11 posts tagged “workout”

Off to Camp

Jun 29, 2009
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Today I am off to camp with Brendan. I've never been a counselor at this camp and I'm very excited. We leave this morning and arrive home on Friday afternoon. Cole, Kaelin, and Collin are staying home and they have a fun week planned as well.

I am going to be a counselor for nine 4th grade girls. It's amazing to me that I can look at 9 names on a list (I knew about half of the girls) and love them before I even spend any time with them. I'm so glad God gave me a passion for children and doing things that enrich their lives. Otherwise I would not be able to look at a list of names of girls that I will be spending 5 days with and love them sight unseen. This is going to be a wonderful week.

Since I won't have the time or energy to squeeze in any exercise, I went to the gym last night and did a really good upper body workout and this morning I was up at 5:00 and did a good lower body workout. The rest of the week I will be walking several miles a day in the hot sun and sweating like a pig. Should burn quite a few calories that way!

Coffee's ready - time to get myself showered and dressed and to the church. Pray for us to have a safe and wonderful week!

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me - Part 14

Jun 26, 2009
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Me - after a workout - June 26, 2009

Today I am happy! The scale has finally realized that I want the number to go down! After 5 weeks of going to the gym daily (M-F) I have lost 5 pounds. I have gone down at least 1 clothing size, but I was anxiously awaiting the falling numbers on the scale, and I'm happy to finally be seeing that.

This week I pushed myself a little harder. I've had a cold/allergies all week and it hasn't been easy, but I made it. Highlights from this week at the gym include:

- I did skullcrushers (best triceps exercise ever) for the first time.

- Increased resistance consistently on each cardio machine.

- Did lunges this morning (I hate lunges, but they are great for your butt).

- Added a new exercise for butt/hamstrings.

- Increased weight on some arm exercises.

- I LOST 5 POUNDS!!!

The rule that I generally follow as far as what I eat is...if it doesn't have any nutritional value whatsoever, it doesn't go into my mouth. There are times that I let myself have a few chips, and this weekend I will have dessert, but generally I stick to the above rule. I keep a lot of fresh fruit on hand, and vegetables that are easy to cook.

Next week is going to be a bit of a challenge as I will be at Centri-Kid camp with Brendan, and will not have access to a gym. It looks like running is in my future. Ick!

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me - Part 13

Jun 13, 2009
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Today marked the third week in a row that I made it to the gym 5 times! Yay, me! I am still not seeing the number on

Me - June 12, 2009

the scale go down like I want to, but my clothes are getting looser and looser, and I can see muscle tone where there used to be almost none.

A typical workout for me consists of:

20 minute cardio warmup

30 or so minutes of weights

20 more minutes of cardio

Today I did upper body and I increased weights on several of the exercises that I do. I can consistently do sets of 12 pushups, and I plan to increase that number next week. I've been using caloriecount.about.com to keep up with my food intake and exercise, and I've found it to be very helpful. There are lists of exercises for each muscle group as well as grades for any food that I enter. It also give me a pie chart of what kinds of foods I've eaten and what percentage of my diet they make up- fats, carbs, protein. I typed in all of my information and my goals, and it gave me a daily calorie limit. I also was given a reasonable timeline to reach my goal weight. I find all of this very helpful because when I look at what I've eaten in a day it's much easier for me to improve upon it the next day. If you are looking for something to help you with your weight loss and/or fitness goals, I recommend this website highly.

To add another visual to the mix, I'm uploading a picture that was taken today not long after I got home from the gym. Pictures are always a good encourager to keep going to the gym!

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me - Part 10 - Game ON!

Apr 13, 2009
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My sweet tooth won the battle this weekend. Reese's peanut butter eggs are my absolute favorite candy in the world, and I had 2 of them over the weekend. In addition to some Peeps, Robin's eggs, and various other desserts at April's house last night. Have you had those red velvet cake balls covered in white chocolate? Who can resist those?? Anyway, I've been serious about working out for weeks now, and I've been good with my diet, but it's time to kick it in gear and win this battle. I've promised myself that I will eat nothing sweet except for no more than 1 100 calorie pack of something every couple of days. Right now I have the chocolate covered pretzel 100 calorie packs. I love those!

The foot is feeling good. I'm anxious to get my orthotics and my new shoes and get on with life. I had my second orientation (first time the trainer didn't give me a written program so I was told I could have another one) at the gym last Friday and this trainer had me do a lot of core work, which I desperately need. I told him I had not been good about working my core, and he said he could tell that those muscles are weak. But I did everything he told me to (including planks) and on Saturday it actually hurt to exhale.

I've learned that we all have issues with various things in our lives, and I've faced the fact that food is a real issue for me. I can resist many things that other people can not, but I can't resist certain foods - mainly sweets. This is my struggle, and I appreciate the encouragement that some of you have taken the time to give me on this blog. I need all of the strength and good wishes (and prayers) I can get. Thank you.

So here I go...no more playing around. It's time to get that evil sweet tooth under control and get healthy. Game on!

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 8

Feb 26, 2009
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Now that I've spoken my mind about certain people in our society, I can return to my usual and probably uninteresting blog posts. It's time for an update from the gym!

It appears that I did not make my 3 pound weight loss goal this week. Two factors contributed to this - one of which is my perpetual sweet tooth and the other is something that nobody really wants me to talk about on this here internet. I think I lost a pound. I need a better scale - one of those digital ones and I need for it to moo at me when I step on it! ; ) I would like to keep track of my weight loss and I can't do it with the scale that I have. My diet has definitely improved, but it needs to improve more. I have made it to the gym 3 times this week and nothing should get in the way of me getting there tomorrow. Things that I accomplished this week are:

-Increased weight on leg exercises to 50 pounds, except for hamstrings. I was going for technique on that one and I did 30 pounds.

-I pushed myself harder today on the elliptical and the treadmill than I ever have before.

-Did stomach crunches on the exercise ball today and the stretch on my back felt *so* good.

-Added a leg exercise whose name escapes me right now. It's the one that's always with the free weights and you lie down and push the weight up. I love that one and I did it today. It felt incredible!

-Despite the fact that I missed 1 day at the gym this week and I didn't make my weight loss goal, I AM NOT quitting. To quote the oh-so-southern Scarlet O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day."

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 7

Feb 19, 2009
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I spent an hour and a half at the gym this morning. I did a lot of cardio and an upper body workout. My favorite thing about this gym is there are never a whole lot of people there, and those that are appear to be about my age (and older) and fitness level. I don't miss the meat market feel that bigger gyms tend to have. I've been there, done that, but it was about 15 years and at least 50 pounds ago.

Here's what I accomplished today:

30 minutes on the elliptical - going forward and backward

30 minutes on the treadmill

new triceps exercise that works the triceps better than the other ones I've done

my goal over the next week is to lose 3 pounds (by next Thursday)

My house is suffering terribly because of the attention I'm giving to working out. I should probably get some cleaning done now.

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 6

Feb 12, 2009
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My goal for this week was to make it to the gym every day (Monday through Friday). I've made it 4 days so far, and tomorrow's easy since it's Friday and I don't have to work. So, yay! Today got off to a rough start - I got up late, tried to get Keith Urban tickets and it didn't go well, and I was feeling tired and lazy, so I almost didn't go to the gym. But then I decided to get off the couch and go. Of course I felt 100 times better after I worked out and I felt like I had accomplished something, so that was good. Also, I:

-made it for 20 minutes on the elliptical

-did bicep curls with the 12.5 pound weights instead of the 10 pound ones

-went a little bit faster than yesterday on the treadmill

That's progress.

I'm still feeling tired and lazy, though. And I feel a migraine coming on for the third day in a row.

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 5

Feb 5, 2009
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I got up this morning at 5:15 and went to the gym. I have spent the time since then trying not to stuff the chocolate candy left over from Christmas in my mouth. I have been very good with my food today - and I am STARVING!! Dinner time can't get here soon enough.

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 4

Jan 29, 2009
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I feel that I achieved something big this morning. I got up at 5:15 and headed to the gym. I was there for just over an hour and even though I didn't work myself as hard as my trainer does, I'm pretty proud of myself. There were a few other people there, and it was quite pleasant. I'm planning to get up tomorrow morning and do the same. I am so not a morning person, but I really need to do this.

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 3

Jan 23, 2009
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This morning I had session number 2 with my trainer. She pushed me much harder this time. I was on the treadmill 3 different times, 2 of which she made me run. Anybody who knows me knows how much I hate to run, but I did it. Thankfully they were only 1 minute intervals, and the last time was the hardest. I had already done my whole workout and then we went back to the treadmill. I kept having visions of myself flying off the end of the treadmill because I am so out of shape. But I held onto the rails for dear life and I made it. My face was beet red when it was all over.

This was my last session, but she told me that she is doing a deal where she will give you 15 sessions for $32. That's awesome! I told her I might take her up on that. I'm going to see how I do next week on my own and then I might go back to her. I was very nervous at first, but she has turned out to be the perfect trainer for me. She pushes and she encourages, but she can also tell when I don't have anything left. It's been good.

My arms seem to be in rebellion right now. I need to get up and dust and clean floors. My parents will be here shortly. Kaelin is being baptized on Sunday and they are on their way. Good thing they know what a bad housekeeper I am!!

I find it kind of ironic that directly under this post, which is called, You'll Be Seeing Less of Me, is a post about cupcakes. : )