Dreaming of High Intensity Interval Training…

This morning I woke from a dream of doing HIIT on the treadmill. I wonder if my legs were twitching the way my dog’s does when he dreams… Anyway, I took it as a sign to get up and hit the gym – this has been a rest week for me to recuperate from the move. I think there was a problem with the treadmill belt because things felt a little strange – like the belt was slipping and it was tripping me up a bit. I did 30:60 intervals at 10 mph and 4 mph for 20 minutes. It was not one of my better workouts and I struggled through the entire 20 minutes feeling like my heart was about to explode.

Monday is a new push for a full twelve-week “Personal Best Challenge” – with no missed workouts, no binges, no alcohol, and 2 cheat meals per week. Now that the move is behind me, I feel I can dedicate myself completely. I may be visiting family in Austin for a few days in late May/early June, but nothings set in stone. I’m sure I’ll be able to keep up with workouts and healthy eating while I’m there. Tomorrow may include some cardio, but the rest of the weekend will be dedicated to organizing my closets, grocery shopping for the week, and some food prep.

I'm half tempted to give the Hell diet a try to kick start my challenge, but haven't decided yet.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. =)

THANK YOU!

Thank you all for the encouragement. Thankfully it was just a one off and I didn’t allow things to spiral out of control. I just had one of those not so fun days at work and those damn bagels were my consolation. Suzanne, I’ve had the same thought about chewing followed by spitting! Ha! We’re twisted – huh?

The rest of the weekend was good. Food wasn’t great, but we finally moved into the house and we were crazy busy from morning till night all weekend. Our original move-in date was March 23 but at the final walk-through we realized they had the wrong shutters and front door color installed. Upon further examination, we realized they used an entirely wrong exterior color scheme from what we had chosen and they had to repaint the entire house, remove the incorrect brick columns and reinstall, etc. It’s been somewhat of a nightmare because we were totally packed and ready to move. The worst part was cleaning the old apartment. I took care of cleaning yesterday while my husband unpacked and started setting things up – like his home audio system, which I have no interest in helping with – so it was an even trade. At any rate, we’re now settled in for the most part, but I’m friggin exhausted today.

No workout this morning – too damn tired. But at least I’m back on track with diet and mindset.

Our house is absolutely beautiful. I’ll post pics as soon as I can. This photo is from the model home, but that’s what ours looks like exactly – except with a garage where the glass entrance doors and no fence around the front, but the colors and exterior is the same.

Damn!!! #%!@&!!

I just inhaled two HEEEEEUUUUUUGE cheddar herb bagels. I'm not having a good day at work and I let stress get the best of me. Someone brought bagels in this morning and I just gobbled two of them down. They were bloody GINORMOUS. And greasy... from the cheese. They were really yummy at the time, but it didn't make my bad day any better and now I have the guilt of the bagels over my head. I wish I knew how to make myself vomit.

I'm so sad. I might actually cry. After I cry, I'll get my shit together and won't let this turn into a free-for-all weekend of out of control eating. I am in control. I. AM. IN. CONTROL.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Much love,
Rachel

I'm thinking of taking a Flamenco Class

I love ballroom dancing, but I can't get my husband to take a class with me so I'm thinking of doing something solo. I love the Latin dances... Samba, Rumba, Flamenco. I'm seriously thinking about it.

Temptation… temptation… it’s everywhere: chocolate chip cookies from this weekend are in the pantry, Easter candy is on clearance at the stores, it’s junk-food central in our office (I can’t believe the crap people shovel in their mouths all day long). I’ve been eating REALLY clean. But my progress is slower than molasses on a hot June day and sometimes I just want to give in to temptation. I WILL NOT GIVE IN.

Fitness is going well. Woke up with a muscle spasm in my neck yesterday morning so I didn't get to lift, but was feeling much better this morning and I even had the energy to do HIIT for the first time in a long while. It went well, too. Highest speed was 10.5 mph. I tried going running faster, but even though I entered "11.5" into the tready speed, the fastest it would go was between 10.2 and 10.5... weird. Maybe I wasn't pushing myself hard enough? I thought the treadmill made you go as fast as the speed entered.

I had my appointment with my doctor. He was really surprised to see the dramatic spike in my TSH levels so he reordered tests to ensure there wasn't a lab mistake. I know there wasn't because my symptoms are insanely insane. His files indicated that someone from his office was supposed to have called me on April 4th with a dosage change, but it was never initialed as completed. At any rate, at least I finally got in to see him and a plan of action will be in within the next week or so.

Here's a couple pictures of my dog, Max, for blog filler... still soooooo tired.

Frolicking in Morro Bay:







Blogger needs to come up with a way to add photo captions. Grrr. He's yawning in the second photo. I love it because it looks like he's laughing.

Hello!

Thanks for checking in on me guys. I’m sorry I haven’t updated. I’m still really struggling with major lack of energy and major lack of brain function. Probably two of the symptoms of hypothyroid I despise the most (besides depression). It’s hard to explain, but one of the symptoms I really struggle with when my thyroid levels are as jacked as they are now is forming coherent thoughts and sentences. It takes FOREVER for me to formulate what I’m trying to say. I have a doctor’s appointment next Monday and I think my doctor and I will be able to come up with a plan to get me back on track.

I’m still working out and eating clean – with the exception of three cheat meals this weekend (I’m trying to keep it to just one per week). I’ll share my new workout with ya’ll just cause I’m too tired to write out other stuff that’s going on – hopefully that’ll change in the very near future.

OK. So, I’m doing a 3-day full body workout designed by a guy in town that trains fitness competitors and bodybuilders and I’m LOVING it. I haven’t had the energy to do HIIT, so I’ve been doing SS only, but as soon as my energy levels are back up, I’ll add in 1 or 2 SHIITs (SUPER high intensity interval training) per week. This routine has forced me to try new exercises I was always nervous to try. I’m proud to say I’m no longer a squat rack virgin. All exercises are done with Olympic bar, barbell or dumbbells.

Day 1 (Heavy)
Full Squats
Flat Bench Press
Conventional Deadlifts
Standing Military Press
Pull Ups or Lat Pulldowns

All done for 5x6 w/ 120s rest

Day 2
Romanian Deadlifts
Lunges
Flat Dumbbell Press
Seated Cable Rows
Incline Hammer Curls
Lying Triceps Extensions

All done for 2x15 w/ 30s rest

Day 3
Incline Dumbbell Press
Barbell Rows (underhand)
Dumbbell Split Squats on bench
Reverse Lunges
Standing Dumbbell Press
Lat Pulldowns (underhand)

All done for 3x10 w/ 60s rest

Hopefully I’ll be back to my old self soon and can update you all on all the fun stuff that’s going on with the house, etc.

xoxoxoxoxo, Rach