What's on my Menu and work out updates.

Hi again.


What we eat plays a huge impact on our body and its ability to work hard. Good food equals good results, bad food, bad results it's just that simple.

Choosing healthy foods, however does not mean you have to sacrifice flavour and variety. If I have learned anything over the last few months its that healthy food actually tastes so much BETTER than processed garbage.

Here's a sample of what' been on our menu lately:

Fruit salad

fruit, yogurt, homemade zucchini muffin and coffee!

Chicken soup

homemade guacamole

Healthier "apple crisp" - homemade apple sauce, granola and Greek yogurt.

Now for my workout recap:

I have been keeping a pretty standard schedule of running 3 days a week - 2 short 1 long with my longest being 8 miles!

I also joined an outdoor running class. We start with a warm up, then we spend 1 hr doing strength and cardio intervals. We follow that with hill repeats to strengthen our hearts and legs. Last, we run. so far the runs are short, but its only been 2 weeks and the class is meant to fit a variety of fitness levels. I am one of the strongest so its definitely not pushing me too much, but I really enjoy the social aspect and 

variety.

I am also still cross fitting 3 days a week, again 2 short workouts and 1 long workout. My favourite WODs of late: Cameron and baby Jorge. both had me try new exercise like squat cleans and triple unders!

What's on your menu? 

This quote really had me thinking! Whats your opinion??

An Anniversary and an update.

This week marks my second Runiversary!!!!

It's true. 2 years ago April 2, marked my first ever run. I had just joined "Spring shape up" - a program designed to you get moving and in shape before summer. It also coincides with training for the Manitoba Half Marathon held every Father's Day in Winnipeg, Manitoba..

I started out that first Saturday morning with plans to WALK the 5K distance. I was in decent shape and easily walked 20 km a week if not more. We joined up as a group at the start of a hwy to nowhere and did a group warm up. Then our trusty leader instructed us on how to run. She gave a great demo that had us running along side her. She had us run to different milestones and integrated walking intervals. She played many tricks on this nonrunning mamma! For example we would run one telephone pole and walk the next; or she would have us run 20 steps and walk 20 steps. Before we knew it we were done an entire 5K!!

I was shocked and felt very very accomplished! Who knew I had what it took to be a RUNNER!!
My running experience didn't end there. The class was held 3 days a week - Monday, Thursday we did 1 hr long boot camp style workout followed by a run of varying distances. The workouts were tough and the runs challenging. I was by no means fast, nor could I run the entire distances. Saturdays comprised of a long run that was designed to build our endurance for the up coming half marathon. We ran short intervals starting with 5 mins run 1 min walk and worked out way up to 7 and 1 intervals for the big race.

And yes I did run that big race!! The instructor convinced me that I could do it, and while I hit the wall many times and had minor injuries including crazy painful blisters (before I discovered running socks) and some minor IT band and runner's knee issues. I still crossed that finish line with 2 other girlfriends a mere 10 weeks after my first ever run. It was an exhilarating feeling!!

So here's my advice - GET OUT THERE AND TRY!! You don;t have to be a runner, or in perfect shape or fast. Its ok to go slow or go short. Its ok to walk when you get tired. JUST GO!!!! It will get easier. There will be set backs. Just keep moving forward :)

Now for my Sugar Detox Update! - I haven't been perfect. There has been the odd cup of coffee or tea with a tiny bit of honey. There have been homemade mini blueberry muffins. There was some flavoured almond milk and vanilla yogurt. But I have not had one cookie, or piece of cheesecake (that is wasting away in my fridge as we speak). I have not had ANY Easter Candy or M&Ms. Not one!!
So I am still considering this a success!!

Do you run?
Do you remember your first run?? Tell me about it :)

I'm Detoxing!!!

Hi again,

Before you get all worked up, No I am not a drug addict. But, I am taking this week to detox.

Laura over at Mommy Run Fast is hosting a Short but Sweet Sugar Detox.

It only lasts the week but will definitely be long enough for this Fit Mamma to clean out my system.

This is a HUGE CHALLENGE for me! I am not necessarily a sugar addict (denial??). I don't eat copious amounts of candy or other sugar laden snacks, but I DO use honey daily in my coffee and tea. I DO eat a handful of M&Ms several days a week. I DO eat flavoured yogurt or sweetened almond milk. I DO bake each and every week.

While I have TIDIED  up my diet over the last 3 months It is far from being CLEAN. So I guess in a sense its time to do a little internal SPRING CLEANING.

HERE are MY perimeters for this detox:

NO - sugar, honey or maple syrup added to foods.

NO - pop or sugary drinks (this one is easy for me)

NO - flavoured yogurt or milk

NO - cookies, candies, or baked goods.

NO - granola bars

I will eat: Protein bars when necessary.

I will eat bread etc. even if it has sugar on the ingredients list (I am a runner after all)

I will eat both fruits and vegetables and may have a glass of 100% juice.

I will do my best to read all ingredients lists and avoid where I can and TRY my BEST to eat whole foods. But I am a busy mamma who needs to keep her kids happy and fed. I refuse to make separate dinners.

Have you ever gone through detox?

Do you consume a large amount of sugar?

I was surprised this morning that I actually didn't mind my coffee sans honey! Who knew!!

It's Been a Struggle

The last fews weeks have been tough ones to say the least! They went  something like this:

March Break  - Hooray a solid week at home with my chicklets!!

Reality - O develops croup, E is super bored because all of her friends were in Mexico. R- gets to ride horses. Mamma house bound and grumpy.

Then that same week my MacBook died :(  Which meant no work, no blogging, not even face book. Although the break was a little nice I was definitely stressed out. A new Macbook wasn't in the budget and I was sure I had lost years of files and photos (I really need to start backing up more often).

Another Blizzard then a cold snap of -20C. Nothing dampens your mood more than -20C after you have made it out for a few runs outside and when you have half marathon training plans So I dragged my butt to the treadmill and ran a solid 10K for the St. Patty's Day virtual race for 13 in 2013. My time was terrible. 72 minutes, but I got in completed on the very last day!

The next week was a total blur as O was still sick, this time with an ear ache, Dr. appointments, hair appointments and finally a 2 day skating seminar with Canadian Champion pairs figure skaters Eric Radford and Meagan Duhammel. The girls had a blast, but it was a long 2 days.

The seminar was followed but a 2 show skating performance that all 3 of my lovelies participated in. They were terrific and had a ton of fun!!

Finally, it was Sunday. I usually have a crossfit workout at the fire hall, but I was dragging my butt and I knew I wouldn't be able to give it my all. So, I chose to rest and went ice fishing with my family for a couple of hours.

When Monday came around I knew I had to get my butt into gear and pledged to earn 1 extra exercise point for SBBC. It was simple just add an extra 10 minutes of exercise! I was off to a terrific start with a solid 4 mile run. All I had to do was stretch. Only it wasn't that easy. It turns out the rumbling in my tummy wasn't runners revenge it was the stomach flu. 36 hours later I managed to pull myself out of bed to the couch and tried solid food again.

By Thursday, I managed to run errands and get in a 40 min walk, at long last warm weather had come to Red Lake!!

So definetly not the March I had hoped and planned for, but I did learn a few things!

1)I am totally lost without my own computer, sharing doesn't work well for me.

2)I am not very nice when things start falling apart.

3) cold weather and delayed spring doesn't bring out the best in me, I really ended up in a miserable, dark place for a couple of days.

4) A few weeks of spotty workouts won't totally derail me, I haven't gained copious amounts of weight and hopefully haven't lost of lot of strength. This is most likely due to the fact that I continued to sneak in short, but hard cross fit workouts when possible.

5) My kids do need to come first, especially when the are sick or have exciting opportunities ( I already knew this, but its good to reaffirm it)

6) probably the most important - I didn't quit. I struggled. I fell down. I certainly faltered but I didn't let it derail me!!

The moral of this story is:

Motivation

Hey there,

I need of a little motivation to help you get moving?

Here are some of my favourite pics from tumblr that show why women need to LIFT.

You know that I love to lift heavy weights and CROSS FIT! I totally believe that strength training will make huge changes to your body. Don't be afraid of looking manly, only large doses of testosterone will do that!

I love this one!!

She is so strong!

:)

Don't be afraid to pick up some weight, and don't feel that you need to use 5 lb weights forever either. Got over wanting to TONE and start putting on some muscle! You will love it!

Do you lift?

Do you lift heavy?

Conventional or Cross Fit?? 

Workout Recaps

Last Monday was the official start to the Spring Bootie Buster Challenged hosted by Amanda over at run to the finish. I loved the Holiday bootie Buster so much that I knew the SBBC was the thing for me to do.

Each day we earn points for eating 7-9 freggies (fruits and/ or veggies) drinking water and moving our body. The big goal over the next 7 weeks is that we bootie busters will develop life long habits,  while challenging ourselves and maybe win a prize while we are at it.

I think I had a pretty solid start to my week. I hit all my targets for water and freggies and got in a decent amount to exercise. I was a little light on Wednesday which should have been a 45 min run plus stretching, but due to family obligations I only got in a 20 min cross fit workout. I also never found time to do the workout of the week - WOW. This stinks because the Wow is a double whammy - you earn points for the exercise and a bonus point plus you can do it all week long if you want. Its definitely on this weeks to do list!


Here is what my week looked like:

Monday - 4 mile run plus stretching, simple out and back towards Madsen. It was hilly and cold. I through in telephone pole intervals to challenge myself.

Tuesday - Cross fit workout - 7 rounds of: 7 push press, 7 crunches, 7 burpees. Followed that with planks ( i am so trying to improve my core strength) push ups and stretching.

Wednesday - Cross Fit Mama's Hope for Kenya - 12 mins AMRAP - 50 squats, 30 push ups, 15 pull ups. I got 3 rounds of the squats and push ups and 2 rounds of pull ups. Stretched and hit the road.

Thursday - more Crossfit. I gave the Cross Fit Mom's 13.1 WOD a go. It is a far cry easier than the the official Cross Fit 13.1 WOD and is mainly designed for pregger or postpartum mothers. But what can I say I am not an elite athlete and cross fit is about scaling workouts. I did the intermediate workout because I had never done a snatch before and didn't want to hurt myself or my living room.

13.1 WOD

12 burpees

15 snatch 45 lb

12 burpees

15 snatch

12 burpees

15 snatch

12 burpees

Again I did some core work (I found a great workout from Women's Health that used a kettle bell. Followed by more stretching (stretching is an easy point, plus it feels so good!)

Friday  - REST!!

Saturday - My first 6 miler. I ran to the gun club and back. The roads were nice and clear and I maintained my HMP of 10:30 quite well ( I know it probably looks super slow, but thats life!)

Sunday - Fire Hall Workout - Richard planned a doozy! We started with a great warm up then paired up. Tim and Rich and Renee and I. We worked at partners with one person starting and the second waiting for the first to finish before starting. We finished all 3 rounds before going to the next exercise. I am feeling the effects of DOMS today!!

3 rounds:

 8 dead lifts - 135#

pushups to failure

1 min rest

10 push press 45#

20 kettle bell swings 26#

1 min rest

20 wall balls 14#

ring rows to failure

1 min rest

20 weighted walking lunges 10 # each hand

dips to failure.

I spent a good portion of the day stretching out my hamstrings and hip flexers!

I hope you had a terrific workout week.

I have this week planned and hope to get 3 solids runs in along with 3 cross fit workouts.

What do you have planned?

Motivation

Hi Again,
I know its not Monday but I thought we could all use a little MOTIVATION!

Today's theme is ditching the SCALE! We are not a number, we are the sum of all of our parts and should never define ourselves by the number that pops up on the scale.

I would be lying if I didn't hop on my scale once every couple of weeks. And I would be lying if I said I didn't wish the number was just a little lower.  But its time to put those scales away and focus on the real results we get from eating well and working hard.

Here are a few of my Favourite Pics from the internet regarding ditching our scales:

I hope these motivate you as much as they motivate me. 

Do you weigh yourself often?

If not how do you measure your progress? I like to go by how my clothes feel.