California tomorrow! Birthday Friday! *July 28th, 2010*

California tomorrow and 21 on Friday! Happy girl!

Well, let’s see. Where to start? This past weekend, my weekend was super short. I worked overtime on Friday and that was probably the longest 9 hours of my entire life. But I got up that morning did my morning cardio, worked overtime, then had a great work out. Friday night I went out to one of my favorite bars in Charlotte “Fox and The Hound” with my friend Gigi and it was so fun. I did good and had my water with a grilled chicken Caesar salad with dressing on the side.

Saturday morning I woke up and did morning cardio then my mom, step-dad, brother, and our family friend made the 3-hour drive down to bring me all kinds of furniture and decorations for my apartment. I helped them unpack and get everything up to the second floor and that in itself was a work out – especially with the damn heat. We all went to lunch then they left and I went grocery shopping. When I got home from grocery shopping I was exhausted and really hot and sweaty. The next thing on my agenda, however, was the gym. I was totally NOT wanting to go but I made myself do it. When I got there I started off with cardio as usual. I usually do 20 minutes on the Elliptical to begin. I had the Resistance on 7 and my speed was between 4.4 and 4.7. It usually is 6.0 or higher – that is how tired I was. I pushed through for 10 minutes then I started my weight work out. I did full upper body and it was actually a really good lift session. When I started my ending cardio – a 10 minute run, it was really good too! It was so weird because when I first started I could barely move because I was so tired but by the end I was feeling super energized and doing really well! I will remember that next time I think I am too tired for the gym.

Sunday is one of my days off for morning cardio and my God did I need it. I woke up around 7:30 to get ready for work and I was so sore I could barely move. I made it to work and did my 4 hour shift and was planning on going to the gym. I was still so tired and sore that I decided to take the entire day off. It has been over 2 weeks since I have completely taken a day off. I haven’t done two-a-days all of those days but I have at least worked out in the evening or done morning cardio. I didn’t have a lazy afternoon though. I came home after work and had a protein shake for lunch then I went shopping at the mall. I was there for over 2 hours and I wore high heels to get a good calve work out. After the mall I went to several other places so by the time I got home my legs were aching. A good ache though. The downside to all of this was when I got home my air conditioner was broke… for the second time in a month and a half. It is too damn hot in North Carolina for the air to be breaking and I pay way too much for my apartment for this to happen. So Zack comes over around 6 and we have dinner (I had my cheat meal for the week- boneless chicken wings and OMG they have never tasted so good. I pigged out) and we were calling trying to get someone out. Finally someone came around 8:30 and got it fixed but my apartment did not cool down until after 11. I had to watch “True Blood” sweating… grr!

This week has been a crazy and extremely hectic week at work. Fortunately, it is the last day of my work week and I will be done until Tuesday morning. I have kept up with my morning cardio this week and my work outs. Monday was core, yesterday was weights, and today is core again. I had an AWESOME morning cardio work out this morning – I was practically sprinting on the Elliptical. My quads were extremely happy once I finished.

I leave for California tomorrow to spend my 21st birthday with my sister. I am so beyond happy and thankful to go. It has been an extremely emotional and stressful time in my life during these past couple of months so being able to get 3,000 miles away ROCKS! I will definitely write all about it and take millions of pictures. Lots of packing tonight and Gigi is making me grilled chicken and steamed veggies for dinner. I can’t wait!

Today’s Work Out:

20 minutes Elliptical- Manual Level 8, HR- 83%

Crunch Machine: No weight, 3 x 30
Assisted Pull Up’s: 3 sets of 10
3 Sets of Combination Ab Work, which includes:
-20 Peter-Pan crunches
-10 Regular crunches
-10 Oblique Crunches
-10 Lower Abs Lifts w/ Yoga Ball
Planks: 2 x 45 seconds
Crunch Machine: No weight, 3 x 30
Lunges: 10 pound dumbbell, 3 x 10
3 Sets of Combination Ab Work, which includes:
-20 Peter-Pan crunches
-10 Regular crunches
-10 Oblique Crunches
-10 Lower Abs Lifts w/ Yoga Ball

10 minute Endurance Run on Treadmill at 5.6 speed