Wednesday Workouts + #WhatIAteWednesday: Week 2

A typical day of my high fat, low carb eating + a week of workouts!

Becky Searls
Better and Better
7 min readJan 9, 2019

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Last week, I shared my weekly workouts and a special day of eating on NYE. This week, in contrast, I’ll share a typical day of eating, along with what I did to stay active! We’re over the hump of the new year and it’s time to keep the momentum going.

My favorite room of our house!

I usually work out for 3 days in a row and then take a rest day. So, I typically exercise 5 days a week and rest 2 days. I don’t have set days I work out and set rest days, and I actually like that I don’t associate a particular day of the week with a rest day, but that’s just me! Do what works for you but definitely take those rest days. I avoiding them for too long and had minimal results for the longest time. Now that I rest regularly, my body rebuilds what I tear down and I can go even harder the next time I work out! It’s fantastic and motivating!

Side by side notifications on my Apple Watch this morning — message received!

This Week’s Workouts

Thursday the 3rd — rest day*

Friday the 4th

  • Warmup: 10 minutes interval sprints on treadmill (I did two 400-meter sprints)
  • Booty by Bret (BBB) Month 5, Week 2, Day 1 Workout — deadlift specialization month — favorite move today was the Stiff Leg Deadlift!
Above Left: Single Leg RDL (Romanian Deadlifts); Above Right: Dumbell Sumo Squats

Saturday the 5th —

  • Booty by Bret (BBB) Month 5, Mini Glute Workout #1 (Bret provides 2 optional supplemental glute workouts/month). They often make use of the glute loop or bodyweight exercises and only have 3–4 moves as opposed to the 6–8 of the main full-body workouts on other days.
  • Ended by working on Personal Daily Goal this month: Working to get pull-ups unassisted — did 20 Scapular Pulls/Shrugs and 3 eccentric chinups

Sunday the 6th — Advanced Power Vinyasa Flow at Harbor Yoga

Monday the 7th — rest day*

Tuesday the 8th —

  • Warmup: 15 min. incline walk on treadmill
  • Booty by Bret (BBB) Month 5, Week 2, Day 2 Workout — deadlift specialization month
No matter what we fit some variety of #hipthrust (above right) into every month’s workouts in BBB! Also usually some kind of abduction like above left.

Wednesday the 9th —

I was skeptical that this bike/app would be that great of a workout compared with an in-studio class. I was wrong. My HR monitor didn’t connect but my apple watch said it was near 180 most of the ride and burned about 450 cal!
These loops or bands are the best — great material that never rolls up and is SO strong. You get a great burn!
To gain strength for pull-ups I’m doing lat-pulldowns (above left), eccentric lowers, scap pulls, RKC planks, and hollow body holds!

Finally, I try to get outside for 20–30 minutes to take a walk every day, even on cold and snowy days like today. I love to listen to a good podcast or audiobook while I get some fresh air, and I think getting some vitamin D helps with the winter blues and gets my circadian rhythm regulated which helps me keep a good sleep pattern! It also snaps me out of a bad mood instantly.

What I ate in a day:

For many years, I believed I could out-exercise a poor diet, or that my exercise somehow “earned” me the right to eat whatever I wanted, especially on the weekends. Fortunately, I finally understand that what I eat is just as, if not more, important than my exercise. Now, I use my food to fuel my workouts and my relationship with food is much healthier! This was a slow transition for me— maybe one I’ll blog about in the future — in the meantime, hopefully the following will give you some idea of a typical day of keto eating for me.

Morning

In the morning I started my day off with some electrolytes, potassium salt, and magnesium (pretty standard for those on the keto diet). After that I had 1–2 cups of early morning coffee black before working out and a cup of fatty / keto coffee after (I use 1 Tbs whipping cream-not heavy-and 1/2 Tbs butter blended with cinnamon and a little stevia to sweeten).

Mid-day

Mid-day, I had a Starbucks americano with extra heavy whipping cream when I met my Japanese conversation group partner. I also had 2 Duke’s hot & spicy shorty sausages and a string cheese when I got home around 2:45. I was able to find the Duke’s at my local Kroger!

Evening

For dinner, I made the KetoConnect Egg Roll in a Bowl. I had 1.5 bowls of this and two hard boiled eggs (not pictured). Then, before bed, I had my usual fatty tea (blended with 1 Tbs cream and 1/2 Tbs butter, cinnamon, and stevia, just like my AM fatty coffee) and a chocolate-peanut butter fat bomb (I should really try a new recipe, but I’m a creature of habit and this one is so good and easy to make!)

I also take a different magnesium supplement before bed (bonus=helps me get a little sleepy) as well as a tablespoon of cod liver fish oil. 😋 (neither pictured). Even though it’s pretty gross and I find it hard to get down, fish oil is a great, high quality source of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, which help to regulate all kinds of important things in the body, including neurological function, immune response, inflammation control, and cardiovascular health.

It’s important to balance Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acid intake in your diet to enjoy good health and longevity, but that can be difficult to do because many of the foods we eat — even healthy, keto-friendly ones like almonds and pecans — contain much more Omega-6 than Omega-3. A healthy ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 ranges from 1:1 to 1:4, but most Americans eat them in a ratio of 1:20! As a result, fish oil may be a good thing to consider supplementing (and I’m a very skeptical / minimal supplementer). Other good sources of Omega-3 include salmon, sardines, anchovies, grass fed beef and pastured eggs.

I’ll be back next week with more weekly workouts and what I ate in a day! Til then, keep reflecting on your goals for your health this year and making consistent and sustained steps toward them! You got this! ❤

Are you liking these posts on typical days of eating and weekly workouts? If so let me know by clapping below! I plan to do two more of them in January, and can continue if there is interest! <3

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Becky Searls
Better and Better

Observations and insights on life and growth from a former teacher in transition. Into food, fitness, mindset, learning, & travel. 🥩🏃‍♀️💪🏋️‍♀️🤓📚✈️