Workouts and Food Challenges

Hello friends!  I have a few things to share with you, I know it's been awhile and I apologize! 

I have decided to give a plant-based diet a go for 1 month.  I am hoping to keep it strictly vegan (it is only a month, afterall), but may opt for a pescatarian diet if need be (where I will incorporate dairy, eggs, and fish).  I've been pinning all sorts of yummy looking recipes and can't wait to give it a go, starting on Monday!  I'll be weening myself off of the Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt with fresh fruit for breakfast by trying an oatmeal dish I keep seeing on a new blog I've subscribed to, Peanut Butter Fingers.  The author has really been motivating me to amp up my strength training and try some new, simple recipes.  She rotates between a few breakfasts, and one of them is called Overnight Oats.  Instead of cooking them overnight in a slow cooker (as you may have already imagined it would be), she prepares old fashioned oats with a few other ingredients and lets it sit overnight in the fridge, eating it cold the next morning.  Sounds a bit different, but it's been WARM up here in NorCal and cold oatmeal actually sounds kind of good!  Most of the time, she adds a flavored greek yogurt to her overnight oats.  I've decided to try her Oatmeal Cookie Dough Overnight Oats for my first go at it.  It's already vegan, since it uses soy or almond milk as the liquid base.  Besides, it sounds delish!  Hopefully I'll have all sorts of veggie-dishes to share with you over the next month!  I think the experience will inspire me to blog more, too.

Another thing I've started adding to my routine is Jamie Eason's LiveFit workouts.  I'm not really following her program, but am adding her strength training workouts to my normal cardio routine.  I like having something to follow instead of doing the same moves over and over again.  It helps to have it broken up by muscle groups, too. Yesterday, before my Zumba class, I tried out her Day 1 routine (I realized after I changed the cable flyes to bent over flyes that I was actually working my back instead of chest by doing so-oops! I couldn't move the bench to do the real exercise, maybe next time I'll ask for help!):

Wide Pushup (standard or on knees): 3 sets of 12 reps
Set #1: x10
Set #2: x9
Set #3: x0

Dumbbell or Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 12 reps
Set #1: 10 lbs per dumbbell x12
Set #2: 10 lbs per dumbbell x12
Set #3: 10 lbs per dumbbell x12

Flat Bench Cable (Bent Over) Flyes: 3 sets of 12 reps
Set #1: 5 lbs per dumbbell x12
Set #2: 5 lbs per dumbbell x12
Set #3: 5 lbs per dumbbell x12

Narrow Pushup (standard or on knees): 3 sets of 12 reps
Set #1: x10
Set #2: x10
Set #3: x0

Overhead Triceps Dumbbell Extension: 3 sets of 12 reps
Set #1: 15 lbs x12
Set #2: 15 lbs x12
Set #3: 15 lbs x12

Triceps Pushdowns: 3 sets of 12 reps
Set #1: 30 lbs x12
Set #2: 30 lbs x12
Set #3: 30 lbs x12

I can't wait to see how today's workout goes!  I should be able to do each of the exercises without modification at my gym, but I may only do 2 sets of each so it doesn't take as long.  1 min between sets makes for a long workout! I think she says it should take roughly an hour to complete, depending on gym traffic.  Doing only 2 sets of each of today's seven exercises should bring that down to 45 min or so, which is much more do-able if I plan on also including cardio before-hand.  Spin starts at 5, so I have to be on the road by 4:15 in order to make it in time!  If I don't make it in time, I'll likely do 10 min on the stair-master followed by 30 min on the elliptical.  Having a plan - and a new one, at that - makes me much ore excited and motivated to make it to the gym!  What motivates you to work out?  Do you have a routine? I'd love to hear about it!