Monday, August 26, 2013

Training Plans- Getting Stronger and Running Farther

Overview of July/August Workout and Fitness Goals for the Future: 

For the past 6 weeks I have been doing using Bodybuilding.com's Jamie Eason's LiveFit program as a guide while working out. This has resulted in me growing stronger anabolically and faster anaerobically.  But now it is time for to switch my program around again.  The Livefit Trainer is awesome and I recommending that you do the whole program. My current training goals are to begin training for a half marathon. Therefore, I would like to still lift weights but just not everyday for an hour and that is what the rest of the program would have had me doing.  The half marathon that I have my sights on it not until the spring, so for the coming months I want to slowly increase my running mileage from about 2.5 miles per run to maximum 8 miles per run, so when the spring comes around I am not attempting to increase my mileage from 3 miles to 13 miles which I am pretty positive would result in an injury. 

Overview of September's Workout Plan

Weights: I am still going to lift 4 days a week, circuit-style for 25 minutes each session. Two days a week I hit my upper body and 2 days a week I am working my lower body out.  I have added three 10 minute abdominal workouts that will be done with one upper body and one lower body workouts and a non-lifting day.  

Yoga is still a must and will be done as needed which is nearly daily some times. Usually my yoga routines are between 15-25 minutes. 

Running: For the next 4 weeks, all I am concentrating on is running 3 times a week with a long walk/slow jog for 50+ minutes once a week. I would like one of my runs to be 3 miles by week two of September while the others can range from 2-2.5 miles. At the very least I will run one interval run, although two is ideal. 

I am doing two a day workouts, either in the AM or PM I will run or walk with the boys in the double jogging stroller. We bought the BabyTrend double jogger and I am a fan of it thus far. 
I will do my circuit training twice at week at a gym on post that has hourly daycare and the other two days I will use my dumbbells at home during the boys afternoon nap.  Below is the training plan I am using; the training plan is from Muscle and Fitness Hers September/October 2011 issue.





Next post will be about what I am eating to fuel me though all this exercise and breastfeeding my little one who is now almost 7 months old. 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Back to Blogging :-)

The Lewis family has moved from the East Coast to the West Coast and we are settling in very nicely. We decided to drive rather than fly and I am glad we did because we took it slowed  and had fun along the way.

If I was more awesome I would do a full recap  of our cross country trip but instead I will just bypass all of that and let pictures speak louder than words.

We have been in Washington state now for nearly 8 weeks and we are stationed at Joint Base Lewis McCord, which in case you were unaware of is sandwiched between Seattle/Tacoma and Olympia. 

On a clear day, I can see Mt. Rainer which always leaves me in awe. I want to climb/hike the majestic volcano. That trike will be something I aspire to do when my little guys are older. 

I am happy to report that I am still losing weight and now am 18lbs from mypre pregnancy  weight of 140lbs. A lot of my food issues; i.e. over-eating on sweets is becoming less and less as I harness the awesome power of nutrient dense vegetables in my smoothies, juices, soups, casseroles, and of course my mega salads. 

For the past 5 weeks, I have been consistently making meals that are really delicious and nutritious. I have often during this time resisted being too 'perfect' while eating because I don't    
want to make less nutrient dense foods into bad foods, which may make me over-eat later on. Once in an attempt to stop eating bread, I cut out bread and by the 10th day all I wanted was bread and than for nearly half the week ate nothing but toast and beans and pbj. So I am learning what works for me and restriction does not work. 

Most importantly my weight loss journey and the food choices I make are not a means to an end, but rather just a leg on a longer journey of eating nutritiously for life. I am not eating this way to diet, I eat nutrient dense foods to fuel so that it can operate at its full capacity. Any treats I have along the way are part of that as well :-) 

Next post I will update you on my current training plan, which I am loving by the way.