Day 92 Get Fit Challenge...in a vacation state of mind

This morning was back day for lifting which went pretty well. I am getting pretty coordinated with getting up off the floor for the Seated Lat Cable Pulldowns all by myself without falling flat on my face so that's a win. 

imagine this but sitting on the floor for the cable pulldowns

I've upped the intensity on the stair stepper from 15 to 18 to challenge myself a bit and now between it and the elliptical I burn about 740-750 calories in an hour.

This is the machine I use at the gym. You can use it as a stepper or an elliptical.
I only use it for a stepper as you can't adjust the incline for the elliptical.

Tonight there was no gym as mom and I had to run around to get last minute things for our trip to Charleston Friday. After traveling outside of the US for the past three year I forgot how many restrictions on things you can and cannot pack, and since I refuse to pay $25 each way to check a bag I needed to make sure all of the liquids I'm taking meet regulations as I'd hate to have things taken away at the airport.

Day 91 Get Fit Challenge...If you are not here to work then go home

Today was chest day for my morning weight lifting. I went a bit later this morning in hopes to avoid some of the morning crowd which worked out pretty well minus the group of annoying high school football boys who did more talking and goofing around that lifting. I just don't understand the need for social hour at the gym. I mean why would you want to take 2 hours to do something that would normally take you 45 minutes at the most? At that point you're letting your muscles cool down so much you're not really getting much out of it. Also you are REALLY annoying to all the people around you when you stand around and take up space and machines that you really aren't using.

I finally got around to finding a great recipe for the fresh brussel sprouts that have been hanging out in the fridge and man oh man is that a keeper.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it out trust me even if you don't like brussel sprouts this will definitely change your mind. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil

Prep brussel sprouts by cutting off the ends, peeling away any yellowed leaves and cutting them in half length wise (about two cups worth)

Dice 4 cloves of garlic

Thinly slice half of a red onion

Combine the brussel sprouts, garlic, and onions in a mixing bowl and add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Give everything a good stir to coat and pour onto the cookie sheet

Give the mixture a good shake on the cookie sheet to put everything into one nice layer and put in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until fork tender

After they were finished in the oven I topped them with a bit of paprika and a bit of lemon juice and oh dear lord were they yummy.

The HIT workout tonight was pretty good minus all the a-holes that decided to stand around in the way not doing anything then when I would ask them to move or to put back things that we were using I would get stank face and major eye rolls. SERIOUSLY do not mess with me while I am in the middle of my workout I will drop your ass so fast. I may be a bigger girl but don't let that fool you I do work at the gym and it is paying off, slower than expected but progress none the less. Nothing pisses me off more than people that come to the gym and don't do work.

Day 90 Get Fit Challenge...Oh how I hate you leg day

So it's Monday which means it's Leg Day..uuggghhh

After yesterday's sad and disappointing weigh in I wasn't really motivated to go to the gym this morning let alone do one of the hardest workouts I have but I figured working out and hating it is better than not working out at all. 

Lifting in the mornings have been pretty interesting especially on leg day. Most of the people in the weight room in the mornings are 70+ years old, high school football players, or 30 somethings that think they are the shiz, oh and all male. Granted there are a few women here and there but they really don't do any work and stay for about 10 minutes before they jump on a cardio machine. Needless to say now that I have been added to the mix I am kind of a specticle in the gym. I am not sure if it's because I sweat more than all the men combined while I am there or the fact that I am actually lifting some pretty heavy weights. Either way being stared at is pretty awkward while I am trying to focus and get through my supersets and drop sets. 

Leg day did go better today and I didn't feel completely spent by the time my hour of cardio came around. However about 2 hours after my workout the soreness settled into my knee area. By the time evening HIT workout time rolled around I could barely move so instead of adding more pain to the mix I walked Max around the lake instead hoping it would stretch things out and help the pain that is store for me tomorrow for my morning workout. 

Day 89 Get Fit Challenge...Why is everything broken

So it's Sunday which means it's weigh in day. Sadly when I stepped on the scale this morning I only had lost a pound this week. Frustration and anger don't cover what I am feeling at the moment as it is more than that, but I just can't find the right words to describe it. I am kind of to the point now where I really feel like just saying, "F this I'm done!" You can only work so hard for so long with minimal results without feeling defeated and I am rapidly reaching that point. I just don't understand why this is extremely hard for me when it is easier for everyone else. I do so much more not only in the gym but diet restriction wise and the results I am seeing don't reflect the effort that I am putting in.

This of course did not motivate me at the gym this morning for my HIT and cardio workout and consequently it was a really hard workout. Since it ended up being a nice day the evening walk around the lake with Max was very pleasant since it wasn't so hot and humid. 

I have only part of the week this coming week to work out and really stick to the diet as I am flying to South Carolina for my "bachelorette" weekend and I am nervous about how well the diet plan will hold up there without having access to a gym or the pre-approved food. With the failure on the weight loss this week I am not really looking forward to the weekend anymore as I think all I will be thinking about is how I am not working out and eating correctly and how I am not losing weight like I should be. 

Day 88 Get Fit Challenge...A pretty productive off day

Today I didn't go to the gym this morning as I had an appointment at the bridal shop to find jewelry. It has been kind of nice going to try on my wedding dress about every month as I have really be able to see the difference each time I tried it on. I was able to find a gorgeous pair of earrings and necklace at the bridal trunk show, and I set the appointment for alterations for August 22nd. 

Afterwards we went out and about to find florals for the throw away bouquet and stuff to make the flower girl basket. I think we ended up with some really great stuff and it's nice to get some of the little things done and off the check list. 

After our full day of running around to all the different stores I made sure that I took Max for a walk around the lake to get at least some cardio in as I feel bad for not working out since this last month is crunch time and I really need to stay on track. 

Day 87 Get Fit Challenge...A sort of off day

My schedule has been pretty messed up this week so I am not really due for an off day but I have extended family in this weekend and wanted to be able to visit with them so I went to the gym this morning to get my lifting and cardio in as I knew I wouldn't be working out this evening. 

The new bicep and tricep workout was pretty killer and my arms felt like jelly quite a few times throughout the workout. The new superset at the end of the workout completely kicked my ass. You start out doing a close grip incline push up to fail off of the smith machine then automatically move into a 90 degree bicep curl hold to fail with 10 pounds on either side of the bar. You keep switching back and forth until you physically cannot get another set in. I made it to 4 sets before my arms just shook so much I couldn't do anything else. 

I am hoping to get my cardio in tomorrow but we have a pretty busy day planned running around doing wedding stuff but if we get back at a decent hour I could walk the dog around the lake at least. 

Day 86 Get Fit Challenge...incline push ups are my new nemesis

This morning was back day for lifting. It went pretty well with the new changes to everything and the bonus was that I didn't really feel too sore afterwards. 

The new fish diet is going ok. I really like cooking up the shrimp with a bit of this organic salsa that I found and then putting it over the cucumber, tomato, and onion salad. I don't mind the fillets of mahi mahi either. I just season them up a bit pop them in the oven and put them with some veggies. I am really excited to try cooking up these fresh brussel sprouts that I found and I think I found a pretty good recipe for them. 

Tonight's HIT workout went better but the only thing that I really keep struggling with are the new modified close grip incline push ups. It's something about being at a lower angle that really makes me struggle to reach 15 in the 30 seconds allotted. I did a lot better with the planks to fail as well tonight with both sets failing out at 2:30. However I cannot do them on the bosu ball like I'm supposed to as it really hurts my lower back so for now I am going to try to work up to that and keep trucking along. 

Day 85 Get Fit Challenge...getting back to normal

So my body was feeling less like it was being stabbed repeatedly by knives so I was able to go to the gym this morning. Adding the drop sets into chest day was as equally challenging as it was for leg day, but thankfully cardio went a lot better so that was nice. I did find that after the drop sets it was really difficult to reach my weight goals with the next exercise. This was a little bit discouraging as I've worked so hard to be able to lift the weight that I am at, but I think that after a couple of weeks I should adjust and hopefully be able to get back to that level again.

Tonight there was no HIT workout as 1. we had to go shopping for food and 2. I didn't want to push myself too much again and not be able to move tomorrow. I am hoping tomorrow to be able to get both workouts in and hopefully not feel like dying on Friday.

Day 84 Get Fit Challenge...I haven't been this sore since my first week

It's safe to say that the combination of the new lifting workout and the new HIT workout definitely took its tole on my body today. I knew the moment my alarm went off this morning and I tried to get out of bed but nothing happend I was in for a rough day. After my morning shake I sat in the hot tub to try to loosen up my leg muscles so I could maybe attempt going to the gym for morning lifting but about 20 minutes in it was so humid outside I felt like I was cooking in a big pot so that didn't work out so well. 

Two Aleve later and a lot of huffing and puffing I mustered up enough energy to get myself into the car to drive into town to get some fish and veggies. You know there is a reason people in the Midwest don't eat a lot of seafood and it's because it's EXPENSIVE. I don't even want to tell you how much I spent on what will hopefully be two weeks worth of seafood. This switch in the diet better pan out because for someone who is just living off her savings until she can find a job (don't even get me started on the job hunt situation) I need to make sure I am being as thrifty as I can. 

Tonight I did end up going to the gym to get the HIT workout and hour of cardio in. Second day leg soreness plus new HIT workout equals jelly legs all the way through the workout. By the time I was done with my hour of cardio I was hobbling around like a 90 year old ex-football player. Needless to say after I got home and ate I jumped into the hot tub to help alleviate some of the stiffness. The goal is to get to the gym tomorrow morning to do my new chest workout so hopefully the legs will cooperate  a little bit better.

Day 83 Get Fit Challenge...taking it up some knotches

So in the final push before the wedding I called my brother for some advice about how I could ramp up things to help me lose at least another 15 pounds in 5 weeks. It's always good to challenge yourself and switch things up so your body doesn't get use to a routine and hit a plateau regardless of the soreness that will ultimately ensue. However after working out today I think I might regret that decision for this first week. 

My diet has been changed for the next 5 weeks. Instead of chicken I will be eating lean seafood like tilapia, mahi mahi, tuna, cod, and shrimp (hopefully if I can find them). Veggie wise I am eating mostly green vegetables like broccoli, green beans, brussel sprouts, spinach, celery, you get the idea. Also no more egg whites...woohoo! Instead I will be doing a half serving of my morning protein shake as well as a couple of celery sticks for my last meal of the day. 

Workout wise my workouts are being flip flopped and I am weightlifting in the mornings and doing my HIT workout at night. I'm maxed out for my cardio at an hour each session so that will not change, but the weight training and HIT have been amped up. Weight lifting wise I am adding in drop sets to every other exercise and trying to really push myself to increase my weight every week. For HIT the times of the majority of the exercises has been increased by 15 seconds and weight as been added to a few of the exercises while the exercises that did include weight has been slightly increased. Needless to say the intensity of the whole workout has been ramped up to about level 50.

Weightlifting this morning was good though it is weird not having a lifting partner. The drop sets totally kicked my ass and by the end of my leg workout I didn't know if I was going to make it through the hour of cardio I still had left to do. After I got home and ate I immediately jumped in the hot tub in hopes of  cutting down some of the soreness that will follow in the next two days. 

This evening's HIT workout killed me. I was completely exhausted by the middle of my second cycle. Not to mention that I went through two towels and my whole shirt was soaked by the end of it. Also note to self it is a very bad idea to switch up a leg weight day and then follow it with a switched up HIT workout...all the pain! I was so fatigued by the end of the HIT workout I could only muster up enough energy to do a half hour of cardio because I couldn't feel my legs. 

Hopefully tomorrow goes a little bit better as it's chest day and hopefully the legs won't hurt as much and I can get through all my cardio.

Day 82 Get Fit Challenge...Weigh In and Measurements (month 3)

So it is month 3 and technically by this point for any other person this would be their last weigh in and they would be finishing the program, but I am "special" and do not get to stop at this point. I have 5 more weeks until I have to put a hold on any major weight loss cause dress alterations take some time. Then it's back on until January. So these next 5 weeks are going to have to be a major push for me as I am not where I want to be at this point. 

Here are my measurements from June 22nd:

Weight: 239 lbs              

Chest: 46 1/2"

Biceps: 15"

Waist: 39"
Stomach (around the belly button) 43 1/4"

Hips: 46 1/2"

Thighs: 28 1/4"

Calves: 18"

Here are my measurements from today:

Weight: 231 lbs              

Chest: 45 1/2"

Biceps: 14 1/2"

Waist: 38"
Stomach (around the belly button) 43 1/4"

Hips: 45"

Thighs: 27 3/4"

Calves: 18"

So in about a month that is a loss of 8 pounds and 4 1/2 inches. Not as impressive as last weigh in which is disappointing especially with it being crunch time. So I definitely need to step it up for the next weigh in. 

Here are the pictures from June 22nd:
      

Here are the pictures from today:

Total so far though I have lost 29 pounds and 24 inches in three months. The new goal for the next weigh in is a loss of 15 pounds and 8 inches. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it off I'm really going to need to step things up. 

Day 81 Get Fit Challenge...Don't be that guy

So I have a confession... in the 80 days that I have been workout out I have become sort of a gym snob. Today there was a swim meet at the gym because it holds the only olympic sized pool in the area so there were lots of extra people all over the show and the whole place smelled of nachos and hot dogs which is awful when 1. you aren't allowed to eat those things and 2. you're trying to do a grueling two hour workout. 

Any way because the swim meet was going on all day some of the people attending decided to work out while they were waiting which is totally fine and I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is when you visit the gym that I work out at six times a week twice a day and work out in jean shorts and flip flops and create a mess in the workout areas and not pick it up. Or turn the fan that was pointed in my direction without asking me to the other side of the cardio machines when there is an additional fan located on your side. Then have the nerve to give me the stank eye when I asked if you could use the other fan located closer to you and turn the one located by me back. After making several huffing and puffing sounds when you switched the fans you then only work out on said cardio machines for a total of 15 minutes while I still had an additional 50 minutes left in my cardio workout...SERIOUSLY if anyone deserves the stank eye it would be you.

In other news tomorrow is weigh in, measurements, and photo day. I need to weigh in with at least a 3 pound loss tomorrow in addition to a good 7 inch loss. I only have 5 weeks left until I have to put a hold on the program for the wedding and I really would like to lose another 15-20 pounds by then. 

Day 80 Get Fit Challenge...a little inspiraton

I was pretty productive today outside of the gym and my workouts. I worked creating and decorating the card box, the seating chart, and the ceremony program. So far I am pretty pleased with what I've done on the card box, but there is still quite a bit of work to do on the seating chart and the ceremony program. 

Tonight because the gym closed at 7pm (stupid summer hours) I was only able to get in 20 minutes of my cardio so I walked Max around the lake when I got home to get the rest of it in. 

We got the fridge switched out so tomorrow I need to cook up another batch of chicken as I am getting kind of tired of eating tuna all day. Who would have thought that would happen right? 

Today I was sent an inspirational video tonight that literally made me cry and motivated me at the same time. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

Day 79 Get Fit Challenge...closing in on 12 weeks

I am 5 days short of 12 weeks of being on this program. Originally one is only supposed to do this program for 12 weeks however, I am still miles away from my goal so it has been extended. At this point and taking into consideration I am taking September off from the program we are looking at this program lasting at least 19 more weeks or until the end of the year (basically 4 more months). Crap that's like 7 months of this program of two-a-days and no carbs and chicken all the freakin chicken!!!

As I look back at what I have accomplished so far it feels pretty good. Still as I reflect it is hard to not compare myself with others that have done this program before me and accomplished so much more. I am not seeing the transformation like they had, especially when I look at my mom's results.

At this point I really thought I would be a lot thinner. I have not kept up with goals that I had set for myself, which is disappointing to say the least. I have 45 days left until it gets to the point where I have to put a hold on losing weight because of the wedding. That is basically 5 weeks which is not enough time to be where I wanted loss wise. Even if I lost 3 pounds a week for the next 5 weeks that will only put me at 215 pounds (given that I lose 3 pounds this week). Granted that would be 45 pounds in 17 weeks, which when you stop and think about it is such a feat, but I was really hoping for more around the 60 pound mark at that point. 

With the wedding quickly approaching there is a lot of pressure to be this new thin person that is revealed and well that is not going to happen which feels like a major failure. I did not want to be a fat bride and that was a major driving factor in this endeavour, but sadly I will still be a fat bride which makes me really sad and angry. Hopefully this will only fuel me for the next 5 weeks and maybe by some miracle I can lose 5 pounds a week for the next 5 weeks and get a little closer to being at my target weight for the wedding. We shall see hopefully things don't back fire.

Day 78 Get Fit Challenge...I don't want to talk to you

I don't know about you guys but I am not a social person at the gym. I like to get in do what I need to do and then get out. I don't like to strike up conversations with random people I don't know and ask them a million questions while they are in the middle of their set just for the sake of talking. I however am not a stone cold bitch and will indulge people with a polite hello, nod, or smile if the need calls for it but that is about the extent of my social skills. 

This morning however proved to be one of those days where people just needed to talk to me. It started when I came up the stairs to my now very crowded hallway to set all my equipment up for my HIT workout. Lately there have been two older women who do some kind of high intensity training with a deck of cards and while they are very chatty with each other they have never been so with me...until today. I was on my last cycle recovering so I could finish my last set of box step ups when they decided to strike up a conversation with me. They asked what kind of workout I was doing, how long I had been doing it for, why I was doing it, what kind of diet I was on, and on and on. Not wanting to be rude I answered their questions each time praying that it would be the last so I could finish and move on to cardio and then get out of there. However I was quite annoyed that they interrupted me during the middle of my workout. I mean that is gym etiquette 101. After what seemed like forever they were finally satisfied and I was able to finish out my workout. Hopefully if they are there tomorrow our conversation will be more hey hows it going than a round of 20 questions. 

Tonight was chest for weightlifting and we ended up increasing the weights on two of the exercises in our superset as well as one of the other exercises and let me tell you I definitely felt the difference especially in the fourth sets. It did feel good though to be able to increase the weight. 

Day 77 Get Fit Challenge...why is the gym so busy

This week for some reason the gym as been super busy in the mornings especially in the usually empty corridor where I do my HIT workout. It seems like the people that are working out there have jumped on the high intensity band wagon so now apparently I have to work around these new comers to the HIT party annoying as it may be. 

In other news our fridge and freezer is broken so all of my premade chicken and veggies has now gone by the wayside because of mold due to the less than cool temp in the fridge and until we are able to get it fixed I am at a loss of what to do for food so it has been a lot of tuna for protein and since we don't live close to town I have been storing veggies in the fridge out in the garage and just eating things raw until we figure out what to do next. 

Day 76 Get Fit Challenge...leg day makes my knees hurt

Well it's Monday. I weighed in yesterday and lost 2 pounds which is great considering I am hormonal. I have 12 days until my next fitting for my wedding dress and 75 days until the wedding. It's kind of scary when I think about just how close things are getting. 

Today's HIT workout went well and I split my cardio between the stair stepper and the elliptical machine. Since it was so nice today I took Max on a walk around the lake this afternoon. Tonight was leg day for lifting and man do my knees hurt now. I think next week I might up the weight for the squats and add in weight to the walking lunges as I am not really struggling enough. 

Day 73-75 Get Fit Challenge...hormonies, an off day, and a sunny weekend

So it's Friday, it's also an off day thank goodness because Aunt Flo decided to show up today and girls you know how the first day is so I was thankful I didn't have to muster all that energy to do a HIT workout, weightlifting, and cardio.

Saturday mom and I were going to go to the gym to do our HIT workout, but with everything that we had going on that day with driving to Waterloo to do a bunch of shopping for wedding stuff, bachelorette party stuff, and some other errands we weren't able to fit it in. However we did get cardio in in addition to walking around all day so it wasn't a complete wash. Plus we got a lot done with all the shopping and running around so that was a win.

Sunday we went to the gym and got the HIT workout and an hour of cardio in. When we got home we ate and then sat out on the deck to get some sun since it was so nice. Later we took the pontoon out and had a little boat ride around the lake and hung out with our neighbor for a bit. Not a bad way to wrap up the weekend. 

Day 72 Get Fit Challenge...sunshine does the body good

It has been extremely nice these past couple of days which was a welcome change to all of the rain and flooding. Because of the nice weather I've been taking Max on hour walks in the afternoon in between my morning and evening workouts while trying to soak up as much as sunshine as I can. 

Today's workouts went fine. I have been splitting my cardio between the stair stepper and the elliptical for my two 55 minutes sessions. Sometimes in the morning I will work the row machine in as well to break things up. Tonight for weights we did back and I had to up the weight on a couple of the exercises which is a win. So I might not be losing a ton of weight but at least my strength is improving. 

Tomorrow is an off day which is good because Aunt Flo is due to arrive tomorrow and I'm pretty useless the first day she is in.

Day 71 Get Fit Challenge...half way to an off day

It seems as of late nothing exciting is happening and I am just over here trying to come up with something to write and it's like groundhog day all over the place. Get up, eat, workout, eat, workout, eat, try not to get too bored, eat, workout, eat, try not to go to bed, eat, sleep, repeat. 

So guess what happened today? Yep that's right same as yesterday. I worked out, ate my meals of chicken and veggies, and tried not to sit around the house being lazy. I did notice some gains at the gym tonight during my chest workout and I need to up the weight on a few of the exercises so that's good to see some progress there hopefully it reflects in the weigh in this weekend. 

Day 70 Get Fit Challenge...I am not a pro athlete

Today I tried to invoke my brother's new method of 'if you are sitting on the couch you should be walking on the treadmill instead." Let's just say I don't think it's going to happen. 

It takes me about 30 minutes to get to the gym in the morning I usually arrive by 9:45am and leave around noon then drive 30 minutes back home. Ok so now it's about 12:30 by the time I make food and eat it's about 12:50. At this point I sit on the couch and let my food digest. At about 1:30 I took the dog for an hour long walk which put me back at the house around 2:40pm. Next round of food was soon so I relaxed for a bit, switched out the laundry, worked on some wedding stuff before I ate again around 3:45pm. Now according to my brother I should be walking again around 4:15 for an hour or so. 

My mom usually gets home around 5:15 then we head out for the gym around 6pm. So let's think about this if I workout until 5:15 that gives me about an hour and fifteen minutes until I then have to hard core workout again for two hours. This does not make sense to me as there is not enough recovery time in between workouts so I decided not to do the third round of cardio before going to the gym for a fourth round in addition to lifting weights. Call me a slacker but I think 3 cardio sessions in addition to a HIT workout and weightlifing should be sufficant...right? I mean who legitimately can workout for 6-8 hours a day? Not me.

Day 69 Get Fit Challenge...getting old is not fun

Today I skipped my morning workout to drive my dad to Des Moines so he could get a shot of cortisone put in his spine so hopefully he can get some relief until his back surgery this winter. This got me really thinking out important it is to take care of myself as your body can only take so much abuse before it gives out, and I definitely haven't been helping it out much.

Tonight at the gym was biceps and triceps for weightlifting and I struggled through the  last two sets of the preacher curls but I did improve with the dips so that is a win. I did 50 minutes on the stair stepper tonight and during the last 15 minutes my left knee really started bothering me I may have to start halving my time between the stepper and the elliptical to remedy it. 

Day 68 Get Fit Challenge...2 week weigh in and measurements

Today is Sunday and you know what that means...weigh in time. I wasn't expecting much since I was out last week with a rib injury. When I stepped on the scale this morning I was 4 pounds lighter and 2 inches smaller. Not horrible but not great I really need it to be between 6-10 pounds but a loss is better than a gain. 

After talking to my brother today after weighing in he said I should incorporate more cardio into my day, because you know an hour and forty minutes is not enough. So now whenever I am sitting around on the couch or watching TV or basically whenever I am not working out at the gym I should instead be on the treadmill walking on an incline. I think my cardio just went from an hour and forty a day to 5 hours a day...that can't be right...right? I'm going to start by adding in an extra 2 hours on top of what I do at the gym twice a day and see where that gets me because no one should have to workout for 9 hours a day.

Tomorrow morning I have to drive my dad to Des Moines so he can go to a specialist for his back and it's like some 2-3 hour thing so I am thinking I will not get my morning workout in so I'll definitely need to do 3 hours of walking on the treadmill when I get back to make up for things before I head to the gym tomorrow night for weightlifting and more cardio.

Day 67 Get Fit Challenge...rain rain go away

Today was grey and rainy all day which was fitting because it matched my mood completely. Lack of motivation won and all I did today was walk Max around the lake in between downpours. That should make my weigh in tomorrow less than fantastic. 

The only productive thing I did do today was prepare all my food for the next week-ish. I tweaked the pepper slaw salad by adding in some new veggies, did a peppercorn and citrus flavored (sans the juice required for it) marinades for the chicken, and I made a black raspberry cobbler for dad out of the fresh berries I picked yesterday (dear lord it smelled and looked fantastic). 

Other than that I attempted to work on wedding stuff which really didn't work out that well and I ended up undoing most of the work I did. Definitely looking forward to this day being over. 

Day 66 Get Fit Challenge...Unhappy 4th of July

I haven't had a Fourth of July in three years because of living abroad so I was pretty excited about, it too bad it was a let down. 

I started off the day with a walk around the lake with Max as the gym was closed because of the holiday. It was actually sunny and clear skies for once which was nice. Towards the end of the walk I noticed that there were black raspberries in the ditch that were just ripe for the picking so after we made it back home I went back to pick them even though I couldn't eat any as my dad loves black raspberries. 

That afternoon I had to sit outside because the whole house smelled of red velvet cake and BBQ ribs and I just couldn't take it. Sitting down for lunch was also torture as the spread smelled and looked like perfection. BBQ ribs, bacon baked beans, potato salad, corn on the cob, pasta salad, chips and salsa, and for dessert red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and caramel and chocolate cheese cake.

I sat there eating my plain chicken and veggies really hating my life and wanting to be anywhere but at that table. I guess it would be a bit more tolerable if I was losing more weight but at two months I'm only 20 pounds down and I should be at least 30 pounds down by this point and I just got really depressed. 

After food we took the boat out for a cruise around the lake as for some reason there were no fireworks as they are scheduled for tomorrow night. Who has fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July on the 5th? Needless to say I will be heading to bed disappointed and depressed. 

Day 65 Get Fit Challenge...my muscles thank you hot tub

My knees hurt today like oh my god I am so old and I think when I finally am able to stand up they will just explode from my body kind of hurt. This of course made the morning HIT workout and cardio a little more challenging than normal especially the isolated shuffles and box step ups. Doing the step machine for 50 minutes took a tole on my knees too but I am still a little nervous about jumping back on the row machine just yet.

Tonight was chest day for lifting which was ok. I think I might need to ramp up the weight next week especially for the superset that we start off with. Did the elliptical machine tonight for my 50 minutes of cardio. 

After my evening meal I sat in the hot tub for about 45 minutes which was great. It was pretty cool today and with the sore muscles it was great just to be in there and stare up at all of the stars and relax. 

Day 64 Get Fit Challenge...it's like I haven't even been working out

Today was my first day back at the gym after four days off recovering from my injury. What is it with exercise? It takes you forever to make gains and then you take four days off and your body reacts like it was four weeks. 

I definitely struggled through the HIT workout this morning huffing and puffing and dripping so much sweat that I couldn't find a dry spot on my shirt after I was finished. My ribs held up pretty well as there was only one exercise that aggravated them a little. 

Tonight was leg day for lifting and that went pretty well also. I did switch out the weighted leg press for the cable leg press as that was the machine that gave me the injury in the first place. Should be interesting to see how the rest of the week goes. Hopefully nothing relapses and I get back into the swing of things again. 

Day 63 Get Fit Challenge...wth is up with all these storms?

Today I was going to try to go to the gym to do my morning HIT workout and cardio but my ribs were really throbbing this morning so I thought it would be bad to workout and aggravate it more so I took Max for a walk around the lake this instead. I'm glad I took him this morning because we had major storm systems come through the rest of the day that included tornado warnings, torrential downpours and hail. Needless to say we didn't get to the gym tonight because of all the warnings and crazy weather. However tomorrow I am definitely going to the gym in the morning as I need to get back on track like 4 days ago. If things go well then I am hoping to get weightlifting and cardio in tomorrow night as well and worse case scenario at least another bout of cardio.