Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 11
It is normal to want to quit during a workout or not to want to start at all. It is tempting most mornings to sleep in or to come home from work and veg-out. The inner-strength comes in doing it anyway knowing the benefits outweigh the costs.
Start Date of Body For Life Challenge: January 7
Days Left: 12
Today I will play in my second Queen of the Beach Volleyball Tournament this year. I am excited. There is nothing like being able to play at an indoor beach in your shorts and a tank top when it is 32 degrees outside. Plus, I am in so much better shape than I was last time. I am moving faster, jumping higher, and hitting harder than I have in a long time. The tricky part is that what people are capable of and how they actually perform can be two very different things. We will have to see how it goes today. I will have an update this afternoon.
UPDATE: 24 girls played this morning. We are put in groups of 4 and play one game with each person in that group. If you win you go up. If you lose you go down. In my first round I played horrid and barely broke out of the bottom. I went into my second round ranked 4th of the 4. I turned it around though and ended up 1st in that group and then again took 1st in my final group with a fairly high points total. So I should end up somewhere around 9th of 24. Not too bad!
Last week in the garden:
This week in the garden:
Tomorrow is the first day of Spring? Ugh! I have had flowers blooming in the garden for weeks now. Today they are frozen solid. If I flicked the petals on these flowers they would probably crack. Not exactly the weather I was hoping for. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE when it snows. It is just that time of year when I am ready for Spring.
Days Left: 13
Days Left: 14
The picture from the other day is of The Master Cleanse Diet. For 10 days you are supposed to have nothing but water with lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper! People have been known to stay on it for as long as 90 days! Can you imagine? Proponents say the diet helps cleanse the body of harmful toxins while losing weight. But opponents say starving yourself makes you lose weight anyway and that your body has natural mechanisms to remove toxins. I tried to do this diet once and I don’t think I lasted through the first day. I would never survive a diet like that. I love food too much not to eat. It always makes me laugh to hear someone say “I got so busy I forgot to eatâ€. That is probably the one thing I am never in danger of forgetting to do.
Days Left: 15
It was really hard to stick to the diet once the original excitement of starting the challenge wore off. I fell off the wagon several times in February. Now that I am used to it, it isn’t too bad really. Regular food seems to taste better. I looked back in Daily Burn to see what a typical day has been like. It looks about like this:
8:30am
3/4 C Kashi Go Lean cereal
1/2 C skim milk
1 egg (hard boiled just because I can prepare a lot at once)
1 serving of fruit
10:30am
1 vanilla protein shake (after awhile without junk food these start tasting like ice cream)
12:30pm
4 oz chicken breast (pico and adobo seasoning, marinara, or whatever) 1 large salad
1 serving of fruit
2:30pm
1 small banana
1/4 C cottage cheese
6-10 almonds
4:30pm
1 chocolate protein shake
6:30pm
Beef tenderloin, salmon, shrimp, something like that
Sautéed mushrooms
Asparagus or broccoli
Sometimes a salad too
If I still feel hungry I will have another banana and some more cottage cheese.
Total Calories: 1618
Protein: 101g
Carbs: 195g
Fat: 47g
Days Left: 16
The nice thing about having 12 weeks to lose 10-20 pounds is that I am not on any ridiculously strict diet. Recognize the diet in the photo? Forget that! For me, no major food groups are restricted. I eat high protein and go easy on the bread but carbs are not off limits. I do try to eat them more in the morning and get most from fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds. I eat a lot of black beans, pinto beans, bananas and almonds. Like most diets I stay away from real junky food like sweets and anything deep fried. But a free day once a week means even that stuff is not totally off limits. Interestingly, this far into the challenge that stuff doesn’t sound as good as it used to.
Days Left: 17
I am under 140! It is the first time in a very long time. I am getting so close to taking out the bin full of clothes to see if they fit. Not yet though. I have 17 days left and only two pounds to go. My original goal was to lose 20 pounds which would put me at 137. But I knew if I got to this point I would really be shooting for 135. If I can stay on track I should have no problem getting there. It is hard to believe I am so close. Just a few months ago the end seemed so far away that I really wasn’t sure if I could make it. Now that I am so close I have no doubts.
WEEKLY WEIGH-IN:
Starting: 157
Last week: 141
Today: 139
Goal: 137 –> no –> 135
Yesterday we had to put Todd’s cat Evie to sleep. It was a very sad day. So today I just want to say goodbye to Evie and post some pics. Click here.
Days Left: 19
This morning I am going to climb Mount Sanitas to get a little variety in my work outs. It is a 3 mile loop with an elevation gain of 1255 ft that starts right in Boulder. I really like this hike because of the great views you experience along the way but it can be a little crowded which is why I am starting so early. It is only 35 degrees outside right now but it is supposed to warm up and be sunny so it should be a good hike.
Days Left: 20
Today’s CrossFit Workout:
Thrusters with 65# (95# for boys)
Do 1 thruster during minute 1
Do 2 thrusters during minute 2
Do 3 thrusters during minute 3 …
The goal is to keep going until you can’t finish the number of thrusters required in that minute. It started off easy but got a lot harder as the reps increased and the rest decreased. In minute 12 my arms and legs quit. After 11 thrusters I dropped the bar and didn’t pick it up in time to finish the last one. Bummer. Another guy wanted 15 but didn’t think he could make it. After having rested a couple minutes, me and another guy picked our bars back up and did the last set to help motivate him to finish. So while I ended up doing about 90 in 15 minutes that guy did 120!
