Feel the Burn Thursday

Good morning, girls!
I hope you're enjoying your week so far.
What workouts have you been up to so far this week & what workouts do you have planned for this weekend?

So today's post is going to be a modge podge of Food and Workouts, not just Workouts.
It is so important to fuel your body with wholesome, high-energy, nutrient-rich foods in order to be able to do great workouts and just feel good inside and out.  Yes, Amy C, you're perfectly right, diet soda is not a dieter's friend :)  Even if you got a free 24-pack from the gas station last week for purchasing a car wash....haha...that was me :) 

Amy C. shared this Athleta Chi Blog post about nutrition with me over last weekend and I think it's pretty good. 
http://www.athleta.net/chi/2010/05/14/dinas-food-journal-the-home-stretch/
Here's a good part of this woman's story about nutrition fueling the athletic lifestyle and just how much better you feel when you put good foods in your body instead of junk, no matter how much you're working out: "Despite a lifetime of sports and vigilantly training for sports, I’ve been neglecting a key aspect of wellness: good nutrition. Yes, despite my lapse into a batch of cookie dough today, I am eating better now than I was, say, four years ago (when I’d make several batches of cookie dough a week rather than a batch every several months). But four years ago 1) I didn’t mind working out four to six hours a day to compensate for my poor food choices and 2) (as silly as this may sound) I had no idea how much better (or worse) food could make my body feel."
Also, Kim shared with me last night a big email filled with great crock pot recipes, but I can't get it to post on here while maintaining all the links, so I'll just email it out to you all, so look for that today :)

Planning out a few days at a time for what I'm going ot eat when, and trying to keep it well-balanced, and heavier right after a workout, and filled with lots of lean protein, whole grains, veggies, & fruit has REALLY made a difference for me this week.  Yesterday was great.  It made it so that it wasn't a matter of entering into MFP what I ate and then begrudginly seeing if I could eat anything else that day or if I had to be done.  So it's just an attitude shift.  Planning ahead of time.  I know exactly what I'll have when.  I know it's probably just a short-lived bug, but I'm going to try really hard to maintain it through the weekend to see great results on Monday's weigh-in, then that should motivate me to keep it up again! 

For workouts, last night I did a trial run at my sprint triathlon.  Holy cow, I was spent.  It was nuts.  Actually made me really nervous for the tri because it was so hard (at least there was the American Idol finale on TV that I could watch to keep from watching the odometer :) ).  I swam in the pool at the Y for 40 minutes, then rode the stationary bike for 17 miles, then ran on the treadmill 3.1 miles.  I've got the fitness, and so I'm hoping with the tri obviously being outdoors instead of the mindnumbing indoors, and with some race-day adrenaline, that I'll be able to pull it off.  Nonetheless, I'm going to be doing some training bricks the next week and a half.  I'll do back-to-back rides then runs for the right distances.  Talk about muscle confusion!!!

Also, last Saturday I did a free intro class at LA Boxing.  It was so much fun!!!!! I totally recommend you all check out a gym near you for a free class.  It was the hardest workout I've had in....EVER!  But it was fun.  I got my hands wrapped, wore boxing gloves, did conditioning drills, and punched and kicked the crud out of a big boxing bag w/ the help of my pro MMA fighter coach!  I was keeping up with the big boys and even met a new friend who just moved out here w/ her husband from Michigan- woohoo Midwesterners :)  After doing their free intro class, they gave me a free 7 day pass, too.  So I'm going to do that Saturday through next week to do more boxing and kickboxing classes.  What a riot!  I felt like I was on Biggest Loser :) http://www.laboxing.com/ and click on gym locator.  Sadly there aren't any in WI, UT, IA, or DE, but Tara, Amy F, & Isolde, you're in luck in IL & IN!!!  Check it out.