Ladders

   Hello Fitties,
  it's time for the #WOWlinkup!!!! So, lately I have been going to the gym at the crack o dawn and really enjoying it. According to my running schedule, Tuesday's are speed workouts. These workouts range from 2-5 miles depending on the activity for the day. Since, I'm not running outside by myself in the dark, I decided to complete my speeds on the treadmill.

     A very challenging routine that I have been taught and love and hate simultaneously is ladders. Hmmm, how can I explain this? So, with a regular ladder we climb up at first and go down afterwards, that's the gist of a ladder workout. This is how I did mine
750 meters (3 track laps) with  a 60 second rest period
500 meters (2 track laps) 60 sec rest
250 meters (1 track lap) 60 sec rest
250 meters 60 sec rest
500 meters 60 sec rest
750 meters

My rest consists of walking at 3.7-4.0 mph hour pace. So when I finished this workout I actually completed 3.5 miles. I did not keep the speed the same during any of these distances. I gradually increased the speed during each distance with a sprint during the last minute. Say for instance, I started the 750 meters at 6.5mph, I ended it at 8.5. I felt like I was about to burst my esophagus,  lol just joking. This workout was very challenging, next time I do this I will add incline to account for wind resistance and hills that I generally meet when I run outside.

    To cap off the workout, I did some tricep, deltoid and core work to finish up. These were all done with generally light weights.

tricep dips (3x10)
shoulder raises (3x12 @ 7.5 lbs each)
w raises (3 x12 @ 7.5 lbs each) these burn
standing flys (3x12 @ 7.5 lbs)
Standard Pushups (3x12)
Diamond Pushups (3x10)
Arnold press (3x10 @ 15 lbs each)
Tricep kickbacks in runners lunge (3x12 @ 7.5 lbs)
Overhead tricep pulls on cable machine (3x12 @ 25 lbs)
Tricep pulldowns on cable machine (3x12 @30 lbs)
Hanging Knee Raise (3x15)

Well, that's all fitties. How are y'all doing with your workouts? What events are y'all preparing for? Let me know. I totally would like to know how y'all are doing and exchange ideas with all of you.
XoXo,
YumYum

Power of a Woman Triathlon

Hello Fitties,
   how are Y'all on this glorious and warm day???? Today I competed in the first ever all women's triathlon, the Power of A Woman Triathlon. I completed this race as part of a relay team called Triple Threat. This race consisted of a 1/4 mile swim, a 6 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run. And guess what we proved our name. We won second overall in the relay division. I think that's pretty awesome for our first time ever competing. Can I get a woot woot, I say Jerome's in da house!!!!!
    Anyhoot, I think I may branch out and actually complete a triathlon, who knows I may even compete in the half Iron Man with my gurlz. Here's to trying out new things :)

This is a very true statement. I would have never thought to run in a triathlon or even a marathon. Heck, I wouldn't have run outside if it wasn't for the great friends I made through @blackgirlsrun. Like seriously, these ladies have seen so much in me that I never even noticed. We are going to keep moving forward and do even bigger and better things in the future. Luv u guys.

@brandscycle team. Everyone was amazeballs 

And you know I had to put up a couple pics of my triple threat homiez. Had to show some swag in these pics. Next race for us iron man Half. I know I look at Shari like she crazy when she says we can do it, but I'm actually warming up to the idea :).

Triplw Sweat Swagga!!!!

 

 

   Well, back to half marathon training and lifting tomorrow. Until next time fitties :)
XoXo,
YumYum

New Beginnings and WOD

Hello Fitties,

     today I started week one of the NYC shape up Fitness instructor program. I'm pretty psyched that I will be able to torture people legally (lol, just joking). I'm really excited about this class because it will teach me how to make exercise routines for a group of people with different athletic abilities plus it will teach me how to effectively instruct a class. My program is during my regular exercise time, so I now have to get my run and weight training done in the morning before work. Surprisingly, I find that I am able to do more when exercising at the crack of dawn. Is it that I'm excited to see an empty gym or that I have more energy in the morning? Who knows? All I know is that I like how I'm feeling so no complaints aqui.
    Below is my WOD:
3 mile tempo run (fasted cardio)
bicep curls (3x10 @ 40 lbs)
overhead press (3x10 @40lbs)
rows (3x10 @ 40lbs)
6x10 pushups
overhead tricep extensions (3x10 @ 30lbs)
lying fly (3x10 @15lbs)
close grip chest press (3x10 @ 30lbs)
straight arm extensions (3x10@8lbs)
NTC Hollywood Trainer abs

Totally left the gym feeling like this :).


 Well that's all for the day fitties.
Shout out to all the bloggers linking up on Workout Wednesday #WOWlinkup. Keep up the great work, your posts are inspiring and keep me motivated.
Until next time.
XoXo,
YumYum

O Thank you Lord for Rest Days!!!

Hey everyone,
   today is Monday and it's my rest day :) !!! Usually people don't get excited about Mondays but I do because I don't have to do any pushups, burpees or planks today. All I'm supposed to do is stretch, hydrate and enjoy the bounty of my meal prep.

Yup, this is exactly how I feel when my meal prep for the week comes together.

    Anyhoot. lets talk about ....food. So as posted on this blog, I like to prepare all my food for the week on Sunday. I have gotten into the practice of preparing breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in advance. This has helped me so much with staying on track as well as keeping me from over eating.  Below are pictures and descriptions of all the delicious food I had on Monday.

Green smoothie

Egg Frittatas

Dinner :)

    This week for breakfast, I will have an egg frittata and a green smoothie. Each egg frittata consists of three egg whites, 1 egg yolk, 1 slice turkey bacon,cilantro, green onions and green peppers. The green smoothie was made using unsweetened coconut milk, a splash of vanilla, spinach, 1 apple, 1 banana, 3 carrots and a 1/2 cup of almonds. I made a big batch so this smoothie will last for approximately four days. 
    Now, my lunch was quite similar to my dinner and I didn't want to wierd anyone out at my table by taking pics of my food while we were all eating. However, I had 1/4 cup brown jasmine rice (cooked in chicken broth for flavor), broccoli sauteed with bacon, hummus and 1/2 a grilled chicken breast.
Dinner was banging. In the pic is shrimp, hummus (I sincerely love this stuff), grilled onions and peppers and broccoli sauteed with bacon. I feel satisfied and energetic after my meals, never full anymore or still hungry anymore. For my 3 snacks I had 1/4 cup cashews, 8 black bean and quinoa chips with greek yogurt and kale dip and an apple. Clean eating can be rather tasty people. Get in the kitchen and try it or run to Trader Joe's for their reduced guilt snacks, they're amazing.
Until next time fitties.
XoXo,
YumYum

Inspiration for myself and my Fitties

Hello Fitties,
    I would like to thank you all for the kind words you have shared with me throughout my blog. I usually find myself scrolling through stories as well as inspirational quotes posted in workout groups on facebook such as @rippedgoddess and @fitvillains.  The quotes are my favorite and it makes me ponder how things are going in my life. Below is one that spoke volumes to me today and my interpretation of it.

   When people say and do stuff to put you down, say to yourself that you have won. The only reason why folks say horrendous things to you and/or try to discredit your accomplishments is only because they are insecure and miserable and they want you to feel the same. But my people rejoice, you do not have to stoop down to their level, keep working hard towards your goals, love one another and enjoy life. The people acting negatively to you are not growing because they do not have the grit or strength to do so presently.

    In the past, even recently, I have noticed that I allowed peoples negative actions and comments towards me get me down. However, that is my decision to feel that way. When you are met with negativity, think of your accomplishments and why you worked hard to reach those goals. Think of all the people who deposited positive energy to you along the way. And if your like me, make a list of all the accomplishments you have made. This helped me so much last weekend because I noticed with all the people who were against me, I still succeeded and prevailed.  With that being said, I would like to encourage all of you in whatever goals you have. Whether it be fitness, career, relationship, spiritually related etc., I believe in you and I know you can do it.
    Well, that's my inspiration post for the day. Just remember everyone compliment people, magnify their strengths and not their weaknesses. You do not know how much you will help someone by just being encouraging. And for my homies feeling rather badazz:

LOL, until next time fitties :).
XoXo,
YumYum

1000 Views!!?? Thanks guys

Wow,
   1000 views???!!!! Thank you fitties for taking the time to check in on my blog. As some of you may know, I use this as a way to keep me honest about my workouts, progress and feelings towards training. Because of this site I have constantly worked on my goals and am glad to say I am getting closer and closer to them each day. I have been going through some personal issues as of late but to see the comments and this great news today has made my day. I have used exercise to relieve or not think about some horrendous personal situations, which has been very good. But I have also decided not to hate the people who have dissapointed me, they're human and quite frankly hating them is unGodly and that would run my life if I did. Through this time I have learned a lot about myself and feel .....free.
     I'm very thankful that my bud took a pic of me in January. I was able to see that I wasn't taking my fitness and eating habits serious enough. That rude awakening sparked a change that is quite visible now. I'm not done, I still have some way to go but it feels pretty good to know that I am on my way to accomplishing my goals. Below is my progress pics. Excuse the blurriness, I'm still learning to take selfies :).

    The left pics are from January and the right pics are the most current and from March.

Tuesday's WOD
4 mile run (AM fasted cardio)
Body beast back and bis
Body beast Abs

    Thanks everyone for checking in.
Until next time fitties.
XoXo,
YumYum

Spartan race and meal prep

Hello fitties,
     before we entered 2014 I wrote a  list of goals I wanted to accomplish this year. One of them was to enter in and complete a spartan race. Well, guess what? I finally registered for one and will complete it with a bunch of my homies on June 1st. I'm so excited. Initially, when I registered I thought I would be doing this by myself which was cool but weeks later I got the good news that my fiance's friend was interested and wanted to try it out with me. Then what do you know my fiance' signed up as well. I have been incorporating +Spartan Race  workouts of the day (WOD) into my fitness regimen because they are challenging, I like them and I have a feeling they will physically prepare me for this daunting four mile obstacle course.On Sunday I completed the Spartan 1500. Basically, I had to complete 100 reps of each exercise which was no easy feet. Stuff I find challenging such as burpees, pullups and brazilian ab twists I had to break down into sets. Everything else I was able to complete as one set. Below is the circuit I performed and yup I'm still sore.



100 jumping jacks
100 burpees
100 pull-ups
100 box jumps
100 sandbag squat throws
100 Brazilian ab twists (50 each side)
100 bodyweight squats
100 side kicks (50 each side)
100 jumping lunges
100 sandbag curls
100 sandbag tricep overhead extensions
100 tuck jumps
3 rope climbs ( i substituted this with hang snatches. 1st set 12 reps @ 45lbs, 2nd 8 @ 50lbs, 3rd 6@ 65lbs and 3x15 front squats @ 45lbs)
300 crunches

After my workout I came home and started my meal prep for the week. I have found that with planning what I will eat and cooking it on Sunday that it is easy for me to eat clean throughout the week. To me, weekly meal preps take less time than cooking everyday so I will continue to do this.

 

This may seem like a lot of food but please remember I am not cooking only for myself. In this pic are curried chicken breasts, brown rice, jerk chicken wings, oh no i forget to buy black beans hummus, grass fed beef burgers, homemade banana nut wheat bread and 3 egg muffins. Not pictured is the garden salad I made to pair with my lunches and dinners and the paleo strawberry banana ice cream I made for desert. I'm praying this lasts till Friday. My other three attempts haven't even made it through Wednesday :-/ .
Until next time fitties.
XoXo,
YumYum