Ive decided to add in some weight training / resistance training for my arms and shoulders. Im getting in decent shape in my legs but my arms definatly are still flabby and weak. Im taking the advice of a friend and doing several sets of push ups every other day. I know someone out there just groaned at the thought of doing push ups. I know, I did too. My upper body is so weak just a couple push ups from my knees are enough to send my muscles screaming. But I really would like pretty toned arms for summer. Its almost tank top time already! I also have 1.5lb wrist weights that I started using lastnight to work other muscles. I did several sets of tricept extentions and bicep curls. I need to add front raises, lateral raises and rear shoulder raises. If you dont know what these look like check out this page at prevention.com they have the coolest ‘animated’ directions! I am going to print them all out and stick them on my bulliten board in my office, Im more likely to do them if they are staring me in the face every day! I will probably stick a copy in my cup holder on my treadmill so I cant ‘forget’ on my run days! Im going to see how 3 sets of 10 reps feels. I have a feeling Im going to be in a world of stiff muscles tomorrow! But itll be worth it! Lifting and lugging my kids in and out of car seats really should have given me amazing arms and shoulders but unfortunatly not! Im going to have to really work for them. There was a time, when my youngest was a 16 pound 3 month old that my arms were very strong, they had a thick layer of fat over top of them but once the baby thinned out so did my muscle.
Sometimes lunch out just has to happen for us. I try to plan my errands around lunch time so we are always home to eat but sometimes its just not possible. I know a lot of moms are far more busy than I am and when kids are hungry, they are hungry. So here are a couple ideas for low fat fast food dining.
First of all just stay away from the fries! Anywhere you go, just dont eat them at most places they have about 50% of their calories coming from fat, your butt will jiggle for a week. McDonalds is the place my kids scream for the most….as soon as we pass those golden arches my two year old starts asking for a cheese burger….great…yah, I know, I will not be expecting a nomination for mother of the year this year. We pass McDonalds on the way home from dropping my 3 year old off at preschool. By 9:30am I usually hear how my youngest is just starving for a cheeseburger. Right,kid, here is a banana (which ellicits murderous screams). But occasionally we will swing in around lunch time. I love McDonalds fries…that is one very very hard thing to give up…BUT (with just one t!) the great news…
A McDonalds fruit n yogurt parfait has only 11% calories from fat- thats even witht he yummy granola! Score! And the awesomeness known as the triple thick milkshake has 21% calories from fat…Id let that slide. So if your kids are screaming for a happy meal (which mine do everytime we pass the golden arches) at least you have a few safe things to enjoy. Here is a quick safe list with the % of calories from fat
premium grilled chicken sandwhich 21%
apple dippers- fat free
ice cream cone 21%
caramel dipping sauce has about 13%
starwberry sunday (no nuts) ~ 19%
hot caramel sunday (no nuts) 21%
chocolate, strawberry, vanilla triple thick milk shake 21%
Now Im not saying to have a free for all on their shakes and ice cream, you arent going to get skinny on stuff like that. But its nice to have a treat that tastes completly sinful sometimes!
Did you notice I didnt list any of their salads? Salads are generally low calorie, and even with just a little fat the lack of calories that come with it drive up the percentages. So I just skip them these days. Id much rather have a grilled chicken sandwhich than a salad anyway.
I decided to take my treadmill and new shoes for a test run lastnight. It was a first run for both, which could have been a recipe for disaster but it went really well! I havent run on a treadmill in months, probably almost a year! So I laced up my Mizuno wave riders and started up the treadmill. I did a 5 minute walk warm up, like usual and decided to run walk at 4:1 intervals. My right foot started aching after my 5 minutes of running so I decided to slow down, do my 1 minute walk and take my shoes off and do a few things around the house before getting back on. Later I did 3 more sets of 4:1 intervals until my right foot was aching again. Im just hoping this is a short break in period on the shoes and adjustment to running on a treadmill. My feet feel great this morning and my knees have never been better! The last time I was on a treadmill was at a hotel gym in Gallup New Mexico. I believe I lasted seven and a half minutes before my legs and feet were torn up. Maybe its the year of running between then and now or maybe its just the better model of treadmill but it was well above my expectations. Today I have cross training schedualled- 40 minutes on my elliptical! I could do pilates….but the thought of doing sit ups and trying to fend off two preschoolers frightens me!
Today I made the trip up to Henderson to my favorite running store, Village Runner. I arrived and was greeted cheerfully and I mentioned I needed some new shoes (no really?!lol) I didnt catch the guys name who was working, Im so bad about that! But he was very helpful. I told him a bit about my running shoe history and he brought out a couple of cushioning shoes. One by Nike and one by Mizuno. I tried both on and fell in love with the Mizuno’s I really was a bit wary of them since the guy helping me mentioned they were a more narrow shoe. Ive always thought I had pretty wide feet but these fit like a glove. I was having flash backs to my Brooks Radius 05s which felt like heaven on my feet. I took the Mizuno WaveRider 9’s for a quick spin to make sure they were really as yummy as the felt. They totally were! I cant wait to get a training run in, in these! Good by torture shoes! I think my New Balance 816’s are going to be donated or trashed uncerimoniously ASAP!
My trip up to Henderson was two fold, I bought new running shoes and I came to check out a treadmill I found on craigslist after several weeks of stalking. At first the ad looked too good to be true $350 for a Horizon fitness T54 which was advertisedas basically new. Hmmm. Thats about a grand off the retail price for a new one. Most of the ads on craigslist were asking $200-250 for treadmills that were about $600 so this was one heck of a deal. I emailed with the owner and decided we would swing in to check it out while we were up here anyway. I mapped out the stores location. It was pretty close to my running store! We arrived at Fitness Beast and I mentioned the t54 I was interested in and the guy I had been emailing came out, that is who I had been emailing with, and he explained the issues with the treadmill and we checked out the wobbly bearing issue and the fact that there was no safety key. He also mentioned the warrenty had been issued to his store when he ordered some parts that were damaged in shipping for this unit, but he would call horizon and order the key and bearings.. We decided to purchase it anyway and we were going to come back in a few hours to pick it up after visiting some family in the area. We couldnt get ahold of the family member so we came back fairly quickly and Todd had good news! He got the warrenty transfered to us and he ordered the key and barrings, they were going to be sent to our home. He even helped my husband load up the 220 pound treadmill into the back of our truck. We put a tarp over top and are headed home as I type this. I cant wait to get home, get the parts and key and go for a run! I am looking forward to running while the kids are napping or after they have gone to bed….ah no excuses now!
Here she is! Right beside my Keys Discovery Elliptical 
