So for the past eight days, I’ve been focusing on shedding fat leaning out in preparation for my cousin’s wedding this weekend. My training workout last week consisted of 4 days of CrossFit (lifting moderately heavy weight) and a yoga session to end the week. This week I’m focusing solely on cardio intensive workouts meaning I’m running longer distances in addition to doing sprint intervals, every day. I’ll rest on Thursday. I cut out all forms of sugar, with the exception of eating one banana right before one of the CF workouts, and focused on eating lean proteins (chicken breast, salmon) and complex carbs (carrots, zucchini) and green leafy vegetables (kale – lots of kale). I’m also drinking a ton of water. Prior to this, I had been lifting heavy stuff, running 3-ish miles every other day and taking in more protein than carbs and fat (with the exception of avocados….I could and often do eat a small one every day). This was in preparation for right now. I feel stronger and more powerful in my legs which helps when I’m running up these Maryland hills and my VO2 max has significantly improved. Again, I haven’t measured, but I definitely am running for longer periods of time at a faster pace. (I should start measuring these things…).
I’m not the one to step on a scale to gauge my progress. I just want to feel good in my clothes and see some muscle definition in areas that always need to be taken care of (arms, butt, and belly :)). I’ve done the obsession with stepping on a scale every morning in the past, and it became discouraging as I didn’t know the difference between muscle fat and body fat and why I was weighing more even though I appeared to be leaner. Then I learned…never to step on a scale again. :)
With the exception of this past Sunday (#cheatday), I’ve been eating clean and I feel amazing in my clothes. After the wedding I’ll go back to a strength training routine mixed with yoga for a few weeks, and I’ll track my progression with updates as I see fit.
Maybe I’ll post some recipes too.