Back again.

So after finishing up my half in April, I totally fell off the bandwagon - with exercising and eating.  I know I wanted a break, but not to this point where I'm dying getting back out there.  The heat played a role in this decision, too.  There was no way I was getting out there in 90+ degrees and I work too early in the morning to try that option.  I rejoined my gym hoping to get back into kickboxing.  June went well and then I didn't go at all in July (it was a busy month - birthdays, 4th of July, crazy storms).  I did play field hockey every Tuesday, so that was something!

I finally hopped on the scale again and I wasn't too please with the number, but I couldn't be mad either because it was my fault.  So here I am trying to get back into the swing of things.  The weather is starting to cool down so that'll make runs easier and more frequent.  I do so well with my diet during the week, but as soon as the weekend hits it's as if I don't remember to be good - food, desserts, drinks, it all adds up unfortunately.

Slacker

This week I have been severely slacking on my training.  Monday I went to Kickboxing.  Tuesday I set my alarm for my morning run, but slept right through it.  I couldn't fall asleep until almost midnight, so that's why. I had a field hockey game Tuesday night, though, and I did a lot more running/sprints than I usually do.  Yesterday I missed kickboxing, and felt horrible about it.  I had dinner with my parents, we had business to discuss.  My car decided not to work when I went to leave work yesterday, so I had to get a ride home (I only live a minute or two away) and my mom had to pick me up for work this morning.  Again I decided to sleep through my running alarm this morning.  I'm feeling so tired this week.  I don't know if it's the crazy heat wave we're having, but I'm not falling asleep as easily.  My uncle came to the rescue and fixed my car today, so I'm definitely going to the gym tonight.  Maybe I'll force myself to hit the cardio room before class... we'll see.

First Week is going well!

Kickboxing last night.  3 mile run this morning.  I'm on track so far!  I stopped just shy of the three miles this morning because my new ear buds were driving me crazy!  They kept sliding out of my ears once I was halfway through the run and would barely stay in once I was a few minutes away from finishing.  My friend said that she prefers in "in ear" ones so I thought I'd try them out, so I bought them for a couple bucks at TJMaxx.  No big deal, but I guess I'll just stick to the usual iPhone ear buds.

Monday night I had an awesome dinner.  I found this recipe on Chocolate Covered Katie's blog.  Banana Split Pancakes for one.  Her nutritional information says it's about 190 calories for it all, but I'm sure I didn't use the "healthy" version of something and added more calories.  Regardless it's not bad at all for 3 decent sized pancakes!

While I was eating pancakes I had Turkey Spinach Meatballs in the oven.  I got the idea from back when I made Spinach balls for a pot luck at work, and I bought ground turkey this week.  So why not combine them.  Googled a recipe and cut it in half so I could use half the meat for tacos.  The turned out amazing.  Last night I made dinner for my friend/gym partner.  Pasta in tomato sauce, these meatballs, and string beans.  She loved the meatballs!  Maybe I can cook after all!

Planning a vacation is a little crazy when you've never done it before.  But I know it'll all be worth it in the end!!  Still can't believe I'm registered for the Princess half!! :)

I have to catch up on my Photo a Day..

Today's the Day!!

Well it is registration day for the Princess half, a day I know a lot of us have been waiting for!

I am so thankful to have a wonderful, amazing, and awesome mother who has graciously decided to pay for my registration for both the half and the 5K!  My grandma was in town for a week and she's been in and out (mostly out) of work and knows that it was hard on me.  Once worked calmed down from all the usual morning craziness, she told me that she had talked to my dad and they decided that she was going to do this for me.  I love her with all my heart and I'm so happy that she's going to Florida with me and participating in the 5K!

I've been debating with the idea of doing a race beforehand.  Not only is there the possibility I could be bumped up to a different corral because of the time, I also think it'll help the nerves subside a bit.  As much as I would love to do the Hershey half in October, it's not practical because of the travel distance.  So right now I'm really considering the Atlantic City marathon race series in October.  It still gives me plenty of time to train.  Now the question is whether to just go for the 10K or try the half!

This is also the first week of my training!  I'm going to try and follow it the best I can!  I love Jeff Galloway, but I'm going with Hal Higdon's training program.  12 weeks.  I can do this!
Yesterday was a Stretch & Strengthen day so I went to Kickboxing.  Amy and I also inquired about getting a personal trainer, so we'll see the cost of that.
Today was a 3 mile run which I did this morning!  I have my first field hockey game of the season tonight.

It's Friday!!

Kickboxing was good last night.  I had to fly solo because one friend is out of town, one just got back in and her gym clothes were packed, and the other I don't know where she was.  Weighed myself this morning again.. I'm back where I started with the Biggest Loser! :(  I don't' get it!

A fellow Sweat Pink Ambassador, Michelle at Push.Pump.Progress posted this 26 things about them, so I figured I would give it a shot, too.

A is for age: 23, but just for another 9 days!

B is for breakfast today:  Always coffee.  Today I had Kashi cereal with soy milk, strawberries, and blueberries.

C is for currently craving:  The weekend.  Only about 4 more hours to go!

D is for dinner tonight: I'm not sure yet.. it's only noon.

E is for favorite type of exercise: Kickboxing.  I also love running, it's just too damn hot outside and the treadmill is so boring to me.

F is for a fave food: Peanut butter.  I could eat it on everything it seems - fruit, PB&J, on eggos, with nutella, PB & cheese sandwich, on a cheeseburger.

G is for gross food:  Muscles and clams.  Never tried them, so I suppose I should.  But the idea is just gross.

H is for hometown:  Sicklerville, NJ

I is for something important:  My family.  I don't know what I would do without them.  And in my family I do include my cats, they're like my children.

J is for current favorite jam:  Call Me Maybe

K is for karaoke: I did it once, I was in the background of a bunch of my sorority sisters.  But I don't think I'd ever do it again.

L is for luxe: I'm not big on spending a lot of money.  But when it came to things for my house, especially my kitchen, I definitely spent it.  My house will be worth a lot more once I decide to sell it.

M is for muffins: I love muffins.  A co-worker has a recipe for healthy mini muffins that I could eat all the time.  Now I wish I brought some of them to work with me.

N is for something you need:  Today to be over.  For it to be Sunday so I can run the Color Run.  But really... new workout capris/shorts.

O is for occupation: I am a co-director at a day care.  I work with my mom, it's a family business.  I also do the accounting work for the company, so I can say I use my degree. :)

P is for pet peeve:  Hypocrites, children not saying please and thank you or even hello (goes along with the job), bad drivers.

Q is for a quote: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." --Dr. Seuss

And any form of the "Live. Laugh. Love" saying.

R is for running: I'm trying!  It's just so hot outside and I don't like running on treadmills.  But I'm doing a half marathon in February.

S is for favorite healthy snack:  I'm a big fruit eater.  I also like hummus with veggies.

T is for favorite treat: Ice cream! <3 

U is for something that makes you unique:  On my left arm, I have what I call my Polish birth mark. I have one big and one small white marks (then random white dots on both arms) that do not get tan.

V is for favorite vegetable: Peppers.

W is for today’s workout:  Possibly a run, but I'm not sure because I'm visiting my college roommate tonight.

X is for X-rays you’ve had:  Teeth, collar bone, wrist.

Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Yesterday seemed like a second Monday so work wasn't that great.  So the best part of yesterday was leaving work.


Z is for your time zoo...as in animal that I would HAVE to visit when I go:  Tigers!

Hydration

Weekly workout recap:
Monday - Cardio Interval & Kickboxing
Tuesday - I was really thinking about going to the gym, but my friend wasn't going, so I chose a rest day instead.
Wednesday - Kickboxing
Thursday - Kickboxing


Despite the heat wave, I need to get out sometime this weekend to do some type of run, even if it's just a mile or two!  I'm going to our shore house weekend, so maybe I'll pack some workout gear since it always seems a little cooler down there.

So I tried Gatorade (the low calorie one) while running and I liked it, so while shopping at Sam's Club I looked at all the Sports Drinks.  I went with PowerAde Zero.  It was cheaper than Gatorade and I liked that it had no calories.  I brought it to Kickboxing last night and that's when I really looked at the nutrition label.  It had more sodium than I anticipated.  So I did a little research today and this is what I saw:

"Not all sports drinks hydrate equally. Those that contain higher amounts of sodium are preferable, because they are absorbed quicker and maintain fluid balance in the blood and muscles better. Choose a sports drink that contains at least 15 mg of sodium per oz."

--Active.com

So I what I'm drinking is okay.  What do you drink while you're working out?

Awesome week!

So four days at the gym this week!!  I'm so proud of myself.

Monday - Kickboxing
Tuesday - Circuit training/Strength class
Wednesday - Kickboxing
Thursday - half hour on the treadmill AND kickboxing
(I really don't like running on a treadmill.  I'm much rather be outside enjoying the fresh air and scenery, but with the heat that's not really an option.)

I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend for a break, let my muscles rest.

Lost a pound this week! :)

Tomorrow I'm babysitting my niece while my brother and sister-in-law go to a wedding.  Then I'm thinking about possibly going to the beach Sunday.

Back to the gym...

I looked back at my past workouts and realized I had not been to kickboxing since May 3rd - 5 weeks!  The last time I took three weeks off, I died at class, and this was a longer time span.  I was fully prepared to want to kill the instructor and to be sore this morning.  There were three of us there that hadn't been in a while, so it was nice to suffer with others.  The warm up wasn't too bad, since we generally jog/side shuffle/scoop around the bags and running makes that part a little easier.  As soon as we got to the actual bag work, I knew I had to take it slow so I didn't wear myself out.  But alas, I was out of juice pretty quick.  The instructor looked at me and said that we were going to love (full of sarcasm) the second half of class.  With just the look he gave when I asked him what it was, I knew it was going to be something difficult.  At 8:00 we put our bags off to the side. Usually I give a little cheer when he says this, but then I remember what he said and that took my enthusiasm away.  He announced we'd be doing basically suicides in our tiny gym room.  (He says one - we run across the room once and touch the floor.  He says two - we go to the other side, touch, and back.  All the way up to five, and back down to one.)  First set not so bad.  I didn't know we were doing multiples so I pushed myself a little too hard, but I refused to give up!  Next set he added push ups at the end, one - two - depending on what number we were on.  And surprise.. a third set with burpees!  But I convinced him only to go up to five and not back down.  After all of that I thought I was going to fall on the floor, but I felt amazing because I did it (and faster than everyone else).  Then we did abs.  A woman in the class, who also teaches classes at the gym, did them and man is she a beast.  I could not keep up with her!  But alas I am not too sore today.  I'm still waiting for it to hit me later, so we'll see.

Kickboxing

Yesterday I had a lot of energy for kickboxing!  When I'm like that my friends say that I'm on my "gym crack." haha  Looking back I probably should have tried to fit in a short run beforehand.  I didn't sleep too well the night before, so maybe I ate the right foods.  I ate a bigger lunch and a smaller dinner as compared to normal.  I'll definitely be trying this out more in the future.
I love the actual bag work that we do in class, I have made a personal goal to knock over my bag with a round house kick... I'm so close!  My favorite part of the class has when he tells us to put our bags off to the side, though, and we do some type of stations.  Maybe it's because I'm already exhausted and it's a challenge to manifest the energy to do it.  But it feels so rewarding when we start our cool down stretches!  Last night we did different types of burpees, Kettle bells, and abs.  I have to be one of the only people in the class that doesn't mind burpees.

I've been wanting to try out different classes at the gym.  They recently added three classes with a new instructor:  Turbo Interval, Core Conditioning, and Boot Camp.  I feel like I need a friend with me to brave that first time at a new class.  I'm working on my running partner and one other friend, so we'll see!

Do you go to classes at your gym?  If you do, what are you favorites and why?