Workout Playlist

Ladies (and gentlemen): I am SO sorry for my sporadic updates. I just cancelled my gym membership due to a bad experience with being pressured to hire a personal trainer, and I had been looking into places that have a lap pool--which I found. I absolutely LOVE my new gym but have only been there once since I joined; in other words I have not exercised much in the last week. I promise that once I get into the swing of things at the new gym my updates will be more regular.
Anyway, I'm always looking for new workout music because I tire quickly of my playlists after listening to them everyday, so I'm going to share my current playlist...I would love to know what your favorite workout songs are as well...

Pitbull: The Anthem
Missy Elliott: Ching A Ling
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Heads will Roll
Tiesto: Knock You Out
Shakira: She Wolf
Britney Spears: I'm a Slave 4 U Remix
Ida Corr: Let Me Think About It
Kat Deluna ft. Lil Wayne: Unstoppable
Nicole Sherzinger ft. Timbaland: Physical
Timbaland: Morning After Dark
Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dog: California Girls
Jessica Simpson: Public Affair
My Chemical Romance: Cemetary Drive

4/30 and 5/1 Workout & Personal Training

oops! I've let too many days go by without workout updates! I've forgotten exactly what I did for the past week so I'm not going to attempt trying to remember...onto what I did yesterday and today...

4/30

15 Minutes of Cardio on the Elliptical- level 20 resistance, level 20 incline
30 Minutes of Cardio on the Bike-level 20 on random

Shoulder Press: 5 reps of 10
Rowing Machine: 5 reps of 10
Bicep Curls: 5 reps of 10

I need to up it on the reps because the next day I did not feel a thing. I love to be able to feel it the next day.

5/1

15 Minutes of cardio on the elliptical-level 18 incline, level 15 resistance
25 Minutes of cardio on the bike-level 20 on hills

Today I finally signed up to meet with a personal trainer. I meet with her next Thursday...

4/20 Workout

-30 Minutes of Cardio on the bike. Level 20 on random.

Today I was majorly slacking. Chris' (my fiance) PS3 (aka our DVD player) broke so I have yet to try Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones. I'm going to go out and buy a cheap DVD player in the meantime because I'm itching to try it and really lacking on strength exercise. I'm thisclose to hiring a personal trainer for this reason. I can't get myself to do weights/strength at the gym for some reason. Anyone have tips?

4/18 Workout

-20 Minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Level 18 incline, level 15 resistance.
-25 Minutes of cardio on the bike. Level 20 on random.

I'm considering putting up some "before" and "after" photos this week, although I'm honestly disgusted by how I looked 9 months ago and HATE looking at pictures. But I think I'm going to do it to give myself (and all of you) more motivation to continue (I'm nowhere near done yet, and never will be "done"), I will have to maintain my final goal. I applaud those of you who have the guts to post near naked "before" and "after" photos of yourselves. I wish I had that "don't give a damn" gene. Sometimes I think I do but ultimately I do care.

4/16 Workout

-30 Minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Level 20 incline, level 15 resistance.
-30 Minutes of cardio on the bike. Level 20 set on random.

I ordered Jillian Michaels' "No More Trouble Zones" DVD and it came in the mail today, so I'm really excited to try it out. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to do it and I'll give a full review!

4/15 Workout

1 Hour of Spinning class.
I'm SO glad I went to spinning, I hadn't been in months and I felt fantastic afterwards. I usually work out at night because I don't like working out in the morning (too tired), and working out mid-day just puts a big block in my day-I don't like having to re-fresh and do my hair, makeup etc. twice in one day. Anyway, I went to spinning at 12 which I loved because it gave me enough time to wake up, and I didn't have any plans the rest of the day. I think I'm sounding really high-maintenance right now...but...Thursdays are my days off and I take full advantage!

Vinaigrette Salad Dressing Recipe

I've always bought Annie's salad dressing, which is very good, but I finally (after many, many trials) discovered how to make the perfect, light vinaigrette dressing. Onto the recipe...

-1 tablespoon Garlic Olive oil (from Costco), or Extra Virgin olive oil + minced garlic
-1 teaspoon vinegar
-few shakes of freshly ground pepper
-pinch of Truffle Salt

Combine all ingredients and stir, then pour over your salad.
I keep a container full of this dressing in my fridge so I don't have to make it every day.

4/11 Workout and Food Diary

Workout:
-40 Minutes of cardio on the bike, level 20, hills.
-20 reps of bicep curls 3x
-20 reps of tricep "pushes" with 8 lb weights 3x

Food:
-9 AM: Coffee w/ Fat Free Hazelnut coffeemate and 1/2 of a "bagel thin" with "light" butter. If you shop at Costco and love bagels, you have to try bagel thins. They're 100 calories, 50 for half a bagel.
-3 PM: Went out for Thai food and had Pad Grapow (chicken w/ basil, veggies and spicy-ish sauce).
-9 PM: Mixed greens salad w/ an avocado, tuna, dried cranberries and home-made vinaigrette dressing. I will be posting a recipe for this very simple dressing tomorrow!
-9:45 PM: Granny Smith apple with low fat peanut butter--I eat this combo almost every night as dessert.

4/8 Workout

-20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. Level 20 incline, level 15 resistance
-20 minutes of cardio on the bike. Level 20 on random.
-20 reps x3 thigh abductor: 90 lbs
-20 reps x3 hip abductor: 100 lbs

4/6 Workout

Upon checking in at the gym yesterday, the guy at the counter outed me and said "are you going to do your usual 40-60 minutes on one of the bikes or are you going to do something different?" It kind of pissed me off because I'm really sensitive and made me hyper sensitive that I shouldn't go on the bike because of his comment. I vacillated between "why should I care what he thinks?" and "I should just do something else because it'll be good for me"...onto what I did...

-40 Minutes of cardio on the bike, intervals, level 20
-25 Minutes of cardio on the elliptical, level 20 incline, level 15 resistance

4/4 Workout

Since my gym was closed on Easter, I did some Exercise TV workouts on demand on Comcast.

-20 Minutes of "Quick Trouble Zones" by Jillian Michaels
-I love Jillian Michaels' workouts, but she doesn't let you do enough reps to really feel anything. I had to pause the TV about 5 times to extend the reps. I think the Trouble Zones dvd is better (never done it, though) because she adds more reps.

-45 Minutes of Total body workout by Jackie
-This is my new favorite on demand workout! I am going to buy it. Jackie isn't annoying like lots of other trainers. She breaks up her workout by body part and does enough reps to feel it!

4/1 Workout

-40 Minutes Cardio on the bike, hills, level 20

3/31 Workout

45 Minutes of Cardio on the Stationary bike.
-Level 20
-Hills

My Fitness Goals

I will first start with story time so my goals make more sense...

Two years ago, I randomly developed horrible anxiety (the source is unknown to me) complete with panic attacks, insomnia, and extreme nausea. I could barely function due to a constant lack of sleep and I never wanted to go anywhere whether it was school, work, or social functions because I was always sick. The only upside was a 20 pound weight loss. Everyone thought I looked great but I only shared with those close to me that I was in my own private hell. In April of last year, I went to three doctors and had several blood tests and exams; all came back 100% normal. I then went on an anti-anxiety medication and it took about 3 full months to really kick in. With the anxiety gone, my weight was back on plus some by July. I was used to eating anything I wanted and not exercising (I literally had zero strength to exercise before) and it really caught up with me.

I then joined a gym and started eating better and since July I have lost 30 pounds/2 dress sizes. I'm currently exactly at the anxiety ridden weight and I want to lose 15-20 more pounds (my high school weight) and tone up. I've been successful at doing cardio for an hour about 5 days/week but my strength training/weights have been lacking. I'm considering hiring a personal trainer to help motivate me and design strength training workouts that work for me.
My biggest goal is to have killer biceps and triceps as I plan on wearing a strapless dress at my wedding. If any of you have tips on arm workouts, please do let me know!

A New Start

After becoming frustrated with a viewer limit on the blogger calendar application, I decided it was time to start a new blog dedicated to health and fitness.
With my wedding a little over a year away, I want to start planning my fitness and diet routines and keep track of them. I already eat well and exercise on a regular basis but it's time to kick it up a notch. I figure documenting my progress will hold me more accountable in terms of what I eat and how often I work out.
This blog will {hopefully} include my daily meals, recipes, photos of my progress, work out tips, work out logs, and goals.