Ripped in 30 Week 1

Well Week 1 is done. It was a rough week. I've already used up the last 2 drinking occasions of the month due to a belated Christmas party with my friends and a post-Christmas work event last night. Needless to say I am not feeling 100%, today's workout was tough, it took me 45 minutes instead of 30 due to extended breaks. I only ended up doing the video 3 times this week, because I ended up working out at the gym yesterday with a friend of mine, we didn't really have a plan but did a bunch of core/ab exercises and some other random strength work (planks, ab twists with the cable machine, crunches, side crunches, roman chair leg raises, push ups, wall squats) and then finally finished with 20 minutes of intervals on the elliptical.

Regardless, I'll be moving on to week 2 this week. I also need to start running again as I had signed up for an 8k back in October (the 2nd annual 408k Race to the Row coming up in March)  and just remembered this past week that I had registered ;)

Anyway I wanted to use this post to talk about the modifications I made to Week 1 to prevent knee pain and it seemed to work. It's weird that I've experienced knee pain from RI30 because I can do jump squats/lunges and plyometrics all day long. I got some of the modification ideas from this blog. I also wanted to note the weights I used for each exercise. I have weak shoulders and the video has you doing high reps so I'm pretty much always using the "barbie" weights as the New Rules of Lifting for Women book would refer to them - that book is another story for another day :)

Circuit 1

Push up - body weight, on knees

Squat and Press - 5 lb 

Crescent pose - 5 lb

Modifications:

Skaters - Step touch instead of jump

Circuit 2

Stiff leg deadlift upright row - 5lb, worked up to 8

Squat swing - 12 lb

Good mornings - 5lb, worked up to 8

Modifications:

Running man - shorter stride

Circuit 3

Chair pose reverse fly - 5lb

Side lunge with front raise - 5lb

Lunge with bicep curls - 5lb

Modifications:

Side lunge with front raise - made these stationary lunges instead of moving from side to side

Butt kicks - jogged in place

That's it!!! Have a great week everyone. I'm drinking some coconut water and trying to regain my energy back...

Get Some!

I think "Get Some" is like Jillian Michaels' favorite saying. I've done the week 1 workout several times in the last few months (I'm ashamed to admit), so I almost have it memorized.

This is my way of announcing that I finally got back on the JM wagon today, I had planned on doing it last night after work but ended up getting home later than expected. I even put on my gym clothes, but after I ate a late dinner (leftovers from Sunday night) I was full and tired, and ended up falling asleep on the couch watching The Big Bang Theory with my cat.

Aren't we cute?

So I woke up this morning determined to get back to it. I did some modifications to see if that would help with the knees, we'll see if they worked. I'll elaborate more on that in the next day or two, but today I wanted to focus on the most important meal of the  day - breakfast! I usually eat a light breakfast (a slice of toast and almond butter), wait 30-45 minutes, and then do the video. But this morning, I was still pretty satisfied from having a late dinner, so I had half a cup of coffee and went for it. So after the workout I was ready for breakfast, and decided to whip up a protein shake in my blender, something I haven't done in a while (I usually just mix protein and water in my blender bottle after workouts). I had some frozen pineapple tidbits, which goes really well with vanilla protein powder.

Pineapple protein shake

Pineapple Protein Shake

2 scoops vanilla whey protein (I use Jarrow's)
3/4 c frozen pineapple tidbits
1 Tbsp chia powder
1 Tbsp flax seed
Enough water so that everything mixes

Blend the pineapple and water until it blends smoothly, then add the other ingredients.

This comes to 342 calories, 36g carbs, 6g fat, 38g protein, 83g sodium, and 22g sugar.

Another go-to breakfast staple is oatmeal, which I had yesterday. I added a serving of fruit & nuts (Costco's "Wholesome Fruit & Nuts"), cinnamon, and a splash of coconut milk to make a delicious 314 calorie breakfast.

Oatmeal with Fruit & Nuts

Oatmeal with Fruit & Nuts

1/2 c rolled oats
3 Tbsp (30g) Kirkland Wholesome Fruit & Nuts
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp unsweetened coconut milk

Put oatmeal in a bowl and add a bit of water to your liking. Heat in the microwave for 90 seconds. Then, add the rest of the ingredients.

314 calories, 44g carb, 12g fat, 10g protein, 8mg sodium, 12g sugar

As a side note, did you know that 2013 is the International Year of Quinoa? Pretty interesting... think I'll have some quinoa for dinner :)

January Challenge

I decided there's no way I am setting foot in the gym this month, so in lieu of the gym I've decided to challenge myself to actually do the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 video at least 4-5 times a week (in the past I've only gotten up to 1-2 weeks so I don't even know what the 3rd and 4th week look like).

My cat attempting to do mountain climbers

This morning I took some "before" photos of myself and some measurements, I'll share those with the "after" at the end of the month.

I like the Jillian Michaels workouts because they are short and intense, the circuits themselves are only 18 minutes total but combined with the warm up and cool down the whole session is about 25 minutes (30 minutes if you have to pause and take a breath like I do).

I'm not following the meal plan but one of my other goals is to log my food on MyFitnessPal every day. I usually eat 5 meals a day, which includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 small snacks (~200 calories), and I try to eat somewhat clean with a proportion of 40/35/25 (carbs/protein/fat).

Today's stats (using a Polar FT7 HRM):

Duration: 31m 48s
Calories: 314
Average HR: 143
Maximum HR: 168
Fat Burn Zone: 9m
Fitness Zone: 22m 14s

As an additional challenge, I've also decided to only allow myself alcohol 3 times this month.

Happy New Year!