Vegan Momma

This week is starting off well regarding my gym workouts. Currently I’m hanging out in my daughter’s room; legs are sore. Yesterday was leg day. I worked out with D (which is always great) we push each other and the time passes by quickly. We spent a lot of time with hack squats. My goal is to lift as much as I was lifting with hack squats as I did when I was in my twenties. I have about 150 pounds to go before I get to that point. My goal is to get there by the end of next month. It’s definitely doable. I really don’t work my legs hard they are very strong. Since I have someone that I work out with consistently I’m starting to focus on getting back to a point I’m comfortable with.

The ice packs came out yesterday something I always have handy for the times I work my muscles harder or do different exercises. Cardio is something I do daily. I have a very active five-year old remember? A lot of our time is spent outdoors.

The song above is Straight to Video by Mindless Self Indulgence. It’s something I downloaded into iTunes. I originally heard it on YouTube while checking out a WOW video made by a player who was deleting his epic geared level 70 toons. I’ll be uploading the song to my iPod nano later this evening so I can have when I work out tomorrow. I’m not stuck into one genre of music so you’ll find a variety of music in my collection. If I like, something I’ll listen to it.

If you are an iTunes you can download a cool feature that shows you the lyrics of the songs you listen to It’s called Sing that iTune. Of course you have to be on a Mac. I’m sure they have similar apps for Windows computers.

Mindless Self Indulgence - Straight To Video
All aboard
Hit the road
All the bullshit
Can’t be ignored

It’s hard to place
In my face
No emotion

All the problems
Make me wanna go
Like a bad girl
Straight to video

Little darling
Welcome to the show
You’re a failure
Played in stereo

Hiedi ho
Here we go
No solution
Strong undertow

Quite unfair
Quite a pair
No box office

All the problems
Make me wanna go
Like a bad girl
Straight to video

Little darling
Welcome to the show
You’re a failure
Played in stereo

I never noticed
No, never noticed
You’re so amazing
So amazing

I never noticed
No, never noticed
You’re so amazing
So amazing

All aboard
Hit the road
All aboard
Here we go

All the problems
Make me wanna go
Like a bad girl
Straight to video

Little darling
Welcome to the show
You’re a failure
Played in stereo

I never noticed
No, never noticed
You’re so amazing
So amazing

I never said it
No, never said
You’re suffocating
Suffocating

I never noticed
No, never noticed
You’re beauty’s fading
Fading

[tags]exercise, fitness, Straight to Video, Mindless Self Indulgence[/tags]

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If you think about it you don’t have to be in a gym to get a good workout. There are numerous physical activities that can be done outside of the gym.

Cutting grass
For example, this past Monday the riding mower wasn’t cooperating which meant two acres of land was cut with the push mower. They day was hot & humid however the grass got cut and it was a great workout.

Gardening
We don’t have as much garden as we used to. It’s a little over an acre not but at an acre there is still plenty that needs to be tended to in the garden you can usually find us out there picking string beans, green beans, tomatoes, kale, collards, lettuce, spraying plants with the homemade natural bug repellent (yeah it works) and of course weeding the garden.

Playing outdoors
We are all familiar with that concept right? My daughter and I spend most of our days outdoors it usually involves me chasing after her as she screams with laughter if I catch her I get to tickle her. Yeah my daughter is easy to please.

Will I go to the gym today?
I was up until 3:00 this morning so I imagine that I might not make it into the gym today; however, I still will be exercising at home. There are plenty of things to do around the house such as gardening, playing outdoors, and working out with my free weights.

I try to go to the gym at least four days, a week there are times when I don’t want to when that happens I make sure I engage in some type of exercise at home. I don’t put off my fitness routine.

The majority of the activity I do around the house is cardio activity which is a great overall workout, and it’s guaranteed to burn those calories. I also have weights that I’ve purchased when I want to lift.

Besides, pregnancy I’m still at the same weight I was when I first entered college. That was seventeen years ago. I always made exercise a priority so now missing my time exercising will make me feel guilty. I also realize that it is good for my health.

It’s a beautiful day outside so I imagine I’ll be grilling outdoors. That should make my daughter happy she has been asking me to do it for a few days.
Question: What’s on your fitness menu today?

PhotoSource: Lawn Mowers and Garden Tractors

[tags]exercise, gym, fitness, fat loss, gym[/tags]

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What’s with the cartoon? Well it made me laugh. I’ve encountered many people like that… too busy to exercise. Even at my busiest (and it’s safe to say I’m there now) I make time for exercise.

Following some peoples logic I don’t “need” to exercise. Why? I’m not overweight in great shape (which is only made even better by exercise) but I realize that exercise is more than maintaining a healthy body weight. It’s actually beneficial to your health.

Today was one of the most intense workouts I’ve had in years. Although I didn’t do a lot of exercises the ones, I did I worked until muscle failure. I normally do five sets, sometimes seven sets, of whatever exercise I do. Usually 15 reps per set. Well today I went beyond that count and worked every set until I could not physically lift anymore.

What did I focus on today? Legs, calves, and abdominal exercises. D did the same routine. He had told me when we weren’t working out he didn’t push his legs as hard as he used to. I admit it; I’m a leg girl I love working them hard. D pushes me to work my upper body harder.

As I left the gym, I had to smile because It seemed that I was just going through the motions with my legs…placing one foot in front of the other and just going through the motions. Yes, my legs were that tired. My energy wasn’t depleted I could have worked out for hours as long as it wasn’t my legs. The great thing is that I had the same amount of energy after my workout as I did in the beginning. I know my eating lifestyle had a lot to do with that, also with the muscle gains that I see. Time to break the myths about vegans. I usually wear some type of name shirt promoting the vegan or raw food lifestyle when I’m in the gym.

You know what? You don’t need fancy equipment to achieve a fabulous workout some of my most intense workouts have been working out at home. Earlier this year I worked out at the home for three months straight I felt I did not have time to go to the gym but I still made time at home to work out. I have weights at home, but there were plenty of times that I worked out without weights. Some of those workout sessions left my muscles extremely tired.

Yes my life is busy. I’m actually busier than many of the people I personally know, but it doesn’t stop me from getting a workout. Realizing the impact that workouts have on my overall well being I make the time and just do it.

[tags]vegan, nutrition, fitness, exercise[/tags]

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This morning I’ll be going to the gym about 8:30. Although I always look forward to my workouts I have to admit I’m a little more excited about this one than my regular workouts. I’ll be meeting up with my workout buddy, D. You know the one that I said gets a lot of attention? He, really is a sweet guy.

Anyway, I haven’t worked out with him in about four months, weird huh? We were working out almost every day. We weren’t angry with each other just busy (me more so than him) I was doing the majority of my workouts at the house. Yesterday was the first time we had to chat in several weeks and it was really nice catching up with my buddy. I’ve really missed him.

D joked that we probably wouldn’t be getting too much accomplished in the gym because we would be too busy talking to each other. You know what? He might be right. I’ll be doing a full body workout today. I’ve listed a few things I’ll be working on below:

• Military Press
• Shrugs
• Side Raises
• Bent Over Raises
• Standing Front Raises
• Leg Press
• Squats
• Leg Extensions
• Leg Curls
• Calf Raises

Of course I’ll be doing cardio (cross training) and those who’ve been following my blog for several months know that I’m a big fan of the sauna. I always end my sessions with time in the sauna. I do sauna rounds. With sauna rounds I stay inside the sauna for about 20 minutes step out to take a cold shower, go back into the sauna stay around 15-20 minutes, step out take another cold shower. I do this until I’m ready to leave the sauna. I usually stay in the sauna for an hour.

I make sure I stay hydrated while I’m in the sauna. I carry 32 ounces of water with me. I’m a big fan of Kleen Kanteen stainless steel water bottles and those are the type I carry with me to the gym. I have several of them. They even make them for toddlers. I bought two of those for Aiyana when she was smaller. I still use them for her smoothies. I just switched from a sippy cap to a sport top cap like some of the ones I use. I don’t use too much plastic in my house.

What’s for breakfast? I put out steel cut oatmeal last evening and let it soak in water. I added raisins and I’m about to add blueberries to it. I’m getting ready to crank up my blender to make a smoothie, still not sure what type I’ll make but of course it will have greens. I’ve always eaten a lot of greens, about five cups daily, but I noticed that when I started adding even more greens into my diet a few years ago (mainly through green smoothies) the occasional cravings that I would have for unhealthy foods were gone.

Greens are packed with calcium, iron, and numerous other vitamins and minerals. Also, they are a great source of fiber which of course helps promote a healthy bowel, come to think of it so does exercise. ;-) I’ve always received compliments on my skin and I’ve noticed that a few lines that I was getting have gone away, not to mention my hair which has always grown fast is growing even faster. Not a bad trade off, eh? ;-)

Question: What are you (or did you) eat this morning? If you are exercising, what will you be doing today?

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It’s been a while since I’ve blogged on vegan momma and my other websites. I’ve been working on a research paper which has kept me fairly busy. I’m happy to say I completed it yesterday. I tweaked it until I was happy with what I had written, and now it’s time to start working on articles for my clients.

I’m going for a mini escape for a few hours. I’m taking Aiyana to a play gym. She’s excited while she is playing mommy will be busy writing, working, and enjoying the fact that she is so happy. They also have wifi so I’ll be able to work while she is playing.

Earlier this morning I met up with R. You know R? The one that I was trying to meet up with last week. Well we finally connected. I’m so glad we did. We didn’t do too many free weights he put me through the paces with jumping jacks, springs, push ups, squat assists. He wanted to see where I’m at. He told me he was impressed. To say I’m feeling that workout would be an understatement. Of course I’m excited that I have a workout partner that is as demanding as myself.

We’ll be meeting at a lake tomorrow. It’s a little over a mile. It should be an excellent workout. R told me to be prepared to work out for 1.5 hours and to dress warmly. We chatted after our workout and learned we have many things in common. He seems to be a very nice man not only does it look as though I have a cool hangout partner I have someone I can interact with. After our workout we finally exchanged numbers so we won’t be missing each other when it comes to actually making our fitness workouts.

What are Your Fitness Goals?

R asked me that today and I told him my desire is to compete in figure competition. He was impressed. I told him of my weak areas and what I was going to do to improve them. I also told him I wanted him to push me hard. He’s been looking for a workout partner that will challenge him also so it looks as though this is a perfect fit. I’m really excited. Although my workouts with D are great and the workout intensity is high I don’t think it will come close to the workouts R, and I will have. D and I will still work out together. He’s rapidly moving into the friend category. He constantly checks up on me through phone and email to see how I’m doing our workouts are a chance to catch up, push each other. However, R takes it to another level. I pushed him also today. I’m very competitive and am not about to back down in our exercises. When I started getting exhausted he pushed me and naturally I returned the favor. I could tell he liked that. If I have today to go by, I know I’m going to enjoy tomorrows workout. I’m actually looking forward to the occasion.

These Exercises Can Be Done at Home

The beauty of the workout today, and the one we will have tomorrow is that a lot of them can be done at home. I’m going to talk with R and see whether he is ok shooting videos of our exercises in doing so those of my readers who want to incorporate them into their workout routine will be able to do so.

Question: How is your fitness routine? Have you noticed any gains? Are there areas you could improve

[tags]exercise, fitness[/tags]

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