Thankful The Holiday Is Over

I don’t know what it is about holidays but they always seem to act as mini speed bumps when it comes to my workouts and food. I don’t know if it’s because the weekends are usually longer or the fact that the entire family is partaking in bad food and social eating. Either way I have to admit to not eating very healthy this weekend and also to not working out for two days.

I know the holidays are no excuse but I also had the double whammy of relaxing after hitting a big milestone which I think exacerbated the problem even more. I still managed to get some walks in along with some park time with my daughter but that certainly didn’t make up for the candy and other junk I ate.

I take full ownership of my mistakes and am really planning a killer week of workouts and eating clean this week. We’ve already finished all of the shopping for the week and have returned our meals to old school simplicity. Here is our planned meal plan for the week:

• Monday — Full Strength Shake w/Peanut Butter, Banana & Greek Yogurt, Salad, Walnuts & Fruit, Taco Pasta Salad, Cottage Cheese and Fruit
• Tuesday — Full Strength Shake w/Peanut Butter, Honey & Greek Yogurt, Taco Pasta Salad, Walnuts & Fruit, Lean Burger and Whole Wheat Bun, Cheese & Crackers
• Wednesday — Full Strength Shake w/Peanut Butter, Strawberry & Greek Yogurt, Lean Burger and Whole Wheat Bun, Walnuts & Fruit, Tuna w/Pickles and Whole Wheat Bread, Cottage Cheese and Fruit
• Thursday — Full Strength Shake w/Peanut Butter, Banana & Greek Yogurt, Salad, Walnuts & Fruit, Eggs and Toast, Cottage Cheese and Fruit
• Friday — Full Strength Shake w/Peanut Butter, Apple & Greek Yogurt, Tuna w/Pickles and Whole Wheat Bread, Walnuts & Fruit, Free Dinner

Previous Weeks Workouts

I’m going to start doing my workout summary on Mondays rather than Friday / Saturday to make it a bit more of a traditional week timeframe and to give myself more room for cool content at the end of the week.

Saturday, Morning (50 min)

40 min on ARC trainer at 50% resistance. 10 min on stationary bike at >90 rpm.

Sunday, Afternoon (50 min)

I was feeling sick most of the day but took my daughter for a vigorous walk at around 4 mph for 50 min.

Monday, Evening (30 min)

2 min warmup, 28 min circuit training using 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. I did Level 1 and then 10 minutes of Level 2.

Tuesday, Evening (20 min)

Same as the previous night, 30 Day Shred, except I only did Level 2 this time. I got home really late because of a company outing. I did walk to and from the outing though which was like 1.5 – 2 miles.

Wednesday, Morning (20 min)

I was up late watching The Biggest Loser so I only got a 20 min workout in doing Level 3 (first time) of the 30 Day Shred. I did hit my goal weight though which was amazing.

Thursday, Morning (90 min)

I participated in the A Merry Life Challenge which called for 90 min on the elliptical trainer. It was the longest I’ve worked out nonstop in a very long time and I decided to do it at 4 am which was pretty rough.

Friday, Day Off

Nada, zero, zippo exercise today.

Saturday, Day Off

Another day of a whole lotta nothing other than bad eating.

Sunday, Morning (50 min)

I went into the gym after two days off and did 50 min on the ARC trainer at 35% resistance. I was pretty zonked about half way through due to the less than idea food I ate this holiday weekend.

This Weeks Workouts

I’m going to plan 4 sessions of circuit training this week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Finally on Tuesday I’m planning a BFL style upper body workout. It may seem like it’s light on weights for a guy but this routine has worked well for me to date and the circuits all use weights extensively.

For the circuit training I’m going to mix it up with the 30 Day Shred and the No More Trouble Zones DVD’s. It’s a good combination of short circuits in Shred combined with a longer workout in Trouble Zones. Depending on how the Shred workouts go I usually throw in some additional weight training, usually 1RM (one repetition maximum).

Have you planned your workouts and meals for the week?

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