53/52 Days (Jennie)

Stress... stress... STRESS!!! I am a busy gal, I always am burning the candle at both ends, so to speak, and once every so often I get burn out. Work has been extra busy lately with multiple large projects deploying at the same time. I think I'm finally coming to the realization that summer is drawing to a close (at least as far as the kiddos starting up school again) and we didn't get a chance to do anything or go anywhere. Cry me a river, I know... it's not like I'm the only person on the planet right now not getting to take a summer vacation. We have our health, our jobs, our home, so I'm really trying not to make this sound like a big deal that it isn't, but bear with me. Knowing that school is here once again and we're once again back to the craziness of team sports, homework, and all the other activities that come with it, without any R&R is a bit of a bummer. The kiddos were throwing a fit tonight about dinner (hubby's galumpke is not their favorite), they made a huge mess upstairs while we were making dinner. None of it is all that big of a deal... really... but I'm human and sometimes all the little things add up to make a cranky mommy.

So it made me start thinking about exercise and stress reduction. As tempting as it is to skip a workout or sleep in a little later because I'm tired, it's generally not worth it. So what makes it so great?

• Endorphins! Your body's natural feel-good response- this is the "runner's high" you hear about so often.
• Mood! This is totally unscientific here, but I know that if I don't get my workout in, I spend the rest of the day kicking myself (psychologically) for missing it. Not worth the extra hour of sleep. 
• Self-Esteem! I feel better about me when I take care of me. Again, not scientific here, but when I feel better about me, I have more confidence, which helps me to deal with stressful situations better.
• Focus! Exercise helps me focus and tackle my day. I challenge myself to keep pushing physically and get over mental hurdles, which helps later in the day as well. Warm-up, stretching and cool-down gives me time to think, whether it's about the workout ahead or the day ahead.
• And so many more...

Food for the days (you know you're in a rut when you're eating identical meals breakfast and lunch)
Breakfast 8/07 and 08/08: post-workout smoothie (spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries and unsweetened almond milk)
AM Snack 8/07 and 08/08: coffee and homemade banana bread (got to get rid of this stuff- I keep eating it!)
Lunch 08/07 and 08/08: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing
PM Snack 08/07: handful of almonds and granola bar
PM Snack 08/08: granola bar and a peach
Dinner 08/07: unscheduled stop at Chevy's... had some chips (noooo!) and a big salad
Dinner 8/08: hubby's galumpke
No dessert either day. Still trying to make up for the chips last night and splurging at the BBQ this weekend.

Total calories in 08/08: 1735
Total calories in 08/07: I'm guessing about 2500, although I honestly didn't track it. Darn chips and salsa did me in, I really need to work on willpower there!
Calories burned 08/08: 2300
Calories burned 08/07: 2385
Workout 08/08: P90X Chest and Back
Workout 08/02:P90X Kenpo. It was supposed to be a rest day- but trying to make up for lost time last week. My hands couldn't handle back-to-back pullup days. ;)

56/55 Days (Jennie)

Sorry for the second combo post, this is awful! It's been a crazy fun and busy weekend! Friday was a day off but shopping all day long and home late at night. Saturday we had a birthday party for our friends' son's 4th birthday. It was a fun time at the community pool near them. I have a love/hate relationship with pools as my daughters aren't swimmers (yet), so I spend the entire time on extra alert either hanging on to them or keeping them within direct line of sight the entire time. It may sound like not a big deal, but as any parent can tell you, this level of "if I remove my eyes from you for a split second, you will drown" kind of attention is exhausting. Thankfully it was a great pool with a huge shallow end that had a graduated "beach" entrance, perfect for little ones still getting their water wings. The kiddos are now extra excited for swim lessons later this fall, which is fantastic! And I'm proud to say that I was finally brave enough to venture out in a bikini in public- sans coverup. My friend and I were in Vegas last summer and spent some time poolside, but always with a coverup. It may sound like not a big deal, but for a girl who is traumatized annually with swimsuit shopping, it was a major milestone. Today we headed out to visit my dad for a bit, followed by more errands.

Food for the day
Breakfast 8/04: baked oatmeal with blueberries and banana
Breakfast 8/05: three homemade buttermilk pancakes with 1 T light syrup (normally not a fan, but we were out of the real stuff!)
Lunch 8/04: I chose to skip lunch at the birthday party- they were serving pizza which looked amazing, but knowing we were heading to a BBQ afterwards, thought it would be in my best interest
Lunch 8/05: steak with avocado, lettuce, pico de gallo, pinto beans and corn
PM Snack 8/04: lemon Luna bar
Dinner 8/04: bbq tri-tip, carrots and celery... and a few too many fritos and pretzels/dip. I don't normally eat that stuff- but when it's around and I'm hungry, it's a dangerous combo. Especially when I'm the designated driver for the evening and not getting to enjoy the drinks with everyone else. And excuse excuse excuse... haha!
Dinner 8/05: 1/3 of a frozen CPK pepperoni pizza... no bueno
Dessert 8/05: Greek yogurt with strawberries and a few chocolate chips

This weekend definitely wasn't my best. We arrived home late last night and were up early this morning. I had every intention to get my workout in and it didn't happen. I wanted to do it tonight, but Mt. Laundry was threatening eruption if I didn't attend to it immediately- so I did. Tomorrow- back to it. My HRM is going to be hollering at me tomorrow morning for not meeting my weekly goals!




Workout 8/04: P90X Kenpo X
Workout 8/05: nothing official, but I at least managed to get an okay amount of walking in


Tomorrow- back to work!

64 Days (Jennie)

Two months and two days to Tough Mudder, it's getting real now! Today went well, got the workout in this morning and a good walk in at lunch too, plus running around with the kiddos grocery shopping tonight.

Food for the day
Breakfast: protein shake with 2 cups spinach, frozen blueberries, vanilla protein powder and unsweetened almond milk
Morning snack: turkey bacon, a nectarine and coffee
Lunch: salad with ground turkey and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack: lime refresher from Starbucks while out walking- yum!
Dinner: We had dinner out tonight, Chipotle Shrimp salad at Rubio's. Super tasty and only 380 calories.
Dessert: honey roasted peanuts- not quite a dessert! I got home and started logging calories for the day and realized I was running a pretty big deficit. I don't like to run too light, it makes getting through the morning workout difficult. Dinner was surprisingly light, I planned for something a bit heavier. Maybe a little yogurt or fruit before bed. :)

Total calories in: 1450
Calories burned: 2300
Workout: P90X Kenpo, 2 mile walk at lunch

68 Days (Jennie)

The countdown to Tough Mudder is quickly approaching the 2 month mark. It's hard to believe, it feels like just the other day I was registering, wondering what I was thinking. But September seemed so far away, I had plenty of time to train, right?

From here on out, I want to really focus on upper body strength, that's an area I struggle with. The plan is to emphasize the P90X upper body workouts and sub in some Asylum workouts here and there for variety. I will master a pull-up!

Food for the day
Breakfast: Drew's protein shake minus the banana since I was out. I did pick up more at the store tonight, it adds a smoothness to the shake that I really missed.
Morning snack: coffee. I was in a rush to make a 9am meeting and didn't plan well to grab anything else on my way out the door.
Lunch: salad with tuna and ranch
Afternoon snack: granola bar and more coffee. Sometimes the day just calls for a little afternoon caffeine.
Dinner: two shrimp tacos with cabbage and corn tortillas

Calories in: 1870
Calories burned: 2200
Workout: P90X Kenpo X

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

86 Days (Jennie)

Back to work after my very mini-vacation. It's always nice to get back to the routine. Not that I don't love the time off, but being chained to my desk or meeting-hopping really helps me stick to my health routine. Our cafeteria at the office has a well-stocked salad bar too, which is great.

Rundown for today:

Breakfast
Protein shake (almond milk, spinach, frozen blueberries and vanilla protein powder)

AM Snack
Coffee, leftover fruit salad from last night (yum) and 4 pieces of turkey bacon

Lunch
Chicken and wild rice soup and salad (romaine, red bell pepper, mushrooms, edamame, ground turkey, carrots and ranch)

PM Snack
Granola bar

Dinner
Homemade ricotta pancakes (made with lime this time- I was out of lemon!) with strawberry compote (4 small)

I'm ending today fairly light. I did workout this morning (P90X Kenpo) but was feeling a little blah... I was probably a little dehydrated and felt it this morning. I know I didn't give it my full effort, but even a not-so-great workout is far better than no workout at all!

Calories in: 1660
Calories burned: 2200