Day 2

I am back.

I am alive.

It's been one day and I'm looking forward to day 2!

Yesterday I followed the program almost perfectly.

My husband and I went to the gym right after work. I had ripped off this silly cover for a book because it just makes me mad LOL. Yes, I am there to drop two sizes, but I'm also there to gain strength and push myself. I'm not a silly girl playing in the boys section.

Bye, bye cover!

This is not my normal gym and it was a little out of my comfort zone to start this first strength routine at a gym I've never even been to. When I went to warm up on the elliptical, I won't lie, I did consider just planting myself there and waiting for my husband to finish his lifting routine. I was uncomfortable and the place was PACKED with people who actually....work out. That sounds odd, but at the gym I attend, there are a lot of mean muggers hogging benches and chatting with friends. Plus, my usual gym is much smaller with a lot less going on while this one has more treadmills, more spin classes and people coming and going all the time.

Anyway, I finally gathered up the will to give the RAMP up exercises a try. These are basically engaged stretches that work you up from the floor to standing to moving. I did most of them, but forgot to flip the page so missed out on about three that were "moving". No matter, I did get a LOT of moving in anyway haha. They weren't as terrible or long winded as I thought they would be and before I knew it, I had to start the first move, a plank with leg lift. Planks are HARD. Planks with leg lifts are harder. I had a long sleeved jacket on and my form suffered because my elbows kept sliding. For the next set I rolled them up. Easy peasy.

The move I thought would give me trouble was the T-stabilization.

It was definitely tough and I was sweating but I actually was able to execute them with proper form, so I am proud.

Once I was done with anything involving a mat, I had to move on to the weights section, filled with men. It's always intimidating to go to this area. I kind of got used to it in my last gym, but the guys here are intense. And...well there is just no way to hide when you are doing a weighted goblet squat in this section. The whole time I was paranoid that my pants were see through and people were getting a view. But, I pushed through it, moving through everything. I started out with a 10 pound weights for the goblets, three pound rows, overhead press and lunges. I think I can move on to a higher weight in everything but the lateral lunges. These were by far the hardest move. It's very hard for me to keep my back neutral and my flexibility is such that it is hard to get super deep into the move. Luckily, she wants you to only go as deep as is comfortable. My other problem was where do I place the hand NOT holding a weight? I found that when I placed it on my lunging thigh, I might start pressing in to compensate and lowering the impact of the weight itself. For my last set, I began reaching to the side with that hand to go deeper and keep my back neutral. I think it worked.

I did three sets of everything but the first three exercises. These definitely got my heart pumping. The finale move was a speed squat. You do as many reps as possible for twenty seconds, then rest for twenty seconds. You can do this for two to four rounds. I went with four and it was tough. Toward the end, my squats were slowing, but I kept my form and pushed through. I think the music helped quite a bit. In combination with that and my Nike timer on my new iPod Nano, I was able to execute my first metabolic interval move!

When I got home, I ran to the mailbox to see my new Nike Free 5+ Breathe sneakers. While I do love the look of ombre, these are not what I expected. They are definitely cute (my mom called them "nerdy") but there is something about the shape of the toe that bugs me. I haven't purchased a new pair of sneakers in maybe three years so I know styles have changed, but the aesthetic is a lot to get used to.

They are definitely light and comfortable. Especially so when you compare them to my old Nike Pegasus! And they do breathe well. I just don't know how they will hold up since they are so pale. I don't plan on running in the mud or anything, but these will probably show signs of wear very quickly.  We shall see if I keep these.

 I then made myself a protein shake. I use Designer Whey protein in french vanilla. It's not terrible. I do prefer my Trutein so maybe I'll mix it up sometimes. Trutein in chocolate peanut butter cup isn't the greatest with fruit but it is wonderful on it's own with just plain almond milk.

I was so full from this shake, I had to wait a couple hours to have dinner. Truthfully, I could have skipped dinner and an element of this program is to "front load" your food, eating more in the day than the night and not making your dinner too huge. But I was under calories and that's no good either, so I had my chicken and sugar snap peas (fresh from the slow cooker the night before) with some awesome Lusty Monk honey mustard and a tablespoon of olive oil mayo. 

As I sit here writing this, I am eating an incredibly filling bowl of 2% greek yogurt, canned pineapple and almonds. Dear God! A CUP of the yogurt, a CUP of the pineapple. It is a lot of food to get through. I've been eating it for an hour as yogurt is not my favorite. But it's not terrible, and it's pretty clean.

 A snack today is supposed to be an apple and peanut butter, but I left it at home. Also, another protein shake. If I don't eat both these snacks, I'll be under calories again, so I'll have to find some time to eat them! For lunch, I mixed canned chicken with a tablespoon of mayo and a lot of dijon mustard and added some tomatoes. Going to have that on a bed of spinach. I also get to eat a pear! Exciting stuff! LOL.

Dinner tonight is a turkey burger with a portabello mushroom. Have no idea how to prepare one of these mushrooms, so I am off to research!