New Training Plan

Yes, after two months of using the beginner triathlete website, I have been working through a new and different training plan.  Maybe I should've gone to something more strenuous originally because I found it pretty easy.  I also have to say that, even though I made it through the holidays unscathed for like the first time in forever, I didn't lose much weight doing those particular workouts.  But it served its purpose and the price was right (FREE!!).  Since I probably can't afford my coach for more than a month or so, I'll probably head back to that site and maybe even join.  There are hundreds of workouts that I could compare to my current training and hopefully go on from there.

Speaking of current training, here's what I've done so far this week:

Monday: Swim 30 minutes and full body strength training - total time 1:15
Tuesday: 20 min bike / 20 min treadmill - total time 40 min
Wednesday:  Was supposed to swim 30 minutes, but I didn't make it to the gym

Thursday: 45 min treadmill and full body strength training - total time 1:30

Tomorrow is 30 swim and 30 min bike

Saturday will be 45 min bike and 15 min treadmill

With these workouts, I'm feeling a lot stronger.  I'm not sure about what the scale is doing, but I'll let you know.  Short term goal is to get under 200.

In the meantime, countdown to the June 28 TriBella Sprint has begun.

Frustrated - When the Scale Doesn't Move

Alas, for yet another week, my weight remains the same.  While this is great practice for the day when I reach my goal weight, it's not so motivating right now.  Six weeks and nothing?  Uh-uh.  Nope.  Not acceptable.

Guess I've got to do some dissecting...

I know that with the effort I put in this week, I built some serious muscle and did some serious cardio.  Here's a peek at my log:

Mon:  AMA Test
Tues:  20 min bike / 20 min tmill
Wed:  30 min swim / 30 min bike
Thur:  Full body strength training
Sat:  40 min bike / 20 min tmill

I tried to keep my HR in Zone 2 (about 120bpm).  That was difficult on the bike, but if I ride at like 90 rpm, then I can usually get it up there.  Problem is that 90 is hard to maintain.  Overall, a great week of exercise.

In the food department, I controlled portions and calories quite well.  Far too many processed foods though and definitely not enough veggies.  I started back on a multi-vitamin, so hopefully that'll help a bit.  But of course, I know nothing is a substitute for the real deal.

I also tried to focus on drinking a lot more water than I usually do.  I succeeded, but there's still room for improvement.  I had at least 70 oz per day and I'd like to see 100.  I typically get maybe 50oz?  Anyway, I know this is a weak area for me but very necessary for weight loss.

This coming week, I have an additional goal:  Bed before 9pm.  Last week, I don't think I was even in bed before 10:30 or 11.  My butt was draggin' all week long.

Ummmm yeah, I think there could be a few factors here as to why the scale and I are at a stalemate.  That's ok, I plan to kick the scale's butt this next time 'round!!

So... how was your week?

Active Metabolic Assessment (AMA) Results

Have you used Heart Zone Training?  I see lots of conflicting information out there, so I guess I'll find out if what I heard yesterday is true.  For now, I'll go forward with the idea that it is.  I've heard of heart rate training before, but never really paid much attention because I always figured I'd never get my heart rate up high enough to matter.  I assumed a heart attack would come first, therefore why bother?  Well, I received a whole bunch of more info from my gym yesterday.  Here's what I learned from my assessment:

We are told there are 5 zones for Heart Zone Training.  Zone 1 and 2 are the most efficient at burning fat and that's where I was told I should be to also build endurance.  This is sweet because I don't have to work my butt off to effectively burn the most fat.  If you want to checkout more on Heart Zone Training, you could try this link at about.com.

Here are my AMA results in beats per minute:

Zone 1:  103-112
Zone 2:  113-121
Zone 3:  122-130
Zone 4:  131-140
Zone 5:  141-151

The high number in Zone 5 is not my max heart rate.  My max heart rate is somewhere around 176.  To determine your ideal fat-burning zone, check out the following:

1) Determine your max heart rate.
If you'd like to see your max heart rate, this chart at active.com let's you determine your percentages.  For max, just enter 100%.  It also gives you a recommended target range.  My target range is 96-149.  Note the high number is 149.

2) Determine your resting heart rate.
If you can find your pulse, you can measure your resting heart rate (of course you can also use a heart rate monitor).  If you've never checked it here's how at ehow.com.  Do this when you first wake up or after you've been sitting for awhile - like now if you're sitting to read this post!  My resting pulse is 55.

3) Determine your Heart Rate Training Zones.
Keep in mind, results vary on levels of fitness.  The results from this site called "DigiFit" most closely matched the results I received from my AMA.  I used the high number from the results in step #1 instead of my actual max heart rate to get results similar to the assessment.  

The Karvonen results were the absolute closest being only a few beats different...

Zone 1:  102-111
Zone 2:  111-120
Zone 3:  120-130
Zone 4:  130-139
Zone 5:  139-149

My coach told me that I should shoot for 112-125bpm (so pretty much zone 2 on both charts) to efficiently burn fat and train for endurance.  If you just want to burn fat, you could train in zone 1, it just takes longer.  EX:  300 per 30 minutes in Zone 2 (120 bpm) instead of 240 per 30 minutes in Zone 1 (110 bpm).

So, why not just go to zone 4 or 5 and train for much less time?  Well, in those higher zones, we are burning more carbs than fat.  That's where Gatorade and Cliff Bars come in handy.  But more on that in another post.  Here are the fat burning percentages from my AMA chart:


Zone 1:  91-84% fat 
Zone 2:  84-63% fat
Zone 3:  63-52% fat
Zone 4:  52-0% fat
Zone 5:  100% carbs


Well, I hope this has been somewhat informative.  It was certainly a learning experience for me.  Have you ever done one of these assessments?  Trained using heart rate?  I'm curious to hear what you've experienced.

Triathlon Coach - CHECK!

Yes, I finally lined up a tri-coach.  I'm checking this out for a month to see how it goes.  I say a month because it's crazy expensive.  But I've gotta say that being accountable to someone other than me will be a welcome change.

I met with my new coach last week and he has already set some pretty different workouts than the path I was on with BeginnerTriathlete.com.  He wants to focus more on the endurance side of the sport in all three areas rather than on all the strength training I was doing.  Don't get me wrong, there's still strength training, but instead of different muscle groups 3 days/week, he's giving me full body strength training only 2 days a week (with a minimum 2 day break between the two days).  He also has me swimming, biking and running right off the bat.  Some days they're combos of two areas (like swim 500m then bike for 30 min) and some days it's just one.  

Tomorrow I go in for an Active Metabolic Assessment at my gym.  This is pretty cool.  It "identifies the optimal heart rate zone where your workouts are most effective." Basically, they find out where my heart rate is supposed to be for me to burn the most fat as opposed to carbs.  I was told that I should be prepared to sweat.  Yay.  Can't wait.  Hope I don't throw up.  Oh wait, it's a 9 hr fast prior to the test so no worries there.  Well, I'll let you know how it goes!  

New Recipe

I tried this recipe for Santa Fe Lettuce Wraps from Skinnytaste and while it doesn't necessarily win the award for most pleasing-to-the-eye, it takes a win in the taste category.

This was my second time trying a lettuce wrap.  The first was years ago at PF Chang.  That one was ok, but I have no idea what was in it.  This one was outstanding!  Really, I could eat these regularly.  I made everything according to the recipe with the exception of the dressing.  I didn't have the time or ingredients to make it so I just added some light ranch.  Next time I'll make the dressing though because the sodium in the ranch alone is pretty high.

So, here are the numbers according to MyFitnessPal...

Per serving:
Calories: 400
Carbs:  17
Fat: 21
Protein:  30
Sodium:  979
Sugar:  6

Is My Scale is Broken?

I finally could stand it no longer and got on the scale this morning...

...and I weigh EXACTLY the same as I did before Thanksgiving!!!

WHAT?!?!

That's what I said.

Maybe my scale is broken?  I mean seriously, is this even possible?  I know I didn't go way overboard on food, but I wasn't holding back much either.  I worked out some, but not a lot.  It has to be a fluke, right?  But hey, I'll take it.  And I'll check back in another week and hopefully know for sure.

My goal this upcoming week is to DRINK MORE WATER.  I can't lose weight if I don't hydrate.  Whoa, that sounds like a mantra or something.

Wanna lose weight?
Hydrate.

Wanna get strong?
H2O all day long.

Want that fitness plan to stick?
Water does the trick.

Ok, I'll stop now.

Wait, you got any?

Today, I didn't do my planned workout, but I did walk a couple of miles.  It was almost 60F outside and I couldn't pass it up.  This is one of those odd Colorado days I guess.  So, I took the dogs for a walk and we all got some exercise.  They're both passed out on the floor now and should sleep great tonight.

Oh and I got a new fitness gadget for Christmas!  It's a fitness watch and measures steps, calories and distance walked.  I'll post a review soon!

My Gym Has Triathlon Training?

I did get in a quick bike ride today.  Only 20 minutes and I didn't even check the details.  I just wanted to get it done.  Always good to start off a new year with what you want your year to look like.  I want to be focused on the fitness side of things this year.  I think I'm at a very good point on the food side, so I devote this year to perfecting the workouts.

Of course, I will be focusing on triathlon training for the next 6 months and so far I've been using BeginnerTriathlete.com for their awesome workout plans.  But I just found out I had some leftover gym  points that were about to expire, so in checking out what they had for me I discovered they have triathlon training.  I'm like WHAT?!?  So I signed up and received an email yesterday about not only the training, but also a local tri-group.  Very cool.  I'm looking forward to seeing where I can beef up my workouts a bit and meet some like-minded people.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!  2014, let's do this!!