Friends Who Workout Together Stay Together

Soooooo hitting a minor mental block with working out recently. My diet hasn’t been on point and I had just gotten into the groove of working out being on night shift. Now that I’ve switched to day shift and need to work out at like 8pm or later, after working at least 12 hours, is hard and I’ve been losing that battle. Today was literally a blessing out of the blue.

I was able to make it to the gym (after taking a few pictures of myself in my cute new pants which are of course below) but was pretty unmotivated. I errged, which was okay, but set the time for a normal 20 minute warmup and only could push myself to do 15 minutes. I moved downstairs for some weighted work and did a decent first set (5 heavy bench press, 10 sumo squats with lifts, 5 walk outs with push up, and 8x side 1 legged squats with a kettlebell all 4 times each) but then lost motivation to keep going with that. I did 2 Pinterest ab workouts (new focus) which are also below. However, I started a third and got halfway through it and stopped. (Rationalized it by saying since it was mostly the same stuff I should stop cause I already did a lot of it. Now, thinking about it I should have been motivation to keep going because I would have kept working those muscles, which need to be worked.) I finished and just headed home trying not to be too hard on myself. (But forgot my keys and totally didn’t realize it until I was one block away from my apartment — therefore, I had to walk the mile back to the gym, grab my keys and walk the mile home a second time.)

I kinda wanted to just hang out and not think about the weigh in tomorrow so I texted my friend from work to do something. And its like she knew what I needed and wanted to go on a walk around the Schuylkill River trail. Seemed pretty short so I was like “why not.” Holy shit! We wound up walking for 2 hours and 22 minutes and on her pedometer it said we had more than 8,000 steps! (And according to Running Map we walked 8 miles!) We burned over 800 calories!! (And made a date to go tomorrow!) So thanks Meg! You not only helped me burn serious calories but I feel like it was a nice restart to my mind to help me get back on track. I feel like I just have to open myself up to some new exercises every once in a while. (Crossing my fingers to get the motivation to go to yoga tomorrow morning and THEN do some weights.)

Hopefully tomorrow’s weigh in won’t crush me but for now I’m feeling great.

30 Day Butt Challenge Results

Between doing multiple night shifts in a row and then switching back to day shift, I realized that I have been completely slacking on this blog! However, I was not slacking on those squats. I do have to admit that I fell off the bandwagon of doing the exact squat challenge for the day that BodyRock.tv told me to do. However, I substituted exercises of my own and my trainers into my workouts. This is a picture of my progress in one month and personally I think I did gain some butt sizeage ( even though I am down a little more than 2 pounds it looks like my abs are getting fatter! Ahhh! Hello incorporating more situps.) What do you guys think? Did the 30 Day Butt Challenge work?

Today’s workout was pretty butt/leg intensive to fit the theme of the day. I wanted to try to lift and firm my ass as much as I could for this photo. (Not to mention a really cute dude was at the gym. *Swoon*) After this challenge I have a slight dislike for squats now since I had to do so many per day. Ugh. I’ve been trying to find alternatives and I came across this post by FitSugar involving Yoga poses so I think I am going to try to work these into my next workout. Today I just tried to bump up my weight/set amounts for everything

Warmup: Tired running to the gym but the streets of Philly were packed (and my roommate somehow ran 15 miles training for the full marathon). My alternative was 10 minutes on the elliptical — cross training 2 — level 6.
__________________________
3x
10 – Bench press (80)
8 – Deck squat (35)
10 – Full swings (35)
10x side – KB row (35)
__________________________
3x
10x leg – 16″ step up (60)
10 – deep squat (60)
8 – full push up walk out (bodyweight)
15 – situps (bw)
_________________________
3x
10 – deadlift (140)
5x leg – 1 legged full push up (off my knees – bw)
________________________
3x
5 – assisted pull ups (-120)
5 – assisted dips (-120)

Song That Kept Me Going:
Gorilla – Bruno Mars

Now for some football!

 

Thirsty Thursday #4

I meant to post this yesterday but I was out and about in Philly all day. This was SO GOOD that I had to post it, even if it was a day late. =\ 

Pumpkin Protein Shake to celebrate over a week of having my windows open and even wearing jeans for the Eagles game on Monday! 

6 oz Vanilla Almond Milk
1-2 tablespoons of Pumpkin Pie Filling (I used 1 but felt it could be a little more pumpkin-y)
2 tablespoons of Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 Banana
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
Cinnamon to top

 

Perfect for fall! AND it was only 266 calories!

 

Alternative Style Happy Hour

Totally indulged in Happy Hours the past 2 nights. Monday was ALL about the Eagles’ opener in Washington DC where they kicked ass against the Redskins. If it isn’t already obvious I am a huge Eagles fan. Like, my blood is green. My roommate? Not so much. She enjoys sports but isn’t a diehard like myself. However, cause she’s totally awesome, she came to a local bar for the first half to watch the game with me. It was awesome, especially since a 20-something ounce Miller Lite was 4.50$. Woot!
Then yesterday I went out with the girls I work with after our ICU class for happy hour at a bar near the hospital we work at. I tried Flying Fish’s Oktoberfest. I am not sure if the waitress forgot to get me the Oktoberfest or if it just wasn’t that pumpkin-y but it was still delicious.
I wanted to keep with my “bar” theme for the week and for this week’s link with with Skinny Meg for Workout Wednesday I’m giving you a bar intensive workout. Tell me what you think!

Warmup for 20 minutes on the elliptical (cross training #1, resistance 10)
___________________________
4×8 Deadlift (155)
70 Back squats (65)*
__________________________
4×8
Snatches (65)
Bend overs (65)
Cleans (65)
________________________
4×5 Deck squats (35)
76 skiiers*

*BodyRock Butt Challenge (today and tomorrow I am doing 2 days worth since I have fallen a little behind … also the skiiers are a substitute for the suggested one for yesterday because I wasn’t really sure how to do it and my trainer happened to chat me up right before I went to do the exercise and suggested this instead.)

Kinda shocked that (a) that took me so long … I was taking a good amount of breaks because I was getting kinda dizzy (worked out at 6 and last ate at 1) and (b) that I burned so many calories! Woot! This allowed me to be under my calories for the day by almost 100! Woot woot! Especially since tomorrow is a weigh in day! =D

 

Weekend Workout Wipeout

I’m watching Harry Potter while writing this and JK Rowling really loves her alliterations so I thought I’d try one of my own. Meh. Mediocre. I’m not going to be a millionaire anytime soon. However, I AM going to have a nice booty in 27 days! I really didn’t think that this BodyRock squat challenge would be kicking my booty so much! I’ve been integrating their squats into my daily workouts and already, just 3 little days in, I see my butt firming already. That could also be the mind games I play with myself or the soul fact that I am so unbelievably sore that its just a solid rock of pain. I’m just going to tell myself that I’m seeing improvements already! =D

I was in a rush to get to Starbucks for a pumpkin coffee (first of the season!) before my bus that I didn’t have time to record yesterday’s workout so you get 2 for 1 today! =D Enjoy!

Friday:
20 minutes of yoga in my beautiful new room with the windows wide open on a great day!! Check it out!


Walked to the gym (and might have stopped in a store).
15 minutes of elliptical — gluteal 2 — 10 resistance
_________________________
Weight increasing deep squats in the cage.
(I follow an account on Instagram called ‘bossgirlssquat’ and they talk all the time about squatting “ass to the grass” where you basically go down beyond parallel; and I’ve been practicing that a lot. My hips definitely need to open some more but I get down pretty deep, so I’m proud.
Bar – 95 – 105 – 115 – 120 – 125 10x each
_______________________
3x
Bench press (75, 75, 80)
Tricept dip off the bench (body weight +10 pound weight)
25 sumo squat (35lb KB) — this was the BodyRock challenge
10 full sings (35lb KB)
______________________
3x
10 bend overs with the bar (65, 75, 80)
10x side 1 arm KB row (35)
10 weighted situp (35)
5 nonassisted!!!! deck squats (35)
____________________
3x
8 Assisted pull ups (-135)
10 leg raises
10x side heel touches
10 supermans
10x leg fire hydrants
___________________
3x
10 hip abductor (100)
10 hip adductor (100)

 

Saturday:
I woke up SO SORE so I just wanted to get something in quick but effective so I did an adaption of this PopSugar Fitness treadmill workout — it was a little too hard for me today so here is what I did [after a 10 minute walk on the elliptical — cross training 2 — 5 resistance].
5 minutes: 1 incline, 4.0 speed
_____
3 minutes: 15 incline, 3.0 speed
1 minute: 1 incline, 7.0 speed
3 minutes: 10 incline, 3.5 speed
1 minute: 1 incline, 7.0 speed
x4
____
5 minutes: 1 incline, 4.0 speed
Then I walked until I hit the 3 mile mark — which was another ~1.5 minutes at 3.0 speed

I didn’t want to forget about the BodyRock challenge so I ended with today’s 60 1 leg elevated weighted squats. I used a deck with 4 risers [on each side] and a 26 lb KB. Again, I was super sore I could hardly get down low. Not to mention this was the first time I have ever done a 1 leg elevated squat and it was weird. I wasn’t quite sure which leg to concentrate on because they were both sore but again solid.as.a.rock. I’m not gonna lie, I totally did something I hate, and watched my butt in the mirror as I worked out. I just kept thinking “jean season is coming, jean season is coming.” That’s enough to get anyone going no matter how sore.

 

I’m taking the day off tomorrow to hang out with my mom and get new scrubs (because its my full time job now and I need them because all my old ones are way too big! WOOOO!) What are you guys doing for your weekend workouts?

Withdrawal Symptoms

Thats pretty much what I have been experiencing not being able to have access to internet or cable because of new job / moving / idiot Comcast! However, I am back and soooo excited! I wanted to give you guys a nice long post to catch you up on life but I don’t even read those annoyingly long posts, even by my favorite bloggers, so I decided to do something different. 

10 things I have been doing without the internet:
10: Took a week long break from exercising (and lets be serious eating correctly) to move into my new apartment [which from the street to my bed has 51 steps!!!].
9: Got so sick of feeling fat after said week off that I actually used Map My Run for the first time ever (great app!) and ran 4 miles!
8: Took a class that I have never taken before at Sweat (today!) and it just happened to be taught by my trainer! It’s called M&M Muscles and Mobility. We “made the gym into an obstacle course” and 2/3 challenges I won! [This includes my run to the gym from my apartment, warmup/stretching and the class.]
7: My dad and I went grocery shopping and I bought flax seeds and quinoa which made him freak out and compelled to tell everyone we passed in the store [and eventually called my mom when we were done] to tell them that his daughter just bought bird seed. “My daughter just bought bird seed. She is eating bird seed. Karla, it would probably have been cheaper if we went to Lowes.” I love that man so much and this is just another one of the reasons why.
6: Out of the past 15 days I have spent the majority of them making my food rather than heating it up in the microwave or buying it. Some of the recipies I have tried are grilled lamb chops, stuffed chicken, and homemade pizza! All of these days I have been under my calories!
5: Lets be honest it wouldn’t be almost fall without some Oktoberfest beers! I need to indulge every now and then and when I do it’s been with Mr. Sam Adams and Yuengling (both of which have amazing pumpkin beers — my favorite)!
4: FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL! Go Eagles! Go Broncos!
3: Linking up with Skinny Meg for Recipe Link Up: Breakfast. Mine this morning was Dannon’s Light and Fit Vanilla Greek Yogurt with raspberries, flax seeds and almond granola with a cup of coffee with fat free french vanilla creamer.
2: Started the BodyRock 30 day ass challenge. Here are my “before” pictures. Ugh this is motivation enough to do the challenge because of how bad my butt looks from behind! [I wanted to show my tattoo so that when my results are amazing {crossing fingers} there will be no question its actually me!]
1: Made my September goals: (a) Under 170! (b) Yoga at least once a week (c) Take a class at least once a week OR run (d) Get to my 2000 mL of water per day goal even though its been at least 4 months and I still haven’t done it. (e) Be ready for jean season with a nice ass!

Thirsty Thursday #3

If I could figure out how to link up I totally would. But I have no idea on what to do with Linkyblog or whatever its called. So thanks for joining me again after my little hiatus to start my new job as a RN / move into my big girl apartment in a different part of Philly / finally get cable&internet no thanks to Comcast. 

Here is a chocolate/banana/coffee mixture that is just pure bliss. I feel like I should have added flax seeds and a few ice cubs to make it that much better. However, it was still delicious. What you need:

8 oz of Mocha Iced Coffee Almond Milk
2 oz of Vanilla Almond Milk
2 tablespoons of Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 banana (I like them really ripe which is why it’s almost all brown)
1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla but I feel like chocolate or coffee flavors would be delicious, too!)

This is definitely my favorite shake so far! And according to MyFitnessPal its only 304 calories! Woo! 

Let me know what you guys think!

 

Thirsty Thursday #2

My favorite way to start my day is with a good hard morning workout, especially when it involves dead lifts, heavy squats, and a killer ab workout!! I just had a Cliff Bar before working out and wanted something refreshing and breakfast-y to round out my morning. Here is what I came up with:

8 oz of Banana infused OJ
1 cup of natural applesauce
1/2 cup of blueberries
1/2 cup of frozen blackberries
1 scoop of protein powder

It’s definitely thirst-quenching. And super delicious. A little weird because before you blended it everything was bright orange and then this is what it looked like when the blue/blackberries dominated in color. Highly recommend this one if you’d want something light and refreshing. And it’s 317 calories.

What are you guys drinking after morning workouts?

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Elated, excited, thrilled, overwhelmed, pissing my pants … yeah ALL of these things apply for today! Not only did I feel super official getting my finger print added to the medication system on my new unit, but even more thrilling than that, Skinny Meg also gave me a shoutout on her blog today! Thank you so much! That was awesome! I’m glad that you enjoy my blog! =D And because she is an awesome friend, the Little One also gave me a shoutout, too! 

This blog is my way to keep myself motivated on my weight loss / get fit journey and it makes my day, week and probably year knowing other people are encouraging and enjoying my journey! Please please please feel free to comment anytime you guys want with anything. Suggestions, thoughts, motivation, or teaching me the difference between than and then (still haven’t gotten that one down yet).

Originally, I had a whole different idea for today’s link-up post with Skinny Meg, herself, for Workout Wednesday (not doing Weigh In because with work my ritual has been slightly mixed up — look out for that either tomorrow or Friday) but after yesterday’s post-training therapy session and my shoutout today I decided to go a different route. Recently I have been pretty good with tracking my calories and working out but not too long ago (aka: last month) it was a huge struggle. Something my trainer said to me when I first started with him has stuck with me, and I put on repeat in my head when I get down. He started to tell me that any type of weight loss that happens fast can be gained back fast because there was not enough work or sacrifice done for it. You have to go through a journey and make the big changes a habit before you really see anything happen. Otherwise, its just going to come right back. Putting on weight was a gradual process so why should losing it and becoming fit NOT be that way? Basically, anything important in life is worth working for. I like to keep motivation around me a lot (my fridge is covered in pictures from my pinterest workout board) to keep my mind on track. However, more than anything, hearing encouragement, especially from someone who I respect so much and I know who understands this, means so much. So thank you; you totally rejuvenated me!! I’m excited to push myself harder, increase weights, and really keep going when it seems hard or I’m lazy. So since so many people have been helping keep me up, I wanted to share a few other things that are motivating me, with you guys, in hopes it helps someone tomorrow with their workouts! 

The next two are because when I get to my goal weight I am treating myself to a sugar skull tattoo on my outer thigh (because a sugar skull is it’s own special type of beautiful and its on an area of my body I don’t like. Therefore, I will then like my legs and be reminded how awesome it is to stay in shape.)

Now, here is a picture of Alex and I from this weekend where we both look great and our arms look super toned!

And finally, because it IS Workout Wednesday here is the quick cardio workout I did today because I was too sore from yesterday’s training sesh to do anything else but still worked out regardless!
_______________________________
5 minutes on the stair climber (I almost feel off twice because I tried taking my eyes off the moving stairs … I am apparently not coordinated enough for this machine. Stair master – 1, Karla – 0)
15 minutes on the elliptical (gluteal 1, resistance 10)
15 minutes on the bike (hill climb, level 7)
20 minutes on the elliptical (cross training 2, resistance 10)

Song That Kept Me Going:
Dead On Arrival – Fall Out Boy

I am OBSESSED …

… with the *NSYNC Pandora radio station. Seriously, you should totally go and add it to your stations, NOW! I have been listening to it non-stop (well except when I was running today because sometimes there are slow songs and ain’t nobody got time for that on a treadmill); cleaning my room, walking to/from work, lifting. It’s great! Not to mention it makes me think back to when I was a little child dancing in my room belting out the lyrics to all of these songs (compared to this past Friday when I was dancing in my underwear to On Demand music in my living room … see the difference? I’ve totally matured.)

I am also obsessed with my benefits package that I have to file this week for work (except for the fact that this seems very adult to file for a benefits package … yikes! Adult. Ew.). “Why are you excited for benefits, Karla”, you ask. Well because not only do I get paid for a large chunk of my gym bill each month, but I also get money taken off of my benefit monthly bill for enrolling in a fitness tracking program. I basically just have to workout 3 times a week for an hour or 5 times a week for at least a half hour, which I already do without being told to. YESSSSSSS! AND IT GETS BETTER! I get 6 totally free nutritional consults per year. Which means that I am going to talk to someone about how I can begin to start implementing eating clean so I can be ripped! Wooooo! 5 years of panic attacks and crying episodes topped with LOADS of stress is now totally worth it. #winning

Well since I was on such a high from all my new found knowledge I did a crazy treadmill workout after work. Seriously, I have no idea how I did this or where this motivation came from. I stumbled across this popfitness workout and went for it. 

I thought this was totally manageable. I didn’t ever stop or walk (which is a first!) but I did have to hold onto the safety bar in front of me a few times. I’d say, realistically, I was holding on 40/60. My calves felt like they were being ripped off my legs (which I think I’ll regret tomorrow during training) but I hate my calves so its fine, they need a beating. However, I did get chub rub for the first time this summer. 

I just realized that this doesn’t look that bad at all. However, it was awful trying to walk home. The whole time I was just talking to myself, and trying to convince myself that it’ll be totally worth it when my legs look nice in leggings for the fall. After my shower I put a shit ton of deodorant on them so that, if they rubbed while I walked to dinner with Brooke, that it wouldn’t hurt. Plus, I also heard it helps heal it a little. I dunno. I did it and they felt better so I am just going to go with it.

*I warmed up with 15 minutes on the bike (cascades, level 5) and then finished with 10 minutes of stretching.

Song That Kept Me Going:
AC/DC — Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
NOT the stupid Mike/Ike adds on Pandora. STFU pandora — I don’t want to pay to listen to you nor do I believe Nelly was who brought Mike and Ike back together.