Working On My Fitness

I joined Erin and Kristin for their #4weeksfit challenge last month and have also been working on my fitness.

My goals for the #4weeksfit challenge was to work on my training in the Couch to 5K program, as well as start IIFYM for eating. I am proud to say that I have been showing up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4:45 am to say hello to my little friend the treadmill. There, I literally work my ass off and push myself harder than I ever have in my life with running. Each week I can run a few minutes longer, and each week I give myself self-fives.

I brought back leg day for Tuesdays. I just do the bulk leg work out from Body Beast because it works on all different parts of the legs. I also do the six minute arm work out from Pop Sugar Fitness either during the “rests” or after.

On Thursdays, I either do a chest/shoulders/back work out from Body Beast or a few different Pop Sugar Fitness work outs, either cardio or strength training.

Now that spring has sprung and the grass is growing, some Saturdays will be spent cutting the grass. Most would say, meh…no big deal. We have three sections of our yard; the front which is slightly rolling, the back which is all on a slant and then there is the beast of a hill we call the side yard. This is a picture of about 1/2 the side. It is hard to tell just how steep it really is towards the top…

That hill was my arch nemesis last year. It took everything I had in my legs and upper body to push our mower along. I tried a few different approaches and have found what works best for me. You can’t just go up and down or you will fall, you either have to take it at an angle or side ways. Last year I used to cut the front and  half the side one day, and then the other side and the back another day. I would be drenched in sweat and completely breathless and worn out on that side yard when all was said and done.

This past Saturday I did it ALL.  I did not break out in a sweat and I was breathing just fine. The only thing that sucked afterwards were the damn blisters on my feet from sliding around in my shoes on all the hills. And some blisters on my hands despite the gloves I wear. I was so damn proud of myself for being physically able to do it all! This year we are going to have a lawn to be proud of! HUGE non-scale victory for me.

Just because you aren’t seeing the results, doesn’t mean your work outs aren’t making you stronger each and every day. That was proven to me this Saturday.

Now on to the eating. The first week of the challenge I tracked all my food as I would normally eat to see where I am with protein, carbs, etc. Like most people in this country, my carb intake was a little high. Damn you carbs! I had blood work done just to make sure all of that is ok. My hormones, insulin, cholesterol, and all my vitamin levels checked out just fine. The only thing that was just a little higher than the normal were my triglycerides. Triglycerides are a type of fat lipid found in your blood that are normally released as energy between meals. In order to get the number down, you want to decrease your intake of carbs and fats.

I sat down to try to figure out the right numbers for IIFYM from a few different sites. Each site I came out different. I really don’t want to have to pay someone to figure this out for me, but if I am going all in…I may need to suck it up. Anyone out there good at figuring out their own? I feel like how many recommended calories I am getting with most of the formulas is way too high. Therefore, I haven’t started following it yet and failed the food portion of my challenge.

For the next month, I really want to continue pushing myself for C25K, and continue strength training the days I don’t run. I may start incorporating a 6th work out day each week on the weeks I don’t cut grass. I have been thinking about starting another program on the days I am not doing C25K, but I am not sure which one yet.

I also want to actually track my macros, so my goal will be to keep researching and figuring out the right numbers for me so that I can give it an honest go and see if it will work for me.

Linking up with my running cheerleaders Tracy and Alyssa as well!