Two Apples A Day

Marilu Henner's "Total Health Makeover" book was the first book that taught me how to take care of myself, that was back in 2003.  You can browse some chapters of it here.  On her diet chapters, she talks about food combining, which wasn't a big deal for me to do, but seems uber strict to some.  (No turkey sandwiches or spaghetti and meatballs? No steak and potatoes?  WHAT?!?)  So, I was a faithful food combiner for 2 years, but stopped when I was pregnant with kid #5.  I go back to it now and then though.

I really like her suggestion to eat a cleansing meal of fruit in the mornings.  This past week, I've been having one of my meals be 2 Pink Lady Apples (aka Cripps pink) - they are such sweet and tangy and sweetly delicious apples ~ and I've been amazed this week and how un-clogged up I feel, digestively speaking.  I think it might really be true the little cliche - "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"



... and I'll add two a day is the key to optimum health!  

ZWOW #23 - Burpee Torture

Here we go...

Complete 2 rounds of the following for time:

1 round =

• 5 Yoga Burpees
• 5 Ab Splitters
• 50 Burpees
• 100 Air Squats

Video here
Zuzka's time was 20:02

...Good luck!!

Planks & 3K

I did planks on Tuesday and thassit, last night for Wednesday I did the 3K, made it in 13:45.  On my way home, my neighbor (bib 53) was just returning from his daily duties and we exchanged a neighborly hello ~

"Enjoying some exercise?"

"Yep, I'm training for the fun run... I've been talking it up to my kids, I'm gonna try to win it!"

He smiled and laughed a friendly laugh and said "I hope you succeed!"  So, putting some spin on that, I came home and triumphantly told my children that I had just received an apostolic blessing for my goal to take home the trophy.  They played along and said "Oh yeah!  You're totally gonna win now!"  :)

3K in 13:12

That's a record!  I still was feeling wasted tho, gotta work up my resistance.  Maybe I"ll go running twice a day just to get my body strong, then I'll take it easy right before the run next week so my body's full of energy to go.  Also going to do planks today.

3K Alone

Didn't bother waking up the kids this morning.  Did the 3K alone and my time was 13:51.  Listened to Mr. Brandon Flowers and the Piano Guys.  It is a lovely summer morning, I love getting up before the sun in the summer when the air is cool and clean and beautiful.  Going to go do some yoga stretches.

...no, I'm not ready to do this position yet, but I will not say it is impossible for me to get there, cause it's not, just depends on me and how much I really want it.  For now, it's on my visualization board cause I think it is awesome.

ZWOW #3 Revisited

My arms are still pretty sore from doing ZWOW 22 on Tuesday but still had a great workout today ~ I did a modified ZWOW 3 where I added a 5th exercise of divebombers - and I recruited a friend Adrienne so we did this together, which was fun.  :)  Looked like this:
Complete the following round of exercises following a pyramid of reps:
1st round = each exercise 5x
2nd round = each exercise 10x
3rd round = each exercise 15x
4th round = each exercise 10x
5th round = each exercise 5x

(watch the video if you need to see how the pyramid reps works)

The exercises for each round are:

• Split Squat Jump
• One Leg Lunge (I didn't use weights)
• Push up with Supergirl
• 180 Jump Turns
• Dive bombers

My time 20:27

3K - take 3

3K run again this morning, and again a kid slowed me down, but that's okay.  Joe and Hyrum chose to sleep in, Ethan got up and dressed, started to walk with me to the starting line, then decided to go back to bed so he went home, then as he was in bed decided he probably wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, so then came sprinting after me. Our time was 20:32, that was with a lot of walking.  I'm going to go alone on Friday.  Last time I got 13:20, going to try and beat that time. 

Tomorrow I'm going to do ZWOW 3

ZWOW #22 - Evil Chair Workout

Oh boy, this one looks good (meaning brutal/evil!)

Set a timer for every minute (gymboss or just watch your clock)
Every minute on the minute you have to do 4 burpees, then after that you try to complete the following:

• 30 Chair Jumps (side to side = 1 rep, so 60 jumps)
• 30 Chair Push Ups
• 30 Tricep Dips w/straight leg
• 30 Sumo Squat Jump
• 30 Romanian Dead Lift Squat Twists (15 each leg)

Sounds complicated but it's not really, Zuzka's time was 20:41, so that means she did 80 burpees during the workout, which is a major workout in itself!

Video here

Good luck!!
~~~
Ok, did that one, took me 12:57.  I modified in that I did my tricep dips with bent knees, also instead of the RDL Squat Twists, I just did Romanian Dead Lifts with both legs, holding 2/30lb dmbls with a twist/turn at the end of each deadlift.

Fun Run Training

My training for the Fun Run has begun. On July 4th at 7 a.m. I'm "going for the gold."  There are two trophies awarded for the 1st place guy and girl.  I gotta win. I gotta beat my boys while I still can.  I'm feeling in pretty decent shape, so I think I have a chance. Plus Joe's getting taller and faster, so this might be my last opportunity to show him up.

Last night Joe, Eth, and Hyrum all said they wanted to train with me today.  I warned them last night that I'd do a quick shoulder shake to them to get their eyes open and say "Get up, I'm leaving in 5 minutes" - and that's it.  Eth didn't make it out of bed.  Joe, Hyrum and I walked to the church for a warm up, then went to where we think the starting line will be and said "GO!" for ourselves.  Joe and Hyrum went the whole 3K distance.  Hyrum slowed Joe and I down, but it was cute.  I let him hold my hand and I pulled him a few times.  I told him he doesn't have to come for our next training session and he said "...but I don't want to be a fAiLuRe at the fun run!"  When we were on the last leg of the run I gave Joe the timer so he could run ahead and see what his time was, then he'd tell Hyrum and me our time when we crossed.  Joe's time was 18:36, Hyrum and I were 20:30.  I ran it on Saturday and got 13:20.  Joe and I are going run it again Wednesday morning and see how we do pushing each other.  :)

After the 3K the tree of us took turns doing quick sprints around the block.  Joe got 2:32, Hyrum got 3:15, and I got (drumroll) personal best time of 2:17!!!  We're gonna do those block sprints every day to get ready and try to get faster.  :)  Plus did 12 minutes of planks.

Here are some pictures from last year on their website -You can join the fun too if you want, there is unlimited registration, and it's free!!  (But you better not beat me.)

My hero Shannon was at last years run in the middle above, bib #68, plus our other famous neighbor there waving hello in bib #53!  :)

I'm in image 7492 near the middle of the picture.  You can see Corey racing to the finish in image 7602.  The girl bib #93 won the women's division last year... I think I can take her.  Luckily this little fun run is just a big deal to kids, which will help me beat the adults and be the coveted winner by my children.  Corey's on babysitting duty, so since I don't have to watch my kids, I'm in it to win it!!!  Go go!!

Workouts for the Week 6/18 - 6/23

We're going to do BFL Workouts this week (borrow/get and read this book if you haven't already):

Monday - Upper Body
Tuesday - Cardio: 20 minute or 2 mile run + planks
Wednesday - Lower Body
Thursday - Cardio: 20 minute or 2 mile run + planks
Friday - Upper Body
Saturday - Cardio: 20 minute or 2 mile run + planks

Upper Body: 60 reps of each of the following -
Push ups, Superman lifts with small dmbls, chair dips, bicep curls, shoulder press

Lower Body: 60 reps each of the following -
Calf Raises slow, calf raises fast, Jump or walking Lunges, Romanian Deadlifts

3K Run

Our community is doing a 3K Fun Run on the morning of the 4th.  I'm assuming it's the same route they had last year (I walked that one cause I was 7+ months pregnant) and so today I did a quick practice run to see how my time was - I got 13:20.  Going to try to improve on that each week and run 3x a week plus some interval training to get myself ready.  :) 

Then I also did a run around the block after, time 2:26, so about pace with where I was when I did that a few weeks ago. 

:)

Lower Body Workout

Yesterday I did a Body-for-LIFE style workout - in that it was just lower body and I did 60 reps for each group I was working on.

Repeat the following round of exercises 3 times:

• 20 jumping lunges w/2 15 lb. weights
• 20 Romanian Deadlifts w/2 30 lb. weights
• 20 slow calf raises
• 20 quick calf burners

Note to Self

Didn't workout yesterday in the morning cause I went to the temple instead ("Worship Wednesday!") then when I got back I didn't get in cause the day was a whirl of business ~ I was babysitting for my brother yesterday.  His kids were great, but with 12 kids, a puppy, 4 guinea pigs and 2 rats... the workout didn't happen.  Or the shower.  This morning I was still getting my breath back and wasn't up to working out yet but I had to bathe, so I'm all clean but with a sweaty workout still in front of me sometime today.  But that's okay.  I'll get in my workout, but probably won't do my ZWOW, I think I'll do a Body-for-LIFE style workout, they are less mentally challenging for me. 

On another note, I did eat kinda poorly yesterday (some cheetos & cookies) and felt grumpy most of the day (might be pms tho).  Then saw this from a friend, made me laugh...

Today I'm going to eat great and thus feel great.  Started off with some grilled peppers, onions, mushrooms and salmon for breakfast and I'm already feeling good.

ZWOW 2 - Revisitied

Wasn't bursting with energy this morning either, but I muscled through my workout of ZWOW 2 and also finished my 12 minutes of planks. 

My time for ZWOW 2 was 18:14.  I did the first round's sit ups on the floor, the next 2 rounds on an exercise ball cause the floor hurt my tailbone.  Zuzka's time for this zwow was 14:43, she schooled me.

Mastering the Art of Starting Over

Did my 8 B4 8 this morning as my plan of attack, did the Kristi Approved 300, took me 20:53 and I thought the burpees were gonna kill me. 

Great post here from the "Power of Moms" blog - reposted below for your reading pleasure
(I think I've almost mastered it!) :


While nursing baby number four in my right arm, I unsuccessfully try to balance a big book on my other knee and study the text in four minute snippets. I keep thinking to myself, is this really worth it? Other days, I try to study the words from a religious book on my phone. I wonder if I am getting anything at all out of my reading? And, where is my two-year-old?

I struggle with performing tasks when they cannot be done under “ideal circumstances”. Often the things that bring me peace and confidence don’t get done at all because I can’t do them the way I want. Frankly, I make great excuses: this baby is too wiggly, my mind can’t focus or I’ll do it tonight when I can be alone with my pen, paper and hot chocolate. Then, 11 pm rolls around, and my brain is too fried to study. I realize that another day passes without my personal reading (or worship time or exercise or planning session or one-on-one time with my children).

I am a group exercise instructor and see this in my clients all of the time. They have great and hefty 90-day transformation plans or a race training calendar in hand. Then, one busy day turns into another and the training stops. Many refuse to do a 20-minute quick session. I have heard them say, “It’s not real. I could be doing so much more. I am capable of doing a full 60-minute tough run. It’s not worth doing a lame 20 minutes.” I get on these people, telling them that a little something is better than a big nothing. I tell them that the smallest deed is larger than the greatest intention. Then I realize, I am that client!

Do you find yourself neglecting or giving up on activities that bring you joy or peace because you can’t do them 100%? For example: personal worship, planning out your calendar, exercise, dates with your husband, one-on-one time with each child, planning the budget or contemplation.

We put these valuable tasks to the wayside for several reasons. One, you know what you are capable of performing. Anything beneath that potential feels like a personal cop-out. Given an ideal environment (solitude, time, a better computer, a few more dollars) you could do a good job of the task. It makes us feel sub-par to do only 20% of something, so we don’t do it.  

Two, we have the mistaken notion that excellence is a series of wins. In reality, achieving a goal or becoming something is a series of consistent tries. It’s like building a muscle. Training for a race doesn’t mean racing and winning each day. It means gradually building cardiovascular stamina one run at a time. Maybe you are trying to build wisdom stamina, child patience stamina, kindness stamina, or gotta-learn-to-be-frugal stamina. Small, daily attempts will keep our muscles warm and the engine going. When we stop at something the machine cools and it’s much harder to start up. That’s why it is worth the 20 minute run or the four minute read each day.

Three, we think it’ll be easier later. The truth might be that it won’t be easier to plan, dream, get the laundry done or have personal reading anytime soon. The “ideal circumstance” is a myth. The perfect time comes rarely. Facing that reality can help us progress amid chaos.

We also need to face the facts of self-sabotage. Maybe some of our priorities are not getting addressed because of our choices. For me, I’ve wasted some of my “prime time” energy dragging all four children to stores, surfing the Internet, or staying up too late. Often my children don’t get my best self; they get my left-overs!

Marie-Annette Brown has said, “We must master the art of starting over.” I am mastering the art of starting over. Some tasks are minute to minute. Each time I get frustrated with the children I take a deep breath, speak in a kinder tone and try again and again. I make eggs for dinner, despite the fact I know I’m a more exciting cook than that. And, I celebrate that I served something healthy. I read while nursing without my beloved notebooks and pens. I do push-ups in my street clothes, help with spelling tests on the way to school and vacuum the middles of my floors. It’s day-to-day progress amid imperfection. And, it’s making me a happier mother.

QUESTION: What activities are you neglecting because you can’t do them under “ideal circumstances”?

CHALLENGE: Choose one personal task/goal that is important to you and do a portion of it regardless of less-than-perfect circumstances.

Enjoy the Burn

This is an old one of Zuzka's workouts

4 exercises in a round, complete 3 rounds = 12 minutes workout
gymboss 10/50, Complete 3 rounds of the following =

1. Santana Push Ups - Right
2. Half Burpees
3. Santana Push Ups - Left
4. Jump Lunges

Video Here

7/9/12 - just did this workout, I think I kept up pace with Z pretty good.  Sweating like crazy and the baby is crying, so ... laters.

Reboot - Take 86?

Last week I didn't have a workout plan up until the night before (and didn't even have that a few times), SO!  here's our plan to get back on the wagon again again!  Here is the workout schedule for Nicole and I for next week (ready Hermana?) I'll have week 2 for you next Saturday

Monday - 300 Challenge + Planks & stretching
Tuesday - ZWOW 2 + stretching
Wednesday - ZWOW 3 + Planks
Thursday - ZWOW 4
Friday - Enjoy the Burn + Planks
Saturday - 2 mile run and/or Active Rest

ZWOW #21 - Ninja & Burpee Handstands

Complete as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 10 minutes

1 round =

• Burpee Handstands - 5 reps
• Ninja Jumps - 5 reps
• Squat Side Sick - 20 reps (10 each side alternating)

Video here
Zuzka completed 4 rounds and 4 handstands in 10 minutes (her 1st round's time was 2:15)

4 Minute Workout

Here's out workout for tomorrow, but do not be deceived by the name:

4 minute workout

Good news - This workout would only be 4 minutes if we used our gymboss timer...

Bad news - we aren't going to use our gymboss timer.  Going to be more than 4 minutes, but will still be short and sweet... start your engines ~

one round =

• Blaster Push Up 5x
  
• Jumper 5x

Do 10 rounds as fast as you can

Last time I did this - I did 10 rounds in 9:59

7 June 2012
Tiffanie - 9:45

Being Fit is Simple!

Saw this quote below on facebook today ~

♥ "Your life is PERFECTLY designed for the results you're currently getting.

The way you move, the way you eat, the way you sleep, the way you talk to and treat people, the way you earn and spend your money; all of these and more are the ingredients that have gone into the pot to create the 'flavour' of your life.

Don't like how it tastes right now?

Start mixing in new ingredients.

It IS that simple." ~ Dax Moy ♥

Also read this article about the Fit to Fat to Fit guy - it's really all about habits and creating the right environment.  (That being said, I'm glad the bag of Chocolates I bought for Corey for when he got home from Chile are almost gone!)  And it's great to have an exercise buddy, even if she is in Maine and I'm in Utah - virtual is better than none. 

ZWOW #20 - Double Bridge

4 exercises - do 3 rounds for time
1 round = 

1. side jump lunge 20x
2. forward Backward Burpee 10x
3. One Leg Dip Jump 10 each leg
4. Alternating Double Bridge 10x

Zuzka's time was 11:38


 Video Here

~
On round one, exercise #2, my right knee had a twinge of pain... jumping side to side and/or front and back hurts it sometimes.  So, this is how I modified it to avoid knee pain:

120 side jump lunges
30 forward jump squats

10 burpees
10 one leg dip jump left
10 one leg dip jump right


10 burpees
10 one leg dip jump left
10 one leg dip jump right

10 burpees
10 one leg dip jump left
10 one leg dip jump right

30 yoga table thursts
30 double bridge alt

Took me 12:29, then I did 30 romanina deadlifts with 2x 30lb dmbls to finish off.

ZWOW 1 - Revisited

I thought I might try to go easier on us with the Melissa Powers workout, but then decided hey, if Zuzana did this one first when she was kicking things back in gear, I guess I can too.  Best to hit it hard and push at your max from the start and keep the intensity at that level - we're gonna see great results!

Here was the very first ZWOW -
Complete as 3 rounds for time, 1 round =

• Dive bombers (10x)
• 5 Burpees
• Squat with Side Leg Lift (20/20)
• 5 Burpees
• Side Plank Lift (10/10)
• 5 Burpees
• Pistol Squat (5x) (or 1 minute wall squat)
• 5 Burpees

video showing proper form below -
Part 1 and Part 2

Zuzka's time = 24:03

My time last time was 19:54 - this time I got 16:59.  Both of these times instead of the 5 pistol squats each leg, I did a 1 minute wall squat.  My knees don't allow me to do pistols yet.

500 Mountain Climbers - Revisited

Rebooting my system with my partner in crime Nicole - we're gonna be accountable to each other.  Thought we'd start off with the Mountain climber challenge - easy cause it can be short time wise, hard cause it burns your arms like crazy.  Less than 10 minutes if you do some stretching with it and makes you feel great cause you worked out!

Day 1:
500 Mountain Climbers (start at :35)

Time - 
Tiffanie 5:43
Nicole 6:49