Return of the Blogger

Sorry for being gone so long. I've been trying to finish up work on my part-time job before we leave for the cruise. Can you believe it's only 3 days away! We leave for New Orleans on Friday, the cruise goes S-TR, then we return from New Orleans on Saturday the 26th!

So...what have I been up to?

A little of this...1/2 can of Amy's black bean soup with 1/2 packet of Uncle Ben's Vegetable Harvest microwaveable rice.

And this...a huge salad with romaine, spring mix, black beans, chick peas, broccoli, carrots, ham, egg whites, and ranch dressing.

And of course some of this...a trip to the park.

I had personal training yesterday evening and this morning. Yesterday morning I did week 5, day 3 of the couch to 5k program. This one consisted of 5 minutes of walking, 20 minutes jogging, 5 minute walking cool-down. I am very proud to say that I only stopped twice. Once at the 10 minute mark for 1 minute and once at the 4 minute mark for 30 seconds. Using MapMyRun I figured out that I did a total of 2.55 mi.!!! Woohoo!!

Before personal training yesterday I did 30 minute on the upright bike. Yesterday's training session was going to be circuits with running interspersed. But, since I mentioned I ran that morning, here's what we did:

1. narrow squats with ball on wall
2. wide squats with ball on wall
3. bicep curls with the body bar (1 set of 12)
4. upright rows with the body bar (1 set of 12)
5. push ups (1 set of 5 modified)
6. shoulder press with the body bar (1 set of 12)
7. 20 crunches on the ball (1 set of 12)
8. Lay on mat and hold body bar straight above chest. Keep arms straight and lower them over head. (1 set of 12)
9. Jackknife on ball (1 set of 10)
10. Repeat steps 1-7
11. hold medicine ball b/w legs w/ heels touching floor. Crunch whole body together and take ball with hands. Reach arms straight back with ball and touch heels to floor. Repeat (12 times)
12. flutter kicks (1 set of 12 each side)
13. Legs straight in air. Hold medicine ball and crunch to touch feel w/ball (1 set of 12)
14. hold medicine ball b/w knees w/ legs @ 90 degree angle. Let knees fall to one side (1 set of 12 ea.)
15. wrap arms around knees and lift shoulder off ground. Extend arms to ea. side while at the same time extending legs straight out w/o touching the floor (1 set of 8)
16. lie on back with legs in air. Reach above head to hold something stable (a person's ankles). Lower legs half-way and bring back up. (1 set of 10)
17. Get in push-up position and then bring knee to chest and back. (1 set of 10 ea. side)

Wow! That was a long one!

For breakfast TODAY I had a strawberry smoothie: FF milk, vanilla 0% Greek yogurt, ice, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 c. strawberries, and a bunch of fresh baby spinach.

I had personal training at 7:30 AM. Here's what we did:

1. wall sits (6 sets of 10 seconds)
2. bridge lifts on ball (3 sets of 12 holding for 2 seconds
3. one leg bent and the other leg straight up. Lower extended leg down to side. (3 sets of 12 ea. side)
4. triceps on machine (2 sets of 12)
5. Pull-ups on the machine (2 sets of 8, 1 set of 10)
6. use ball like roman chair to do oblique lifts (2 sets of 12 ea. side)
7. Chest press (3 sets of 12)

I know I've got to be missing something with the one above, but we got a late start and finished a couple minutes early, so who knows. Afterwards, I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the treadmill.

The smooothie held me over until lunchtime when I had a grocery store version of Shrimp Tempura Sushi. I don't know why I waste my money on these. It never tastes like the real thing. :( I also had an orange mango Honest Tea and a packet of peanut M&Ms (I ate half at lunch and the other half around 4PM).

Dinner was baked spaghetti. Whole wheat pasta covered in lean ground beef with tomato sauce, garlic, italian seasoning, mushrooms and 2% cheese. I had 2 pieces of garlic bread with it.

Dessert was a serving of Edy's Light Slow Churned Vanilla with Peanut Butter Cups.

On another note! I received my sample of Kashi cereal today. The website was a little misleading about the size (though perhaps I wasn't paying attention). I placed it next to the Ibuprofen bottle (large bottle) to help demonstrate the size. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know how I like it.