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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

How I Try to Stay In Shape - 4 Week Challenge

Hey!

I've been asked to discuss what I eat on a daily basis, what I do when I work out, and how I don't become bored at the gym. I will take yesterday as an example since it is fairly standard.

FOOD
I do not have a very strict diet. Neither do I eat the same food every day (not that I think that anyone should or does). Here is what I ate yesterday:

Morning (9 am)-
Slimfast shake in Cappuccino
Apple sauce
A little bit of oatmeal (hot cereal)

Between Breakfast and Lunch (10:30 am)-
A few smoked almonds

Lunch (12:15 pm)-
Small piece of salmon
Green salad (with fat free Italian dressing, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes)
2 onion rings (hehe)

Between Lunch and Dinner (3:00 pm)
Slimfast shake in Cappuccino

Dinner (6 pm) -
Spring egg roll (veggie)
Veggie Lo Mien with a lot of broccoli (very spicy...spice speeds up metabolism)

Note: I am not really mentioning drinks here because its mainly just water (sometimes with lemons)

WORKOUT
I went to the gym late last night (8:45 pm - 10:05 pm)

1) Cardio on the Elliptical Machine with varying resistances for 25 minutes Note: I don't think that doing cardio for a very long time will do any good. The best workout is a mix of cardio and weights.

2) Lower Abs by lifting myself off the ground with my weight supported by my arms. I lifted my legs up and down (50 times).

3) Inner and Outer Thigh toning on a special machine (for each exercise I did 3 sets of ten using 50lb, 60lb, and 70lb)
4) Back, shoulders, and biceps using weights (50 times. Started with 20lb and finished with 30lb)

5) More abs! I grabbed a 2lb ball, positioned myself on an incline with my feet secured on an incline above the rest of my body and I would sit up and lay back down while holding the ball. I switched from doing normal straight sit ups to sideways sit ups.

6) And More abs!! This time I used an ab machine. Its tough to explain it


And that is it! Do I get bored at the gym? Its a tough question. You know, the toughest part is actually preparing to go there especially since it is late and after a long day at work. Sometimes I just want to sit on my couch and watch TV or read a book. But once I am at the gym, I am more than happy. It is very motivating to know that I am doing something healthy and when I see others at the gym working hard it just inspires me to do better. Cardio can get a little uninteresting, but I just stare at the TV in front of me (even though there is no sound). Then I begin thinking about life in general, and that's when I feel entertained enough.

I would love to hear about your experiences, techniques, eating habits, etc. :-)

6 comments:

Alexandra said...

You are so healthy! I used to work out like that a long time ago and I was in such good shape , but I think I burned myself out. I own one of those leg lift things for the abs, but it's up north..:( it was my fav.!....you should be ripped in no time!

GiGi said...

I'm sure all your hard work will pay off.

Jessicaxo said...

how does that slimfast shake taste? Ive been wanting to try it but kinda hesitant.

Yelena said...

Aleksis - You know I wonder how long will I be able to keep it up for? So far its been over a month, although in the beginning I was very on and off. Now its regular (due to try outs on Satuday). Leg lift thing is awesome isn't it??? Where up north is your machine? Did you used to live somewhere else?

GiGi - Oh I hope so!! by the way the post was in response to your question :-)

Yelena said...

jessicalh06 - My favorite slimfast shake is actually French Vanilla. This one is good too. Honestly, I like the taste...and it has the consistency of a milkshake. So its not bad. I definitely wouldn't completely substitute meals with slimfast, but its a great one to drink prior to a meal because you won't need to eat as much. Personally when I am hungry I just have a desire to eat eat eat...but with this product I eat just the amount that I need and not more.

Alexandra said...

I kept my hardcore workouts up for about 3 months and the only reason I stopped was because I moved! Hopefully you will keep it up...it's easy when it's a set schedule! Mmmm my fav. slimfast is the chocolate, but then again I've never tried any of the other flavors...I used to live up in Mich. w/ my boyfriend and his dad...I REALLY liked it..I think I'm a snow bunny at heart..;) p.s. my fav. part about up north is you can leave a drink in your car and it'll still be cold hours later! haha.