BFL Day 52

Yesterday I did not do the HIIT workout - we had piano lessons in the morning and then in the afternoon we went downtown to see if we could get some clothes/shoes/backpacks etc. for the boys during the very last days of the annual sales. Everyone in the family found some great bargains and got kitted out with some things they needed - except for me! Mom and I both decided that we were not going to buy anything new this year unless it was absolutely necessary. The funny thing is, we both decided this indepedently of each other and only realized it when she was here in May and neither one of us wanted to shop for anything! We were both tired of having our closets full of things we didn't wear and just decided to use up what we had. Apparently most people wear 10% of their wardrobe 90% of the time, anyway, and I am sure that is the case with me.

I haven't bought any clothes/shoes for myself since I was in Florida in March (when I got clothes for my middle son's confirmation and flip flops - have to get flip flops when in Florida!) and London in April (two measly t-shirts from Uniqlo). My one exception to the not buying anything rule is books - sometimes I simply have to order certain books from Amazon because I can't get them in the library here, despite our town library having a great collection of English novels.

So that's where we were yesterday, of course the walk downtown all by itself is a brisk 20 minutes, plus the walk back, plus the walking around while there, which I don't really count, because it's too slow and stop and go.

So this morning when I got to the gym I did 15 minutes on the elliptical, and then my upper body weights. I was doing great and was almost done with my triceps exercises when I suddenly felt cornered from all sides from a bunch of muscle guys who took every bench in sight and I just went home on my bike and finished my biceps exercises there with Stefaan who was just finishing his workout (he's doing a "mini" Body for Life for the next few weeks). Kind of fun to have someone to chat to while pumping iron!

BFL Day 50: 5 pounds down!

What a nice surprise on the scale this morning, on day 50, I woke up to a total loss of 5 pounds. It seems incredibly slow to be working so hard for seven weeks and only lose 5 pounds so far but I have to say I am very pleased. Esepcially when I read this quote from New Rules of Lifting for Women:

If your scale weight hasn't changed but your clothes feel looser, you've hit the jackpot - you've lost fat and gained muscle, which takes up less space beneath your skin.

Woo hoo! So that hard work is starting to pay off. I headed to the gym, full of enthusiasm to do my lower body weights. I even switched out the deadlift for lunges, which I have been avoiding for so long, even though I know they are one of the best leg exercises. Then I headed home on my bike, enjoying the gorgeous, perfect sunny weather.

BFL Day 49: run!

Just an easy long run on the schedule for today - and it is great weather, sunny and not too warm, just right. After all the rain we had last week, how nice to wake up to sunshine. It really makes you want to get out and run. The boys didn't feel like playing soccer this morning, so we didn't go out to the lake, we just did a straight shot from our neighborhood up to the big shopping area outside of town, for a total of 45 minutes and 6.7 km.

I ordered the book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" with the idea of following this program once I have finished Body for Life. It offers seven programs which would keep you going for six months or more, depending on how you do them. They look very challenging, and some of the exercises would mean venturing into the back room of the gym where the barbells are and the muscle dudes hang out....scary! But I am seriously thinking about giving it a shot...

BFL Day 47: almost forgot my back

Upper body weights today - what a relief! My legs are still very sore from Wednesday. I biked to the gym. Stefaan is home on vacation so I don't have to rush so much to get back for the boys, which is nice. I got started with 15 minutes on the elliptical to warm up. Then I got going on the weights.

When I was finished with shoulder presses, I was supposed to do the delt machine, but there was someone on it, so I decided to do side shoulder raises with dumbbells instead, and then I was thinking I could move right into my triceps and biceps, which are also with dumbbells... I was a bit preoccupied with snagging a good bench for my French presses, which didn't work out - I ended up getting the one that will not go perfectly flat, so you have to use it either a bit incline, or a bit decline. I did the French press exercise with a bit of an incline, hopefully that doesn't decrease the effectiveness! It sure didn't feel any easier!

I didn't realize till I was nearly done with hammer curls that I had totally forgotten the back exercises that normally come right after shoulders! Doh! So I finished up my biceps and headed over to the pullover machine and finished off with the row machine. It was actually kind of tough to do it after working my triceps and biceps first, because they were really tired. Oh well - I guess this week really is the week of doing things differently!

BFL Day 46: those lunges killed me!

My legs, to be more specific, from the inside of my knees going all the way up my thighs and continuing to my rear, are killing me! I know it's from the lunges yesterday. That's why I hate lunges so much! But maybe I should start liking them more, because obviously they work.

I had to do my HIIT run today, but with the way my legs were feeling I was really doubting if I could do it. I walked for five minutes first to warm up, and then I got started. It was tough, but I did manage to hit the speeds I had planned to do. But my legs just felt spent, and heavy. In the end, I dropped the one extra interval I had added last week but I still managed to hit the high point at the end of the last interval I ran today. I was so glad when I could slow down!

I think I will be very achy the rest of today - luckily it's upper body weights tomorrow, so my legs will get some rest before running again on Sunday.

The funny thing is, when it feels physically hard, I think the biggest obstacle is in my mind, because I do realize that my body is capable of doing the workout, even when it feels hard. It's my brain that keeps telling me I can't. We were watching the Tour de France yesterday afternoon, seeing the cyclists pushing, pushing up the mountains; I was imagining what battles must be going on in their minds as they keep themselves going. Mental discipline is so key.

BFL Day 45: Change things up

We had a big storm blow through last night and this morning was beautiful: sunny and breezy and the perfect temperature. Florian headed off to his sports camp and I decided to forgo the gym today and spend some more time with Gillis and Felix. I know they don't mind me leaving them alone for the hour or so that it takes me to get to the gym, do my workout and come back, but sometimes, I mind. So after everyone had their breakfast, I convinced them to take a walk with me to the newsstand (via school) and back, which took us about half an hour. I figured I would do a lower body workout at home when we got back, after I was all warmed up (and woke up) from the walk. I love taking walks with them, it is the best opportunity to have a good conversation with them without interruptions!

We had a really nice walk, a great talk and good exercise for everyone. When we got back I got started on my "at home" lower body plan: 3 sets of 15 reps (since I don't have heavy enough weights to get progressively heavier, I decided to do straight sets) of the following:

• squats (with 2x 5 kg dumbbells)
• deadlifts (with 2x 5 kg dumbbells)
• lunges (without weights, but these always kill me - my legs were burning!)
• standing single leg press (with elastic band)
• angled calf raises (with 2x 5 kg dumbbells)

Then I did a "functional" ab routine that I had been wanting to try from an old issue of Oxygen magazine (November 2007: an issue I will never throw away because it has a picture of Jenny in it!). The exercises were all standing, with one leg raised (balance), and man, I can really feel it right now that I did it, even though they didn't seem too hard at the time.

I feel pretty good about the workout, I feel like it was a fair substitute for the BFL workout, and perhaps good to change things up once in a while. It's never good to be in a rut...although I am bit worried I might be unexpectedly sore tomorrow for the HIIT run!

One last thing: can anyone tell me what muscle groups lunges are supposed to target? Bill Phillips says hamstrings; Matt Roberts says quads and glutes. I'm confused but it feels to me like they work it all!

BFL Day 44: Where's my momentum?

I felt sluggish and tired this morning and just didn't want to get moving. I stayed up late last night to watch the Biggest Loser (we get it on Mondays at 10:30, which is when I am usually in bed already) and then I never sleep so great when Stefaan is out of town anyway. But I dragged myself to the gym and got going on the treadmill. I felt so tired and was not sure that I could finish the whole workout, but somehow, I did. And then I biked, slowly, home.

It's a weird day today, the Belgian national holiday, so all the shops are closed, but since Stefaan is in Madrid, it doesn't feel like a holiday to us. Florian is at the athletics camp, Felix will be going to a birthday party later, so it will just be Gillis and me this afternoon. Maybe we'll go to a movie...