Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Well, it is Monday again. I had a fairly decent weekend, but it was over much too fast. Yesterday, Taylor went to a birthday party with one of our friends, so Wes and I took the opportunity to go to the gym together. This is something that rarely happens. That morning when Tay got up, she had a bit of a fever, so I gave her some Motrin and shortly after she seemed fine. However, once she got to the party her fever returned. She was lethargic and feverish and pretty much spent the entire time there, cuddled up on someones lap or sleeping in a bed made from coats. So, we ended up cutting our workout short and I didn't manage to get every thing done. Oh well. Diet was poop all weekend. No valid excuse aside from I just wanted it, so I had it! Shame on me. 5 days left in this challenge and I am feeling pretty good. While I know I may not have achieved all my goals and I didn't follow my plan to a T, I still feel that I was successful. I guess my ultimate goal was to be able to shed some pounds while maintaining a healthy diet. 'Maintaining' is the key word here. I do not believe in diets. I do not want to lose weight by eating such a restricted diet that I am unable to maintain that diet indefinitely. Because once you go back to eating 'normal' you will just put that weight back on. In hindsight, I guess my real goal was to achieve a healthy relationship with food, find a new 'normal' and I think I have and even better, I think I may have influenced a few people along the way. Once this challenge is over, I will continue to track my weight and measurements and take those dreaded progress pictures, because I have found that is what is helping me stick with this. I have my treats once in a while, but for the most part everything I eat is pretty 'clean' (for lack of a better word). I do not feel deprived at all, I feel satisfied. Yay for me!

Workout
Band pull aparts 12 x 2
Scap Push Ups 20 x 2
Behind Neck Band Pulldown 12 x 2
Skull Crusher (DB) 12.5 lbs x 12 x 2

Bench press 65/75/85/95/95 lbs x 3 - dang it, I wish I could push past this!
Bentover BB Row 85 lbs x 6 x 3
Standing DB Shoulder Press 25 x 8 (should have been 2 sets of 12, but we had to leave, so I grabbed the 25s and did what I could)

Hardcore Monkeys

Life has kept me busy lately. Work was pretty crazy last week, I even managed to work 4 hours of overtime. The last day I trained was Friday. On Saturday, Wes and I took a bus trip to Jasper for a weekend snowboadring. It was a ton of fun. We lucked out and the conditions were the best they have had all year. I am getting better at this snowboarding thing. I still stick to mostly green runs and the odd blue one, but I am just trying to work on my turns and get my confidence up. I would like to go one more time this year, but with only about a month left in the season, we'll have to see how that plays out. I am still working on getting my bindings and stance set up, so that my feet don't cramp up. It is coming. After a day on the hill together, we came back to our hotel and had a jacuzzi bath and a 3 hour nap. Afterwards, we went out for dinner, then checked out 3 different bars and had a few bevies. Sunday, we were back on the hill. It was so nice to spend that time alone together. It has been a while.

Less then two weeks left in the challenge and I need to work on getting more cardio in. I actually did manage to make it to the gym yesterday at lunch and did a HIIT session. Talk about killing my legs. Leg workout Friday, snowboarding Saturday and Sunday, then interval training Monday! My knee has started bothering me again, I know I need to get my act together and do more stretching. I should know better by now.

Diet was totally off plan these past few days and the one thing I am starting to notice is that I think eating crap effects my mood. The last few times I went off plan for more then two days, I noticed a definite decrease in my mood the days following. This is something I will have to monitor a little more.

With that in mind, I decided it was time to try a new recipe. In this month edition of Clean Eating, there is a recipe for Chicken and Vegetable Stew. So, tonight I made a double batch. Kinda hoping it is good, seeing as I made so much! I will let you know the verdict tomorrow.

Workout for Friday

Glute Activation and Hip Mobility work

Front Squats 95/105/115/125/130lbs x 3
Back Extensions 25lbs x 8 x 3
Bulgarian RDL (DB) 20lbs x 12 x 2
Medicine Ball Twist 18 lbs x 10 x 3