Monday, January 14th
The plan: TIU's Sunkissed Abs + Secret Admirer cardio
Reality:
The YMCA by me offers a classed called, "Family Fitness". It's 30 minutes in length and is taught by the vary zany, Mickey (love her)! The kids have so much fun running killers, striking poses, etc. My 1-yr-old just ran around and had fun doing that, but the 6-yr-old had a blast! I'm thinking it's going to be our "gym" class for homeschool 2 days per week! Win! After Family Fitness, I put the kids in the kids club and headed to the treadmill to start my Secret Admirer cardio. I took it really slow and tried to stay at a pace that didn't hurt my calf. I kept trying to speed up, but it hurt, so I just did what I could. I went 1.1 miles in 15 minutes. Then, I headed to the elliptical. This felt great and didn't hurt at all while I was doing it. I went 2.47 miles in 15 minutes. Last was the stairmill. I climbed 45 floors in 10 minutes. I was so tired, it was really tough, but I really feel like I pushed myself to the max. It didn't seem to hurt my calf too much either. Finished off with Sunkissed Abs.
Tuesday, January 15th
The plan: 30 minutes cardio + TIU Love Your Thighs toning video (x2) + TIU Total Body toning video (x2)
Reality:
My 1-yr-old came down with a cough and runny nose, so I couldn't go to the gym in the morning as planned and I had plans in the evening, so I couldn't go then, either. Therefore, I didn't get my cardio in. But, I did the TIU Love Your Thighs & TIU Total Body toning videos at home. Certain moves in the videos tweaked my calf muscle and it continued to bug me throughout the rest of the day.
Wednesday, January 16th
The plan: TIU's Holiday Cocktail Dress Arm Routine w/Karena + Date Night cardio routine
Reality:
I completed the TIU Arm Routine video at home in the afternoon. My calf continued to hurt me throughout the day, so I opted for Zumba instead of the Date Night cardio. However, by the time I got home, my calf was in a lot of pain. I went on Twitter and tweeted with a bunch other athletes. They all highly suggested that I stick to swimming or just plain rest until my calf gets better.
Thursday, January 17th
The plan: Try It Thursday - Was hoping to try out a new yoga class at the gym
Reality:
By the time my husband got home from work, I knew I wouldn't be going to the gym. My sweet baby's fever spiked to over 103 degrees and she started to throw up. I was needed at home, so I missed out another workout.
Friday, January 18th
The plan: 30 minutes cardio + TIU's Sweet & Sexy Vday workout + 15 lunges/hr
Reality:
Because of my bum leg I wasn't able to do 15 lunges/hr, so I modified it and decided to do 15 reverse crunches/hr instead. I did what I could from the TIU Sweet & Sexy Vday workout that didn't involve using my calf. Unfortunately, my 6-yr-old ended up developing a barking cough and cold symptoms, so again, my evening cardio routine (which was going to be a pool routine) was thwarted.
Saturday, January 19th
The plan: 30 minutes of cardio w/a friend
Reality:
I met with a friend and we spent 1 hour and 10 minutes in the pool doing drills. We didn't do drills the whole time. We actually took excessive breaks, so that she could impart her pool wisdom to me (which was invaluable since I know very little about swimming) and so she could correct my form. Other than the kicking bothering my calf injury (except when I was using a pull boy), I loved it! But, I realized that I need some gear: a proper suit, ear plugs, nose clasp. But, most importantly, I needed a swim cap and goggles. Apparently those lines on the bottom of the pool are there for a reason... for you to stay in a straight line! haha! And every time I would turn my head to grab a breath, my hair would be in my face and the water from it would enter my mouth and choke me. So, on the agenda: buy pool gear!
Sunday, January 20th
The plan: Run, Walk or Jog a 5K
Reality:
I was very tempted to go to the gym and try to walk a 5K, but I knew deep down that it was a really bad idea. Just walking up my stairs in my house hurt my calf. Instead, I opted to take another rest day and snuggle with my sick 6-yr-old and catch up on "Little House on the Prairie" episodes. We love that show!
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What I ate:
My eating was pretty good this week. This week TIU did nutrition posts every day, which I absolutely loved! Here are a few fun things I made from their posts:
TIU's Shake & Take Cocoa Nuts
According to the TIU blog, this recipe will "help your gorgeous skin, boost your metabolism and help [you] burn fat!"
I found that the cocoa/stevia mixture to almonds ratio was off. I was able to add a ton more almonds to this and they were all evenly coated.
TIU's Zesty Spa Water
According to the TIU blog, lemons give you: "smooth glowing skin, help with weight loss, give you energy & help you concentrate!"
Here's my take on this recipe... I dunno if I had really large and/or potent lemons, but I had to add another liter of water to this recipe to tone down the tartness and even THAT wasn't enough water. Maybe I needed to add more stevia to off-set it, I dunno. Also, I didn't have fresh mint, so I ended up putting in a little bit of organic peppermint extract. Not the same thing. Would've been better with fresh mint. Anyway, this water IS good, but I add a little bit of it to my water bottle and fill the rest with regular water. This is just my own taste, though. And I could just be a wimp. ;-)
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I kept seeing the girls on the TIU website talk about a metabolism boosting drink called, "Meta-D". You can't get their recipe unless you buy their nutrition plan, but I decided to do a little research and find a recipe to try. Since it's best to take this first thing in the morning, I decided to add it into my breakfast protein shake.
Metabolism Boosting Breakfast Protein Shake
8 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/16 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2T unfiltered apple cider vinegar
2 oz unfiltered apple juice
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 serving protein powder
1 serving stevia
Mix everything up in a shaker jar and enjoy! Please note that the apple cider vinegar is extremely potent. I can't quite handle the full 2T, but maybe someday I can work up to it.
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We tried a few new recipes from other sources this week as well...
Stephanie's Paleo BLT & Avocado Sandwich (#2)
Changes/Substitutions:
*I omitted the mayo and bacon
*I cooked the chicken breast this way: How To Cook Perfectly Juicy Chicken Breast
Primally Inspired's Peppermint Brownie Roll
My brownie roll didn't just crack when rolling, it completely separated. So, we got creative and decided to make a layered bar instead, with the filling in the middle. We topped ours with gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chips.
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And here are my progress photos for this week.
Starting Weight: 139#
Last Week's Weight: 136.2#
Week 3 Weight: 137#
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| Week 2 |
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| Week 3: Lost some ab definition |
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| Week 2 |
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| Week 3: Lost ab definition; gained arm definition! |
Recap:
This was a tough week. I missed at least 4 workouts this week and wasn't able to do every thing in others. I've heard that it takes 4 hours of working out to lose 1#, so had I been able to achieve all of my workouts, I think I could've lost another pound or so this week. Instead, as you could see, I gained. But, I'm not too disppointed with the 0.8# gain. There are other factors contributing to my weight again as well...
I recently had my hormone levels tested and you can see them below.
The thyroid is responsible for the body's metabolism. One site explained it like this, "This means that the thyroid secretes hormones that are responsible for burning the calories, fats and other nutrients used by our body for energy." So, you can see how if my thyroid is off, it would be pretty difficult to lose weight and keep it off.
This article titled, "Signs & Symptoms of Low Progesterone & Estrogen" goes into more detail about what each hormone does, but here's a little recap.
Low Estrogen
*sadness and depression
*breast size decreasing
*overall weight gain & fat accumulation around the stomach
Low Progesterone
*agitated, worried depression and a tendency toward mood swings
*weight gain around the hips & abdomen
*feelings of fatigue
Anther contributing factor is the PCOS that I still battle, which also makes it difficult to lose weight and makes it extremely easy to put weight on.
Since having baby A, I've gained almost all of the weight back (you might remember that I lost over 20# just by giving birth). However, I've continued to eat healthy and exercise. Sure, I've had my moments, but not enough to warrant an over 20# weight gain. Check out what I looked like shortly after having baby A, next to what I look like today.
Seeing that my hormone levels are so off actually brought me some comfort. Now I understand why I'm having such weight issues. So, how is the Dr going to treat this? I've already started T3 and I'm told I will likely be given HCG (which is the pregnancy hormone) to bring up both of my hormone levels. However, they won't do anything before surgery, which is 8 days away, eek!
Stay tuned!
