Challenge #7 - Try for 5 more pounds/reps

Goal #7 - Try for 5 more pounds/reps at the gym

When I used to go to the gym I would always try for 20/25 reps of ANYTHING.  And then I learned that the number of reps isn't as important as using the right weight and doing the exercise correctly.  Then I became more aware of what I was doing, how my body felt doing it and if I was reaching the 20 reps then I should probably up my weights a bit and do less reps.

This has worked well for my upper body routines but since I rarely work my legs, I haven't applied this theory to my lower body routines.  Therefore, I took challenge #7 and applied it to my lower body routine, now that I am beginning to get back on board with working out my legs.

I did four different exercises, 3 on machines, and upped the weight on all of them and did as many reps as I could - mostly topping out at 15 reps.  Since I was using machines, I couldn't necessarily go for only 5 pounds more than usual since the weight increases at about 15 pounds per weight. And since I was working my legs, I know that I could go more than 5 pounds more than usual.

1. Leg Press - 100lbs
[I usually do this at 60/80lbs]

2. I'm not sure what to call these, but I'll explain the exercise!

Stand with legs hip-width apart.  With a weight in one hand, bend forward at the waist while lifting the same leg backwards so that you touch the ground with the weight.  For example, put the weight in your right hand, bend forward to touch the weight to the ground and as you bend forward lift your right leg backwards so that you're balancing on your left foot.

With this one I usually hold about 5-7.5 lbs - this time I held a 12.5lb weight.

3. Leg extension - 55lbs

[I usually do 40lbs]

I don't have a picture of this one because the machine was stolen from me mid-workout and I had to hurry to get it back and finish my workout as the gym got busier.. but here is a sample picture :)

haha, kind of a funny picture.  But anyway! These are pretty killer for me, especially with the added weight.  I did 12 reps of these and made sure my form was correct and I did these slowly and kept control of my legs.

4. Leg Curl - 55lbs

[I usually do 40lbs]

With these, I did 15 reps and, again, made sure I did these correctly.  Generally with these and the leg extensions I just try to do them fast and jump off the machine or I lift my butt up from the seat to gain momentum and taking the weight off my legs - which is pointless! Therefore, I made sure to keep correct form and only do what I could without losing the form and hurting myself.

I went through these exercises 3 times and had a tall glass of a protein shake to follow :)

Challenge #6 - Take a HIKE!

Goal #6 - go on a hike!

This was a bite challenging because we had quite a few bumps in the road before we actually made it on our hike.  I have a book of hikes, but I have already gone on the local ones and the others are about 45 minutes to over an hour away.  Therefore, David and I thought we'd go to Irvine Great Lake and hike around there... we drove down just to find out that the hiking trails aren't built yet.

BUMMER!

Then we decided to conquer the 1,000 steps in Laguna Beach.. and on our way there traffic was so terribly bad that David and I are now in an awful mood and this isn't fun anymore.  I turned my little car around and headed home.  We laid on my bed for about 5 minutes and then said ok lets go! and we set off to Santiago Canyon.

I have done this hike in the past, but that didn't stop the fun because there are so many different routes that there was no way that we went on the same exact trails as I had previously done.  We had so much fun! It took us about an hour or so to hike around the entire loop that we chose to follow.  It was definitely cardio for the day and we got a nice little tan while we were at it!

Challenge #5 - Meatless for a day!

Goal #5 - go meatless for the day

Well.  I thought this one would be easy, even though I was going to the fair.  I was convinced that staying away from meat would be no big.  But then my darling Mackenzie got herself a foot and a half long corn dog and with the hilarious-ness of it all, I had a bite. And then another. And then realized what I just did and was so annoyed with myself! But you know what, I am doing a "challenge" and thats exactly what I was faced with.  I didn't want to get myself down and ruin the day, so I decided that I would "Charge it to the game," as David and I would say, and let it go and pick up on this challenge the next day.

and I did! Sunday was a great day full of YUMMY meals that didn't involve meat AT ALL! I made David and I eggs and toast for breakfast, we had an early dinner at Olive Garden where I had minestrone soup and Linguine alla Marinara, and we had homemade cheese pizza for dinner! Challenge accepted!

[No pictures for this goal as I was very focused on getting through the hike that I missed a photo session with my breakfast food, I was too hungry at lunch to remember to pose for a shot with my Linguine and David served me my pizza just as I was waking up from a nap that I wasn't even thinking straight to even know what I was eating haha]

Challenge #4 - Try a new tea

Goal #4 - replace soda with a new tea

This may be hard to believe, but I have never tried Green Tea before Friday.  And Friday may have been the worst day for this challenge.  I fell asleep at 8pm the night before, but still woke up with a SLAMMING headache.  I'm not sure why but it cursed me and took me through the entire day.  On top of being insanely busy at work and not being able to eat a full meal until dinner time.  By the time David and I sat down at Thai Cuisine for dinner, all I wanted was a soda because I've always known a tall class of Coke-a-Cola to take away my head pounding.  But I really wanted to complete my challenge and go the healthy route.. and then David orders himself a gorgeous looking class of soda! Needless to say, I almost gave up, but stuck it out and had my green tea.

IT WAS DELICIOUS! It tasted like flowers and smelled amazing!!!

Here is a picture of my adorable little setting of green tea and my teapot!  Next, I want to try the green tea from Starbucks that has been raved about! Courtney has told me that they have a green tea-lemonade that is just like an Arnold Palmer, but green tea instead!  Pumped to continue this challenge!

Weekend Challenges Update

This weekend was definitely a challenge to say the least! Being around other people, having BBQs, going to the fair, drinking and all the pizazz is just a lot to take in when you're trying to be healthier and not everyone is on the same boat!

Not that all my friends are fat cows that don't want to be healthy, but when you have a specific goal in mind and you're the only one on board, it is VERY difficult to stick to your guns.

My challenges for the weekend were:

#5 - Replace soda with a new tea

#6 - Go meatless for the day

#7 - Go on a hike!

Keep reading my posts to see how I did!!!

Challenge #3 - Create NEW Playlist

Challenge #3:

Create a new playlist!

Unfortunately, I failed this challenge :(

As soon as I got home and had dinner my eyelids got heavy and I was fast asleep by 8PM!! I hadn't been feeling the best and clearly my body was trying to tell me something and had me at rest incredibly early!!!

Today I will be doubling up on my challenges and pulling a kick ass new playlist that I will share next week with my weekend update AND I will be trying a new tea instead of my kicks of soda for the day.

I think that I'm going to try out Green Tea.. FINALLY! I have been told to get on this tea and I just haven't, but today this is going to be my challenge :)

To be truthful, I don't drink a TON of soda, but if David has it or it's just available I will have some.  BUT I do drink hot chocolate, not enough water, and probably too many sugary drinks.  Hopefully this will kick me into place to have a healthier drink to replace those that aren't good for me and when I'm not drinking that I'll be guzzling water!

Although this goal seems so easy, it's hard for me! I can have a full water bottle sitting in front of me all day long and I just don't drink it, not on purpose, but because I don't think about it and then I end up dehydrated and feeling weak and "ugh" by the end of the day.  I'm hoping this will change it around for me!

Oh WOW!!

Guess what I just realized...

The comment section.. on my own blog.

YEP! That's right ladies and gentleman! I was looking at my main page with all the stats and goodies about my blog and saw that I had comments on some of my pages that I never realized were there!!

Therefore, if you've left a comment on one of my pages and I never responded I'M SORRY!!!!!

:)

Just another moment for Alex DeHart!

10 Day Challenge

Lately I have been talking to a good friend from high school, Courtney Bently, about fitness and eating healthy.  Let me just tell you, this girl is AMAZING!! She has given me workouts, food suggestions, recipes and of course tons, and tons, of motivation!

She has her own blog that you can access, here, to read all about her, what motivated her to become fit and how she has changed peoples lives!

Recently, she posted on Facebook about a 10 day challenge.  Immediately I wanted to try it!

What you do is you pick a challenge a day, for the next 10 days and stick to it!! By the end of the 10 days are you going to lose 50 pounds or have a flat tummy? No. BUT you will gain motivation and realize that bad habits are easy to overcome!

I wanted to share my calendar to show some examples of challenges:

Yesterday, my challenge was to try a new gym and a new workout routine.  On my way home from work I realized there is a 24 hour fitness that is literally right off the freeway and so easy to get to and is en route to my house.  I don't know why I didn't pick this up before, but HELLO ALEX!!! Before I was going to a gym that I was comfortable with but it is past my house, out of the way and doesn't have the best equipment.  But because I'm generally hesitant to try new things, I always stayed there.

Well this 10 day challenge gave me an opportunity to explore and when I did I was so pleased and felt much better!  The gym was much more up-to-date, has a pool and a massive weight section!! 

On top of trying a new facility, I also took up the challenge to try a new workout routine.  I HATE working my legs, hate it hate it hate it! I have terrible knees and I'm just always afraid that I'll feel more pain after the workout then necessary so I've always strayed away.  But, I did it! And it felt GOOD!! I went though 4 moves working out my hamstrings, calves, quads AND gluts! It was a pretty awesome feeling.

Today my challenge is to create a new workout playlist! I've been putting this off for some time and dealing with what I already have, but David and I have collected quite a few AMAZING CDs and I am going to pull them together and make a kick-ass playlist including Sublime, Linkin Park and Travis Barker! Great new CDs from these guys that are upbeat and get you in that workout mood :))

If you're interested in Courtney's 10 Day Challenge check out her post and get started!!!

26. Try 10 new wines

This goal is not complete yet, but it is definitely underway!

Out of the 10 wines I set out for myself to try, I am pleased to say that I have currently tasted 7 new wines (plus "Bitch" from my last post)!!!!

Shannon and I set this goal together and meant to just hit up Total Wine, buy 5 bottles of wine neither of us have tatsed and have ourselves a little wine night.  With busy schedules and such we have yet to have this night.  But in the mean time I have been trying new wines quite often and figured I shoudl add them to my list :)

(Shan, we should still have our wine night!)

Here we go...
[In no particular order]

1. Flip Flop - Merlot

Actually tried this one last night at Shannon and Alex's house with spaghetti dinner.  It was YUMMY!!! Shannon literally poured us only as much wine as shown in the picture and after I was finished I was feeling it!! We checked the acohol % and it was 13%!  The boys beer was less than 1/3 of that! Strong, but very tasty!

2. Frontera, Chile - Cab/Merlot

 David and I received this at our engagement party from Milo and Kyle.  It has a very strong taste and was a little much for Lauren and I to take in Vegas.  We each probably had one glass and called it quits.  It just wasn't a good taste for our palate.

3. 1 <3 CA- Pinot

This one was very interesting.  Another one that Lauren and I tried in Vegas.  I think it would have been better with a sweet food, maybe some strawberries or other fruit.  We drank it plain with nothing and the taste was a little harsh at the moment.  I did like it, could have drank the whole bottle if that was the only one, but I'd rather pair it with some light, sweet food.

4. Turning Leaf - Riesling

My baby sister, Danielle, and her boyfriend Tom introduced Erin, David and I to this one.  We really enjoyed it!! We drank it alone and with dinner and thought it was very tasty!  It has a light, sweet taste that makes it easy to down! I would definitely recommend this!

5. Goats Trail - Zinfandel

Apparently I'm the only crazy one.  This is another that was brought along to us from Danielle & Tom.  I'm not sure if they had tried it before or if it was a random purchase, but no one seemed to have a taste for it.  Therefore, when I ended up with the last glass of Turning Leaf and David didn't want Goats Trail I had to switch him! Which was fine since I enjoyed both.  This one has a heavier, stronger taste and goes great with meat!

6. Cupcake

Just as it sounds! A very dessert flavored wine, almost a little tart!! Marisol, David's sister, had this at our engagement party and some liked it and some thought it was too much.  I enjoyed it for the party.  I probably wouldn't pour this at home with dinner or while I was snacking away but it was a fun wine to have at the party where we weren't there to get sloshed.

7. Sweet - Moscato

Our dear friend Rosie gave this to David and I at our engagement party.  No one had popped it open, as we had many, many bottles of many, many different alcohols, but eventually we got to it in Vegas and this one was by far Lauren and my favorite! David really liked it too.  Again, it's just as the name states.  It was very sweet, light and really easy to drink!!

Tonight, I will be trying another one I'll be able to add to the list.  It is a Barefoot - Sweet Red (I think).  I cannot remember what the actual name of the wine is but it's for David and my anniversary and he really likes sweet and fruity, so I can imagine that's the name.

I'll keep you posted!