Phase Two: Week 1

Well not much to report from week one. 

The new diet has me feeling really bloated, and I am not sure what exactly is the cause but I have a feeling it might be the black beans. 

Workout wise leg day kicked my ass and left me sore for about 4ish days which is an improvement from the last leg day but still odd that I am left that sore for so many days afterwards. 

All of my other lifting days have been going well. It's odd not doing an hour of cardio every workout or doing a second workout a day. I have a feeling the lack of cardio is going to hurt me weight wise but my brother did say that I would probably gain 5ish pounds my first two weeks but to stick with it as it will pay off, so I am trying not to worry too much about it. 

Next Sunday is weigh-in/measurement/picture day and lets just say I am not looking forward to it because I know I am going to see set backs, but I have to remember that they are just numbers and there is a reason for it.

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 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 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 51 Get Fit Challenge...

This morning's HIT workout was rough as the leg soreness kicked in over night and most of what HIT consists of is squatting. Throw in 25 minutes on the row machine and 20 minutes on the stair stepper and I ended up limping out of the gym two hours later. 

Tonight was supposed to be a chest weight lifting day but when my mom got home she was so exhausted that I let her nap for an hour and a half. When she got up she was so sore that she just could muster the energy to workout and after my morning workout and soreness as well we decided to forgo the evening workout and pick it back up tomorrow. 

Day 50 Get Fit Challenge...leg day I did not miss you

My morning HIT workout seemed to go a bit faster today even though I had to run around the gym to gather all of the items I needed since they can never seem to stay in the area they are supposed to. I don't know what it is with people having no gym etiquette. Seems like no one can put stuff back where they got it or clean up their area after they use it. 

Tonight we finally make it to the gym to lift and let me tell you after going 4 days without lifting leg day really sucked tonight. It's crazy how quickly your body loses it's strength but it takes so long to build it up. I would have thought that with keeping up with the HIT workouts and the cardio it wouldn't be too bad, clearly I was wrong. I'll definitely be feeling it tomorrow.  

Day 15 Get Fit Challenge...oh leg day you hurt so good

So today was supposed to be biceps and triceps but my brother switched it up and had me and his fiance do legs AND abs today for our morning weight lifting session. In a word it sucked. It also made for a really long workout when we added in the 35 minutes of cardio afterwards. 

The good news today was the progress I made on my squats and incline leg presses. I think I am finally getting my form down correctly for squats and was able to throw some weights on the bar. Went into beast mode for the leg presses and by my 4th set I was able to complete 15 reps of 409 pounds. Walking lunges still stucked like always and for some reason are not getting any easier, but today they were especially difficult because my left knee was bothering me from last night's workout. End the session with ab supersets and I was one tired lady that was not looking forward to cardio. While I was on the elliptical I noticed that I ended up sweating completely through my t-shirt as I went to wipe my face and there wasn't a dry spot to be found...note to self start bringing a towel to morning weight lifting sessions. 

Needless to say when we got back and I had had my meal and shower I was done and definitely ready for a nap if I was ever going to be able to get through tonight's HIT workout. So I popped a couple of Aleve threw the heating pad on my lower back and took about an hour nap. When I woke up it was time to eat again and after I spent the rest of the afternoon icing my knee. 

Tonight's HIT training....well let's put it this way it's never smart to do leg day before a HIT workout. I barely got through my first cycle when my quads started burning and they didn't stop until about halfway through my cardio. 

So there ya have it another day down and one more day till glorious off day which I think I'll need as I have a feeling my leg soreness is going to kick in full force Thursday.