Gluten- and Dairy-Free is For Me.

As my facebook friends are well aware, I have decided to take some time to try and eat gluten- and dairy-free. The most frequent response to me telling loved ones, friends and acquaintances is that they want to know why.

I speculate that this is for one of three reasons:

1) genuine interest in my life;
2) curiosity to hear my rationale and see if it is something they may consider one day; or
3) because they think gluten-free is a lame fad and think I am lame and on that bandwagon.

In any case, I think it's good for me to document my rationale here seeing as how it is my health blog. Since the two choices were separate (although implemented together), I'll explain in two sections. Also, I should note that I am consulting with the dietitian at Lifetime Fitness and she is overseeing my new diet plan. I suggested dairy-free, she agreed. She suggested gluten-free, I agreed. She suggested dark chocolate as an after-dinner snack. I said, "Thank you." :)

Why Dairy-Free?


I'd been considering this for some time. There is nothing extraordinary to report here. Basically what it came down to was this:

A lot of people believe that cow's milk is not healthy for us. The major argument I have seen is that all other animals only drink milk in infancy. Human beings are unique in our milk dependance. I have been hearing a lot of buzz lately that this is unnatural. Caveat: I have no hard data to back this up. At all. I am way too lazy to research it.

Also, I know several other people who have cut dairy out and now get very sick when they do consume it. My first speculation as to why was that they developed a sensitivity to it by cutting it out. This is certainly possible, but with more research, it is likely that they always had a sensitivity but when you consume it everyday, you get used to the effects. What does this mean? You may feel mildly off and not know it. When you cut it out, you feel better and then when you consume it again, it feels bad. You may not have noticed before because you were used to it. Makes sense.

So, the question is: How do you know how good you *could* be feeling? Well, my answer is simple: remove it from your consumption and see what happens.

Why I Don't Mind: I'm not a milk drinker for the most part. I enjoy a glass of milk after eating a brownie. That's about it. Also, thanks to my friend Sean who forced me to eat Krave (AMAZING!) with Almond Milk, I saw how good it was and switched to that last month anyways.

Why It Stinks: I love cheese. Love it. Gouda is soooooo goooooooooood-a! Sometimes, I eat a block of Gouda cheese and wheat thins for dinner. Seriously. Also, I like yogurt. But I am willing to part with them. For a small bit. :)

Why Gluten-Free?


This I had also been considering, but for a different reason.

What many of you do NOT know is that I have been having some painful stomach issues lately. Not the "I'm gonna be sick" kind, but "oh my word it hurts so bad" kind. Not all the time. Only a few times in the last few months. But for over a year it has been regularly in some sort of mild pain or irritation. In August it got bad enough for me to see a doctor (this used to have to be quite serious, but now that I am on blood thinners I go more often because I fear the worst--more clots or internal bleeding!). The doctor didn't really know what is up and with my bleeding history suggested a colonoscopy.

Let me tell you, colonoscopies are super fun. The gastrointestinal surgeon suggested that we do the colonoscopy and an endoscopy at the same time since I had to get off of my blood thinners for the procedure (which is risky) and may as well check the whole thing out. Sure. Why not? Aside from 6 (pretty awesome) color photos of my entire GI tract, they found nothing. Their advice: more fiber. Awesome.

While researching what could be causing this and how to not trigger attacks, gluten came up. A lot. It just makes sense to see if I have a sensitivity to it since they are so common.

Also, since it is a current diet fad, there are a lot of gluten-free foods in regular supermarkets! Score. :)

Why I Don't Mind: I love meat. Meat does not have gluten.

Why It Stinks: I love gluten-filled products. But most of them are bad for me and Udi's Gluten-Free bread is actually quite tasty.

First 3 Days

I've gone gluten- and dairy-free for 3 days now. So far it's great. I have been off of a structured diet plan for so long, it's nice to be on track again.

I think the restrictions create a challenge for me to learn to eat differently and this meshes well with the way I work (an unintended benefit). Let me explain. I get bored a lot. I get bored with healthy eating. Figuring out new foods that do not include dairy or gluten but still nourish my body in a way I need to is new and interesting. My attention span is satisfied.

Here is one example day to see what I do:

Breakfast: turkey sausage, Udi's toast, coffee (non-dairy creamer!)
Snack: raspberries, almond butter
Lunch: salad, tuna
Snack: hummus, carrots
Dinner: spaghetti squash, sugar-free marinara, chicken sausage
Snack: dark chocolate (1 oz. that is way more than I thought--win!)

Ok. Questions? Comments? Complaints? Concerns?

I Missed You Too: An Explanation

I know, I know. It's been so long. So long. I kinda sorta quit blogging for awhile. But the fans (well, one or two fans) have demanded it. So, I'm back.

I don't know how frequent it will be, but I hope to write at least a couple times a week. I hope to chat about my working out (in vaguer terms than before--haven't been very stat-oriented lately), my diet and diet plans, funny stories, etc...

As a bit of explanation of what's been going on in my life. Ever since my abdominoplasty (waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in March), I feel like I have never gotten back on the workout/diet wagon. I need to lose about 20 pounds to get to a healthy weight that makes me happy. Hear this: I am very happy with my current body, but I know that healthy for me is 20 lbs less. Also, the fact that I am on an increase leads me to believe that without a goal, I will continue to increase. So, I plan to decrease. And I plan to decrease by ~ 20 lbs. :)

To do this, I am trying a new diet plan--have a dietitian and everything! More about that in a future post.

I will wrap up the time off with: had a lot of fun, ate a lot of great food, traveled like crazy, worked out with some AMAZING partners (FILLY!!!!) and lived life to the fullest. What more could a girl want? :)

I Love My Liz Sessions. So Much.

I really love sessions with Liz. I know--it sounds like I have a girl crush, but I don't care. I love 'em! I'm pushed hard physically. I laugh so much. I have someone to talk to who seems to understand where I am coming from and can relate to so much. Enough gushing. For now. :)

The lifting (all supersets):

Pull-downs: 50/15, 60/15, 70/12
Seated Row: 50/15, 60/15, 60/15
Burpees: BW/10, BW/10, BW/10

BB Deadlifts: 60/15, 75/15, 75/12
DB Lunges: 25/12, 25/12, 25/12
Pop-Ups: BW/15, BW/15, BW/15

TG Shoulder Press: 35/15, 40/15, 55/12
Push-Ups (MB): BW/10, BW/16, BW/12
Alt. Suitcases: 6/12 ea, 6/10 ea, 6/12 ea

Exercise details first, funny stories second.

TG Shoulder Press is the TechnoGym machine. It is bi-lateral so it is closer to a dumbbell press then the regular ones. The 55 was rough, but I powered through and Liz wrote "good push!" on my paper, with a smiley face. I love little notes like that. :)

Push-Ups (MB) is when you have a medicine ball and you do a push-up with ONE hand on the ball, then roll the ball to the other hand and do another push-up. Yes, it does suck that bad. No, I am not coordinated enough to do it gracefully. Yes, I am sure it is super fun to watch. It actually wasn;t too bad, but Liz kept reminding me to "reset my butt" after each ball roll because I would raise it up for balance. They just took a long time. And hurt. :)

Alt. Suitcases. Core work-out that hurts. Liz kept correcting my form. Each time adding something else to do! I am NOT a good multi-tasker. Everyone knows this. First she says to bring the ball to my foot as I bring my foot in. Done. Then she says to sit up more and bring my legs back less. Okay. Then she says to not bend my knee out while bringing my leg back. I do that. But sit up less. I can only do so much, Liz! On set two she wrote down "better form" and on set 3 she wrote "good!" I must have gotten better at it...somehow...

Ok. Story time.

Liz and I both could not focus for the first half of our workout because there is a new guy at the gym who looks (and walks around with the same smug attitude) as Captain America--but like 10 years younger! It was uncanny the resemblance! He wore similar style workout clothes. His hair is weird and helmet-like. He has the same weight-lifter belt and lame arm-bands. I almost pulled out my phone to take a photo but just didn't think I could do it discreetly. We both wished Amanda F. was there to witness this as well.

I hated the lunges. For some reason the 25 lb dumbbells felt SO heavy (I know, I am so incredibly out of shape). I was lunging like a lazy person. Fast. My form was horrible. Liz was telling me to go slower and deeper but I waited until the turn around point, set my dumbbells down, smiled and asked her if she had any constructive feedback as I cannot hear her when I am in pain. She rolled her eyes and told me to sow down and bring me back knee down further. I then said to her, "Liz, I'm gonna be honest with you. I know my form isn't good. I just hate those dumbbells so much. I want it to be over faster." She responded that I should take out my anger on the dumbbells by doing perfect form lunges. I started to mock her for that suggestion and loudly said (while lunging in great form), "I am SO angry with these dumbbells. I will SHOW THEM by lunging perfectly" and laughing. It may have only been one set of good ones, but Liz got it out of me. Well done, Liz...

I was pretty tired and out of the zone today but had a good workout despite. At one point I reminded Liz that I was tired and she said, "I'm your trainer. You pay me to make you do things that you wouldn't push yourself to do on your own." True that. That's why she gets the big bucks...

Also, I finally sent her my revised goals. Well, the first draft. I think it will be more of a discussion before I pin them down. More to come later. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up

I'm behind on posting for this weekend! In short, Saturday = Kettlebell Workout with Devon and Sunday = Iron Girl Swim Relay!

Saturday: Kettlebell Workout with Devon

I have been putting off posting this because I don't have the workout yet--Devon said he'd email it to me... Right... Still don't have it. It basically was ridiculously hard!!! It began with 3 exercises that were all "bilateral alternating" something that involved squatting. Since this is the high-rep week, everything was 3 sets/15 reps. Let me spell this out for you. You do everything on each side (so it's actually 30 reps per set) and each side has a squat. But the time we were done the first 3 exercises, we'd have done 270 squats. Ouch. Devon did that. I eased off some and did some sets of only 10 reps because I didn't want to destroy my legs before the big swim the next day! High-rep day hurts! But I look forward to two weeks from now when we di it again and I don't have a race relay the next day. :)

Sunday: Iron Girl Swim Relay

The day finally came and went and I conquered Centennial Lake (twice!)!!! However, I think Centennial may have had the last laugh (more on that in a bit).

Here is me and Amanda F. (my fellow swimmer) pre-race:



Here is my relay team (Me, the swimmer; Tracy, the biker; Debi, the runner)!!!!:



The weather was kind enough to pour buckets right before the race soaking my bag containing my towel and dry clothes, etc... But then it cleared up. The race was delayed a little under 30 minutes but then we were off!

It felt very similar to the practice swim (and actually seemed a bit shorter!!! Must be that I knwe the distance this time...). I started at the back of the pack...and stayed there! :) The few times I passed someone, I'd say something encouraging like, "Keep it up! You're doing awesome!!!" It seemed like there were a LOT of kayaks around me. I figure that either: a) there were a LOT of kayaks everywhere; or b) I was the tail end of the swimmer so they were following me in. Maybe a combination of the two. ;)

I breaststroked, elementary backstroked and fake-freestyled the whole way ('fake-freestyling is when I keep my head above the water). Almost everytime I rolled on my back to backstroke the kayaks would rush to my side and ask if I was ok. I would smile and say, "Yup! I'm fine...just slow...") That one would stop asking, but then the next one would. They were super nice and trying to be helpful. I started passing people with other color swim caps (earlier waves) and that made me feel good. I may be slow and last--but I knew I would finish!

The results were posted and I was faster than 2 people in my wave and faster than almost 100 people overall! I know it's about having fun and challenging myself and finishing (it truly is!). And last place would have still been awesome...but not last place is even better! ;) Also, I was about 5 minutes faster than the practice swim day!!!! So awesome! I beat my biggest competitor: me!

Amanda F. also knocked about 5 minutes off her previous best! All in all, it was a great race day!

I felt fine the entire swim, but when I stepped out of the water I felt very sick in my stomach. I guess I looked pretty rough to my cheerer-onners (Thanks, Tom and Kevin!), but I ran to transition (Thanks to support from Amanda) and handed over the timing chip to my biker. Once I stopped for a sec, my stomach felt a little better. Amanda thinks it was the change from being horizontal for so long then standing. Probably.

The rest of the day I was exhausted. I slept most of it away. Once I was home and showered (around 11:30am) I was only awake for 2.5 hours total until Monday morning. I was then all sick Monday (I'll leave the details out). I think Centennial got me. I swallowed a little water and it had the last laugh. Well played, Centennial...well played.

Swim in a triathlon relay? Check. ;)

Everyone Needs a Workout Buddy

Man! I did *not* feel like working out today! But I had asked my bestest gym workout buddy friend, Stephanie (BGWBFS), to join me. BGWBFS (hmm...that is waaaay too long, how about Buddy Stephanie?). Buddy Stephanie is another dedicated gym kicker-butter who recently took hot to even hotter by prioritizing her diet and gym time. Like me, she is also in somewhat of an off-season in her kick-butt-ocity. Yesterday, I saw her and asked if she wanted to work out together today. It was selfish. I like her. I like chit-chatting with her. She agreed and it was a date!

All day today I didn't want to. She didn't either. But we both came to see each other. We both didn't want to work too hard, but we decided to do the gradual build workout because that's what we usually do. I am confident that if she was not there, I would have pansied out and done something shorter and easier. But I didn't. I did every stupid second of the stupid gradual build--with Buddy Stephanie beside me, chit-chatting and listening. :)

I even worked hard during the 10 minutes that Mr. Oh-My-Goodness-He-Reeks-So-Incredibly-Bad-of-B-O-Buddy-Stephanie-Had-to-Get-Off-the-Treadmill-and-Get-a-Towel-to-Breathe-Through was on the treadmill in front of me. It. Was. Awful. I get it. Workin' out makes ya sweat. Who doesn't? And no, we don't always smell *super* pleasant when we are through. But *THAT*?!?!? That is not normal. Or acceptable. If you cannot afford deodorant, I will buy it for you, sir. Simply ask. Or workout outside. Or in your basement. Or just be out of shape. For serious.

Despite the air quality issues, I'm glad Stephanie got me to the gym. We should do it more often. And everyone needs their own Buddy Stephanie.

Kettlebells!

Devon and I are friend-lifting again!!!! I am optimistic that this will help inspire me to be big, bad and tough with my gym regimens again. Here's to hoping...

Devon has agreed to let me tag-along at his weekly kettlebell workout:

Umm..sure. That's exactly what I looked like doing the workout... :)

Let's take a step back and talk kettlebells. Kettlebells are somewhat controversial in lifting circles from what I understand, but that is changing as they are becoming more and more mainstream thanks to the likes of Jillian Michaels



and friends. According to Devon, the benefit (or difference) of kettlebells is that they add an extension to your body. Your body naturally extends at the elbow and the wrist. The kettlebell provides an artificial additional extension that traditional dumbbell workouts do not have. They are controversial because our bodies are not used to this additional extension and as such, if not used properly, people can hurt themselves.

In short, do not try this at home without proper training.

Kettlebells are typically used for power-focused training and most exercises work the full body. Because of these facts, the kettlebell sessions are shorter than my typical sessions. We did only 5 exercises today. All 3 sets of 10 reps each. Devon says that the workouts we are doing are designed to be done twice a week--a low-rep and a high-rep day. We will be doing this every Saturday and will alternate between low- and high-reps. Next week it will be 15 rep sets or as Devon says, "It will suck." :)

When choosing which weight kettlebells to use, Devon asked me what I typically shoulder press. I can do 25s but feel out of shape so said 15s to 20s trying to sell the 15s. Devon suggested I use 20s. Not sure what the guideline would be officially, but if you are considering trying this out, choosing the size you can shoulder press in dumbbells cannot be too far off.

The workout (explanations below). All are 3 sets, 10 reps using 20 lb kettlebells:

Push Press (1 bell, 10 reps each side)
Double Arm Swing (1 bell)
Bilateral Overhead Press (2 bells)
Double Arm High Pull (1 bell)
Squats (1 bell)

Explanations. I will try my best. :)

Push Press: Hold the kettlebell in the basic wrap position with one arm. This is when you hold it by the handle and it makes 3 points of contact with your body: the hand grip, your forearm and your bicep. Your arm is against your chest, the bell resting on top. You then squat and use your hips/legs to push up forcing the arm with the bell to rise into a press. Let it down and repeat. Here is an image displaying the steps:



Double Arm Swing: Grab the bell with both hands and let it hang down in front of you. Squat and powerfully raise up. The bell will naturally swing forward to about eye level then back down between your legs as you squat again.

Bilateral Overhead Press: Basically a shoulder press. Have a bell in each hand in the wrap position. Press with rotation up.

Double Arm High Pull: This is like a squat to calf raise combined with an upright row. Begin in the same position as the Double Arm Swing. Squat. Powerfully raise up onto your tippy toes while simultaneously bringing the bell up into an upright row. Lower and repeat. It looks like this:



Squats: Hold the bell from the bottom with two hands and do squats. Devon encouraged me to focus on form and depth since 20 lbs is WAY lighter than I normally squat with.

Since the exercises are full body and for power, they really wore me out! I'll be curious to see how much pain I am in tomorrow. It will be good pain. It was a good workout. :) And it's so great to be friend lifting again!!!

Liz Thinks I'm Stronger Than I Am

Today was a session with Liz. I knew it would be rough because I've been gone and not exercising for so long. It was a standard Liz session--challenging, but not clearly punishing me. :) She's still recovering from her shoulder surgery and at one point she did say that I had to do ridiculous things because she couldn't and someone had to. Thanks?

The lifting:

Lying Leg Curls: 60/15, 70/15, 80/12

45° Leg Press (15 right leg, 15 left leg, 20 both legs): 180/15:15:20, 270/15:15:20, 360/15:15:20
DB Lunges: 20/15, 20/15, 20/15 (superset, she drew a smiley next to this...don't know why...probably because it sucked.)

Assisted Negative Pull-Ups: 55/8, 45/8

Hammer Shoulder Press: 35ea/15, 45ea/15, 55ea/12
Reverse Pulldowns: 50/15, 50/15, 50/15 (superset)

Push-Ups: BW/15, BW/20, BW/20

The negative pull-ups were supposed to be unassisted. Negative pull-ups are when you start with your head above the bar and lower yourself down slowly. I've never done these. Devon had me do negative chest presses before and it is a similar concept. This makes you work harder and use more force during the eccentric contractions. I like them because you can do heavier weights than the normal way and I feel so tough. :) For these, Liz had me standing on the very edge of a plyo-box and jumping up into a pull-up and slowly lowering myself down. This plan has so many flaws. Allow me to enumerate:

1) I am not strong enough for any part of this;
2) I lack coordination (picture me missing the box and falling to my painful injury--death would be over-dramatic and I am never that...);
3) I irrationally fear hurting myself in simple scenarios due to my complete lack of coordination (reminder of past scenario)

I tentatively jumped the first few times making no real attempt to hold myself up--the focus was more about *not* falling off the edge of the box. I then gave it a real try. I swear *I* noticed a difference in the amount of time in the air. Liz did not. Apparently, I cannot even hold myself above the bar. FOR SHAME.

I thanked Liz for having more faith in my ability than was appropriate and we relocated to the assisted pull-ups machine. I did much better with 55 and 45 lbs of assistance. It was still tough, but actually doable. :)

Another explanation of a new workout: reverse pulldowns. These are not reverse-grip pulldowns--those I have done many times before. For reverse pulldowns, I sit backwards at the lat pulldowns machine and bring the bar behind my head to the middle of the back of my head, a.k.a. my ponytail. Liz kept instructing me to keep my 'c-spine' straight. Like I know what that is. She then said, "It's your neck." Why not just say that, Liz?

Gotta get myself back in the workout zone. I hate how I feel right now. Hate it! I owe Liz a new goals email and my current goal is to write that. :)

Traveling is Exhausting!

I've been on a long business trip. It was good--got some great work done--but man! was it exhausting! I didn't have the time or energy to workout for most of it. Each day was a little over 8 hours of manning a booth in an exhibit hall which is mostly on my feet and mostly having to be happy and nice to passers-by and each night having dinner with co-workers. I only got to get on workout in and that was the day I bailed on dinner with the group to swim some laps.

It wasn't a super awesome workout, but I was alone in the hotel pool (which was super small!!!) so I worked on my freestyle stroke. I can now do it without eating water every lap!!! I also decided to attempt to teach myself the flip-turn (since no one was there to see me choke if I did!). I cannot do it. But I didn't choke or almost drown either. I just either fully turned or turned left every time. So I *could* have swam around the square pool "flip-turning" at each corner, but this method will NOT work in the pool at the gym. :) My friend, Pete, says that there are you-tube videos that teach you step-by-step. Perhaps I will attempt again at some point after viewing them.

Today I flew back and woke up super early with little to no sleep. I hadn't planned on working out, but around 6pm I had nothing to do and didn't want to sleep that early so I decided to head to the gym to soak in the hot tub. While changing I was inspired to swim. I just *love* the calmness of the water and being in it. After my last 9 days, I *needed* some time in the pool. It. Was. Great. I did breast stroke, elementary backstroke and even phased in some freestyle! I only went for about 15 minutes then soaked in the hot tub as originally planned. :)

I have been eating such crap lately while traveling. I hate it. I am SO excited to be eating healthy and home-cooked again. I have a batch of homemade protein bars freezing as I type. Yum. Tomorrow should be wonderful! :)

I Conquered Centennial Lake!

First, I actually had to type my password in to blogger. This means that it has been FAR too long since I've posted. Sorry! I have been crazy-busy. I've done some cardio, some lifting and had a Liz session and you all know nothing of it. :( My apologies. But now for the exciting part!

Today was the practice swim/dress rehearsal for the IronGirl Triathlon! As some of you may remember, I am relaying the event and taking the swim leg. This entails swimming 0.62 miles in Centennial Lake. For those non-Marylanders, Centennial Lake is...it's...um...think nastiness. Think a pond of stagnant nastiness. One year they almost canceled the event because E Coli levels were too high. And I signed up to swim in it. You know me. I have no germ issues... ::sarcasm::

I don't even remember when I signed up but it was some point last fall or winter. I give 100% of the blame/responsibility to Amanda F. Amanda is amazing and did the IronGirl some years ago and relayed it last year. She suggested we both relay this year and both do the swim portion. Because I do almost anything anyone tells me to, I signed up. Then instantly regretted it. Amanda may or may not know this, but her name has been cursed repeatedly from my lips many, many times since I registered. Every time I pictured getting into that water (can we call it water?) my stomach turned a bit.

When I found out there was a dress rehearsal, this did not instantly make me feel better (as it does for some), but my first thought was: "I have to get in that water TWO times!?!?" And my dread for August 21st became my dread for July 29th. The date on my calendar laughed at me each time I scanned July. Oh man, was I worried.

So, this week when I checked with Amanda to see if she wanted to carpool she gave me the terrible news that her tri relay team has completely bailed on her and she can no longer participate!!! Despite me offering her MY spot several times, I was now in this alone. She graciously offered to get up insanely early this morning and swim with me anyways. Did I mention she's amazing? We set off at 6 am and that was that.

While registering today, Amanda found another relay team in need of a swimmer, so she is back in the game! I'm glad she came to support me so she could meet the right people! Then we waited for our wave. I felt the same way as I felt during my first half marathon (that I did not train for and sign up for 6 days prior to run with the lovely Julie VLF!). My thought process in the starting corral, waiting for the gun to fire, was: "It's happening. I can embrace it or not. But it's happening either way." So far, quitting has not been an option for me. I felt the same way about this. It's on. I should embrace it.

We walked down to the water and I got in. Some people panic the first time they swim in open water. There are different reasons given like being so far from anything to hold on to or not being able to see in the murky water, but for whatever reason, panic is common. I am not above these things, so I was curious to see how I'd do. Amanda offered to swim alongside me the entire way and I took her up on it. We set off and I was fine. The water? Not so bad. The smell and feel instantly brought me back to swimming in the lake at my cottage as a kid and I got all happy. Amanda kept saying encouraging things and before we knew it, we were done! I didn't struggle at all--physically or mentally!

I swam 0.62 miles in nasty Centennial Lake and I did it with nearly 20 minutes to spare for the cutoff. I feel great! I feel great for race day (August 21st!). I feel like I won't let my triathlon relay team down. I feel like I can check another box of fun fitness things I've done!!!

Oh, and I no longer curse Amanda's name. I think very nice things about her for getting me to stretch a little beyond comfortable and feel this great when I succeed!!! :)

What Happened to Solidarity???

I've been sick for sooooooooo looooooooooooooooooong! Ok. Like a week, but still... I was really apprehensive about going back to the gym in general. I hate not working out for a week at a time and also, breathing tends to make me cough, so...seems like it could be a bad idea. But! I do have to ease back in.

I had a session scheduled with Liz for yesterday but canceled it on Sunday due to the death-like state I was in. She had no openings later in the week as she is having shoulder surgery Friday (at noon for those who would like to send thoughts and prayers her way!) and so squeezed all her clients into evenings this week. Yesterday, she emailed me that she had a 6pm opening today. I deferred to her on whether or not I should take it. I had already decided I'd go back to the gym today--the question was whether or not it was worth her time and my money to have it be with her. She felt it would be. I nervously took her advice.

Well, it was a great decision! I feel like she pushed me and the session was NOT pansy, but I also never felt like she was not respecting my current physical state. As Devon used to say (or was it Zak???), a good workout is challenging, but doable. Well done, Liz! I love my trainer!!!

Today's session we did a bunch of exercises all in a row, then rested. Yup, one large superset. Yup, it is as sucktastic as it sounds--in a good, workout way. ;) Specifically, we did all of these:

Assisted Pull-Ups: 105/15, 105/12, 105/15
Deep Squats: BW/25, BW/25, BW/25
Seated Row: 40/15, 50/15, 60/12
Lunges (double pump): BW/15, BW/15, BW/15 *only single pump last set
Push-Ups: BW/15, BW/15 (only 2 sets)
DB Sumo Squats: 30/15, 30/20, 30/20
DB Upright Row: 15/20, 20/15, 20/15
DB Deadlifts: 30/12, 30/10 (only 2 sets)
Reverse Crunches: BW/15, BW/15, BW/15
Alt. Toe Touches: BW/15, BW/15, BW/15

So, I went down the list, then rested. Then went down the second set of each, rested and then the third.

I'm very honest in my sessions with Liz. You'd think she appreciates this fact--maybe she does, who knows?--but she usually just tells me to do it right. An example, during the first set of double pump lunges, I found the second half of the set to be rough, so I started standing for a second between lunges. On the second set she told me to try not to do that. She said if I need to, I can tap my foot for balance, but don't stand. I frankly told her that I don't stand for balance, I stand for the brief rest period I get. :) She informed me that she already knew that. I should get points for not making excuses...just sayin'...

During the second set of toe touches, I must have been giving Liz some lip. To be completely honest, I have no idea what I said. My money is on something like: "I *AM* holding my legs straight up. THAT'S AS STRAIGHT AS THEY GO!!! " But who can be certain? :) Two different men were drawn into our conversation. The man directly next to me on the incline press machine just laughed at me. I am pretty sure I grunted something about not liking him. Then, the man on the OTHER side of me on the lat pulldowns, told Liz she should make me do twenty more for giving her lip. GASP! Fellow gym patron, we are in this *TOGETHER*. What happened to solidarity?!!?!?!? He thought he was soooooo funny. I told him. In as clear a voice as I could muster (while still doing the toe touches) that I was not afraid of him (and his very big and scary muscles) and that I would glare at him for a good long time. He was not scared. Fool.

All in all, my session was great! The whole body then rest thing was a fun new way to lift. Also, I am pleased with my stamina given my recent sickness. OH! And I lost oodles of weight by being too sick to eat. I was thrilled. Liz yelled at me for all my birthday cake eatage and told me not to be proud of myself for losing weight from being sick. Irregardless (::wink at Pete R.::), I'm proud. ;)

Next workout: something tomorrow. Probably of the cardio variety. :)

BIRTHDAY MONTH/WEEK/DAY!!!

This post is entirely dedicated to my 30th birthday!!! As everything in life should be. :)

This may have been my most amazing birthday yet. I attribute this fact largely to two things: 1) I really have the best family and friends; and 2) I mentioned it to anyone and everyone I came in contact with for the past 3 to 4 months--I've found this technique to work incredibly well.

Birthday month started out early June when my mom threw me an awesome surprise party with family, high school and college friends up in New Hampshire! I had an amazing cake made by my very talented sister and lots of fun!



Then, this past week I have had an overwhelming amount of celebrations!

Monday: ice cream cake with aunts, uncles and cousins!
Wednesday: birthday dinner and shopping with Aunt Rachel!
Thursday: office party with cake AND a cookie cake, birthday lunch with the super-cool awesome Amanda's and Birthday Eve dinner with good friends!!!

Then...THE DAY ARRIVED!

I brought cupcakes into work for a meeting and for my lunch table creating two parties. I even received cards from people at both places--somehow they knew it was my birthday... ;)

Also, Awesome Holly Holly brought me a fun-ly decorated card and declared it to be another party. (She gets me...and I love her so much for it!)

My friend, Sean, was somewhat unexpectedly over here from England and so had to go buy nice clothes for my dinner. We went shopping together and got him a sharp and snazzy outift to match my super-awesome, slightly inappropriate birthday outfit. Check out our black and red hotness:



I made Sean stop at Target so I could pick something up. Like a gentleman, he dropped me off and picked me up at the door as it was raining. While waiting in the lobby area, I saw a Target employee asking co-workers for rides because she had been waiting for an hour! She mentioned something about walking if it wasn't raining. I offered to have Sean drive her home--she couldn't live THAT far away if she could walk. She was heading west and so were we! The ride to her place was only slightly awkward and she must have trusted we would not kill her since we looked so hot in our sharp black and red outfits! Even with our detour we were still on time for dinner! I secretly love that I have a fun little story on my 30th birthday about helping a stranger!!! (Let's be honest--it wasn't completely selfless... Life is a story! I want mine to be a good one!)

I had an amazingly delicious and fun birthday dinner at Bistro Blanc with some friends:



Then went over to my Aunt Rachel's new house to have about 40,000 of my closest friends over for a party! (Ok, less than that--but it sure felt that way for a lot of the night!):



As if ALL of that weren't enough, my Uncle Joe came down from Philadelphia, my sister TRIED to come but is in her third trimester of pregnancy and I'm glad she didn't and my mother bought a plane ticket, drove to the airport, checked in, went through security and then called me to let me know that due to torrential downpours in MD they wouldn't take off!!!! She gets a A+ for effort!

I don't know what I ever did to deserve the kind of love that was bestowed upon me this past month, but I am only grateful and thankful! I am so rich. So blessed. So loved. And I love you all so much!!!!

(raising an imaginary glass) Here's to the next thirty!

Thwarted By Pain But Lifted Still!

I had big plans to do full body today. I even was going to get a little crazy and start off with a leg/leg/plyo set like Liz has me do. I was going to lunge 15 steps each leg then squat 12-15 reps (both with the same DBs) and wrap-up with 10 burpees before resting. Look at this girl gettin' all crazy.

So, I grabbed 10 lb DBs--light, I know, but I wanted to do a warm-up--and went to begin my lunges. I slowly eased into my first, attempting to have near flawless form with my light, light weights. And OH! the pain. My right glute hurt very badly. Like an idiot, I decided that I could power through it and took a step with my other leg. The left glute felt the same, but I must have been a little cautious and didn't dip all the way down causing it to hurt less. I limped over to the training desk and confirmed with Liz that I should work only upper body today. I limped through my entire workout. After the lying dumbbell pull-overs, I re-hurt it while standing up. :( I limped to and from meeting Rufus (an adorable nearly 3 month old who crossed the pond to meet me!). I'm hoping it won't hurt in the morning...hoping...

I told Liz I thought it was from last Thursday when she destroyed my legs since I have not worked them since. She does not think so. It's just odd to me because it is the same pain on both sides... I did swim as well. It could be anything I guess. Just hope it goes away soon!!!

My upper body only routine:

Close Grip Lat Pulldowns: 50/15, 60/15, 70/10
SA Low Row: 30/15, 40/15, 50/15
Lying DB Pull-Overs: 25/15, 35/15, 35/15
Compound Row: 65/15, 75/15, 85/15
FM Chest Press: 35/15, 45/15, 50/12
Pec Decks: 50/15, 60/15, 70/15
Flat DB Press: 20/15, 25/15, 25/12
FM Shoulder Press: 25/15, 30/15, 35/15
Rear Delt Flyes: 40/15, 45/12, 45/10

All in all, it was a decent lifting day, but I am just not feeling 100% percent. I'm tired and achy. This is NOT cool during BIRTHDAY WEEK!!! Hope I feel better before the big day... :)

Deep Thoughts by Erin

This Saturday after lifting I saw Irving. Irving is a trainer at the gym who works in the mornings, so I rarely see him. We've chatted a bit in the past, so I'll usually say hello on the rare times we are both at the gym. It had been months since I'd seen him so I of course reminded him that I was gone because I got my tummy tuck. He said he had noticed I looked good and thought I just lost some more weight. I said thanks and followed up with my standard, "Yes, but I need to lose 30 more pounds." Irving replied with, "And I need..." and allowed the word 'need' to drag on as he was over-dramatically thinking. I thought, if he says he needs to lose weight that is just ridiculous because he is fine the way he is. But then he finished his sentence: "to earn about $21.4 million more dollars." I joked that he should tell Liz I am fine the way I am and walked away, but I haven't shaken the thought.

I told Liz in my session last Thursday that I am ok with losing and gaining the same 5 pounds week after week, but want the range to be 30 pounds less than where it is now. She said that this behavior is not good for that and even if I lost the 30 pounds, the gaining and losing will inevitably put the 30 back on. In her opinion.

So, I have been thinking. Thinking a decent amount about this. Do I want to lose 30 pounds? Of course. I know I can get there (I was there last year) and it makes me "healthy" according to the world of medicine. This is one of the goals I asked Liz to help me achieve. Other goals are: a) to be strong; b) to feel healthy and fit; and c) to have nice looking arms. :)

I was talking to a friend yesterday and I feel like what I took from what Irving was saying is that it has to be about the journey as well. It has to be about finding my passion/drive/joy/excitement from the process as much as--if not more than--the goals.

The reality is: I am VERY happy with how I currently look (with the exception of my arms--but they're ok...just could be better) and feel and with how my clothes fit. So why am I playing the "30 more pounds" game? I wonder if this goal and my lack of forward progress toward it isn't making me feel defeated and not be as successful.

I am toying with the idea of removing the 30 pound weight loss goal from my list and have my entire purpose in training be to be healthy, fit and strong. I really think that weight loss--however much or little may be--will come as a natural by-product of that. I don't think anything will change in my day to day practice...but it would just...be different?

I don't know...still thinking... :) And as always, this is an open invitation for your thoughts as well. :)

Sun Fun!

I lifted today. I chose to do upper body since Liz destroyed my legs on Thursday. However, I was feeling a little ill this morning, so I took it kind of easy. I wanted to be sure to do *something* for each major muscle group.

Here's what I did:

Assisted Pull-Ups: 115/15, 105/15, 95/12
Lying DB Pull-Overs: 25/15, 25/15, 35/15
Neutral-Grip Seated Row: 40/15, 50/15, 60/15
Assisted Dips: 64/15, 58/12, 52/10
Machine Shoulder Press: 30/15, 40/15, 50/12

Then, I showered, ate and headed out to the pool to meet my Aunt and two cute cousins! (my Aunt is cute too... :) I understand the original wording did not necessarily imply that...) We splashed and played and caught the kids from the waterslide over and over and over again. For like 30 minutes I just played fetch with Zachary--kids are so easy to entertain! :)

After 2 hours of fun in the sun, I am exhausted! A nap is in order before my evening festivities!!!

Oh! I also bought a cute new dress and pair of funky red pumps for my birthday dinner next Friday! Both were on ridiculous sale! WIN! :)

I Love Swimming.

I love swimming. I really do. I have a friend who is an ultra-marathoner and she HATES swimming claiming that she likes to breathe when she wants to. Very valid point. I find the rhythmic breathing of swimming to be one of the best things ever!

Based on the advice of my triathlon relay team, I am working up to swimming 1 mile in the pool. The theory is that this will make the .62 mile open water swim be "no big deal" on race day. I like this theory. In that vein, and since I have never swam more than .50 miles, I decided to go for .75 miles today. And was able to do it no problem. I feel like I could have kept going, but was ready to get out of the pool.

I went very slowly since I knew I was going further than I'd ever gone before. I also did not push off of any walls as the open water will have no walls. :) This slowed me down.

Here are the times:

1, BS: 1:46
2, BS: 2:05
3, EB: 2:09
4, BS: 1:59
5, BS: 2:05
6, EB: 2:19
7, BS: 2:04
8, BS: 2:08

.25 miles: 16:39

9, EB: 2:31
10, BS: 2:03
11, BS: 2:08
12, EB: 2:40
13, BS: 1:59
14, BS: 2:10
15, EB: 2:37
16, BS: 2:00

.50 miles: 34:50

17, BS: 2:18
18, EB: 2:45
19, BS: 2:06
20, BS: 2:17

.625 miles: 44:17

21, EB: 2:30
22, BS: 2:06
23, BS: 2:10
24, EB: 1:56

.75 miles: 53:01

I have 60 minutes to complete the swim leg of the triathlon, so I feel *pretty* good about my 44-ish minute time. Having said that, open water swimming is a whole different ball game: currents, other people, nasty water, etc... So, I shall keep practicing and hopefully speed that up a bit to give me some room to account for the yucky factor. :)

Eighty-EIGHT, Eighty-NINE...

Oh my. Today Liz punished me. For an hour. While I was away in NYC she texted me once asking how I was doing. I answered honestly that my food hadn't been that good. It was bad actually. She did not respond. I suppose she did not need to--at that moment, her mind was made up for today's session: Hell to pay. And I would say that I've paid it, but until the DOMS fully sets in and leaves, I have not. The worst is most definitely yet to come. I gained 4 pounds in one week. I think a lot of it is water weight. She does not. :)

Liz decided to destroy my legs. In her words, her goal was to remove my ability to walk. Hasn't happened (yet) but only time will tell. She also wanted to make me throw up--failed again, HCL!!! The pain:

Lying Leg Curls: 60/20, 75/15, 85/15
RDL: 75/15, 95/15, 115/15
Seated Leg Curls: 65/100
Power Steps: 50/12, 50/12, 50/12 *superset
Lunges: BW-40/15, 40/15, 40/15 *superset
Quad Leg Press: 270/30, 360/25, 420/20
Seated Leg Extensions: 55/50

Some clarifications:

a) Seated Leg Curls: No, friends, I did not *accidentally* hit the 0-key two times. I ACTUALLY did ONE HUNDRED reps in ONE set. Liz's face ever did look so happy. She didn't warn me either--although her silence tipped me off that the number of reps would be cruel and inhumane, I did not see 100 coming. After 50, she started counting at 1 again. I promptly put an end to that. As I told her, if I am doing that many reps, every gym patron in a 5 machine radius *will* know about it. So, *I* began counting. Loudly. Sixty-FIVE! Sixty-SIX!... NINETY-THREE...MAN! I AM AMAZING!...NINETY-FOUR!...ONE HUNDRED REPS!!!! :) And yes, I finished with a smile. And very painful legs.

b) Power Steps/Lunges: This was a superset. Power steps sucks. The end. Last time I did them was with Devon and another trainer asked me what I did to make Devon so mad. I didn't have to wonder what I did to make Liz have me do them. I knew. BAD NYC eating... Bad. The first set of lunges I went one length of the floor body weight only. Once we reached the barbell rack, I went back with a 40 lb BB on my back. Subsequent sets had the 40 lb BB in their entirety. Liz mounts and demounts the barbell from my shoulders. After set 2, she starting small talking some guy. I glared at her, then started to walk toward her with the intent of dropping said barbell as close to her feet as possible. LUCKILY FOR HER, she came and grabbed it before I was forced to risk my life so foolishly...

c) Quad Leg Press: Yeah, it's fun doing 30 reps sets after your legs are already destroyed. Only ONE thing could be more fun... (see item d.)

d) Seated Leg Extensions: What's the best thing to do once your legs are destroyed? Why, isolate the quads and do a 50 rep set, of course!

Liz, hands down that was the toughest workout I have been out through--not in terms of stamina, but it is not a question of whether or not I will be in pain for days, it's just how much pain... And I will be taking bets on whether or not I will be able to walk tomorrow. Or Saturday.

My uncle was lifting during my session and I did not notice him once. He saw me doing my horrific workout though. I was having dinner with them after my workout and he told me that there was a guy at the gym who within 5 minutes had irritated him by thinking he knew more than he did and was completely wrong. With only a few clarifying questions I was able to figure out that the moron at the gym was none other than: GYM JERKFACE! A.K.A. Captain America. I love that an objective third party can't stand him either!!!

Finally, there is a new trainer at the gym (well, many new trainers), and I guess I wasn't friendly enough or something to her because I didn't laugh at her incredibly lame joke. I was headed to meet Liz at the desk--focused and in the zone--and she turned the corner and we almost walked into each other. We both went left, we both went right. It was HILARIOUS. (straight face implying sarcasm). She stopped (still blocking my way) and said, "Thanks for the dance!" I thought to myself, "You are not funny and taking MORE of my time" and shot her a look of disdain. She walked THREE FEET past me and told trainers Joe and Anthony what a jerk I was for not laughing at her joke. I was so grouchy after my Liz punishment session that if I could've stood for a longer period of time I may have officially complained--I don't care how big of a jerk you think I am (or I actually am): you work there, I pay your salary--shut up and smile. :) You're lucky, new trainer. And I'm watchin' you.

Liz Always Wins.

Today was a Liz session day. The scale was being used (for an insanely long period of time) so we did not weigh in. The locker room scale reports me down one pound, but I do not count that as official.

Liz decided today would be upper body and core. I actually really liked it! I may break my workouts into upper and lower body vs. legs, chest & arms and back & shoulders.

Here was the lifting (supersets grouped together):

TG Pull Downs: 30/20, 35/20, 40/12
SA Low Row: 35/15, 45/15, 55/15
SLR w/ Hip Lift: BW/12, BW/12, BW/12

Hammer Shoulder Press: 30/15, 35/15, 40/15
BB Press-Ups: 35/15, 35/15, 35/12
Suitcases: 10/12, 10/12, 10/12

Hammer Decline Press: 20/15, 25/15, 30/15
FM Fly: 25/15, 30/15, 30/15
Toe Touches: 10/20, 10/20, 10/20

It went back, then shoulders, then chest--each superset ending with a core exercise. I'll explain the core exercises since they aren't always easy to tell what they are based on their names (e.g. suitcases).

SLR w/ Hip Lift: You lay flat. Then, keeping your legs extending out straight, you raise them so that they are perpendicular to the ground. At that point you pause (the reason for this is simple--Liz wanted me to lose any momentum I might have had from raising my legs to make my core hurt more). You finish by using your core to lift your butt off of the ground slightly, then lower your legs back down in a controlled fashion. To do this properly (read: make it hurt right) you do not touch the ground in between reps.

Suitcases: You lay flat holding a core ball above your head with your arms extended out straight. Simultaneously, you crunch up and bring one leg in to your chest so that when you are mid-rep, the core ball is extended in front of you an your knee cap is in the circle your arms are making. You reverse the motion and repeat with the other leg. That is one rep. I am not sure I am describing this well--it's not as complicated as I make it sound.

Toe Touches: You lay on your back with your legs raised in the air so they are perndicular to the ground. You hold a core ball vertical as well with your arms fully extended. You then crunch your stomach to touch the ball to your toes (or do the best you can). Fun. Times.

I felt like Liz and I were laughing a lot this session. In a good way. We talked a lot about Amanda F.'s upcoming wedding (on Saturday!) and my Beefy Guy escapades from this week. There was much giggling between sets and during--which makes the workouts all the more fun!

At one point during the cable flys, I was struggling a little bit and Liz said to do one more but I am a better counter than her and I was done the 15 rep set. The conversation went like this:

Liz: One more.
Me: THAT WAS 15!
Liz: DO ONE MORE.
Me: 15! IT WAS 15!
Liz: Shut up! I'm the trainer! DO. ONE. MORE!
*the sound of laughter from several other trainers in the vicinity*
*the sound of Erin doing a 16th rep*

Liz always wins.

One final funny story. Anthony was working with a client on the cable rows while we were on the Hammer Shoulder Presses right next door in Man-Land. Anthony says, "Liz, what do you think of when you hear the word: Panera?" I answered (naturally he was talking to me too): "Nothing good for you! But SUPER tasty!" Liz agreed. His poor client kept trying to make it okay. He was all: "What if I bring my own salad dressing?" My response: "Unless all you are eating is lettuce with that dressing--not good." Anthony thought it was hilarious that I was on their side. I don't believe his client saw it that way. I'm such a jerk. :) Liz did make the good point that you can do much worse eating out, but it isn't good for you.

I won't be working out tomorrow as I am working working working then rehearsal dinnering!!!

Lifting With a Purpose

I will get to the lifting, but first, some philosophical commentary. I debated (for like 35 seconds) over whether or not to include my blatant flirting with beefy guy (formerly known as match-my-sweatband-to-my-outfit guy) in this post. There are a couple reasons for this: 1) I would be *so* embarrassed if he ever saw it! and 2) although my life is truly an open book for all of the internet to enjoy/mock/pity/etc, some things are more on the personal side. Having said all of that, it is my understanding that many (if not all) of you could care less about how much I can bench (I was up to 120 lbs before the surgery!!!) and how many reps and sets I do of each exercise. As far as I can tell, my big fans eat up the relational aspects waaaaaaaaay more. You want to read about funny ZTT, ABD and HCL stories. You want to read about my hilarious rants and awkward encounters. I'd also like to believe that you want to cheer me on as I try and succeed and support me when I fail, laugh with me when I find something funny and be sad with me when things aren't going well. My life is a bit of a roller coaster and, if I understand correctly, you want to come along for the ride. :) If I do not understand correctly, I am just incredibly narcissistic and typing to myself. In either case, I type on. :)

Ok, on to today! Today I did a full body lifting routine. Yes, I did a few more exercises than I planned to to strategically smile at beefy guy more. I also selectively chose some exercises to be in his line of sight. Oh yes, I am playing *that* game. And I am a novice. ;)

The lifting:

Kneeling Leg Curls: 40/15, 50/15, 60/15
Seated Leg Press (Cybex): 150/15, 190/15, 210/15
Seated Cable Row: 50/15, 60/15, 70/12
BB Deadlifts: 95/15, 115/13, 135/10
DB Chest Press: 15/15, 20/15, 25/15, 30/15
Seated Leg Extensions: 70/15, 80/15, 90/15
Lat Pulldowns: 50/15, 60/12, 60/10
BB Upright Rows: 40/15, 45/15, 45/12
Pec-Decks: 50/15, 60/15, 70/15
DB Front/Side Raise Combo: 5/12, 5/12

So, I will explain my lifting choices. In general I try to do 2-4 leg exercises (with at least one focusing on hams and one on quads), a lats, a row of some sort, 1-2 chest, 1-2 shoulder. I flip and flop back and forth between upper and lower body, trying to move from larger muscles to smaller as I go. I haven't been getting more specific that that in pre-planning like I used to and it *appears* to be working I think...

Ok, so, I'm all cable rowing it up when I see beefy guy at the bench directly across from the deadlift rack. Guess I'm doing deadlifts next. :) So I went over and as I was 3 feet away another guy swooped in and took it!!! There was an awakward "Did you want this?" "No, no, you take it" "You can have it" "No, I'm good" exchange with him which served the purpose of getting beefy guy's attention. I went over the another rack on the other side of the weight floor and after my second set, beefy guy walked past and smiled at me. I smiled back--it's only polite. Erin's Feminine Wiles 1, Beefy Guy's Attempts to Stay Away 0.

I then went over to do a dumbbell chest press. I started with 15s--way too easy. By the time I was done set 3 (with 25s) I had more juice in me. I decided to do 30s but was a little worried about dropping them on me (I was at 35s before the surgery break and am not quite back yet). I saw beefy guy walking in my direction so I got his attention and asked if he would spot me. He said sure. Then, in true Erin form, I started rambling things like, "If you're too busy, it's cool. I'll be fine." He flashed me a smile--I choose to believe it was a "Man, you are adorable when you ramble" smile vs. the "Man, this girl is crazy" smile--and said it was fine. I started very strong--uh oh! What if I don't look like I need a spot?!!? I'd be made! I was so incredibly grateful when my right arm buckled a little during rep 9. He swooped in and grabbed my elbows! I finished the rest of the set fine and when I was done he gave me a "good set" and I thanked him. Erin's Feminine Wiles 2, Beefy Guy's Attempts to Stay Away 0.

I let things be at this point--don't want to use all my best material in one sitting. :) I *did* do the pec-decks and shoulder raise combo to lengthen my time on the weight floor in his peripheral vision. Hey! Extra working out is never a bad thing...right? ;)

Double the Workouts, Double the Fun!

Today was a TWO workout day!!!! This was for a couple reasons:

1) I am not working out Wednesday, so I thought I'd double it up today! and
2) Two different friend sets that I really enjoy chillin' chillin' with wanted to work out doing different things at different times.

First up was a bright (dark-ish) and early (too early) run with Amy and Amanda B.! It was raining at 5:30 am, so we ran inside the church gym. Oh, memories back to the Sole Sisters! As Amy pointed out, we replaced Kiley with Amanda! (As if Kiley could ever be replaced and as if Amanda could ever just be someone's replacement...) We went for about 30 minutes. The general flow was run 5 laps of the gym, run 1 stair loop then walk 2 laps of the gym and repeat! I didn't feel too tired at any point which is great! Liz had told me to intentionally run intervals rather than try to run the whole thing and get disappointed when my stamina isn't where it used to be. Good plan, Liz! I am pleased. :)

I then got ready and went to work and worked a 9 hour day until it was time for my workout date #2 at 5:30 pm with Stephanie! It's Monday and so it is Gradual Build Day!!!! Gradual build day sucks way less with Stephanie. I may make her join me *every* Monday!

After gradual build, we stretched on the stretchy seat thing. I had never used one before, but Stephanie taught me what was what. :)

Also! I love my homemade protein bars! I also shared one (with Amy) and it was *very* well received! I am bringing some into work tomorrow to make all of my coworkers enjoy them too!!!!

Homemade Protein Bars

I made protein bars today from scratch! This makes me feel like I have entered a whole new level--like I have graduated from "health and fitness junkie" to "health nut," except the only problem is that I haven't really. I am not a health nut. But I *do* make homemade protein bars. :)

The recipe (passed to me from Hard Core Liz):

No Bake Protein Bars

Ingredients:

1/4 c. natural peanut butter or natural almond butter
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. rolled oats or quick oats (uncooked)
6 scoops chocolate or vanilla protein powder (it should be whey isolate--no added junk)
2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
1 c. skim milk powder
1/2 c. dried cranberries
Stevia (optional, if your protein powder is not sweet)

Directions: Spray an 8 inch square pan with non-stick spray. In bowl, whisk together nut butter, water and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients. Spread into pan and freeze for one hour or refrigerate overnight, until bars can be cut. Wrap individually.

Makes: 10
Calories: 180 | Fat: 4.5g | Protein: 19g | Carbs: 16g

I had to modify the recipe slightly. Allow me to explain. Liz suggested that the whey protein form the LifeCafe was a good one for the recipe--although I suspect she has never used it herself. Also protein powders have their own size scoops. I believe that the Lifetime Whey scoop is ginormous compared to others. When it was all mixed together it was very dry. To remedy this I added another 1/4 c. of water. The consistency *seems* fine to me. I will ask Liz for actual scoop size of hers and modify next time--or I may just keep it this way if I like it enough. :)

Also, I chose to use wax paper to line the pan rather than spray with non-stick spray. The idea of using non-stick spray and *not* baking it grosses me out for some irrational reason. :) And I did not use Stevia--because I am sweet enough. ;)

For your benefit (and your benefit alone) I photo-documented various stages of the process.

Here is the goop spread in the pan. I started spreading it with a combination spatula and butter knife (it's sticky stuff!) but quickly moved to the rice-krispie-treat-method of using my hands--MUCH more successful...and messy!:

From Carry-On With Life

Here is the lot of them cut up and individually wrapped (I cut them 5 x 2). I am not so good at cutting them evenly--maybe I will get better in time...:

From Carry-On With Life

Here is one, in case you wanted a closer look:

From Carry-On With Life

Yum.

My Shoulders Are Properly Destroyed

Today I lifted and it was time to do back & shoulders. I thought I hated back & shoulders day, but surprisingly, I do not. I enjoy it. I only hate *some* of the back & shoulders exercises and I managed to avoid most of them. :)

There is something to note before I get into specifics though. Ever since last Thursday, I have been BOTE (for the newbies, it's Back On Track Erin--nicknamed by my wonderful mother and immortalized in tshirt form by Awesome Lyn Lyn). I had emailed Liz a plan for the next two weeks (ending at Tom & Amanda's wedding where I plan to eat yumminess). I told her that failing to plan is planning to fail and that's what I had been doing. So far, planning = winning! I worked out 6 days this week--3 cardio and 3 lifting. I have also been on track with my eating since last Thursday. It feels really good (physically and psychologically) to have a successful week when it has been so long since that has happened. :) One small change in attitude I noticed was that a few weeks ago I thought that I would work out on Saturday if I could fit it in, then as the day progressed I just did not make time for it. This week, I set my alarm (I know, right? On a SATURDAY!) and planned ahead to get ready, make & eat breakfast, go to the post office, go to BJs, workout, shower, eat snack and get to my 12:30 haircut appointment. Everything went to plan (even the added 10 minutes from my leaving my packed lunchbox on the kitchen counter and having to retrieve it). I am now home, laundry is in the washer and I have sometime before my evening festivities. Success! :)

The Back & Shoulders lifting:

LATS:
Assisted Pull-Ups: 100/15, 95/15, 90/12
Lying DB Pull-Overs: 25/15, 35/10, 25/15

RHOMBOIDS/REAR DELTS:
Seated Machine Row: 40/15, 50/15, 60/15
Seated Cable Row: 40/15, 50/15, 55/15

SHOULDERS:
Seated DB Shoulder Press w/ Rot.: 12.5/15, 15/15, 17.5/15
Machine Shoulder Press: 30/15, 35/15, 40/12
DB Front/Side Raise Combo: 5/15, 7.5/15, 7.5/12
Rear Delt Flyes: 40/15, (50/6:40/9), 40/12

You may have noticed the title of this post and the reference to my shoulders being destroyed. This is evidenced by my pitiful performance on the rear delt flyes. I can typically do like 50 or 60 lbs with ease. At least I could before the surgery, maybe I am trying too much too fast. In any event, the 40 seemed reasonable. So, on set 2 I naturally increased to 50 lbs. I could not do it! After 6 reps I couldn't move the weights! So I dropped the weight (shamefully) to 40 and finished the set. Boooooo. Then for set 3 I could only muster 12 reps at 40 lbs. I have to remember that I am used to do full body workouts where I do only one or two shoulder exercises. When I do more (like today), my muscles are fatigued more when I get to the end and I cannot do as much. Ok....I feel a little better about it all. :)

I also like the Front/Side Raise Combo. It's hard--to be clear--but it's a nice, challenging workout. You stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold the dumbbells directly in front of you against your upper thighs. You raise them up to be parallel with the floor (the front raise), then rotate them out to the sides (like the Virtuvian Man). Next you lower the weights to your sides and immediately reverse the process (doing the side raise on the way up!). That's one rep. You see how doing 3 sets of 12-15 reps of these with even lightweight dumbbells can destroy your shoulders!!! But in a good way. ;)

For the rest of today I will be relaxing, having coffee with my IronGirl Tri Relay team and seeing the Green Lantern!!! Tomorrow is a well-deserved rest day!

Step-Mill Intervals! And a Rant About Personal Space.

Today was my step-mill day where I do intervals. Liz suggested I do intervals as she does and when she spoke she had a level of excitement in her voice that rivals mine when I talk about math! And if you know me and my love for math (just ask me about Henri Poincaré and his hyperbolic geometry heaven!!!), you know just how sick and twisted Liz is.

For the intervals I did 50 minutes of 5 minute intervals doing 4 minutes at level 4 (easier) and 1 minute at level 10 (yucky). I typically could get about 20 seconds into the level 10 minute before it was hard and then I pushed through the final 40 seconds huffing and puffing. About 2 minutes into the the next interval, I felt as though my heart rate was back to where I like it. Then after two more minutes, back at it again!

ZTT (Yes! We all missed posts with fun ZTT stories/advice!) always said that intervals are great for your fitness because they are rapid and unexpected and force your body to react quickly to handle it. I believe that as a general rule of thumb, it's always good to trick your body in fitness. Keep it guessing!

Here are my stats:

Calories Burned: 514.1
Time: 52:00
Distance: 3.63 miles
Floors Climbed: 174
Average Pace: 54 steps per minute

It was almost exactly 100 calories burned per 10 minutes. There is no point to that statement other than it makes my math-loving, OCD-like heart happy. :)

Now for my rant! People! You gotta learn to appreciate personal space! I'm not talking "my bubble"--most people know not to stand within 6 inches of someone else (although not ALL people...). I'm talking about a concept I like to call "Relative Personal Space." (You heard it here first.)

What is this new concept, Erin? Oh, I will tell you. Here is the scooby: if I am in a sparsely populated setting, stay away from me--if it is densely populated, simply respect the bubble. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Here are some common places where people do NOT demonstrate courteous relative personal space practices:

1) The Couch at a Party: If I am the ONLY person sitting on a standard, three-seater couch, it is my duty to sit on one end and not directly in the middle. It is then YOUR duty to sit on the other end. There is NO reason for you to sit in the middle unless a) the other seat is filled leaving ONLY the middle seat for sitting; or b) you want to snuggle with me. Depending on who "you" is, option b is more or less appealing.

2) Public Restrooms: If I walk into a public restroom and I am the only person there, it is my duty to choose a stall that allows a second restroom patron to select one away from mine. This is only an issue in a three-top setting. In that scenario I shall NOT choose the middle stall. In the >3 cases, any stall selection is fine. It is YOUR duty to choose a stall not directly to mine so long as they are available. The end. I don't want to be able to see what color your shoes are when I KNOW there is an open stall on the opposite side of you. Ew. (Side note: I am not the only one who ascribes to this theory, here is an algorithm for men's room urinal usage. Enjoy. And you're welcome.)

3) Gym Equipment: Ok. Now that you are on board with this excellent concept. Here is what happened today and how it violated it so egregiously. If I am in the gym and it is Friday night and, hence, sparsely populated, and I choose a step-mill far from everyone else, when YOU come to use a step-mill, it is YOUR duty to choose one AT LEAST one machine away from me. There should be a one-machine buffer until the gym fills up. The end. Tonight, this simple principle was violated. Repeatedly. Until I ended up in the following situation (yes, I made a diagram...it's not exactly the gym floor map, but good enough to make the point):

From Carry-On With Life

The red dots are BAD gym patrons and the teal dots are acceptable ones. I WAS SURROUNDED!!!! If there was a wall rather than the terrifying drop-off to the lobby behind me I might feel like I would implode! Oh my! Too much. Too much...

Luckily for me, they all seemed to be pansy workout-ers and didn't last very long. Yes, I was there before they all showed up and after they all left--further evidence that only crazies do the better part of an hour on the step-mill.

OK. That's enough ranting. Thanks for listening/reading! I hope you enjoyed it and will apply these principles in your everyday life if you do not already. Which you do. Because you read my blog. Which makes you awesome. ;)

Chest & Arms Day

On Tuesday Liz only did legs with me because my arm had hurt a bit during my full body workout on Saturday. So the plan is to do chest & arms today and back & shoulders on Tuesday. Then, when I meet with Liz on Thursday I will be all evened out (my OCD-like tendencies cannot handle not being even). :)

For chest and arms day I try to do 2 chest presses and 1 flye, then 2-3 each of biceps and triceps. Specifics for today:

CHEST
FM Chest Press: 35/15, 40/15, 45/15
Flat DB Flyes: 15/15, 17.5/15, 20/15
Incline DB Press: 20/15, 22.5/15, 25/15

ARMS
Cable Bicep Curls:15/15, 20/15, 25/15 *superset
Cable Triceps Pushdowns:15/15, 20/15, 25/15 *superset

Standing DB Hammer Curls: 15/15, 20/15, 22.5/15 *superset
Lying Overhead DB Triceps Extensions: 12.5/15, 12.5/15, 12.5/15 *superset

Machine Bicep Curls: 30/15, 35/12, 35/12

Machine Triceps Press: 50/15, 70/15, 90/15

Next workout will be cardio tomorrow. If the pool isn't too crowded I may swim, otherwise I will likely do intervals on the step-mill!

Pyramid Cardio on the Elliptical

Today was a cardio day and I planned on either using the elliptical or swimming. I didn't feel like getting my hair all chlorine-y so I used the elliptical. I did my pyramid cardio which is moving the crossramp incline from 10 to 15 to 20 to 15 to 10 to 15 etc... every 5 minutes for 45 minutes.

Here are my stats:

Calories Burned: 550.2
Time: 46:30
Strides: 6753
Distance: 3.86 miles

I got a smoothie in the LifeCafe after my workout (as I typically do) and while I was waiting for it Devon came in to get some dinner. He came and sat with me while he waited too. Looks like somebody misses Erin... :) I was reading my book but as I told him, I was *happy* to put it away for such a momentous occasion. I caught him up on the hilarity that is the comings and goings of my life. He told me that I never disappoint. :) Of course I don't.

Liz Session Lifting!

Today was a session with Liz day. As you may recall from yesterday, she gave me the challenge of losing 2 pounds since last Thursday. I. Lost. 4. Boom. That just happened!!! :) Back On Track Erin, back in the house (yes, I just wrote "in the house"). :)

Liz only did lower body with me today because my forearm had hurt on Saturday. Through conversations with Liz, she thinks it was my bicep. My big, hulky biceps cannot help themselves. :)

The lifting:

BB Box Squats: 95/15, 95/15, 115/12

Rev SM Lunges on Box: 45/12, 55/12, 50/12

Squat Press: 180/15, 270/15, 360/15, 450/15

Hack Squats: 180/15, 180/15

ABD w/ Hold: 50/15, 65/15, 75/15
RDL: 40/15, 40/15, 40/15

During the hack squats, my left knee started to hurt fairly significantly so we only did two sets. From Liz asking me questions and me having no idea how to answer them (e.g. Liz: Does it feel like a pin prick or a knife? Me: I don't know what a knife feels like! Liz: But imagine. Me: What?!?!) she thinks it's my IT band. She showed me how to stretch it and recommended icing it. She had a great idea! Freeze some water in dixie cups, then you can massage it while icing it! Genius!

Also, I told Liz I am growing tired of my afternoon meatwich snack (appalling, I know!). She suggested a protein shake. I asked about a protein bar. She said that she prefers homemade and gave me a recipe. I am excited to try it out!!! I won't for like a week until I eat all of the lunchmeat currently in my fridge. :) When I do I will post the recipes and pictures a la Awesome Lyn Lyn.

Finally, I had a nice dinner with my friend Kimberly tonight who expressed disappointment she has not been mentioned in the blog. She doesn't READ it. But anyways, here's a shout out for a fun dinner!!!! :)

Back to the Grind, er, Gradual Build

I do not have any fun jet-setting trips (until later this month) for a bit so I have no excuse not to work out and eat all healthy for a bit. I committed to Liz, via a specific plan, how I intended to do this between last Thursday and June 25th (Tom & Amanda's wedding!!!!). So...I had to get back into Gradual Build Mondays! As much as I looooooo-oooooooove Gradual Build!

Lucky for me, I was joined by my dear friends, Stephanie and Victoria!!! And Stephanie and I both noticed that the ridiculously high inclines suck just a touch less when you are chit-chatting with a friend. To be clear, the 5 minutes at the incline of 14.0% was virtually silent as we both needed to focus on breathing!!!!

The Stats:

Calories Burned: 420
Distance: 2.12 miles
Time: 44:14 (with added 4:14 cool down because the "cool down" 5 minutes at 9.0% incline just doesn't do it for me!)

Next workout is a Liz session tomorrow. I was given the goal of losing 2 pounds since last Thursday's weigh-in. I think I kicked its butt, but tomorrow I will know for sure. :)

Sunday Funday!

Today I attended a Surprise Shower for my dear friend, Julie, who is having her fourth child--her first boy!!! Amy and I worked on our super-secret shower surprise Friday night. It is a rose basket with the roses made out of baby socks. This website show the steps and this is how it is supposed to look:

We had some slight variations, namely a) our socks were baby blue, b) we used a basket rather than a vase and c) floral tape is a horrible concoction developed in the depths of hell.

Here is our finished product:



It's not a very good picture, but it was 1 am before we finished and I was sleepy and didn't notice the photo quality until just now. In any event, we are very pleased and we think Julie liked it too. :) Congrats Ajay & Julie!!!

Later this evening, my church small group got together and cooked dinner for the teenagers in youth group. It was super fun to grill out in the parking lot. I was in charge of filling the large 3-gallon beverage holders with lemonade. And I rocked it. Like a champion. Here's the photo of us working hard (or hardly working...):



Now off to bed so I can gradual build with Stephanie tomorrow!!!

Rachael Boer Photography

Friends!!! My digital images have arrived from my "I lost a bunch of weight and am turning 30" photo shoot. Also referred to as "I have GOT to get new pictures for my mom's dining room wall because the current ones are AWFUL" photo shoot. Evidenced below:



So...here is the album (I believe set to autoplay a slideshow if I did it correctly)!!!



Rachael specializes in newborns and children photography and is just wonderful at it. If you have one or some of these (or if you are a cool, single gal like me) you should check out her work! Her website is www.rachaelboerphotography.com.

I'd love to know which are you favorites! My mom chose: 2, 25 and 37. I chose: 6, 11, 14, 24, 26 and 31. :)

Lifting & a Movie!

What a great Saturday night. :)

I lifted later this evening because I had plans to go to the 8:50 pm showing of X-Men First Class at Arundel Mills Mall and wanted to not go home in between. Given the reputation of Arundel Mills Mall, I required that my escort for the evening pre-agree to walk me to my car at the late hour the movie would end--he obliged, but upon safely arriving at our respective vehicles asked me what exactly I thought *he* would do to protect me. Fair question. I hadn't thought that far ahead. :) Safety in numbers... :)

Oh! And the actual movie, although did not receive great reviews from the critics was really good! I should disclaim that I am an X-Men movie groupie and it may be my favorite superhero movie series of all times and as such my opinion may not be objective. But I really enjoyed it! And young Professor X and Magneto are dreamy. Just saying...even though I know Magneto will toggle the line between the 'good' X-men's friend and foe, I still love him... ::swoon::

Enough geekery for now. For the pre-movie lifting, I did full body. I did not go in with a plan. This was unsettling for me because I like plans. Also, in the past, without a plan I would slack a little--do only what I *felt* like doing vs. what I need to do. I feel that I did reasonably well plan-less. I mixed it up by alternating between lower and upper body every couple exercises. Here it is (pounds/reps):

Seated Leg Extensions: 70/15, 80/15, 90/15
Seated Leg Curls: 85/15, 100/15, 115/15
FM Chest Press: 35/15, 40/15, 45/15 *superset with FM Lat Pulldown
FM Lat Pulldown: 70/15, 80/12, 80/10 *superset with FM Chest Press
45° Leg Press: 270/15, 360/15, 450/15
45° Leg Press Calves: 180/20, 230/20, 270/20
Pec-Decks: 40/15, 50/15, 60/15
Seated Row: 40/15, 50/15, 60/12
Machine Shoulder Press: 30/15, 40/15, 50/12

Toward the end of the second set of the pec-decks I got a sharp pain in my right forearm just under my elbow on the inside. I took the last set easy and also was careful with the seated row. I think I did a good job! :)

Tomorrow is a rest day!

Swimming, Snazzy Supermarket & Super-Secret aSsembly!

Wow, friends. Today was chock full.

This morning, I headed work early so that I could make it over to a dear friend's funeral. Jason Shupe was a wonderful man, son, husband and father. On Monday morning, at the way-too-early age of 29, he suffered from a heart attack leaving his beautiful wife, son and daughter much earlier than anyone could have anticipated. The service was beautiful and hearing all of the stories of how he touched the lives around him was so moving. We love you, Jason. And to Jennifer, the picture of strength throughout this week, I hope and pray that you take the time to grieve and lean upon us whenever you need for however long you need. That's what we are here for. We love you.

Later in the day, I swam laps at Lifetime in the outdoor pool. I forgot my watch, so I have no times (sorry, Rachael--my super-awesome memory did not time and memorize each lap...this time...) but I know I went 0.5 miles.

I then came with Amy to Frederick to babysit her adorable niece, Anna! She is quite the cutie-pie. After she was asleep, we left her in the care of her uncle and went to WEGMANS. As expected, it was awesome. They have Coca-Cola machines from the future. Or at least Amy is convinced they are:



When we finally pried ourselves away, we came back to Amy's parent's house to 'get our craft on' and make a Super-Secret and equally Super-Awesome gift (inspired by Ruth F.--If you know her, you may know what I'm talking about...but it's super-secret!!! So shhhhhh...).

At Wegmans I wanted to get ice cream...but I am being good. So I texted Liz the following:

I am texting you because I really want to eat ice cream but am not going to and texting you so I know you'll ask if I did. Which I wouldn't have. :)

She replied with:

Stay away!!! Ice cream is bad!!! (good call on the txt!)

And I didn't eat the ice cream. Victory. :) Lifting tomorrow!

I Will Do ANYTHING ANYONE Tells Me To...

Not sure this is a good thing, but hey--it's working for me so far. :)

Today I had a Hard Core Liz session. As an aside, every session I am more and more glad that I switched. She is just very different than Devon. They are both very knowledgeable, but just...different. Hard to explain why exactly. Maybe because she is tough and no nonsense, but also funny and seems to really care if I do well. She can email me: "Now get your a$s back on the wagon" one day and then write on the top of my workout:

Goals: 20% body fat, routine, be strong & empowered, have "good arms". ***What are you doing each day to work towards these goals?***

the next. Nice touch, Liz. I like it.

I had not worked out since my swim last week (due to traveling and such), so I knew today would be tough. It was a standard Liz workout--challenging, but not impossible. Here it is:

DB Squats: 20 lb DBs/20 reps, 20/20, 20/20
Lunges: Body Weight/20 reps, BW/20, BW/20
Burpees w/ Stand: 10 lb DBs/10 reps, 10/10, 10/10

V-Grip Pulldowns: 50 lbs/20 reps, 60/15, 65/12, 65/12
Push-Ups: Body Weight/10 reps, BW/10, BW/10, BW/12
Pop-Ups: Body Weight/15 reps, BW/15, BW/15, BW/15

SL Leg Press (Glute-focused): 140 lbs/15 reps, 140/15, 180/15
DB Shoulder Press: 15 lb DBs/20 reps, 20/15, 20/15
Split Jumps: Body Weight/16 reps, BW/16, BW/16

And I am still standing!!! :) Also, during rest periods I decided to tell Liz the things I think about the other regulars in the gym to include: Gym Jerkface who used to yell at me for inane reasons, the guy who walks around like he's a jerk (Liz agrees--he is apparently one of the 'arms brothers', two guys who work arms all the time and walk around the gym like they are AWESOME!) and the "gym kingpin"--this jacked guy who I swear is the mayor of Man-Land. In my head, men stop using weight machines when he walks up to use them. Liz just laughed at me. Appropriately.

Then I told her about the guy that I like to smile at but we rarely speak. I had told Devon about him and he suggested I have conversation with him "with intention." Like I know how to do that, Devon... I was going to...I really was...but then I saw him talking to a pretty girl. For like two hours. (I may be exaggerating. But it was over 30 minutes for sure.) And I decided that he's not too shy to talk to me, he doesn't want to. So, no Devon, I will not start a conversation 'with intention' with him. I told Liz all of this. She rolled her eyes (a common occurence during our conversations--it's in a nice way, I assure you) and brought up the possibility that maybe *she* initiated the conversation with him. Hmm. Possible. But I don't care. I reminded Liz that I have been single since I was 17 for a reason. :) She told me to go put the dumbbells away and say hello to him and ask him how we was doing. I really do WHATEVER I am told to. So I did. :) We had a nice small chat about Liz kicking my butt and how he was kicking his own butt because he went away for the weekend and overindulged. Nice.

As we were leaving our session, we passed Devon. I said hello and told him I missed him (as I do every time I see him) and he pointed over to the guy and smiled. So subtle, Devon. The only hope I have is that the guy wasn't looking in the mirror while Devon did that (as we were behind him). Maybe he was looking at his big, beefy muscles. If I had muscles like his, I know that I would do that ALL the time. :)

As I was stretching, Devon walked by and I told him I was mortified!!! He told me I wear mortification well. Why, thank you, Devon... :)

Next workout tomorrow: probably swimming outside!