Tuesday Afternoon

Okay well technically it is still the morning, but i have that song stuck in my head. :-)

Before I forget check out Daily Goods for a really cool giveaway!!!

This morning was a tough one. I guess I should back track to the rest of yesterday though....

I never made it to class(oops! :-)) but I did get to my school advising appointment. I am all set with my changed major(Business Management) but I went to register for classes and there are like 3 options per class I need to take..and at terrible times!! I hope they open more classes later on or something....

After my appointment, I met my dad and brother at the running store so I could get new shoezies!!! I love mine, but I got them in October and am now wearing holes through the sides hehe....so I got the same upgraded pair of Nikes! Love love.

After picking up the new kicks...my older brother(who is in town from Cali) went hiking. So 2 and a half hour workout in the morning...then an hour hike on Camelback...(its a tough hike)...let's just say I was DEAD by the end of the day.....

Back to today...Tuesdayyyy: I boxed this morning. My right hand has been hurting so I have been hitting left hand dominant the past few days and my instructor told me how much I have improved on my left side. I'm excited because I am really loving this boxing! Class was really hard today, he must have eaten a great energizing breakfast this morning because we worked hard today.

After boxing, I did legs. Deadlifts, squats, seated ham curls, leg extensions, hip adductors, hip abductors, and the glute machine. It was good. I wasn't planning on doing any cardio afterwards because boxing was so tough this morning, but on my way out, the cardio kickboxing instructor stopped me and said "hey are you coming to my class today you haven't been in a while!" So out of guilt and also taking that as my "sign" I went ahead and did cardio kickboxing too. It was an extra hard workout today as well. (There must be something in the water at my gym or something.)

Now i am just relaxing for a few until I have class at 1:30 and another class at 6:30 tonight. Ugh. Not in the mood for class tonight..i may just stay home and rest..we'll see.

Hope your all doing well! Here are some fight night pictures, as promised

my sister and i with Michael Phelps!!

monday fun day?

ehh wishful thinking :-)

I just got back from the gym. I had a great chest workout, but an even BETTER tricep workout. No joke, my arms were shaking and i bet i was making some relaly funny faces. There is a guy at my gym that calls me mean face because i guess when i am pushing hard i have a mean look on my face haha.

Cardio went by fast today too, surprisingly!

Breakfast was 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 banana, 1/2 TBSP almond butter, and 1 cup of egg whites on the side with some spinach.

After my workout i had almonds, an apple, brussels sprouts, chicken, and brown rice.

Yum yum!

Today i have an appointment with my advisor to figure out my schedule for next semester and then going to hang out with my dad and brother!! It should be a fun Monday after all!

Hope your day goes well also!!

Crazy weekend!

Hey guys!! Sorry i haven't posted in a few days! I have been super busy..in a good way though!

Friday:

Friday's workout was shoulders! I had a really awesome workout and then did an hour on the treadmill walking on a 15% incline at 3.3 mph. I then had to race to school to take a test(which i don't think i did too well on, but oh well.)

The rest of friday I was the taxi driver. I had to pick up my little brother from my dad's office and drive him to pick up a laptop and then drive him home. Then i went to my best friend Taylor's house and hung with her until it was time to pick up my older brother from the airport. The airport was CrazyYYY busy, but it all worked out fine. My older sister, older brother, and sister's boyfriend all decided to go to a bar and hang out with some of my sister's friends. It was a really fun sibling night!(Love that i can go out with them now!!!)

Saturday morning I woke up, and picked up my older brother from my sister's condo and we went to a Vinyasa yoga class. It was pretty good, but not up to his standards(he does a lot of yoga at a nice studio in LA....our Scottsdale JCC couldn't compete LOL) We then went to whole foods and got some veggies and he cooked us some veggies.(He is also very health concious...i hate that he lives in LA and not here!! I of course had my egg whites with the veggies hehe)

After lunch, we went and hiked Camelback mountain. Really challenging but fun! And then i had about an HOUR to get ready to go to Celebrity Fight Night. My dad is a special advisor and video producer of the event so we go every year. It was so fun! I got to meet Michael Phelps and John Corbet!(pictures to come of course!!)

Eats have been AWESOME this weekend and i have stuck to my guns and not cheated on my diet. I am feeeling very happy and good about this. Since I will be going to Vegas on Friday morning, my weekend next weekend is Friday-Saturday(instead of Saturday-Sunday) so I am going to do Monday's workout today, Tuesday's workout tomorrow, etc.


I will be also playing some volleyball today! Should be a good one.

This morning for breakfast: 1/2 cup egg whites; 1/4 cup of oats topped with a banana, 1 TBSP almond butter, and some blueberries; and a grapefruit.

Have a good rest of the weekend bloggies!!

Great description of weight loss

How Losing Weight is Like Playing a Sport
If you are playing basketball, you can't expect to stop the opposing team from scoring. Same with weight loss…you can't expect to lose weight without ever gaining some of that weight back. Also in basketball, there are times when a team is behind for a quarter or two. When losing weight, you may weigh more on Wednesday than you did on Monday. This is natural, just make sure that you push extra hard on the rest of the week to come out slightly ahead on Wednesday.

To read more about this click here. Good article, but I thought the above was a VERY good analogy.

oh the confusion!

so you all know the last time my friend george tested my body fat about 2 weeks ago it was 21%. Well today a different trainer (i would say more experienced) took my body fat because he didn't believe that i was 21%. It came up as 16.5%!!!! I now don't believe either reading. The test today, he pinched lower on my leg than george does and that made a huge difference.

The only real way to find out body fat percentage is with a dunk test. They submerge you in water and test your body fat that way. My friend got me a certificate to get a dunk test for my birhtday(i know only I woudl get excited about that haha) so that will be the real test!!

Anyways...sorry for no post yesterday, i was at the lake all afternoon! Before that i had the BEST chest and tricep workout of life. My trainer really killed me. He and 2 other people also complimented my physique saying i was getting more muscle and cuts and leaning out. So great to hear!!!!! Eating was great yesterday, although i didn't eat anything at the lake because that is one place that I have no thoughts about food whatso ever!!

The lake was beautiful...a little colder and windier than last week, but i still wakeboarded! Once you get in the water your skin gets kinda numb so it's all good right? Heh.

Today's workout was boxing, abs and calves, finished off with elliptical for an hour.

Off to class! Sorry for the lame post, I will have more later!

Are you there legs? It's me, Lizzy

Sometimes I underestimate myself. I think "leg days with Dae are so much better, i should save them for wednesday so he can push me harder." I am wrong in thinking that. Today I did legs on my own and after an HOUR, i was hobbling out of the weight room. Smith squats, hip adductors, hip abductors, lying ham curls, leg press, leg extensions, and step ups. I went heavey on everything and did a total of 27 sets of legs. I KILLED these babies and i LOVE it. :)

Rewind: This morning I woke up and had a bowl of proatmeal and some egg whites. I headed out the door at 6:15am (bleh) for boxing. Great class today, except i have a hurt knuckle on my right hand and it keeps getting worse because i keep going all out in boxing class. I talked to my instructor and we are going to take it easy on my right hand for a week and see if it gets better.

After boxing and the leg shred, i hit up the arc trainer for an hour. I ate an apple on the way home from the gym because i just couldn't wait i was starvin' marvin'.

Post workout: Egg whites, 185 g sweet potato, 12 brussels sprouts, apple

I have class today (two tests, iCK) And tomorrow i have another test and then going to the LAKE for some more wakeboard action!!!! Yayy.

If you all are wondering why i am being lazy and not working, it's because I actually am working for my dad right now. His assistant is out for 2 weeks so I am filling in for the time being. He also has a client who needs someone to do Quickbooks for them and luckily that is one of my skills. I am just picking up jobs here and there because I honestly have such a weird schedule that it is hard for me to work on a set schedule. Plus after having my last job that i absolutely HATED, i would rather live on the streets then take up another job I hate. Seriously. I also kind of feel like a hippie these days you guys. I am in the whole "i just want to be healthy, live my life to the fullest and have fun, even if i am poor" It's a stage I'm sure, but that is where I am at. I really do have a great work ethic when i want to, and school is keeping me plenty busy.(and so are my workouts ha!) When I am ready to venture out onto something worth while(in my opinion) then I will and until then I will do what I can to get by. In this economy that is what most are doing anyways. I'm not stressed about it, I am loving life!

monday!

hey all! sorry for not posting yesterday i had a busy day!!

Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal and egg whites. I had a softball game in the morning and then had to go straight from there to a family party(mom's side). I ate some cucumber slices, a baby dill pickle and a slice of tomato. When I got home I was pretty hungry so i made some egg whites, had some chicken and brussels sprouts, and also another bowl of oatmeal. Then it was time for some volleyball! Volleyball is so much fun, but it was WINDY, which really sucked. We still had a good time. Then I had to go to my dads house for dinner(my siblings and I go every sunday evening) They ate chinese food, and i ate some grapes, 2 apples and a grapefruit. I was just so in the mood for fruit!!

I also tried a Green Superfood drink and let's just say I got two sips down and that was the end of that! Ha.

Today i am off to meet my trainer to do a nice BACK workout. Maybe some abs too, he likes to throw those in there sometimes. My shoulder was kind of bugging me on Saturday so i really hope it is okay today.

I made Gina Alliotti's Zucchini Protein bread last night! (Thanks to Kelly O) I had it for breakfast this morning. I didn't add in the Splenda, and i still thought it was pretty good. Kind of bland without the sugary taste, but i am used to bland these days. It was VERY filling and i probably won't eat the whole loaf at one sitting next time. I am feeling a little more full than I'd like to be. The good news is that it is only about 415 calories for the whole loaf!! Full of protein and healthy carbs :) Good stuff!

I also had a grapefruit and an apple. Biggg breakfasts are key to a good day for me. I notice that when I eat a small breakfast, i end up eating a HUGE lunch, so i just have to do what works for MOI!

Have a lovely day lovelys!

i suck

Okay guys..i am not allowed to go to my dads house anymore!! 3718 calories today!!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! I think I know.
1. I am actually pretty happy with my body right now. It isn't EXACTLY how i want it(i don't think that i'll ever see my body that way thats why we are called health 'nuts'...we are nuts hehe) but it looks good. I like how my abs are defined, and my legs are slimmer and i don't have cellulite. I actually like what i see when i look in the mirror.

THIS IS BAD. It makes me that much more likely to go cheat because i say to myself "you look pretty good, one day won't kill you" This is what happened last time i lost weight. Those "one days" added up and i HATED not only my body but my self for letting it happen.

I need to get my head back in the game on weekends. During the week I am fine because it is all routine and honestly, if i don't go to my dads house, then there is no crapfood at my apartment for me to eat, SO....moral of the story. NOT going to dads house anymore!! It is the danger zone.

I did hike camelback mountain today (a hard as f*** hike, i literally got my heart rate up to 190 at one point...i don't take breaks at all on the way up so it really is a hard workout) afterwards i got the tires in my bike fixed and rode around for about a half hour... then went to the gym and did some random pushups and abs, stair master for 10 minutes and ran on an incline with intervals for 10 minutes...5 minute cooldown.

I guess its good that i logged in all that i ate, but at the same time I probably came in about 1000 calories or more over my daily intake. NOT COOL LIZZY.

This is a tough position. I like being happy with my body because it makes me confident, happy and I appreciate it, but I worry SO MUCH that i will let myself go. I know that I have the power though and I just need to remember that. A 3 day carb-deplete is sounding pretty good right about now! Nix some of that damage I did.

I WILL be better. I will not only get through the weekdays on plan, but i WILL GET THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND ON PLAN TOO. Keep me accountable guys, I need your help. I will be honest if you will be too.

Thank you for listening to the rambling you guys are awesome you are ALWAYS there and honestly, i am going at this game ALONE. I don't have many supporters in this fitness endeavor.

Thanks again.

My 1/2 marathon training

Hey guys! I had a few questions about how I trained for my half marathon.

It started out as just running. I liked how my body responded to running so i started slowly. I built my endurance up to being able to do 3 miles straight. That is when I decided that I wanted to try and run a half marathon. I signed up for the P.F. Changs Rock n Roll Half Marathon. Upon sign up they gave me a free schedule to follow. There were different schedules. Some had you running every other day. Some had you running 4 days in a row. It all depends on YOU. I found that i did not like running on consecutive days and stuck to the every other day plan.

My advice to all of you that want to do a half marathon is to find a race that you think you might like to do.(Plan far ahead giving yourself at least 4 to 5 months) Many times they will give you a free schedule, otherwise you can purchase them online. If you follow the schedules you will find it easier and easier and soon enough you will be running your own half marathon! Getting a buddy to train with you helps out a LOT. Run outside whenever possible because it is definitely a different kind of running than treadmill running.

That is my two cents. I am no professional at all, but that is what worked for me. Follow the plan and it will get you across the finish line!

Friday friday!

Hey guys! Sorry for not posting yesterday!!!

Yesterday I woke up and went to my boxing class. It was so HARD, yet rewarding!! There are two highlights from yesterday's class. There were only 4 of us yesterday, and we are all regulars. We were doing an ab exercise where you need a partner and as we were pumping out the reps, the instructor said "that's my two athletes!!" An athlete! I love it!! Then we had a competition between the four of us. 25 toe touches(not the cheerleading kind, more like the hot concrete dance? hard to explain) right into 10 pushups...for 4 sets. It was a race! And i won!!!! It was awesome because the four of us are all in pretty good shape, so it felt good to beat them all.(i'm competitive what can i say lol)

Then i had a GREAT chest/ab workout, followed by RUNNING. Yeah i haven't done any SS running in a while. I was planning on running a 5k on the treadmill, but ended up running 6 miles! It felt good to run at a steady pace since I haven't done too much of that since my half marathon.(After runnning 13.1 miles, i needed a break from it haha)

Then yesterday I went to the lake with friends!!! Here is a picture of me! It was a blast, such a great time. The water was a little chilly, but nothing a little wakeboarding can't fix ;-)

Today for breakfast i had a 1/2 cup of EXTRA THICK rolled oats(my favorite) with 20 blueberries, 3 strawberries, and 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder. Yum yum. Time to head to the gym!!

Side note: I had a dream that i slept in through my training and i was so mad at myself!! I woke up with a sigh of relief today.

Have a good day!! I will post later tonight.

too many raspberries and the veggie queen

i went to make a protein shake this afternoon. out of the frozen strawberries,but plenty of frozen raspberries. YUMMM right?!?!

Well apparently not. I don't know if i had too many raspberries or what, but it was awful. I used the same ingredients except for raspberries in place of strawberries. I like raspberries a lot, but for whatever reason it tasted gross. I drank less than half of it and had to throw it away. I NEVER throw things away, because im a little gluttonous girl and usually can stand to eat things even if they aren't that great. But this was just gross.

This morning i got a great shoulder workout in. I am going to try to post a video this week(I promise!!) of a shoulder exercise that my trainer taught me. I don't know if it has a formal name because i have never seen it before in my life, but it gets your rear delts burning like crazy!!

Finished off with elliptical for 1 hour and 15 minutes(i just felt like going more i don't knwo why this NEVER happens haha)

Now i am going for a hike with friends! It is hot outside(almost 90 already) and im still sunburnt. My friend is bringing me some sunscreen because im afraid all of my skin will fall off if i don't use any haha.(really not a laughing matter, but i tend to laugh at things that shouldn't be laughed at. sue me.)

Eats today:
breakfast/pre workout: 1/2 cup oats with 20 blueberries(ya im a nerd i counted) and 1 scoop of isopure creamy vanilla protein powder
post workout: 2 cups of egg whites(im gluttonous remember?) 1 cup of spinach, some chopped onion and green peppers, 2 cups of broccoli, 175 g. of sweet potato
snacks: another serving of egg whites with spinach, onion and green pepper, an ENTIRE BAG of green beans(the steamfresh bag--so 4 cups of green beans), a little bit of a terrible protein shake, some blueberries and some strawberries, 5 almonds

I think i got my vegetable servings in today...right?! haha

Dinner tonight after my hike will be pretty simple. I am going to probably cook the chicken that i have been meaning to cook for the last few days and pair it with some asparagus.

Off to the mountain!

back on!

im back on plan and feel better than ever!!

other than the crazy sunburn i have going on. Note to self: 3 hours in the sun will make you really burnt! --okay mental note!

also check out KK's blog for a giveaway!!!

My workout today was awesome as well! Now going to meet up with some friends for St. Paddy's day festivities!!!(will not be drinking..ill drive the drunkasses around) and my friends band Comfort for Change is playing a show tonight too!!

Happy St. Patrick's day everyone!!

i suck

i knew it. i knew it this morning...i just had that f*e*e*ling. that i was going to be weak. weak-minded that is. and i was right.

i wouldn't call it a binge per-say because i spread it out throughout the day...however....i ate shit.

i wish i ate shit by falling on my face, but unfortunately i ate shit food! honey bunches of oats, frosted mini wheats, too much ice cream, a few chips and salsa, a fuggin BAGEL(WHITE PROCESSED BREAD ewewewew!) and cream cheese...

now don't get me wrong i'm not beating myself up about it in a depressed way.(although who knows what ill feel tomorrow...) but i just was so weak and tired today, that i didn't want to even TRY using my will power.(which i have to say has become pretty damn good.)

I basically just let it flow because i was so tired today. I think the fact that i was in the sun allll day saturday and sunday just finally hit me today. makes sense why my workout was killing me.

ANNNyyyways, i am a little bit mad at myself for letting this happen, but i will be fine as long as i can get right back on plan tomorrow and not look back. If that is the case, then i won't care about this little hicccup(even though yesterday wasn't so great either...) 2 days out of the month won't kill me.

I bought the new Oxygen magazine, so i am going to go read it and inspire myself and probably pass out almost immediately. Boxing in the morning, followed by chest and abs, followed by some cardio! Then poolside! I am going to go pack my post-workout food right now so that it is all ready for me when i finish my workout and i won't even have to think about it. It is days like these where i realize how thankful i am that we have good nutritious food in this world because crappy processed SHIT makes you feel like worn out processed SHIT. Go figure!

tired

I am so tired today!! I'm not sure what it is, maybe the 2 hours of hiking and 3 hours of volleyball yesterday?? Ha. Either way, my workout this morning was EXTRA hard. Cardio was just brutal. I was not feeling it at all, but i made it through.

Breakfast/Pre-workout was egg whites and oatmeal
Post-workout was a scoop of protein powder, 1 tsp. glutamine and water.
Lunch was egg whites

I am not eating some oatmeal with strawberries.

I am feeling like laying on the couch for the next few hours and relaxing. Hopefully i'll get some energy back and do something outside later!

yuck!

hiked today and it was AWESOME..going to play some sand volleyball now. I love my active rest day weekends!!! They are so enjoyable and its nice to be able to get exercise in without being in a gym all the time. (15 hours during the week is enough for me ha.)

I ate 3100 calories today!! ickk!! why ick??? 2 girl scout cookies, some random crackers, a few m&m's...those were the bad ones..the rest were good foods but still too much food today!! TOM is here so i'll just blame that ha. It wasn't an all out binge just a few random snacks and mostly snacking on healthy foods so not so bad.

I needed a little restart for my week. At least it wasn't anything too outrageous.

Hehe this is fun

They say you are what you eat!! With that said...

I used to be: A monster taco, egg roll, cheeseburger and fries, and a crunchwrap supreme! (ya thats right, jack in the box, in n out burger and taco bell) I'm not kidding you that is all I ate. Oh and goldfish crackers.

Now I am: Chicken, Premature chicken(eggs hehe), Green beans, Apples, and sweet potato!!

What have you morphed into?!?!

BEST FRIDAY THE 13TH

I always say this and it always holds to be true. PATIENCE CONQUERS. You wanna know how i know?!?!?! Because I got my body fat tested today and im down to 21.5%!! My friend George, who did the test, said he was trying to grab as much fat as possible so he could make me feel bad(yeah we have a funny friendship like that haha ) and i am down .6% since last time!! I know that is only a small change but it is PROGRESS and that means my hard work is paying off!!!

I am still weighing in at 135 pounds so that means i have also gained some muscle in the process. HELL YEA. I am so happy!!! I honestly am actually pretty happy with my body right now. Yes there are things I want to improve on and I have more goals, but I am becoming happier every day with how i look!! It shows that throwing in the towel when things get tough is NOT the answer. (glad i didn't take that route, although it seemed like a good idea a few times in the past lol)

Workout this morning was great!! LEGS yayy! I have a feeling i won't be able to walk tomorrow which is awesome!! haha I did an hour of incline walking after my weight training.

Eats today were good. I am all out of protein powder so i have to be resourceful to get all my protein in!! It's kind of fun lol.(i have more on the way but it won't be here until the 16th!!)

Breakfast was 1/2 cup of oats with 1TBSP almond butter, 1/4 cup of egg whites, cinnamon, and 5 strawberries. It was pretty tasty and filling! I paired it with a tangelo and 1/2 cup of egg whites on the side and got my butt to the gym.

Post workout was 4.5 oz of chicken, brussels sprouts, 152 g sweet potato, and more egg whites. I find that i eat a lot more in the early part of my day(i am hungry after my workouts!!!) and smaller meals later in the day. It is what works for me so I run with it!

I plan on getting a hike in at some point today, and then going to try to lay out. It's beatiful outside!

Hopefully going to be able to hit up the lake tomorrow for some wakeboarding with friends!!! Can't wait!!

I challenge all of you to do 30 minutes of exercise that is something new to you.(or at least something you rarely do) Trying somethign new can open your eyes to new likings and also open your muscles eyes to new movements! Also, I challenge you to eat vegetables with every meal you have. If you have a snack, eat some veggies with it!! It helps to curb your appetite even if you don't feel like eating them. Just do it along with whatever you were planning on eating.

Almost the weekend!

I read this on Phit n Phat's blog and I think it is a really great analogy!! Click here to read the rest of this post....


"Remember, you are ALWAYS going to face temptations! You are ALWAYS going to have moments it won't be easy. This is when you either woman up or you choose to do what is easy. Don't blame emotions, habits, etc. You have to be bigger than that. If your kids told you they were tired, had a bad day, and decided to just blow off a few assignments here and there. What would say? You wouldn't tolerate it. You would tell them to buck up because a few assignments over time leads to a big ole C or failure. Sound anything like our eating/exercising habits? Hmmm....."

Anyways..boxing today was awesome! hard class today!! Then i did a shoulder workout and these delts are DEAD...good stuff...finished it off with 45 minutes on the arc trainer.

Eats have been good today as well!
Breakfast was a grapefruit, an apple and oatmeal with protein powder mixed in
Post workout was chicken, brussels sprouts, and some more oatmeal(im in an oatmealish mood today i guess!!) and also a tangelo.

I have class most of today :-/ but i am feeling great!! Hope you all have a good one!

bday pictures!!!!

Here is a picture from last night!! im in the middle and my friend taylor decided to be a dork haha

And here is a picture of my back i took the other day!!! Things are starting to come around im so excited!!

i am also going to the lake today!! YAYY! Such a great week so far

happy birthday to me!!

I had the MOST WONDERFUL birhtday!! About 15 of my friends all met me at an Irish pub called the Dubliner and seriously I had the best time!!!

I only got one drink (vanilla Stoli and diet coke) because yes i am a calorie conscious little nerd even on my 21st birthday!! But i honestly had the best day and have the best friends. My sister came out and it meant the world to me (she has been waiting 7 years for this day haha) She was funny too. She walked up to me and handed me my drink and goes "wow lizzy..you sure draw a big crowd..and they are all guys!!" It's funny because she was the same way before she started dating her boyfriend. We are both "one of the guys" and if nobody pointed out that all of my friends are dudes, i might not realize it haha. My roommate came out as well and my best friend that i have grown up with also. It was a great night and i didn't ruin my diet, DOUBLE SCORE!!

Now im off to go meet my trainer for some bi and tri ACTION!! Will have a more normal update later!(not that my posts are ever normal..but im a random girl what can i say?!)

Thank you!!!

Thank you everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes!!! I woke up at 3:30 this morning with an earache and have to go to the doctor. Not the way i wanted to start my day, but it isn't going to get me down!! I got in a great leg/glute workout, boxing and elliptical this morning and I am ready to take on this day!!! Going out tonight *legally* for the first time :-)

Have a great day!

Day 2

Hey guys! I am on day 2 of my carb-deplete. Yesterday went very well! I made a new post-workout smoothie concoction that is AWESOME and i urge you all to try it.

Mine was made with:

1 scoop strawberry protein powder(no carbs)
1 tsp. glutamine
1 Tbsp whole flax seeds
5 raw almonds
4 frozen strawberries

Blend this up! So delicious and the almonds and flax seeds give it some crunch. I LOVE IT.

It also allows me to get my FATS IN which has always been a struggle for me. Yay!

I hiked again yesterday. Same trail, but it is different every time because no matter what you get off trail climbing over teh cliffs and boulders. SUCH a fun climb and a great workout as well. I am going to try to drag someone with me again today!!

I officially turn 21 tomorrow!!! I am going to skip going out tonight and go out tomorrow night. Not going to drink much but i will have to order one drink just for the sake of it. (Never been a big drinker) Exciting!! I am on my spring break as well, so going to try to get out to san diego later in the week with some friends.

Hope your having a good day!

carb deplete?

Since i have been a little carb-whore the past two days.. (Weak mind=carb cravings..all good ones though no worries...) I am thinking about doing a 3 day carb-deplete. For fun (oh yeah loads of fun!), to continue on my guinea-pigness, to clear my system out a little bit (worried i am going to look puffy tomorrow), and because I know that near contest prep i will be doing this at least once and i would like to get a feel for it.

Thoughts? Advice? Anything?! I am a noob at this stuff so I would take any and all advice and experience anyone has with this. (Veggies and a little fruit in the morning will be my only carbs basically.)

Awesome Saturday

Hey Bloggies!! I am having a wonderful Saturday! Before I get into my day, I need to get something off my chest.

My mind is getting WEAK lately. After my binge last Sunday(that i still have no regret over, I think it was needed) I am feeling like I almost want to do it again. My promise to myself was that I will not let this become a recurring thing. I will take cheats when they are necessary only. Well yesterday I was VERY close to breaking that promise to myself. I really was set on the fact that I was going to eat some shitty foods. Why?! I HAVE NO IDEA. My mind was just being weak and I was telling myself to just do it. NO WORRIES, i talked myself out of it. I ended up a little higher on calories, but nothing terrible and it was still all clean foods. Today, I almost did the same thing. I woke up this morning, had breakfast and was certain I was going to have a cheat today. WHY?!?! still no idea. Somehow, i looked in the mirror at my stomach and noticed how lean I have become. I thought to myself "you have lost weight in the past and let it all go over the summer, DONT GO DOWN THAT ROAD AGAIN" I basically talked myself out of it again. I told myself I DO NOT want to lose this hard work I have been putting in. It worked thankfully, and I have actually had a great day eating-wise. I just need to pray that I can be STRONG and hopefully not get any more feelings like that because I do NOT want to get into a binge cycle like I have had in the past. Whew, i feel better getting that off my chest.

On another note, I have FINALLY realized how to take my rest days without going nuts. It seems wayyy obvious, but I am slow so bare with me hehe. I realized yesterday that I train HARD monday through friday. I go BALLS TO THE WALLS in the weight room and i get over 5 hours of cardio in throughout just 5 days. On the weekends I have been trying to train just as hard. I thought to myself...Lizzy you are going to overtrain! I could feel it too. That is why I have been so tired lately. It is fatigue. I am not lettting my body rest enough. I also hate sitting on my ass all day doing nothing. (Unless i have already worked out, then i don't mind sitting around the rest of the day haha) I decided weekends are going to be active days. I am not going to go to the gym, however I am going to stay active during the day outside(while the weather stays nice, i'll have to figure something out when its over 100 degrees in a few weeks.) Whether its going for a nice jog, biking, hiking, or playing a sport, I am going to stay active, but NOT hit the weight room. I think this is a smart move for me.

This brings me to today. I went on a nice long 2 hour hike with my friend Brittni today. We went up the Cholla trail on Camelback Mountain (The Echo trail is a much harder and intense hike and we just wanted to have a good workout but not kill ourselves heh.) It was AWESOME. I had never been up this side of the mountain and it was beautiful. Challenging, yet we were able to have a conversation without gasping for breath. (Echo trail is a much different story ha.) I like hiking with Brittni because both of us are in good shape and like to push our limits. If it gets hard, we push harder. When I hike with my sister and others, its more of a "it's getting hard, lets sit and rest" Not my style. It was about 75 degrees and sunny. Absolutely gorgeous. Tonight I am going to a friends band's show and it will be a good time as always. Might try to sneak in a nap before then so I have the energy. It will be a late night for sure.

I went to whole foods today also and got some GREAT produce and tilapia. yummy yummy. Love that store, but gosh it is so expensive!

I also wanted to let you guys know that I will be competing in the NPC Figure Class July 18th! I feel that this way I can hopefully do well in the competition and I can't wait. I will start my 12 week out diet I believe in the beginning of April(i have the exact date in my calendar) and until then will still continue to be eating my clean foods. My goal for the next few weeks until then is to keep calories between 1800-2000, once 12 week diet starts, they will be lower. I can't wait!!


comp. date

Good quote

Do something. If it doesn't work, do something else. No idea is too crazy. -Jim Hightower.

simple and to the point. i like it.

Aww

my poor legs and biceps. They didn't even know what was coming!!! I ripped them apart, and beat them till they just couldn't take it anymore. Yes i am a vicious woman so WATCH OUT!

Well peeps, this morning I had my boxing class again. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE IT!! (i know i say it every day hehe) but it really is ROCKIN. My instructor is so awesome! He has been doing this for 23 years and on top of that he used to be a stand-up comedian in Hollyweird. You can't top a good trainer that is also a funnyman.

After boxing i annihilated my legs and biceps with deadlifts, 45 degree hypers, leg press, squat press, ez bar curls, hammer curls, 21's and side arm cable curls.

I finished with 30 minutes on the treadmill. (I am learning not to overdo it when i have boxing classes in the mornings. I just become ravenous and tired all day. Considering I have class from 1pm -9pm on Thursdays, I knew I had to be smart and stick to a half hour, instead of my usual hour.)

I have gotten some great compliments in the last few days and I needed them. I have been getting those "why am i doing this/what is the point" type of thoughts lately more than usual, and i need to kick them!! Because the truth is i AM changing. I KNOW this, and even though it may be a slower process than I want it to be, PATIENCE WILL CONQUER. It is the hardest part of losing weight/gaining muscle/whatever your goal may be, but it is what makes LASTING RESULTS.

I can do this. I just have to keep my head in the game!

ONE MORE THING:
I mentioned the other day about my whole "headphones are on don't talk to me" theory. Today my headphones were on AND i was in the middle of a set of curls. I was OBVIOUSLY sweating and breathing hard and struggling(not just throwing weights around like feathers) and a man starts asking me questions!! Of course, i can't hear a word he is saying because my HEADPHONES ARE ON, but he CONTINUES TALKING TO ME. I politely say "I'm sorry I can't hear you. Hold on one minute." Does this stop him from talking?! NO!! I can still see his lips moving. Again I say, "Sir I can't hear you just a minute" HE KEEPS TALKING. So i just let him talk until I was finished with my set. Then i politely took off my headphones and said okay go ahead.... Ugh! I'm sorry but that is just so frustrating. I have an idea of what I can do to try to deter these people...muahaha...you will have to wait to hear my idea! :-)

Give Away

OhSheGlows is giving away the Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred! Check it out!!

Good Stuff

Evening Wrap-Up:

Food: Eating went very well today!

Breakfast: Oats with 1 scoop of strawberry whey protein, cinnamon, and 3 frozen strawberries(that i microwaved) along with a Cutie

Post-Workout: Protein shake made with 1 scoop of strawberry whey protein, 5 almonds, 3 frozen strawberries and water (this was tasty!!) and 1 cup cooked QUINOA--if you have never tried this it is delicious. I can't believe it took me this long to cook it.(Been in my pantry for about 6 months ha) I just put some red pepper flakes on it and it was DELISH (for me at least, considering ive gotten used to the saltless, sauceless foods)

Lunch: 3 oz. of turkey breast(i actually baked this in the oven last night rather than microwaving it WOOHOO), sweet potato, and brussels sprouts.

Snack: 2 cuties, a few frozen strawberries, and another protein shake before I left to go to my momma's

Dinner: 2 cups of egg whites(yeah i know its a lot ha i was a hungry girl!!) made with loose spinach leaves, onion, and red pepper flakes; 4 frozen strawberries, 2 cuties, and sweet potato again.

Total calories for today: 1946 (I aim for 1800 so not bad, not wonderful)

And have you noticed there are no apples in that list?! I haven't been buying them. I am taking a few days off from them until I can eat them in a more controlled fashion.

My puppy is so damn cute!!! Hehe. He is a boxer and his name is knuckles but we call him knuckle-head because...well..it fits his personality :)

Okay, need to go call my old trainer. He wants to chit-chat and he is a talker so this could be a long one...

Good article

http://www.fitwatch.com/weight-loss/the-2-pounds-per-week-rule-and-how-to-burn-fat-faster-454.html

McNugget Emergency? Really?

If i hadn't seen this, I wouldn't have believe it. Check this story out.

Yes people, someone called 911 because McDonalds ran out of chicken nuggets and they wanted their money back. REALLY PEOPLE?! ay carumba.

In other news, if you watched the Biggest Loser last night you are just as frustrated as I am at those three little words "To Be Continued!" Ahh the anticipation. Those producers are good...real good.

While watching the biggest loser, I had a realization that I am not sure is true, but wouldn't doubt. I started wondering if Jillian Michaels is taking some type of HGH(human growth hormone) or any type of steroid. I am not saying that she is, but the widening of the jaw/deep voice kind of give me that impression. I could be totally wrong, just a thought.

Do you think Jillian Michaels takes some type of steroid?

Back to real world.....
This morning I had a great chest workout with Dae. Bench press, incline press, pushups, flys. Lots more pushups. (150 total) He also had me do some heavy heavy sets of hamstring curls. He literally had to help me through most of them they were so heavy. I had immediate soreness ha. Then we got done and he said okay 10 sets of hanging leg raises. Yee-haw. I better have some dominant abs in the near future with all of the ab-work I have been doing!! :-)

I followed my weight training with 60 minutes on the treadmill. I did a steady 15% incline 3.3mph today because Dae wanted me to just go steady today. I enjoyed it and somehow it went by very quickly. Oh and it burnt 702 calories!!! That's what im talking about.

Today i am going to play hooky from class and go hang out with my mom. I rarely see her because I am always so busy. We are probably just going to go mess around Target or something, but she's a bigger goof ball than i am so it should be a good time.

Close Call!

That was a close one! I got home from my workout this morning and hopped in the shower. The water pressure was really low, but I was like hmm..oh well. THEN I REMEMBERED. We got a letter yesterday saying that the water would probably be shut off from about 9AM until 1PM. I had just gotten the shampoo in my hair so i immediately rinsed it out with the very little water that was coming down. JUST IN TIME, about 3o seconds later the water totally shut off. Pheww. No conditioner, so my hair isn't soft and smooth, and brushing it was a pain in the ass. (I have VERY thick hair that is long and hangs to mid back.) At least I got to rinse off though!

I will back track to yesterday. Food-wise, I ate GREAT. LOTS of veggies, LOTS of water, and ended up at 1764 calories for the day. Good split of my macro's (proteins, carbs, fats), so I was happy with it.

My workout yesterday was Shoulders and Triceps. I did shoulders in the morning (24 sets!! I really was focused and made sure that every rep of every set counted) followed by about 75 minutes of cardio. I didn't mean to do that much but I started on the stair stepper, and wanted to go to a treadmill but they were all full. So I decided to run through the gym (there is an area that isn't technically a track but can be used as one) and ran up and down the stairs a few times. I did this for about 10 minutes until a treadmill became available. I did 35 minutes on that.

Thought for Monday: When I am wearing my head phones and have a focused look on my face, am dripping sweat, and working hard in the weight room....Probably not in the mood to chat it up people!!! I actually just started ignoring people and pretending i couldn't hear them so that they wouldn't talk to me. Don't get me wrong, I love the people at my gym and love chatting with other fit-minded people, but there is a time and a place. Don't get in the way of my workout cuz i will run you over!!! :-):-):-) hehe

This morning was boxing at 6:30 AM! I had a 1/2 cup of oatmeal with some blueberries, cinnamon and 1 scoop of my strawberry protein powder. Sounds like a weird combo, i know, but it was actually pretty good. A nice mixed berry flavor. I also had 2 cuties. :-)

Boxing was great this morning. I truly love taking that class. It gets my adrenaline pumping and I always am panting for breath throughout the class. It is great!!

After boxing, I hit up the weight room. Today was back and I killed it!! I was going HEAVY and pumping out extra reps that I really thought there was no way I could do. I just pushed through the pain and DID THEM. It is amazing that even when you think your muscles are in total failure, sometimes they have a LITTLE bit left in them. Sometimes not haha, but if you try you might surprise yourself. That is something that I have learned from my trainer. He always makes me go to failure, and then when I truly believe there is no way I can pump out another rep, he makes me do it anyways. Sometimes i can, and sometimes i can't, but when I can it is exhilarating!!

Anyways after my fantastic back smash, I did about 30 minutes on the elliptical, and then decided to take a cardio kickboxing class that was starting to finish out my cardio for the day. (Lots of boxing today! lol) It was a good class and when it was finished, I realized I had been at the gym for 3 hours now and it was time to get my butt out of there(even though I teetered on the idea of doing a little more cardio.) I have to make sure not to over-train, which I have done in the past---NOT FUN.

Post-workout, I had 5 oz. of chicken breast, 219 grams of sweet potato(kind of high but i was really hungry), and some asparagus.

This post is getting long but I just want to put out some of the goals I have for the next few months:

1. I decided I am going to get my ACE personal training certification by May 1, 2009. It will be a great summer job for me, and it is something I should have done a long time ago.

2. I will also look into getting my group fitness certification.

3. I am really pushing my nutrition into full gear and going to REALLY try to go at it 100%. Not 90%. Although 90% is EXCELLENT, i really want to hit my goals and make sure I am looking good for my competition. I want to go into it knowing i did EVERYTHING i could.

That's all for now peeps. If anyone is in the Phoenix area and wants to do some hiking on the weekends before it gets too hot let me know!!! I would love to meet some people from my area that have similar goals about their health!

Feelin good

Good morning! So yesterday remember how I said I wasn't full??? Ummm fast forward to about an hour or 2 later when I went to play volleyball.....let's just say I could barely move and playing volleyball was the hardest thing in the world. I felt like i had an anchor holding me down. Not allowing me to run and jump. It sucked. But me and all the guys I was playing with just joked about it and still had a good time. Needless to say the only other thing I had was a cutie clementine in the evening because somehow I have never tried them and my brother insisted.

This morning I feel fine. It's funny because all day yesterday after my massive food intake. (I wouldn't even call it food, actually. Food is something that fuels and nourishes the body, this was CRAP) So after my crap intake, all day I was thinking about it. Not because I felt bad or guilty, but because for the entire summer and fall, I had somewhat of a problem with binge eating. Now, however, I was realizing that I don't have that problem anymore. I ENJOY eating clean foods. I am not just saying that because i SHOULD enjoy them, I really do!! Sure pizza now and then would be good, but I don't feel the need for it. I will have cheat days every few months, but i don't want them to be weekly or even monthly. Yesterday really opened my eyes to what I am capable of. I am in control of what goes in my body and I feel like a million bucks when I eat clean healthy foods. I am very happy that yesterday happened for many reasons. 1- I have gotten any craving I had out of my system (and then some) 2- I know what I like to eat now. 3- I am thankful for having the healthy lifestyle that I have 4- IM GOING TO THE TOP.

That was my biggest eye-opener yesterday. I have the ability to really train hard and focus on my eating and I can become whatever i set out to be! Whether it is winning competitions, or modeling fitness equipment, I CAN DO IT. Before it was something that I wanted/dreamed, but now it is something that I WILL DO. I am so pumped and can't wait to get to the gym in a little while!!! Shoulders and Biceps..WATCH OUT because i am going to TEAR YOU DOWN muahaha!

Sorry im a little nuts :):)

Owen Bytheway

(You like my clever title..i told you i'm a nerd!)

I get more full off of 1800 calories of clean foods than I am off of like 4000 calories of crap(i didn't add it all up but im sure its something crazy like that) that i have eaten today! I'm seriously not that full! So much emptiness. Such an eye-opener!!!

Cheat-a-ROO

Oh man, did I have a cheat day today or WHAT. The thing is i am not upset at all. I used to get upset about it because I thought it would set me off on a tangent of bad eating, but not anymore friends! I ate..and ate..and ate some more..oh then I ate some MORE...and it was all prety shitty food! Ya know what? I love my clean foods!!! :-) So then why did I do it?!? To get it out of my system! I have been eating nothing but CLEAN foods since mid-December. (with the exception of a few protein bars in the last couple weeks of December) But literally have not TOUCHED any processed foods (unless you count my protein powder) in the last like 2 and a half months. So i decided that considering today I was tired, bored, irritable, and feeling like I just wanted to be a normal 20 year old for a day and eat like shit haha....I decided..FUGIT im gona eat some shit.

I was at my dads when I decided to do this (he has all the goods in his house haha) and you ready for this? And keep in mind..im full..but im not even THAT full which is ridiculous. (can you tell im actually really finding humor in all of this haha i don't know why but i like it.)

probably like 15 chips ahoy cookies..maybe 17 or 18.
2 small bowls of icecream with chocolate syrup
2 kelloggs swirly pastry things with honey drizzled all over them
i think like 4 or 5 tortillas with cheese sprinkled on them
2 small bowls of cereal
an apple and a banana
8 little raviolis
some salt and pepper chips

hmm what else was thereeee....

that might be it. BUT...umm yeah it was alot of food. lots of calories. and its only 1pm hehe.

i played softball this morning and am playing volleyball this afternoon, but no formal exercise, as today is a rest day.

Anyways...just thought i would clear up two things..YES, i am human ....and YES i can probably eat more than most football players i would assume.

I feel like i am forgetting some foods, but you get the idea. Anyways, no need to make me feel better because I FEEL FINE. I really am okay with today because it wasn't a binge, in the sense of feeling like i had "no control" it was very controlled. I just chose to eat like big fat cow today.

Yuck i am going to feel so bloated tomorrow, that is the only thing I am worried about, but I meet with my trainer tomorrow morning and then plan on doing some damn good cardio. Plus probably another class in the afternoon tomorrow too, considering I won't be at work because OH YEA i have no job :)

Wow im starting to sound like a big nerd girl ;-)