Utterly Exhausted

I liked Tuesday morning’s early pre-work workout so much that I decided to do it again on Wednesday. And Today. Now three days into it, I am so stuck on this routine that I kind of want to make it the norm going forward. The crowd is just SOOO much better at that time. No one tries to chat me up and I can get through my entire lift in under an hour if I keep my rests between sets to a minimum. This morning I really had to rush (it was cardio & core day) and actually skipped the last exercise on my plan (bosu ball pushups), afraid that I would be late for work, but I left the gym completely spent so they probably wouldn’t have added any extra benefit to me. I'll just tack them on to my chest sesh on Sunday :) 

My body just won’t readjust to my usual 6:00 am wake-up this week so rising with the 4:45 alarm hasn’t been a difficult change. Last night however I fell asleep on the couch shortly after 7:00 pm, my belly happily full from dinner and my fav chocolate casein pudding dessert J Perhaps these early morning workouts have finally caught up with me. Tomorrow is my scheduled rest day and I definitely need it. I’ve been going HAM every day with no pre-workout drink! I might also be extra sleepy because I’ve cut back on coffee these past few days without really meaning to. You see, typically I chug my protein shake while leaving the gym because it's dinner time and I'm starved but I haven’t been hungry enough yet upon finishing my morning workouts so I wait until I get to work at about 7:30 and have it then when I would typically have my 2^nd morning coffee. Instead, I don’t have another coffee until after lunch, swapping-out my usual 3^rd cup.

I think I’ve also been extra motivated to hit the weights hard this week as I feel like my physique is slowly making gains. Sometimes I feel fat-as-fuck (sorry but it’s the truth!) but then I just remind myself that tight pant legs means growing quads!!! Plus, each day is a new day on my latest workout plan and they’ve all proven to be grueling but very enjoyable.

Speaking of which, I’m looking to take-on some extra online training clients right now so if you’re interested, or know anyone who may be interested, head on over to my other website www.FitfierceFun.com and sign-up for your own monthly workout plan! I’ll work with you to create workouts that you will enjoy and help you work toward your fitness goals. Even if you’re new to lifting or are working with injuries we can develop a plan that works for you. It’s all about customization!

This morning I was sweating buckets during my routine. Typically I merely glisten (I think I’m just blessed with minimal sweat glands haha) but between the StairMaster (just a 15 minute warm-up) and the intense humidity outside there was no staying dry. Sometimes a good sweat is more than a physical thing though; it’s also a mental cleanse and in this case helped me start my day stress-free with a positive mindset and that’s always a good thing for Miss. Glass-Half-Empty ;)

Anyway, I think tomorrow I’ll strive for a carb-load treat meal either for lunch or dinner because I plan to hit legs HARD early Saturday morning! It’s looking like a beach day and I need to look and more importantly FEEL my best in my bikini!  

These Past Few Days

Hey y'all! Sitting here on my couch post-dinner (a delicious chicken stir-fry) taking care of lots of random "to-do's" online. Finally the last two items on my list are 1) write a blog post and 2) search for a good mock-Quest protein bar recipe. Trying to cut-back on expenses here and Quest bars, while delicious and diet-friendly, are pricey!

This past weekend was a low-key and stress-free break which began with taking Friday off so that I could get my MRI done. What a long ordeal that was! It's hard to believe the fancy pants hospital only has one machine on site but apparently that is the case so I spent a good part of my Friday afternoon waiting to be scanned. Luckily I wasn't missing out on an amazing beach day and it was my rest day after all :) I have my next appointment this coming Friday to review the results and determine next steps. Oh the joys of the US healthcare system...

Friday evening was a lovely get together at my Family's house for the high school graduation celebration of one of my Stepsisters. We had a guy come early in the day to get cookin' on a traditional pig roast and dinner was a delicious mix of carved pork, pulled pork, corn-on-the-cob, corn bread, several different salads, baked beans and a smorgasbord of desserts.  Cheat meal heaven! I even let myself have seconds and didn't feel too guilty since it was mostly more meat! :D For dessert I had a salted caramel frosted chocolate cupcake from East End Cupcakes bakery here in Portland. It wasn't as great as it sounds though. The pulled pork was definitely my favourite dish!

Saturday was the official first day of Summer! Sadly not a hot day but it was at least sunny and bright so I spent the afternoon with friends at Ferry Beach in Scarborough after a killer morning back workout. On Sunday I decided my delt issue was resolved enough to make a return to yoga which I did (successfully) after a 20 minute and relatively pain-free elliptical warm-up.  Then I spent the rest of the day devouring the remainder of The Fault in Our Stars at Ferry Beach State Park in Saco (totally different beach). This is one of my favourite beaches in the area because it is never that crowded. Again, it wasn't an extremely hot day so I underestimated the sun's strength and did not adequately apply (or re-apply) sunscreen. Now two days later my lobster legs are still in pain! It's an ugly burn too as most of my time was on my stomach reading so the front half of me is tan while the back half of me is roasted.

I had a free drink at Starbucks so I grabbed a Venti Iced Nonfat Latte on my drive there. What a relaxing day! Late last week I decided my workouts were just not motivating me anymore so I designed a new plan using my favourite exercises from the past couple of months and somewhat changing the days I train each muscle group. Yesterday began the week with Bi's & Tri's and this morning I did Shoulders. I've been waking up waaaaaay too early these past few days so this morning I decided that rather than tossing and turning until my alarm rang I would just get up and hit the weights early. I had a surprisingly excellent session despite the time of day and think I'll probably do the same tomorrow for Back. The crowd (or lack thereof) is really so much more tolerable at that hour! Thursday I have core & cardio on the agenda, rest on Friday, legs on Saturday, and will start anew again on Sunday with chest and either yoga or cardio depending on my mood / pain / timing. Ahh I love a fresh plan! Anyway, my wrists are killing me right now (gosh I really don't need to add tendinitis to the injury mix here!) so I'm done typing for the night. Guess I'll have to save that recipe search for tomorrow. Anyway, I hope all of you are enjoying a beautiful first week of Summer. Anyone have any experience cooking mock-Quest bars? How about a good recipe to share? 

Bullseyes & Lobsters

Buongiorno gym rats! I’m seriously dying to go to Italy this year. I don’t know if it’s the intense homemade pasta craving I’m having right now or just my growing need for another European getaway but it needs to happen soon! Urgh why is it so hard to find a suitable travel buddy willing to drop a little dough on a once-in-a-lifetime experience?

Anyway, another week has gone by here in the lovely state of Maine. Apparently summer arrives in 4 days but I’ve yet to see much in the way of hot temps and sunshine for more than a couple days at a time so far this year. De-pressing! This past weekend was nice enough but not quite the weather we Mainers suffer through 8 frigid months of the year for.

I pushed through 7 days-in-a-row of lifting (talk about exhausted muscles!) so that I could have Saturday as my rest-day this past week. Instead of hitting the gym I spent the day at a local range taking a bullseye shooting course. As usual with these types of courses it was mostly men (sadly no attractive or age-appropriate ones) so I was definitely the oddball participant. It was however a great experience and nice change from my usual defensive shooting technique. Defensive is two-handed while bullseye is one-handed and being considerably more difficult, it is used for competition. I definitely was not as accurate as I expected to be but most of my shots at least hit the target and at 25 yards I guess that’s not so bad. Bottom line, if I can hit a small target one-handed at 25 yards then I can certainly hit an attacker if need be!  

Sunday I returned to the gym for what ended up being a really great workout. I started with another 15 minutes of warm-up StairMaster torture, followed by a good hour of biceps and then probably another ½ hour of core training. I love leaving the gym feeling totally spent! I debated going to the beach for the day but instead jumped at the opportunity to join the family for a Father’s Day lunch down in Kennebunkport. We went to this restaurant called Stripers where I ordered a fantastic lobster roll with a side salad. I’m not typically a lobster roll fan since I detest mayo and white bread but this one was just lightly tossed in a lemon aioli dressing so it wasn’t so rich. Un-planned cheat meal for sure but definitely worth it!

The rest of the afternoon was spent sunning on my patio reading my latest book, The Fault in Our Stars. I can tell its going to be a quick read so hopefully I can finish it and then go see the movie while it’s still in theatres! Nothing else really exciting is on my agenda this week. I got lazy and did not create a new workout plan so it looks like another 3 weeks on the P/RR/S program for me. Oh well, I do feel strong so I guess it must be working despite all of my modifications. Anyone have any fun plans this week? New workouts programs in process? New diets being tried? Ciao!

Deceivingly Out-of-Shape

Good Morning gym rats! Another early beautiful morning here in Portland but it’s supposed to turn to rain showers shortly and last through the new few days. Joy. I have this urge head south right now for a much needed vacation, I just haven’t decided where yet. Charleston, Miami, NOLA, hmmmm.  So much so that I found myself filling my coffee cup with Southern Pecan roast this morning LOL (it’s quite delish BTW). I’ve barely used up any PTO days so far this year so I really need to just stop being so cheap, pick a place and go explore!

Injury update: Nada so far. I thought I’d be getting that MRI last Thursday but apparently they don’t have the machine in the office so now I’m waiting for another appointment to be scheduled. The doc doesn’t think I have the tiny bone fractures that I think I have but I’m starting with the MRI in order to rule that out as it’s the least invasive diagnosis. He thinks its something called MTSS but after reading an article a trainer friend posted a few days ago I am skeptical. More details on the invasive diagnosis he is recommending if it comes to that. In the meantime, check out this interesting article: http://www.stack.com/2014/06/04/do-i-have-shin-splints/

A glorious amount of time was spent outside this past weekend and I am sporting a sweet bronze at the moment! I went to the beach on Saturday and read a good chunk of the third and last of the Gillian Flynn books, Dark Places. It’s been slower to get into than the other two but I can tell it’s going to start to get really suspenseful soon. Sunday was the gem of the weekend and I was tempted to do another long beach day but the Old Port Festival was going on and Los Lonely Boys were playing at 2:30. I ended up meeting up with a friend to go watch them and thank goodness I did because they were AMAZING. Actually, amazing doesn’t really do them justice but regardless I would pay to see them again. True rock talent right there. Parts of their show reminded me of Hendrix and Santana, they were really that good! Afterward we hit up the beach again for some late day rays and that wrapped-up my weekend. Other than training of course.

I kept with the same routine of back on Saturday morning and Biceps on Sunday. However, given that 5 weeks sans cardio has actually eliminated a lot of my shin pain I decided to give the stair master another shot as a warm-up on Sunday. It definitely hurt but I kept it to 15 minutes so it wasn’t too bad. The most embarrassing thing however was that I have ZERO cardiovascular endurance right now. I was huffing and puffing after about two minutes. Goes to show that even when you are not trying to lean-out, SOME cardio is still so important for your overall heath. I might try to include a quick 10-15 minute warm-up 2x per week going forward so long as the pain doesn’t get too unbearable. Its funny how you can look “in shape” but really be so gosh darn “out of shape”! J

Anyway, today is shoulders so I’m obviously looking very forward to that. Now it’s off to work for the day. Hopefully it goes by fast! Happy Tuesday all! xo

Sunny Days

Hello everyone! Just a quick early morning check-in here today on this beautiful, SUNNY morning. Ahh how my mood improves about a hundredfold when I’m soaking up the vitamin D. I’m also sipping a delightful ½ French Roast – ½ Wild Mountain Blueberry Green Mountain Coffee. It’s the perfect mix of seasonal flavoring and caffeine jolt.

It’s now week #4 of my new lifting program (rep range week) and I began it on Sunday morning with another biceps-focused workout followed by a LONG paddle around the entire perimeter of Highland Lake in Windham to break in my new kayak.

Let’s just say that after training back on Saturday and having that right rear delt issue still lingering, loading/unloading and paddling against the current for much of the way has made me feel more ancient than ever!  The late hours of my day were spent lying in the sun on my patio with an Aleve in my belly and a margarita in my hands!  I don’t know how many miles I paddled but the lake is 8.5 square miles so I’m sure at least a few. I can’t wait for Thursday to come because that’s when I finally get in to see the Sports Medicine Doc!

Yesterday afternoon one of my siblings graduated from high school so I got up earlier than usual to hit up the gym before work. Being just a tricep training day, I knew I could get it done in under an hour so it was a perfect morning workout. Full disclosure: there was an unusual influx of studs at that hour which totally kept me powering through despite my body not being fully loosened-up and awake yet LOL! My triceps are burning right now (in a good way)! I’m getting a little sick of this P/RR/S routine already so I think after the 6 week mark I may find a new program to follow. Anyone have any recommendations for me to check out? I am hesitant to change things up though when I’m still experiencing DOMS after each workout (i.e. I haven’t plateaud yet). I guess I’ll have to wait and see how I feel in a couple weeks.

Today it’s back to the 5pm grind with shoulders. Despite my delt issue shoulders are still my favorite body part to work. Shapely shoulders totally take a physique from average to smokeshow. Anyway, off to work now. Have a great day all & happy gymming! xo