Moving

Hello all.  It's time for a little move/change.  Since I'm no longer posting primarily about Nutrisystem anymore, I wanted to change the blog name.  Something easier to remember and type.  So the blog has moved over to www.zanehollingsworth.blogspot.com

This page (and blog) will remain to point the way to the new blog.  Thanks!

Adding Mileage

Today I began my training for the Tough Mudder. I'm gonna push my running a little more each week, building up to where I'm very comfortable running the 10ish miles I'll have to run in March. So for the past few weeks I've been running 3 miles in however long it takes (24-26 minutes, depending on whether or not I was running hills) and then walking a little bit to finish up my 30 minutes. A couple of days ago I decided to run 4 miles and do it in 32 minutes. That'll be my new workout a few days a week. Push 4 miles at a quick-ish pace some days, and others run hills a little slower, but still getting in 4 miles. After a few weeks, I'll lengthen the distance and start running 5 miles most runs, then repeat until I'm in the 8-10 range a few times a week.

This morning was my first real breakfast in 3 days. Kim and I went to Panera and split a bagel with cream cheese. Outstanding! I also had a chai tea latte, which I loved. Lunch was an unexpected treat. We noticed a lady sitting outside a Latino grocery store near where we were working. Kim went over to check it out and came back with half a dozen home made tamales! They were fantastic. My next meal was a Lean Body Chocolate Peanut Butter protein shake and a small amount of cottage cheese and pineapples. Dinner this evening was all fake meat products.

Today's workouts were cardio only. 2.2 mile walk this morning with Kim and JJF. 4+ miles on the treadmill (in 31:31) when the gym opened at 1. Then another 2.2 mile walk around the lake this evening. More than 8.5 miles on the day.

Tomorrow is back to my original 6 meals a day eating plan, new running schedule, and a chest workout. I'll also start working Insanity and a Spin in on different days as well. Now I've got two goals to train for. The Tough Mudder and The Wedding!

End of the Cleanse

Today was the last day of my 3 day Shakeology Cleanse/Jump Start. I had 3 shakes during the day, plus one Lean Body shake. Then a salad and chicken for dinner. My freak out today was a muffin after dinner. Today was much easier. I had a little fruit during the day, plus a few slices of deli meat and jello pudding. I actually do feel better, but that could be from the chiropractor.

I had to go back to the chiropractor this morning. Lots of popping and cracking. Plus he hooked me to an electronic muscle stimulator for a few minutes. It felt wonderful. My muscles finally fatigued, then relaxed. I might have to go back next week, but I'll wait and see how I feel first.

I ran 3+ miles of hills this afternoon then walked this evening for today's exercise. Tomorrow will be more of the same.

I learned that the Tough Mudder for Georgia has been scheduled for March 11-12 in Cedartown. Can't wait. I think a large group form the gym is planning on running as a team. Should be fun.

I Think I've Got Shakeology About Figured Out

After last night's meltdown (I freaked and had some cereal late) and midnight pledge to never drink another sip of Shakeology, today has been much better. I looked up some different recipes for making the shakes. The key (so far) has been to add MILK. The taste (for me) was just awful without the milk. I've also thrown in some pineapple or banana to help. But the milk is the key.

So this morning I had a cup of coffee, a Shakeology shake with milk and a frozen banana. It was pretty good. Another shake, this time with milk and pineapple before lunch. After my workout I had a Lean Body Chocolate Peanut Butter shake. It was Fantastic! No milk required. Late in the afternoon I had another Shakeology drink before having a salad and salmon for dinner with Kim.

Before heading to the gym today I had to go to the chiropractor. Within moments of the good Doctor walking into the room he had me laid out on a table and was pushing on me. Not working so good. So I moved to a low bench, he twisted me up, and then jumped on me. RELIEF. I then began to pop like wild. Every direction he turned me something popped, released, let go, etc. I feel so much better. I may have to go back tomorrow or Monday if I'm not 100%.

I had to go buy some salad and fish before I could go to the gym, so I didn't make it until around lunch. I was worried I wouldn't have a good run/workout as a result. Couldn't have been more wrong. 4 miles in less than 31:50. Barefoot! Best run I've had in memory. I felt great the entire time. I purposefully did a baby leg workout today. 3 sets of leg extension & 3 sets of leg curls. I didn't want to do anything to upset my back.

Tomorrow is my final day of the 3 day cleanse. Well, my version of it anyway. Today has been so much better. not perfect, but better. Tomorrow might be difficult. I'll be home most of the day, tempted to eat other stuff other than my shakes and one meal. I'll try to dull the cravings with football, and the endless pizza commercials....

My Back Hurts, I'm Starving, & Tomorrow is Leg Day...

My back is still wrecked. I didn't sleep well as a result. So I got up early, had a cup of apple tea, and began my 3 day jump start/cleanse intro to Shakeology. Not loving it so far. The first shake I made following the directions was way to thick. The second was better, but I used a little pineapple instead of a banana and it tasted odd. I don't know how much I like the taste of Shakeology. I'm sure by the end of 3 days of it and very little else, I'll love it. My third and final shake of the day was at about 4PM. Just Shakeology and a frozen banana. Still not loving the taste. Gotta work on it. Maybe find some different recipes online. Dinner tonight was a salad and a piece of chicken. YUM!!! I did have a hand full on nuts this afternoon, and I've grazed on lettuce (and a few olives) all day long. Lay off me, I'M STARVING! Late I freaked and had some cheese, pudding, and a bowl of cereal. Still very low calories on the day (like less than 1400). Gonna try the cleanse again tomorrow, but I'm not sure if this is something for me.

At the gym I managed a slow paced 3 mile barefoot hill run. Nothing to get excited about, just grinded it out. My arm workout followed. Pretty weak really. 3 sets of overhead presses and 3 sets of press downs for triceps. Biceps began with 3 sets of seated incline dumbbell curls and ended with 2 sets of very heavy hammer curls.

Bad Run, Good Day

We got up around sunrise this morning and took Jumping Jack Flash on a walk shortly thereafter. I walked the medium distance route this morning around the lake (2.3 or so miles) and Kim headed back the quick route so she could get ready for work.

At the gym today I had one of the worst runs in recent memory. I ran 3 miles, but it seemed like every single step was difficult. Like I was having to mentally push every second. Lots of days I start out and after the first minute hit a groove. The next time I look down it's been 18 minutes and I'm nearing 2.5 miles. Not today. Just difficult today. I don't know why really. I didn't run earlier and I didn't feel tired. I did train before I ran today. But it was only a shoulder workout. The workout was 3 sets of machine shoulder presses, 3 sets of dumbbell side lateral raises, 3 sets of dumbbell upright rows, 3 sets on the rear delt machine, and 3 sets of shoulder shrugs. Tomorrow I guess I train before I run again and see how it goes.

I tried to go to the chiropractor today, but when I went by his office he was closed. And he's closed tomorrow. My back is wrecked. I've got two huge muscles knotted up on the upper left side of my back. They're so tight (and won't relax) that they're pulling me out of alignment. This is what happened before. I can at least pop my back now, but as soon as I do, the muscles just pull my spine back out of alignment. Hopefully I can get in on Friday, get some treatment (as in having him hook me up to a machine and shock my back until the muscles fatigue, relax, and then he can adjust me). My back is so tight that the muscles have started to itch. Ugh.

Kim, JJF, and I walked around the lake this evening. We took the medium route. Jack saw a cat (again) and chased it. The cat (who looks just like our cat, Puppy) dove into some very high weeds on one side of the road/trail we walk on. Jack dove in after him. A few seconds later we saw/heard some weeds/bushes moving on the other side of the path. The cat had crawled through a hidden drainage pipe to the other side to lose jack. Pretty smart kitty.

Food today was again great. Muffin for breakfast, protein shake for AM snack, LC for lunch, another shake in the middle of the afternoon, salmon and a salad for dinner, and a muffin as a dessert. Around 1500 calories on the day.

My order of Shakeology arrived today. I'll start the 3 day cleanse tomorrow, then roll back into the 1500-1600 calorie diet after. I also received a few new Insanity discs. I replaced some that were damaged, and ordered the 20 minute Fast & Furious (or something like that) workout. I'll get back to Insanity next week!

Things Seem Easy Without Insanity

This week (and last week too) I haven't had any Insanity workouts. I finished up the week before. Without the craziness, I feel like my training is so easy now. I'm still doing 3 rounds of varied cardio and my usual strength training. Once I get my shipment of Shakeology in (tomorrow, I think) and then get through the 3 day cleanse, I'll be ready to start mixing the Insanity back in. I've been toying with the idea of trying P90 or P90X or whatever it's called. I enjoyed the Insanity so much, I'm thinking I'd like something else. I don't know what I'd do about training at the gym though. Maybe just do some treadmill/elliptical stuff at the gym for a bit. Anybody ever tried P90? Any recommendations? Any thoughts? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

Today was another great day! I didn't wake up quite as early (actually overslept a little, I was tired) so I didn't run outside this morning. Instead I rode the spin bike for a little over 30 minutes as I watched a recorded episode of the West Wing. Best. Show. Ever.

Next up was the gym. I began with a back workout. 3 very poor sets of pull-ups, 3 sets of heavy t-bar rows, 3 sets of hammer rows, and 3 sets of lat pull-downs. Then on to the treadmill. I did a mile of varied paced running (between 7 & 8 mph), then a mile of HIIT varying from a walking speed of 3.5 for a minute, then running for a minute at a faster pace. Runs started at 8mph, increasing .5 each cycle until I was running at a 6 minute mile pace. Actually, at the fastest pace I felt my running form was the best. I was standing very erect, my feet were out in front of me, and my stride was very short and quick. Just like if I was running barefoot! Cool, I think. I was pretty winded after the HIIT (that's why I did it, to get in a more strenuous workout during the run), so my last mile was a varied run again, but at a slower pace (6-7). I finished up the workout with a few minutes of a slow walk.

After working some this afternoon, Jumping Jack Flash and I walked around the lake this evening. Tonight was Kim's night to work late, so it was just he and I on the evening stroll. As the temps drop, I want to start taking some of the big dogs on walks again. Still not cool enough for them though.

Food on the day was great again. Muffin for breakfast, shake for AM snack, Indian meal for lunch, shake as a PM snack. LC tortilla crusted fish for dinner, shake for dessert, and about 1/4 of a muffin on my way to bed. 1700 or so calories on the day. I'll burn 4000 or so. This new modified diet has been working perfectly. I'm never hungry, I'm staying full, and I've got plenty of energy. Some of the shakes I've been adding either a banana or some pineapple, or both. I haven't used more than a shake a day in years. I used to have four or more a day in college. I always enjoyed the simplicity and consistency of eating that way.

Awesome Morning

Today has been, for lack of a better word, awesome. I was up early and shot some nice star photos before sunrise. As I waited on the sun to come up I walked the pug, had a cup of coffee, checked email, and got ready to run. The temperature this morning was an amazing 55 degrees, so I had planned accordingly and was itching to run.

Once the sun began to light the sky I retrieved my camera, got Jumping Jack Flash out of his crated, and headed out to run. Jack made it to the end of the driveway and stopped. His loss. I guess I should have known something big was nearby, since he didn't want to run with me. Just around the barn from the house I ran across a good sized deer. It took of in the direction I was running, so I just followed it. She (I guess) ran to the top of a ridge, turned, looked at me and waited for a few seconds. Then she was off again, down towards the lake and off into the distance. And the lake? It was perfect. Still, clear (the water), and very foggy. Just beautiful. When I reached the big damn (basically a mile from the house) I saw 30-40 geese and ducks swimming quietly in the center of the lake. They had been invisible just seconds earlier, but once I got to the damn I could just barely see them through the fog. They were silent. The only thing I could really hear was my footsteps and breathing. I made the turn and ran back home (the short route today) I spotted a large hawk at the little damn. Usually hawks will fly away when I get even moderately close, but this morning he (guessing again) just landed in a nearby tree and watched me jog by. Back at home JJF was waiting for me on the front porch. Lazy dog.

The running part of the run was ok too. I never have any idea as to my pace when I run outdoors. I finished 2 miles (more or less) in 18 something minutes. Not great at all. But not bad for varied terrain and the first outside run since summer started.

Once I made it to they gym I was running late (morning of mowing yards, running errands for the Don) and trained chest rather quickly. 3 sets of flat hammer presses, 3 sets of incline hammer presses, 3 sets of wide decline hammer presses, and 3 sets of pec dec. Next I moved to the treadmill where I planned to run 3 miles. I ran out of time and only was able to run 2. Finished them in 16:09.

After a dentist visit and working for a bit I came home where my only other exercise of the day was an evening walk with Kim and JJF.

Food for the day was great. I'm implementing a new modified diet for a while. Back to six regimented meals per day. No fast food. No Indian (OK maybe once every 6 weeks). No Pizza. Basically I'll have a muffin or cereal for breakfast, shake for snack, LC or NS for lunch, shake for snack, NS or LC for dinner, shake for dessert. I'll sub chicken or tuna with a salad for any dinner. Saturdays I'll have some turkey dogs as a treat, and make sure I eat real food (not LC or NS) both non breakfast meals on the weekends. As my weekend rewards, I'm gonna allow myself to have 1 Hornsby's Cider on both Saturday and Sunday nights. Only 200 extra calories, and it gives me something to look forward to. For a while it'll be a much better treat than say going to eat out at a nasty Pizza/Mexican/Indian (not nasty, just high calorie) place.

Today's food was great. Muffin for breakfast, Lean Body shake for AM snack, NS beans & ham soup for lunch, shake for PM snack, LC French Bread Pizza for dinner, shake for dessert, and a muffin before bed. Less than 1800 calories on the day. BodyBugg has me burning 4400+ calories on the day. Good day.

Weekend Waiting on Shakeology

Saturday I finally had a "good" run. 3 miles in a little over 24 minutes. I also had a couple of good rides on the spin bike.

Food was great on the day, until dinner. Muffin for breakfast, turkey hot dogs for lunch, chicken breast for mid afternoon meal, cottage cheese and pineapple a little later. Dinner, not so great. we ate at a local county style restaurant. I had roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a fried veggie mix. And about 1/2 a slice of peanut butter pie. Wow.

Hopefully next week I'll have some of my new protein shakes in stock. I'm gonna try Shakeology, from BeachBody. I'm gonna begin with the 3 day cleanse. 3 shakes per day, plus some tea, a little fruit, and a salad for dinner. After that I'll use Shakeology once a day, and Lean Body shakes once a day. Plus lots of chicken, salads, muffins, and granola. And water. Lots and lots of water.

Sunday I'm gonna spin, walk, and maybe get in an ab workout. To help further my ab workouts (or lack thereof) I've also ordered the Insanity discs which were damaged/bad that I'd gotten off ebay. That along with a fast paced, time shortened Insanity workout. That along with the Insane Abs Workout, and the Sports Training workout should give me a few extra workouts to add to the mix. I'm not gonna re-implement Insanity until after the cleanse is over. Then I'm gonna use it only some days. I'll swap it out with riding the spin bike, or walking. I don't want to do cardio 4 times a day. 2-3 is plenty.

Better

For the past few days my mornings have gotten stretched. I plan to be up, have coffee, work on the computer, and ride the spin bike for 1/2 an hour, all before 9AM. Today I got this accomplished by around lunch. I wasn't pleased.

This pushes my workout later in the day. I like to train around 10AM if at all possible. I feel better. I train better. I like the people in the gym at that time. Today I trained at 2PM. The people in the gym were fine (the 3 that were there), but I wasn't. I was so tired I almost didn't even stop at the gym. I started to just drive back home. I manged a better run today. 3 miles in 25 something. I didn't necessarily feel any better, but at least I manged to run the full 3 today. My leg workout was, well, puny. 3 sets of leg extensions and then 3 sets of leg curls. That was it. My legs were already tired from the run and spin bike this morning. Plus I missed last weeks leg workout, so I didn't want to cripple myself today.

Food on the day has been good. Muffin and granola bar for breakfast. A few more granola bars during the day. Veggie frozen Indian for lunch. A bowl of granola cereal post workout. Dinner was chick peas in a tomato gravy.

Tomorrow I plan on running, training abs, spinning, walking, and watching UGA!

Having to Ease My Way Back

I finally returned to the gym today. Yesterday was devoted to catching up on work, and returning to a normal eating routine. I did manage to ride the spin bike for 30 minutes and go on an evening walk last night.

Today began with more work, bookwork, and banking before I could hit the bike for half an hour. Afterward I made my way to the gym and trained arms. 3 sets of press downs, 3 sets of overhead presses, and 3 sets of rope presses for triceps. Biceps began with 3 sets of rope curls, then 3 sets of incline dumbbell curls, and finally 3 sets of standing hammer curls. I had planned on running 3 miles of hills. I ended up running/walking about 2.9 miles of hills. I wasn't necessarily hurting during the run, but I never could get into a groove and felt very weak. So I'd run for a few minutes, walk a little, then run some more, then walk again, etc. 7 days off, I guess this is better than what it could be. Tomorrow I'm gonna try to run with no incline, earlier in the day, and see how I do. Before dinner JJF and I walked around the lake for my final cardio of the day.

Food today (and yesterday for that matter) has been good. Muffin for breakfast, protein shake after the bike, granola bar as a snack, shake after the gym, LC for dinner, and finally dessert of a granola bar and granola cereal.

Tomorrow is leg day. I'm gonna spin first, then run, then train. I think I'm gonna wait a few days before adding Insanity back into the mix. Maybe next week.

Back Home

We're back home from vacation. Back to a new modified routine starting today. Back home, newly motivated, ready to run, train, spin, and go Insane. Back home, ready to eat healthy, be healthy, and get leaner.

We witnessed some of the sickest, heaviest, unhappiest people while at the beach. Once we noticed and began to actually people watch, we were shocked by how many (most) people were significantly over weight. Terribly overweight. I'd guess on average most people were more than 60 pounds overweight. That may be on the low side too. After about the 2nd day I was itching to get back to training and eating properly.

So back to it, starting NOW!

Trying for a Quick Week

After training chest Monday, I've been trying to hit two body parts per day (complimentary parts, anyway) so I can finish up on Thursday and get out of town late that night. Back and biceps went well on Tuesday, and today I got in shoulders and triceps.

Tuesday's workout began with 3 sets of pull-ups, 3 sets of t-bar rows, 3 sets of seated rows, and finally 3 sets of lat pull downs. Biceps began with 3 sets of seated incline dumbbell curls, and ended with 3 HEAVY sets of standing biceps curls. Wednesday's workout began with 3 sets of shoulder presses, then 3 sets of side lateral raises, and finally 3 sets of cable upright rows. Triceps began with 3 sets of press downs, then 3 sets of overhead presses, and finally 3 sets of rope press downs. Cardio on Tuesday was terrible. My phone kept ringing, I kept getting emails, and never could get into a groove with my run. I finally quit after about 2.5 miles. Wednesday's run was much better. 3 miles in 24:30, barefoot. Not bad. I finished off the 30 minutes by walking uphill slowly. Now the bad news. An hour or so later my left foot is hurting. I don't think it's injured, just 6 days worth of barefoot running has taken its toll. It feels like i just need to rest and maybe adjust/pop the outer (pinky toe) bone in my foot/ankle. I've gotta train legs tomorrow anyway, so I might not run. Or if I do I think it'll be back in my Mizuno Waves. Some nights this week we've been able to walk, others not. I have been on the spin bike each day though. 30 minutes per day, typically in the AM. Gotta get back in the habit of riding during the Braves games.

Tuesday I got up, set up the living room, and started my Insanity workout. I only have 4 left to do. I finished the warm up, looked at Shaun T for a second, and it hit me. I couldn't stand doing any of these workouts again. I'm SICK of it. I need a break. Don't get me wrong, I've loved the workouts. I'm just burnt out. Maybe after we get back from the beach I'll start doing a couple of Insanity workouts each week. I'll have to come up with some sorta schedule. Like not doing any on or near a leg day. I won't be doing many of the 2nd month's workouts either. I really never liked them as much as the first month's. They seemed to be power kinda moves (jumps, power jumps, diamond jumps) and things that were not as cardio intensive (that's relative, the entire thing is cardio intensive). I loved Pure Cardio and Max Cardio. They'll be in the rotation pretty heavy. I did notice while doing the core cardio and balance workout that my balance has improved dramatically. I couldn't stand on one foot and stretch with out falling when I started. Now while doing hip flexor burners I don't have to hold on to anything for balance. I was kinda shocked.

Food all this week has been good. I really don't remember what all I've had, but it's been good and on plan. Muffins or cereal for breakfast. LC or a shake for lunch. Shake or muffin for snack. LC for dinner one night and a little roast with my parent's the other night. Muffins for late snacks. I've gone Muffin Nuts!