Cardio
30 minutes stair running
Strength Training
Kettlebell 15 pounder:
36 deadlifts
36 kettlebell swings
30 renegade rows
72 single leg deadlifts
36 single leg/single arm to upright rows
36 boat crunches
36 Russian twists
Meals
Breakfast: 3/4 cup yogurt with 1 tsp hemp seeds. 1/2 cup oats with 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tsp honey, 1 tbsp chia seeds, strawberry, and dried coconut.
Lunch: 1.5 cups spaghetti with zucchini, peppers, onion, mushrooms, and tofu
Dinner: 2 cups chicken vegetable soup with mushroom ravioli
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Mini Goal: Lose 20 Pounds by June
My family is having a little family reunion for a nephew's graduation, so I thought it would be fun to time a weight loss goal with the event.
The idea is to lose 20 pounds in three months. That's close to 6.5 pounds a month which should be doable. I would still be 10 pounds away from my ultimate weight goal, but would be close enough to make me very happy in terms of success.
Diet thoughts: I'll need to double down on my nutrition which I've been very lax about this month. Back to calorie counting and making sure I have the right calories and macro ratios for fat loss, while keeping energy levels high enough for intense workouts.
I'll be doing a cutting diet, which is what weight lifters do to get lean and lose as much fat as possible while trying to maintain muscle mass. The macro ratio I'm going for is one gram of protein for pound of bodyweight, one gram of carbs for pound of bodyweight, and 0.25 gram of fat for pound of bodyweight. Within the context of my macros, I'll be aiming for 1400 calories a day but one day a week I'll go up to my maintenance calorie level of 1800 calories (probably on my rest day).
Exercise thoughts: I'm going to try to workout 60 to 90 minutes a day with one day of rest, so at least an hour a day for six days a week.
3 days a week, I'll do a 20 minute full body weight training routine, followed by 40 minutes of cardio. The other 3 days of the week, I'll do 30 minutes of stair sprints and an hour of cardio later in the day.
The idea is to lose 20 pounds in three months. That's close to 6.5 pounds a month which should be doable. I would still be 10 pounds away from my ultimate weight goal, but would be close enough to make me very happy in terms of success.
Diet thoughts: I'll need to double down on my nutrition which I've been very lax about this month. Back to calorie counting and making sure I have the right calories and macro ratios for fat loss, while keeping energy levels high enough for intense workouts.
I'll be doing a cutting diet, which is what weight lifters do to get lean and lose as much fat as possible while trying to maintain muscle mass. The macro ratio I'm going for is one gram of protein for pound of bodyweight, one gram of carbs for pound of bodyweight, and 0.25 gram of fat for pound of bodyweight. Within the context of my macros, I'll be aiming for 1400 calories a day but one day a week I'll go up to my maintenance calorie level of 1800 calories (probably on my rest day).
Exercise thoughts: I'm going to try to workout 60 to 90 minutes a day with one day of rest, so at least an hour a day for six days a week.
3 days a week, I'll do a 20 minute full body weight training routine, followed by 40 minutes of cardio. The other 3 days of the week, I'll do 30 minutes of stair sprints and an hour of cardio later in the day.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
For the Love of Kettlebell
I had no idea kettlebells were so awesome. Man, I was missing out. They are incredibly fun and so different then strength training with dumbbells are barbells. Who knew?
Mid-December, I was debating about going out and getting some dumbbells just to get some variation for strength training, rather than just doing bodyweight exercises all the time. But I have a young kid who is very curious and likely to hurt themselves if we had dumbbells around the house. I looked it up and soft kettlebells exist. Amazing.
I started out with a ten pound kettlebell, but decided after the second week it was too light. So, got a fifteen pounder which has been magical. Feel the burn. They do make 5 pound kettlebells in the hard version if you want something lighter.
This is the kettlebell I got, not an endorsement or anything. It's the only one I could find at a local store so I could feel get a feel for it. I have little hands so I wear fingerless lifting gloves to help with gripping.
I work out with the kettlebell 3 days a week instead of doing bodyweight exercises. I usually do my kettlebell routine right before a longer cardio workout. Although, sometimes I'll do it at the end of the night but I then make sure to follow it with some good stretching.
If you're new to strength training and are sore after the very first day you start training with weights, I would make sure to workout the very next day with some cardio. Just anything that will get your heart pumping like aerobics or jumping rope, to get blood moving through your muscles and help with muscle repair. And then do some good stretching afterwards.
Here's some fun kettlebell workouts that I've been doing:
Mid-December, I was debating about going out and getting some dumbbells just to get some variation for strength training, rather than just doing bodyweight exercises all the time. But I have a young kid who is very curious and likely to hurt themselves if we had dumbbells around the house. I looked it up and soft kettlebells exist. Amazing.
I started out with a ten pound kettlebell, but decided after the second week it was too light. So, got a fifteen pounder which has been magical. Feel the burn. They do make 5 pound kettlebells in the hard version if you want something lighter.
This is the kettlebell I got, not an endorsement or anything. It's the only one I could find at a local store so I could feel get a feel for it. I have little hands so I wear fingerless lifting gloves to help with gripping.
If you're new to strength training and are sore after the very first day you start training with weights, I would make sure to workout the very next day with some cardio. Just anything that will get your heart pumping like aerobics or jumping rope, to get blood moving through your muscles and help with muscle repair. And then do some good stretching afterwards.
Here's some fun kettlebell workouts that I've been doing:
Quick Kettlebell Routine with good direction on form.
Raw Full Body Kettlebell Workout
Full Body Kettlebell Routine (my current favorite)
Very Effective Stretching Routine with great direction
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Adding Strength Training to Your Workouts
Adding more strength training to your workout routine can be as simple as doing a few bodyweight exercises like pushups and tricep dips. Focusing on strength exercises for the arms and back seems intuitive for me personally, since I mostly do high impact cardio to begin with which already works the legs.
I alternate and do one set of pushups and then one set of tricep dips on the floor for two sets of 25 repetitions each. For a total of 50 pushups and 50 tricep dips. If you can't do 25 reps at a time, then start at a number you can do while still having good form, still alternate between pushups and tricep dips, but increase the number of sets or the number of reps over time.
Once you're doing so many pushups and tricep dips in a row that you're getting bored, you can do harder variations of those exercises by using a stable coffee table or chair to put your feet on for pushups or hold onto with your hands for tricep dips.
In November and December, I stopped doing two a days and just worked out longer by adding bodyweight and abdominal exercises, or HIIT routines to the end of my cardio workouts. I, also, dropped down to only working out 4-5 days a week since I was busy with holiday activities.
Different workouts I did in November and December:
I alternate and do one set of pushups and then one set of tricep dips on the floor for two sets of 25 repetitions each. For a total of 50 pushups and 50 tricep dips. If you can't do 25 reps at a time, then start at a number you can do while still having good form, still alternate between pushups and tricep dips, but increase the number of sets or the number of reps over time.
Once you're doing so many pushups and tricep dips in a row that you're getting bored, you can do harder variations of those exercises by using a stable coffee table or chair to put your feet on for pushups or hold onto with your hands for tricep dips.
In November and December, I stopped doing two a days and just worked out longer by adding bodyweight and abdominal exercises, or HIIT routines to the end of my cardio workouts. I, also, dropped down to only working out 4-5 days a week since I was busy with holiday activities.
Different workouts I did in November and December:
Fast Paced Aerobics
Fast Paced Aerobics
Low Impact Aerobics
Low Impact Aerobics
Step Aerobics (yeah, that's Cher)
HIIT
HIIT
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Memes That Perfectly Express My Weight Loss Journey
I've been on the never ending diet the past two years. This one still manages to make me laugh.
This one fits as well.
This one fits as well.
Friday, January 24, 2020
Getting Through the Holiday Season While Working Out and Dieting
Ah, November and December, where months are spent celebrating and being merry and the time of year when diets go completely off the rails. It’s a difficult time to keep to our diet and exercise goals, but there are a few changes a person can make so we can get through the long holiday season relatively unscathed. Because it would be nice to not completely blow all our health and weight loss goals, especially if you’ve made some great gains the previous year.
One of the things I started doing in November was food prepping. It can be a difficult thing to get into. There’s a lot of planning, shopping, and cooking that a person has to do, but it makes it a lot easier to just eat what’s in the fridge rather than the temptations that are everywhere during the holidays. Heavy rich foods that tempt even the most stalwart of us because “it’s just the holidays, anyways” can be a convincing excuse.
Meal prepping involves preparing all the food in a single day that a person needs for the next 5 days. I actually make yogurt (for me) and bread (for my spouse) one day, then the next day I make food for our meals so it was kind of split into two days. So yeah, both my days off during the week are spent cooking.
In general I don’t eat baked goods, deserts, or ice-cream as part of my weight loss regimen. Oh, how I miss you ice-cream. But during this time of year, I’m extra disciplined about not snacking at night.
Breakfast was ¾ cup homemade yogurt with a teaspoon of granola and a teaspoon of hemp hearts, and ½ cup of oats with ½ a cup of plain almond milk and berries for overnight oats. Lunch was hummus with carrots and celery, or tomato and mushroom omelet over rice with steamed vegetables. Dinner were such things as ginger chicken over rice with a large serving of steamed cabbage, or stir fried beef with peppers over rice. For dinners, I just made sure to practice excellent portion control and included extra servings of steamed vegetables with each meal like broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower, when I prepped my meals into those black meal prep containers (I prefer the two split compartment ones). You don’t even have to order the containers online anymore, they sale large stacks of them at Walmart for reasonable prices.
Being so regimented with eating the majority of the month gave me the freedom to have those indulgences on days when treats were all around at work, or the week after Thanksgiving or Christmas when delicious high calorie leftovers were everywhere.
By New Year’s Eve I had only gained two pounds while still being able to feel like I got to enjoy the holiday season with plenty of indulgences.
One of the things I started doing in November was food prepping. It can be a difficult thing to get into. There’s a lot of planning, shopping, and cooking that a person has to do, but it makes it a lot easier to just eat what’s in the fridge rather than the temptations that are everywhere during the holidays. Heavy rich foods that tempt even the most stalwart of us because “it’s just the holidays, anyways” can be a convincing excuse.
Meal prepping involves preparing all the food in a single day that a person needs for the next 5 days. I actually make yogurt (for me) and bread (for my spouse) one day, then the next day I make food for our meals so it was kind of split into two days. So yeah, both my days off during the week are spent cooking.
In general I don’t eat baked goods, deserts, or ice-cream as part of my weight loss regimen. Oh, how I miss you ice-cream. But during this time of year, I’m extra disciplined about not snacking at night.
Breakfast was ¾ cup homemade yogurt with a teaspoon of granola and a teaspoon of hemp hearts, and ½ cup of oats with ½ a cup of plain almond milk and berries for overnight oats. Lunch was hummus with carrots and celery, or tomato and mushroom omelet over rice with steamed vegetables. Dinner were such things as ginger chicken over rice with a large serving of steamed cabbage, or stir fried beef with peppers over rice. For dinners, I just made sure to practice excellent portion control and included extra servings of steamed vegetables with each meal like broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower, when I prepped my meals into those black meal prep containers (I prefer the two split compartment ones). You don’t even have to order the containers online anymore, they sale large stacks of them at Walmart for reasonable prices.
Being so regimented with eating the majority of the month gave me the freedom to have those indulgences on days when treats were all around at work, or the week after Thanksgiving or Christmas when delicious high calorie leftovers were everywhere.
By New Year’s Eve I had only gained two pounds while still being able to feel like I got to enjoy the holiday season with plenty of indulgences.
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Double Workouts or Two A Days
Back in September I posted how I was considering doubling workouts or doing two a days. I did end up adding a second workout 2 or 3 days a week, to the aerobic YouTube video that is pretty much standing ab workout that I did everyday. So for September and October I did a forty-five minute aerobic workout 7 days a week, plus HIIT/Tabata/strength exercises 2-3 days a week. And I did my usual gym routine once in a while.
The aerobic workouts were completely low impact, you're barely shuffling your legs around for 95% of the video, but it works your core the entire time. After the first two times I did the workout my husband said, "I think I can actually see changes from your workout in just a couple of days."
But after the first two weeks of doing 9 or 10 workouts a week he was shocked. "That workout is completely transformative. It has transformed your body. I can see it in your back and your core."
I wasn't dieting or counting calories at that time, so my energy level was up. I felt great doing the extra workouts, and on top of that I was eating super healthy and eating plenty of food. Breakfast was typically summer rolls with shrimp and pork, and fruit and berries. Lunch was usually stir-fry with rice or a curried udon noodle dish with vegetables and tofu. Dinner was a free for all depending on whether it was my husband or I cooking. I just made sure to eat a little protein with every meal.
I didn't miss any workouts in September and October. The routine was fresh and new and I super enjoyed what I was doing, so it didn't really feel like an effort to get through the daily workouts.
I lost lots of fat in my back, stomach, and arms, they got noticeably smaller. Legs stayed the same since I ran a lot before this and they were already strong, but I did notice I no longer got side cramps at all. Probably due to building up core strength to a great extant.
Here's a list of those workouts I was doing in September and October:
The aerobic workouts were completely low impact, you're barely shuffling your legs around for 95% of the video, but it works your core the entire time. After the first two times I did the workout my husband said, "I think I can actually see changes from your workout in just a couple of days."
But after the first two weeks of doing 9 or 10 workouts a week he was shocked. "That workout is completely transformative. It has transformed your body. I can see it in your back and your core."
I wasn't dieting or counting calories at that time, so my energy level was up. I felt great doing the extra workouts, and on top of that I was eating super healthy and eating plenty of food. Breakfast was typically summer rolls with shrimp and pork, and fruit and berries. Lunch was usually stir-fry with rice or a curried udon noodle dish with vegetables and tofu. Dinner was a free for all depending on whether it was my husband or I cooking. I just made sure to eat a little protein with every meal.
I didn't miss any workouts in September and October. The routine was fresh and new and I super enjoyed what I was doing, so it didn't really feel like an effort to get through the daily workouts.
I lost lots of fat in my back, stomach, and arms, they got noticeably smaller. Legs stayed the same since I ran a lot before this and they were already strong, but I did notice I no longer got side cramps at all. Probably due to building up core strength to a great extant.
Here's a list of those workouts I was doing in September and October:
Low Impact Aerobics (This was my go to daily workout)
For the workouts below, I did 4 videos 2-3 times a week plus a stretching video. So, about a 20 minute workout.
Cardio Blast
HIIT
HIIT
Strength Training (I used a 10 pound medicine ball.)
Tabata
Tabata
Tabata
Fast Paced Tabata
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)