Cheaters Never Win

I started off today with my new favorite breakfast: Stoke-Your-Fire Cereal.  Mix half a cup of All-Bran cereal with one cup of vanilla yogurt and a teaspoon of vanilla protein powder, and you're good to go.  It sounds so basic (and it is), but it is so ridiculously delicious.  It's almost like eating dessert, people.

I had four strawberries for a mid-morning snack.

Side note: one of my former students (who I actually consider more of a daughter or a younger sister) came in and hadn't seen me for a week or two and said, "You look really fit - like, you're working out or something."  That was like music to my ears.

For lunch, I chowed down on some leftover Chili Mac with Jack.  Yum, yum, yum.  I brought leftover jambalaya for four of my colleagues, and they all loved it and asked for the recipe.  Success!

We had a meeting in the afternoon, and I - shockingly - had enough self-control to resist the delicious-looking macaroons that one of my colleagues brought from the French bakery across the street.  Instead, I ate a bar that Mags brought for me to try (complete with nutrition information cut off the box - she knows me!).

Although I was worried I ate the snack too early for my workout, it ended up being perfect because I was able to workout at 4:15 rather than 5:15 this afternoon, which made my schedule so much easier.

It was a super challenging "filthy fifty" workout.  We started with a warm-up of five squats, five sit-ups, and five supermans (AMRAP in three minutes).  We then had to do 50 reps of each of the following exercises:

• Box steps (25 each step-up with each leg or 50 jumps total)
• Push-ups
• Supermans
• Wall balls (squat, stand and throw a super heavy exercise ball against the wall, and catch and squat)
• Burpees
• Pull-ups
• Straight-leg hip raises (25 each side)
• Straight-leg dead-lift with 25-pound kettlebell
• Get-up sit-ups with 15-pound kettlebell
• Walking lunges (25 each side)

There was no time limit: we simply pushed ourselves to complete all exercises as fast as possible.

Here's the deal: I know that I am "only competing against myself," (blah blah blah) during workouts, but it really, really irks me when people cheat.  And yes, I know that they're "only cheating themselves" if they don't do the exercises that they're supposed to be doing, but for some reason, it still really makes me mad.  One of the girls who started in my group finished ahead of me - because she didn't do any freakin' burpees, the hardest of the ten exercises to complete.  AND, instead of doing straight-leg hip raises, she had both legs on the floor and just lifted her hips off the ground - um, EASY.  

I realize I'm being super catty and should've been more focused on me than on her, but I think one of the reasons I was also overly annoyed was because she was talking about how healthy she is, how the workout on Monday wasn't "hard enough," how she wears a heart-rate monitor and calorie-loss counter (or something) around, how she doesn't follow a diet but just watches her calories and protein/carb/fat ratio, etc.  And then she talked about how she ate pickles and chip dip for dinner last night.

Annoyed.

And let's be real: one of the reasons it's bothering me is because she finished before I did, therefore appearing to be "better" than I.  I try not to let things like that get to me, but alas, I'm only human.

After my workout, I couldn't get food in my body fast enough.  (That's how you know it was a good one!)  I took a quick shower and then headed to Palmer's for a salad and an 8-ounce cup of fresh fruit.  And then I had to head to bowling - where I inhaled that entire meal in approximately five minutes.

The salad included romaine, spinach, raisins, peas, cucumbers, red peppers, an egg, and turkey, and it was topped with maybe two tablespoons of raspberry-poppyseed vinaigrette.  The fruit salad consisted of cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, and apple.  I also guzzled a liter of water in about three minutes.

This is the first time on the Abs Diet where I have been hungry.  And I was starving.  The only reason I didn't keep eating (not that there was anything more to eat - except for greasy bowling alley food) was because I felt like puking since I drank the water entirely too fast.

I'm a bit hungry now, but it's far too late to eat - and I'm far too tired to throw anything together.  Before I sign off, I'm going to leave you with this list of 60 Must-Read Health & Fitness Blogs that I came across while reading Tina's blog (listed!) this morning.  Check 'em out.

I'm also going to leave you with this snapshot of my bowling attire - and the 14-pound ball that I attempted to use since it matched so perfectly.

You're welcome.

(But for real: how great is that shirt?!  I got it at the Gap a few weeks ago and am pretty sure I need to go get more.  First, the color is to. die. for.  It reminds me of second grade.  Second, the fit is impeccable.  It makes my boobs look killer.  Third, it's pretty much the most comfortable thing I own.  I bought one in pink and one in navy, but I'm pretty sure I need one in every other color possible.)

Peace out, Girl Scouts.