LNMaresca@gmail.com's blog

A little snow won't stop me!

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:47:56 -0600

We got quite a bit of snow in central New York yesterday evening and last night (it's still snowing out). I looked out my window this morning and thought I'd give it a try getting to the gym. I did a half hour light cardio tape at home then made my way to the gym. The roads were really bad. Of course, when I finally got there, no RPM class. No instructor. Grrr!!! I only had my spin shoes with me so I couldn't do any other workout, so I did my own 45 minute spin class. A relatively difficult one, too (although not as hard as RPM). But still, I got a good cardio workout in and made it to work on time.

Switching things up

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:29:34 -0600

For the first time in years, I did something very different this morning. I usually do my interval runs on MWF, weights and cardio TTHSat and light cardio on Sun. I did all that this week but instead of running this morning, I took an RPM class (basically, it's spin on crack ... very tough but tons of fun!). I'm getting a little burnt out on running so maybe this will help keep me more motivated. I also swapped out the two spin classes I did Tue and Thurs for a step class on Tue and a job on Thur. I also took out the elliptical. My legs are muscular (I put muscle on my legs quite easily) but they aren't really slim, so I'm hoping knocking back on these exercises will help.

Getting in touch with experts?

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:43:58 -0600

Hi everyone. I realize it's been a while since I've blogged. I'm still working out hard everyday and eating right, but since I've joined GHF, I've barely lost an ounce (and I mean that literally). I'd like to talk to the experts here but I've never been able to get an email forwarded to them. Have you all tried that? Have you had any luck? I usually get an answer back from Chad and while he's very knowledgeable and helpful, I'd like to hear from some of the "experts" as indicated in the membership.

Lisa

Oh, here's what I did today: just under an hour of an interval run in the morning, and 48 minutes of kickbox in the afternoon.

A little bit down

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:01:37 -0500

Finally, the scale started moving down! Everything still feels the same in terms of how my clothes fit but seeing the numbers go down a little did make me feel a little bit better. Still, I'm no where near where I wanted to be, or thought I would be under GHF, for my sister's wedding in three weeks.

This morning I did a 60 minute tape, alternating weights (8 to 20 lbs) with bursts of cardio; then I did about 30 minutes of thigh/butt work; and 10 minutes of abs. After work I'm taking a spin class.

For breakfast I had egg whites and a whey protein shake mixed with a banana and peanut butter.

I fit!

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:53:43 -0500

I fit into my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding! I was so worried I wasn't going to. Now for the ironic part: I can't lose any weight until the wedding (no time for major alterations).

Did my interval run this morning and will do some cardio dance later this evening.

As for what I ate:
Breakfast: 1/2 cup egg whites, 1/2 grapefruit, 1 slice reduce calorie whole wheat bread with 1/2 tbsp sugar-free jelly, and 1/2 cup skim milk
Snack: apple
Lunch: 2 slices reduced fat whole wheat bread, 1.5 turkey slices, mustard, and a hard boiled egg
Snack: 2 smart dogs (tofu hot dogs) on lettuce

Protrack

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:10:03 -0500

I decided to give Protrack a try, but I'm having some trouble. Is there a way for the software to tell me how many calories I've burned in a workout? It seems like it wants me to enter the amount I've burned but I have no way of knowing. All I can enter is the duration I worked out. Plus, I workout to tapes where exercises are constantly changing and cardio is included in bursts and I can't quite figure out how to enter in those kinds of workouts. Any advice?

Lisa

Falling back into old habits

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:23:32 -0500

Seems as though I've let my calorie intake slip into the 900-1000 range these past two weeks. Not too good. I've been getting in a ton of protein though, and my fat intake is way down.

I decided to add a little more to my runs. I don't want to get stuck in a rut and like to change it up now and then. So here's the run I've been doing this week. I dropped the incline on my hills a little. Last time I took a spin class with my sister she noted that my legs looked very muscular (which would be great except for the layer of fat in the back) so I decided to bring my inclines down a little and drop a little resistance in my spin class.

Best cookies

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:32:43 -0500

Ok, I was a little bad today. I baked some cookies yesterday to bring to work today to welcome back a co-worker who has been out on medical leave for the past 6 weeks. I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and they came out AWESOME! I was bad and had two, but it was totally worth it. Anyway, it's a big cardio day for me: my interval run (and I did an extra interval this morning) and 20 minutes of kickbox followed by 30 minutes of cardio dance.

In addition to the cookies:
Breakfast: egg whites, 1/2 grapefruit, skim milk
Snack: apple
Lunch: turkey on 1/2 whole wheat tortilla and a hard boiled egg

Thanks

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:09:25 -0500

Thanks for everyone's encouraging words. Obviously from my blogs you can tell that I work out hard so I'm not going to be giving that up any time soon.

But in response to a couple things: I didn't jump from 900 calories to 1700 overnight. I would've gotten very sick had I done that! :) I worked my way up, and right now it's steady around 1300. I'm not on any medication so that's not causing the problem. And I do think I put weight on first in my hips and abs but it's not budging from there at all.

No luck here

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:42:56 -0500

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have been having no luck whatsoever losing weight. I got on the scale this morning and I've gained some weight. Sorry if I sound defensive, but before anyone says that it's muscle, it's not. I have not lost any body fat and feel terrible about the way I look right now. :( I may scrap GHF since it has not been helping me (although I'm happy it's helping all of you!) and do my own thing. I just don't want to get too few calories as I did for several years, but it seems like my body is not responding to the higher calories. I'm just gaining weight.

Long time no blog

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:07:40 -0500

I realize it's been a long time since I've blogged. Not much has changed though. Still no weight loss, although I think I have added some muscle, especially on my legs. My sister said my legs looked very muscular this weekend while we took a spin class. I'd love to have them muscular but unfortunately I think there must still be fat there because my pants are still tight at the hips and thighs. I've noticed the exercise plan doesn't have targeted inner/outer thigh exercises so I've added some of those in with the hope that combined with the cardio that'll help slim them down a bit.

My diet was all over the place this last weekend. I was out of town visiting family and celebrating my mom's birthday so we ate out a lot. Lots of seafood though. I was in Maryland so I had to indulge in a crab cake and I also had trout, which I think I've only had one time before.

Tuesday workout

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:49:21 -0500

I did a nice long workout this morning: 60 minutes of weight training, then 24 minutes of circuit training (thighs and butt) and 15 minutes of abs. After work I'll take a spin class to get the cardio in. I'm trying to mix things up a little and maybe do a little more of what I used to (hence the thigh and butt exercises) since I haven't been feeling very happy with my body lately.

To replenish after my workout I had oatmeal, 1/2 cup egg whites, and a whey protein shake (mixed with a banana and a little peanut butter). That's keeping me pretty fueled for now. A little later on this morning I'll have an apple and then for lunch I made myself a salad (again, switching things up) with lots of veggies and tofu, and a hard boiled egg. For snacks throughout the afternoon I'll have a 1/2 cup egg substitute and celery and carrot with 2 tbsp of hummus. After spin, for dinner, I plan on having sauteed chicken breast with veggies and spinach and feta orzo. It was a prepared dinner I picked up special. I hate cooking when I get home for spin. It's too late and I don't have the energy. Not that I really cook anyway. I guess I just don't like to "prepare" that late. :)

Bad weekend

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:57:40 -0500

So I was pretty bad this weekend with eating (never go to Le Gourmet Chef ... free samples galore!). My mom came to visit and we ate a lot of good food. I actually didn't order anything all that bad except for some roasted vegetable lasagna on Friday night. But man, was it good! And lasagna is my favorite food and I almost never have it. So, I'm trying to get back on track today. I sure feel full!

Feeling better

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:56:42 -0500

So I'm finally feeling better. The doctor told me I had allergies. I never heard of an allergy that made you nauseous, but whatever. Feeling good now. Of course, I had to sound like a broken record, but I have no lost any weight since starting GHF. I think I'm doing everything right, but for some reason I'm not losing fat and still not gaining lean muscle. :( I'm really at a loss here.

I did my morning interval run and will be doing my weights during the lunch hour.

As for eating, I'm not quite sure what I'll be having for dinner since my mother is coming into town (who recently lost a ton of weight and looks better than me now!) and I have no idea where we'll eat.

Time to take a break

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:43:32 -0500

I've been completely sick today (nauseous and dizzy, among other things), so I think it's time I finally took a break from working out ... at least for today, and possibly tomorrow. I managed 20 minutes of kickbox this morning and want to take spin class in about an hour, but I know this will be extremely difficult given how I'm feeling and it'll probably be best if I just got some rest. It's the right thing to do, but I totally feel like a slacker. I'll have to see how I'm feeling when I wake up to determine if I should do my morning run (I'm thinking I might substitute it for the elliptical) and weights.