Wednesday :-D

Hey guys. The gym was good and eye opening for me on Wednesday. It seems that I had been holding myself back with my perception that I couldn't do some things that I could. This is what I did:

Bike- Random Hill program - 31.33 minutes, average RPMs = 89, average MPHs= 20.8, average Heart Rate= 131, 10.48 miles, Levels 7 to 16 (all but 2 of the hills were at level 16)

Elliptical- Weight Loss Program Interval- incline 4 level 1 and 10 incline level 8, 31 minutes, 2.05 miles.

10 and half miles on the bike in 31 minutes that was amazing.

Love and Hugs,
me

Monday-Tuesday and Wednesday

Hey guys- here is the run down for the last three days.

Monday's Exercises

Went bike riding for 6 miles in half hour - level 4 - 9. I did 12 minutes on 9 then droppped to 4 for 8 minutes then I went back up to 9 for the rest.

I jogged (on the elliptical) for 2 miles on incline 5. I did that in half hour which means I went a mile in 15 minutes. I was so proud of myself- I haven't done that since I was a kid.

I did 4 sets of 15 on the Ab Solo. That thing is yucky!


Tuesday

Went over Stevens moms for dinner and then watched Biggest Loser. Spent the whole time bawling. sniff sniff... Good Luck Kristin!


Wednesday

Had study group at school about partnered project. Met with my instructor. Came home and chilled for once. Back to the gym tomorrow!

Love and Hugs,
me

Two days without gym was not good

I am really not sure how I should be doing my workouts because I am trying to do it on my own. I am seriously thinking of getting a personal trainer after vacation this year. I will have to talk it over with Steven and review our budget to see if I can afford it. We will be paying off two loans in about five months. One is $182.00 a month and it will be paid off in 3 months. One is for $115 and it will be paid off in 5 months. After the 5 months I want to get a loan to fix the kitchen. I figure the payments will be around $200 a month and so that leaves $97 that we are normally paying out that I could get a trainer with. But both of our vehicles are getting older and I don't want to put us in a position where we can't afford to get another one if we had to. Sooo I don't know. I have a lot to think about. So as I was saying... not knowing what my workout is supposed to look like I kicked it three days in a row last week. I did 1 hour and 1/2 cardio. Today, after two days off, it was difficult for me to do an hour of cardio. Stephanie is doing much better with the cardio than I am. Her treadmill and bike speeds are phenomenal. She seems to be able to endure more than me too. She can go longer and faster at higher levels than I can. I am very proud of her for that. In the meantime I am struggling to keep up and I don't know why. Weigh in was yesterday and I did terrible. I gained two pounds after busting my butt three days last week! I also gained a lot of my inches back from last weeks weigh in loss. The only thing I lost in was my calves which should have gained muscle but didn't. It is "that time of the month" so maybe that caused the weight and inches gain. I do feel bloated but my ankles don't appear to be retaining water. I did a little research and found that a woman can and usually does gain water weight before and during their periods- up to five lbs- but quickly lose it during and after their periods. So maybe that is a little of my problem. Another problem is that I really haven't changed my eating habits. Yes- I am aware of what I eat more. I know I shouldn't have a large fry at Arbys... but I do anyway. It's sad that you can sit there and eat something thinking the whole time I shouldn't be having this but you do it anyway. I think my food is a major obstacle right now. I don't know how to eat any other way than what I am. I get tired of sandwiches and not having- what I perceive to be- a complete meal. Our lunches at work are elaborate and shouldn't be. Why do I need a 4 course meal for lunch? We have a meat, potatoes and peas or green beans, corn, beans.... so on so forth. It's just too much. That's something I am going to have to work on. Well anyway- here is my "beginning exercise routine". This starts the beginning of our week. I wanted to start of strong but it wasn't as much as I did last week- I just didn't have the energy. Steven coached me today and that was great- I would have done less if he wasn't there because my head was just elsewhere.

WORKOUT:

TREADMILL--

15 minute Weight Loss Program- set program for HR between 97 resting and 139 exercise: Warm-up for two minutes at 1.0
Workout went from 5 to 10 incline and 1 to 3.5 mph- the machine adjusted according to HR setting- if my heart rate was too low the machine would automatically incline and increase speed- if it was too high it would do the opposite.

Then I did 15 minutes manually.
I manually changed incline from 1 to 10 - never had 0 incline
Manually adjusted speeds from 3 to 5.1
Did 5.1 for 45 seconds- pants started falling down... almost tripped- looking back it was quite comical- however I about passed out. I may have made it a full minute if my pants would have stayed put.
Then I did a cool down for three minutes at 1.5

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Recumbent BIKE:

I did 20 minutes manually on the bike between levels 4 and 9 at an average of 78 mph. During this time I did the following speeds in succession so that I could exceed what Stephanie did on our little competition!:
168 rpms for 10 seconds
158 rpms for 3 seconds
165 rpms for 5 seconds

phew...

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MACHINES:

Total AB:
15 reps at 50 lbs
15 reps at 60 lbs
10 reps at 80 lbs
10 reps at 80 lbs
5 reps at 80 lbs holding at each rep for 10 seconds

Lower Back:
15 reps at 70 lbs
10 reps at 70 lbs
5 reps at 70 lbs holding at each rep for 10 seconds

HOIST- Seated Dip:
15 reps at 91 lbs slow (was shaking- too much weight I think)

HOIST- Back:
40 reps at 85 lbs

HOIST- Leg Press:
40 reps center at 83 lbs
20 reps ankle at 83 lbs

AB Solo:
4 minutes with two stops- one light and one heavy ball

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For information on the HOIST machines go to http://www.hoistfitness.com/. Ok that was my workout. I am going to do homework now. Love and Hugs all around,

Love,
me

OMW

Yes that about covers it (OMW) ... Tuesday and Today at the gym were something else! My legs are killing me.. HONEST! I am doing NOTHING but cardio this week... trying to burn as many calories as I can and building up my endurance. My last chance workout will include more than cardio. Here are my workouts:

Tuesday:

BIKE:
5 min at level 10-- between 14 and 21.59 mph Could not keep a constant speed.
Then I did a 7 min fitness test. Avg RPM was 67 (had to keep at 6o and it kept telling me to pedal slower) was at level 9. Avg HR was 121 and it said I was 13% fit- whatever that means.
Then I did 20 minutes at level 9 at the following speeds:
1.5 Min at 21.97 mph HR was 160
15 Min at 10-15 mph HR was 118
2.0 Min at 20.2 - 21.97 HR was 155
1.5 Min at 8.7 to 9.2 (Cool down)

OK so now I am about ready to pass out right? To give you a little reasoning behind my madness.... We (Stephanie and I) are having a biggest loser contest. Which I have said before... but we are also having competitions on certain machines. She did 21.4 MPH for two minutes Monday. I did not win!!! I could not keep it there at ALL! I could get there but the MPH kept jumping around sporadically!

So after I steadied myself I went for the elliptical - I did 30 minutes on a #5 incline and average 68 RPM (resolutions per minute). OK.... 30 minutes on something that when I first started couldn't do even 5 minutes on. I am loving my new fit level! I want to be running on that thing SOON!

Now Monday wasn't a planned session at the gym- I just needed to get some stuff off my mind. Tuesday WAS planned but I had to get out of there to watch Biggest Loser on TV.. the ONLY show that I watch. So I was out of there after an hour and half-- and was still late.

_____________________________

Today:

OK.. now you are going to think I am really insane.. buttttt... I just HAD to see how fast I could get that bike! So I scooted up in the seat all big and tall .. almost like a traditional bike where your feet are below you instead of out in front of you.... but they were still out there.. just more straight... and I peddled with ALL my strength. The numbers kept climbing and climbing and I finally topped out at 161 RPM.... CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? Anyway.. the bike don't like getting up that fast.. it was movin! LOL Neither do I.. my legs are hurting bad tonight. But Stephanie and I decided to see who could go the greatest distance in a certain amount of time. Today my average was 1 mile in four minutes. I did the machine at level 4-9 for 40 minutes so I went 10 miles according to my average mile/minute calculation. Now she will have to beat my 1 mile in four minute AVERAGE tomorrow.... which means she will have to do a mile every four minutes she rides the bike! Beat that Stephanie!!!!! ha ha - remember to get your average distance vs minutes.

After 40 minutes of torture (lol) I went to the treadmill. I put it on 5 incline and started going to town. I had to beat Stephanie's 1.5 miles in 30 minutes. WELLLLLL she beat me on that one. I don't care too much for the treadmill. I would rather do the elliptical. I did 1.23 miles in 30 minutes. Which means she walked faster than I did... but I bet she had her incline down.. LMAO!! Yeah.. we will blame it on that. I had to walk up hill both ways in a blizzard-- barefoot even :-p .......

After that I went to the elliptical and did a 1/3 of a mile in five minutes. I couldn't do much on the elliptical after the above.. my muscles were burning. Some of them were even screaming at me!

Then I finished up with about 4 minutes of crunches on the exercise ball. My abs are sore too now. I know.....complain complain complain... that's all I do. Giggles.

Anyway.. great workout. I will be glad when I can RUN a mile and a half... or at least jog :-)

LOVE AND HUGS.. thanks for all your support!
Love,
Me

Weigh in and today

I did my weigh in Saturday. My scale broke so I had to use the other one and it showed a 2 lb gain! So I will go with that. I lost 7 more inches! I also worked my butt off at the gym Saturday. I did an hour and 48 minutes of cardio. 38 min on bike; 35 min on treadmill and 35 min on elliptical!

Today I went to the gym because I needed to get out some frustration. I did 32 minutes on the bike at level 9. Then I went to the elliptical and got into a zone and did 40 minutes on it on an incline of 5 and heart rate at 151. I literally ran on the thing. I would go frontwards for a while and then backwards for a while.. I kept switching on and off like that. I wasn't paying any attention to the time because I was watching a movie. Sweat was pouring off me-- running down my face. I felt like an athlete. I was so proud of myself when I finished the workout. Thank God for the movie room because if it is an action movie I can focus on that and not on the workout. I was lost in it and didn't realize how fast I was going on the machine! It helps! All I need is a backer!

Love and Hugs,
Me

Thursdays Workout

Hey guys....

Yesterday my workout was awesome (for me). I went to the movie room and started on the Ski machine. I did 5 minutes on that then I went to the bike. I did 24 minutes on the bike (4 min was cool down) on level 8. Ten of those minutes were at level 10. After that I went to the Elliptical. I did 22 minutes on it (2 min cool down) on level 2! Five of those minutes were at level 5! The ARC machine really has helped me build up enough endurance to go longer on the other machines. I am looking forward to tomorrows workout. Although I don't think I am doing too good on this weeks competition I am getting back into the swing of things.

Love and Hugs,
Me

Started Back!

I have been going to the gym regularly but not posting and really not paying any attention to the details. I had lost a little fire. The competition between me and Stephanie will do me good. I went to the gym today after fighting with myself whether to go or not. I was late getting out of work and I just didn't feel like it ... but I went. I didn't stay as long as I wanted because I had to get food and get back home in enough time to see Biggest Loser! LOL. I did strictly cardio today. I did 20 minutes on the ARC machine which is like the Elliptical only it is designed to burn more calories. I did the fat burning session and it was harder than what I am use to. After my usual 15 minutes on it my heart rate started raising fast. I got up to 148 on my heart rate. I did a steady pace throughout the exercise which is why I think it did that. I usually slow down a lot during it and then go real fast.. then slow.. then fast. This time I did what the machine had me do and it was a tougher workout. Plus I am use to 15 and I did 20. After that I did 5 minutes on the dreaded stair master. And I did the fat burner workout on that. I originally set it for 10 minutes but the fat burning workout kicked my butt!!! After that I did 1000 meters on the rowing machine. It took me 6 minutes and 21 seconds- which is why Stephanie beat me on the challenge last time she was here. :-) Then I got my stuff and went to eat. I missed 12 minutes of Biggest Loser.... but I got to see most of it. Till next time.

Love and HUGGSSS,
me

I need...

I need to get back to this. Stephanie and I are doing a Biggest Loser contest so I will be posting regularly. :-) Sorry for not keeping you guys updated!

Love and Hugs,
Christy