I attempted to do my Pull Ups on Saturday morning because I promised you all that I would. If I hadn’t made that commitment to you I probably wouldn’t have done them. My body was sore, I woke up tired, and I just felt a little on the blah side.

I chugged coffee and told myself I was going to do the pull-ups and after hyping it up in my head that I could complete those 5 Pull-ups I attempted my own challenge.

After 3 reps… my attempt at 4 was a complete fail. My arms gave out even though my brain said I could keep going.

I was frustrated when I let go but I knew I gave it my best shot.  After I finished I questioned whether or not I would have completed more pull-ups if my “pull up challenge” was on a day that I wasn’t sore. That created another challenge in my head… and I will keep at it.

SO backing it up a bit..

Here’s what my Pull up Workout looked like:

SET #1: 3 REPS (this was the only set I planned on doing)

SET #2: 1.5 REP (I convinced myself to get to 5 reps even if it wasn’t consecutive)

SET #3: 2 REPS (I got to 5 reps and kept going)

SET #4: 1.5 REPS (my arms were shot…. but it felt great)

Going into my challenge I really only planned on doing one set of 5, but I am glad I kept going, Believe it or not my 4th set felt better then my 1st set and I was overly pleased with my mini workout.

So I know I’m kinda rambling here a bit, but I’ve learned that creating challenges for myself is the little push I need to make me stronger.

Can you do a Pull-Up? If so, do you find them to be easy or challenging?

What’s an exercise you love doing? 

]]> http://thefitskool.com/?feed=rss2&p=7436 2 http://thefitskool.com/?p=6084 http://thefitskool.com/?p=6084#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2015 10:28:14 +0000 http://thefitskool.com/?p=6084 Continue reading →]]> Today I am sharing with you my food journal from Monday. I chose Monday because after the weekend I am always focused and I try to keep my meals clean, simple, & nutritious. I apologize in advance for some bad pictures.

I am linking up with Peas and Crayons for another WIAW Post

I wake up at 6am on Mondays and one of the first things I do is chug a tall glass of water. I usually have maybe a 1/2 cup of coffee (that’s my typical daily amount) and quickly post on my blog.

Breakfast is shortly after. I had 1 egg, 1 cup egg whites sautéed in 1 tsp olive oil with 1 1/2 cups of spinach & baby kale with some potato hash browns. If you haven’t checked my blog before this is a very typical breakfast by me I wish I could eat this all day.

After Group Power I always need a substantial snack. When I leave that class I am usually starving within 45 minutes. I had a coffee protein shake, a banana, and a Coconut Chia bar from Health Warrior.

I’m pretty punctual with my eating on Mondays. I taught my senior fitness class from 1030-1130 and Lunch was followed shortly after around 1230. I had prepped some baked chicken & herbs on Sunday so I threw that over a big salad with mixed greens, orange pepper, tomatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, avocado & balsamic dressing. It was yummy. I also had a Joseph’s Pita with it and an orange.

I haven’t had a fruit parfait in a while and I was craving one. I chose a Dannon Oikos greek yogurt with strawberries & granola. I was so happy to find that Dannon greek yogurt that has NO added Sugar & NO artificial sweeteners. It was a good find, I hate buying yogurts that have unnecessary sugar but sometimes the plain greek just doesn’t do it for me!

This picture was terrible of my dinner but it was yummy!! I had Eggplant Parm (that a friend made for us) with Baked Chicken & Sauce smothering the top so you can’t see anything!  I also had some steamed broccoli (a few pieces are missing from that picture) I need to learn to take pictures before my hunger takes over!!

It seems like my hunger is non stop on Mondays because the first 1/2 of my day is very active so I ended my night with a Chocolate Shakeology & peanut butter which filled me right up! 

I am now off to teach Group power. My legs are very sore & tired so this should be interesting

Whats your favorite morning snack?

Please share something yummy you ate yesterday? 

I usually have 2-3 snacks per day. Over the years I have figured out that there are some snacks out there that don’t fill me and that don’t give me the energy. I need foods that help me make it through my day of teaching classes, training clients, and chasing after my crazy 1 year old Ava.

In the past I would easily have grabbed a processed granola bar or ate crackers/pretzels until I was overly full (because I didn’t know better). Although that junk tasted yummy while I was eating it, I hated the way I felt after! It wasn’t until I studied nutrition that I learned what foods gave me energy but most importantly kept me satisfied.

Here’s a list of some of My FAVORITE Grab & Go snacks that I eat in between meals:

Apple with almond butter or natural peanut butter (1 tbsp)

Hardboiled eggs with avocado & tomato

2-3 tbsp spoons of hummus & veggies

Protein Shake (Most recently I added Shakeology & it’s been a big night time snack saver)

Instant Oatmeal (unsweetened) with almond milk, cinnamon, fresh fruit, nuts, or honey

Celery stalk topped with 1 tbsp natural almond or peanut butter

Egg Frittata Squares

Green Monster Smoothie

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with olive oil, salt & pepper

Deli Turkey (2 slices) with 1/4 cup avocado & tomato in lettuce wraps

Mixed Nuts

This list can go on…..

• Greek yogurt w/ chopped almonds, pistachios & honey
• 2 slice Deli turkey (I buy Applegate farms) and low fat cheese (1 slice)
• Banana Sliced w/ almond or peanut butter, sprinkled with coconut or crushed walnuts
• Lara Bar (Cashew Cookie, Apple Pie, or Peanut butter cookie)

As I read over this list not only does it make me hungry but it also makes me think about how good I feel after eating each of these snacks!! The best part is, you can prepare all of this ahead of time and throw them in tupperware containers to take with you wherever you go!

What are your favorite healthy snacks?

Do you have a lot of packaged snacks in your cabinets?

Now lets talk about my CORE… it is SORE!

Yesterday I was thinking about an ab exercise that I haven’t done in a while. It is an ab rollout! Have you ever heard of an ab wheel or ab roller? I don’t own one but we have them at the YMCA and they are great for the core.

This picture shows me demonstrating the ab rollout, except I am using a dumbbell that I have at home instead of the ab wheel. It rolls out pretty well but the grip hurts my hands.

My Abs have gotten a lot stronger since having Ava, but they still need some work! I tried the ab rollouts again today and it was much more challenging with a sore belly.

I wonder if you could do this on your carpet using paper plates if you didnt have an ab roller?? I will try it!

Can you believe tomorrow is AUGUST??? How did that happen? That means today is the last day of our PUSHUP CHALLENGE!! How did you do? Yesterday Marc told me he completed 225 pushups in one day! I definitely didn’t get that high but I came pretty close at 150.

Did you surprise yourself with the amount of pushups you could complete in one day?

When your trainer or fitness instructor tells you to pushups do you make a face and say “I Hate Pushups??” I constantly hear from my clients and people in the gym that they hate pushups & pull-ups.  Usually when you dislike an exercise you are weak in that area, and in this case the weakness would come from your chest and arms.

Obviously Pushups aren’t easy, you can make them easier; it just takes practice!!! So lets practice together.

A while back I challenged you to this PUSHUP CHALLENGE. The challenge was to complete as many PUSHUPS as possible in 1 day. 

I have a new challenge for you and it starts today.  This time instead of 1 day lets work every other day for 10 days! 

Drop down and do some pushups throughout your day, at the end of your day record how many you completed. Take a day of rest in between and then try to beat your number!!

Lets see after 10 days how much our Pushup Strength improves!

**Please consult your Doctor or Physician before beginning any new exercise program**

If so, join me in a week long HEALTHY EATING CHALLENGE starting tomorrow JULY 10^th!

I am not going to set strict rules, it is up to you to make the smart choices. Focus on avoiding SUGAR, WHITE CARBS, & PROCESSED FOODS. 

So what should you focus on eating??

o   Vegetables: all of them are acceptable and eat lots of them

o   Fruits

o   Lean Meats

o   Healthy Fats

o   Limit your dairy to low fat or if you are up for more of a challenge avoid it completely

o   Grains: make sure your grains aren’t processed and are whole grains.

The key to this challenge is to eat Healthy Foods and make sure you can pronounce your ingredients.

I am asking you to do something active 5 of the 7 days. If you can’t make it to the gym… go for a walk or run outside, do some gardening, or chores around the house so you aren’t sitting. Stay active and keep moving!

Remember you can do anything for 7 days! WHO IS IN??

***Please note: I am not a Registered Dietician or Doctor. Check with your physician before beginning any new diet of fitness program***

**Always consult a Doctor or Physician before starting a new diet program**

We decided to clean out our diet by choosing lean meats, veggies, fruits, healthy fats, and minimal dairy. (This means No bread, No sugar, No sweets, No unhealthy meats)

I chose to do a PALEO style diet and avoided grains and dairy. After 4 days, I decided to limit my grains & had dairy from yogurt and a little milk. I felt great with the clean eating and felt that my food choices were on point. I did notice I was eating way more nuts and nut butter then I usually do. At times I felt a little unsatisfied and was looking for oats or something a little more filling, but I think that has to do with my activity level being so high.

Here are some of my healthy meal & snack choices:

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH SPINACH & PEPPERS

TURKEY CHILI WITH VEGGIES & AVOCADO

OVEN ROASTED VEGGIES & SWEET POTATOES

CELERY WITH ALMOND BUTTER OR PEANUT BUTTER

CASHEW COOKIE LARABAR (IT HAS 2 INGREDIENTS), BANANA, APPLE

TURKEY MEATBALLS OVER SPAGHETTI SQUASH

I found myself getting creative with my lunches & dinners and it made me step out of the box a little. I liked it!

After having no grains and dairy for 4 days, I found that I feel fuller longer with some oats or some whole grain sides with my meals.  So I added back in some grains and I felt a huge difference in energy and hunger satisfaction. After workouts I like to refuel with some carbs and I decided to keep that as my routine.

It has been a full week now and for those of you who think eating clean is hard, it is not. I have even been enjoying my iced coffee black even though it sounded like it was going to be SO DIFFICULT! Food prep and meal choices are getting easier, and I feel mentally and physically great.  It takes time to get used to any change…. but change is good!! Especially when it comes to making healthier choices.

Have you ever tried Paleo or Whole30? How did you feel and was it easy or challenging?

Feel free to join us on our healthy eating challenge! We don’t have an end day set.. We are taking it day by day