compound movements + let's RUN!!!

how it went down eeeeearly this morning...

i double (tea) bagged it (+ water, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and stevia). i had to.  didn't get much sleep cause i've been grinding on these cook books and they WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!!!! :twisted:  i'm not yelling at you. i'm yelling at the cook books.  a little sleep deprived but the sacrifice will be worth it. it better beeeeee :lol:

let's talk about something i incorporate into pretty much all my classes at the gym:

can't get enough of compound movements and there are TONS of them. what are they?

'multi-joint movements that rely on the coordinated actions of several muscle groups to move two or more joints through a range of motion'

the featured move of this post (up ^ there) combines squats (which is honestly a compound movement by itself since it works multiple parts of the body) and over-head presses.

Squats + overhead press

• start with feet shoulder width apart, weights on either side of your body.
• perform a low squat, pushing your glutes back, weight in your heels, knees behind your toes, back flat, head up, chest up.  have a seat in that imaginary chair!
• bear all your weight on your left heel and while driving it into the floor, lift your right knee straight up towards your chest and perform your over head press simultaneously. keep your core tight, and squeeze the glute of the heel that's on the floor. hard.
• repeat on the right and make it a continuous, fluid movement by alternating your knees from left to right.

the heavier your dumbbells, the harder you work, and the more you burn!

 *tip: working upper and lower body together is one of the best ways to burn fat.*

class went well this morning, can't you tell from those disgusting sweat stains!?!?  i didn't even notice them until after i posted the pic to IG. but that's just how it goes down in my class :lol:.  if i could bottle the feeling exercise gives me....i'd sell it and retire at 30. good music gives me so much energy- i got a new cd and i know my members can tell i love it cause i keep playing it! good, loud music gives me energy through the roof!  i need all the energy i can get at 5:30am.

then i came home to these babies. NOM. i threw the recipe together, but the base of it stemmed from the banana blueberry pancakes, if you're wondering.

i subbed the banana for 1 packet of stevia, then topped them with sliced almonds, raw, unsweetened, shredded coconut, and that big vat of walden farms pancake syrup back there.

WELL, i am so excited about the response concerning the Houston Color Run THIS Sunday, March 24th!  Thank you for your emails!  if you'd still like to run, you haven't missed a thing- email me @ le@fitfoodiele.com and i'll send ya the link to join team Fit Foodies.  however...my sincere apologies for not giving enough notice.  there were several people who wanted to run with Fit Foodies but the timing was just not right.  even for a 5k, training is very important, and some of the 1st timers need more of it.  i understand completely.  also, the race rates are cheapest when you register super early, and 6 days pre-race day is pushing it, i know!  so i'm super grateful, and thankful to all who have committed to running with Fit Foodies.

WITH THAT SAID,

let's do it right this time!  remember my Conn's Green 10k post from last year??  if you'd like to get your run on with Fit Foodies for this event that is near and dear to my heart, come on then!  it's special because it starts and ends in City Centre, one of my fave Houston hangouts, and also home to the best Lifetime Fitness in the entire universe!  #ithoughtyouknew.  if you're interested, hit me up at the same email addy, and check out their site for details!

 race date is Saturday, April 27th, 2013, and as always, same rules apply: walk, run, skip- however you gotta cross that line, just FINISH!

le

wackday

wednesday was one of those days.  when i don't get enough rest my world comes crashing down.  i wanted to say screw this whole competition, quit, and eat an entire papa johns pizza. :evil:  i want to eat an entire pizza every day, but that day i threatened myself out loud.  it just got worse and worse as the day went on.  i worked out with my trainer that morning, and i somehow hit the gym in the evening for round two.

i took a pic just so i could remember this very day and my mood at the time.  i can laugh at it now, but i'm pretty positive i'll feel like this again or worse in the next few weeks as my journey to the stage draws near.  and come on, a journey wouldn't be a journey if it didn't have a mixture of good, bad, high, and low days.

keep. pressing. forward.

that was prolly my worst workout of this entire journey though.  i could barely get my heart rate up to my fat burning zone, and i literally struggled to keep it there, which is always relatively easy.  after my last meal that night, THANKFULLY Chiso calmed down enough to go to sleep early with me even though he took a late nap.

Thursday was a new day. a better day.  a high carb day.  i DID get some good rest the night before and felt tons better, mentally and physically.

Chiso wasn't the only one enjoying fresh fruit that day :)

this is just some of his meal... sweet potatoes, avocado, and his fav, strawberries.

i got in some posing practice that night after my cardio.

POW, stick that hip out there!

i can be silly/goofy/flirty, but being serious/sexy/flirty WITHOUT laughing and feeling like an idiot is the tough part.  how i will ever manage to sell it and make it believable on stage is beyond me, but i have 3 weeks to figure it out.

i feel wack taking these pics of myself but who do you think i am, june ambrose!? i need a picture snapping assistant.  sometimes.

this will be my final pose before exiting the stage. :shock: kidding.

i didn't even think to bring my show suit with me-  my coach said i should be practicing in it or at least less clothing from here on out though. she's absolutely right cause i could not see my body the way i needed to.

some days i feel way too skinny, some days i feel like i could maintain this weight.  either way, Sonny reminded me that if i do fall off the wagon after this competition, i now have the tools and the knowledge to get my body back where i want it to be. well, what could i say after that lol?

i made more banana pancakes this morning cause they make me happy.  and i need all the happiness i can get!!!!

  i think i have made/eaten them for the past week and i can't stop.  until i can add more crazy ingredients to my batter, i'll have them just like this up until the show.  so YES, more pics of pancakes are coming, you've been warned.

have you made these pancakes yet!? what did you put in yours?

*****HAPPY FRIDAY*****

le

kickin and pushin

who left their gym clothes at home yesterday? i could have kicked myself.  i was driving to work when i realized what i had done. guess where i went on lunch break:

i'll never have enough workout gear, so no biggie there!  no excuses...nothing will keep me from my workout date.

my colorful ensemble!

  i can feel my husband giving me a side-eye through the screen, but i could have gone to lululemon, sooo.... :-?

now shoes, on the other hand, those are deal breakers.  i would have just had to go back home for them. striking a pose before i went to kill it- upper body and cardio that night.

update:

currently @ 152 lbs and 18% body fat after two more weeks.

yeah i thought my body fat went down a lot more too by now, HMPH.  i'm losing weight for sure, but my trainer says i burned a little muscle too, bummer.  this means i need to make sure i am staying inside my fat burning zone during my cardio sessions.  it's honestly hard for me to stay there cause i just want to GO GO GO all the time and burn up everything.  i have to remind myself to stay focused and concentrate on burning fat.

been working on my posing and walking every chance i get. i hope it shows! these progress pics help me tremendously though- i see so many things i need to fix asap.

no cheat meal(s), no processed snacks, no white sugar nothin for 4 weeks straight now. wow is all i can say.  it's ALL God. i have never, ever, in my entire life gone this long without those things.  when i'm tempted, i start praying lol!!!! i'm so very serious though.  somehow i look up minutes later and the craving is gone and i've moved on to doing something else.  i was talking with Sonny the other day about just how much my/our lives revolved around food!  for any special occasion, milestone, celebration - WHATEVER - we go eat.  bored and nothin going on?  we go get fro-yo.  before Chiso was born, we would randomly wake up in the middle of the night and go get some fries or ice cream or something sweet.  gosh i miss being able to do that! with the way the weeks have been flying by though, it won't be long before i can enjoy those things again.  my mentor reminded me that 'the body always craves what the body can't have.' unfortunate truth. UGH.

i came to terms with having a thick waist and being shaped like a boy a few years ago.   i am happy to report that this couldn't be any further from the truth.

this is my first time wearing this dress since 2010 @ my mom's graduation.

matter fact, i almost sent it to Goodwill this past year.  it just wouldn't zip up anymore and i was tired of sucking it in.  i was sooooooo uncomfortable that day.  not only were my feet hurting, but i couldn't even breathe right cause the dress was so tight.  i was trying to be cute - you know how that goes :roll:

alright now!  it's pretty comfy these days as are my jeans and other bottoms.  found it in the back of my closet and wore it to church this past Sunday.  old dress turned new again!  competition or not, i love these results and i plan to commit to eating 85% clean after this is over with.  life is just too darn short not to indulge every now and then.  no food will ever be off-limits in my book.

kissy break during the 'photoshoot'- you know he was wasn't too far away:)

finally, i miss eating my fav foods these days for sure, but i miss cooking new things and meals just as much if not more.  i see TONS of inspiration and ideas on Instagram and Pinterest every single day and i have collected and created a nice log of cleaner and leaner recipes (breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert)  over the past few weeks that i add to daily.  i cannot wait to get back into my kitchen and get creative and test out these recipes...and most important, EAT them!!  september will be a great month. a really, great month..

i'd love to place in this upcoming competition...i think about the day of the show often.  overcoming the entire journey leading up to stepping on that stage is what i will be the most proud of, though.

le

burn FAT effectively

earlier this week, i got some help in the weight room from my professional basketball playing bro-in-law,

Brian!

 he is also a trainer in his off-season.  can you tell?  he provided me with a fantastic upper body workout cause i need all the help i can get when i'm on my own.

we did a bunch of stuff! variety is so important in order to tone and grow the entire muscle group- i appreciated (but hated) them all.  s/n,  i'm looking forward to a nice, even tan.

hammer curls. i've ALWAYS wanted bulging biceps, especially when my arm is relaxed!!

lat pull downs with straight arms- great tricep/back/shoulder exercise.

afterwards, i did my cardio with a concentration on burning...

******FAT******

HR monitors have completely changed the way i workout.  up until i became a Lifetime Fitness instructor, i figured a super-duper sweaty workout = the BEST workout ever.  if i didn't achieve sweaty-mess status every single time i hit the gym, i didn't feel like i burned enough or did enough, and i'd leave feeling inadequate.  i soon learned that different zones burn different things.

i found Sonny's Polar FT7 on amazon.com as well as my own.  how it works:

1. put the wrist watch on (serves as a plain ol' watch as well)

2. strap on the chest transmitter, and make sure it's secure and close to your heart, literally.

3.  start the watch, do your workout, then stop it.  afterwards, you can look forward to seeing:

your average and max heart rates,

your total workout time plus the total amount of calories burned,

AND,

just how long you stayed in your fat burning zone! isn't that awesome?! love this thing. this is super important to me because my training focuses on staying in my fat burning zone, not so much my total amount of cals burned.  also, that was a very brief synopsis- you still need to read the directions :)

more convincing:

•  not all gym equipment is up to date- some machines don't have those neat sensors on them you can hold to find your heart rate.  one of the machines i like to use in particular is the stairmaster, and the ones in my gym don't have sensors.  plus, i don't like to have to hold those side rails anyway!  having a HR monitor handy solves that issue.

• even if you are on a machine with the HR sensors present, your chest transmitter syncs with the machine's signal and displays your HR without you having to grip them! i appreciate that.  sometimes those sensors just don't work correctly at all, or it will give me a crazy triple digit number that is clearly false.  and again, having to hold those sensors slows down my groove.

• most watch models have a feature that beeps when you are out of your fat burning range to let you know whether you need to speed up or slow down. neat!

now, HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR FAT BURNING ZONE????

 this info is no secret and is available all over the net! follow these steps and you can't go wrong.

220 - age - resting heart rate x .60 + resting heart rate = bottom range

220 - age - resting heart rate x .70 + resting heart rate = top range

what's your resting HR?

 when you first wake up, check your pulse for 15 seconds, then multiply that # by 4.

sure, other zones burn other things, but i focused on fat for this post.  so ultimately, your fat burning zone is where your heart rate needs to STAY for the duration of your workout to burn MAXIMUM fat.

le

excuse me, where's the calve machine?

oh yeah, THAT'S why i turned to group fitness in the first place!  sometimes i wander the weightroom aimlessly looking for the correct machine and can't find it without asking a trainer half the time.  plus, i am often unmotivated when working out solo.  i'd go from machine to machine...do a few half-hearted reps of whatever and barely get through my 'routine'.  this time, my motivation is completely different.  this time, i ask with pride :D. seriously though, this upcoming show is my constant reminder to just go hard,  suck it up and get it done.

i work out with my trainer a few times a week and he gives me things to do on my own as well.  i did lower body today and a lot of girls tell me that legs is their fav thing to work.  well i hate it all!!!  if only we could all #fastforward to the end result.

some of you have asked just what the heck have i been eating to see all these changes, and the answer is real food, lol!  no supplements or crazy detox drinks.  remember, i'm still breastfeeding for now and i will not compromise nor put myself or Chiso in any danger whatsoever.

meal plan is now going great- eating the same meal ALL day long was the worst.  my trainer has given me several exchanges for my veggies so i don't get bored and i SO appreciate it.   i usually have chicken or fish with veggies, a starch, and a good fat.  balance and portion control.  i throw it all in one bowl and mix everything together.  this dinner in particular is mustard greens, tilapia, potatoes, and avocado.  not pretty, but edible!

grocery shopping has become boring and downright depressing for me.  i go in, ignore the sample stations, get exactly what i need on my meal plan and get out. :roll: on top of that, **breaking news** Trader Joes FINALLY made its way to Houston!!!  well, close enough for now.  it's actually in the  Woodlands which is about 45 min north of us.  i'm honestly glad it's not right around the corner cause i don't want to be so close to their AWESOME, indulgent, one-of-a-kind snacks.  they dip some of the craziest things in chocolate and it usually tastes crazy good!!! the last time we had the pleasure of visiting TJ's was for our 4th anniversary in LA last year:

 i stuffed as much crap as i could into my suitcase before we left.  unfortunately,  i will have to stay my behind outta there until September.  but watch this- the Houston Trader Joe's location is scheduled to open in Sept. :P. i will definitely be celebrating and breaking my sweets fast up in there.  already got a mental list going in my head.

my trainer will check to see how much body fat i have lost in two weeks this saturday.  just a quick update! holla!

le