attitude tweak?

Second workout with Mike this morning.
I don't know if it was because of the teeny-tiniest bit of carb loading I did last night at dinner, the fact that I made sure to hydrate well and go to sleep early yesterday, the mental shakedown and pump-up I gave myself, but the workout went much better. There was a whole lot less whiny bitching from me, and a lot more of "ugh, oof," etc.

I went in there with Paul's "mind over matter" mentality, mixed with a mantra of "do your worst," and "getting to sexy hurts; man-up!" Whatever it was did the trick.

Also, I think my legs are much, much, much stronger than my core and upper body, because I didn't feel like vomiting at all this morning.

Started the workout with 3.5 mph walk on the treadmill for about 15 mins, no incline.

Then:
1. side step ups (20 on each leg)
2. static lunges (25 on each leg)
3. jumping jacks
4. step ups (20 each leg) -- the bench was way too high for me to not push off my back leg. Mike wasn't saying anything about form... so... pushing off it was.
5. leg extensions on the machine (set of 25 at x, then set of 20 at a little more, then set of 25 on lowest)
6. jump squats (25)
7. lap.
8. ab work on bench (bring knees into chest) -- this exercise kicked my buttocks. He wanted me to do it without holding the bench behind me, but i couldn't. even. do. one. My abs are major suckage.
9. hammies on machine (see sets from leg extensions)
10. lay on bench with handles attached to cable machine, legs straight up. Pull handles down to hips with arms straight (I really wish I knew the names of some of these exercises). I also needed a lot of help with this one, because, again, my abs are major suckage.
11. Lap.
12. ab work on bench again
13. wide-leg squat with straight arm overhead dumbbell raise (10lbs), 20 reps each side.
14. Lap.
15. "cool down." I say "cool down," because it pretty much does nothing for cooling down. :P Treadmill at max incline, 2.5 mph for 5 mins, then upped to 3.2 mph for 5 mins. I was not supposed to hold the rail, but I would have fallen off the treadmill if i didn't. My legs were like jelly.

So all in all, minimal cheating, max sweating and cursing, but good workout. I had a hard time getting into the car to go home, and am pretty sure I will be walking like a gimp for the next two days. I am awesome.

I fell twice cuz he pushed me so hard my legs gave out. Hahaha, and he took pity on me once cuz i must have looked like crap, and switched me to a different exercise. But, important to note is: i did not ask to stop. Yessss. Mind over matter. Mind over matter.

Facing a bachellorette party this weekend, with dinner and drinks. Will be difficult to not overindulge, but I'm hoping to sneak in some cardio tomorrow after work to keep my legs sufficiently in pain to remind me of what I will have to go through to work off any indulgences I may want to give in to.

it begins... again.

I'm back. And I have been whooped good.

I woke up this morning at 6 to be at the gym by 6:50 for my first personal training session.
My trainer is Mike. He is peppered throughout this website. He seems pretty nice, but man, he is a sick, sadistic, mofo.

He worked me for an hour straight. Started with a fit test of pull ups, push ups, sit ups, squats, running ladders, and plank. I wanted to die. Then we worked the machines, mainly upper body exercises, followed by outdoor total body work (burpees, jump squats, jungle climb, up-downs, punctuated by jumping jacks and running laps around the parking lot in between). Think Biggest Loser when the fatasses cry and whine about not being able to do anymore. Yup. That was me. Enter the fatass.

In the midst of all the exercises, I couldn't help but think what a fat, lazy sack of shit I've been, and how continuing to be that fat, lazy sack of shit got me to this point. It was truly painful, and I am ashamed of what I couldn't do. I was pretty much demoralized, but I'm hopeful that I will be able to hold my head up in a few weeks.

I was worried i wasn't going to make it home safely because my muscles were shaking so bad, and i felt light-headed. i guess that's a sign of a good workout? or a sign of my wimpiness.

homework for the week is writing down everything i eat and drink with calorie count.

I'm predicting I won't be able to raise my arms tomorrow, and am hoping that i won't be in so much pain that i will be able to survive another hour session on thursday. pray for me. hahahaha

I am so shallow

Two things that really should be outlawed at the gym:

1. farting.

2. old white men wearing tight, short, running shorts a la tom selleck in the 70's/80's doing bends, lifts, squats, etc.

Monday, November 17, 2008

ugh. giant headache all day from lack of carbs.

am feeling fat in general, and my will-power is next to nil cuz i think it's nearing that time of the month. Too much information? WELL TOO BAD!!! HAHAHAHA

have been cursing this diet in my head all day, as well as cursing the students for needing so much of my time for retakes. i am definitely a grumpy gus.

here's the menu for the day:

breakfast: 1 egg over-easy (I ran out of spinach)
lunch: carl's jr. lettuce-wrapped burger (*sigh* I really need to go grocery shopping so I can stop eating these)
dinner: my will power gave out, and i had a bbq pork wrap from costco. It was delish!

I felt really guilty for having had carbs, so I got off my duff at around 9:30 and went to work out (sets/reps/weight):

squats: 2/10/95
overhead dbell raises: 2/10/15 (my arms are so much weaker than they used to be...)
rows: 2/10/60
lunges: 2/10/2x20
swiss ball curls: 2/10/bw
push-ups: 2/10/full-body

I am a little sore today, which is a good thing. I am at home waiting for my new 52" Sharp aquos tv to be delivered, and then I am going to go for a swim in our community pool. It is freakin' hot for November this year, and I may as well take advantage of it.

i'm hoping the physical exertion will make me less of a (whiny) bitch. we'll see...

The ish really hit the fan for the rest of the week.

I didn't get a chance to update my blog, and now I don't remember exactly what I ate. I will say I was good up until Friday (I remember i had a caesar salad from Wendy's for lunch on Thursday, and a southwest salad from Jalepno Grille on Friday), and then Saturday hit...

Tong and Sawamura got evacuated from their home mid-morning on Saturday because of the fires, so they left me alone to staff their interns as well as mine in primary care and ocular disease for a few hours until the front desk could find somebody to help cover. I didn't have time to go buy a carb-free lunch (worked straight through lunch), so I caved and had a granola bar one of the students gave me. By the time I got home, I was ravenously hungry, and the only thing we had on-hand was ramen/instant noodle packets (I couldn't stand the thought of eating another carl's jr. lettuce-wrapped burger) and grapes. OMG, I really miss fruit. Fresh, cold, juicy, sweet fruit. It makes me question how good this diet is if I can't eat nature's candy.

Sunday was friend's thanksgiving in LA:

breakfast: 1 egg, over easy
lunch: grilled fish from California Fish Grill (haha, pretty obvious choice, I guess)
dinner: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, creamed corn, sweet potato pie, wine... you name it, I had it. :)

Now, it's back to cutting carbs. This diet is very inconvenient when emergencies happen... need to be better about planning ahead (but who knew there were gonna be fires in Brea??), because not eating at all is not an option. Ppl with more will power may be able to do it, but not i.

day 9 (tuesday)

breakfast was nonexistent today, because I had errands to run, and just plain forgot: a slice of cheese.

lunch (w/ a family friend): carl's jr. guacamole burger, sans bun (I really need to stop eating these, but a salad just didn't sound like it would cut it after I'd pretty much fasted all morning)

dinner: cucumber and chicken stir fry (leftovers)

so I've been obsessively weighing myself every morning in the hopes that all this pain is be worth it. A couple of days ago, I was down a pound, and I was feeling very lean (have you ever noticed how your body feels when you're burning calories even when not doing anything? You can actually feel the burn). Today, the pound i lost over the last week or so is back, and i'm not feeling quite so lean. There must've been some hidden carbs in what I ate yesterday. :(

and all this is happening the day before my weekly weigh-in for the biggest loser competition! I was hoping to be able to post a loss two weeks in a row (which hasn't happened thus far). boo-hoo.

guess I'll have to hit up the gym tonight to boost the burn.

day 8 (Monday)

breakfast: spinach and egg scramble, 2 sausage patties

lunch: reduced-fat southwest salad from trader joe's, minus the black beans *sniff*
1 container of spicy ranchero-styl egg white salad (packed with protein, pretty few calories)
peanuts (I think I OD'd on these, cuz I felt kind of sick afterwards)

dinner: southwest salad from stonefire grill (lettuce, nappa cabbage, avocado, onions, jicama, bell pepper, tri-tip) and roasted chicken breast -- i didn't realize i ate two different kinds of southwest salads until now... i am getting repetitive.

snack: string cheese