Day 87 - Crazy weekend...

Spent some time at the gym yesterday - went to the pool, did a great 40min weight circuit, hitting my arms and chest pretty hard. Kept the cardio going pretty intense for the whole workout, so I could keep that endorphin high running.
Started out with a 1.5mile run, doing interval cardio, and then did weights, pushing the upper limits for being able to do 8 - 10 reps. Weight increases have slowed down a lot - my upright row has been at 90 pounds for a while now, and while legs are increasing a little bit, up to 280 or so. I don't do a straight bench press, but the machine press is up to about 70 pounds an arm.
Still no abs, with only three days left. That's ok. I'm very happy with my body right now, and possibly happier with my life. It's tough to say that, really, because I don't have a way to track my happiness levels. My life is very different than it was three months ago - I sit taller, stand straighter, and am prouder of my body. The yoga has helped me with my breathing and posture, although I feel like I need to stretch more often throughout my day to maintain that.

Day 81 - Sunday, still going!

Almost there! My blog posts are slowing down, but I'll keep you posted. I did a fat-burning cardio workout on Saturday, an hour and a half of intense yoga (cardio) Sunday with a little hot tub time, and ate good most of the weekend. Not perfect, but damn good for a weekend I'd say.
Still no abs, 81 days into it. While I've only missed probably 6 days in total since I've started, I haven't been doing ab workouts 2x daily like I wanted to. I don't think I've put on any mass at all, but I bet my body fat is below 10% now. I'll try to get it measured here in the next couple of days at the gym.
Weekends I've definitely been less good about eating. Had half a bottle of red wine today, and lots of carbs, and a delicious breakfast burrito. I've gotten into the habit of being conscious about what I eat, which is great.
I did some more interval workout on Saturday, running on concrete, and gave myself a case of shin splints, which sucked. All better now, but throughout the day my shins were killing me. A great reason to warm up & stretch before going all out running.

Day 77 - Interval Cardio & Yoga

I did some research yesterday about interval cardio, and there's a lot of stuff out there about how it's much better for burning fat than standard cardio. So I decided to try it - 30min, after yoga, alternating between 9mph and 4mph. After 12 minutes my side started hurting, which has only happened a couple of times, and by the end I was dripping wet and felt like a million bucks. Definitely it's going to be the way I go with cardio from now on. Did 3 miles, too, in under 30minutes.
Yoga was decidedly unsatisfying, for some reason. There was some soft music playing, which threw me off, and I think work stress made relaxation more difficult. I can't really put my finger on it, but I didn't get in the mode until the last ten minutes. Kind of a waste of time. My first bad session, though, so I'm not putting much stock in one bad session.
Then I hung out in the hot tub. And it was amazing - had some very good thinking time, and relaxed perfectly. Love that hot tub.
Food was good today - oatmeal & protein for breakfast and a grapefruit, protein bar at 10:30, turkey & provalone on wheat for lunch, fruit at 2:30, protein bar at 5pm, and then a spinach/chicken salad with oil & balsamic for dinner. Good stuff.

Day 75 - two days off, but got it right today!

Not a great weekend for working out. Drank a ton of IPA on Saturday (IPA challenge for microbrewers in ABQ), and did a lot of yardwork, but no gym time. Sunday I got up late, had a fabulous late brunch, and slacked all day. Didn't eat much, either. I'm not taking weekends off on purpose, but they do tend to be less organized.
Today I was back in the groove - ate right, breakfast, protein bar, healthy lunch (mostly), fruit, protein bar, and steak, potatoes, and spinach with oil & vinager. My workout was intense and right on - I did more weight than I usually do, 250 on the leg press and 90lb upright row. 35lbs barbells on the swiss ball for fly and bench presses. I could've done more for the ball press, but I didn't want to go get more weights. The key is really keeping that adrenaline up - starting with some hard cardio, doing some hard cardio in the middle of the routine, and never slacking between sets.
I'm not posting any pics because I'm too lazy to mess with photoshop. sorry...

Day 70 - hard at work

Today was a winner! Ate mostly right, did a great and very cardio-intensive weight circuit, but did have a little beer tonight. Still, good day.
I did discover boiling water for oatmeal and frozen blueberries are a very bad combination. The oatmeal isn't hot any more but are lukewarm, and the blueberries aren't crisp and frozen anymore, just lukewarm. Pretty much the worst of all world. Definitely a mistake I'll not be making again.
The workout was great. I got everything going, then went running for about 5min in the middle of the workout. It got my heartrate up in the good zone, and I felt great, and blew threw the last half of my workout. Really an exhilarating push, and a good workout. I've been stretching post-workout, too, and I think that, along with the yoga, is really starting to make a difference.

Days 67, 68, 69 - Getting back in the groove?

The last three days have been, well, moderately successful. I haven't eaten much, and did my workout fairly regularly, but haven't done a hard-core cardio session since before the wedding. I did some great yoga, and it was an intense cardio yoga workout on Sunday, and I did a good ab session. Monday was a fairly intense, if slightly short, weight circuit, about 35 minutes. I didn't eat enough on Monday, and ran out of blood sugar & got shaky 35 minutes in. Did good abs, though, on Monday too. Tuesday I had a really long day at work, and never made it in to the gym. It was raining, too, so didn't run outside either. Only a late-night abs workout redeemed that day.
I'm finding it difficult to get my diet back together after that weekend of fabulous food. I'm not eating enough, and not eating good enough food when I do eat. Discipline is having a tough comeback!
I'm starting to feel a bit of the pressure. Time is running out - only three weeks left in this thing, so I've got to pick it up. No way I'm not getting abs after spending all this time at the gym!

Day 66 - back in the saddle

Well, I made it back to the gym in a serious display of will power. Did a good workout, not amazing, but definitely threw some weight around and did a great ab workout.
I'm not back on my food track yet. Grandparents are still here, so still ample supplies of homemade food floating around, which I cannot possibly decline for culinary and etiquette reasons. It just tastes so good!
Side note: Homemade cinnamon rolls are the best thing ever.
After the workout, I felt good. I feel almost as if with a couple days off, my body has had time to heal and rejuvenate. My weights didn't decline really at all, thankfully, although the cardio side seems tougher, at least mentally.
So back on the saddle again! 24 days to make it happen.