whatagrl's blog

I'm here in the Windy City for the summer, and there is just SO much to do! Workouts have been different than at home, since I haven't found a gym close by that does the body systems/group fitness classes, but I have been enjoying yoga, pilates, and CAPONIERA in Milleneium Park. I felt prettty stoked that out of the 200 people present, I'm one of the only ones who was willing to/ could do cartwheels, both 2 and 1 handed.

Ok, so I love Zumba! I'm addicted! Unfortunately, since I started, my right hip hurts. Bad.

The lateral hip pain is right on the side of my hip... top of the illiotibial band. I've read that dancers and runners are prone to muscle tightness and pulls in this region. I don't want to give up Zumba, and I don't want to "wait around" for weeks on end for the pain to go away. It actually gets better throughout the day. But as soon as I shake it in ZUMBA, it's back to being sore.

Yesterday: 90 min of Iyengar Yoga and one hour of zumba, for a 886 calorie burn!
Today: 60 min of group kick and 60 min of group power-lift for 1,010 calories burned!
Keeping my calories at my RMR. Hopefully, this highly insulin resistant body can bust through her plateau!

I love the polar heart monitor, in that I get an accurate estimation of calories burned, per the transmitter, and me programming in my age, gender, and weight. Because I've worked hard the last few days, I'm taking another rest day, today. Tuesday I did an hour of Iyengar yoga and went for a run, for a 409 calorie burn. On Wednesday, I did a cardio-kickbox class and a Group power-lift class, back to back. 2 hours and 7 minutes, and 1,185 calories burned per my heart monitor!

So this is day 3 after a week of intense running in a very hilly neighborhood of Seattle suburban WOODINVILLE WASHINGTON. Trying to keep up with my teenage twin daughter, both of whom play high school basketball and run track, was not easy. They are 30 years younger than I. But I kept up pretty well, ran UP the hills, and my heart monitor got a workout as well: often near my maximum heart rate of 188.

So this is day 3 after a week of intense running in a very hilly neighborhood of Seattle suburban WOODINVILLE WASHINGTON. Trying to keep up with my teenage twin daughter, both of whom play high school basketball and run track, was not easy. They are 30 years younger than I. But I kept up pretty well, ran UP the hills, and my heart monitor got a workout as well: often near my maximum heart rate of 188.

So I read Mona Liza Reyes' Dec. 08 blog about the effectiveness of the BAR METHOD muscle isolation/toning workouts, and I decided to get the DVDs. I really like the workouts. But I also love my Iyengar yoga workouts, which I perform 3 days a week for one hour per session. Iyengar yoga strictly adheres to proper form and prolonged holding of strength building poses, so I have always counted this a more of a strength training form of yoga than cardio or stretching.

Per a blog I read by a myfittribe fitness expert, I am going to begin the body sculpting DVD series, THE BAR METHOD.

I don't want to "bulk up" (which is a natural tendency in my family- we're all built like linebackers, men AND women!). My mother says it's a "genetic Italian" thing, from generations of women "rolling out the pasta" (we have huge shoulders, triceps, lats and pecs). I produce excess insulin in response to food consumption, and this adds to my tendency to build very bulky muscle.

This has probably been asked: What do you think of HGH supplementation? What person is a good candidate for HGH use? What can be achieved by augmenting ones current workout and nutrition plan with HGH? My endocrinologist has agreed to prescribe HGH for me beginning this June. What can I expect? Are there undesirable side effects? I'm a 45 year old woman with 20 more pounds to lose. I have relatively good muscle tone due to years of consistent yoga practice. I perform cardio 5 to 6 days per week.

Today was a great workout. Holding scorpion for 2 minutes really worked my triceps and shoulders. I know I will be plenty sore tomorrow. I went inverted,kicking up and using core to hold myself up, and then bent the legs down parallel to the floor... brought them back up... did this a few times. Abs will be nice and sore tomorrow too. I love power yoga!

So I just used the BMR and bodyfat calculator here on fittribe. My BMR came out lower than that which was calculated with that little machine at the Gym that measure CO2 output. For that test, I fasted for 12 hours, lay in a dark room without moving, and breathed into the mouthpiece of the machine. BMR= 1,480, by that measure, which was pretty close to avg for a woman my age. This calculator on fittribe measures me at 1388.