Day 9 (Vise) Day 10 (Back at It)

Day 9 (Vise)

I had 100% intentions of exercising and eating healthy today. I woke up great, drank my coffee, went to work (it was a half day), came home and took a little nap. (One of my favorite Saturday events.)

When I woke though... My head felt like it was in a vise. You know, those metal tools machinists use to hold an object firmly.

That or it felt it had a weight dropped on it. 

So, instead of the gym, I took medicine and basically went back to bed. Didn't really eat much of anything either. What a waste of a day. 

Day 10 (Back at It)

What a much better day it was! First, it was Sunday so I was able to spend it in worship. Second, I tried out a different location of Planet Fitness due to Clover3 having softball practice nearby. And, drumroll please, third, I had Starbucks! 

Anytime I can have a Venti Pike Place coffee with 2 pumps no sugar vanilla and a splash of milk, is a great day! Makes my world keep spinning. 

For dinner I ate a flat iron steak and half a potato. It was the best. 

My workout was mostly legs (squats, calf raises, hamstring curls) after 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. I broke a decent sweat and my legs felt well used walking out of the gym. I'd call it good. 

Who knew I could get my new bitmoji to coach my old bitmoji. Weird but cool. 

Also, I can trip myself. Sorry. Too much fun over here.

Adios Muchachas,

Mel

Day 7 (This is Hard) Day 8 (What is hard)

Day 7 & 8 are being blogged together because, well... I was being lazy. And, forgetful. Go figure. There will be times throughout this self mandated torture where I will not blog each day. I thought the first would be farther down the road than week one, but it is what it is at this point in life. 

So, Day 7. (This is Hard)

I thought the day after legs was hard on my body? Try two days after. I could barely walk without favoring one side over the other. I may have looked a little weird getting in and out of my desk chair at work too. 

Exercise: Stretching. A whole lot of stretches. Yoga. I managed to breathe deeply and push a yoga pose as far as I could without tearing tendons and muscles in half. 

Diet: Steamed veggies, steak, a slice of pound cake, strawberries, mandarin oranges. We're not talking about that thing I hid in the middle of the diet. What's done is done. 

After all the yoga and stretching, I felt better. It wasn't a sweaty gym workout but it was something and I think something the body needs each week. 

Day 8 (What is hard?)

I think the stretching made my body ready to go again. When I hit the gym, and after my 5 minute warm-up on the rowing machine, I was a pumping iron fool. Everything was easy. Even the ab workout seemed to breeze by without any complaint. 

I left the gym feeling renewed. This is good because I was already becoming bored. This day was not a fake it until you make it day, because I made it. 

Diet: Grilled cheese (yes, with the bread) fried egg sandwich. I decided I needed something heavier at lunch. We were fresh out of steak. Yep, it never lasts long in our fridge. For dinner I ate some Skinny Pop popcorn before going to the gym. Ate some more when I got back. Hey, it's birthday cake flavored. Have you ever tried it? Then, don't judge. But try some. You won't regret it. It is true to the name "Skinny Pop" and has way less calories than any other popcorn. 

All-in-all, it was a good two days. I thought, since I wasn't hitting it hard on day 7, I would feel like a failure. I didn't. That's good, right? I may have hold on this diet/exercise thing after all. 

Adios Muchachas,

Mel

Day 6 (Less Success)

Today was rough. Like climbing Mount Everest, rough. Well... Probably an exaggeration, but you get the enormity of the roughness if I compare my workout to a master-size-skilled climb, right?

Okay. The workout today royally sucked. Better? 

It was only meant to be a 30 minute elliptical (pushing myself with resistance). Easy peasy, right? Wrong. 

First off, I was bored within the first 3 minutes. I upped the resistance as planned but was still beyond asleep at the wheel. I upped it again. Boredom. I pumped my arms for added cardio. Booooorrrrrrrrred. 

Secondly, my hamstrings! Dead-lifts always make my hamstrings sore a few days. Honestly, I like the sore. It means I actually did something productive. Yesterday was dead-lifts, therefore, today was soreness. And apparently, soreness equals boring elliptical workouts. 

Third, cardio is dumb. I like weight training days. 

The whole fake it until you make it theme hit home today. I knew there'd be days like this. I signed up for it. Doesn't mean I have to like them. Or, blog niceties about them. 

I still made it 30 minutes. Believe me, I must've appeared as a banshee on fire when I shut the machine off and just as frantic as I wiped it clean. But I was done with it. D. O. N. E. Done. 

As far as food today, I wasn't extremely hungry but still ate meals. For lunch I ate steamed veggies, fresh strawberries, cuties, and half a bacon wrapped filet mignon someone left in the fridge. I also ate a couple cookies. They were soft. And sugary. 

For dinner, I found the pressure cooker full of pot roast, potatoes, and carrots. I can't say no to potatoes. I ate a small helping of the rest but my plate was mostly a buttered, peppered, glorious potato. And it was delicious. 

That is all for this not so great day in the life of exercise/diet hell. 

Adios Muchachas,

Mel

P.S. All images are not my own and taken from their respective sources. 

Mount Everest image: Illustration: Rabindra Manandhar /TKP

Lizzie Mcguire image: Lizzie Mcguire the series by the Disney Channel. 

Minions image: Twitter Minions page: @Minions

Day 5 (Success!)

Success. That's what I have labeled today, Day 5. Why? Because I took a day off (a holiday, remember?) where I ate too much food, (didn't think twice about not exercising) and successfully made it through the next day of healthy eating and exercise.

Total complete success!

So... Day 5 workout:

5 min warm-up on the upright bike. Btw, that thing hurts my rear end. I may try the recumbent next time I do a bike warm-up.

Body For Life biceps, dead lifts, and triceps. The husband talked me into doing a little extra legs so I did my own BFL routine on the leg press machine. 

Abs consisted of 3X10 each leg of glute presses and 3X10 on the adductor machine. I'm not entirely convinced that machine does anything worthwhile but I'd like the inner flabby thigh to go away someday and I'm told it's the machine to do the work. 

^^This one I really like. Glute press.

What did I eat today? Well, after eating the most sugar and carbs of all the days of 2021 combined (I know there had only been 3 previous day's at the time) I consumed the most amazing flat iron steak I've ever tasted. The husband made it for me at lunch. (Remember, he cooks, I eat. We have a deal.) I ate a couple spoonfuls of steamed veggies along with it and some strawberries for an afternoon snack. And... water, water, water. 

See? Complete success. Hey, I may win this fake it to make it battle after all. Haha! Check back on day 30 and see if I'm still here. 😉

Adios Muchachas,

Mel

Day 3 (Still here)

I did it! I came back for day 3 (technically on day 2 but we talked about this, remember?) of exercise/diet punishment.

Today I ate a handful of tator tots, a few chicken wings, and had a coffee spiked with hot chocolate again. Not sure what's for dinner yet but I probably need protein & carbs, along with veggies. I have a little bit of a headache starting and I think it's a lack of nutrients. It's all right. I'll eat something and down an Emergen-C with a bottle of water. All will be good. I hope. 

Anyway, Day 3: Just got back from the gym and have to say I did a fine job of torturing myself with a make you sweat treadmill incline workout from Body for Life.

Check out that incline. ^^ Not sure my lower back appreciated it but we'll see how it feels tomorrow.

To help with my back issue, I'll hop on my inversion table for a few minutes later and finish the night with 15 minutes of heating pad. Btw, if you've never used an inversion table, you are missing out on one of the greatest contraptions for spine/back pain sufferers ever invented. You seriously hang upside down like a bat. That's it. When you come off the table you are about an inch taller and every kink has been pulled straight. 

Beyond the incline treadmill routine, I spent 5 minutes on the stairmaster, climbing a total of 16 flights. I want to make a goal of 20 flights then add a flight each week. Seems doable. Maybe. 

I finished with ab work doing 5-30 second planks and 6-12 rep russian twists. My back cracked with each one. Maybe I don't need the inversion table time. Nah. I definitely do. 

Tomorrow is technically, kind of, most definitely, a holiday. I know what you're thinking. The 4th of January is not a holiday on any calendar, but... A birthday is always a holiday. Therefore, remember my rule about not having to do stupid diet/exercise on holidays? So... Basically I'm telling you early, tomorrow, I may not participate in this hocus pocus I've started. But... I still may. The day just might involve cake. 🍰 🥳 And, probably a Guinness. Both of those equal large calories. Both well cherished. Hence why I would enjoy them on a birthday. We shall see. 

Adios Muchachas,

Mel