Sleeeeep :)

Last night I slept terribly- maybe a couple hours, total. I've been wiped all day! I didn't wake up and exercise before work but i did go to the gym after work!

Food-
A LOT of snacking today and weird food (lunch was a big bag of beef jerky & a granola bar). Calories maybe a little high but nothing outrageous.

Exercise-
45 minutes on the recumbent bike (my knee is really bothering me... I think I just need to give it a break from running for a few days... poor thing isn't used to running several days in a row!). Light bicep/tricep/shoulder workout.

Sleep-
That's been my biggest issue today so I over-compensated with caffeine. Now it's 11:15pm and I'm EXHAUSTED but alert. $@#&*!

Tomorrow's Friday- TGIF :)

Happy Hump Day!

I've been trying to get 6+ hours of sleep every night & it feels soooo good! I always feel like sleep makes such a difference in my metabolism, too. Plus, my willpower to not eat junk food tends to be stronger when I'm not exhausted.

My run this morning was good... a little slower than the previous 2 days and I had a little discomfort in my shins from increasing my mileage so much this week (I never run consecutive days like I am this week). I also got new shoes last weekend and I'm not entirely sure if they're contributing to the issue or not... time may tell.

I think tomorrow morning I am going to the gym & biking for 45 min instead of running... just to give my legs a break.

Morning Runs

My workouts have really suffered in the last two weeks b/c I've been over-doing it at work.

My solution... don't rely on my evenings for my workout! This week I have started waking up a little earlier and running every day (well, 2 days so far... but it will be every day!).

There are so many theories out there that running in the mornings on an empty stomach burns more fat or burns more calories than running later in the day. I'm really don't know if that's true or not... I kinda feel like I'm trying to run my car with no gas! I'm definitely a little slower in the mornings but it's a GREAT way to start my day!

My diet's been pretty good- not perfect by any means, but consistent.

I've got 7 more weeks to go for my 10-week target!

Quick Re-cap

NOT feeling so good about how I did this week...

MONDAY- nada
TUESDAY- worked til 11pm then had to leave for airport at 3:30 the next morning so had to go to bed... definitely no workout
WEDNESDAY- Worked til 11pm (after flying to New Jersey) and was exhausted. Crashed. No workout.
THURSDAY- Worked/Traveled for work til 10:30pm. Just took a hot shower. About to crash. No workout.

FRIDAY....????

I need to be super strict this weekend to make up for this week! Yuck!

If you don't know where you're going, how do you know when you get there?

I am not the best athlete on the course but I love to compete in multi-sport races (swim/ bike/ run)... the atmosphere at these events is super-charged with energy for me!

I've got a few events on the books this year... here they are with links to more info in case anyone wants to join!!!

MARCH

28- Jackson 5K

APRIL

10- Run for Haitian Amputees 7K

29- Mercedes-Benz Corporate Run 5K

MAY

08- 9th Annual ALS 10K

JUNE

20- Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy #1

JULY

18- Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy #2

AUGUST

15- Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy #3

SEPTEMBER

19- Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy #4

OCTOBER

30- IRONMAN 70.3!!!! (1.2 mi swim/ 56 mi bike/ 13.1 mi run)
* Just found a training program I like for this... (here)

Monday = Blehhh

Ummm let's see... ate like crap. Didn't exercise. Any questions? :)

BREAKFAST

Cliff Bar, Pear, handful of almonds

SNACK

2 handfuls of almonds, Special K cereal bar

LUNCH

Grilled chicken salad, 2 cordial cherries, probably more almonds

SNACK

sunflower seeds (at a softball game),

DINNER

QDoba (just looked it up... like 715 calories- woah!!), couple handfuls of Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal

SUNDAY/FUNDAY

Have I mentioned that I really love weekends :)

today was a lot like yesterday... slept in LATE!

SLEEP
Got about 8 hrs of sleep (we went to bed around 4am- whoops!). Felt good!

FOOD

Brunch- same as yesterday... yummy

Snack- Yogen-Fruz with kiwi & blueberry on top (I'm addicted to This Stuff!)

Snack- Small 'skinny' protein shake

Dinner- kiddie-sized turkey sandwich from subway (double turkey/veggies/wheat)

* Didn't drink enough water today... very rare for me!

EXERCISE

Gym- shoulders & abs

Cardio- about to do 30-45 minutes on the bike. Yippee!

Then... hopefully going to bed by 11:30. Want to get a good start on this week!

I love Saturdays!

Slept in this morning & we went to our "usual" Saturday brunch spot... love it. Today was a good re-charge day (definitely needed it after last week); just relaxed, folded clothes, piddled around aimlessly and watched a movie tonight.

FOOD

Brunch: omelette with turkey, spinach & swiss (1/2 egg whites, 1/2 whole eggs)/ sliced tomato/ fruit/ a couple bites of his french toast :)

Snack: Whole-wheat waffle with a tablespoon of low-sugar jam

Pre-workout snack (BAD IDEA): 1/2 donut (no clue why I split that with him... stuff like that never agrees with my stomach)

Dinner: grilled chicken salad and a pear

Snack: Handful of almonds

WORKOUT

Track Workout!!!!! :)

4 Miles Total, alternating between jogging/walking a lap and running a lap at a 8:00min/mile pace.

SLEEP

Got good sleep last night... ahhhh :)

Catchin up...

This has been a crazy week...

...working 12 hour+ days every day makes it really hard to exercise every night, much less blog about it! I've not really exercised this week (hoping to make up for it this weekend) but I've eaten ok... and the scale tells me that I'm doing alright :)

I did go running last night though and it was awesome! Only about 3.25 miles but it was a mind-clearing run. My legs are tired today though so I know I'm a little out of my routine.

One area I did TERRIBLE in this week was sleep... I've got to do better next week. I'm pretty much just running on coffee at this point :)

More on Calories

Want to lose one pound? It takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to accomplish this. So, to lose one pound per week you should cut 500 calories per day from your diet (or exercise more to burn it off).

I wasn't sure how many calories I should be eating in a day so I found this website:

Check it out here! You just have to enter your weight/height/activity level and it will calculate, in theory, how many calories you need... BUT I think the number it gave me is too high so I'm not sure how accurate it is.

LONG DAY!!!!!

Today I worked in the office for 14 hours... It was a good day. It was a productive day. And it was most definitely a long day!

It's 11:45pm & I've not been home long... I have a pretty good bit of energy but have to be at the office at 7:30am tomorrow so I don't think I am going to go running like I'd planned (got my sports bra and running shorts on and everything! Too bad that doesn't count for much). I need to get some SLEEP!!! I'm totally wound up from work still (lots of exciting things happening!) but I'm sure if I just put my head on the pillow I'll hit dreamland.

Exercise (I'm going to do it as soon as I get through writing!):

3 sets of push-ups alternated with 3 sets of crunches. That will just have to be good enough tonight!

Food (my meals are kinda messed up since I was in the office all day!)

* Decided to look at my calorie intake since I realized yesterday that I probably don't do this enough...

Breakfast: Banana [110 calories] & Starbucks Tall Skinny Vanilla Latte [90 cals]

Snack: Almonds (280 calorie pack... probably kind of a lot...?)

Lunch: Chef Salad & a pear [guessing here- maybe 400 cals for salad & 100 for pear?]

Snack: Almonds (280 calorie pack)

Snack: Turkey Jerky [160 cals]

Snack (just a few min ago): FiberOne bar [140 cals]

Total Calories: 1,560... probably a little much for a girl just sitting in an office all day!

Case of the Mondays :)

Mondays are great for me b/c I use it as a Rest Day. So, no exercise!

Breakfast- Cliff Bar & some almonds

Lunch- Chef Salad and a pear

Snack- handful of dried cranberries

Dinner #1 (around 7:30)- Turkey & Swiss Lunchable (yes, of course I ate the reese cup!) with some sliced apples (I was watching my boyfriend's double-header softball game so this is a normal dinner for me on Mondays)

Dinner #2 (around 9:30)- Small salad with grilled chicken and a pear

I'm pretty sure I'm getting too many calories on most days but it's so annoying to count calories! Any advice?

Weekend in a Nutshell :)

[[[ SATURDAY ]]]

SLEEP

Slept in :) Got about 7-8 hours... felt good!

FOOD

Brunch: eggwhite omelette, tomatoes, a bite of his french toast (ok, 2 bites), some fruit

Snack: 3 chocolate truffles (220 calories of PURE HEAVEN)

Dinner: lobster tail, shrimp, spicy tuna, artichoke salad & a little chocolate mousse for dessert.

EXERCISE
I lost track of time & didn't go to the gym so I did a couple supersets of pushups, abs & squats at home before I got ready for dinner.

[[[ SUNDAY ]]]

SLEEP

Slept in again :) 6-7 hours... ahhh...

FOOD

Brunch: salad with veggies & crabmeat and some fruit

Snack: 1/4 banana, some crackers

Snack: 2 scoops of ICE-CREAM in a waffle cone (1 scoop of cookies-n-cream, 1 scoop of mint chocolate chip... just in case you were wondering)

Dinner: 3 egg whites/1 whole egg & some jalapenos & tomatoes

Snack (?): Kashi peanut butter protein bar

EXERCISE

My goal was to hit the bigger muscle groups & burn calories since I've eaten pretty bad today... but I got started late so I didn't want to be in the gym too long. I did supersets of legs and shoulders (lunges/shoulder press/abs, squats/rear delts/abs) then hit the treadmill for 10 min. at an incline.

IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT WEEK...

I CAN FEEL IT!!!!

Day Three :)

TGIF!!!!

Whew... what a long week. I laid down in bed a few minutes ago and realized I forgot to do my blog. So, I got up... put on my glasses... and sat at the computer :)

Here's the recap

* SLEEP *

Was tired today but mostly just b/c it's been a crazy week... sleep was average.

* FOOD *

Breakfast- 2 Fiber One bars (was still hungry after eating one... haha)

Snack- a few saltines with peanut butter

Lunch- grilled chicken breast, some chickpea salad, and papaya for desert

Snack- small protein shake (about 200 calories, very low sugar) and a handful of Tortilla chips

Workout- some cytomax in my water to help with lactic acid buildup and recovery

Dinner- tuna & yogurt

* WORKOUT *

Track Workout!!!!! So good! (4 1/2 miles total) Here's the breakdown:

- 7 400-meter sprints alternated with 400-meter light jogs

- 2 200-meter full-out sprints alternated with 200-meter light jogs

- 1/2 mile light jog

It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.

Today was a good day... I'm really tired (had to have a Red Bull before lunch).

Status Update:

[Sleep]
I really need to start going to bed earlier; when I'm exhausted I've figured out that my willpower goes out the door and I reach for comfort food... and I don't know about you, but carrots and broccoli aren't very comforting to me ;)

[Food]
I did ok... not as good as yesterday.
Breakfast- Cliff Bar & banana
Snacking all day @ work- saltine crackers with homemade peanut butter... I probably ate 20 of these things!
Lunch- Small salad with grilled chicken and vegetables
Snack- two chocolate covered cherries (these always make me think of my dad... he's loved them as long as I can remember)
Dinner- protein shake with banana

[Exercise]
Had a good workout! No cardio though...
Did a good leg workout and good abs. Leg Day is a double-edged sword; it's painful b/c I push myself and it's such a big muscle group but it feels so good to have a great workout.

Habits v Willpower

My habit is to choose the healthiest choice on the menu... but then why is it so hard for me to turn down a piece of cake or pastelito? Where do habits end and willpower begin?

My mom said today that she heard a habit is formed after 21 days; both she and I had to wonder what magic happens on the 21st day...

For me, I'm still trying to figure out what the trigger is... why some days I have absolutely zero desire to veer off course and other days I can barely think straight because I'm so distracted by the thought of chocolate. Seriously- my mind almost shuts down until I satisfy the craving! Is it emotional? Is it Hormonal? Circumstantial? It's just so weird to me... and annoying because it makes me feel like I am not in control!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Okay- random ramblings aside... here's my status report for today:

SLEEP

Didn't go to bed early enough last night (like 3:30am or so)...

FOOD

Breakfast= Coffee, Cliff Bar & some almonds

Lunch= Salad from Quiznos and a bag of baked Lays (I ate the chips in line because it was 2pm and I was starving...)

Dinner= Tuna sashimi, cabbage salad & a bowl of berries for dessert

Water= 3 liters +

EXERCISE

Crappy workout!!! Had a very short bicep & tricep workout with a few sets of crunches. Better than nothing though... ? Also, no cardio.

At the Starting Line

I've made a career out of implementing change in medical practices to help them become more efficient, profitable, compliant and overall just healthier in the way they operate. I'm pretty good at my job and more importantly I really enjoy what I do every day...

just as long as I'm changing YOU and not ME.

8 weeks ago I decided that I was going to dedicate 10 weeks to a serious lifestyle transformation... commitment to a consistent exercise routine, totally healthy eating, and good nights of sleep. And how did that go? I'm fairly sure that plan lasted all of about 4 days... ok, maybe 3 1/2. I don't exercise regularly and I eat absolutely anything I want, when I want. Yes, I know I'm not obese... but being healthy is more than fitting in my "skinny jeans" (although who doesn't love fitting in those skinny jeans?!).

So tonight it hit me- I am living in a failed implementation! Something of that magnitude would be totally unforgivable in my professional life but I have grown complacent to it in my personal life! I allow 12-hour work days and other silliness to take away from the time I should be investing in myself. This craziness has to stop!!! Somehow I have to find a way to prioritize my personal goals and find some balance...

I'm going to be blogging my Re-Implementation in this blog for the next 10 weeks... successes and failures. Not really because I think anyone cares or because I think anyone will read this but because I know I'm more likely to stick to something if I think someone's looking. :)