My Personal Fitness Challenge: Week 4 Summary

QUICK REVIEW: My workouts look a little different this week, and not just because I'll be seeing my personal trainer next week when I go visit SC. My editor, Kriscinda Everitt, invited me to join her in a 30 day arm challenge on Facebook. I decided to go for it since I already workout anyways. Doing a little something extra will be fun, and probably help me feel better about seeing no weight loss results. I'm seeing physical results, but still bummed that I haven't been dropping weight too. Ah well. This is about getting healthy, right? Right!

Or, as in my case, look at the scale and see no change.

Week 5 is going to be delayed since it is travel week. Though I am getting some exercise in during travel week (running around the airport with a heavy bookbag on and a cat carrier in tow totally counts since I was sore as hell the next day. More sore than any of my arm workouts. Crazy.) like swimming and shopping. I'll slip back into another routine once we check into the hotel and I'm not bouncing around my relatives' houses and have access to a gym.

DAY 10: JUNE 30th
Cardio: 15 minutes on the ellipti-stepper at 5 resistance and 5 cross ramp for a total of 1.28 miles

Strength training:

Leg extensions	4x12	60lbs
Bicep curl	3x12	10lbs
Dumbbell side bends	4x12	20lbs
Calf raises (machine)	4x12	110lbs
Bent over triceps extension	3x12	5lbs
Dumbbell rear delt row	3x12	5lbs
Decline sit ups	3x10
Leg press	4x12	110lbs
Dumbbell front raise	3x10	5lbs
Dumbbell lateral raise	3x10	5lbs

Summary: Pretty good day and still working out with the hubbins, which does help for the most part. I'm upping my weights and getting there with the reps too. Though my arms still feel very weak with the front and lateral raises. I didn't feel completely obliterated the day after, which is good since I am throwing more cardio in.

DAY 11: JULY 1st
Cardio: Cardio day! Well, and arm challenge. 15 minutes on the ellipt-stepper at 5 cross ramp and 5 resistance for a total of 1.25 miles.

Arm Challenge Day 1: Today we were supposed to do 10 bicep curls, 5 dips, 10 seconds of punches, and 5 push ups. I adjusted mine since I can't do normal push ups or do dips at all because of my wrist. There's something about bending it and putting pressure on it that really makes the injury worse. I also doubled up on bicep curls because the 10 lbs weights were taken at the gym.

Bicep curls	2x10	5lb
Wall push ups	10
Air boxing punches	20 sec

DAY 12: JULY 2nd
Cardio: 10 minutes on the ellipti-stepper at 5 resistance and 1 cross ramp for a total of .84 miles

Strength training: I honestly don't remember what all I did for the arm challenge, but I'm pretty sure I did it.

Bicep curls	3x12	10lbs
Leg press	4x12	110lbs
Dumbbell front raise	3x10	5lbs
Dumbbell lateral raise	3x10	5lbs
Standing chest flies	3x10	5lbs
Leg extensions	3x12	60lbs
Dumbbell side bends	4x12	20lbs
Leg curls	3x12	80lbs

Summary: Along with the arm challenge (10ish wall pushups, 45 seconds of air boxing, and something else that I can't remember. Meh.), a pretty good day. 

DAY 13: JULY 5th

Cardio: 10 minutes on the ellipti-stepper at 5 resistance and 1 cross ramp for a total of .84 miles

Strength training: 

Bicep curls

3x12

10lbs

Calf raises	4x12	110lbs
Bent over triceps extension	3x12	5lbs
Dumbbell rear rows	3x12	5lbs
Dumbbell side bends	4x12	20lbs

Summary: Overall, a very weak day. My energy levels are crap right now, which doesn't make much sense to me but maybe it's stress. 

My Personal Fitness Challenge: Week 3 Summary

QUICK REVIEW: Okay, so technically this is week 4, but I skipped last week because I was sick and being a complete wuss about it (Read: There were times I felt okay enough to go to the gym, but decided to stay home and binge watch TV instead).

Image from MediaCache

But we're calling it week 3 since I'm actually working out this week. Once again, my week started off strong. My husband went with me to the gym, so that was a big help. So let's see if this week helps to get me into better habits.

DAY 6: JUNE 23rd
Cardio: 15 minutes on the elliptical/stair stepper hybrid thingy (one day I will learn this equipment's name) at 5 resistance and 5 cross ramp for a total of 1.21 miles. No real improvement, but after a week off, I didn't expect it.

Strength training: Pretty strong start to the week. I did a full body because I'm finding I like that better. But I did more arms than legs. Here's what I did:

Leg extensions	3x12	60lbs
Dumbbell side bends	3x12	15lbs
Leg curls	3x12	80lbs
Bent over triceps extension	3x12	5lbs
Dumbbell rear delt row	3x12	5lbs
Bicep curls	3x12	5lbs
Dumbbell squats	3x12	10lbs
Leg press	3x12	100lbs
Calf raises	3x12	100lbs
Standing chest flies	3x10	5lbs
Dumbbell front raise	3x10	5lbs
Dumbbell lateral raise	3x10	5lbs

Summary: Feeling pretty good about the workout, and glad I had a partner with me. =)

DAY 7: JUNE 25th

Cardio: 15 minutes on the elliptical stepper thing at 5 resistance and 1 cross ramp for a total of 1.21 miles. 

Strength training: Not a bad ass day, but not a bad day either:

Leg press	4x12	100lbs
Dumbbell side bends	4x12	15lbs
Calf raises	4x12	100lbs
Bent over triceps extension	4x12	5lbs
Dumbbell rear delt row	4x12	5lbs
Bicep curls	4x12	5lbs
Triceps extension	4x12	15lbs
Lat pulls downs	4x12	40lbs
Bent knee leg raises	3x10

Summary: I was pretty sore the next day, so not a bad work out.

DAY 8: JUNE 27th
Swim day! Or doggy paddle, as is the case with me. Hey, it counts. Right?

DAY 9: JUNE 28th

Cardio: 20 minutes on the ellipti-stair at 5 resistance and 5 cross ramp for a total of 1.6 miles. A bit slow since I was reading a book at the same time. Also, a bit motion sick from trying to read a book on my phone while bouncing for 20 minutes. Lesson learned. 

Strength training:

Leg press	4x12	100lbs
Dumbbell side bends	4x12	15lbs
Triceps extension	4x12	15lbs
Calf raises	4x12	100lbs
Bent over triceps extension	3x12	5lbs
Dumbbell rear delt row	3x12	5lbs
Decline sit ups	3x10	10lbs
Lat pulls downs	3x12	40lbs
Squats	3x10
Side lunges	3x10

Summary: I cut this workout short when other people invaded the gym came in to workout as well.

Image from She's Losing It

I finished up with some lunges and squats at home, so not a total loss. But it's been a minute since I've done leg extensions and leg curls. 

My Personal Fitness Challenge: Week 2 Summary

QUICK REVIEW: Okay, so week two was a mild fail, and week three I've been sick. But I owe you guys an update, so here it is! As you can see, inconsistency is still a problem. But I'm continuing to work at it, which is the reason I'm updating. Accountability, right? Luckily, my husband has agreed to join me with this fitness journey, and I'm thinking the support will definitely help.

DAY 4: JUNE 10th
Cardio: We used the secondary gym in our apartments (Wow, that sounds a lot fancier than it is, I promise. We just live in a big complex.), which doesn't have the same elliptical as the other one. It's this weird sort of hybrid between a stair stepper and an elliptical. So I did 10 minutes on that at 5 resistance and 10 cross ramp (whatever that is).

Strength training: Here's where the lesson was learned. I got impatient during my sets with leg extensions and didn't really wait in between sets. Know what that got me? A knotted up hamstring and a workout cut short. I had to limp all the way home. So lesson learned: Patience and rest time in between sets.

Leg press	4x10	90lbs
Calf press	4x10	90lbs
Leg extensions	3x10	60lbs

Summary: Don't be an impatient idiot.

Image from A Little Bit of Lisa

DAY 5: JUNE 11th

Cardio: 20 minutes on the elliptical-stairstepper-hybrid thingy at 5 resistance and 6 cross ramp for a total of 1.63 miles. (Note: Apparently I should let writerly frustrations over things like book titles build up before going to the gym. It works pretty well.)

Strength training: I am probably going to wish I couldn't feel my arms tomorrow. But for now, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Standing chest flies	4x10	5lbs
Dumbbell tate press	3x10	5lbs
Dumbbell front raise	3x10	5lbs
Dumbbell lateral raise	3x10	5lbs
Standing bench press	3x10	5lbs
Dumbbell rear delt row	3x10	5lbs
Bent over triceps extension	3x10	5lbs
Bicep curl	4x10	5lbs
Triceps extension	3x10	15lbs
Dumbbell side bends	3x10	15lbs
Lat pull ups	3x10	40lbs
Decline crunches	10
Decline side crunches	20

Summary: Feeling like a badass. And also fully aware that I will probably not be able to move my arms tomorrow. Reading day!

DAY 6 NOTE:
Day 6 was supposed to be June 13th or 14th, and totally could have been. But I procrastinated, which never leads to good things. Then I got sick and now I've gone even longer without a workout. So let this be a lesson: Don't procrastinate, because you never know what's going to happen the next day. =)

My Personal Fitness Challenge: Intro & Week 1 Summary

I'm not a fitness nut. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I practically live at my computer with publishing two book series and just being a nerd in general. I can't even read on a treadmill, so asking me to write while on one is probably a bad plan.

Image from QuickMeme.com

But I do understand the importance of being healthy and fit, especially now that I've reached 30 and am painfully aware of my age. Before we moved to Vegas, I had a personal trainer. Sure, he was related to me, but trust me--that never worked in my favor. Now that we've moved across the country from him, I might be safe from his withering glare when he finds out I drank a soda, but I'm also without his guidance. Which sucks.

I've seen a lot of the 30 day fitness challenges out there on social media and decided to start one of my own. Why? Because there's no way in hell I'll stick to someone else's. And because every person has their own way of doing things, so while the fitness challenges are great and work for some people, they don't work for others.

So here's my challenge: Stick to a fitness plan consistently for 30 days. Sounds easy enough, right? Not for me. Consistency is my biggest problem. I've had weeks where I go to the gym three or four times each week, and then I'll skip for like two weeks. Not the best recipe for results. (And there's really no good excuse since my apartments have an awesome gym) So my plan consists of two parts. The first is to go to the gym 3-4 times a week and workout for at least an hour each session, starting with cardio and then moving on to strength training with a full body workout.

The second part sounds easy, but might be harder for me than the first: Eat three meals a day. I'm terrible at eating. Not over-eating. Just eating. I don't like food. Food and I have never really gotten along. Most of the time, I work on a calorie deficit. Which means working out doesn't do much for me. It's the main reason I didn't see much in the way of results when working out with a personal trainer. He kicked my ass six ways from Sunday, but when you have a severe calorie deficit vs intense workouts 4-5 times a week, results aren't going to be very good. (If you want to read more about the myths behind Starvation Mode vs the real Starvation response, I suggest this post) Yup, I have food issues. Most of my calories used to come from soda, but kicking that habit left me in a daily deficit. I actually get cranky when I have to stop what I am doing and eat.

Gif from Yup That's Me

So you can see how both parts are pretty challenging for me. My food goal isn't going to be as easy to keep track of since I am vehemently against counting calories or food diaries for obvious reasons with my food issues. I will be posting my workouts and any poundage I lose, but no selfies or before and after shots. This isn't about getting thin. This is about getting healthy. And getting healthy means being active and eating right. Right? Right. Good. So let's do this! Let's take a look at the first week and see how I did:

QUICK REVIEW: I didn't meet my gym goals this week since I only had two hour long sessions and skipped one in the middle, but it is a good start. As for food, I'm adding more color to my diet with fruits in the mornings and veggies with lunch and dinner. I'm already pretty good with veggies (asparagus is my favorite food and it was on sale this week, so it will not be a problem), but fruits always go bad. Which is why I'm making myself have apple slices, strawberries, and a banana with my bagel and turkey sausage in the mornings. Right now I am of the opinion that that means there is far too much chewing far too early in my day, but hopefully I'll get used to it. (See the above meme)

DAY 1: JUNE 2ND
Cardio: Started off with 8 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Why only 8 minutes? Because my earphones kept dropping out of my ears with my sprints and I got pissed. I usually have a goal of 10-20 minutes of cardio to start, so I've made a note to do better next time. And find my headphones with small earbuds for my freakishly small ears.

Strength training: I had a few more exercises lined up, but ended up cutting them out because I was spent. I'm not gonna kick myself too hard for that since I had a pretty good workout. I'll work my way up to doing everything. Also, going to up the weights for arms. 5lbs seems a bit light, so I think I am going to move it up to 10 lbs and cut back to 8 reps if needed, and then work my way up.

Dumbbell bicep curl	3x10	5lbs
Leg press	3x10	90lbs
Dumbbell raise	3x10	5lbs
Calf press	3x10	90lbs
Dumbbell lateral raise	3x10	5lbs
Leg extensions	3x10	50lbs
Dumbbell fly	3x10	5lbs
Leg curls	3x10	70lbs
Machine supine press	3x8	10lbs
Bent knee leg raises	3x10
Bridges	30
Crunches	30

Summary: Pretty good for a first day, I think. There's always room for improvement, and I'm looking forward to Day 2. =)

DAY 2: JUNE 4TH

Summary: Skipped. And for the lamest reason too. I laid down with a massive headache and ended up sleeping for four hours. I don't do that whole "nap" thing very well. I like sleep too much. I was going to make it up Thursday, but other things came up. Then I planned on just pushing my make up day to the weekend (and I still might), but I decided honest reporting is really the best way to hold myself accountable here.

Picture from Funny Quote

DAY 3: JUNE 6TH

Cardio: 15 minutes on the elliptical at 5 resistance, going a distance of 1.2 miles. 

Strength Training: I am way too proud that I nearly made myself puke on my own. I found 10lbs to be too much for dumbbell raises and dumbbell flies, so I'll be upping the reps next time.

Dumbbell bicep curl	3x10	10lbs
Leg press	3x10	90lbs
Dumbbell raise	3x10	5lbs
Calf press	3x10	90lbs
Leg extensions	3x10	50lbs
Dumbbell fly	3x10	5lbs
Leg curls	3x10	70lbs
Supine press	3x10	10lbs
Bent knee leg raises	3x10
Squats	3x10
Bent knee hip raise	3x10
Cross body crunch	3x10
Crunches	3x10

Summary: I'm beat, so I'm happy! Especially since I skipped a day. 

DAY 4: JUNE 8TH

Cardio: 15 minutes on the elliptical at 5 resistance, going a distance of 1.21 miles.

Summary: Screw you, Spotify for an epic fail update (Windows Phone) that left the service I pay for NOT WORKING. Cardio without music is torture for someone who already hates cardio. 15 minutes is my minimum, though, so I'm going to pat myself on the back for making it without music. Every victory counts, people! =)