Fit with Ruthie

HITT today and Abwork. Heres the breakdown: I did 20 mins on the treadmill.. with only 5HIITs.. I have had tight/sore hammies ever since my workout on Friday. I have been stretching a lot.. but when I was running on the treadmill this morning .. my left hamstring just never loosened up. I was afraid I was going to pull it so I only did 5 hiits.. 1 @speed9.3---3@speed10---and 1@speed8.5... I was breathing hard when I was done so I guess it did ok. I stretched when I was done and during but my ham is still tight feeling. Ab work: I did 150 incline twists and 60 hipups! I was happy with both .. both are the best I have ever done. I hope my abs will be sore tomorrow. Maybe some day..My abs will look as good as this picture.. I doubt it though.. that doesnt look like a tummy that gave birth to a 10lb baby! (;).. I woke up feeling lots better this morning. Despite waking up because of strange dreams last night and waking up hungry. I think I have finally gotten over the fast-food hangover. ...

yep.. got it done.. just now.. chest/shoulders/bis .. they are all spent.. so i guess I did good. It was hard to get in there today.. i still dont have my energy back.. cause of my experience last night and probably because of poor eats the last two days.. i have stayed on program eats all day.. fixin to have banana puddin shake ... I guess I better go.. lots to do before M and D get here. I just needed to make sure I posted my workout for the day.. blessings r

Ever had a fast-food hangover? Thats what I have this morning. I knew it was coming.. the little "be fit angel" was sitting on my shoulder the whole time I was eating that fast-food and telling me "dont do it.. your body doesnt like it.. its bad for you." .. while the little "be fat angel" said .. "oh . .come on.. it tastes soooo good... you deserve it!.. it's gona be ok.. your body doesnt know the difference!.. just see how good it tastes!" I knew better. I guess its good in a way. It reminded me of what my life use to be like. Two to three times a week I would wake up either in the middle of the night.. (around 2am) or in the early dawn hours (around 5) with stomach cramps that would have me "meditating" in the bathroom for an hour! (to put it somewhat politely). Not only was it bad for my tummy and all it had to go through.. but it was sleep deprivation at its worst! So.. what where you doing last night between 4:30-5:30am. I bet...

Yep.. I am back... heres a brief update ... Friday did lower body at DSinLs house .. she had the weights.. and boy have i been sore the last two days! I was happy i didnt miss. .. but really surprised how sore my hammies are.. and STILL are. Here you will see evidence of my cardio workout on Sat. while at the hotel. It didnt get done until 5pm but I found time. The kids came in the weight room and watched TV, and ate cookies.. while I did it. I did 6 HIITS.. and was tired when finished.. but SOOO happy that i didnt miss a workout.. RECORD STILL INTACT! :) yipee! Right after my workout DH called and said he was ready to be picked up.. (early).. it workout out so good!.. on the way to pick him up I passed two bikers.. (so inspirational).. AND I thought.. oh i would've felt so guilty if I would have decided not to do the workout and saw them.. as it was I was inspired! ------ok.. so thats the good. part.. now for the eats. ----- I did really well on Thursday.. stayed on program.. exe...

Ok.. just a short post.. I did my HIIT this morning.. 20 mins 1.5 miles, 7 HIITS..tired. I also did 100 incline side twists and hip ups (50) I am off to pack, go the library, the health food store, and get gas.. all before noon UHG> OH.. i will do legs, back, and bis in the morning at joels sisters house.. they got a "gym" in their garage :) will be like home :) no excuses while I am gone.. I am going to focus on staying on program foods until my freeday. Blog you when I get back. i am sure i will have withdrawals :) blessings r

Tired this morning. Just finished my workout. I did Chest, Shoulder and Tris. I am spent. (ugh). Today is just a cloudy cool day outside so it makes me want to just crawl back into bed :) A few months ago.. thats what I would have done on a day like this. Not any more. So, today I plan to get the house straight, continue to conquer the laundry demon, and start "precooking" a few meals for the trip. I plan to take a large ice chest, my blender, natural peanut butter and whole crackers, Tuna, and a few precooked meals to eat. (I figure surely they will have a microwave somewhere in the hotel for me to heat my meals up in). I know I will have a free day during this weekend but I want to try as hard as I can to stay on course until my free-day starts. Eating this way has actually become such a habit for me that I have been craving the shakes,... esp at night before bed. PLUS.. there is nothing worse than having a tummy ache from eating poorly.. esp when traveling! I will lift f...

"The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark." Barbara Hall, Northern Exposure, Rosebud, 1993 "Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb." Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) =========================== Woke up a bit sore this morning but it was a good sore. After being so sore last night i was concerned i wouldn't be able to walk this morning. In todays workout I focused on positive thoughts, and how blessed i am. During my ab workout I concentrated on slow precise movements. I am finding the movement needed to get a good ab workout is alot small and a lot slow...

well I just needed to post so you will know I DID do my workout today. I couldnt get started until 430 but I got it done! .. heres the low down legs: squats on smith pelie squats as burnouts leg extensions dead lifts and leg curls Back: smith rows, bent over rows as burnouts Bis curls seated, standing curl bar curls as burnouts. I did 15.12.10.8.6 with burnouts of 3x10 .. i am already sore so I know getting out of bed will be hard in the morning. I am soo happy with my progress.. I cant believe I am already half way with this challenge.. time just goes by so quickly. I took my pics and measurements .. its funny because i didnt think I had made much progress since day 30.. but I was surprised! I am coming to believe.. measuring tapes dont lie.. pictures dont either.. but my mind sure does sometimes! .. I did some calculating and heres what I have lost since my C1 day 1: Hips. down 2.75 inches chest. down 1.75 inches thighs down .25 (gained muscle there/got bigger.. now they are getting ...

42 days down.. 42 to go! It is so hard to believe that my SECOND challenge is officially at the halfway mark today! As a way of "celebrating" this morning I looked back at my posts from the first challenge.. heres what I found. --------------------------------------------- This is from challenge one day 43 post "I feel so bad when I eat the way I "want" too.. its just not worth it.. .. It took me most of Sunday to get back in the right mind set.. ITs funny how much of a habit eating this way is.. but I have a hard time getting back into the swing of eating right again after my free day.. having to push such thoughts of "oh... one cookie today wont hurt... and ... i drank my protien today I deserve just a bite of that ice cream...." I really think this is more a mental exercise than a physical one.. tough sometimes.." [I think the above comments are interesting because i now dont have such a hard time with the food issues.. but the comments about ...

6:00 AM- alarm sounds 6:01 AM - ruth turns alarm off 6:02 AM- ruth contemplates rolling over and going back to sleep. 6:08 AM- ruth somehow manages to force her body out from the warm bed and snoring DH. 6:15 AM- Treadmill starts. .. although ruth doesnt remember starting it. 6:20 AM- Ruth is finally awake and realized she is jogging in a forest of garage sale tables. Hoping and praying she doesnt trip on the treadmill and bang her head on the table closest to her.. she focuses on the TV and zones into the IPOD> 6:45 AM - Workout complete: (20 min cardio with only 3 HIITS.. and a bit of stretching) 6:45 AM: Aunt D shows up to help with Garage sale. 7:00 AM: Garage sale has begun! 12 noon: Garage sale over and we race to get ready for a wedding.. V and N agree to keep the kids while we go. 1 pm: Wedding .. tears, joy, but no cake for me! (we left before the cake :) 3pm: to the grocery store to get GARLIC bread which i am determined to eat the whole loaf of! 3ish.. come home to a dirt...

OK.. so this morning I got up and was getting ready to workout.. .. of course I had to pose down in front of the mirror to see if there were any new muscles showing.. (I like seeing those shoulder muscles).. ANYWAY.. I almost fell on the floor when I actually saw what everyone said they saw in my progress photos.. there in the mirror was a FOUR pack! I stood in shock and said "HONEY>. do you see that? (of course i thought it was my imagination).. but he said "Yes!" .. Ladies I cant believe it! I tell you.. this body sure doesnt seem like its really is mine! I was so excitted that I just kept flexing those abs to see if it really was real.. so much so I got another good ab workout out of it :) Now mind you.. this 4 pack was on my upper abs.. way above the baby belly zone.. so this might be as good as it gets for me in this area.. but I will take it! I have always dreamed of having a "washboard stomach" but I always in the back of my head realized that this k...

it was sooooo cold this morning here! The kids really wanted to go run outside at the school but I just couldnt bring myself to getting out the door. I mean come on! 44 degrees is just a bit too cold to be outside! I mean .. thats almost snowing weather! :) .. So.. I put on my cold weather running outfit.. (which by the way cut off my circulation last winter when I put it on!).. and headed to the frigid garage. I KNOW it was all of 49 degrees in there! So.. I overcame my fear of cold and "HIIT" the treadmill. I walked for 5min jogged for 5mins got off and stretched jogged for 2 mins then did my first HIIT. (my thighs were so sore that I couldnt do speed 10.. so I took it down to 9.3) walked for 1 min then got off and stretched those thighs again. jogged for 2 mins and then I did more HIITs.. gradually inching my way back up to 10. I did 7 HIITs in all.. the last two were 10s total time: 23.11 total miles: 2 how I felt when I was done: Focus Scriptures for today: "Have ...

OK.. got my body fat tested this afternoon. Drum Roll Please! 25.7% Well .. I was a bit sad it wasnt lower than that.. I am ONE % point from being in the "Fitness" category instead of the "average" one. I do wish that I had gotten my bf% tested before I started this whole journey. DH thinks I was 38-40% before I started. I have done some calculations on the web that uses your weight and measurements and it said I was 37% in my before picture. ---------------------------- Heres some info from the web: The suggested level of body fat for a female athlete is 14 to 20 percent; For that "gotta have body," shoot for a body fat percentage between 21 and 24 percent for women, But anywhere from 25 to 31 percent for women is considered healthy. If you're a woman and your body fat is more than 32 percent of your weight, that's a sign of obesity. Individuals in this range should seek the advice of a health care provider to begin a weight loss and exercise pro...

I woke up late (930)! because i was up so late with kids#3.. He hit his head on a cabinet door and I had a hard time getting it to stop bleeding. He went to sleep but I wanted to stay up and make sure it didnt bleed like crazy again .. so I wasn't able to get good and asleep by 2am! It is now 1130 and I just finished my leg workout. Heres what I did: Squats on the smith machine 15x65 12x85 10x105 8x125 6x115 (the 125 was a bit hard and was afraid of loosing form.. so i went down a bit) I then did burnouts 65x10 (did that three times) next was leg extensions.. My front thigh muscles are sore from running my HIIT yesterday! so I tried to take it easy on these.. I did 12.10.8.6. but no burnouts then came dead lifts on the smith 12.10.8.6. with a high point of 115. Burnouts on leg curls. That was it for today. Notice anything missing? Lunges! I think this is the first time in months I haven't done lunges! Two reasons for this: 1. my thighs are so tired from my sprint running yester...

(grab a shake.. this is a LONG post!) This morning I decided to try something new. I decided to get the kids involved in my cardio workout. While the kidos got their shoes one etc I walked/jogged on the treadmill to warm up. We then got in the car and headed to the intramural field on campus. The kids took turns running across the football field while I warmed up a bit more and then started doing wind sprints (HIIT). Sometimes they would race me.. others they would just sit on the bleechers and watch. Then we had a relay race.. that was fun.. the whole time I did sprints.. I would run as fast as i could and then walk/jog back. I think i did seven or eight sprints. Then we headed across the parkinglot to the track. I ran one bleecher set while the kid started walking around the track. I then jogged around the track with the kids and we were done. :) .. All three seemed to have a great time.. and so I think this will be the way i do cardio for a while. I came back home and did my ab work...

Well.. woke up to a nice calm rain this morning.. it was so relaxing and just beautiful outside. I fixed breakfast for the fam.. (except for cat who made her own oatmeal) and check my email and then got out to the garage after DH left for work. Today is upper body for me: Chest Flies with press as burn outs, Back flies with bent over row as burnout, Shoulder press then flies, Laying tri extensions then pull downs on Smith, Hammer curls and reg curl for burn out. Felt good I tried hard to push myself .. by the end I was hot and sweaty! OK.. so now for a little motivation :) "Just after her 21st birthday, Brielle Gazzara went to the hospital with kidney transplant probelms. She went home 3 months later weighing 68 pounds, hooked up to a 24 hour nutritional I.V., and back on dialysis. That was five years ago. Today she can leg press 400 pounds at the gym." You WILL be inspired by her story! I sure was! Dont miss the questions she answers at the bottom of the story...

First of all let me say that I never thought this day would come. Secondly..they DO fit but ARE a bit tight. I never would have thought when I started my program 120 days ago that this would even be possible. I am just amazed at what living this way, feeding my body, and working out correctly and being consistent can do! Now I have a new goal.. I want these to fit and not look so tight on me (hopefully by thanksgiving). I figured out today while shopping that I am at an inbetween stage.. sixes are to loose, and fours are too tight.. anyone sell FIVES? .. oh well. I also bought a pair of kaki pants that were originally 115.00 I got them for FIVE bucks! They dont fit perfectly but shoot.. it was only FIVE bucks! Today in our Bible class we talked about prayer. I am a praying woman, of course. So I though I might share with you how I prayed before and during my transformation.. and how I continue to pray. I was laying in bed late one night. The house was quiet. Everyone else was asleep. ...

"In research, HIIT has been shown to burn adipose tissue more effectively than low-intensity exercise—up to 50% more efficiently!3 In other words, HIIT speeds up your metabolism and keeps it revved up for some time after your workout. The bottom line is HIIT training burns a greater number of total calories than low-intensity training, and more calories burned equals more fat lost. What I'm suggesting is you forget about the "calories burned" readout on the stairstepper or Lifecycle; if you practice HIIT training, the majority of calories burned will come after your workout." Well I headed out the door at 8 this morning to go run my HIIT around campus. I decided I really miss being outside for my runs so I would give running HIIT outside. Well.. the thing about HIIT training is that it is work. I walked to the corner of campus then jogged about half a mile.. then started running the sprints. I think people thought I was crazy cause I would "blaze" by t...

"A sound mind in a sound body" Ok.. so I sat up tooo late last night and read a bit of Absolution. Although I think the target audience for this book was for men.. I found it to be very informative AND inspiring. Here are a few things I took away from last nights reading: on the topic of why exercise and take care of yourself: Economics alone.. The US government spends over 100 billion dollars a year caring for people who didnt take car of themselves. (for things related to obesity and its secondary diseases. such as diabetes, heart disease, vascular disease, and cancer and osteoporosis.) A lack of physical strength also adds up to millions of injuries a year.. which turns into lost productivity and increased medical bills. It is scientifically proven that regular and intense exercise, as well as feeding the body in a healthy manner helps keep the mind clear, reduces depression and releases stress. (hence the link back to ancient Rome and the latin title of my post) another q...

oh my! wonder woman has been working out! Anyone else a wonder woman fan when you were a kid? This morning I slept a bit late and woke up feeling GREAT! I guess I needed a few hours of extra sleep. I will be working out this afternoon at 4. I found this album on itunes this morning, I do not watch the biggest loser..i dont even know when it comes on.. ANYWAY... I found three songs off of it I really liked .. thought you might want to check it out. If was as much of a wiz at this blogger thing I would find the videos from these and play them..Of course the lyrics are MUCH better with the music :) so go to itunes and check it out:) heres a few lyrics from some I picked: [Chorus] From Hanging on by Raine Maida I'm hanging on today And nothing's gonna stop me, anyway I'm holding on, I'm strong I'm the only one who can make it change I don't wanna fight Gotta live my life I'm gonna make it right I'm hanging on and nothing's gonna stop me, anyway A little ...

OK.. i thought it would be fun to do a photo log of my run.. i was on the dreadmill today.. surrounded by all the items that I am getting ready to sell in a garage sale next weekend.. AND the laundry (*two baskets full) of ironing to do! .. So.. dont look too close at the background.. you might feel the need to come clean! :) Here you go! ENJOY! do I really have to do this today? I must have clean teeth for a good run! thats better! water water water had to change shirts.. i was already hot! IPODs a must! I am still NOT awake!!! warm up stretch! :) HIIT training UGH! hit 10s seven times! I am tired now! see.. i am tired.. and thirsty! AHHH.. now I feel better! full of energy and ready for the day! NOW ITS YOUR TURN! I would like to think my photojournalist who took time out of her busy day to photo log me :) Thanks Cat!