How Do I Stay Motivated?

I have a secret weapon for the days I don't feel motivated. It's called PINTEREST! That's right. I go there, look right past all the foods and click on "Health and Fitness" category or simply go on my Fit and Healthy Board and start looking at motivational pictures and words. It always works!! Here are a few of my favorites:

You can follow me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/mrscnwalford/

Stay motivated!!

5 Months Progress!

It's hard to believe it's been 5 months since I decided to change my life for the better. I now know this is not a phase, it's a permanent change and I'm sticking with it!!

And of course, it deserves a progress pictures. Here you go: 

Where did all that fat go??? I don't know, but all I know is I'm really happy that all my hard work is paying off!! I can finally wear tight pants and small shirts to the gym and not be embarrassed. 

So, on to the measurements:

	Weight	Hips	Chest	Waist	Thighs	Butt	Shirt Size	Pants Size	BMI
Starting	160	40”	40”	33”	24”	42”	L	12-14	Overweight
Current	138	35”	35”	27”	22”	38”	S	8	Normal J

I just love doing these little comparison tables! Specially on days I feel unmotivated, to keep me going and realize change comes, even if it takes time. 

I am pretty happy where I am right now. I don't have a set goal weight. I'm focusing on being a size 6 and that's it. I think that's where I want to be. But more than that, I want to keep on getting stronger and be able to run more often. I'm yet to run more than 4 miles. 

Thanks for reading, whoever you are :)

I Lost a Car Tire!

That's how much weight I have lost so far... 20 lbs! Which equals a car tire, according to this awesome list below I came across online. It helps you get a better idea on how much you really are losing!

What have YOU lost?

1 pound = a Guinea Pig 
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts 
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs 
3 pounds = an average human brain 
4 pounds = an ostrich egg 
5 pounds = a Chihuahua 
6 pounds = a human’s skin 
7.5 pounds = an average newborn 
8 pounds = a human head 
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year 
11 pounds = an average housecat 
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle 
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs 
16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain 
20 pounds = an automobile tire 
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year 
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream 
25 pounds = an average 2 year old 
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year 
33 pounds = a cinder block 
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave 
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg 
44 pounds = an elephant’s heart 
50 pounds = a small bale of hay 
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner 
60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!) 
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year 
70 pounds = an Irish Setter 
77 pounds = a gold brick 
80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape 
90 pounds = a newborn calf 
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse 
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year 
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11”) 
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica 
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month 
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe 
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year 
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year 
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4”) 
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary 
187 pounds = an average adult man 
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds 
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger 
300 pounds = an average football lineman 
400 pounds = a Welsh pony 

I think this is a great way to motivate and inspire people to stay strong. My goal is to lose a mid-size microwave in total :)

TL;DR: Don't Give Up!!!!!

Eating healthy is an arduous, expensive, annoying process. It's so much easier to grab a back of chips and curb your hunger that way. But I also realized the way you feel after eating a healthy meal or snack is much better. You don't feel sick, or too full or guilty. You feel satisified, energized and healthy... Not to mention the reward in the long run... Not being bloated, losing inches around your waist, having better skin, fitting in clothes easily, feeling sexy in underwear... Those things are far better than not caring about what you eat. I know, because I have experienced all these things. I don't miss eating a lot. I learned to know when I am satisfied and keep within my calorie limits. When I do eat a lot, I just feel sick and bloated. It's not a pleasant feeling.

Here is what I have been doing.. On the days I work, I eat a yogurt for breakfast, and sometimes a banana. But mostly just a yogurt. Then for lunch, a have a Lean Cuisine or a low calorie lunch, because on the nights I work, me and my husband go for easy dinners such as Pizza or hot dogs, which are usually high in calories, and everything else, so I try to keep at a very low calorie intake throughout the day.

The days I don't work, I have a nice breakfast consisting of eggs, and maybe some other meat like Turkey bacon or a bagle. Depending the time I wake up, I'll skip lunch and have a fruit, or have a low calorie lunch. Those days I can control my dinner better, because I cook then, so I make sure to cook brocolli, and something healthier, like grilled chicken. I also pay attention to the fat, sugar, carb and sodium contents of the foods I eat, so I try to go for healthier alternatives. For instance, I really like tacos. But I decided to make them with Turkey ground beed and a low sodium Taco mix instead of regular ground beef and regular taco seasoning. Or even if I go to McDonald's (because trust me, my husband will want to go to McDonald's and use his puppy eyes for me to gog with him), I will have a smaller burger and medium fries, and drink water instead of a large meal with a Coke.  I feel like those little changes really make a difference.

Little by little, you learn the healthy things you like and make them part of your routine. I also learned that it is impossible to cut off foods you love completely (at least for me). I tried the Paleo diet, the keto, and even fasting, but what has worked for me was keep count of my calorie intake, and every once in a while eat the things I like, in moderation. Maybe if I did cut off carbs or sugar completely, I would be losing weight more quickly, but why lose weight quickly, if I know I won't be able to stay off these things forever? Just so that when I eat them again, I gain all the weight back? I rather lose the weight slowly, and make it a permanent loss, and still eat the things I like.

Plus, it's not easy to be on a diet when you are married to someone who is not. You feel tempted to eat the same things he does, and you also don't want to cook only healthy things if he won't eat it. Therefore I end up having more junk food than I would like to, but I still try to compensate with eating healthy during other days or other times. I still want to be able to go to a restaurant with him or fast food every now and then, and be normal, rather than obsess with every little thing I eat, thus making it an unpleasant experience for him. I found that the secret is, have everything in moderation, know your calories, and your limits. If you pig out one day, make sure you stay in line during the week.

Finally, water, water, water!! I try to drink at least 2 liters a day.

As far as activities go, let me start by saying, once again, that on April 7th, the day I decided to start this whole thing, I was nowhere near an active person. I didn't walk, run, or even lifted as much as a feather. I was really sedentary. All I did was go home, watch TV and eat, and then clean the apartment the days I was off. I started the c25k program on April 17th and I remember how tired I was from running up some hills near my apartment for 30 seconds straight. My lungs were in pain, my back hurt like hell, I did NOT enjoy it at all. Last week, I ran around those same hills, for 25 minutes straight. The only reason I stopped, was because I was getting late for my eye doctor appointment and had to get ready. But I have done 5k's and even ran 4 miles once.

I started crossfit the same week. I remember my whole body was hurting just from doing overhead squats with PVC pipes and body weight squats. Now I can do the work outs just like everyone else, and even did a barbell back squat with 75lbs on my shoulder. I didn't even shake. I have been seeing improvement little by little, on the amount of weight I can lift, reps I can do, distance I can run, etc. It just feels great to be able to do the same things the strong girls are doing. I'm one of the strong girls now! :) I try to go to my crossfit classes 3 times a week, and run at least once. 

So now you ask, what has all this done for me?

I have lost 16 pounds in about 4 months. I have gone down 2 sizes of clothing (from 12 to 8). My work pants are all too big. I can wear anything in my closet and look great. It's so funny how, on a daily basis, it doesn't seem like I'm losing weight according to scale, because it feels like I'm always on a Plateau. At first, I plateaud between 155 and 158, then I plateaud between 148 and 153, and now I am at 143 and 145. But when I look back, I went from 160 to 143! So, when they say your body is just getting re-adjusted, I really believe it. So now, when I weigh myself everyday and I see either 144 or 145, I know it's just temporary. Plus, my pants keep getting baggier and baggier, so either they are getting larger or I am getting smaller :)

SO basically, no matter how long I plateau or how many times I might feel weak or fall, as long as I don't give up, I see results eventually!

I think the most rewarding aspect of all this, is having people look at you and be inspired by your changes. Since I started this whole thing, 3 women I know joined crossfit and/or started running. Even my husband started running! People are always commenting on how much weight I lost and how good I look, and that is the best feeling in the world.

I haven't reached my goal yet, but I am more than halfway there, and damn, it feels good.

3 Months Progress

It's been a while since I have posted here. It was becoming more of a chore than anything, and I wanted this blog to be about my experience and journey, rather than a daily diary. So I decided not to post about all of my work outs here, since I have already been doing that on Fitocracy. If you are interested in following my work outs, you will need to join the site and follow through my profile. I will keep posting here anytime I want to share an experience or an interesting fact though, or even if I want to talk about a work out I did, but I just didn't want this to feel like a chore.

Anyway, it's been about 3 months since I started doing Crossfit. I have loved every second of it, even if I felt horrible or hated it during the workout, I never regreted it. I always love coming home all sweaty and feeling sore the next day. I also have been noticing progress in the amount of push-ups I can do, weights I can lift, burpees I can do, etc. I'm definitely getting stronger!

I haven't been running as much as I would like, but I'm still on for that 5k in October. I definitely want to be able to run a Marathon next year. I was running every week, and then I stopped for two weeks, so this Monday when I went running, it was definitely hard and my pace was slower. I figured I need to keep running at least once a week.

So, all this hard workout is finally paying off! I found out this week that I went down 2 sizes of clothing. Even thought I haven't gone past 146lbs, my clothes are definitely getting bigger and bigger and my waist smaller.

Here is my progress in measurements:

Bust: 40" - 37" ( 3 inches lost! )
Waist: 33" - 29" ( 2 inches lost!! )
High Hip: 40" - 35" ( 5 inches lost!!! )
Low Hip - 42" - 40" ( 2 inches lost! )
Thighs - 24" - 23" ( 1 inch lost :/ )

So yeah, I lost 5 inches around my belly button!! No wonder my clothes are fitting better :) I figured it was time to take some Before and After pictures. And here they are:

My "tight" jeans 

And there you have it! My goal now is just to keep at it and keep growing muscle and getting stronger. As far as size, I think if I lose one more size I will be happy. So maybe I don't have to go all the way down to 135lbs. Maybe just a couple more will be enough.

Anyway, thanks for reading!!!

THAT was HARD!

So today I went for my first class at the new gym.

Here's a picture of what it looks like:

I love the fact i is air conditioned and much closer to my house. It's much more organized and girly too (it's a girls only Crossfit), which I love! :)

We also have stationary bikes where we can do our warm ups, and a big field where we can run on on the back, but we haven't gone on it because of the heat this week.

So here is what we had to do:

Strength: weighted planks
Conditioning:
1-10
Db thrusters, burpees
2-20
Medball twists
In between each round jumprope 100singles


This was waaay harder than I thought. I felt nauseous afterwards because I was so tired. But it nothing that a Gatorade couldn't fix. 


Total calories lost: 488!

Update on "Plateau: What to Do??"

So, on June 21st, I had spoken about a Plateau and the things I decided to try to get out of it. They were a Waist Trimmer Belt, Fat burner and Hoodia pills and Intermittent Fasting. I tried all of them, and as far as Intermittent Fasting, I only tried it once and got so sick that I decided not to do it anything.

But here is what I have to say about the belt and the pills, 2 weeks later:

1- Waist Trimmer Belt (Update)

So I tried the Danskin Womens Fitness Waist Trimmer Belt . This is probably the thing that worked the most. It made me lose almost 2 inches around my waist on the week I wore it during my workouts and definitely made me sweat a lot around my belly. BUT, there is a big BUT! After doing some research, I realized that was mostly water weight, since sweating does not burn fat. So basically, I did lose a lot of water weight around my belly, but it's nothing that will be gone forever. Water weight comes and goes.

Conclusion:

It is a great tool if you are trying to get rid of inches around your weight for a special occasion, but for long term weight loss, it is not that efficient.

 

2- Combo ACAI Fat Burn #3 and Hoodia Ultra 2000 (Update)

Okay, so I took them religiously for about 7 days, and really didn't notice any decrease in appetite or weight loss.  After about 7 days I kind of gave up and decided to just stick to healthy eating. The only thing I did notice was the caffeine from the Hoodia kick in.

 

Conclusion:

I can't say, maybe you need to take it longer for it to work. But didn't really do anything for me.

*****

So, in sum, I shouldn't have wasted my money on those things. What I did try that worked, was adding more fiber to my breakfast and considerably reducing my sodium, fat and sugar intake. I'm finally getting out of my Plateau and back to 148 from 150.

For the first time, I'm getting compliments from people I rarely talk to about my weight loss. It is starting to become noticeable!

I guess the lesson I learned from this is be patient, be healthy, and good things will follow.

Another 5k

So I decided to go out for a run again this evening, and try to do a 5k in a shorter time. Turns out I was EXHAUSTED and I could not beat my time. I only ran for 2.8 miles in 30 minutes, and my pace was 10:33, about 10 seconds more than last time. I don't know what it was, but those last 10 minutes were the hardest..especially the last 2 minutes, they took forever to end! But I was determined to run for 30 minutes, no matter if I did a 5k or not.

Maybe it was the heat, or my muscles, or the food I ate... All I know is I'm proud that I at least went out there and tried today :)

At Home WOD

So my Crossfit gym is changing locations and my work schedule is also changing. Because of that, Sunday's class was cancelled and I wasn't going to be able to go before Thursday, which is when I will have off again. I didn't want to spend a week without crossfit, so I decided to do an at home workout. I went to Walmart this morning and bought a 40lb vynil dumbbell kit. I decided to incorporate it in my workout today. Here is what I did

10 rounds:
10 Dumbbell Squats (15lb dbs)
5 push-ups (3 of 10 rounds I did 40 bycicle situps instead because my arms were sore)
10 situps

I also did 1 minute of Plank hold and some tricep extension exercises with a 3lb weight, for toning.
It was def a good workout. I feel like I did as much work as I would if I had had crossfit today.

I can't wait to go to the new gym though!! :)

Fitocracy = Awesome Motivating Tool!

I wish I had joined this site earlier... I am so addicted to it now!! So much that I have been slacking posting here, because I am so busy posting my workouts there and accumulating points!

Fitocracy is a Fitness Social Network, where you can log your workouts and interact with other users. You gain points for each workout you add, as well as unlock achievements and complete quests. There are several groups you can become part of, depending on your interests. There is always someone giving you "props" for workouts that you do and they are always eager to answer any questions you have.
The community is wonderful and there is a lot of support in there.

In one week, I reached level 7 and accumulated 4,175 points!

Some days I even do a couple of random Planks just to get some more points added to my day. lol

I definitely recommend it for anyone trying to get fit, healthy and wanting motivation. If you are competitive, this is definitely going to motivate you!

My FIRST 4 mile Run!

After a stressful day at work, I knew I couldn't just go home and sit and do nothing. I knew I had to go out and run, but I wanted to try something different. So I decided to run longer. I decided I would go all the way from my place to my brother's place, which is exactly 4 miles apart, including some very steep hills.

It was 90 degrees out, even though it was around 8:30pm, but I went anyway.

I decided to go with a slower pace, because I knew if I tried to do it fast, I wouldn't be able to do it because of the heat, the distance and also because I had a little pain in my thigh which I think I got from wearing high heels yesterday.

So I went, and ran all the way there, no walking!! The most difficult part was towards the end. There is a very steep hill near my brother's house, but luckily, my brother who is am ultra-marathon barefoot runner, met me halfway and helped me push through that hill. If it wasn't for him, I would probably have started walking right there.

So yeah, I ran 4 miles with no walking today! It was agreat achievement, even though it wasn't as fast as I have been running, but nonetheless, it was a personal record broken.

2 Months Later...

Here is what I expected to happen in 2 months:

- Lose 20 pounds
- Wear a bikini and look like a supermodel while doing it
- Run a 5k
- Have muscles like Jillian Michaels
- Do clean pullups
- LOVE doing crossfit
- Lift lots of HEAVY weight

Here is what ACTUALLY happened in 2 months:

- Lost 10 pounds
- I am happy with my body but not looking like a supermodel yet
- Not only I ran a 5k, I ran 4 miles!
- I notice a little tiny muscle definition in my arms, but nothing like Jillian's
- I can't even do 1 pullup. But I went from being able to do maybe 3 assisted to 10 assisted.
- Yep, I LOVE doing crossfit. This one I got right!
- I lift weights, but I think the heaviest I have lifted is 90lbs.

So as you can see, some improvements were above my expectations, others were below, but the bottom line is, I improved in ALL areas!!

As little as some of them are, they are improvements nonetheless, and that is what matters.

No regrets here!

Full of Win!

What a great workout!!!! I think today was probably the first time I finished without feeling like I was going to pass out or vomit. I felt great! Maybe it means I should have done 4 rounds of running (which was an option) instead of just 2 rounds. Here is what we had to do:

Conditioning:
In teams of 2
2 rounds:
Run 800m
50 box jumps
40 partner clap planks
50 pullups
40 db push press (30lbs)
50 medball situps (15lb)

Not only I increased the weight in the dumbell and the medball from the last push press and situps, but my pullups were great as well!! I was able to do 10 at a time no problem (assisted of course).

It was a great workout to finish the crossfit week.

Next time will be at the new place where my box is moving to. I'm really excited for it!

My Second 5k

Last time I tried going for a run, it was raining, dark and wet. I was only able to do 1 mile before having to walk.

But today I tried again, and I increased my pace from my last 5k! I did it with an average pace of 10:23 compared to last time's 10:50 :)

It was not easy, I'm still waiting for the day when running 5k will be easy. Here is hoping!!

Jumping, Jumping

Wow! Talk about cardio! Here is what we had to do:

Strength: supine row 3×10
Conditioning 5 rds
1 min jumpsquat
1 min burpees
1 min Situps
1 min jumprope
1 min rest

That was so much jumping... That 1 min rest was very much needed indeed. I was proud with myself though because I was able to complete a consistent 7 - 8 burpees each minute, rather than just 5 :p

Not much to say, besides, it was a great workout as always :)

2 Month of Crossfit

Time surely goes by fast! I can't believe I have been doing Crossfit for 2 months now! I expected I would be showing muscles and doing pull ups by now... lol jk It's been a great journey so far. But I'll write a post all about it soon. Here is what we had to do in today's workout:
Run 800
9 pull ups
9 Thrusters (30lb)
9 tricep dips
Run 600
15 pull ups
15 Thrusters (20lb)
15 tricep dips
Run 400
21 pull ups
21 Thrusters (20lb)
21 tricep dips
Run 200

After all that, we also did 4 minutes of abs.

Running in crossfit is always really hard, more than if I was just running... So having run over a mile, you can imagine how tiring that was. My arms also feel the pain.

Plateau: What to do??

I remember when losing weight was easy... All I had to do was stop eating as much and voila, 20 pounds lost! But not anymore.... I'm not sure if it's because I'm 10 years older now, or because of my birth control hormones.. All I know is it's been frustrating and a long journey.

The good news is I'm definitely out of the high 150's, but I seem to be stuck between 150 and 153. I even went down to 148 at one point, which is when I posted that super happy post, but now I went back up again. Today I am at 151. I guess that is what they call a Plateau.

So I decided to try a couple of things recently to see if they will help me get out of this Plateau. I only started a couple of days ago so I can't say if they are working just yet. But I will definitely post about it later to let you know the results.

1- Intermittent Fasting

I read a lot of posts in community from people who swear by it and say it works. Basically, you don't eat for a certain amount of time and then break the fasting with a light meal. Depending how long the fasting takes, you do it 1 - 2 times a week. 

I decided to try it on Tuesday to do a 24 hours Fasting. My last meal was around 8pm the previous day so my plan was to eat around 8pm on Tuesday. 

My Experience: 

It was not a good one. The morning was spent trying to avoid temptation to grab breakfast or snacks, and avoiding food commercials on TV. I was constantly thinking about food. In the afternoon, I was very cranky and kept on snapping at my poor husband, who by the way, didn't want me to fast to begin with. I was not in a good mood whatsoever. Then around 6:30pm I started feeling very weak and nauseous. It rapidly escalated to a point where I was trying not to throw up, and could only sit down. I decided to force myself to eat a couple of crackers since at this point, I wasn't hungry anymore, just nauseous and weak. Then I had some grilled chicken salad we ordered because I was feeling to sick to cook, and slowly ate it until I felt better. 

Basically, it was a horrible experience. I'm not sure I will try this again. 

Results: 

I can't tell if it really worked, since I'm always fluctuating, but I do think I lost at least 1 pound from it. 

2- Waist Trimmer Belt

I was on Amazon trying to find ways that can help me lose weight, but not in an unhealthy way. I then came accross the Danskin Womens Fitness Waist Trimmer Belt with a lot of good reviews. It is supposed to burn the fat around the waist by making you sweat a lot in that area. So I bought it.

My Experience: 

I wore it for my crossfit class yesterday. It is comfortable and although might feel a bit awkward during some exercises where you need to move a lot, like Burpees, etc, it was fine, it didn't bother me. It was stayed in place and tight. But boy, did I sweat! My waist area was DRENCHED in sweat. When I took it off when I got home, this thing was dripping as if I had dipped it in a pool. I usually don't sweat that much in that area, so it definitely worked as far as making me sweat. 

Results:

I don't know yet if it really custs the inches around the waist because I only used it once. I measure myself this morning and it's the same, but I figured it is not something that will happen overnight. I will come back to tell you if it works or not in about 2 weeks. 

3- Combo ACAI Fat Burn #3 and Hoodia Ultra 2000

I know you are probably thinking "Diet pills? Really?". Here is the thing though... They are all natural, and supposed to help you burn fat faster as well as diminish your cravings, etc. I read a lot of reviews on Amazon, and although some of them are probably fake, some of them really did seem legitimate, and according to the reviewer's history, seemed like they were actual people. So I thought to myself, what the hell, I will just try it. 

My Experience: 

I just took them this morning so it is really very early to tell. So far, no side effects. The Acai Fat Burn has the equivalent of a cup and 1/4 of coffee in each serving, but I am not feeling jittery or anything. I also had my regular cup of coffee this morning. 

Results: 

No miracles here. I will post back in about a month. 

Apart from those out of the ordinary things, I have kept eating a calorie intake that varies between 1400 and 1500 and exercising at least 3 times a week. 

Here is hoping for the best!!

**2 weeks update here**

Burpees and Heat: Deadly Combo

Okay, maybe not deadly, but definitely excruciating!

According to the The Weather Channel, it felt like 101°F around the time I was doing crossfit. 


I knew it was going to be bad, but it was, as always, worst than I thought. Here is what we had to do :


Strength: shoulder press 4×4 (35lb, 45lb, 40lb, 40lb)
Conditioning: 15 mins AMREP
5 burpees
7 tricep dips
9 push press (10lb dbs)


Luckily we spent most of the time inside. The only time I was out was when I was doing the 2 lap warm up jog. But it was still super hot, since it is an open warehouse and no a/c, only fans. 


I had drank lots of water, so I was fine in that department. It were my arms that suffered the most. My biceps, triceps, shoulders and back were a bit achy from Monday, and today we had to work on them again, so they were not happy. 


During the strengthening, I decided to start with a 15lb bar with 10lb plates on each side. My first round was fine. Then I added additional 5lb plates on each side, for a total of 45lbs. That made the second round much more difficult, where I had to bend my knees a little to get it up (which I know I'm not supposed to do). Then as I was doing the 3rd round and really struggling, the instructor told me it was too much for me and switched it to 2.5lb. So I did the remaining 3rd and 4th rounds with 40lbs and it was extremely difficult, but I did them. My arms however, were burning and very weak. 


So when I went into the conditioning, they were already tired from the strengthening. I had to stop several times, not only because my arms were feeling extremely weak, but because the heat was too much. It;s like I was breathing with no air. I wasn't counting my reps but I think I did about 6 or 7. 


So yeah, I didn't die, but felt like I was going to! 

Last One Again

It sucks to be last... especially when there are like 20 women in your Crossfit class. But that's okay because I know I gave it my best.

Here is what we had to do:

Strength: Bar rollers 4×7 (35lb) and weighted planks (10lb)
Conditioning:
Run 2 laps
150 jumprope singles
50 Situps
Run 2 laps
120 jumrope singles
40 Situps
Run 2 laps
90 jumprope singles
30 Situps
Run 2 laps
60 jumprope singles
20 Situps
Run 2 laps
30 jumprope singles
10 Situps
Run 2 laps


When I saw it, I honestly thought it was going to be easy. But  it was far from it. It wasn't the most difficult WOD we had, but it was as difficult as any other I have done. My feet kept on getting caught on the jump rope, so that set me back. Then I was having a hard time with the situps, which surprised me because I'm usually fine doing situps. 


I finished everything in 30 minutes. 


Lesson learned: Never underestimate a WOD!

C25K DONE! Ran my FIRST 5K!

Today is an unforgettable, amazing, ground breaking day for me...and not because of the horrible day I had at work. It is because after those 13 stressful hours I had at work, I came home, put on my running shoes, my heart monitor strap, my running watch, my calf sleeves and went out determined to run my first ever 5k. And I did it! I ran MY FIRST 5K!!!!!!! Exactly 8 weeks ago, I was doing the week 1 day 1 of Ease Into 5K, and could not even run one minute straight.

It took me 33 minutes but that's because I thought a 5k was 3.2 miles, so it probably really only took me 32 minutes :p

Here were my stats:

10:50 min/mile
Calories burned 319

Avg. HR: 181 bpm

I never thought I would be running a 5k this soon. It was not easy, but I was able to finish it and maintain the same speed I have been maintaining on the shorter distances.

Now my goal is to keep running and improve my pace each time.

Today Is A New Day

Just a couple of days after I weighed myself and found out I had gone below 150, I find out I'm above 150 again... I know, I know..I shouldn't be weighing myself so constantly, but that's the first thing I do when I wake up.. I think I'm just expecting for the pounds to magically disappear overnight.

When I got to work today, I saw this nice little picture in one of the e-mails they send out, and it made me feel all better about the way I felt today...even though I didn't realy begin again today.. Instead I had a pizza slice for dinner and a Frappucino in the afternoon. ARGH!

Anyway, TOMORROW is a new day. I shall breathe and begin again, and who knows, maybe even run a 5k ;)

Impossible?

When I saw this at my gym's website today, my jaw dropped:

Strength: back squat 4×5 (35lb, 55lb, 55lb, 55lb)
Conditioning: 
Run 3 laps Jumprope 
100 singles 
80 kettlebell swings (15lb kb)
60 Situps 
40 lunges (20 each leg) 
20 pullups 
10 burpees 
Jumprope 100 singles 
Run 3 laps 

I didn't think I could do it. It just seemed too difficult, too long and too crazy.

Well, guess what? I did it!!!! I was wearing a heart monitor from a watch my brother gave, ( which by the way, I will post about sometime soon) and my heart rate went up to 220. I was definitely going all the way to my limit, but I finished it, alive! A little dizzy, but alive :)

Ouch! That Was Hard!

I was so achy from yesterday that when I saw today's WOD on the board my heart sunk. I didn't even know what a couple of those exercises were and I knew for a fact I wouldn't be able to do a toe to bar.

Here is what I saw:

Strength: modified curly p’s 4×5 (10lb dbs)
Conditioning: 3rds
20 wallballs (10lbs)
20 upright row (15lb kb)
20 toes to bar
20 jump squats
20 DU or 40 singles
20 mt climbers (alt knee to elbow)

I didn't know what a modified curly or an upright row was. But after the instructor demonstrated the exercises, I felt more at ease. 

The modified curly p's were by far the hardest strength exercise I have had to do. Basically you hold the dbs on your shoulder and do 1 squat, 2 lunges and 1 push press, 4 times. It sounds easy, right? Well, it isn't... The weight of the dbs on your shoulder definitely take a toll. I used 15lbs dbs for the first round and I regretted it instantly. I then changed it to 10lb dbs. 

Then the Conditioning.... The most difficult were the wallballs... It gets REALLY tiring after a while. I had to do in sets of 10 then 5 towards the end. 

And of course, I couldn't do the toes to bars. The instructor told me to instead, lift my knees up, kind of like a crunch but without lifting your arms. I was like "I can't do that", and she said "Yes, you can!". And she was right... My hands hurt like hell but I was able to do all 20 of them, each time. I think I will get calluses after this. 

So yeah, it was a very difficult one, but all my back and shoulder pain from yesterday went away after I did the workout today. Ironic, huh?

I finished the workout in 16:30. 

I'm going to have to ice my palms tonight :)

How Many Calories Should You Eat?

I struggled for a while trying to find out how many calories I should eat per day in order to lose weight.. MFP said 1200, but based on my activity level, that seemed like too little. I also didn't seem to be losing weight eating only 1200 per day. I also didn't want to do trial and error. I mean, who wants to gain weight and waste valuable time while you could be LOSING it?


I then came across this website, which explained about calculating BMR, Harris Benedict Formula and how much to subtract in order to lose weight. I decided to add the whole process simplified below, since there is a lot of back and forth in the website and can get a little confusing. So here you go: 

So here is how mine worked: 


My BMR is 1472
So, since I do crossfit 3 times a week and run once a week, I would fall under moderate exercise. Therefore I calculate 1472 x 1.55 = 2281
The number of calories I need to eat to maintain weight is 2281.
I decided to subtract 800 from that number, and here is my magic number: 1481
Once I started eating this amount of calories per day, my weight started dropping about 1 - 2 lbs per week. 


Pretty cool, huh?

Another Wall Broken!

The 150s lbs Wall!!! I weighed myself today and saw the 149.2 appear on the screen of the scale. I have been waiting for the 140s for a while and today I reached it!! It's so great to be out of the 150s... Now I'm even more motivated to keep going.

Next stop: 130s :)

Dips, Situps, Squats

After two days of resting after my last run, I went to the 9:30am Crossfit class today. Everything was fine, except my shins really hurt during the warm-up run :( I just hope this pain goes away eventually.

I did very well and was I finished the work out in 13:30 minutes. Here is what we did: 

Conditioning: 

21 dips, 21 situps, 30 squats

2x50 Shuttle

18 dips, 18 situps, 30 squats

2x50 Shuttle

15 dips, 15 situps, 30 squats

2x50 Shuttle

12 dips, 12 situps, 30 squats

2x50 Shuttle

Afterwards, I felt fine, and had burned about 600 calories already. We then had to do 3 minutes of kb swings with a 30sec rest after the 1st minute. These are the ones that killed me. Even though I only used a 15lb kb, my back hurt and so did my knees. It's probably my form. I'll have to remember to ask the instructor next time. 

Overall, I burned 750 calories. Not too shabby!

Another Bad Week but I Finished W7D2

So this evening I ran six minutes longer than I did last Saturday, but for some reason, I wasn't completely happy with myself. I'm not sure if it's because I was super tired this time and my run pace increased in 20 seconds, or if I just had a bad week overall, only doing 2 days of Crossfit, and overindulging in Spicy Fries and Chipotle one of these days.. I feel bloated, achy and defeated. And no, unfortunately, it's not that time of the month, or near it. So I can't attribute this to mother nature. It's my fault and my fault only. I guess I have learned that in the world of becoming healthy, at least for me, it's two weeks forwards, one week back. Sometimes even two weeks back. I guess as far as number of pounds lost, I won't be reaching double digits this week after all. The best thing I can do right now is lift my head up, learn from my mistakes, and look forward!

But I did run for 26 minutes straight, which means I skipped from W6D2 to W7D2 and was able to finish it!I think that's pretty awesome for a girl who a little over a month ago couldn't even run for 1 minute straight :)

Early Bird

I was impressed with myself this morning. Against all odds, I got myself out of bed at 5am, ate a bagel and a banana, drank some coffee, lots of water and went to my crossfit class at 6am. I was ready to not be able to finish the workout, since I was tired, achy and not used to working out this early in the morning. But I was ready to try my best. I went for the 400m warmup run and it actually felt nice outside, much nicer than it usually feels when I go at 9am or 4pm. So I definitely liked that about the morning. My shins were still hurting though, but I finished the run anyway. And then I proceeded to do the workout, which by the way, I finished!

Conditioning10 burpees
15 KB SDHP (15lbs kb)
25 Jump Squats
50 jumping pullups*
75 wall ball (10lb)
200 jump rope singles
400m Run w/ 10lb plate

I was able to finish the burpees way faster than usual, and I think it's because my form was wrong the last times. I finished the whole workout, even though I could not do the last 400m with straight running. I had to walk a couple of times. But I finished it, and it felt great!!

My whole body is very achy now, especially my thighs, arms and chest. I guess it's working :)

Ache, Aches, Aches

I planned on going to crossfit on Sunday at 9am, but Sunday morning came, and it was a bit rainy outside as well as a bit chilly. As I was reluctantly getting out of my cozy, comfy bed, my husband pulled me back into bed with him and I couldn't really resist cudling and falling back asleep. So that's what I did. It's a good thing I did though because I feel like I needed that extra day to recover. My legs were not happy with the running I did on Saturday evening.

So today I went to the 4pm class. Here's what we had to do:

Strength: bench press 4×7 (35lbs then 3x 45lbs)
Conditioning:Run 600m
50 Situps
21 overhead squats (15lbs bar)
30 Barhops
21 pushups
50 tactical lunges (15lbs kb)
21 overhead squats (15lbs bar)
30 Barhops
21 pushups
50 D.U. (125 single jumps ropes)
Run 600m

I coulnd't run the last 600m straight. I had to walk a couple of times. But I felt like I did very well overall. My instructor told me at the end I did very well and she was impressed. Yay!

This evening I had to ice my shins and knees as they were feeling quite achy, especially because I knew I would have to go back to work out early morning the next morning, and didn't want to be in a lot of pain. The ice worked a little bit, but I'm going to look into an ice bath as well sleeves for my calves.

The Complete Guide to Workout Nutrition [Infographic]

I just came across this Infographic in the Greatist website, and I thought it was super informative and useful. I had been looking for a clear guide on what and when to eat on the days I work out, and this hits the nail right on the head. This website also have lots of great other Infographics and useful information that I'm checking out now. It will definitely be on my list of favorite links :)

Milestone!! W6D2

I DID IT!!! I finished W6D2 of Ease Into 5K and I ran 20 minutes straight for the first time in my whole life!!!

I had been scared I wasn't going to be able to do it, but I went and did it! It's the best feeling in the world!!!

And on top of it all, I also improved my run pace by 20 seconds since last time!!

The last 5 minutes were the longest, but in the last 2 minutes I decided to speed up and finished with a smile on my face. I just wanted to jump and scream, but instead I did the cool down like a normal person.. :)

30 minutes, here I come!! You better be ready for me! :)

And for those of you who need a little motivation, here is something my brother told me today:

Anniversary Burpees

Wednesday was my wedding anniversary and I kept wondering if I should go work out or just stay home and relax before going out to dinner with my hubby. I ended up deciding to go work out, as well as clean the apartment in the morning and organize my closet all afternoon, hence staying on my feet all day. Go figure! Here is what we had to do at the box:

Strength: shoulder press 4×5 (15lb + 45lb + 35lb + 35lb)
Conditioning: 10 rounds
10 lunges
10 burpees
20 jumprope singles (10 du)

LOL - I'm one of them ;)

For the first time in my Crossfit life (which hasn't been that long), I had to severely scale down the work out by my own decision and not the instructor's, and that feeling really sucks. I officially hate burpees! For the life of me, I can NOT do it quickly enough or more than 5 without falling to the ground losing strenght on my arms and legs. I read somewhere that Crossfit athletes can do 10 -15 burpees every 30 seconds. Seriously? If I can do 5 burpees in 30 seconds, I'm lucky.

So, now that I have very well described my relationship with burpees, you will understand why after the fourth round, I was only doing 5 burpees instead of 10. Even then I was the last one to finish. Took me about 26 minutes. I had been able to do 10 rounds of 10 burpees before, but they were combined with only one other exercise. Plus I have been sore and I even comptemplated not going to crossfit that day, because I hadn't had a rest day since Saturday, and I definitely felt it on my body. But I went anyway and I'm very happy I did. You never great the things you did. You only regret the things you didn't do. :)

The good news is, I did great with my jumprope singles! I think it's just about finding the right kind of rope and the right size. Instead of waiting until the last minute to grab a rope for the exercise, I went to look for one before the workout and made sure I measured them around my neck and tried them. The result was great performance! :)

The lunges were alright...difficult but not impossible. I may have skipped one or two in some rounds, but they sure kicked my butt. I have some bruises on my knees, which I'm sure came from them.
It was a good week overall. I pushed myself to work out four days in a row, which might not have been the greatest decision since I'm still sore to this day and have bruises on my knees, but I'm sure in the long run it will only do me good. That is another reason why I didn't go running this evening. My knees were still sore and so were my legs, so I decided to take two days of rest instead of just one. Plus it is raining.
I am hoping to go running tomorrow night though. My first 20 minutes!!! I just hope I can do it :)

Bottom line is, I am happy I went to the box on Wednesday, and after taking a nice shower afterwards and getting all dressed up, I enjoyed a very nice anniversary dinner with my husband, having two glasses of delicious wine and great italian food, guilt free!