Fitness Plan for January 2015

This workout can be found in Oxygen Magazine January 2015 issue. 

I have had a subscription to Oxygen Magazine on and off for the past 3 years and I must say that I enjoy the constant inspiration and many fitness plans that they offer. I may not have a fitness model's body right now but I can with all the information that this magazine has provided me over the years. 

Yesterday I did a fasted run and ended up over eating by 700 calories!! Today I found myself sliding right back into poor eating choices and realized that if I continued to eat with abandon,  I would be countering my efforts gained from the past week. To get back on track, I steamed up some greens and am waiting until 6:30 p.m. to eat again. 

It is a little unsettling how quickly I can fall back into poor eating habits after one indulgent dessert/snack. 

The rest of this week, my workouts will consist of two more runs, a bike ride, and two full-body heavy-weight circuits. 

Happy Holiday! 

Making Goals into Reality

Health and Fitness Goals

This past few days I have been working making my goals stick for the long run. I am glad that I wrote them down in ink and paper and again by typing them. 

Apps I am currently using

I love my iPhone apps because they help me track and keep myself accountable for my current goals. These apps are: 

MyNetDiary 
RunKeeper
Welios

Welios is a newer app for me. It is a great app for motivating and inspiring you to reach your health and fitness goals. Users who are winning and struggling with their health and fitness goals post regularly and I have related with each end of the spectrum. 

So far I have upped my running and yoga practice in conjunction with my weight lifting because other users have reminded me through their inspiring posts that a combination of lifting, running (biking, swimming), and yoga are what works for me,  I have posted regularly for the past week and this also helped me to consistently eat healthy and according to my goals.

Family and Personal Creativity Goals

My boys have also watched less TV and we have had some additional quality puzzle, blocking building, and reading time together so this is also another win!

As for letter writing to my lovely friends, I have been working on sending personalized Holiday cards to friends and family, so another win!

Finally, my personal creativity goal is has not been as daily as I would like but I have seen set time for myself to journal so I am happy with this!

Screen shots and pictures from the past five days or so on choices I am making to achieve my healthy and fit goals. 

12 Week Goal Setting

12 Week Goals

Recently, I have been listening to No Meat Athlete Podcast and I love it! Each week of so they do a podcast on various topics or with a guest vegetarian/vegan athlete. Listening to these podcasts are a constant source of motivation to be the healthiest and fittest person I can be.  

Yesterday on my long commute to work (2-4 times a month I drive 3 hours drive to and 3 hours from for work!!!!), I was listening to their goal-setting podcast titled: "How to Use December to Avoid the New Year's Trap." From this I was inspired to begin to write out my goals for the year, and to even better than just goals for the year, but 12 week goals in 4 areas of my life: 

(1) Family/Relationships

(2) Personal Creativity

(3) Fit and Healthy Body

(4) Work/School

Family/Relationship goal is two-fold and not related to one another: 

• Limit boy's tv time--ESPECIALLY during the week and engage them in creative activities.
• Write a letter bi-weekly to one of my friend

Personal Creativity goal is for me to journal daily. I have a journal already for these purpose and now I will bring it with me so those spare moments when I would before get on my phone and browse the web/Pinterest/Facebook, I can instead write my thoughts and feelings and perhaps a poem. 

Fit and Healthy body goal is a little more detailed as that is the area that I have been struggling the most this past year, although I have had strength gains but no real fat loss. 

• Adopt a modified Eat to LIve Nutritarian 6-week meal plan.This is something I have been building up slowly to do and I finally feel that I can commit to the whole 6 weeks.  
• Currently, I am exercising consistently 3-6 days a week. The only alteration I will make to this part of my goal is that I begin swimming or biking once a week, on top of my 2 runs and 2-4 days of heavy lifting circuit/HIIT training. I currently am using 20 lbs/25 lbs/30 lbs dumbbells in my training so YIPPEE for strength building!

Work/School goal is to continue learning as much as I can from work and paralegal cert. classes. Last term was a success and this upcoming term will likely be a success as well. 

The Balance Act

Balancing these four areas of my life is challenging some weeks and that is okay with me. The first thing to fall wayside is my health and fitness goals which are usually just reduced in effort exerted in accomplishing them. I have accepted that this will happen from time to time. The most important thing for me to remember is that a few bad days during the week will not derail my healthy and fit body goals. 

One of the Fitness Facebook groups I am part of, the admin posted this and I loved it so I am sharing it on here as well :)

So yes, the next 12 weeks my goals are as outlined above. The concrete days are from December 18, 2014 to March 12, 2015. 

Heres to weekly check-in!

What I Ate (During Work) Friday: How I use my preplanned meals/snacksthroughout the week

This past week has been filled with a lot of delicious, and hearty meals.  Some indulges as well! I made an apple crumb pie that was really wonderful.  All the meals that I made this past weekend have been so helpful in cutting down the time it takes me get ready the night before and the morning of work.  

Breakfast was a 2 of the ginger nut/date ball that I posted the link at the beginning of the week, and 1/3 of a green smoothie that I made with cherries, banana, mixed baby dark greens, almond milk, celery, flaxmeal and MRM veggie protein powder.

Lunch was a white bean spread, alfalfa sprout, avocado, tomato, avocado sandwich on whole grain bread. I drank pineapple coconut water to help satisfy my sweet tooth. In the peacock mug is water with ice. 

The white bean  spread is the same as the lemony herb white bean dip that I made at the beginning of the week.  When I spread it on my bread and load vegetables on  top of it (eyes roll to back of head)) YUM! 

Post workout snack, after lunch, I went for 1 mile walk up and down the hills in downtown Tacoma.  When I got back to the office, I had lemon herbal tea and the other 2/3 of my cherry green smoothie from earlier. 

Final meal while I was at work was the cilantro-lime, black bean, quinoa dish I said that I was going to make made, except I put pineapple in in and did not add any added oils as the recipe that I posted indicated. I ate these with three warmed up corn tortillas. Also very flavorful mini meal. 

I hope the next post I do will be another workout. I had fun doing that!

6 Week Training Plan for End of April and the Month of May

April 28th to May 31st Strength and Running Schedule

Monday and Thursday

Goal: 12 minute Lower body workout in the AM and 2-2.5 mile run during lunch break.

Execution: 12 minute lower body strength workout—exercises including DB squats, DB lunges, hip raises, plyometrics, leg curls with exercises ball, DB deadlifts, kettlebell swings, ect. Pack clothes to bring to work to workout.

Tuesday and Friday

Goal: 12 minute Upper body workout in the AM and 25-30 minute walk or yoga sequence during lunch break.

Execution: 12 minute upper body strength workout—exercises including DB chest press, DB row, front/side/rear delt raises, DB upright rows, push-ups, assisted pull-ups, ect. Pack clothes to bring to work to workout.

Wednesday

Goal: Core workout for whatever time I have available.  

Execution: Wake up earlier if needed to fit this workout in.  Pack clothes to workout in if there is time available.

Saturday

Goal: Long run- 3-4 miles logged on this day.  

Execution: Eat a healthy meal Friday night and make a post workout drink at night to consume afterwards.

Sunday

Goal: Make up workouts done on this day or REST.  

Execution: If during the week I had to cancel a workout due to time restraints

or injury/sickness, this is the day to make it up.  If all workouts were completed during the week than no intense workout’s day.  

**The 12 minute strength workouts that I do, I am using heavy weights (15-25lbs- depending on body part worked) and I am resting only to transition from one exercise to the next**

The ultimate goal of the 6 weeks is to continue gaining strength and speed as an athlete in as little time as possible. 

A quick picture of me before I head out for a run during my lunch break. I 

Weekend Meal Prep for Weekday Meals- Links included for Some of the Vegan Meals

Having a general idea what I am going to make throughout the week is good.  If I actually take the time to prepared some of the meals ahead of time that is even better.  Most of the time I concentrate on making my lunch and snacks for the week ahead on Saturday and Sunday so that during the week I save as much time as possible in the morning and the night before work. 

Typically I make a salad mix, energy balls/bars, hummus/bean dip, sometimes a soup, and sometimes chia pudding or overnight oats. This week I have decided to make:

lemony white bean dip 

ginger date nut balls

black bean and quinoa salad with lime cumin dressing (a favorite of mine)

vanilla chia pudding that I will add fruit when I eat in for breakfast or snack

In the morning I  make my smoothies for either breakfast or after workout snack. If the smoothie is for breakfast I add along with my typically 3:1 vegetable to fruit ratio, nuts/seeds/coconut to make it more calorically dense.  An example of this would be: 3 cup of leafy greens, 1 cup of frozen or fresh fruit, 1 tbsp of nut butter or 2 tbsp of nuts/seeds/coconut, 1.5 cups of liquid (mostly nut/soy milk, some coconut water or water to thin out), and 1/2 scoop of plant based protein powder-- I am loving the taste and price of MRM Veggie Protein Powder right now.  I buy mine from Vitacost and that is where that link will take you if you are interested in trying out their product. If the smoothie is post workout, the 3:1 vegetable to fruit ratio remains the same, but then I do not add nut/seeds/coconut, and will use coconut water and water as a base with 1/2 scoop of the MRM veggie protein powder. 

As of this Saturday evening I have a general idea of what the Lewis clan is planning for dinner this week, I do believe we will make bean, rice, veggie enchiladas that should last two days and Thai coconut curry tofu sweet potato broccoli dish that should also last two or three days. The Thai curry dish is something that Lee usually makes and the enchiladas that I make is inspired by Healthy Girl's Kitchen: Kitchen Sink Enchilada Casserole.  We have those two meals about twice a month.  

My last two links I will post tonight are a workout and the the link to my 

Vegan Meal Planning page on Pinterest, which is where I keep all my recipe inspiration located. 

Here is the workout I did two rounds of while I meal prepping and typing this post up :)

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/273312271111272270/

Workout of the Week for April 19, 2014

I would like to introduce my first (of what should be many) 

Workout of the Week.

Each week or so, I hope to share one of my workouts. I am not trained or certified in personal training, but I have seen results in the workouts I create for myself. 

Perhaps these posts will inspire someone else to begin working out at home and that would be terrific. 

This is a dumbbell workout, targeting these main muscle groups: chest, back, thighs and glutes. The core, shoulders, triceps, and calves are secondary muscle groups being worked. 

My home gym equipment I am using today: 
             A fitness ball, 2-15lbs dumbbells, and a foam roller

The Workout:

Warm-up: I did a 3 minute warm-up of alternating jumping jacks and high knees.  

                  20 repetitions before switching off to do the next, repeating for 3 minutes 

Superset 1: Dumbbell (DB) Squat and DB Stiff-legged Deadlift

                     3 sets of 15 repetitions for each exercise.  I rested about 1 minute before beginning the next superset.  

Superset 2: One-armed DB Row and DB Chest Press on Exercise Ball

                     *3 sets of 15 repetitions for each exercise.  I rested about 1 minute before beginning the next superset.

Giant Set: Exercise Ball Leg Curl with Upright DB Row and 

                  DB Curtsy Lunge with Alternating Push-up with Foam Roller

                 *I did these 4 exercises back to back for 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions each.  

                  At the end of the Giant Set I rested for about 30-45 seconds before completing the set again. 

    

    

And that concludes my workout.  This took me about 35 minutes and I did stretch afterwards for about 5 minutes.  

Post Workout Nutrition: 1/2 scoop of MRM Chocolate Veggie Protein Powder mixed with water and about 45 minutes a PB and Berry Jam sandwich on whole wheat.  

For the most part I try to limit how much wheat I eat, but every now and then, a PBJ is where it is at!. 

Stay tuned for next post as I will cover what foods I make over the weekend to help me save time preparing meals during the week.