Walden Farms Products

I did a previous post about how in love I was with the Walden Farms BBQ sauce. Yum! I recently ordered the "sweets" products in hopes that it would be a saving grace for any sweet tooth attacks that I have in the next 12 weeks. I ordered the marshmallow whip, caramel dip and chocolate dip. I would say that all three are "eh". They will do in a pinch, but none of them are the same as a cookie!! I did find that putting a little bit of one of the flavors in my protein shake was really good. I also put a little bit of the marshmallow in my sugar-free jell-o and that was good too. I will continue to experiment. Much love!

Today's Workout, 2/2/10

Today's workout with my trainer was working back and biceps. We did ladders for a large portion of the workout. For those of you not familiar with ladders it is an extremely effective way to hit different angles in your muscle you are working For example, back. We started with 40 lbs on the cable machine. We used the handle that is in the shape of a W. My hand position going down was overhand. We started with the angle up high and did 12 reps. After each set, we dropped the angle a notch until we finally hit the bottom notch. I felt this in each muscle set within my back. I was working! Once we hit the bottom, we worked our way back up, this time my hand position was underhand. We also did pull-up plyos in-between my other exercises. Other exercises consisted of bicep curls, hammer curls, rope extensions, etc. It was a great workout!

Post-workout, I took my BCAA's and glutamine to help repair and build and followed with a protein shake that consisted of water, ice, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/4 cup of light orange juice and 1/2 c oats. Yum!

12 Weeks Out!

Hi Everyone! I've returned from the Bahamas (ahhhh...yes, it was SO warm!!!)and now 12 weeks out from my competition. I packed all my food and took it with me and amazingly, I stayed true to my competition diet while down there! I even came home a pound lighter on the scale. Yippee!

So right now I am doing 20-25 minutes of HIT cardio about 5-6 days/week. I'm not wanting to do too much more than that for fear of dropping weight too soon and losing precious muscle. I meet with my trainer today, so we will see if she starts tweaking my diet and my cardio. In her opinion, I can be "show ready" in 6 weeks, so hopefully I get to continue on my current calorie plan.

My treadmill workout this morning was 5 minutes warm-up then 20 minutes of 1 minute fast, 30 seconds rest. My speed on the treadmill is set at 8.0. Each treadmill is different, so do what works for you. I was breathing heavy at the end! Pump the music and get into a groove and you might actually enjoy it!

Yesterday I lifted heavy legs and they are sore and tired today. I'm also obsessed with pull-ups (starting position from the lowest hanging position) as I can see a big difference in my back and my biceps from doing them. They are tough to do, but try to get better at your pull-ups every/other/day. Even if you can only do 1 right now, that is still great! Hang and pull yourself up as opposed to jumping up and only going down part of the way. You gain more from the pull at the very top. Make a goal to master 1, then 3, then 5, so on. You can do it and your back will be beautiful by summer!!

Love you ladies! Rock the Girl Power and Go Figure!!!

Yummy Tuna Salad

Here is a new favorite of mine. I found the Bumblebee tuna steak the other day in the grocery store. Yum!

In a bowl add:

Fresh spinach leaves (salad bag kind)
Chopped cucumbers
Hard boiled egg whites (minus yolk)
Tuna steak
Avocado

For salad dressing I use red wine vinegar and I sprinkle with sea salt. It's really filling!

Food

Hi Ladies! I get asked A LOT about what I eat. During competition mode, my diet differs than when I am in maintenance mode. Right now I am in the early stages of my competition diet. My competition is about 14 weeks out and I can be "stage ready" in 6 weeks. So...we are focusing on putting more muscle on me. I have a really hard time gaining muscle mass since I was an endurance runner for so many years and also because of my build. I have to work REALLY hard to get my muscle :) This means that right now my calories are about 1800-2000/day and I am higher in carbs (the good kind ladies!) than I will be as the competition gets closer. I have an overall macro nutrient goal for the day that is broken out per meal that I try to hit. I like this method better because it gives me more choice on what I eat. There are different plans out there and honestly it just takes trying different ones to see what your body responds best to. I also phase my carbs out as the day progresses so that by dinner time, my only carbs are from my green veggies.

As far as supplements, I get this a lot too. My supplements are BCAA's, Glutamine and Whey Protein Powder. Again, this is what works for me and not for everyone, so definitely check with your trainer before you copy what I am doing.

Today my cardio consisted of 20 minutes on the stair climber, doing intervals and sweating and building my hiney! I always do cardio following my weight training since I am already in fat-burning mode. My sets today were Back/Bi's/Abs. Lots of pull-ups!!!

Good luck to all of you. Rock the girl power and Go Figure!!!!

The Importance of Interval Workouts Ladies!!

I'm forever telling ladies to not spend so much time doing steady-state running (I was guilty of doing it for years) and to focus more on intervals that require less time but burn more fat. Here is an article from Oxygen Magazine, Feb., 2010 issue that reinforces the concept.

Love This Picture From Oxygen Magazine, 2/10