Yowsahs!! Where has this day gone!?! It’s lunchtime and I haven’t even blogged yet. Jeez. Let’s get right to it then! 😀
Breakfast
I started my day with a piece of leftover Tortilla-Crusted Feta-and-Broccoli Quiche and an iced coffee with vanilla soy milk. The quiche was really yummy, by the way. I reheated it in the microwave and the tortilla crust stayed crispy.
Snack
After breakfast, I snacked on a banana. I planned to go to a Body Pump class mid-morning, so I needed something more in my stomach to keep me going through a workout and until lunch.
Workout
Body Pump kicked my butt today!! We’ve been doing Body Pump 74 for a few weeks now, but I haven’t been sore after class lately. So, today, I increased my weight on a number of tracks and, boy, did I feel the burn!
Here are my current Body Pump 74 weights (includes 3-pound bar):
- Warm-up: 23 lbs.
- Squats: 43 lbs.
- Chest: 33 lbs.
- Back: 28 lbs.
- Triceps: 28* lbs.
- Biceps: 18 lbs.
- Lunges: 33 lbs.
- Shoulders: 28 lbs.
- Abs: body weight
- Cool down: none
I went up on every track except for back. There’s a million wide rows in the current BP 74, so I dropped my weight by 5 pounds. I don’t think I could get through the back track otherwise! Damn, wide rows.
I’ve definitely come a long way since February when I started to consistently take Body Pump classes 2-3 times per week. Just check out my February 2010 and March 2010 weights. I’ve increased quite a bit! I’m a beast, I tell ya! 😉
*Body Pump 74 has an “unconventional” triceps track, so I use an 8-pound dumbbell for the kickbacks, 10-pound plate for the dips, and 15 pounds for the overhead extensions at the end. My usual weight is 28 pounds on a “standard” triceps track.
Lunch
After getting my butt kicked at Body Pump, I was more than ready to refuel with lunch. After a quick shower, I threw together a big salad topped with crumbled Buffalo Tofu and Athenos feta.
I also drizzled a little Annie’s Creamy Asiago Cheese Dressing on top. Mmm!
I also enjoyed another iced coffee with lunch. It’s one of those days!
And here’s the mess on the table that was pushed aside to take the above photo. Oh, the life of a food blogger! 😉
And, of course, I had a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondie after lunch. So delish!
Feel Great Weight
When I first started losing weight it was all about the calories. I used to eat vegetables because they were low in calories and they’d help me lose weight. But, now things are really different! Check out my newest Feel Great Weight post: 3 Ways to Diet But Still Get the Nutrition You Need.
Question of the Day
When it comes to fitness, how do you measure your progress?
P.S. Did you know it’s National Junk Food Day today? (I swear, there’s a national holiday for everything!) Check out my tips for enjoying a little splurge on the PerkStreet Financial blog.
67 Comments
I don’t really measure my progress intentionally, but I love realizing that I’ve gotten faster or stronger! Such an empowering feeling. Love the table shot…I think all bloggers do the same thing 😉
Hahah I always push my stuff ‘to the side’ to take pics for the blog. Doesn’t matter what it is – get it out of my way!
I really want to try buffalo tofu! Well… tofu in general 🙂
I used to count calories, then counted diabetic exchanges (to balance my sugar levels… worked great!), now I am more on the intuitive eating train… I track my progress how my clothes fit, energy level and visually… occasionally I’ll check out a scale!
Wow look at those colours in that salad! Looks great! And by the way, you can never have too much iced coffee 🙂
I did Body Pump 74 for the first time this morning. My thoughts? The squat and tricep tracks were kind of easy; the lunges and back tracks were killer. Throughout the back track my instructor kept saying that there were 4 sets, but, thankfully she was wrong. The wide rows were really hard by that third set.
Wow, you have heavy weights!! Makes mine seem pathetic 😛
I don’t really measure progress I just go by how I feel – ‘that 6miles was easy in comparison to the last’, that kinda thing 🙂
I love Murphy under the table!
Tina, did you see this pug who says, “Batman!” ? http://news.yahoo.com/video/odd-15749658/pug-says-batman-when-it-barks-20966846;_ylt=Ak5ln.oCf1wLYPC7SO3kjOCz174F;_ylu=X3oDMTE3anNsZDhrBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNtb3N0LXBvcHVsYXIEc2xrA3B1Z3NheXNiYXRtYQ–
Ohh those wide rows! I used to like them in the other releases – when there wasn’t a gazillion of them!
I’m always pushing stuff out of the way for photos. I think one day, I’m just going to take my photos with all the crap right in the middle of the shot so can people can see what a slob I can really be. 😉
haha I love the table pic…my table is still covered in frames since last week.
When I was running, I would track my progress by timing myself. Now that I am doing the TurboFire program, I track my progress by how high am I jumping? How hard am I kicking? There isn’t a real way to measure that, but I know when I am giving 100% and when I am giving 80%. I also track my body measurements — a measuring tape does not lie!
I measure my progress based on how I feel. As long as I continue to feel good, I know I’m doing the right thing 🙂
I wish I couuld say that I measure my health by my confidence or lifting more weights, etc…but dangit, the scale gets me every time. I am a slave to the number …grr!
i definitely use the way that I feel as a way to track progress…i don’t weight myself or anything, but just go by how i feel during the workout and how i feel in my clothes. it actually works better for me that way!
I measure it by how I feel while working out. There’s nothing better than being able to easily tackle a giant hill that used to be a challenge!
I don’t intentionally think about my progress. But sometimes I’ll look back a month or year and get so excited at how far I’ve come.
Lately, no joke, I’ve been measuring my fitness level by how defined my quads are! I do a lot of biking around Portland, ME, where I live on top of a HUGE hill. Biking up that hill every day is cuh-razy. The more muscular my quads are the more fit I feel. Weird, but it works.
33 lbs on lunges?! You are my hero. I want to die that whole track!
🙂
Woohoo for upping weights! Congrats!
Strength training is one of the things I really love in life. 🙂 Upping weights or being able to execute perfect form overtime (if it was difficult at the start) are ways I measure my progress.
National junk food day… yikes, we do have a national everything day. 😉
What a fun idea for a quiche crust!
And I don’t look to the number on the scale to measure my health anymore. It’s about my strength, how I feel and how my clothes fit. That number on the scale is just that. A number.
Usually by endurance. If a 4 mile run feels easier than it did a few weeks ago I know I’m making progress.
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Long time reader, first time commenter. I love your blog!
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Best,
Anneliese
I’m definitely one who thinks of the health benefits of maintaining a healthy weight, taking vitamins, staying out of the sun, etc…
I’ve always been that way. It’s an investment in my future.
Now that I’ve gotten into strength training, I think I will meaure progress by increasing weight. With cardio it is speed and distance.
National Junk Food Day??? If I had only knew bwahahaa
Congrats on your body pump progress!!! I measure my progress by tracking how many minutes I run vs how many I walk, and by how my clothing and my wedding rings fit.
Great looking lunch, love salads.
I try not to weigh myself, so I measure my weightloss progress on how my clothes fit.
After hard work outs I know I did good when I walk away drenched in sweat and smiling. This alway encourages me to work harder the next work out. I don’t know why but I get pleasure from getting my butt kicked during a work out. I think because I know that I am taking a proactive approach to my health and that is very important to me.
That’s a really good question, actually.
For me, once I stop heaving after a big climb on the bike, I know I’ve improved. I guess it’s pretty easy to tell when I’ve progressed because the type of exercise I do is pretty cut and dry–you either make it up the hill fast and effortlessly or you cough up a lung in the process and have to stop midway.
~Amanda
I was obsessed with the scale for a long time and it was all about the number. After I lost 100+ I realized it has to be about something else, besides the scale. I weigh and measure myself once a month now and if I see myself shrinking in inches, I’m pretty happy. My weight doesn’t change much now. I also measure success by how my fitness level is and how my recovery time has decreased.
I’ve never been keen on weighing myself. Instead I like to tune into what my body is telling my (and how my jeans are fitting!).
Congrats on upping the weight again at body pump. How much farther I am able to push myself is also a good way of gauging how in shape I am!
after reading all these comments, i should probably start tracking my progress in a more tangible, perhaps more beneficial way than just jumping on the scale every week…
I’m so excited to check out your post! I realized that I needed more balance in my diet when I would absolutely crave carbs or protein, but give myself veggies instead.
National junk food day? I might have to candy it up for dessert later after hearing that!!
And look at u kicking ass and taking names in body pump! Same old Tina!! 🙂
National Junk Food Day – just what America needs.
These days, I measure my progress by what my body can do in everyday life; energy levels, how hills or hikes feel, what hurts or doesn’t hurt, etc… I used to get pretty focused on numbers, be they weights or distances as a measure of progress, but that just doesn’t make for a mentally sound me.
I measure my fitness level by consistency of workouts. I almost always workout 5-6 times a week but if they are consistently challenging and leave me a sweaty mess, I know I’m making good progress.
I don’t actually measure my progress much anymore. After I lost 95 pounds and switched to more of a maintaining mode, I haven’t watched myself as religiously. Although I still track my calories on SparkPeople, more so to see where I’m at, and less so to make sure I’m being “good.”
I measure my progress by how my cloths fit. Have a great day! 😉
My table is usually pretty messy too…glad I’m not the only blogger with a hidden mess 🙂
I wanted to go to the new BP release SO BAD last night. I hurt my ankle and shoulder in the same week, though, and couldn’t. So bummed! Your quiche looks yummy!
i knew there was a reason i HAAAAD to have chips and guac with lunch today! GOTTA RESPECT THOSE NATIONAL HOLIDAYS! 😉
I typically measure my progress in body measurements, but when I run, I measure by endurance.
Honestly I measure my progress on how I feel. Its a combination of things: how my clothes fit, how fast I get winded, how sore I get after exercise, a combination of things. Exercise make me happier so the better shape I am in, generally, the better overall mood I am in!
your pretty tough there girly! my bp weight stays under 20
Your such an inspiration!
I have a nifty little moleskine journal in which I record all of my workouts, weights and times…it’s my little, black book. With the workout style I use, we’ll only repeat workouts like once or twice a year, so it’s good to keep track…otherwise I’d never remember!
If only you could see all the crap I push aside out of my photos. And people.
haha I always have to push all my crap out of the way so I can take a pretty pic 😀
Wow there is a holiday for everything. Body pump sounds like it was the perfect workout today.
Great job on the body pump progress!
I measure my overall fitness progress by the scale, the way my clothes fit and then making sure I take notice when something in my exercise routine gets a little easier…at that point I know it’s time to switch it up or add more time or weight.
I made a version of the quiche today with broccoli, green peppers, red onion, and cheddar cheese and it is totally delish. My husband and I both love it. Thanks for the great idea 🙂