That awkward moment when I haven't posted here in 26 days.

I have a lot of updates and things to talk about!

1st Off: I am off Running Rest! Did I mention that I injured my leg on my blog? I think so. But basically, I was an idiot. I ran 10km+ twice on the treadmill, then that Saturday (IN DEAD HEAT) I ran another 8ishkm. I wrecked my right shin + calve for a week, then tried running again, and failed. So I went to the doctor, and she told me to stay off of it for 3-4 weeks. Which I did.

I have run twice on the treadmill now. I have to start off slow... so I am. I ran 2.5miles my first time. Then I ran 3 miles and walked a bit and ran .5 miles. Which is sad compared to the fact I worked my way up to 7 miles. I know I can run 7 miles, I am just afraid I will wreck my leg.

Also....

I SIGNED UP FOR A HALF MARATHON. Yes, that is 13.1 miles. I am running it September 1st in Ottawa! Its a night time half-marathon. So I start running at 7pm. I am hoping to have a run time of about 1:48:00.0.

It'll be a long day that day.

Anyways, now I have a bit more of a sports psychology post. Not quite, but borderline.

I watch someone on youtube called ShayCarl. He recently lost 100pounds and he makes videos about his weight loss and health tips, etc. One of his videos sparked a thought in my head.

Many people try to be inspirational to a person, to tell them to get in shape... by telling them to get into shape. Example: Let's say your Dad is overweight, and you want him to be healthier, so you tell him to exercise and eat less chips. Do you think he is going to? Probably not.

For a person to be inspired by someone, they need to see examples, and not just witness, but experience and interact with them. Not even an example of someone who went through something like weight loss, but just anyone successful in being healthy.

I have noticed this more and more that I think about it.

Ever since I joined the gym, I have noticed at least 3 of my friends changing either what they eat, or their exercise patterns.

Before I joined the gym, I would work out, ride my bike, I started running back in november, but I mostly just did Pilates and workout videos at home. Once I joined the gym, I became even more inspired to be healthier and work out more, simply from seeing everyone else.

Its not like I see a girl's body and think "I want to be like her" its more like I see someone or hear someone talking about being healthy and I think "I am going to do that".

And my mom, oh goodness. She is getting a lot healthier. Its actually amazing. She's getting her blood pressure and diabetes under control. She hasn't lost that much WEIGHT but her body fat % has gone down, which is what it should be doing.

Not just that, but now that my mom and I are both healthier, if you look in our fridge/cupboard, it is 85% healthy. In our fridge we have milk, juice, protein drink, watermelon, blueberries, greek yogurt,... its actually such a change. Thats not all, thats just an example.

The most unhealthy thing in our house right now (Besides a jar of sugar or a bag of chocolate chip cookies, from baking) is probably the popsicles in our freezer.

I am actually so amazed by seeing this chain reaction.

Anyways, that is all.

Oh, P.S. I was taking photos of myself the other day. I didn't realize I had back muscle until then. I was just taking photos and wanted to see what my dress looked like from the back and I was like WHOA WTF. I was happy.

Quote: Between every before and after photo is a lot of "I can't do it"s and "It is too hard"s, but also included are a lot of pep talks and life-changing realizations.

I'm afraid I am/ I will over-do it. SUMMER GOALS (Again?!)

So right now I am on running rest. The doc told me 2-3 weeks, but I am waiting until exams or over.. or basically once exams start. I might like do a quick run to and from my exams (lol at 5 minute runs) but just because it boosts my energy level for a bit.

But from missing out on running, I do need to start slow. I mean, 5 minutes is really short, but hey!

I am so afraid that I am going to over do it this summer working out. But I am just so pumped!

I am going to get really intense into it. Then back in September, I will hopefully maintain it.

I am planning on ordering my shit that I have been wanting from Bodybuilding.com on like June 8th, after my next paycheque, but also by then I will have my credit card. Yes, a credit card, joint with my mom.

So that way I will have my shit by the end of the month.

But I want to work out a lot, I am going to look into exactly what is healthy and how much is too much.

But I guess I will just keep my eyes out for the warning signs of too much.

I just have so many goals! Endurance and strength.

-> I want to be able to do at least 5 regular pushups by the end of the summer
-> I want to reach 20lb bicep curls (I'm at 15, and REALLY CLOSE basically at 17.5 right now) and 25 (I am at 17.5lbs)  pound on triceps
-> I want to reach 300 pounds for my .. what the fuck is it called, the leg pushy thinger. I am smart. Right now I am at 255 lbs.
-> I want to reach 100 pounds for individual legs in the leg curl ones (I am at I think 75/60 depending on the day)
-> I want to run 13.1 miles. (A half marathon)
-> I want to ride my bike to kingston
-> I want to go to bike to the beach and swim at least 5 times this summer

I am not 100% how often I am going to the gym. But I am going to do more focus muscle groups. Like go to the gym for a while just focusing on one muscle group. Usually I go and spend 20-30 minutes on each arms, abs and legs. I might go and spend like an hour an a half on my abs.

I am going to start recording down my results and my progress in some form of journal.

My eating habits are going to change more again too. Like, the days I go to the beach, I am going to be sooo tired and losing so much energy by biking there and back and swimming while I am there. Plus the sun makes me tired sometimes. So I am going to be loading in the carbs and protein and calories. Not to mention energy shots.

I was thinking I might do like 3 days on 1 day off, all summer, for workouts. But I might just do something like I don't go every Tuesday and Saturday, etc. I haven't decided yet.

I won't push myself if I am tired though. If I wake up and feel like dying, I am just going be like... okay, break time.

Plus I am also doing online school, and I have my two jobs. Also, I do have a life besides gym, school and jobs. I am also planning on reading. But yeah, I need to chill with friends more, I never chill that much with friends in the summer.

But I plan on reading a book a week. (Yikes!) But I can do it. I will just take the book, divide the number of pages by 7, and read that many pages a day. During breakfast, before bed... at the Cafe I have a tonne of time too. so I can read them.

Gym Probs: I go to the gym and weigh myself before I workout: 127 pounds. After my workout: 129 pounds. Drinking a lot of water probs.

Afterthought- I wonder how much I will weigh by the end of the summer. I have already gained 10 pounds of muscle. But I wonder if I will hit 130 before the end of the summer. It is highly possible.

Updates!

Hey!

I haven't blogged on here in about 16 days! I have a few updates to talk about.

Last week I had a really weak week (haha that made me laugh) at the gym. I had 1 really good day, one average day, I missed one day because of homework and I had my worst gym day ever. I gained 2 pounds last week, I actually think its likely to be fat. Oh well. It doesn't bother me too much.

But this week has been good. Sunday was suckish because my shin splint was acting up so I ended up walking on the treadmill instead of running. Monday I ran 7 miles in under an hour, which is a new record! And Today (Wednesday) I did the same thing, except ran it 10 seconds faster. 10 Seconds. Wow. Thats actually funny.

I think I have announced this before, but NOW its official, I am now using 15 pound freeweights from bicep curls! I started off at 8 pounds! Thats so crazy! I am so happy! :)

Also last month I started working out my shoulders more. I went from 5 pounds to 12.5 pounds in free weights in about a month. Which is actually awesome.

Besides updates, I am going to blog about "imbalances".

I am not talking about the imbalance that is like, for example, having more bicep then tricep, resulting in injury.

I am talking more symmetrical. Like having your right quad stronger then your left quad.

I have noticed a lot of muscle imbalances where one side of my body is slightly stronger then my other.

Its weird because my right side (for the most part) is stronger then my left. And I am left handed. I just think thats odd.

But my left bicep, is stronger than my right. Maybe my shoulder and my arm in general. But my back, chest, and leg is stronger on my right side.

If you watch me run you can see that my right leg has more visible muscle and is slightly slimmer. I can't figure out how I am running wrong for my leg to be like this. I think it may be happening unconscious when I zone out while running, or something.

But it is annoying. But all I do to correct it is that sometimes when I feel that my one side of my body is getting stronger, I don't start using a heavier weight, I wait for the other side to catch up. Which I am not sure if thats what you are supposed to do, it makes sense though.

Well that is all for now.

Oh, I am drinking a lot more water now :)


Workout tip: When you go to work out a muscle group, workout the one you feel like FIRST, it always gets you more pumped. So if you are in the mood to do arms after cardio, do arms first. You don't need to follow the pattern down to up (legs then butt then abs then arms, etc), it doesn't actually do anything for you. Or mix it up and do one abs move, then a leg move then arms, then back to abs, etc.

P.S. I am SLOWLY getting abs. Really slowly. :) If I run and flex after you can see :)

Fucking Water.

Hydration Nation is Sarah's Station. This is lame already. I NEED TO DRINK MORE WATER. I know this for a freaking scientific fact. God fucking dammit. I am never hydrated enough. But I am never dehydrated. I am going to start drinking water at school now. And everywhere. Literally everywhere. I need it especially since I am running so much now. Ugh. Do you know what is annoying? Carrying water while running. Do you know what is annoying? Being thirsty as fuck and having no water while running. Its a lose-lose situation. RUNNING UPDATE! I have now officially ran 10.3km. (On the treadmill) the most I have ran on land is 9.2km. I am going to do 10km on land on Saturday... if theres good weather. I did 8.3km on sunday on land and the 10.3km monday. Tomorrow I am going to the gym again. I am going to aim for 10km again. I think thats good, just always aiming for 10km. Now my next major goal is running for over an hour. Because all of these goals I have completed in under an hour. So I guess that'd be about 15kmish. I need to start training for speed too. Its just so awkward running really fast. I would like to train for speed at night. Just like sprinting up and down Haig or Farley or something. So yeah, if you see some random chick sprinting down haig... ahahhah. Right. Okay. I am actually soo hyped. So, I said I wanted to run a marathon by the time I was 21.. but I think I can do it before the end of highschool! I might run next year's Toronto Marathon. This year's is this Sunday! Obviously since a marathon is 26.2 miles and the most I have ran is 6.4 miles....I'm not ready. But by the end of the summer I am hoping to be able to run at least a half-marathon.. maybe not an actual marathon, but just on my own, being able to run 13.1 miles. ' I just ate some ice cream and I feel so sick. This is what happens when you get on a health kick then get a craving for icecream and then eat it. Just ew. This is the weirdest thing ever. It is just grossing me out. I was honestly so tempted to puke it up, just because it makes me feel like puking, not even because I am afraid of gaining weight. But I am just drinking a lot of water (YAY) instead. Wash that motha'fuckin' shit down. Obviously this is a professional blog. Blah blah, blah, blah. Toodaloo. Go run a mile. The next time you have time. I dare you.

OH MY MARATHON.

I can't stop thinking about running.

I just want to run a Marathon soooo bad.

Running is coming along wayy too easy. Not really. But I always hear people say, you just gotta take it slow and steady and be patient. Run a little further each time, etc. I am doing that, but it is definitely a lot faster than I expected.

I have new Running Goals now. I already completed the Running 8k one.

And that was supposed to be by the end of the summer. So, by the end of the Summer I want to run 13.1 miles without stopping in less then 2 hours.

Thats a half-marathon, in half of the time it takes the average man to complete a marathon.

OH MY GOD. THERE IS A HALF MARATHON/10KM or 5KM IN QUINTE WEST ON THE 29th of THIS GODDAM MONTH.

I sooo want to sign up for the 10 km. I haven't run 10km yet. Fuck. Thats... SOOOOO soon. I'll have to talk it out with my mom. But I think I will try to run 10km tomorrow. If I can do it, then great. If not, I don't think I really want to sign up for a 5km run...

I HAVE UNTIL THURSDAY TO FUCKING REGISTER! YES! I might do it! its $40 to do it. Its towards some charity. Ahhh I'm so excited.

Fuuuck. YES.


Hmm. Now what is my brain up to.

Not sure.

But I also made another goal. I want to go swimming 10 times this summer. Like, not just sitting around in a lake or a pool. Legit swimming. I want to go.. maybe once every 2 weeks? Ooh. That would mean 5 times. Thats not good enough. I'm going to aim for 10 times.

I'm so random. Lol.

ALSO. I am making a goal to ride my bike to.. Kingston? Maybe. I'm not sure if my mom will let me.

But fuuuck I want to.

I am just so hyper about all of this. I am obsessed. If I run 10k twice before Thursday, I am going to run that 10k. I have timeish. I will do it tomorrow and... Monday? Oh so excited!

Goood.

Okay.

Well. Get trainin', yo.

Oh My CINNAMON.

I do the Cinnamon challenge. Not the whole Cinnamon challenge. But like. 1/3 of the cinnamon challenge some days. With water. Obviously.

But why? It makes me feel AMAZING. Cinnamon does dry your mouth out, but if you have like .5 tsp of Cinnamon in the morning or before you go to bed with a few sips of water, its completely fine.

Why do I do this? I am not 100% sure. I know it is an antioxidant, and it helps with lots of other bodily functions. It makes me feel more alert sometimes too. I just like it. It pumps me for the day.

Anyways. STRENTH UPDATE.

Wow, I can definately spell strength correctly. And Definitely. God.

Today I was so proud of myself at the gym. I was doing bicep curls with 15 pound freeweights instead of 12.5. Keep in mind that when I joined the gym I started off at 8lbs. My triceps I do 17.5 weights. My shoulders are a mix of 10lb and 12.5 lbs. My triceps have become the strongest out of parts of my arms. I started off with 10lbs with those. But they are just stronger then the other parts of my arms.

My legs. As I have mentioned... somewhere before I was doing 215lbs on this one machine that you push out on... almost like a sitting squat. Its hard to explain. But now I am doing 235lbs. YAY! :)

My lower back went from about 75lbs to 125lbs. I guess thats my biggest improvement, but it doesn't really effect me too much.

My hip abductors are always the same though! I started at 80lbs. But now I do either 95lbs or 100lbs depending on the day, for like the past month. I am sososo confused. Whatever.

Anyways. I FINALLY RAN 5 MILES! Guess what that fucking means? I FUCKING RAN 8KM. GUESS WHAT THE FUCK THAT MEANS?!?!? I COMPLETED MY FUCKING GOAL OF RUNNING 8KM BEFORE THE SUMMER WAS OUT. But I still haven't ran that distance... outside. But ya wanna know why 8KM? I don't think I've mentioned it before. Its about an 8.3km walk from my house to goodlife. So thats why.

Fuck yea. I can now run 5k marathons. Almost 10k. I probably could.

But what else rocked today? Some random dude said to me "You're a machine! I could never do that!" referring to me (at that moment) I had ran about 3.4miles in about 30 minutes. And he said "You have my kudos". Wow. That actually made my daayyyy.

Also. I got a new Goodlife jacket. I have had my eyes on it for about a month, but it was $150. LIKE WTFFFF? Then it was like 33% off. Then they had 2 left. Two XS left. I tried it on. It fit. But guess what? It was only $25. FUCK FUCK YEAH! I got it. Obviously. Its really great for jogging in. Too bad its getting warm out. But whatever, I hope my ass doesn't grow any larger, thats the only part where its somewhat tight.

So.... yeah. That is all.

Protein+ Creatine + Caffeine

I am here to talk about Vitamins, supplements and such.

First of all: I don't take vitamins. I do own some Calcium/Vitamin D pills and some zinc pills. I have taken a couple, but I am not really into taking pills and stuff like that. I just figure, if you need that stuff, get it from food. Good whole food.

Plus I know that if you have too many vitamins, your body can only tolerate high concentrations of maybe 2 or 3 vitamins at a time, and everything else you just pee out, so its a waste.

So I don't take Vitamins.

I do take protein. I like protein shakes. I also really like this Gatorade stuff. Heres why I take protein:
It helps with muscle.

I have heard from various people and sources that it can make you gain weight, but that is more like if you are eating protein with a high-calorie regimen? Is that the word I am looking for? But anyways, if you are a girl and want protein, take it with as little calories as you can. I know that the average scoop of protein of about 15-25gs is about 120-180 calories. Which is perfectly fine.

Okay, but when do you take it? Most people take protein AFTER a workout. Within 30 minutes. But it is also suggested to take some before you workout. When I first started I always took it before. Then I started doing just after. But now I will do something like eat jerky before and then drink something afterwords. I always take the drink because it also loads me up on calories fast-- which I have usually burned off way too many, so I need some to function.

But WHY do you take protein. Well, after a workout, you have a prime opportunity to consume protein to promote muscle growth. Protein helps repair body tissues, which makes your muscles larger. Protein also can help with energy as well.

But you shouldn't JUST protein only at that time of the day, when you workout. You should have it in every meal, because whether you are working out or not, protein is required for you body. I have lots of yogurt, nuts and soy (I hate soy but I tolerate it anyways if its flavoured) that has lots of protein in it. Actually, the best kind of protein I have heard is in eggs and milk. Chocolate milk has a lot of protein too. Eggs do too.

Wait. Random thing: I don't like eggs. Well, I do. They are tasty. But I only eat egg whites now. Why? The yolk.. is VERY HIGH VERRY extremely high in cholestorol. In fact-- over the amount you should really consume in one day. But the egg itself is high in protein and low in calorie, which is good. Which is why I only suggest the egg white, because the egg white has 0 Cholestorol.

Anyways, I am done talking about Protein. Now I want to talk about Creatine.

I still don't fully understand creatine. But basically it is a supplement used to body build. It lets you do more reps, helps restore muscle, helps hydrate muscle and such, but it is more intense then protein. It does NOT build muscle, like protein, it just helps with the processes of building muscle. Building muscle comes from lifting weights and such. Obviously.

I am not on Creatine right now, but I have considered it. But again--- this is only for body building, really. But it doesn't always work for everyone, you have to know how and when to take it. I know that if you take it too much your body finds it useless and does nothing with it. You have to go through cycled amounts and such.

I don't want to bodybuild, but I would like to build more muscle faster. I might try it once in a month this summer, but I am not sure yet.

Anyways, so thats all I am saying about Creatine. Google it if you want to know more.

Caffeine. Caffeine is something I have been confused about. People always say "Don't take caffeine before you work out" and I know caffeine can dehydrate you. But caffeine does improve my energy level while I am working out... so this is a toughie.

From what I have read, in general Caffeine is good for your energy levels and such. So maybe its not a bad idea if I have caffeine before I workout. I just need to drink more water if it is dehydrating me.

By "caffeine" I don't mean like shots of caffeine, I just mean like a cup of coffee or something.