If there's a will...

It’s the holiday season, and it’s the season of shopping, slacking off at work more so, Christmas music, and, most importantly, eating. Indulging in our favorite foods and other foods we probably don’t eat on a normal basis. Thanksgiving was a slight deal breaker on my diet. I’m sure it was for everyone but my mom and I had made our dinner quaint and a little healthier than your traditional thanksgiving foods. Then, 2 hours later, I had another round with Jonathan’s family and then another trip to a family friend’s just for dessert. All in a span of 5 hours, ya feel me?? There was a lot of dessert… but I managed only to eat a slice of homemade pumpkin pie and homemade earl grey ice cream (well… what was left of it anyway). As the days went on my appetite grew. Why? Because I eat like a damned bottomless pit before my monthly visitor arrives (if you are a man reading this, don’t make me revoke your man card…). I eat as if I didn’t eat for a day. I don’t have bad cravings for fast food or anything like that. I just get hungry and will put whatever tastes good into my belly, be it chocolate, tortilla chips, fruit, pasta, pizza, salad, sushi etc. And when my visitor arrives, it arrives with such force that makes me go into self-deprecating mode for a couple hours, then I’m cheery, then I want to strangle someone or beat someone’s face in. On top of that my gut is bloated, not exactly encouraging looking at myself in the mirror. Why not take meds for that stuff? Because I don’t need to, unless I am groaning and crying on the floor in fetal position since my cramps are literally destroying me from the inside. I am a tough mofo and I don’t want/need chemicals in my body.

Anyway, on top of having 5 days off of work, I spent only 1 working out. That is pitiful. I am angry with myself and greatly disappointed. I went shopping with friends on Saturday and Sunday, lots of walking around is involved with that. On Monday I had spent almost the entire day of giving massages. That can be quite the physical activity I tell ya, especially in a very warm room. I guess I can say I did some form of physical activity but doesn’t cut it the way lifting does. All in all I didn’t just sit on my ass the 5 days off. I was always doing something but I just can’t find the motivation to wake up my ass up early in the a.m. (I'm not THAT hardcore) and just do a quick 20 minute HIIT or AMRAP workout. It’s sad but, dammit, I love my sleep. Sleep is essential for recovering every aspect of your body and mind. With that I am not a morning person, I say that proudly. Anyone that has lived with me or knows me well enough: I don’t do early mornings. Unless I really, really have to I will wake up, then figure out if I can squeeze in a nap or just go back to bed upon return to my lovely bed.

I’m trying to find inspiration and motivation to get my fitness back on track. Sometimes it’s hard. For one thing I am doing this naturally, no creatine, no crazy pre-/post-workout crud. I cut off whey, cheese, and weaning off of other forms of dairy. The only supplements I’m taking is a daily multi-vit and fish oil. I can’t say if I notice a difference. I’ll let you know when I do. And that’s it. Everything else comes from my diet. My body is what it eats.  When I start the Paleo diet with Jonathan I’m sure results will start to show faster. Right now cutting out dairy is a good step. The next thing is complex carbs, some fruit sugars, and grains. I know that one is going to be so damn hard. I’ll admit, I fucking love noodles (all kinds) and brown rice. Can’t help it, it’s the Asian in me. If there is a will there is a way. Apparently, there’s a way to make noodles from veggies by julienne cutting them, hmmm. Again, if there is a will, there is way. 

With that, I am looking forward to having an updated picture soon. As soon as my monthly visitor disappears I’m snapping photos. And I also want to thank you to you, the reader. Whether you have been supporting me from the beginning or just checking in on my progress or just fucking bored out of your mind at work, thank you so much. If you are inspired or amused or just freaking excited for me, then thank you. It’s one thing to just spill my thoughts on here and it’s another when readers are actually paying attention. According to the counter on my last entry hit a record 52 views. It’s a tremendous number to me. So, thank you. Good luck on your goals, regardless of what they are, short or long term, don’t give up. You only fail when you stop trying.

Happy Holidays everyone!

- Marie

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

            So it’s been a while since I’ve written. Honestly I have no excuse other than piling all this shit on my silver platter that I call life. I’ve been attending massage classes, on top of having weekly trades (practicing on our classmates) and clinics (practicing on the public). From Tuesday til Friday I commute to Cupertino for work. I drive down Tuesday, leave my car in Mountain View to take Caltrain back to the city where my awesome dad picks me up from the station to bring me home, where my mom has dinner cooked and ready to eat (living at home does have its perks… as long as I give my mom a massage too). During the week I will take Muni to the Caltrain station. It’s almost a 2 hour fiasco to get to Cupertino really. Then I usually take the baby bullet train home, unless I find out I have games to cover late into the night I work late. All in all, I thrive… somehow. I’m getting paid at least (well… that’s a slightly different story). “Why the hell would you do that? Why not just move there or work in the city?” Okay, that’s a completely different conversation.  It could be worse.

One might ask, “how do you squeeze in workouts then? What about your eating habits?” Well, it helps to set aside time to do a workout, weather it’s a HIIT home workout or a push/pull weight lifting workout that I do at work (my office is literally sharing a wall with the weight room..). the HIIT workouts vary every time I do it. I think I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t like doing the same workout more than 2x a week unless I’m trying to improve time or reps. Those workouts are 30 minutes or less. The only time I can lift with a push/pull workout is Wednesday because my work will start later due to the kids being in class later. I can only get my hands on the iron on Wednesdays, which suck because there are other days where I have the need to lift but I have nothing in my house that fulfills my satisfaction of lifting iron. Regarding food/diet on an average day I will try my best to set food aside the night before so that I have more time in the morning to get my workout in, including a shower and doing girly things to get ready for the day (slap on my moisturizer, some lotion, put deodorant on, tie up my hair… etc. And once in a blue moon line my eyes, curl my lashes, and slab on mascara or just save that for the train ride). 

My boyfriend and I are planning on going Paleo after reading that famous book that is ever so popular now. I don’t remember what it’s called. Anyway, we’re going to attempt that lifestyle. At the same time I’m eating as clean as I can now; less to no seasonings, less salt, more fiber, more whole grain/wholesome foods, more veggies, and my usual meat/poultry.  I do get cravings for junk/sweet foods. When I do I pop a square of dark choco from Trader Joes and call it good, or eat some fruit. On top of my diet I supplement a little bit. I’ll have my protein shake as a post workout “meal” and take a daily fish oil supplement and a daily vitamin on a every other day basis because I know my body doesn’t need to have such a high influx of vitamins and minerals when it’s only going to be expelled (waste of money too). My diet needs more refining so hopefully this Paleo diet will do wonders and improve my muscular toning even more so.  

Speaking of toning I have seen some improvement. My shoulders look a little more defined, my obliques are peaking out more, my tire (lower gut) is getting smaller, and my core feels more solid. I know this is taking a long time… I’ve been lifting for about 3 years now? Maybe slightly less. And I love it. I love getting creative with some of the exercises to avoid that stupid plateau. I love showing some different moves to others then seeing their reaction as if I just spoke a different language. My posture has seen a difference. I definitely feel like I walk with more pride.

Well I’ve eaten pretty bad this whole weekend so I’m not going to be posting any pics today… I might update those later this month when my eating flushes out the stuff I ate hehe. Thank you for reading! 

Monthly Progress

I'm about 6 days past my claimed monthly progress entries. I've been distracted with reading, studying for the CSCS test, massage classes, and hanging out with the bf.  Honestly,  I did take the pictures on Tuesday, I just haven't set aside enough time to make a proper entry for it. So here they are!

Not sure as to why my legs look really short in the last picture... might have been the camera angle. Annnnd don't mind the shorts and sandal tan lines :D heh heh heh. Not a whole lot of progress this time around. I wasn't eating all too well since I had a week full of lunch and dinner dates which was bad for my diet... I felt like crap after looking at these photos. I felt discouraged, guilty, depressed, angry at myself, and disappointed all because I just didn't see the progress that i wanted to see, as well as all the crap that I ate the week before.

With the help of my bf's advice he told me to research some other workout plans. I'm not sure where to start but I need something that will help me just tone up. Maybe body-weight exercises are enough? Maybe a 20 lb sandbag isn't enough? I don't know... but it's getting discouraging to workout. But today will be a different story. After I'm done with my massage class later today, my bf and I will be going to the YMCA he goes to to sign me up for their 100 days for $100 deal. This is something that I've done 2x already. I'm excited to get back into the gym... although I just need to learn to ignore people's awful forms, grunts, and hot-shot douchey statures... Anyway, so my plan is to have double day workouts this week. Bodyweight exercises in the morning and weights in the afternoon. I hope to tone up more this coming month. My shoulders are broader and I don't need that cuz my bf and I can't sit at a table next to each other without elbowing or shouldering each other for space... I don't like it. I want to tone up and sculpt my body more this time around so having double days will help.... I hope.

Not only do I possibly need to change up my workout routine again I need to have a stricter diet. It's hard enough to have a limited social life when I moved back to SF... so to cut myself off even more is something I need to do for myself. It's not that I want to avoid people, I need to find other means of hanging out with friends. May it be just going to get coffee, going a walk/hike through a park, or even me teaching someone's form. I don't care what it is but I need my friends to understand that I have a goal that I want to achieve. I love food, don't get me wrong, but it's hard to say no. This is going to be a big challenge to eat ridiculously clean for the next month or so. I'll have cheat days for sure but that needs to be only one day per week.

Alright, I should probably get a start on my workout. Bought new workout shoes so I'm going to break them in with a timed workout in my room. Not sure what exercises to do today but I'll refer back to my notebook. I write down all of my workouts in there including the reps, type and time it takes me to complete.

Thanks for reading and thank you for being patient. I know this blogging thing can be very inconsistent.


- Marie

Fiery Core

I may have annihilated my core in with this workout today...

HIIT, 50on/10off 

Side plank (on hand) leg lift L: 27, 27, 18, 27

" " " " R: 23, 23, 28, 18

plank up downs: 16, 15, 13, 12

side v-ups L: 29, 28, 25, 23

side v-ups R: 30, 30, 25, 26

Total reps: 452. 

Holy crap, that's a lot of reps. But it was worth every one! This workout got me sweating a river and actually having to stretch my abs out for the following 5 min post-workout. Intense shit I tell ya. 

Post workout meal: Protein shake and one banana. 

Since I worked out 5 days this week I wanted to give myself the weekend to recover and spend some quality time with my boyfriend :) Oh, and we're watching the Avengers tonight! woohoo! And helloooo weekend! 

Happy lifting all! Have a fantastic weekend! 

- Marie

Obstacles

So we all have our rough days. We also have days where our motivation levels have plummeted southwards. How do you get through those days? That's a pretty good question.
Today was definitely one of those days for me. I guess it didn't help that I lacked a couple hours of sleep today then attempted a 20 min nap that turned into an hour and a half nap. That sabotaged my day. I felt sluggish, groggy, crappy, and unmotivated. I ate like crap too might I add. I looked outside my window to find really lovely weather but the wind was so harsh that it didn't even look worthwhile to go outside to enjoy some fresh air. Reluctantly I had to run a couple errands that required walking a couple blocks to Trader Joe's and a postal service place. Both nearby but I really hate walking in the wind. I wanted to stay cooped up in my room and do... nothing. But deep down I knew not moving around while feeling mopey  is really bad so I'm thankful I went on those walks despite that fresh air whipping against my face and ears.

I ended up doing a 12 min HIIT workout around 6p. I felt better-ish but still feeling sluggish. But at this time of night I realize that the biggest obstacle with my goals is my will power and, well, myself overall.  A skinny model from a H&M advertisement at the Muni bus shelter doesn't make me feel ugly or fat.  It's when I look at myself in the mirror to remind myself I have a long journey ahead of me that pulls at my motivation.  I need to have stricter discipline when it comes to eating. Living at home with my parents doesn't exactly help either. Although my mom cooks very healthy food it's the snacks that are bought in between. My dad doesn't exactly have a healthy palate either. He likes his burgers, ice cream, sweets, and other not-so-healthy foods. I'm trying to work on improving my will power even more. Anyway, enough mopey crap.

Here's today's HIIT WOTD:
50 seconds active/ 10 seconds rest
20lb sandbag squat/overhead clean- 19, 20, 20
Alternating mountain climbers- 36, 42, 37
Leg lifts- 13, 21, 20
Plank w/ alternating toe touch- 22, 30, 30

At the end of the workout I wanted to do a little more so I tacked on 50 squat jacks to make it more satisfying. :) Ya know, playing the right workout music also plays a big role in getting into your workout and your day. I kind of forgot about that today. Gotta make sure I upload the right songs onto my iPod :)

Alright, it's getting late, I need a proper beauty sleep.

Happy lifting! And don't forget to persevere!

- Marie

Stairs & Trying Something New

4 laps of stairs today... I think I am outta shape but I'm glad I was able to do 4 as my first time in a while. My legs are definitely feeling the burn so I made sure I stretched out thoroughly. Let's see, here's the workout breakdown:
Lap 1: descend, ascend without skipping steps, at the top 15 spider planks each leg.
Lap 2: descend, ascend with side-lunge steps (can skip steps if you have longer legs), at the top 12 push-offs (start on your stomach, hands off ground, then push off ground into plank/push-up position, hold for 3 seconds, return to starting position, make sure you don't drop yourself onto the ground)
Lap 3: descend, ascend running steps (skip steps), at the top elevated planks (legs up)
Lap 4: descend, ascend running steps, at the top cool down, stretch.

I wanted to do a ice bath but I definitely don't have enough ice... grrr. Anyway, post-workout "meal" was 8oz milk + last measly scoop of whey in my jar... The whey was from Costco by Muscle Milk I believe. But at this point I got tired of using their stuff so I looked into Optimum Nutrition that my bf and many others invest in. The quality is supposedly better so I bought the Vanilla Creme flavor to try it out. And it came via UPS today! Woop! Can't wait to try it out tomorrow. Wait... tomorrow. Hmmm, what should my workout be?

Thinking of another HIIT. Arms and... hmm... legs I did today. Arms and core it shall be. I will post the workout, breakdown, and results after completion.

On another note: my shipment came with a sample to try what seems like a workout booster thingamabob. I honestly do not trust what is in it or what it does. If it says to not take it if someone is under 18 how would it be any different from someone that's 20 y/o? It's not FDA approved or regulated and I really don't want something synthetic in my system.  While I'm trying to lose inches and tone I want to do it as natural as I can make it. Meaning eating clean and maintaining daily exercise. I don't care how long it takes, I want to treat my body the way it should be. I take a daily multi-vitamin supplement, and may start implementing fish-oil (thanks to the reinforcement from the bf), and the whey protein. Although now I want to start drinking more green tea. It has such overall great benefits so I want to add that to my diet.
I know that some of you may want to get thinner, toner, bigger, faster, better overnight or in one week. In reality it's NOT going to happen that way. Maintenance and consistency is the slow and steady way to achieve your goals. I know I learned that the hard way but if you have the right support system and the right approach you may not notice any differences until someone points it out or you take a picture a month later. Keep going and stay persistent.

Persevere!

- Marie

WOTD And the Beginning Of Progress

Workout of the day!
HIIT 3 rounds, 50s active/ 10s rest
Burpee w/ toe touch- 8, 8, 8
Good mornings w/ 20lb sandbag- 16, 18, 19
Plank up-downs- 13, 12, 14
Prone back extensions w/ alternating arms - 23, 28, 28

Total Reps: 205
I created this workout today, though it may not seem like a lot, sweat was dripping down my face onto the carpet. Yea, kinda gross but it's a sign that I'm doing work and I love feeling that. I decided not to play basketball since I'm not exactly feeling it, I would rather cook for my parents since i haven't done so in a while.

As I progress into making working for a daily routine I want to mix it up to stimulate and "confuse" my body as to why I torture it in so many different ways.  Once muscle memory kicks in, I'm done for. Plateau galore! Tomorrow I'd like to run the Lyon street stairs about 4 laps, ideally. I may do an exercise in between laps/breaks to keep up the intensity purposes. I'll let you know how that goes. If you have never been to these stairs you should check it out,  Lyon street between Vallejo and Broadway. There's also a second set of stairs from Vallejo northwards that's a half block length and those stairs are steep...  The stairs also comes with a pretty nifty view of the bay except the eucalyptus trees from the Presidio is blocking out half the view....

Here are my progress shots for today 5/15/2012. I hope to update on a monthly basis to get a good look at my progress since summer is coming up an all ;) Gotta rock a bikini nicely ya know??

Back on Track

It has been months since I've written. Thanks to a plethora of non stop events I find myself to make the time to update finally. Since I've written I have earned a Master's Degree in Kinesiology, I will be graduating in approximately 2 weeks, and I will have fulfilled my contract with SJSU as the ATC at Monta Vista. So right now my name looks like this:

Marie Gishifu, MA, ATC.

My next educational goals are to attain a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist credential (CSCS), and go back to massage school to earn my CMT credential. So I want my name to look like this:

Marie Gishifu, MA, ATC, CSCS, CMT

With these credentials I want to be able to jump start an athletic training program with a performing arts school to provide the necessary care to dancers and performers alike to treat their injuries, strains, and sprains. In the coming months I hope to update my blog way more often. I find that I have no excuse to not update this on a daily basis really.

Today's workout:
600 rep workout
Breakdown:
100 skip jump rope
100 squats w/ 30lb bar
100 skip jump rope
100 alternating lunges (each leg) w/ 20lb bar
100 skip jump rope
25 side v-ups left
25 side v-ups right
25 sit-up into a v with arms and legs
25 alternating vertical leg lifts

Time yourself with that one. Challenge yourself to finish it faster and faster :)

Tomorrow's workout plan is to squeeze in a 12 min HIIT workout in the morning then playing basketball in the evening at work. I'll be tired but I love being on the court, except the out of shape aspect. Last week I finally started getting into the workout groove. The 3-4 weeks before that  I was scrambling to finish my research project which lead to lack of sleep and very limited time for squeezing in workouts into my schedule. So I'm determined to get back on track, lose some inches, and get back on a healthier lifestyle. That's all for now, I think I'm going to actually, finally, post up a picture of how I look currently, then update monthly for progress sakes. I think that will give me more motivation to keep going. :)

Hope you are all having a great start to the week! Take care :0)

Happy lifting!

- Marie