A Week of Sweating

 Cycling, Cycling, fitness, fitness classes, Free Weights, Losing weight, Recovery, relationship with exercise, rest days, running, Spin class, swimming, swimming workouts, treadmill, weight loss, weight training, weights  4 Responses »
May 262012
 

I recently did a “week’s worth of dinners” post and I realized I’ve never done one about my workouts. My workout schedule is pretty set in stone after so many years of doing it. I keep track of my workouts on my Google Calendar to keep myself accountable, but I’m at a stage in my maintenance journey where I really don’t need to.

Keeping track of fitness is a great motivator for losing weight. Recording your workouts, or calories burned, or mileage run, is a huge NSV! Don’t sell yourself short by thinking the time you put into it doesn’t count. It all counts.

The following is not necessarily what I do each week, but it’s a pretty accurate representation of my fitness. In the coming months this will change drastically because I’ll be moving my workouts outside. I’m really looking forward to resuming my biking to work on a routine basis now that the weather is better!

A Week of Sweats

Sunday

A lovely recovery swim from the previous days’ weight workout. This particular Sunday I did 52 minutes in the pool. Here is that workout:

50 lengths freestyle

10 lengths breaststroke

10 lengths freestyle with buoy and hand paddles

10 lengths with kickboard

8 lengths freestyle

6 lengths breaststroke

Total: 94 lenghts, about 1.25 miles. 

Calories Burned: about 350

 

Monday

Rest Day! Mondays aren’t always a rest day but I try to schedule it that way if I can to “recover” from the more intense weekend workouts I do. Also, who wants to workout on a Monday after a long day at work? Not me. Mondays are also pretty crowded at the gym (I think people are trying to burn off their weekend indulging).

Tuesday

This is my “long strength training” day. I try to get in a run as well, but not always. I listen to my body. This particular day was not the best workouts I’ve had. First, I got to the gym and discovered I’d forgotten my running shorts at home. I had my compression tights but they are really hot and uncomfortable to wear in warmer weather. Second, I also forgot a sports bra. That was not good! I ended up having to just use my regular bra, which did not work that well.

I started with a run and it also wasn’t great. My right knee hurt, my left shin hurt, half way through my right foot got a bad cramp. It was just not fated to be an awesome workout. After running I hit the weights the best I could despite my sour mood. I’ve increased the weights on some machines and it’s a great motivator!

Yep! That says 75 pounds. Go me. All in all, not the best evening, but I was glad I worked out.

Gym Stats:
Time: 1:25
Calories Burned:  664

Wednesday

Spin class!

I tried a bunch of different classes at a few different gyms and found one that worked the best for me and that’s the one I try to go to each week. All winter I’ve been going to this class because I really like the teacher a lot. Her music selection is different and a lot of the stuff I like (not the “norm”) so it’s refreshing. Her classes are challenging.

Sometimes I’m sore from Tuesday’s weight session and I wish Tuesday and Wednesday could be swapped, but with a class it doesn’t work that way.

This particular spin class was difficult but fun. It was a different instructor and she’s very challenging. She said “You came to work tonight, so work!” And she was right! It was a lot of speed intervals mixed in with some very very difficult hill climbs that were killing me! It was good though.

Stats:
Time: 1:34
Calories Burned: 686
Mileage: 20.2 miles!

I went back to spin because it had been pouring out for a week. I didn’t mind going back to spin once in awhile because it’s definitely a challenge.

Thursday

Rest Day! I’m resting up for the weekend activities!

 

Friday

Oh, my Friday night swims…I love thee. It’s the perfect way to decompress after a long, stressful week. It’s relaxing and energizing at the same time. This time my swim routine was as follows:

30 lengths freestyle

10 lengths breaststroke

10 lengths freestyle with buoy and hand paddles

10 lengths with paddleboard

10 lengths freestyle with leg buoy

10 lengths freestyle

10 lengths breaststroke

Total: 90 lengths, about 1.25 miles

Calories Burned: around 350

Saturday

Saturday mornings are my most intense workouts. It used to be the “long” workout of the week, but ever since I reduced my cardio and increased the weight lifting, I haven’t had to spend as much time in the gym to get the same results.

This particular Saturday I ramped up my mileage to 3 miles total and it felt fantastic. No issues! I think all the strength training and lower body exercises I’ve been working on all winter have really improved my stability and lower body function.

After my 3 miles I spent the bulk of my workout lifting weights and stretching. I was really happy with my number.

QUESTION: What does a typical week of fitness look like for you?

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It’s Been Awhile…

 breakfast, Breakfast, calories, Dessert, Dessert, Dinner, fitness, food, food habits, Food update, Lunch, portions, snacking, snacks, Spin class  10 Responses »
Apr 122012
 
IMG_5436

I’ve sort of fallen out of the habit of writing about my food here. My blog started out as a food journal because that was all I really knew about the “healthy living blog” world at the time. Lately I’ve been doing so much more writing about other things I haven’t done one of these in awhile. Once in awhile it’s good to check in. This post is one day’s worth of eating. The foods here are pretty typical of a day for me.

Breakfast

I made an omelet for myself for the very first time. I’ve tried to do it before but those attempts usually ended up being scrambled eggs. This time I used a smaller pan and it worked great. I sprinkled just a tiny bit of shredded Colby Jack cheese on one side and added some black beans on it, let it cook a little and then folded it over.

I topped the omelet with half an avocado and a serving of sour cream. It was delicious and I was really proud of myself for being successful. I don’t eat a lot of omelets because there are usually too big and have too much cheese in it. Mine was just right.

When I got to work, I had one cup of black coffee with two servings of coffee creamer.

Calories:  About 400

Snack

My morning snack was an apple. I ate it around 11 am. I slice the apple into a bunch of pieces because it takes me a long time to eat it that way.

Calories: About 70

Lunch

For lunch I brought soup that my friend Star made. It was a vegetable and potato soup that was creamy but she did not use any dairy in it. She told me how she made the soup but now I don’t remember.

I measured out a serving of Wheat Thins to go with my soup. I also had a piece of chocolate after lunch from the Candy Room at work.

Calories: About 375

Snack

For my pre-workout snack I had a Chobani Greek yogurt. I had the vanilla because it’s my favorite flavor. It’s not as sweet as the ones with fruit in it and with Greek yogurt I just need a little taste of sweet.

Calories: 120 

Dinner

For dinner Michael and I made a “throw it all together” dinner. First I sauteed kale and onions in the skillet with a little Grape Seed oil and chicken broth. When it was cooked down Michael added two bratwursts sliced into small pieces into the skillet.

While that was cooking, I made dinner salads–green leaf lettuce for me and spinach for Michael, topped with raw broccoli, a little bit of shredded cheese and a serving of croutons. I also added some cottage cheese to my salad after I took the photo.

Calories: About 600

Dessert

For dessert that night we had ice cream! It was the last of the ice cream we had in the freezer, a lower calorie Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

I topped mine with a little bit of the hot fudge sauce that I love! It’s from Wax Orchards and it’s 45 calories a serving. It’s rich and delicious and made from fruit instead of chemicals. It’s also diabetic friendly, but it doesn’t taste fake. It’s my favorite “light” treat.

Calories: About 225

Fitness

I warmed up on the treadmill before Spin class. It was a really good class, even though it was a substitute teacher that I didn’t really like much (she sang along with the music…um….). The routine was difficult and I loved the challenge. Here was the  workout:

  • 30 seconds of fast pedaling with difficult resistance then 15 seconds “flat road” no resistance recovery. Repeated four times.
  • 30 seconds of pedaling with difficult resistance, then 15 seconds of “flat road”. Repeated four times and increasing resistance each time until we were at a “10″ in resistance.
  • Standing climb intervals with seated climbs, hardest resistance we can take.

 

The class was difficult and I loved that I was able to do it! My legs felt like jello after the class.

Calories Burned: 685

Conclusion

So that was my day.  That was a typical day for me when I work out. If it was a rest day, I’d skip the afternoon snack. What are my numbers? 1790 worth of food with 685 calories burned in the gym. Dinners are usually more in the 700-800 calorie range but it was just one of those nights where we didn’t have anything defrosted and needed to go to the store for more produce. What I strive for is to eat between 1600-1900 calories a day, the higher days are when I work out.

 

QUESTION: Do you like food blogs that are in diary form (I ate XYZ)? What do yo like to read the most on blogs? 

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