Labor Day Challenge - Week 4 - Friday

WORKOUT D:
I did these 2 as a pair, with 45 seconds of rest at the end of the pair:
deadlift 5x5x85
tricep kickback 5x5x15
I did these 2 as a pair, with 30 seconds of rest at the end of the pair:
good morning 3x8x50
Bulgarian split squat 3x8x15

No cardio today. We went to the beach again.

Apparently, I can't read a calendar. I've been telling everyone I'm starting P90X on Labor Day, Monday September 8th. But Labor Day is Monday September 7. So, I'm starting September 7, not 8.

7:20 AM - apple & cottage cheese

8:00 PM - black bean brownie; Just half - my son didn't want the rest of his.

10:20 AM - chicken breast & black beans w/ avocado, sour cream & salsa

1:45 PM - omelet w/ avocado, cheese, onion, green pepper & salsa

3:20 PM - watermelon

5:40 PM - mixed vegetables & London broil

6:50 PM - green peppers & baby carrots w/ avocado-chipotle hummus

7:50 PM - This is where I lost it - half a brownie, a pumpkin carrot muffin, a 3 Musketeers bar, and a couple corn dogs. BLAH! Frickity frack! It's not a binge but I really could have done better. Oh well, I'm done worrying about it.

Three cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Labor Day Challenge - Week 4 - Thursday

WORKOUT C:
I did these 2 as a pair, with 45 seconds of rest at the end of the pair:
negative chin up 5x5xbodyweight
dumbbell shoulder press 5x5x15
I did these 2 as a pair, with 30 seconds of rest at the end of the pair:
dumbbell pull over 3x8x20
standing calf raise 3x8x70

No cardio, but I did go to the beach with my son. We live about half a mile from the ocean, so we just walked. Some people would think we're lucky to live here, but really, I'm not a fan of the beach. I don't like the heat and the sun damages my skin easily. I burn, even with high SPF, and I have rosacea, so my face breaks out badly if I'm in the sun too long. But today was a very good day, weather-wise, for me - partly cloudy, good breeze, not too hot. The water was quite cold though. We didn't actually swim, but Sebastian loved it. If all goes well, we're going again tomorrow, and hopefully Sunday when my husband can go, too. I'm glad I made my lunch before we left though. By the time we got home and cleaned up, I was starving. Fortunately, my salad was ready.

I tried out a recipe for chocolate brownie cake that I found here. It's made with black beans instead of flour. I tried making black bean brownies before and it didn't turn out (though, I think it was something I did wrong, and not the recipe) so I was really skeptical, but I have to say, this turned out fabulous! It's a bit "spongier" than regular cake - it has a "hard" airiness to it. It's not hard but the texture feels a bit stiffer in the mouth than regular cake. It may have been the way I beat my egg whites - the were starting to collapse by the time I finished putting everything in the pan. I'm going to throw in some cream of tartar next time to help them hold up a little better. And yes, there will be a next time!

7:45 AM - apple & cottage cheese

10:20 AM - omelet w/ avocado, cheese, onion, green pepper & salsa

2:00 PM - salad w/ chicken breast, tomato, avocado, green peppers & vidalia onion vinaigrette dressing

5:00 PM - chocolate brownie cake

7:20 PM - black bean burgers w/ mustard on romaine lettuce wrap

8:30 PM - cottage cheese & plum

Three cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1669
Carbs - 177 (41 fiber)
Protein - 137
Fat - 55
C/P/F Ratio - 40.3/31.3/28.4

Labor Day Challenge - Week 4 - Wednesday

It's Wii Wednesday and I am dragging ass. I was up rather late last night, hadn't slept well the night before, and I'm just exhausted. I got out of bed later than I would have liked, after lying there listening to the radio for hours with my eyes closed. I hardly have any energy, so I didn't Turbo. I took a more leisurely approach to exercise today, and played Wii Sports with my son. I'm such a slacker and it's bothering me, but then I tell myself that I'll be getting my ass kicked by Tony Horton and P90X in a few weeks, and begin to look as it as I'm conserving my energy.

9:30 AM - Fiber One pancakes w/ sugar-free syrup & turkey bacon

12:30 PM - black bean burgers w/ mustard on romaine lettuce wraps, green peppers w/ chipotle-avocado hummus

3:30 PM - chicken breast salad w/ tomatoes & vidalia onion vinaigrette dressing

6:45 PM - omelet w/ green peppers, onion, cheese & salsa

7:25 PM - apple & cottage cheese

7:40 PM - 3 Musketeers bar, whole wheat & sour cream chocolate chip cookie; I don't even know what to say here.

Two cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1906
Carbs - 248 (60 fiber)
Protein - 126
Fat - 60
C/P/F Ratio - 48.7/24.7/26.5

Labor Day Challenge - Week 4 - Tuesday

WORKOUT B:
I did these 2 as a pair, with 45 seconds of rest at the end of the pair:
barbell squat 5x5x80
dumbbell hammer curl 5x5x15
I did these 2 as a pair, with 30 seconds of rest at the end of the pair:
dumbbell step up 3x8x15
SHELC 3x12xbodyweight

For Tabata Tuesday, I did two tabatas back-to-back: burpees and Turbo Jam twist. I'm glad I did the burpees first because those bitches were hard!! By the third round, I was dying. I think I managed five burpees per 20-second work interval in those middle rounds. The TJ Twist got my heart rate up, but it was so much easier and a nice way to come down from the burpees. In 10 minutes, I burned 79 calories. And dripped with sweat for a good 15 minutes after I finished.

7:15 AM - apple & cottage cheese

11:05 AM - scrambled eggs w/ cheese, onion, green pepper & salsa

2:05 PM - ham & salami salad w/ onion, green pepper, tomato & vidalia onion dressing

5:50 PM - roasted chicken w/ mixed vegetables & light cream cheese sauce; Not satisfying at all.

6:15 PM - ham & salami w/ cheese on rye bread

8:30 PM - frozen banana treat

Two cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1622
Carbs - 204 (33 fiber)
Protein - 105
Fat - 53
C/P/F Ratio - 47.6/24.5/27.9

Labor Day Challenge - Week 4 - Monday

WORKOUT A:
I did these 2 as a pair, with 45 seconds of rest at the end of the circuit:
lying barbell press 5x5x70
one-arm dumbbell row 5x5x30
I did these 2 as a pair, with 30 seconds of rest at the end of the pair:
seated calf raise 3x20x40
lying dumbbell fly 3x8x20

I increased my press and fly this week. Increasing the bench press without a spotter makes me nervous.

I was prepared for Meatless Monday this time! And I was hungry most of the day.

7:20 AM - cottage cheese & plum

10:30 AM - omelet w/ onion, green pepper, salsa & cheese, whole wheat mini bagel w/ light cream cheese

1:10 PM - salad w/ onion, green pepper, tomato, pumpkin seeds & Caesar vinaigrette dressing

3:15 PM - watermelon

7:30 PM - jasmine rice, black bean burgers on romaine lettuce wrap

8:30 PM - yogurt

Four cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1643
Carbs - 219 (35 fiber)
Protein - 107
Fat - 45
C/P/F Ratio - 51.2/25/23.8

Labor Day Challenge - Week 3 - Sunday

Ah, Serene Sunday. I meditated this morning for about half hour. Okay, mostly I daydreamed, but it was still serene!

I have decided that my next challenge is definitely, 100% without a doubt (unless I die or am seriously maimed on my way home from "vacation" in New York *knocks on wood*) going to be P90X. I am 98% sure I'm going to be doing it with resistance bands, rather than weights. The bands gave me a hard time when I did ChaLean Extreme, but I do not feel like messing around with dumbbells and plates. Those in between weights are difficult because I only have 5 pound increments if I want an even dumbbell. I know there are options but I really don't feel like buying more equipment right now, so I think I'm going with the bands. I'm going to practice the moves with them over the next few weeks and see. If all goes well, I'll be starting P90X on Monday, September 8. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to do the nutrition plan, too. I'll have to read it over again and decide. I know I'm not spending money on the recover drink Tony Horton pushes. From what I've read, it's just a drink with a 4:1 carb to protein ratio. I can't remember whether they are simple (probably) or complex carbs, but I'll find out and then just have something of my own with that ratio. But I'm excited. If I didn't have this wedding to go to, I'd start tomorrow! Oh, and at some point in the next month, I'm going to be doing the P90X Fit Test, so I can compare to the same test when I'm done. I was lucky enough to get a fantastic (and complex) spreadsheet for logging everything you can possibly imagine for P90X. I'm 95% sure I'll be doing the "Doubles" version, which incorporates extra cardio 3 times a week. I'll do the P90X Cardio workout, but I think I'll only do that once a week, and do Turbo Jam and Tae Bo the other two days. That's going to put me at about 2 hours a day of exercise. I know I said, after finishing the Jillian stuff, I'd never do more than an hour per day again, but I think I'm up for the challenge, or will be. We'll see. "Doubles" doesn't start until Week 5 of P90X anyway, so I have time to see how it goes.

9:20 AM - scrambled eggs w/ onion, green pepper, salsa & cheese, plums

12:00 PM - green peppers, tuna fish & light mayonnaise on rye bread

4:50 PM - baked tilapia & sweet potato

7:30 PM - watermelon & mozzarella string cheese

Four cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1394
Carbs - 135 (14 fiber)
Protein - 119
Fat - 45
C/P/F Ratio - 38.1/33.5/28.4

Labor Day Challenge - Week 3 - Saturday

It's Slacker Saturday! No formal exercise but I spent an hour or so on the Wii. I was going to go out and hunt down the Gold's Gym Cardio game but I didn't feel like dealing with tourist traffic. The boxing on Wii Sports completely blows because it doesn't read real boxing motion. WTF was Nintendo thinking with that?

I'm also not measuring or tracking my food today. I am trying to write it all down though. I think it's because I know dinner is, um, liberal, it's putting me in the frame of mind that "it doesn't matter" because I won't have a calorie total today. As a result, I've been hungry all damn day and not making the greatest choices. The only bright spot - I've been keeping portions reasonable.

My husband and I have both been craving his homemade macaroni and cheese, which is very heavy, because it uses a lot of cheese. We decided to have it today. We actually made the pasta from scratch! Last month, I bought some pasta plates for my Kitchen Aid mixer and gave them a go today. Pasta is really easy to make. The booklet came with a basic egg noodle recipe, which is what we used:

3 large eggs, and enough water added to bring the total liquid to 3/4 cup
2 3/4 cups flour (we used 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, and 1/4 cup dehydrated spinach, which we dehydrated ourselves, from frozen, months ago when I was trying to perfect the millet & flax lavash)

While the pasta cooked, we sliced some onions and Italian bread. We toasted the Italian bread with canola oil and a rosemary/garlic blend, then added the onions. When that was done, and the pasta was al dente, we mixed them together and added 1 pound of cheddar cheese and 1 pound of mozzarella - cubed. I told you it was heavy on the cheese!!! Cook it in a huge pot on low heat until the cheese is melted. This stuff sticks to your gut but it tastes so good. And sometimes you just have to have gut-sticking food. I absolutely refuse to live my life without any Paula Deen moments (though she's more butter than cheese).

9:05 AM - apple & cottage cheese

10:10 AM - Fiber One cereal w/ skim milk

1:00 PM - omelet w/ onion, green pepper, cheese & salsa

2:00 PM - olive loaf w/ tomato, lettuce & avocado-chipotle hummus on rye bread, 3 Musketeers bar

3:40 PM - grapes & banana

7:10 PM - homemade mac & cheese w/ corn dogs; I know it's an absolutely horrid meal! LOL It was delicious.

8:10 PM - grapes

Two cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.