A little good advice

During lunch today, I did a little pinterest surfing, and came across a site called The Happy Gal. In the post she had for September 9, 2013, she discusses eating before working out, and drinking protein shakes after. If you want to read the whole thing, go here, but the excerpts that stood out most to me said:

Remember that our whole objective is to build muscle.  Our muscle is the only thing that can burn fat for us (see my post Food is Your Friend.)  So it’s probably a good thing to know that when you begin exercising on an empty stomach (as in the early morning), guess what your body starts burning?  Muscle.  Yikes! 

Pre-workout

This little piece of information was enough to sell me on pre-workout nutrition.  If you have the time before you go, you can have something like half a banana or apple.  Just be aware that food takes 30 minutes to digest, and you’ll want it to be digested so your body can use that food as an energy source instead of using your muscles.  If you like to exercise first thing in the morning, like me, then you’re going to need another plan.  I’m sorry, but I’m just not willing to get up 30 minutes earlier so I can eat half an apple and then wait around to go to the gym.

The solution for me was to find a pre-metabolized protein powder. Pre-metabolized simply means that your body can instantly convert this into energy, and so it is a ready fuel source for body to burn when I hit the weights or the treadmill at 5:30 in the morning.Each morning I mix a few tablespoons of Isa Pro with 1/2 c. water, and then send it down the hatch just before I walk out the door to the gym.

Remember, we want to build up and preserve muscle in everything we do.  Knowing the facts about what our body burns when we exercise on an empty stomach makes this little tidbit a pretty important part of your workout routine. 

Post Workout

This is what always killed me.  As I mentioned before, the last thing I wanted to do after exercising was to replenish calories I had just worked so hard to burn.  One of the best things I’ve learned when it comes to exercise and nutrition is this:  nourishing your muscles after you have just broken them down during exercise is the fastest way to build them back up.  And how do we nourish our muscles?  I talked all about it in the Eat Smarter, Not Harder post?  Protein.  And even better than regular old protein from chicken or eggs is – you guessed it – instantly metabolized protein (a.k.a. protein drinks.)  So it turns out that all of those body builders at the gym aren’t morons after all!  They are simply working with the science of nutrition and exercise.  Immediate nourishment for fatigued muscles not only repairs them more quickly, it enables them to accelerate their calorie-burning potential for up to 38 hours after exercising!  This process is called EPOC   (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption) and is available to utilize within 45-60 minutes after exercise.  Simply look for a protein source (protein shakes are ideal) with approximately 15 grams of protein, 20-30 grams of carbs, less than 6 grams of fat, and under 200 calories.

The same can be done using Shakeology or any other protein powder. I've found that I also like the Raw protein powder, especially in vanilla chai flavor, so I've started buying that as well. Case in point today - I was in a bit of a rush this morning, so I slammed down some yogurt, a little apple juice, and flew out the door. Lunch was reheated cheese, red pepper, and spinach pizza with water, and between breakfast and lunch, I've had a Clif bar. I. Am. Starving. My normal breakfast includes one of these protein shakes, and I'm seeing the difference - it's not good. I just have a granola bar to get me the rest of the way til 4, when I can go home and make dinner. In the mean time, I'm using water as a filler. The only upside to this is that I'm 15 oz into my required 48 ounces (thank you, 20 oz water bottle!), and still have 3 hours to drink more. On top of all that, I still have a workout to do tonight. I just hope I don't get a migraine or pass out before then.

Be smart, eat healthy, and drink your protein shakes!

Turbo/PiYo day 4

Welcome to day 4! My hips hurt too much from the last three days, so I decided to take yesterday as my rest day instead of Sunday. Today is a PiYo Upper Body day, so it won't deal with my hips at all. 

I don't drink Shakeology as religiously as most would like me to, but I drink it as often as I am able - mostly when the blender is clean, because the blender is a pain to clean. That being said, I decided to change up the flavor today. One of my favorite ice creams is the dreamsicle - orange sherbet over vanilla ice cream. I decided to try and replicate it today, and put a peeled and sectioned orange in the blender with vanilla shakeology, a little vanilla almond milk, a little of water (to keep the thickness down), and blended the crap out of it. It has some orange bits in it, like chunky OJ, but the flavor is spot on for what I was shooting for. Dreamsicle in a cup! The best part is I didn't make a ton of it - I tend to get bored with shakeology really quickly. I like to slam it and be done, as I don't have all day to be sipping on on a drink. 

PiYo was short lived again today, but I got up late and am currently trying to fit a bunch of stuff into a small window before work at 2. I am definitely liking PiYo more than Turbo, but I think it's because I'm not losing all my breathing to fast paced movement, plus I can automatically feel the muscles I'm working out, whereas with Turbo, I feel it the next day. I'm an instant gratification kinda girl, so this is awesome. 

Off to shower and find lunch before work. Keep moving forward!

Turbo/PiYo day 3

Today was a wicked quick one, so I didn't get this typed up earlier like I wanted to. Today was a TurboFire day, another round of Fire 40. I kept up, made it 30 minutes in and could've gone longer, but I had to shut it down and shower so I could make it to work on time. I nailed it today - I don't know what my deal was, but I was kicking and punching harder, jumping higher, putting my all into it more than usual. It. Was. Epic.

My hips are sore from the PiYo yesterday, jumping around today, plus standing up for 7 hours straight at work. Tomorrow is Define: Upper Body in PiYo, so it'll be nice to give my legs a break.

I'm proud to say that there have been a few people who have noticed my hard work. I still have a ways to go, but I'm tackling them one day at a time. I'm most proud that our grocery store's juice aisle is shared with the candy aisle, and I can march right down it and not add the junk food to my cart. Our cookies are now in the form of Fig Newtons. There are no junk cereals in the pantry (although I do pick up Cinnamon Toast Crunch on occasion for an evening snack). I read labels before I stick it in the cart, so we're not putting junk into our bodies. Believe me, if my 24 year old self could see what my 28 year old self was doing, she'd be impressed. Zach jumped on the health food and workout band wagon way before I did - it's just been in the last few months that I really started up, and it's amazing how much better I feel. I've already posted this to Facebook, but I'm going to stick it on here, too. I found this on Pinterest:

Got cravings? This'll fix it. 

Ok, that's all I've got for tonight - I'm exhausted. Keep moving forward!

Turbo/PiYo day 2

Holy sweet Moses, but PiYo is awesome! First things first - I forgot to put up my before photos last night, so pretend it's last night for a few minutes. Please ignore the blur of the first one. I was getting ready to hit the shower and thought 'Crap! I forgot!' and took those without my glasses on. I'm practically blind without my glasses, so just be glad I wasn't squinting.

Before and after photos really make this, so don't forget to do those. I also need to take measurements, but I am terrible at doing those on my own, so I'll try to remember to do that when Zach comes back home this weekend.

Ok, back to PiYo. I knew my head would not be turned all the time in order to see the TV, so I watched the 20 minute workout before I did it. The entire time I watched it, I kept thinking, well this should be easy. HA! It's so not. I found out tonight that I'm a little more flexible than I originally thought, but I still have a ways to go. I had to modify it in a few areas, especially where my leg had to go back behind me. However, there is a workout involved with this, but the best part is that it stretched out stuff that I worked out yesterday. Win win!

Now to put another marble in my jar and eat dinner. I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with me, as I was exhausted and didn't think I'd get a workout in tonight. Go be impressed with you! Keep moving forward!

Turbo/PiYo Day 1

That's right, my count is starting over - I even dumped my counter jar. Welcome to a brand new workout day.

TurboFire kicked my ass tonight, and I'm not afraid to say it. Today was Fire 40, and I was unprepared. I got used to the 15 minute workouts, where you pause for a break every 30 seconds. Not here, my friends. The 40 stands for 40 minutes, as that's how long Chalene has you moving. Not the wicked fast paced movement of the other stuff, just easy things, and I still couldn't keep up. I told my husband I think she had A.D.D. that day, as she constantly changes what she's doing, so there were a few moments when I was standing stock still in the middle of my family room trying to figure out what she'd switched to. But ya know what? I have sweat pouring off of me, and I feel fantastic. Wicked hot - thank God for A/C and fans - but still fantastic. If you have trouble keeping cool, do this workout in shorts, not capris, as it'll just make you hotter.

I wasn't able to do the full workout, but I got 30 minutes in out of the 40, which I think is pretty good! I'm calling it a win, and putting a marble counter in my success jar. One day at a time, guys - remember, Rome was not built in a day and neither will you be! I'm off to find a towel...Keep moving forward!

Calling a Mulligan

Lauren keeps saying how long these programs take, and I kept wondering why  - until about an hour ago when I suddenly realized that the programs come with schedules. I'm not usually this slow, I swear. Since I'm doing TurboFire and now PiYo, I decided to combine the schedules and take it up a notch. SO, here is my plan, and I'll alter it as I have to based on how I feel each day (too sore, etc.):

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1	Fire 40	Define: Lower	Fire 40	Define: Upper	Fire 40	Sweat
2	Abs 10	Define: Lower	Low HIIT 20	Define: Upper	Fire 40	Sweat
3	Low HIIT 20	Define: Lower	Low HIIT 20	Core	Low HIIT 20	Define: Upper
4	Low HIIT 20	Sweat	Fire 40	Core	Low HIIT 25	Define: Upper
5	Fire 40	Buns	Low HIIT 20	Core	Low HIIT 25	Define: Lower
6	Fire 30	Sweat	Low HIIT 20	Strength	Fire 40	Sweat
7	Low HIIT 25	Core	Fire 40	Buns	Fire 30	Drench
8	Fire 40	Strength	Fire 30	Sweat	Abs 10	Sculpt
9	Fire 30	Sweat	Fire 40	Core	HIIT 15	Drench
10	Fire  40	Buns	Low HIIT 20	Strength	Fire 40	Drench
11	HIIT 15 + Abs 10	Core	Fire 40	Buns	HIIT 15 + Abs 10	Sculpt
12	Fire 40	Drench	Low HIIT 25	Sweat	Fire 40	Sculpt
13	HIIT 20 + Abs 10	Sweat	Fire 40	Core	HIIT 20 + Abs 10	Buns
14	Fire 30	Drench	Low HIIT 25 + Abs 10	Strength	Fire 40	Drench
15	HIIT 20 + Abs 10	Buns	Fire 40	Sweat	Fire 40	Core
16	Fire 55	Sculpt	Fire 30	Drench	Fire 30	Define: Lower
17	Abs 10	Define: Upper	Fire 55	Sweat	Fire 40	Define: Lower
18	HIIT 20 + Abs 10	Define: Upper	Fire 45	Sweat	HIIT 15 + Abs 10	Define: Lower
19	Fire 40	Hardcore	HIIT 15 + Abs 10	Define: Upper	Fire 55	Sweat
20	HIIT 20 + Abs 10	Hardcore	Fire 45	Define: Upper	HIIT 25	Buns
21	Fire 40	Hardcore	HIIT 20 + Abs 10	Strength	Fire 55	Sweat
22	HIIT 25 + Abs 10	Full Body	Fire 45	Strength	HIIT 25 + Abs 10	Hardcore
23	Fire 40	Full Body	HIIT 25 + Abs 10	Drench	Fire 25	Strong Legs
24	Fire 40	Sweat	Fire 55	Full Body	Fire 30	Sweat
25	Core 20	Hardcore	Fire 55	Drench	Fire 40	Strong Legs
26	HIIT 15 + Sculpt 30	Sculpt	Fire 45	Drench	HIIT 15 + Core 20	Hardcore
27	Fire 30	Buns	HIIT 15 + Tone 30	Strength	Fire 40	Full Body
28	HIIT 20 + Sculpt 30	Sweat	Fire 45	Sculpt	HIIT 20 + Core 20	Sweat
29	Fire 30	Hardcore	HIIT 20 + Tone 30	Strong Legs	Fire 40	Drench
30	HIIT 25 + Sculpt 30	Full Body	Fire 45	Drench	HIIT 20 + Core 20	Buns
31	Fire 30	Sweat	HIIT 20 + Tone 30	Strength	Fire 40	Sculpt
32	Fire 40	Drench	Fire 60	Strong Legs	Fire 30	Full Body
33	Core 20	Define: Lower	Fire 55	Define: Upper	Fire 40	Sweat
34	HIIT 25 + Sculpt 30	Define: Lower	Fire 60	Define: Upper	HIIT 30 + Core 20	Sweat
35	Fire 55	Define: Lower	HIIT 25 + Tone 30	Hardcore	Fire 40	Define: Upper
36	HIIT 30 + Sculpt 30	Sweat	Fire 60	Hardcore	HIIT 25 + Core 20	Define: Upper
37	Fire 55	Buns	HIIT 30 + Tone 30	Hardcore	Fire 40	Define: Lower
38	Fire 60	Sweat	HIIT 30 + Core 20	Strength	Fire 55	Sweat
39	HIIT 30 + Tone 30	Hardcore	Fire 40	Buns	Low HIIT 20	Drench

The columns don't entirely line up, but you get the jist. It'll take me 39 weeks, and I officially start on Monday. I got my workout in today mowing the lawn. Lord knows I sweated buckets, and since I've only ever used the tractor to mow, my shoulders and legs got a hell of a workout. Cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen...I need a nap. But hey! I'm finally on a schedule, so this'll all make more sense now. Score for having it together! 

Keep moving forward!

Days 25 and 26

Day 25 - I attempted PiYo yesterday, but I found I wasn't feeling tightness in areas I should've felt tightness in, according to Chalene, so I asked Lauren to come spot me sometime to make sure I'm doing these moves right.

Day 26 - I came home yesterday to find a new box of Shakeology on my doorstep - a box I don't need yet, and didn't order. I asked a simple question on a thread, got one simple answer and a snippy one. Being a Dutch/German/French girl, I've got a hot temper with a short fuse - something I've worked to keep a lid on my entire life. I used to find deep breathing and walking away from the situation to work out fine. I've also found complaining to my husband helps. Today, I complained to Zach, and followed it up with a TurboFire workout. Nothing helps you calm down faster than taking your aggression out on a workout, especially since the abs that follow that workout is like an inner "up yours" to whatever made you angry in the first place.

Happy Independence Day! Have fun, be safe, and keep moving forward!

Day 22, 23, and 24

I'm getting really bad at updating this lately, and I apologize for that, as I know some of you read it. Here we go!

Day 22 - I did my TurboFire and got myself in trouble. I haven't been drinking water like I should, and I almost passed out halfway through the workout, due to overheating. Always hydrate! Every cell in your body uses water, so make sure you put back in what you're sweating out. You don't want to get to know your floor on a first name basis. My situation was especially dangerous, as if I'd ignored the lightheadedness and managed to hurt myself, no one would've known for days, as my husband is on a business trip. Know your limits, listen to your body, and don't do anything stupid. 

Day 23 - I generally don't work out on Tuesdays, as those are my uber long days - 6 hours at my internship, followed up with 5 hours at my job, and that last one usually involves some heavy lifting. Tuesday was no exception, as my volunteer and I packed up several boxes worth of textbooks and dragged them across the basement to the Goodwill pile. My legs were sore on Wednesday, which leads us to...

Day 24 - More heavy textbook moving, as well as moving other heavy boxes. For a girl that weighs in the 120's, you'd think I wouldn't be able to lug all this stuff, but I've been working out enough and building up my muscles enough that I can get things accomplished now - and surprise the mess out of my boss. 

Remember, looks can be deceiving. Just because you're thin, doesn't mean you can't play with the big dogs. Keep moving forward.