My 2011 *New Year* Challenge

[Athene]

I was really active today and renewed my gym membership, I also committed to starting the 100 pushups program. I did the initial test today and am Rank 3 if I do modified pushups on my knees. *I suck* at regular push ups and seriously can't even do one with good form, but I have to start somewhere, right? I'm going to try to eat more vegetables and protein this week as well. A lot more. I also spoke to my Muay Thai coach about returning for drop-ins here and there, so I may get in a few kickboxing-type workouts too. I haven't been back to that since my ribs were broken in a fight camp last year. I'm rearing to go and I want to do everything! I have trained twice per day in the past and had good results. The more I do the more fired up I get and the faster the results, of course! It always sorts out my eating too because I get so hungry that I have to eat 5 or 6 times, and eating crap doesn't work.

Here is the fitness goal for the next 6 weeks, that's January 23-March 14th (please correct me if I messed up the counting!):

Monday to Friday - swim 1000 m every morning as a sprint, work on getting my time down.
Mon, Wed, Fri - 100 pushups program
Any 2 days per week - Sprint triathlon training with my friend, one day for running and one for cycling. If we can't get the time together certain weeks we will try to do both in the same day, that's a 20 km bike followed by a 5 km "run" (I use the term loosely!)
Randomly - 1-2 hour long kickboxing and Muay Thai workouts (skipping, kickboxing, circuit training, boxing drills, free weights, ab work, etc.)


Nutrition
Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 slice sprouted grain toast, 2 tsp ketchup, 250 ml earl grey tea with 1 tsp honey and 1 lemon wedge.
Snack - 1 cup fresh cherries, water.
Lunch - 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1 baked potato
Snack - water, 4 squares of extra dark chocolate.
Dinner - 1 cup mashed potatoes, 1 cup stovetop packaged stuffing (!), 1 serving skinless, boneless chicken breast.

No vegetables! Sad!

Workout
- 30 min freestyle swim, moderate effort with a lot of breaks.
- 30 min winter walk with the dog, light effort.
- 30 min snow shovelling, vigorous effort.

[musculargirl]

Athene, when is your tri? Have you ever done one before? I'm quite excited to try mine. I'm going to register for it this week!

[Athene]

Athene, when is your tri? Have you ever done one before? I'm quite excited to try mine. I'm going to register for it this week!

Hey! It's July 24th, when is yours? I have never done one before, so I'm both excited and nervous. Nothing lights a fire under me like the motivation of a competition.

[Athene]

That breakfast is making me regret my greek yogurt and strawberry smoothie ): sans ketchup, sorry I respect it, but I just don't get it (:

Your breakfast sounds good to me. I love Greek yogurt, but I find it's really expensive at the stores where I can find it, and I'm not going to make it myself, I just won't, I'm too lazy.

Haha, ketchup is kind of a strange condiment when you think about it. I don't use a lot of ketchup, but I love to have a little with eggs. I don't think I use it with anything else..... hmm, nope. In England they call it "to-mah-toh sauce", which I think makes it even worse! It's so not tomato sauce!

[Athene]

Ah! I will keep checking Costco. So far they haven't had it, but they do have 2 kg tubs of cottage cheese for 9 bucks, that's been my best bargain there so far!

[Athene]

Today just took a fantastic and unexpected turn!! I was looking for a part-time job before the winter break, just while I'm finishing the first year of my Master's degree, and was unenthused about the prospects, however; I did interview for one great job that I didn't think I would get. Today the university called me and offered me the position! I can't believe it! It's with the student union at the school I attend - the pay is more than I have ever earned in my life, and it's a one year term. This feels like the beginning of a great year.... I can't wait : )

Nutrition
Breakfast - 1 cup oatmeal, 7 almonds, dash cinnamon, 1/4 cup skim milk.
Snack - 1 cup fresh cherries.
Lunch - 1 whole wheat pita, 2 tbsp hummus, 1 cup chopped baby spinach, tomato, green pepper, and basil mixture. 250 ml coffee, 1/4 cup 2% milk.
Snack - half a large banana, 250 ml skim milk.
Dinner - 250 ml V8 Broccoli Parmesan Soup (90 cals) with 1 cup cottage cheese (I whipped it and blended it, it made it really creamy and added 30 grams of protein).
Snack - half a large banana, 250 ml skim milk.

Workout
Cardio: Swim - 1000 m freestyle, vigorous effort (approximately 25 mins)
Strength: 100 pushups program, Day 1 -10,12,7,7 max-out (14) 60 second breaks in between sets.

[fitoverforty]

Congrats on the job!!
Looks like you had a great day all the way around.

[musculargirl]

That's is great news on the job, congrats!

[Athene]

!!

Congrats on the job!!
Looks like you had a great day all the way around.

That's is great news on the job, congrats!

Thanks! I'm really excited.

[Athene]

I underestimated how sore my chest would be after swimming and doing the pushups program yesterday! There was no way I could swim this morning and then go to kickboxing tonight without wasting my shoulders, chest, and arms; and I want to look strong tonight when I go back to the Muay Thai gym. For this week I will swim at least 4 times, but maybe not 5 or 6 like I was planning.

Remembered to weigh-in this morning: 155.6 lbs, bringing the total to 5.6 lbs lost this month.

Nutrition
Breakfast - 1 whole wheat pita, 4 scrambled egg whites, 1 serving cheddar, 1/2 cup chopped green pepper and tomato, water.
Snack - 1 cup fresh blueberries, 1 tall skim milk latte, water.
Lunch - 1 whole wheat pita, 1 cup chopped green pepper/spinach/tomato, 2 tbsp hummus, Campbell's tomato soup (170 cals), water.
Snack - 1 serving Isolate protein shake, lots of water.
Dinner - 1 slice sprouted grain toast, 85 g tuna, 2 baby dill pickles, ginger ale (200 cals worth, it was a craving and I had some in the fridge from my flu-groceries last week), water.

Workout
Strength & Cardio: 1 hour kickboxing workout at Muay Thai gym. I threw up in my mouth!

[feelin-great]

Remembered to weigh-in this morning: 155.6 lbs, bringing the total to 5.6 lbs lost this month.

Great job!

Your breakfast sounds yummy! I may have to steal that one

[Athene]

Your breakfast sounds yummy! I may have to steal that one

Right on! It was pretty good - the only thing is I have come to hate egg whites, like really really hate them. I think I'm just going to switch back to eggs, it can't be that bad to have a few yolks here and there... can it?

[feelin-great]

I would never eat plain egg whites - I would have to add one whole egg in there. And no, they definitely aren't bad to have! I believe there are a lot of nutrients in the yolk - there is just more fat in there as well.

[Athene]

I find that I just can't stand egg whites on their own anymore. The only thing I used them for consistently was homemade protein pancakes - lots of egg whites, cottage cheese, and oats in those, but you only get the texture of the oats and the cottage cheese really.

Sprouted corn tortillas sound awesome - I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for those at the grocery store : )

[Athene]

Thanks for the link Allison!

Today was insane. Last night during my kickboxing workout I guess I went a little too hard and I was completely destroyed last night and all day today. I think I was dehydrated - I had a headache, sensitivity to light, my brain was just turned off - I felt like a zombie - and I can't move. My chest hurts like I was kicked in the xyphoid process, but I wasn't, and I can barely lift my arms or sit down in a chair without flopping down and losing control of my legs. In short: I feel like a pile of sh*t! There is no way a real workout is happening today, so I just did ab work. We did pushups last night, so I have to wait a day to get back to my 100pushups program. I made a date with my workout buddy to have a nice long stretch in the sauna tomorrow morning, so I'll see if I feel like going for a run or something afterward once I'm limbered up. I can't believe that I thought my individual workouts were comparable to kickboxing, what a wake-up call

Nutrition
Breakfast - 1.5 cups oatmeal, 5 prunes, 7 almonds, dash cinnamon.
Snack - 350 ml green tea, 1 tsp honey, 1 cup fresh blueberries.
Lunch - 1 whole wheat pita, 2 tbsp hummus, 1 cup chopped baby spinach/tomato/green pepper, 1 tall skim milk latte.
Snack - 1 piece mozarella string cheese (60 cals, 4 g fat, 6 g protein), 1 small orange.
Dinner - 3 oz roasted chicken without skin, 1 small baked potato, 1 cup green veg.

Workout
100 crunches - 4 sets of 25.