Strava and Other Motivators

Posted on July 2, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

I am SLOWLY shedding the pounds as I prepare for my race in October (details will come soon). Not breastfeeding really took a toll on my weight loss goals, because I know it helps to shed pounds faster, so I had to step it up! Thankfully, I have a husband who watches the baby while I work out and family that watches Olivia on nights when Mike and I go out to work out together. When I do go to the gym, I make sure to do at least an hour of cardio. I really like using the Arc Trainer at Planet Fitness.

Yesterday, I upped the incline on it and it gives you a full body workout, especially the legs. I highly recommend going from 40-60 minutes on it. I was reading that you really don’t get a fat burning workout until you hit at least 30 minutes, therefore anything after that will be gold!

I LOVE Strava. I know it has been around a while, but I highly recommend this app for your phone, computer, IPAD, etc. The competitive person that I am is perfect for this.

On Tuesday nights, we have been going on the Tuesday Night Rides (just like old times). I slowly have started going on the beginning trails. Each week I record my rides and race my previous times, as well as other times that people have posted using Strava. I love trying to break records!

I missed the trail. I missed the downhill and the feeling you get after a good ride! It feels so good to be back on the bike!

Last but not least….RUNNING. I have to step up my running for a race I am doing in October. I am currently up to three miles, when I do run. I have been running at least two or three times a week. It has been so hot outside so the treadmill has been my friend. I managed to get Olivia up on Saturday morning to take her for my first run outside the neighborhood. Las Cruces has added an awesome running and biking trail around town. I was able to do a quick two-mile run along that trail. Olivia was a champ!

Post Pregnancy BEFORE Picture

Posted on June 3, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

Well….l am now five weeks postpartum and feel like I have given my body time to rest. While I was pregnant, I didn’t believe a word anyone said when they suggested to wait a while after your pregnant to get a big workout in. I’ve heard so many stories of people who went to the doctor and the doctor told them that, because they were too hard on their body, that they had to wait three more weeks to work out. I hope that is not the case for me. Judgment day is tomorrow when I meet with my doctor for the last time!

Here is my BEFORE picture. I am currently at 170 pounds. Yes, I am going to be completely honest on here to make me work harder and be honest with myself. Considering I was 197 pounds when I had Olivia, I will take this weight now. Not being able to breastfeed has hurt me pretty bad on the weight loss, but I have accepted it and plan to work even harder.

Here is my goal weight picture. I weighed 135 pounds at this point and thought I was fat. There is NO WAY I would feel like that again and I won’t.

Really, I am not aiming for 135 pounds. I am actually looking into hitting the 140’s. When I won the jersey for the mountain bike series I was at that range and I felt pretty healthy. I think when it comes down to the 120’s, I look too sick. I want to just look and feel healthy.

Each week I will document my goals and what I did to lose the weight. Here’s to a healthy summer!

PREGNANCY WEIGHT: 197 lbs.

BEFORE WEIGHT: 170 lbs.

AFTER WEIGHT: 140 lbs.

The Light At The End of the Tunnel

Posted on April 23, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

39 weeks! We made it to the final week before baby girl is born! Mike and I have been a little impatient with little one coming. We totally thought we would have her early, but that is not the case. If I don’t have her by Friday, we may have to talk about induction!

There have been many suggestions on how to induce labor and one of them is to get regular exercise. Thankfully I have a membership to the gym, so I made this workout for the week. When I am on the treadmill, I put it on incline about 1.5 and keep my speed at about 2.5. I am loving the weights. It makes me feel like less of a marshmallow and tones out those arms and legs!

By the way, if you are impatient about your baby coming, here are some suggestions on how to naturally INDUCE labor according to my midwives:

Personally, I don’t believe it works. I think the baby comes when it wants to, but people swear by it. I think it is some kind of conspiracy that the midwives came up with so that crazy nine month pregnant ladies don’t lose it. We have been doing this since 38 weeks and NOTHING.

But hey, I still do it anyway. Doesn’t hurt to try!

Goodbye Summer of Fitness

Posted on August 12, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Alas, I have to say goodbye to summer (even though technically we still have a month and a half AND I still have a vacation planned in a few weeks to prolong it!). To celebrate my last day of summer, I went and got a pedicure and my first manicure.

I was a little nervous about putting color on them because I didn’t want to look like some crazy teacher with hot pink nails (which I chose for my toes), so the lady next to me talked me into using her nail polish. It looks brown, but its actually a peachish-pink color. Not sure how I feel about it. People at nail salons are always so friendly and chatty. I think it’s because we use the place as a reward center.

When I get up in the morning, I’ve been getting up an hour earlier and working out. I REALLY need to get into shape for the Color Run, a road race coming up, and for the half I want to do next month. And if I want to maintain my first place status in the local Horny Toad Hustle mountain bike race…I need to get riding. Part of my workout is a weight training session along with cardio.

I have learned to new words in the exercise world this week, due to the Insanity workout and elite fitness workout.

Word 1: BURPEE

Word 2: SUPERSET

I seriously thought a burpee was a blanket for babies to spew their milk on. I found out they are the jump up in the air and then hurry and do a push up type of exercise. Insanity workouts are the king of these!

According to www.wikipedia.com, it means this:

Begin in a standing position.
Drop into a squat position with your hands on the ground. (count 1)
Extend your feet back in one quick motion to assume the front plank position. (count 2)
Return to the squat position in one quick motion. (count 3)
Jump straight into the air as high as possible. (count 4) ^[1]

Second, a superset is a set of workouts with no rest in between.

And now you are enlightened.

So goodbye, Summer of Fitness. Back to School Fitness is now in session.

Lazy Saturday.

Posted on August 5, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Today felt like the laziest day on record this summer. This last week I have felt like I have done nothing but sit online all day. I don’t feel guilty at all because starting Tuesday my life will be nonstop busy until the end of May. I will be wishing for moments like these!

I bought a couple of necklaces for back to school and I was thinking how glad I was that I made a holder. I never wore jewelry before because all of my necklaces would get stuck together.

Easiest holder ever. I used a bulletin board, black fabric, and a stapler.

I bought this fabric at the IKEA in Tempe for the same room I have this holder. I want to make curtains out of it, but need to bust out with my sewing machine.

Thankfully, this is a check I can put on my “vision board”. I think Mike has more done on his side of the board than I do.

This next little goal is scary considering I only have five months left. Thankfully, the Tour De Safford is coming up in October and then I can choose a local one to finish off the year. Better get running!!

Today my plan was to go ride, then it was going to the gym, and then it ended up with a home cardio session. Way to make a decision Liz! To make it an hour-long, I improvised and used a few workouts together.

I started with this bad boy.

And then did my Workout #4, which was awesome (I will post soon!)….and then finished off with some of this!

I seriously could not stop laughing while I was doing this, at the fact that I look like a total dork when I dance. It reminded me of the days my friend Felicia and I took a hip hop class with a guy named “Al Money”. He would get a little impatient with me because I couldn’t get the steps. It was awesome!

P.S. A group of friends of mine played mud volleyball today. I’m a little sad I wasn’t part of things, but remind me to get a team together next year!! It sounds like so much fun.

Sandia Peak State Championships 2012

Posted on July 29, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Yesterday we took off to Albuquerque at about 3 in the morning to go race the Sandia Peak Hill Climb. Every year in the NMORS series they choose one race to represent the state championships for mountain biking. A lot of people sign up for it even though there are other races in the series, they are all out to get the state title.

This was the aftermath after trying out a completely different bike without practicing with it a few days before the race. So my word of advice, if you are going to switch from a full suspension bike to a hard tail….don’t race on it the day you switch over. 🙂 I survived though and got first in my category and second overall. 🙂

Mike made it in the time he planned on doing and actually went ten minutes faster than last year! It was a hard race where you lose a lot of momentum, but the downhill is really fun.

With this being my last official week of summer, I am trying to get myself back into a routine for school. I am planning out my morning routine to include a morning workout at home and an afternoon workout right when school ends involving the gym, bike rides, or running. Part of the morning consists of taking care of the animals we have around the house, including the bearded dragon “Angelina”.

Barney is so dang nosey!

We’ve been watching the Olympics a lot and I am loving the swimming and gymnastics portion of it.

Question: If you were in the Olympics, what competition would you take part in? If you were in London, which one would you watch?

Summer of Fitness and Other Nonsense

Posted on July 27, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I just realized this week that I have less than two weeks left before I go back to school, so I officially have to hurry and get everything done on my to-do list! Panic has struck! I managed to get some back to school shopping in already, but I’m still on the hunt for a decent pair of work pants!

So I am planning a morning routine when school starts that still continues my two a day workout trend I have kept this summer. I was told a lot of gym workouts are found on You Tube, so tonight I gave it a try! I really wanted to try out Insanity because my goal this week is to do straight cardio with no weights. I was told Insanity was way better for that than the usual P90X Lean Routine that I have tried in the past.(P.S. I was able to get down to my lowest weight for my wedding with P90X. See www.beachbody.com .)

This was the site I tried. I used the 20 minute fat burner workout. It’s hard to hear but I just watched the people. You can tell they are all dying because you can hear counting on the DVD but they all just stand there. I’ll keep you posted on more workouts I try out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuy4x_viY4M

The Olympics are coming!! Here is the schedule in case. 🙂 I am soooooo excited!

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/schedule/

Alright, here are some catch up pictures. Stay tuned for some recipes I have tried! I am on a roll with Pinterest! (I made my mom join today!)

1. Barney tried out a biking jersey in attempt to see if we wanted to use that as his Halloween costume. Nay.

2. My hair is now super light for the school year. Blinding!

3. We have had the worst wind and rain storms and this poor mother bird has had to sit in her nest to protect the eggs. I was stressing whether she would make it or not. She made it!

4. Mike has to sleep in the afternoon due to his graveyard shift and Barney has been trained to sleep at his feet when I run my errands. He and dad are nap buddies.

5. New duck toy. It sqeaks. Not too sure that was a good idea. Why do dogs have toys anyway?

8. I bought a set of curlers to try some different hair styles for school. My attempt at being a girl.

Question: Any exciting things about this summer that have happened? What would you say your summer 2012 theme has been?

7 Day Carb Cycle

Posted on July 10, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I really love the show Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. It is so inspiring to see the people who are extremely overweight turn their lives around to make things healthier. I think Chris Powell is an excellent trainer and would love to have a job like that one day (after I get my health regimen in order).

I was searching on Amazon for nutrition books and found “The 7 Day Carb Cycle” by Chris Powell. I immediately downloaded and started reading it to give it a try. I only have about four more weeks until I am back at work, so I thought I would try it out and get into a healthy routine before then.

Yesterday was a Low Carb day and the process goes like this:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Low Carb

Tuesday: High Carb

Wednesday: Low Carb

Thursday: High Carb

Friday: Low Carb

Saturday: High Carb

A high carb day doesn’t mean you eat as many cookies as possible. It’s more healthy carbs alongside protein. Fruits are a really good idea for those days. On the low carb day, it is mainly protein and veggies the whole day. After our 4th of July, I was going through withdrawal on sugar yesterday.

Most people on the reviews said that they lost two pounds the first week. It received four out of five stars on Amazon, so I figure I’ll be a guinea pig and try it out. I’ll keep you posted!

It helps if you cut up your veggies and fruits and leave them accessible in the fridge.

Barney is moping around the house today because of all the rain. Any time we attempt to walk outside, he gets so excited. I can understand since I get a little ancy too when it comes to rainy days. I was a little disappointed yesterday on my attempt to road ride and this beauty of a storm paid a visit.

P.S. Lists are so awesome. Then you don’t have to try to remember everything. When I spoke in church on Sunday, I was talking about how I write lists all the time. A lot of girls came up to me afterwards talking about their lists and their husbands told me that their wives are obsessed with them. Ha ha. Must be a girl thing.

Question: Are you a list person? If so, what are some ideas on where to keep your lists?

Nostalgic

Posted on July 3, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Considering the whole country is under a heat wave right now, it probably isn’t a shock that its hotter than Hades here. Therefore, I have to sacrifice my sleep and start getting up early to work out. Yesterday, I woke up at 6 to go to the gym and felt like I had a ton of bricks strapped to my body. I have a deep respect for anyone who gets up early every day for the gym. Now that I am out of “school mode”, it’s hard!!

Today Mike and I accidentally slept in til 9 and wanted to make it out on a morning ride.

We take three-mile laps through a local neighborhood. I made a goal of five laps today and felt pretty good. One note though, make sure you get “fitted” to your bike. I haven’t done it yet and I can tell I am learning some bad habits and the position on my seat is definitely not right. I could have ridden longer, but because of that problem I had to stop. Not to mention the sweltering temperatures.

O.K. so I am majorly nostalgic and you can blame it on my family. 🙂 I am always trying to bring back stories and memories from the past. Mike says our Disney World nostalgia is a little much in our family, but I am perfectly content with it. We HAVE to go to Disney at least once a year, even if we have to go to Disneyland. I love it.

Well, I swindled Mike into being nostalgic too. Warped Tour came to Las Cruces and one of our favorite bands, New Found Glory, was going to be in it. Mike used to go back in the olden days with his friends to the Tour and I used to go to NFG concerts with my friends back in Vegas when they would be at the House of Blues. The memories are so awesome.

Seeing that we are in our thirties now, we felt a little sheepish for going, since the median age for the Tour is about fifteen.

It was so fun! I was made fun of for going, but it was really cool to hear them again and the best part was being in the crowd and experiencing the chaos of concerts. I’m not gonna lie I got a little scared when the crowd surfing started, but thankfully my tall husband took care of that. Mike’s brother Jared was there too and was brave to surf the crowds.

We got to meet the band and had them sign a poster for our loft too! It seriously was a lot of fun…even if I was too old! 🙂

Question: Have you ever done something you thought you were too old to do? What do you think are things thirty somethings should NOT be doing?

Drop Dead Healthy

Posted on June 29, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

So I am finishing up this book tonight and wanted to give my two cents on it, in case anyone was wondering about it. I saw it in Barnes & Noble when I was looking for “how to” books, that I am somehow addicted to right now. I also kept seeing it pop up in my Fitness and Shape magazines too. Advertising does work! Then a blogger that I follow used it as her June Book Club book, so I figured I may as well see what it’s all about.

Like I said, I am really into “how to” books, so this book actually intrigued me. The author spends two years of his life using techniques that people use to be healthier in ALL aspects of life. Some of the techniques to be healthier were a little strange, like running barefoot or wearing “sound proof” headphones around the house, but I recognized a lot of the things he tried out that I have been reading in fitness magazines and health books. Being a science teacher, I like how each chapter focuses on a “body system”, like the chapter on the immune system and the amount of time to hand wash or the whole chapter on the stomach where he focused on being aware of his own chewing for digestive purposes. My kids always ask me ideas on how to take care of themselves, so this book gave me some ideas.

I admit is was a little overwhelming. I don’t know how he spent two years and was able to keep everything straight and organized. He was “real” in the sense that he slacked on things and I liked all the humor he used to tell stories. All in all, he pretty much tried every diet, fad, exercise class, doctor’s advice, or whatever people suggested. When I got about mid-way through the book, I started jotting down things I liked and then pretty much skimmed through the things I thought were ridiculous. I could see some people getting bored with it, but since I’m really into trying new ideas, I was excited to make a list of things I could work on.

Things I liked: using tiny amounts of salad dressing or no dressing on salads; 60 minutes of exercise a day; setting out gym clothes the night before a workout to motivate; drink a gallon of water a day; get 7 hours of sleep a night; stand and walk around the house more often than sitting (I often type on my laptop from the counter.); more than 30 grams of fiber intake a day; drinking water with lemon; have one girls day a week (social health); learn a new language; floss daily; get a dermatologist appointment…pronto!; be aware of my chewing; etc..

Honestly, I don’t know how to review this book. I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to think of ideas of how to be healthier. I don’t think you would want to do EVERYTHING, but it explains concepts that people believe in and then you can take it from there. Pretty much it got me to be more aware of certain parts of my body I never thought needed exercise, like my brain.

I could also see people not liking it very much, because it doesn’t have a “story” in it (even though he used his grandfather’s life as a storyline a lot). If you were to read it and lose attention, I would again recommend scanning the book. It definitely reminds us how big the health industry is and all the people out there (including myself) that are desperate to find healthy things to do to improve our bodies. It’s funny how we all are fighting every day to start good habits and break the bad habits we have.

That is my life in a nutshell.

Question: Did anyone read the book? What did you think of it?