Motivation | Keeping up with Kate

Hump Day Workout

Posted on April 24, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Not only is today Hump Day – but this is “Hump” week for the 6 week Spring Transformation – week 3! I started feeling kind of crappy yesterday morning – felt better today but still not feeling great when I made it to my evening workout. It was interesting to see everyone tonight sort of in the same boat – not a lot of pep in the room.

So tonight’s workout was perfect for our little ‘pepless’ group! 🙂 Workout at your own pace!

Here was tonight’s workout – 5 rounds or 25 minutes:

15 High Knees
10 Tricep Crusher (each side) (10 lbs)
10 Deadlifts (12 lbs)
10 Back Rows (12 lbs)
10 Mountain Climbers (each side)
10 reverse lunges (each side)
5 helicopters (each side)
10 Squats with a Plie

I completed all 5 rounds with a minute or so to spare. We finished the night up with some abs and stretching. Everyone (including me) left with a lot more energy and glad we all made it tonight!

Have a great evening!

Week 2 Accountability and Week 3 Goals

Posted on April 22, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

As promised – here is how I did on my Week 2 goals. The goal is to achieve 80 – 100%.

Drink 80 ozs of water per day (which includes preparing the night before – filling up my pitcher – seems so simple, but something that I put off). 100% Goal Achieved
Set calendar for every 2 hours to get up and move around (away from my desk). 90% Goal Semi Achieved (got up and walked around every 2 hours – never put it on my calendar).
Have vegetables (non-starch) at every meal. I actually do a good job at breakfast and I’m getting better at lunch – dinner is sometimes the challenge – I use a personal chef and sometimes the meal has a starch vegetable and I don’t have a salad or add something else. I will add a salad to my evening meal. 90% of Goal Achieved – only night without a salad was Saturday night (although I did have asparagus – and do wasabi peas count?)

Other successes: Tried out the Open Studio and made it to Project Sculpt on Thursday (killer workout). Additionally made two yoga classes this week and was able to do a standing balanced triangle.

Celebrate: Got to see a college friend and her family last night who I haven’t had a chance to see in quite some time. It was a great time!!

Notes/Reflections/Revelations: Preparation makes things so much easier!

Week 3 Goals:

Address my coffee addiction – Limit 2 K cups per day.
Add 2 – 3 green smoothies into my weekly menu – most likely pre-workout – good news is I’ve already made them and they are in shaker bottles in my fridge. I had one today – pre 7:00 pm workout. Not too bad (I did add protein mix – didn’t have it in the batch I made last night). (I’ll post later what I put in the smoothie)
Continue the following:
Drink 80 ozs of water per day
Get up and move around every 2-3 hours during the workday
Eat a salad with dinner

I’ll post my results and observations next week.

Week 2 – Goal

Posted on April 15, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I’m building on my week 1 goals and adding another goal for this week. My ultimate goal is to make these become new habits. I don’t have a lot of distractions except this Wednesday, I do have a board meeting in the evening – which means I will miss my HardBody workout (and I missed tonight as I had a touch of food poisoning last night – feeling better now – just a little wiped out). I’m trying to figure out if it will go to the open workout during lunch or make it up on Saturday morning (I’ll keep you posted).

Here are my week 2 goals:

Drink 80 ozs of water per day (which includes preparing the night before – filling up my pitcher – seems so simple, but something that I put off).
Set calendar for every 2 hours to get up and move around (away from my desk).
Have vegetables (non-starch) at every meal. I actually do a good job at breakfast and I’m getting better at lunch – dinner is sometimes the challenge – I use a personal chef and sometimes the meal has a starch vegetable and I don’t have a salad or add something else. I will add a salad to my evening meal.

I’ll let you know how I do next week (and try to post daily on my accountability page).

Learning about my Metabolism

Posted on April 12, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Since last May, I’ve been seeing a nutritionist. I’ve been seeing results – it is just slow and steady – did I mention it was slow? I don’t miss out on things and I’m not on a diet – which is really important to me as I have a buys work and social life (so I’ve been told). We’ve kept it pretty simple – protein, veggies and carbs – no fruit though – he is treating me as pre-diabetic. I’ve cut out beer too (there have been a few exceptions but not many) – my cocktail of choice is Stoli Orange and Club Soda (and I cut out all adult beverages during Lent). Just wanted to prove I’m not missing out on things in LIFE!

Meanwhile on this journey, I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in late November 2012 (I’ll write a post on that another time) (I’m feeling much better too – I just wonder if this is playing a role in the slow and steady part of the journey).

I had some struggles with weight loss around the holidays (more like weight gain) and crazy sugar cravings I didn’t really have over the fall. We decided it was time to do a metabolism test. We scheduled it for 8:00 am – no food after midnight and only water in the AM. The test is a 10 minute breathing test into a machine through a tube with your nose clipped. I was given a gold star for how consistent my breathing was in the machine – 10 minutes is much longer than you realize when your nose is clipped.

For my height, age and weight – my predicted resting expenditure is 1,643 calories – mine came in at 2,189 calories – so my metabolism is operating at a higher rate than the baseline! There was some other data called a RER which was at .82 (which would mean the last few days prior to the test I went into maintenance mode on my eating) (it should be more like .77 – it is that specific – since I did lose weight from the prior mth).

So my metabolism is doing great things – thanks to my work at BodyProject Fitness! Yeah!! I lost 5 lbs from the prio month – Yeah! And I’m down 16 lbs since last May (slow and steady wins the race – I’m changing my lifestyle – my new mantra!!) Great news – still perplexing why my body seems to want to hold onto the weight though (and the day before the metabolism test I had a BodyMetrix ultrasound test and my BF went up 5% – even more perplexing – makes me wonder if the Lyme Disease is impacting it – I’ll discuss my personal hypothesis on another post). And what I’m doing eating / working out shouldn’t be contributing to muscle loss. Things that make you go HMMMM!

All that being said – we have adjusted my morning breakfast to eliminate the carbs as my nutritionist believes I am insulin sensitive. I’ve been doing this for about 2 weeks now – my go to breakfast is a 2 egg omelet (and lately throwing in some egg whites too) with veggies and cheese. I haven’t been perfect though – on vacation I did indulge in a Thomas’ English Muffin with my 2 egg omelets. 🙂

So as you are reading this you may think I’m a super patient person. I am anything but patient. This journey has been a pure test of my patience – but I know I’m making long-term sustainable changes and learning lots about myself as I go. I think that is what keeps me going – and I’ve already invested so much time and energy in it. I’d be lying if I didn’t want to see a nice one month drop of 10 lbs to help my confidence and ego! 🙂

50 Burpees – OH My

Posted on February 20, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I’m so happy – I completed 50 Burpees tonight at BodyProject Fitness and Lifestyle (http://www.bodyprojectfitness.com). I haven’t been a huge fan of Burpees – ever – but I do have say I like this new burpee (for me less risk of hurting myself as I can be a klutz sometime). Here is the link – try it out: http://goo.gl/fZB0D (shhh – don’t tell anyone – starting to like them a little)

It was such a great workout tonight. 20 minutes and pushing myself (everyone did) with heavier weights – 12, 15 and 20 lbs for me tonight. I completed 4 rounds – and started my 5th round so I did get the 50 burpees in (did I mention that?)!

Burpee 10 reps
Bicep Curls – 5 reps – 15 lbs
1/2 turkish getup – 5 each – 12 lbs (I did try one round with 15)
OH Press w/ one foot – 5 each – 12 lbs
Plie w/calf raise – 5 – 20 lb kettlebell
Tricep Single Arm Crusher – 5 each arm – 12 lbs (this is the one where you are lying down on your mat)
Fast Run in Place – 10 each leg
Single arm Back Row – 5 reps each – 20 lb kettlebell
Running Lunge -5 each leg

This will be one I’ll take with me when I travel – one you can do in the hotel gym in a short period of time and get a nice good sweat going. Enjoy!!

PS: If you are in Central NJ – check out http://www.bodyprojectfitness.com (changed my life)

Never a Prouder Moment…

Posted on February 17, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

Never a prouder moment to be a Penn Stater than on THON weekend. This year THON (the largest student run philanthropy in the world) raised $12,374,034.46 for the Four Diamonds Fund in a hope to find a cure for pediatric cancer!! Since 1977, THON has donated over $100M to the Four Diamonds Fund (with this year’s fundraising). To learn more about THON or to donate to THON14 go to http://www.thon.org!

Inspire Tomorrow’s Miracles

THON has grown throughout the years. When I was at Penn State it was held in the White Building (the same place where I took my aerobics gym class), then it moved to Rec Hall (where the Volleyball teams plan now) and then moved to it’s current location – The Bryce Jordan Center. There were times this weekend where the wait to get into the BJC was over 3 hours long and this morning due to capacity issues they stopped allowing people to enter – pretty amazing!

I followed posts throughout the weekend, watched the live stream online and then spent the last two hours watching THON today – I caught Family Hour – which is where the families who benefit from the Four Diamonds Fund share their stories – about their kids who are in remission and the ones who are now angels. So very moving – not a dry eye in the BJC nor at my house!

For the Kids! (FTK)

Training Session 1 – in the Books!

Posted on August 20, 2012 by keepingupwithkate91

In my last post I shared that I caved to ‘peer pressure’ and I’m doing the Beauty and the Beach 5 mile race on November 3rd in Long Branch. It is a walk / run. I have a lot of my boot camp friends joining me and my college roommate and her daughter in for the fun too. I’m really looking forward to it.

Last Friday over lunch, I bought some new kicks. A nice pair of Asics (reminds my of college – my sneaker of choice back in the day). See – aren’t they pretty? And my friend, Tracy, pointed out that they are PSU colors too (totally pulled that off by accident)!

I didn’t make it to boot camp today so I thought it would be a great time to start my training program. My trainer suggested I start out slow – which is exactly what I did – 2 minutes of walking; 20 seconds jogging. I used the gymboss on my i-Phone (although the alarm was almost impossible to hear over my music) for 10 rounds and I completed 2 sets so 40 (-) minutes of walking and about 6+ minutes of jogging (near the end I added on longer running segments) so maybe it turned into 30 minutes of walking and 10 minutes of jogging (total time: 52 minutes, 5,218 steps, 2.907 miles and avg HR 141 / Max 167). What was the verdict? I didn’t hate it. I really loved the countdown/switching to walking / jogging and liked when I pushed myself to run a little bit more. My knee seemed to hold up pretty good – my arches not so much. They were definitely bothering me. Seemed to get a bit better as I went. I did a short cool down and stretched – taking off my sneakers was killer. I just got done icing my arches and I think the golf ball will be my new best friend for a while (note to self – warm up and stretch the arches more).

So in the end, I’m glad I’m doing this event in November. I think it is something I need to do for me and I’m glad the first training session is in the books! 🙂

Peer Pressure Can Be a Good Thing

Posted on August 10, 2012 by keepingupwithkate91

Back in May I agreed to do a 1/2 Marathon. If you read the post you knew that I was scared but had finally come around to reality that I was going to do it. The friend of mine I was to wog (walk / jog) the 1/2 Marathon with got excellent news – she is expecting – so it has been postponed a year. I will tell you I was a bit relieved that it was postponed.

Now fastforward to Wednesday night – I’m out with some friends from Bootcamp. We were talking about some of our Bootcamp peers who are training for a tri and about a mud run some of them have done in the past. Somehow we got talking about runs in the fall and I remember our trainer talking about Beauty and the Beach (and rumor has it they have a great swag bag) in Long Branch, NJ. At first we thought it was a 5K and low and behold it is a 5 mile all ladies walk/run. I checked my schedule and PSU doesn’t have a home game – and we all agreed that we would try it.

I went to bootcamp today and checked with everyone to make sure they were still in and the answer was YES. I registered when I got home this morning and then sent them all links to register. I know at least 3 of us are now registered (and if you are reading this blog – you know who you are – don’t forget to register – http://tiny.cc/brpuiw) for the event. I’m so excited!!

So I jokingly put in the subject line about Peer Pressure and don’t get me wrong that definately helped; however, my mindset has changed a lot since May. I’ve been much more focused on my workouts and what I eat/drink.

Thank You Ladies for pushing me at each and every bootcamp – I love the camraderie and letting peer pressure be a good thing!

Loving forward to November 3, 2012!! 🙂

My New Favorite – HIIT Workout

Posted on July 6, 2012 by keepingupwithkate91

July is a very busy month with vacation and travel so I won’t be attending my normal bootcamp. Two days this week while on vacation I re-discovered HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts. I’ve known about them for since the first BodyProject Transformation, but I’ll be honest I never really embraced them. I dislike cardio – all kinds – it is just not enjoyable to me – never has been.

The mantra for HIIT is “no long cardio” – and this is not a long cardio at all. The gym I joined while on vacation has a 30 minute time limit for the treadmill and elliptical machines. I select the elliptical and have gotten 23 and 24 minutes of HIIT workouts for the past two days with 7 and 6 minute warm-up/cool-down. This hits the mark for me! I love the sense of accomplishment!

Here is the work-out I did today (I did the 10 rounds x 2):

Work Hard – 15 seconds; Rest: 45 seconds
Work Hard – 15 seconds; Rest: 45 seconds
Work Hard – 30 seconds; Rest: 60 seconds
Work Hard – 30 seconds; Rest: 60 seconds
Work Hard – 15 seconds; Rest: 30 seconds
Work Hard – 15 seconds; Rest: 30 seconds
Work Hard – 30 seconds; Rest: 60 seconds
Work Hard – 30 seconds; Rest: 60 seconds
Work Hard – 15 seconds; Rest: 45 seconds
Work Hard – 15 seconds; Rest: 45 seconds

For more information about HIIT workouts check out this link: http://tiny.cc/5zv0gw

Here was the rest of my workout this morning:

5 Times x 5 Rounds

Overhead Press – 8 lbs
Bicep Curls – 10 lbs
Tricep Kickbacks – 8 lbs
Chest Flye – 8 lbs
Back Row – 10 lbs

And lastly 4 30 second low planks and finally a nice stretch. I’m ready to start the day. Have a fantastic Friday!!

PS: This will be my go to workout when I’m traveling for work next week! 🙂

Happy Day – June 11th!

Posted on June 12, 2012 by keepingupwithkate91

I started this blog almost a year ago to document changes when on the Clean program for 21 days – to see if I could find my X factor. Although I learned a lot during the process – it just didn’t work for me. The blog has morphed into both my personal journey and self-discovery as well as random fun and observations in general.

I’m hopefully that I’ve found my X factor – almost a year after I started this journey. During the Spring Transformation at Bootcamp there was seminar with a Nutrionist that I went to see (and was encouraged by my trainer to attend). I listened, took notes and even made changes starting the next day – moving from small meals throughout the day to 3 meals per day. I promised myself I would make an appointment to go see the Nutrionist. It probably took me a month to finally make the call and he is in high demand so it took a few weeks to get an appointment. My first appointment was May 7th. I weighed in at my heaviest ever (maybe someday I’ll share). He gave me simple things to focus on: Hydration, 3 meals a day (and make them things I enjoyed – ‘no dirt and grass’ – things to chew), have at each meal – protein, carbs (30 mg) and veggies and no fruit (he was treating me as a diabetic) and if I was hungry between meals go for protein first. He also wanted me to find an exercise I enjoyed. That was easy – I had bootcamp.

The first two weeks I did pretty well – well balanced for all three meals, getting at least 2 bootcamps in a week. I even got a workout in while traveling (historically I take my workout clothes and sneakers and never use them – the workout is the lugging of the suitcase in the airport 🙂 ). Then I had a challenge – weekend leadership conference – I did pretty well with my food selections and still enjoyed some libations with friends in Happy Valley. I was hit with a stomach bug that derailed me for a few days and took me awhile to get back on track. I started noticing major fatigue in the afternoon that I just couldn’t explain – that was really starting to worry me.

Fastforward to yesterday – my appointment and review of the past month. We talked about how I was feeling – especially the fatigue. We discussed what I had changed in my diet – I had added bread back to my diet as I love a sandwich for lunch – think that is what is driving my fatigue. For the next month, I’m going to experiment – either selecting lower carb bread or bread type items for lunch or swap my lunch / dinner options – dinner for lunch and lunch for dinner. We’ll see how it goes. The end of the appointment is the weigh-in – I’m pleased to announce that I dropped 6 lbs!! We were both very pleased with the results. I will never see that ugly unnamed number from above. I’m still on a HIGH from it. I’ve tried many things in the past (JC, WW, SB, Clean, NS, etc – it may have worked for the short-term – but always felt I was missing something). I can honestly say I didn’t feel that this passed month. I went out to dinner, I shared dessert, had cocktails, enjoyed a BBQ over Memorial Day, had a hot dog and beer at a Phillies game. I enjoyed life and I’m enjoying this lifestyle change that seems to be working for me.

I go back for my next follow-up mid-July – stay tuned for updates.

Have a fabulous day!!