c–3/4 c almond milk

Crush ice then blend until smooth. Serve cold.

Yummmmmmmm! It’s like having ice cream for breakfast. Except less naughty.

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I finally moved on from my gouda apple sandwiches. It took me a few months. But I think I found a replacement — still involving fruit.

Amazing Chicken Salad

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1/4 c craisins
1/4 c walnuts
8 oz plain yogurt (I like Kalona organic)
Dash of pepper

Mix ingredients together and chill.  Can be used for sandwiches or on lettuce for an amazing salad (no dressing!).

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My favorite post-workout snack is a faux chocolate malt. And I think I’ve finally perfected my recipe.

Faux Chocolate Malt

1 frozen banana
3-4 ice cubes
3/4 c milk (I use soy milk)
2-3 T Rich Chocolate Ovaltine (or malt flavored OR if you’re feeling naughty, Nutella)

Put ice cubes and banana into blender and add milk. Pulse blender to crush ice and banana. Blend until smooth. Add chocolate and blend until combined. Serve immediately.

If you’re needing some extra protein, add a tablespoon of almond or peanut butter (I like almond better) or use a chocolate-flavored protein powder in place of the ovaltine.

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Remember that time I said I hate treadmills? Well … I have a date with a treadmill today. I run an hour to an hour and a half on Saturdays and the last few Saturdays have been pretty crappy outside. I thought I’d take the opportunity to get a good interval workout in since that’s kind of my theme nowadays.

Behold. I wrote another workout. I’ve done this before, except I think it was a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 minute thing instead of a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 minute thing. Fun times. My high school boyfriend and I ran this on the cross country course back home when I started running. He was trying to make me get faster.

Note that since you’re running for a longer time that the bursts of speed are a little less speedy. Feel free to adjust if you feel like you could kick it a bit faster.

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Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve done a Humpday Blog Love post.

This week’s Humpday Blog Love goes to one of my favorite local ladies: Kristin from Iowa Girl Eats.

Kristin has been on a fabulous vacation in Italy for the last several days (I’m so jealous!), but she is a foodie who’s into being healthy and fit. Her blog includes a lot of recipes, ideas for food combinations, reviews of local (and far-away) restaurants and foods, fabulous traveling escapades and tips for running/walking/working out.  I’m always inspired by her — she’s healthy and fit, but isn’t afraid to eat what she wants — good food is good food.

So thanks for the inspiration, Kristin! Be sure to check out her blog, Iowa Girl Eats.

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I went to the Bell Center today to run on a treadmill. I set out to run 45 minutes or 5 miles — whichever came first.

Welll … I ended up running for an hour.  Which was somewhere between 7 and 8 miles (I need to recalibrate my nike+ hardcore).

Anyway, here’s my run:

Notice my playlist is titled \m/ \m/ … that’s for metal.

I spent a good 20 minutes stretching out and LO! I can touch my left toe!!! I haven’t done that in years. Especially since I’ve been injured.

I’m currently enjoying my new favorite post-run treat. A faux-chocolate malt.  I haven’t quite gotten an official recipe down, but this is kinda what I’ve got going …

1-2 frozen bananas (peel/slice before you freeze)
1-2 bananas
5-7 ice cubes
1/4 c milk (you might have to add more towards the end
chocolate milk mix to taste

Toss it in a blender … ice and frozen naners first, add regular bananas and milk. Blend until desired consistency … add chocolate milk mix. Tastes like a chocolate malt!

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For those of you who don’t know, I recently went through kind of a rough patch.  During that time, most of my healthy lifestyle and habits went out the window.  I was eating pizza and ice cream on a semi-daily basis.  But magically, I was losing weight.

Something was up.  I don’t know what, but whatever it was finally caught up to me.

So 10 pounds that I shed during that time have crept back up on me in a very unflattering manner.  The weight I lost was mostly muscle.  Let’s just say it didn’t come back in that form.

Here’s where most of my readers (all 5 of you?) groan.  Well, you  know what? I like to look a certain way, and dammit, I know if I work at it, I can get there. I’ve been there. I worked HARD to get there.  I’ve been lazy.  I need to quit being lazy.  Despite what you may think, you don’t get this body for free.  I was damn lucky to have maintained it the past few months, but my luck is beginning to run out.

It begins today.

I’m getting my ass out of bed and working out in the morning. I’m starting with Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred.  It’s painfully hard.  Even for somebody who’s in as good of shape as me (haha, which isn’t as good as you would think actually).

I’m going to bring the DVD, my weights and mat home with me when I go for Thanksgiving.  I’ve got an elliptical at home and some of my old favorite running routes live on the gravels back there.  Turkey, do your worst.  I’m ready.

Today was day one.  I was GOING to get up and run.  But it decided to thunderstorm.  I remembered that Jillian was waiting for me in my living room.  So, I hung with her for 20 minutes.  To me, that’s not a good enough workout. So, I’m probably going to hit the gym over lunch today. And by probably, I mean I AM going to hit the gym.

Also, I’m burning P90X from my work computer and taking it home with me.  I need an ass-kicking workout. I want to be ripped again.

Here’s my inspiration …

Lolo and Jillian.  Yes, I found a picture where Jillian looks BEAUTIFUL and less like a man (I think she’s gorgeous anyway, but I’ve heard other people say otherwise).

Anyway.  I’m uncomfortable where I’m at right now and that needs to change. I’m afraid I’m going to continue packing it on like I did last year, and I don’t want to get to that point again. I saw the magic number on the scale last month. I want to see it again.  And I want it to stay there.  But I want to do it the right way, not the wrong way.

I also realize that means I’m going to have to cut out a LOT of the crap I’ve been eating lately (sorry, no more beer and Fong’s Pizza for me).  Sushi can stay (thank god).  Fortunately, I’ve fallen in love with some healthy food (arugula, tomatoes, cottage cheese, beets, etc) over the years, so I should be able to get back into the swing of things.  I just have to watch myself.  And THINK before I eat.  THINKING is the biggest part of holiday weight gain for most people, or I should say lack thereof. I’m vowing to think before I eat this year.  For real this time. Food is fuel.  I need to think like an athlete again.  Hopefully I can get strong enough to do my half marathon in April this year.  But I have to start somewhere, and it begins now.

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oooh I’m sooo excited!  I had a fabulous run yesterday and I procrastinated enough to make it outside *just* as the sun finally poked out of the clouds.  

I ran for 35 minutes, sticking with my plan of increasing my time by 5 minutes a week until I get up to a respectable distance (ie. 7 miles or so) then going by increasing miles instead and adding a day of shorter speedwork with intervals. Right now I’m running 2-3 days a week and crosstraining on the other 2-4 days of the week. 

Overall, taking the break from running has really helped me improve. I’ve stepped back and thought more about things I didn’t before like form and speed. I’ve realized the importance of crosstraining, stretching and strength training firsthand—rather than just reading an expert opinion on these matters and ignoring it.

Anyway, I think I’m going to bounce back in a good way if I continue to be strategic about running rather than just plugging away countless miles.  I’ve been paying more attention to my body’s signals lately. If I hurt somewhere — more than just a regular soreness — I take care to rest or pay extra attention to that when stretching or strength training.

Anyway, here’s yesterday’s awesome run.

I’m kind of excited to see the under 8 min/mi speed at the end. I don’t fully realize my potential. I’ve been running the same speed for so many years that it’s inherent like breathing or a heartbeat. I keep starting all my runs at that pace but realize I can go faster as I get warmed up. Maybe I should jog a 3-5 minute warm up, stretch, then turn on my nike+ for the real run portion?  Or is that being too competitive/anal? I don’t know. I’ve never really run competitively, but I might start once I get back in the game for good (as in more than 4 miles and 2-3 days a week). 

Also — I reset my resolutions on nikeplus.com to realistic goals now that I’m honestly recovering/recuperating (you know..only 7-8 months after the initial injury). This month: 20 miles. I’m only 7 miles short. I can definitely make it.  

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