DVD Challenge Week 3- 30 Day Shred

I have been remiss in my blogging of this past week's challenge. Sorry all I was on the road. But I did do my photos and I did do my DVD and I did weigh myself- so let me get down to it. It was an interesting week or so... hard training week w 5:30 planned hours from coach then the week after was my recovery week. And- being that time of the month with a rough training week made me exhausted and of course didn't help with the scale! I stuck with level 2 but I think it might be time to get ready for the jump to Level 3! :) Thinking I won't be losing the "up to 20lbs in 30 days" like the tagline says

I am not overly impressed with the photos this week but maybe the same thing as the scale... that time of the month?! who knows!




yes diff background because I was traveling and wanted to be sure to take my photos :)


And the Stats:
This week's workouts- Tues- hill repeats, DVD#12, Weds- bikram yoga, Mon- Cycling 6.52 mi, DVD#13, Fri- off not feeling well, Sat- Cycling 18mi, DVD #14, Sun- run 3.06mi, DVD#15, Mon- yoga, Tues- cycling 9.58mi, DVD #16, Wedns- off from training but did DVD #17, Thurs- short run on the beach in FL 1.6mi, DVD#18, Fri- day off from training but did DVD #19, Sat- Cycling 15.4 mi, Sun- run 3.06mi, DVD #20

Weight Tuesday Morning- 182.6lb (up assuming this is water weight from that time of the month~ we'll see next week?!)

Nutrition- Example: Breakfast- Apple w honey spices and granola- 247cals
Lunch- stir fry chicken w veggies and brown rice- 350cals
Dinner- lasagna home made with meat and veggies- 469cals
Snacks- cereal- 160 cals
Total: 1226 cals <- NEED to get this up!

Thoughts- Still low on the calories... counting seems to always do me in. So only 10 more DVD days left to get to 30. Hopefully the scale and the pictures show some progress. Starting to think what my next challenge may be....

The Challenge is ON!

The Challenge has started!!! As I said in my last blog post I decided to take on a new challenge to help combat my post season blues. I will be doing my DVD- 30 day Shred with Jillian Michaels and heading back to Bikram Yoga. So its ON! Well actually I decided to start it on Wednesday night by taking my "off day" and going to Bikram Yoga. Anyone who has done Bikram knows it is far from an "off day"- 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises in a room that is 105 degrees with 40% humidity. FUN TIMES! Actually I really like it. It helps me a lot mentally and really helps me physically too. So this is part of my month long challenge.

Yesterday before I started Day 1 of my DVD my friend Kissing_frogs read my challenge and decided to join me- virtually. Perfect another motivator! So here's the plan on the virtual challenge DVD portion: We came to the decision we will do the DVD 5 days a week MINIMUM- with the goal of 6 to 7. We will do level 1 for 10 days, level 2 for 10 days, level 3 for 10 days giving the 30 day shred!

I did my run that my coach wanted me to do yesterday then it was time to start the challenge. After much debate (since I am not pleased with what I see) I have decided I will post before (now), progress and after pictures. I guess it is the best way to gauge if the challenge works. So here we go.... please be gentle- try not to judge me too much!





The Challenge Deets:
Do my coach prescribed workouts for swim, bike, and run- generally 6 days a week and races are planned in here too. Do 30 Day Shred DVD- 5 days a week minimum with the hope of 6 or 7. I will also be doing Bikram Yoga as often as I can with my schedule- trying for at least one day a week. I will post progress photos every Friday and weigh myself on Friday mornings- hopefully it really works and the photos get better and the scale shows the hard work! I will also post a day of the week's nutrition- just so people can get a feel for what I am eating too. And of course... my 2cents on the whole thing will come along with the posts :)

The stats:
This week's workouts- Mon- Swim 1400yds, Tues- Bike 7.91mi, Wednes- Yoga, Thurs- Run 1.89mi and DVD Day 1, Fri- Swim 1500yds (still need to do DVD Day 2)

Weight Friday Morning- 185.2lb

Nutrition- Breakfast: 1 apple w 1tbsp honey, spices and 1/3c granola- 247 cals
Lunch: veggie chilli, cornbread, red fat cheese, apple- 383 cals
Dinner: ground beef taco meat on a salad w chips, NF sour cream, and cheese. dessert- GF cookie w strawberries and SF caramel- 605 cals
Snack: tortilla chips and salsa- 152 cals
Total: 1,387 cals <-not enough! need to work on this!

Thoughts- I am not going to lie- Day 1 of that DVD was not easy. I have done it before and my stamina and endurance are way better but there are some muscles I just haven't used in a long time- youch!

Post Season Blues

As you may have noticed from my London blog and my other post season wrap ups the season is over here and I am lacking some motivation. I am not a fast runner- so fall running races aren't super appealing to me. I am not a fast cyclist so put that with my not a fast runner and a duathlon doesn't really sound appealing. Plus- lets be honest a duathlon takes out what I am good at- SWIMMING! So with races right now consisting of mostly 5ks and 10ks and duathlons I am kind of stuck in a rut.

The other big thing that contributes to my lack of motivation and being stuck in a rut is I seem to have some sort of health issue that keeps me from losing weight. I can workout and eat right but it just doesn't come off. So when you aren't racing and you aren't seeing results its hard to go to the gym. At least when I'm racing I have goals to keep me going everyday. This whole lack of weight loss is another whole blog story for another time but anyway- to help myself get out of this I have been trying to come up with ideas.

I started coming up with a race plan for the next couple months of a couple 5ks and a 10k and even a late winter half marathon. Okay working down the right path. But to be honest- I know even if I don't train I can finish all those races. I am stubborn enough and have a decent level of fitness. So let's see I need something else!

Last night while at home I came across my Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. 3 different levels of 20 min full body workouts. Wheels started turning- I know I need to keep up my swim, bike and run fitness over the off season to be ready for next season but- I could add more right? I need to work in more strength workouts anyway right?




So thoughts for a new challenge are: Continue my regular workouts my coach is giving me right now- so my swim, bike and run- but now let's add doing the 30 Day Shred DVD everyday for a month. I will take some before pictures and blog about the experience to work as a review of the program and see what we get for results.

The other thing I am going to bring back to my routine is Bikram Yoga. For now starting with my "day off" from coach and possibly adding more days as my schedule will allow. So I think I've got it a new challenge, a new motivation, a new goal with any hope this will help get me over these post season blues. Hey who knows maybe if it works out in a month I will pick a new challenge.