Well - today I kicked ass at the gym. Kicked. Ass.
I woke up all alert and chipper, gathered my gear and lunch and was out to the bus on time. Today I did a few back exercises and then 30 minutes HIIT biking...I actually had sweat trickling down my face when I was done! Booyah. THAT is a workout. Sweaty me. :)
Then I went to do my ab fest...since a few of you have asked - here's my Wednesday all out abfest. I've tried to look up the actual names of all things I do because I'm not exactly sure what they all are called...Minus the knee to elbow pull (I saw someone doing them and it looked like fun), this is my abfest that I do 2 or 3 times a week in my quest for a 6 pack...
50 captain's chair crunches (broken up into 3)
50 back raises (broken up into 3)
25-30 hip raises
50 lower ab crunches with exercise ball (broken up into 3)
50 half curl crunches with exercise ball (broken up into 3)
30 bicycle crunches
50 side crunches (each side)
30 V-up/pike situps
25 seated oblique twists with medicine ball (12 Lb)
20 knee to elbow pull (in pushup position)
Heh heh. Take THAT alfredo! :)
I've had my protein shake and my cottage cheese and blueberries and I'm ready with my coffee to work hard today. Another long day of data crunching. I'm all proteined up and ready to roll...
Showing posts with label Operation Uberfrau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Operation Uberfrau. Show all posts
Sweet cupp'n cakes
This weekend continued to be awesome. On sunday I was bad...I accidentally made the most delicious thing *EVER* in the entire universe...no they are not very good for me but they are the single most delicious thing I've ever made up until this point in life (and that's saying something): Coconut cupcakes with lime curd filling and coconut butter cream icing. I (food nerd alert) have a twinkie making set so I used the injector that came with it to put the curd inside the cupcakes. Oh dear frog. So good.
Oh yes. They are as good as they sound.
The funny thing is, up until about 3 months ago I didn't care for coconut.
Now? I can't get enough of the stuff.
A friend was going on about these awesome cupcakes she'd made and I asked for the recipe. One of my favourite things to do to relax is cook or bake so I took the time on sunday while listening to music and chilling with J and a cup of coffee to whip up these delicious little yummy things and then took them to a movie party with friends. That way we only ate a few and not all of them (which I honestly think I may have done if we weren't going out anywhere. They really were that good). When I get a minute I'll post the recipe on my food blog...
It was a nice relaxing sunday. Utterly relaxing and so delicious :)
And so this morning I earned my cupcakes :)
I got up and did 3 sets of one leg knee raise step-ups, 3 sets of one legged deadlifts, 3 sets of squats, 3 sets of dumbell rows and 3 sets deltoid lifts and my abfest. Then I put on some trance and did HIIT sprinting/walks on the treadmill at 2% incline for 25 minutes.
Booya!
I feel fantastic.
I'm full of cupcakes and ready to go! :)
Bring on the science!
Oh yes. They are as good as they sound.
The funny thing is, up until about 3 months ago I didn't care for coconut.
Now? I can't get enough of the stuff.
A friend was going on about these awesome cupcakes she'd made and I asked for the recipe. One of my favourite things to do to relax is cook or bake so I took the time on sunday while listening to music and chilling with J and a cup of coffee to whip up these delicious little yummy things and then took them to a movie party with friends. That way we only ate a few and not all of them (which I honestly think I may have done if we weren't going out anywhere. They really were that good). When I get a minute I'll post the recipe on my food blog...
It was a nice relaxing sunday. Utterly relaxing and so delicious :)
And so this morning I earned my cupcakes :)
I got up and did 3 sets of one leg knee raise step-ups, 3 sets of one legged deadlifts, 3 sets of squats, 3 sets of dumbell rows and 3 sets deltoid lifts and my abfest. Then I put on some trance and did HIIT sprinting/walks on the treadmill at 2% incline for 25 minutes.
Booya!
I feel fantastic.
I'm full of cupcakes and ready to go! :)
Bring on the science!
I *am* the uberfrau
Today I rocked the gym. It was really hard to get up, but I'm glad I came in to workout - Once I got going I got in some solid lower and upper body work and some abwork and then managed to squeeze in 25 sweaty minutes on the arc trainer before I ran out of time. I put on a trance album and just gave it all out. Sweaty goodness. It's been a while since I've done that. Feels good. :)
Add a healthy breakfast and I'm in on the scene to get more work done today.I made some more of my low fat oatmeal spice coconut muffins last night while I made supper (having a convection oven rocks) so I have healthy snacks over the weekend-I figured out they have about 145 calories each. I have to work all day tomorrow, but I actually got some solid work done last night...I finally feel like I'm starting to hit a groove. Although I'm sure a bit of it is due to tiredness and the endless winter I've been floundering for a while - lots of ideas and data that I worked to gather now have to be pulled slowly together into coherence...it's the tricky part. I think I'm slowly starting to believe I can do it...and that's the start of all good things :)
Just going to keep going...and we shall see how it all goes.
In case you want to try the muffins out ,I've tweaked my recipe and I'm happy with it- here it is.
I hope you all have a great weekend. :)
Add a healthy breakfast and I'm in on the scene to get more work done today.I made some more of my low fat oatmeal spice coconut muffins last night while I made supper (having a convection oven rocks) so I have healthy snacks over the weekend-I figured out they have about 145 calories each. I have to work all day tomorrow, but I actually got some solid work done last night...I finally feel like I'm starting to hit a groove. Although I'm sure a bit of it is due to tiredness and the endless winter I've been floundering for a while - lots of ideas and data that I worked to gather now have to be pulled slowly together into coherence...it's the tricky part. I think I'm slowly starting to believe I can do it...and that's the start of all good things :)
Just going to keep going...and we shall see how it all goes.
In case you want to try the muffins out ,I've tweaked my recipe and I'm happy with it- here it is.
I hope you all have a great weekend. :)
Intuitively Uberfrau
OK - I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Pondering. Worrying. Laughing. Stressing....and in the end it needs to stop. And so, I think that my focus for this next month is to eat intuitively.
I feel like I've been thinking about food too much. It's weirding me out. This maintenance thing is tricky...I know me and how I can get, and I feel I need to relax and stop focusing on it so much. The scientist in me wants it to be all precise and measured and calculated....and you can't do that to life. I need to step away from the numbers. Eat well. Sleep. Build muscle. Work on my thesis...be nutritious and focus on being uberfrau. No guilt. No punishments or rewards based on food.
Just.
Healthy.
It's tricky, as I'm mid PMS at the moment and feel as tho I could rip my arm off, dip it in tartar sauce and have a nice pre-supper snack, but I will persevere to sanity and beyond. :)
Here's to me :)
I feel like I've been thinking about food too much. It's weirding me out. This maintenance thing is tricky...I know me and how I can get, and I feel I need to relax and stop focusing on it so much. The scientist in me wants it to be all precise and measured and calculated....and you can't do that to life. I need to step away from the numbers. Eat well. Sleep. Build muscle. Work on my thesis...be nutritious and focus on being uberfrau. No guilt. No punishments or rewards based on food.
Just.
Healthy.
It's tricky, as I'm mid PMS at the moment and feel as tho I could rip my arm off, dip it in tartar sauce and have a nice pre-supper snack, but I will persevere to sanity and beyond. :)
Here's to me :)
Adding some planks to core day
I always thought "what's the big deal about planks anyways?". They really don't look that hard. I know they are excellent for building core strength so I figure I should do more to strengthen my core. Well today I decided, having declared Wednesday core/ab day a while back, I'd try them.
And holy crap are they hard! Sure I do a lot of core work on core day, but I didn't realise just how hard it was to hold your body in place for any length of time. I thought I'd have enough strength to do it no prob. I've done a few in the past for 20 seconds, but I figured I'd go for 1 minutes ones today. Really see what I'm made of.
After 30 minutes of speed walking on an incline I got down to business. I've worked up from a few flailing crunches over 5 months to a really solid ab/core workout. My full on amazon abs/core work looks like this:
50 regular crunches
50 lower ab crunch/leg raises
50 side crunches on each side
50 moving elbow to knee crunches, both sides (not sure what they are called - twist crunches? windmills??)
50 medicine ball side to side torso twists with a 10 Lb ball
2 X 30 second"snake" back extensions while lying on your stomach (...name?)
25 alternating arm/leg extensions for the back on the exercise ball
30 stick your but up in the air thingys (lower body lift? I have no idea what it's actually called)
30 "V" crunch/situps with arm/leg extensions (again I have no idea what they're actually called...I've heard them called tuck ups)
Yup - I'm hard core :)
In the middle of this I thought I'd add 2 sets of planks, on front and each side. And man...I could do 1 minute of each once. My second set of them at the end were about 20 seconds long and then I had nothing else left so I stretched and headed for the shower. Curious. this will give me something new to focus on...increasing my plank time. Stronger is better. :)
But, end result of this? Well, I'm much stronger, not stiff in my back anymore and I can see my abs. Kind of like a six pack. I've taken to navel gazing in the shower...cuz they look *cool* :)
And holy crap are they hard! Sure I do a lot of core work on core day, but I didn't realise just how hard it was to hold your body in place for any length of time. I thought I'd have enough strength to do it no prob. I've done a few in the past for 20 seconds, but I figured I'd go for 1 minutes ones today. Really see what I'm made of.
After 30 minutes of speed walking on an incline I got down to business. I've worked up from a few flailing crunches over 5 months to a really solid ab/core workout. My full on amazon abs/core work looks like this:
50 regular crunches
50 lower ab crunch/leg raises
50 side crunches on each side
50 moving elbow to knee crunches, both sides (not sure what they are called - twist crunches? windmills??)
50 medicine ball side to side torso twists with a 10 Lb ball
2 X 30 second"snake" back extensions while lying on your stomach (...name?)
25 alternating arm/leg extensions for the back on the exercise ball
30 stick your but up in the air thingys (lower body lift? I have no idea what it's actually called)
30 "V" crunch/situps with arm/leg extensions (again I have no idea what they're actually called...I've heard them called tuck ups)
Yup - I'm hard core :)
In the middle of this I thought I'd add 2 sets of planks, on front and each side. And man...I could do 1 minute of each once. My second set of them at the end were about 20 seconds long and then I had nothing else left so I stretched and headed for the shower. Curious. this will give me something new to focus on...increasing my plank time. Stronger is better. :)
But, end result of this? Well, I'm much stronger, not stiff in my back anymore and I can see my abs. Kind of like a six pack. I've taken to navel gazing in the shower...cuz they look *cool* :)
Coming along...
Yesterday was a real accomplishment. I finished and submitted 3 major things. It felt so good. It's so tempting to just relax all evening and do nothing, but I did some work last night and still spent some time with J. The end really is coming...and I'm not crashing and burning. And I"m happy to report my weekend of relaxation and burboun milkshakes has left me the same weight I was when I left. I think I'm finally getting the hang of how to live normally...whatever normal is!
Yay :)
I wore a skirt yesterday and felt very girly all day - gave me confidence for my speech I had to do. I do need to get some tights before I wear a skirt again in this weather though...chilly!
This morning I got out of bed to work out. I did my arms and back and abs and then was going to bike but suddenly thought...meh. So I hopped onto an arc trainer and did a crosstrain program for 30 minutes. It was fun. A nice change.
I listened to this funky Thunderball album to work out to...Scorpio rising. Real retro funk. Good for a cold groggy morning :)
And now, here we go again. Another day...have a great one :)
Yay :)
I wore a skirt yesterday and felt very girly all day - gave me confidence for my speech I had to do. I do need to get some tights before I wear a skirt again in this weather though...chilly!
This morning I got out of bed to work out. I did my arms and back and abs and then was going to bike but suddenly thought...meh. So I hopped onto an arc trainer and did a crosstrain program for 30 minutes. It was fun. A nice change.
I listened to this funky Thunderball album to work out to...Scorpio rising. Real retro funk. Good for a cold groggy morning :)
And now, here we go again. Another day...have a great one :)
The end is nigh
I managed to get to bed on time last night, so I woke up today feeling pretty fierce. I realised last night that although I have a ridiculous amount of things due in the next month with 16-18 hour days 6 days a week coming up along with preparing for my semi-annual committee MSc meeting and the report that goes with it, I also will be done these 2 classesand their insanity in one month (except the final). Only one month. That is doable.
I can keep it together day by day until then...the eternity of the semester is actually starting to wind down. Finally...
Whew!
I can keep it together day by day until then...the eternity of the semester is actually starting to wind down. Finally...
Whew!
This morning I reversed some things...I keep fighting over weights and equipment in the mornings, so I did my upper body weights first before my 30 minutes cardio, which is when noone is using them and doing their cardio. I really pushed myself...I have that wonderful achiness that comes from really using your muscles. I read somewhere that it's beneficial for muscle building to do lifting before cardio...of course there is a lot of conflicting info out there, so I'm just doing what is more convenient, and this is definitely it. I biked fast today...faster than normal, but seeing as I really pushed myself yesterday on my legs (20 lunges each side, dead lifts and a few new things...owie my butt) I just didn't actually have it in my legs to do more than 4 of the HIT intervals while I biked. After my legs yelled at me to cut that HIT sh*t out I just biked faster overall and kept my heart rate up at 83-85% range. In my cardio I burned 326 calories according to Robot. I forgot to turn him on until cardio, so I don't know what weights burn...curious.
I am wearing a favourite old pair of dress pants today and they are getting baggy - the waist could definitely come in a few inches. I used to feel super slim in them because they used to fit perfectly. I have definitely firmed up/shrunk up since school started. I do believe that over the holidays I will do some shopping for a few pairs of pants. I'm a bit annoyed as I finally gave in in the fall to buy some new pants...and now *they* are baggy. I have a new pair of boots so I think I'll experiment with some tights and skirts this winter...I'd like that.
"I feel pretty, oh so pretty..."
This weekend I get to play with my new leaf sucker and rake up the yard. We got a reprieve from the snow and it's supposed to be warm and dry all weekend...after I get caught up on school stuff I'll be attacking the yard one last time. Wish me luck...
I am wearing a favourite old pair of dress pants today and they are getting baggy - the waist could definitely come in a few inches. I used to feel super slim in them because they used to fit perfectly. I have definitely firmed up/shrunk up since school started. I do believe that over the holidays I will do some shopping for a few pairs of pants. I'm a bit annoyed as I finally gave in in the fall to buy some new pants...and now *they* are baggy. I have a new pair of boots so I think I'll experiment with some tights and skirts this winter...I'd like that.
"I feel pretty, oh so pretty..."
This weekend I get to play with my new leaf sucker and rake up the yard. We got a reprieve from the snow and it's supposed to be warm and dry all weekend...after I get caught up on school stuff I'll be attacking the yard one last time. Wish me luck...
Quick stop in
This morning I felt a bit better. Some sleep and supper helped...today is a new day.
I was up and in for my leg exercises and then a nice 25 minute swim this morning. I actually counted pool lengths today...13. Swimming is such a nice way to start the day. SO relaxing.
The rest of today is another long long day. I have healthy food packed and lots of tea. I am hoping it will be a good one.
Later taters...
I was up and in for my leg exercises and then a nice 25 minute swim this morning. I actually counted pool lengths today...13. Swimming is such a nice way to start the day. SO relaxing.
The rest of today is another long long day. I have healthy food packed and lots of tea. I am hoping it will be a good one.
Later taters...
oh lordy...
I am so tired.
What with 2 classes and work and my MSc project, and prepping for my progress meeting in December I am...well...nuts. And it hasn't even begun to get nuts yet. My sweet hubs has given me a goal to work to...he's going to take me away on a romantic holiday weekend at the end of November...definitely a goal to work towards.
Day three of OU was less than I'd hoped, but it did happen.
This morning I woke up at 4 AM upon remembering that I skipped a part of the experiment I finished up yesterday...essentially meaning I now have to repeat it...which means another week of cell culture. I was so annoyed at myself I couldn't get back to sleep again. I came in to the gym and did 30 minutes of HIT on the bike...I couldn't seem to get my heart rate up at first, but eventually I found a groove. I really had to convince myself that since I'd come in I might as well just work hard...it was tough, I admit. I was still bummed out about my lab blunder and wanted to go back to bed. But I persevered and felt better towards the end. I did some focused core work - medicine ball twists and some planks (man those are hard!) and a bit of ab work. The robot says I burned 362 calories. Not my best, but considering my heart really wasn't in it today, I'll take it.
I have a healthy lunch and had my morning cottage cheese and protein shake before workout and my yogurt, granola and banana afterwards. I'm hoping this big cup of Tim Horton's coffee will give me a buzz cuz I have a looooooong day ahead of me. Again. Can I get a woo hoo?
Well nothing for it. Here we go.
Courage :)
What with 2 classes and work and my MSc project, and prepping for my progress meeting in December I am...well...nuts. And it hasn't even begun to get nuts yet. My sweet hubs has given me a goal to work to...he's going to take me away on a romantic holiday weekend at the end of November...definitely a goal to work towards.
Day three of OU was less than I'd hoped, but it did happen.
This morning I woke up at 4 AM upon remembering that I skipped a part of the experiment I finished up yesterday...essentially meaning I now have to repeat it...which means another week of cell culture. I was so annoyed at myself I couldn't get back to sleep again. I came in to the gym and did 30 minutes of HIT on the bike...I couldn't seem to get my heart rate up at first, but eventually I found a groove. I really had to convince myself that since I'd come in I might as well just work hard...it was tough, I admit. I was still bummed out about my lab blunder and wanted to go back to bed. But I persevered and felt better towards the end. I did some focused core work - medicine ball twists and some planks (man those are hard!) and a bit of ab work. The robot says I burned 362 calories. Not my best, but considering my heart really wasn't in it today, I'll take it.
I have a healthy lunch and had my morning cottage cheese and protein shake before workout and my yogurt, granola and banana afterwards. I'm hoping this big cup of Tim Horton's coffee will give me a buzz cuz I have a looooooong day ahead of me. Again. Can I get a woo hoo?
Well nothing for it. Here we go.
Courage :)
Day two...OU
This morning was day 2 of Operation Uberfrau. I came in bright and early to do arm, shoulder and back weight work and then went swimming for 25 minutes. It just snowed here (goodbye fall) so it was nice to slip into the warm pool for some laps. I still use flippers, but I love it. It's very relaxing for me, even though it's hard work!
I tried the cottage cheese as a pre-workout pre-breakfast again and it seems to be OK for me. I remembered my protein shake for after and had a healthy breakfast as well. I have healthy foods all day and it's gonna be a long day, so I'm glad for the energy I have right now.
I made quinoa for the first time last night...had it with some curried lentils. YUM. I love the nutty flavour and the texture. It's simpler to make than rice and I suck at making rice, so it will definitely be on the menu at least once a week here at Casa Geo. There's enough leftover for a nice salad with beans and corn for lunches. A bit of a change up from my salads recently. Mmmm...
I can tell I did full leg work yesterday. My legs are stiff...it's been a while! I'm happy to report there is not a single issue from my knee. I guess the 6 weeks of prep and strengthening with a few weights and swimming has helped -my doctor does know what she's talking about :)
Have a great day everyone :)
I tried the cottage cheese as a pre-workout pre-breakfast again and it seems to be OK for me. I remembered my protein shake for after and had a healthy breakfast as well. I have healthy foods all day and it's gonna be a long day, so I'm glad for the energy I have right now.
I made quinoa for the first time last night...had it with some curried lentils. YUM. I love the nutty flavour and the texture. It's simpler to make than rice and I suck at making rice, so it will definitely be on the menu at least once a week here at Casa Geo. There's enough leftover for a nice salad with beans and corn for lunches. A bit of a change up from my salads recently. Mmmm...
I can tell I did full leg work yesterday. My legs are stiff...it's been a while! I'm happy to report there is not a single issue from my knee. I guess the 6 weeks of prep and strengthening with a few weights and swimming has helped -my doctor does know what she's talking about :)
Have a great day everyone :)
I love it when a plan comes together
After a nice weekend of much encouragement, I've begun Operation Uberfrau.
My plans are thus:
Cardio:
M/W/F: 30 min HIT cardio on the bike
T/Th: 25 minute swim
Weekends: what I can fit in. Maybe nothing...maybe walks, elliptical, exercise ball DVD...
Muscle work:
M/Th: Lower body and abs
T/F: Upper body weights
Wed - a bit longer cardio and a focus on core and back
Seems doable. This gives me 48 hours between muscle groups for recovery. Anyone with actual workout training see any things wrong with that? I'm just trying to build up a program from what I've read to get good overall muscles and tone. I'm only at the campus gym monday to friday, so this should hopefully give me a good overall workout.
I also have some not bad tasting vanilla protein shakes and a trusty shaker for me to snarf up some extra protein after every workout. I've been told over and over that it matters and I'm finally doing it. Here's hoping it will help. I also have some multi vitamins, B12 complexes and Omrga/fish oil supplements for my health. And healthy food...
A challenge for me is eating before I workout. I know I really shouldn't exercise on an empty stomach, but every time I try to eat before I do I feel queasy and yech all thru the cardio. Afterwards I can eat fine. I keep trying to find things that won't make me queasy that early in the morning. This morning after my weekend's shocking discovery that I like cottage cheese I had 1/2 a cup this morning before I set out on the bus. I figured it's good for me, with fats and proteins...and even tho it's a 30 minute bus ride before I work out I still spent all workout burping cottage cheese. Not great...but at least I wasn't nauseous. (Yup, new thing. Haven't had it since I was a kid when Mum kept trying to make me eat it, and I didn't like it then. Turns out, along with a lot of stuff I thought I hated, now I do. It's pretty tasty actually...and good for me with lots of protein. Mums do know what's best after all! )
Now the robot says I burned 501 calories on day one of this journey. Not too shabby.
Time for some yogurt and granola and it's off to work.
I want to work better not harder...am I on the right track?
My plans are thus:
Cardio:
M/W/F: 30 min HIT cardio on the bike
T/Th: 25 minute swim
Weekends: what I can fit in. Maybe nothing...maybe walks, elliptical, exercise ball DVD...
Muscle work:
M/Th: Lower body and abs
T/F: Upper body weights
Wed - a bit longer cardio and a focus on core and back
Seems doable. This gives me 48 hours between muscle groups for recovery. Anyone with actual workout training see any things wrong with that? I'm just trying to build up a program from what I've read to get good overall muscles and tone. I'm only at the campus gym monday to friday, so this should hopefully give me a good overall workout.
I also have some not bad tasting vanilla protein shakes and a trusty shaker for me to snarf up some extra protein after every workout. I've been told over and over that it matters and I'm finally doing it. Here's hoping it will help. I also have some multi vitamins, B12 complexes and Omrga/fish oil supplements for my health. And healthy food...
A challenge for me is eating before I workout. I know I really shouldn't exercise on an empty stomach, but every time I try to eat before I do I feel queasy and yech all thru the cardio. Afterwards I can eat fine. I keep trying to find things that won't make me queasy that early in the morning. This morning after my weekend's shocking discovery that I like cottage cheese I had 1/2 a cup this morning before I set out on the bus. I figured it's good for me, with fats and proteins...and even tho it's a 30 minute bus ride before I work out I still spent all workout burping cottage cheese. Not great...but at least I wasn't nauseous. (Yup, new thing. Haven't had it since I was a kid when Mum kept trying to make me eat it, and I didn't like it then. Turns out, along with a lot of stuff I thought I hated, now I do. It's pretty tasty actually...and good for me with lots of protein. Mums do know what's best after all! )
Now the robot says I burned 501 calories on day one of this journey. Not too shabby.
Time for some yogurt and granola and it's off to work.
I want to work better not harder...am I on the right track?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)