Rethinking A LOT of goals

Hi guys! I'm sorry for my prolonged absences lately. They weren't intential. It was a mixture of a crazy busy schedule coupled with a whole lot of soul searching about my goals, my plans, my workouts and my nutrition.

As you all know, I've recently taken up weight lifting and I love it. I feel great, I'm getting stronger, I'm losing inches and I'm able to complete a full workout without spending hours at the gym. As you also know, I set some lofty goals at the beginning of the year. Those goals centered around endurance training/races and to be honest, I'm really rethinking those. Obviously, I haven't met, nor am I going to, meet any of the goals I set for races this year. About a month or so ago, I got really really frustrated and down on myself because I realized those goals were out the window. I wasn't sure if I was more upset that I wasn't going to get to do the races I wanted to do, or if I was upset because I'd set goals and hadn't reached them.

After quite a bit of soul searching, and some prodding from my husband, I realized maybe endurace races just aren't my thing? I'm still not sure if that's right or not, but I do know that right now I'm getting more enjoyment out of strength training than I am out of endurance training. There is one thing I do know: If I enjoy an exercise I will do it. If I do not enjoy it I find excuses not to do it.... Hhhmm.....

I started doing a lot of research about strength training vs steady state endurance training for fat loss and I've read a lot of great information (and a TON of conflicting information), I'm still sorting all of that out in my head, but once I do I'll write a more detailed post on my thoughts on this.

I know this blog post is all over the map, and for that I apologize, but this is how my brain has been working lately. My thoughts are all over the map and I've been having a hard time figuring out exactly where I'm going and what goals I'm reaching for. So, I've decided to chuck ALL of my goals. For now, I'm just working out. I'm doing what I enjoy and I'll see where it leads me. So this is what I do:

I lift weights three days a week. Heavy weights ~ none of these pastel colored Barbie weights for this girl. I'm currently up to 80 lbs on my lat pull downs and my seated cable rows. I can't wait to get to 100 lbs!! I'm doing lunges holding a 20 lb medicine ball and I shoulder pressing 20 lb barbells (in each hand). I have to say ~ this makes me smile more than shaving minutes off of my miles ever did!

On the days I'm not lifting weights, I'm doing HIIT cardio ~ High Intensity Interval Training. All out sprint for one minute, slow recovery pace for two minutes. This can be done with any type of exercise and that's why I love it. Run/walk, jump rope, bike, swim, elliptical, etc.... Right now, my favorite is doing the Jacob's ladder (if you watch Biggest Loser, you've seen this!) for one minute (as fast as I can) and then I walk the indoor track for two minutes. The coolest thing about HIIT is that you only have to do about 5-7 repeats and then you're done. You get all of the great calorie burning benefits for hours after your workout without having to spend hours working out.

Again, I realize this post jumped all over the place. I'm still figuring all of this out, I'm always a work in progress and I know I'll find a plan that works for me soon. For now, I'm off to make my menu/grocery list for the week and for the first time in months, I'm actually looking forward to it!
Cheers!

Picture Place Holder

Gah....I can't belive I'm posting these (again!) But alas, I need a host so I can post them on the challenge thread. I'm not dead, just insanely busy. Things should start settling down (do they ever really "settle down"?) starting this week and I'll be back to regularly scheduled blogging AND working out!

The trip was great! It didn't end exactly as planned, bit we're home now! Stay tuned for some more regularly scheduled blog posts!

No road trip is complete without almonds!!

I'm not dead and I'm actually working out consistently, too! My husband got an unexpected week off of work right before our big camping trip and we've packed it full of activities!! I've been so busy, but once we're back from our trip (Monday) I'll be back to regular blogging! Oh, and I've now got my husband addicted to lifting weights. Whoot!!

Workout Updates

I'm back in the weight room and happy as a clam! How happy are clams anyway? Ok my week looked like this:

• Monday ~ holiday, no workout


• Tuesday ~ met with a personal trainer who mostly wasted my time...


• Wednesday ~ Stage One, Workout A NROLFW* + 1 hour of Aqua Zumba


• Thursday ~ 30 minutes on stationary bike + a few laps around the indoor track


• Friday ~ Stage One, Workout B NROLFW**


• Saturday ~ rest day


• Sunday ~ heading in for Aqua Zumba this afternoon

*Stage One Workout A; 1st workout:

• Squats: 2 sets x 15 reps with 25 lb dumbell goblet hold


• Pushups: 2 sets x 10 reps at 45 degree angle on weight bench


• Cable Rows: 2 sets x 15 reps at 70 lbs


• Step Ups: 2 sets x 15 reps on each leg on a 6" step, body weight


• Prone Jack knife on Swiss Ball: 2 sets x 10 reps

**Stage One Workout B; 1st workout:

• Deadlifts: 2 sets x 15 reps with 50 lb preweighted bar


• Shoulder Press: 2 sets x 15 reps with 12.5 lbs first set; 15 lbs second set (each arm)


• Lat Pull Downs: 2 sets x 15 reps with 70 lbs first set; 85 lbs second set


• Alternating Lunges: 2 sets x 30 reps (15 each leg) with 3 lb hand weights


• Swiss Ball Crunches: 2 sets x 10 reps holding a 10 lb weight on my chest

So there you have it ~ my workouts for the week.

Before Pics

I cannot believe I'm posting these, but I need them for the challenge over at the fitness boards and I need a place to host them. These sure are eye opening. And all I can say is....at least I'm doing something about it, right? *sigh*

Starting Over

When a weightloss blogger suddenly disappears without warning, you can usually bet that she's not out burning calories, melting fat and seeing otherwise great success! As you've probably guessed, I'm no exception to this rule.

I've been overly consumed with the tests and doctor appointments concerning my TBI (more on that later), my dad has had major surgery, there has been a surplus of family drama and for a while, I was just completely and majorly overwhelmed. My workouts were put on the back burner. And like in the past, when my workouts suffer, so do my eating habits. *sigh*

I let my membership at the gym expire and we joined (as a family) the brand spankin' new YMCA in the next town over. It was *exactly* what I needed to find my inspiration! All of those shiny new machines have been calling my name. Indoor track? Yes, please. Lap pool? Why sure! Climbing Wall? Absolutely!!!

I've joined a six month challenge over at the JPFitness Forums (can't link because the site seems to be down right now. ggrrrr....). We post our starting stats, and our "before" pics and on the first of each month we update our info with pics and new stats. I'll be keeping a training log over there, but I'll continue to update here as well. That log will be just to track workouts. My thoughts, musings and everything else will still be posted here.

My plan is to lift weights three times a week and do cardio and/or yoga 2x per week (with some additional light cardio on my lifting days).

The pictures below were taken in June before I started weightlifting, and I'm using those as my before pictures for now. I'll have my husband snap some more this week (if I think about it). And here are my starting stats:

• Height: 5'5:


• Weight: 217.8


• Body Fat %: 50.2


• Wasit: 43"


• Hips: 48"


• Thighs: 23"


• Biceps: 12"


• Under Chest: 40.5"


• Chest: 46.5"


• Neck: 15"