High Maintenance Relationships

I have a new relationship! It's very high maintenance....it's my relationship with my 8 minute mile.

It's worse than any boyfriend I've ever had. And I am the one doing all the work! One day away and I am feeling the retribution!

What A Pain!

I've completely fallen in love with running again! I feel like Forrest Gump!

My legs feel like they could run forever, but I am getting the WORST pain in my side when I run. It's always on the right side, which I thought was weird. I always thought side aches had something to do with lactic acid build up or something, so I stopped drinking milk, only to find out it has nothing to do with milk! Then I thought maybe it has something to do with being properly hydrated before a run. I tried drinking more water, no result - less water, no result - a bottle of wine...no result!

I had to get to the bottom of this problem, so I decided to put on my glasses, (I find they immediately up my IQ by a good 10 points) and do some hard core research. AKA type in "side aches" on google. Popular subject, I should be able to find something helpful on at least 1 of the 1,480,000 sites that are available.

There seems to be some debate over the cause of side aches, something to do with eating or drinking too much or not enough blah blah blah, something to do with internal organs being bounced all around, apparently the liver is a heavy organ. When it comes down to it I don't really care too much about the cause, I want solutions!

I found a very long article, I remember in college if my papers were longer I got a better grade, so I thought this guy must know what he's talking about, he must have gotten good grades in college! His best solution was BECOME A BELLY BREATHER .....whaaaa! Pushing my belly out is something I NEVER do, especially when I'm running....in public. The last thing I'm doing in my hot pants and sports bra, running down the 101 in Southern California, among the hundreds of 'token hotties' is push my belly OUT! When I'm out there I'm sucking it in so hard that I could actually pass out from lack of oxygen!

Here is the other solution I found during my 20 minutes of hard core research....just run through the pain. Don't quit running the second you feel like your body wants to double over in pain. Don't start walking, don't be pinching your side, or putting your arms over your head, don't do it! Just keep running! Run through the pain, embrace the pain. This is your mantra: No Pain No Gain - or loss in this case. Keep running and tell yourself over and over my side feels fine, I feel fine! To be completely honest, I have tried it. The first time I tried it the mantra did not work so well and my side did not feel fine, I did not feel fine, but eventually I ran through the pain. I ran through the blinding light of radiating pain that shot up from my liver and I came out the other side unscathed. It worked! Life is pain highness, anyone who says otherwise is selling something. Deal with it, and run through it!

I've reached my First Goal!!

When I started this blog I wanted desperately to fit into my super cute skinny jeans. You know that pair of jeans we all cling to with fond memories. I wanted them to fit, to be able to actually button them up and still be able to sit down in them. Here is my original post:

I know the title of my blog sounds a little ........what's the word ........... superficial, but I swear it's for a good cause, with good intentions.

I have always been a healthy inshape kind of girl but somehow in the few months that I've been married that part of me is slipping away. My boo can eat as much of whatever, whenever and not gain an ounce. I like hanging out with him so much that I've been missing workouts. And now that we've moved to a place where healthy living is a vital part of the community I am trying to put an emphasis on that part of my life again.

Having goals is important, and I have never been the kind of person who likes to pay too much attention to a number on a scale. I think it is way more important to pay attention to how you look and feel on the inside and outside. So rather than make my goal to be loose xx amounts of pounds or weigh a certain amount I have decided my goal for now is to look great in my skinny jeans. Hence the title.

Now they fit and I am stoked! I am stoked, my husband is stoked, we are all stoked! My husband actually said I look better at 30 than I did at 17 when we met! What an amazing compliment!

I have set out a few new goals now.
#1. Maintain the weight - now that I feel great inside and out I want to stay this way and the best way to do that is monitor the scale. I have been doing the weigh in on the 1st and the 15th of the month.
#2. Run a half marathon this Fall - this will help me continue to add distance to my runs and build my endurance.
#3. Motivate others - ya, you!

Surfer Girl

Since I promised to try and make my workouts fun I decided that surfing today would be the best way to mix in some fun with a great cardio / arm workout. I am definitely getting the hang of this surfing thing!

A few tips I've picked up on that I wish I knew the first dozen times I tried surfing:

When you are trying to get up, from your stomach to your feet DO NOT put any weight on your knees, you've got to lunge one leg forward and then just stand up, if you put any weight on your knees it's a done deal!!

Also, put your hands flat in front of your face, palms down like you're doing a pushup. Do not hold on to the sides, that just makes your weight get all shifty up front and you'll fall!

So those are my little pointers. They've worked for me anyway!

Between all of the swimming, pushups, and lunges I definitely feel like I got a great workout today and had a blast at the same time! The accountant in me was curious about how many calories I burned surfing for an hour today (I know, the numbers again)! I found this little tool to come in quite handy - a Fitness Calculator! Love this tool, I'm using it all the time now! I wonder how many calories I burned laying on the beach tanning the rest of the afternoon?? And yes I did use my spf 45!

Work it Girl

Have you done this workout? I remember doing this when I was like 8 years old! It's funny how much has changed, and yet so much still the same!!



And check out that outfit! I think I'm going to go buy one and start wearing it to the gym...I'm bringin' sexy back!



I used to love fitness video's. I used to have a whole collection of them and do them all the time. That, of course, was before I was married and I used to do the video's on Friday night while I was waiting for my then boyfriend to call, it was a great way to spend my time. I used to get so much pleasure out of a good workout and now I feel that I've gotten to focused on a number: number on the scale, number of my jean size, number of calories, number of minutes of cardio...SO many numbers! It has definitely taken the fun out of it. Which is terrible! In order to have a healthly balanced life physical fitness is so important, and since it's so important you've got to make it fun and enjoyable, or the pressure mounts until eventually you give up!

I now resolve to make my workouts fun. That's #1. Maybe I'll try to buy that 1980's Jane Fonda workout!!! Leotard included!!

Another Day

I've lost track of the days. Which is too bad, but everday counts.

Today's Workout:

3x20 Walking Lunges

3x20 Walking Squats

3x20 Walking Side Lunges

2 mile run on the treadmill

150 crunches

30 push-ups

Stretching

All of that in one hour. I've started using my office gym during my lunch break. It breaks up the day really well!

Meal Guide

Here's my new meal plan/guide. I was really surprised that I wasn't eating enough, I guess I had never really thought about it. Monday-Friday I have always skipped breakfast -BAD - so trying to force myself to take a quick five minutes for some oatmeal has been kind of a challenge. I do love it though. I find that by lunch time I'm not starving, and I do have more energy in the morning now too.

TOTAL CALORIES PER DAY: 1280

_1280__ x .35 = ___448___ ( Total # of calories of Protein per day)

_1280__ x .50 = ___640__ ( Total # of calories of Carbohydrates per day)

_1280_ x .15 = ___192___ ( Total # of calories of Fat per day)

Total # of calories of Protein per day_448__ / 4 (1g of Protein = 4 calories) =
Total # of Grams of Protein per day__112_
Total # of calories of Carbohydrates per day_640_ / 4 (1g of CHO = 4 calories) =
Total # of Grams of Carbohydrates per day__160__
Total # of Grams of Fiber per day__50__
Total # of calories of Fat per day__360__ / 9 (1g of Protein = 9 calories) =
Total # of Grams of Fat per day__21__

MEAL PLANNING
Divide the total # grams of “Protein, CHO, and Fat”
evenly into 5 meals throughout the day

Per Meal Nutrient Breakdown
__23__ grams of Protein per meal
__32_ grams of Carbohydrate per meal
___4_ grams of Fat per meal
__10_ grams of Fiber per meal

Calorie Counting

Yes, I am that person. I have started counting calories! I was working out a lot, and just not really seeing the results I had expected. So I was talking to my trainer about it, and listing what I was eating. And belive it or not, but my trainer actually said that it sounded like I wasn't eating enough! She's also a nutritionist and an amazing athlete who wouldn't let anyone she's working with start starving themselves to lose weight.

She suggested I actually write everything down to make sure I'm getting enough calories. If you are working out a lot, and not eating enough, your body goes into a starvation mode and starts burning muscle instead of fat because it's easier. I really felt like I was eating enough, I never felt hungry, so I thought everything was good.

My trainer suggested I shoot for about 1,200 calories a day. I thought for sure I was eating that much, if not more. So I started writing down everything, and measuring everything for two weeks. And I was absolutely shocked to find that on most days I was eating less that 1,000 calories. And that most of the calories I was getting was from carb's - bad! I have noticed I'm not getting enough protein in my diet, or enough fruits and vegetables.

I can't wait to take it to my trainer today and get a well-balanced healthy diet that will allow me to start burning fat when I workout instead of storing it!

Day 88

I'm feeling so great these days and feel incomplete if I don't get my workout in.


Today's Workout
1 Mile Run to the gym
4 sets of Squats, heels together for 20 and heels apart for 20
2 sets of pull ups, arms wide for 20 and arms close for 20
2 sets of tricep press
Leg adductor and abductor
1 Mile Run home

May - Day 67 - 87

May has been a crazy busy month for me. Even though I've been on vacation the whole time. My sister came to vists the first week of the month and we had a blast together. We didn't get to work out, but oh well.

Other than that I've worked out everyday and met with my trainer twice a week. I'm getting stronger and loving it. I also quit the eliptical for awhile. I was starting to feel like nothing was happening the more I did it. I would do it for 45 minutes to an hour and never feel any change. So I quit the eliptical and have started running for my cardio. I run a few miles everyday and also do a weight training circuit I learned from my trainer. I've been sticking to a low calorie diet and I'm loving that too. I am noticing now that I've been eating less that I'm just not as hungry. I still can eat whatever I want but now I just pay much closer attention to the portion size.

I bought a really cute new bikini and love the way it fits. I think I'll be in my jeans by the end of June!

Day Sixty-Six

Another great workout with my trainer. We did more power sets. The workouts I'm doing now are so different than anything I've ever done. Instead of just your typical squats and lunges she incorporates upper body moves to go along with every lower body move. It's like a total body workout, and I love it. It's such an amazing feel to work out every area equally. I went 45 minutes early to get some extra cardio in. I'm used to only getting my heart rate up by doing cardio, but doing these power sets and incorporating lower/upper body workouts at the same time really gets my heart rate up. Having a trainer is worth every penny!

Day Sixty-Five

I am still pretty sore from my workout on Saturday, but I know I need to get out and do something to loosen up my muscles. I went for a three mile walk outside. It was gorgeous weather, and my legs feel a ton better now.

Day Sixty-Four

I am so sore today! Every muscle in my body is hurting! But it's a good kind of hurt, if there is such a thing. I love knowing that I have just woken up my muscles and now they know it's time to get back to work! Today James and I took the dogs running and swimming on the beach, we went to a protected little cove, I was worried because my little dogs look just like little baby seals when they're out swimming and we have sharks or a shark in the area right now. So there is a reef by our house and when the tide is low it completely protects the area, that's where we took the dogs. The rest of the day we just relaxed laying on the beach soaking up the sun.

Day Sixty-Three

I had the most amazing workout of my life today! And I owe it all to my new trainer. She is amazing. I can already tell she is going to get me whipped into shape. I went in a little before my appointment to get my cardio out of the way so I could have the whole hour to workout with her. It was amazing to have someone right there to push me when I didn't think I could do any more, to make sure I didn't quit. Everything we did today was something I had never done before and I can already feel it in my muscles. It was such a great workout. I'm going to meet with her twice a week until I reach my fitness goal. We sat down and talked about what my goals are and how to reach them. I also learned that watching your weight on the scale isn't that important, you should be more concerned with your mody mass index. So I went out and bought a scale that measure that, so I can keep track at home too. After my workout and my trip to Target to buy a new scale I was famished! I rode my bike down to this cute health foods cafe by our house and got lunch for James and me. Then we went to the beach and climbed the infamous staircase. I barely made it to the top!

Day Sixty-Two

Just a quick workout today. The usual - eliptical and some weights. I finally scheduled my appointment with my personal trainer. I am so excited about it! I need someone to push me to that next level, and help me get out of my workout routine that has kind of gotten boring. I sware I have gym A.D.D. I get into a routine and then get bored of it, and that is when I typically quit going. So having the trainer will be awesome!