58/57 Days (Jennie)

I can't believe I missed posting yesterday! I had a great excuse though, I spent my normal "blog time" talking with a dear friend that I haven't had a chance to catch up with in a bit. She is one of the most amazing people I know. She dealt with some serious health issues last year and spent quite a lot of time in the hospital. I am truly in awe of her zest for life and what a positive attitude she has toward everything in life. Her enthusiasm is truly contagious, I am so blessed to call her my friend.

Hubby and I took the day off work today. We went shopping, with full intention of coming home and getting in the workout. Needless to say, I *just* got home and am completely exhausted after close to 12 hours of shopping. I had no idea we would be out and about that much. The kiddos acted like little ones do when they're drug out to shop for "boring parent stuff" and further complicated the effort. On the bright side, I bought a new swimsuit and didn't hate myself in it, which is a small miracle in and of itself. I'm far from looking like a supermodel, but I am happy with the progress I've made and at peace with having to wear it in public tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I'm back at the workout. We have two birthday parties (it's feast or famine with us on the weekends, I swear!), so I'll get up and knock it out in the AM. :)

Food for the day
Breakfast 8/02: post-workout smoothie (spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries and unsweetened almond milk)
Breakfast 8/03: we went out this AM for brunch. I had a egg and potato skillet with avocado, salsa, sour cream and a lot of other veggies. Very tasty- probably not low cal with all those dang potatoes, but it kept me full until dinner, aside from a small snack.
AM Snack 8/02: coffee and Greek yogurt
Lunch 8/02: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing
Lunch 8/03: 1 oz pack of honey roasted peanuts I grabbed while on the go today!
PM Snack 8/02: handful of almonds and granola bar 
Dinner 8/03: Rubio's tonight while out and about- had the chipotle shrimp orange salad again- very good and calories are reasonable (380)
Dinner 8/02: scrambled eggs with spinach, salsa, a little blue cheese and turkey bacon
Dessert 8/03: Greek yogurt with a few grapes and 1 T honey
Dessert 8/02: homemade frozen yogurt, just 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt and a cup of frozen blueberries blended together- awesome!

Total calories in 8/03: 1660
Total calories in 8/02: 1930
Calories burned 8/03: 2200
Calories burned 8/02: 2350
Workout 8/03: nada... :(
Workout 8/02:P90X Back and Biceps and Ab RipperX

60 Days (Jennie)

60 days and counting! I took today as a semi-rest day. It was originally scheduled for yesterday, which I skipped, but decided to go for the extra sleep this morning. I've been getting to bed way too late and some additional stress at work is doing its part to keep me from sleeping as soundly as I normally do. The extra hour was very nice this morning. I did get a walk in at lunch today and Ab Ripper X tonight, so I didn't sit around and do nothing either.

I haven't gushed about my heart rate monitor in a bit. I was iffy initially on the extra training features of the watch and whether it was worth the extra cost over the basic monitor, but they are proving to be really useful. The FT60 has three training programs: Improve Fitness, Maximize Fitness and Lose Weight. I am currently working under the Maximize Fitness training program, which is challenging me in new ways than before.

Week 2 results- training too much in zone 3 and not enough in zones 1 and 2

Now I know I need to actually slow down a bit- which is a bit of a shock after multiple rounds of HIIT (high intensity interval training) with Insanity and Asylum.The P90X strength workouts are a bit slower-paced (don't want to be throwing barbells around after all!), but I may look to move to fewer reps, slower pace and heavier weight.

missed my week's target by 179 calories- boo!!!

I definitely need to keep up the 6 day a week pace, I just missed my target last week. But I love the challenge of having to hit that number, it's something to aim for this week!

Food for the day
Breakfast: plain Greek yogurt with 1/2 cup of grapes and 1 T honey, turkey bacon and coffee
Morning snack: handful of almonds
Lunch: salad with ground turkey and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: tacos- shredded bbq chicken, avocado, green chiles and a little cheese and two small corn tortillas
Dessert: a little more yogurt and grapes

Total calories in: 1625
Calories burned: 2100
Workout: P90X Ab Ripper X and 2 mile walk

72 Days (Jennie)

Another crazy day. My body revolted against the 5am alarm this morning and I slept in. I think it was much-needed though! I realized that without a workout schedule, I struggle that much more to get up. It's not on purpose, more that I lay in bed thinking about what to do and happen to doze off until the alarm goes off again. So, time to get a schedule in place!

Not having much of a workout today, I tried to keep the food relatively light-ish.

Food for the day
Breakfast: Drew's protein shake
Morning snack: grapes
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and ranch
Afternoon snack: granola bar and a little fruit. We had our monthly birthday/anniversary celebration at work and I'm happy to say I passed by the cookies and ice cream... and it looked GOOD too!
Dinner: scrambled eggs with spinach, salsa and a little cheese and 3 slices of turkey bacon

Calories in: 1750
Calories burned: 2200
Workout: Ab Ripper X tonight. Short and sweet :)

77 Days (Jennie)

Do you know that scene in the movie A Christmas Story, where Ralphie is anxiously awaiting his Secret Society decoder pin from the Little Orphan Annie radio show and he's sooooo excited when it finally arrives? That was me today when FedEx rang the doorbell. I set it up, did the fit test and then did my workout. And unlike poor Ralphie in the movie, I wasn't disappointed at all!

hooray for gadgets!

The maiden voyage routine for the FT60 was Asylum Strength, followed up with P90X Ab Ripper. I lost 4 minutes in the beginning of the workout before I realized that it was displaying my heart rate, but not recording. More buttons than my old HRM, so might take a bit to get used to!

Food for the day
Breakfast: french toast (homemade), no syrup. I really need to go grocery shopping, was kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel for what to cook this morning for the family
Lunch: post-workout protein shake, only sans the spinach since I'm out of that too
Afternoon snack: scrambled eggs with salsa and 1/2 an avocado
Dinner: We took the kiddos to visit with grandma and grandpa tonight, so we stopped at Taco Bell. I tried their new steak cantina bowl, kind of a cheap version of what I like at Chipotle/Freebirds. Definitely nowhere near as good, but it wasn't awful either. I would probably opt for the veggie next time as Taco Bell "steak" isn't very good, but aside from that, it works in a pinch.
Dessert: watermelon (thanks mom- and dad-in-law!)

Total calories in: 1940
Calories burned: 2300
Workouts: Asylum Strength, P90X Ab RipperX

Good workouts today- but spent a lot of time cleaning the house, so calorie burn otherwise wasn't too impressive. Tomorrow will be better!

79 Days (Jennie)

The heart rate monitor gods smiled on me today. I was using my Google skills to research the difference between all the monitors and headed over to Amazon to check out the user reviews. Low and behold, my pretty Polar FT60 that I was drooling over was discounted over $100! So in just a few days, I should be the proud new owner of one- yay!

Food for the day
Breakfast: protein shake (vanilla protein powder, blueberries, unsweetened almond milk and spinach)
Morning snack: turkey bacon, coffee and a nectarine
Lunch: tomato soup with side salad (spring mix lettuce, jicama, carrots, bell pepper, tuna, ranch, corn, edamame and ranch- yes, repeated from yesterday because I really liked it!)
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: dutch baby with the kiddos (Thursday night "brinner" again!)
Dessert: A few tortilla chips and salsa. Sounds strange, but I think with having a dinner that was a bit on the sweet side, I was craving savory. I was very good with portion control on the chips though.

Total calories in: 1775
Calories burned: 2200
Today's workout: P90X Kenpo this morning and Ab RipperX tonight

81 Days (Jennie)

Wow, it's already 1/3 of the way through July! Mudder is going to be here before I know it. It felt good to get back up in the saddle this morning. I realized how my morning workout really shapes my day. It's always a fight to get up and do it, but the regret from not working out follows me much longer than the benefit of the extra hour of sleep.

So... here's the rundown!

Breakfast
Post-workout protein shake (vanilla protein powder, spinach, blueberries and unsweetened almond milk)

AM Snack
Grapes and 3 slices of turkey bacon

Lunch
Salad (romaine, carrots, edamame, red bell peppers, guacamole, corn, grilled chicken breast, corn, jalapenos, ranch)

PM Snack
Granola bar (I'm having a hard time quitting you, granola!)

Dinner
Tacos! I did have one small corn tortilla, but ate the rest without. Marinated grilled carne asada (sooo good!), avocado, salsa and veggie refried beans. Oh, and some fresh watermelon. :)

Calories in: 1900
Calories burned: 2300
Workout: Asylum Vertical Plyo and P90X Ab RipperX