So my sister, Meghan, is FAR fitter than I am (the woman did 100 pullups not too long ago!), and she is the one who introduced me to cross-fit.
We do the workouts and email each other back and forth on a nearly daily basis, so we decided that its possible some-one out there might like to take a peek into that conversation.
To that end we've started a blog over at wordpress. It's nothing big or fancy, but we're using it to keep each other motivated and to track our progress with the WODs.
So... if you feel like checking it out its called:
So... end result of my 30 day CF challenge?
I lost 3lbs, 1.5" off my waist, 1" off hips, and 0.75" off of each thigh.
I'm pretty pleased with that... considering the fact that I've gained 10lbs since the start of this program last September, I still have a lot of work to do... but I am getting stronger and fitter and to that end I am starting again!
Today I'm starting a 60 day CF challenge... and my end goal is to get 1 pull-up (or chin-up, I don't care which) and be doing all of the pushups for the CF warmup on toes rather than knees, by the end of the 2 months. I'd ask y'all to join me, but as soon as I open comments I get spammed, and type-key is pretty much defunct at this point, so you couldn't even register to comment if you wanted to... maybe I can get my server-host to upgrade us to the latest version of MT or something and use those character/image recognition thingies that everyone is so fond of these days... but uh... I'm kinda busy these days.
In any case, Today is day one... get off yer asses and move, m'kay?
I nearly puked during todays workout.
I kinda wish I would have... maybe I wouldn't still feel like puking.
Day 7 of the 30 day Cross-fit WOD challenge and I'm REALLY hoping tomorrow is a rest day.
Please... dear cross-fit coach in California... please let tomorrow be a rest day.
I hurt.
I hurt everywhere.
I hurt everywhere and I am exhausted.
I just finished my last shift of OB Clinicals. In 8 hours I put in 2 IVs, 1 foley, admitted 2 patients and assisted with 2 vaginal and 2 cesarean births (both c-sections were for breech babies, one footling and the other presenting its hip). My feet feel like shredded wheat.
I am also on day 4 of a 30 day CrossFit challenge. (Rest day! YAY!). I am going to do the Crossfit Workout of the Day (plus the standard warm up of 3 rounds of 30sec Samson Stretch, 10 push ups, 10 sit ups, 10 dips, 10 pull ups, 10 squats) every day for 30 days... hopefully that will be a stress release for me and help boost my energy because this school thing is sapping my strength and motivation like nobody's business. So, between running my ass off at the hospital, doing the WODs and trying to get school work done I'm just... burnt.
I keep feeling like I'm forgetting assignments or not finishing things and its really disconcerting. I haven't actually done that (yet) but that anxiety seems to always be hanging over me. Luckily I have all day tomorrow to really get caught up on readings and writings before my final exam in OB on Saturday.
Next week begins our "Aging Client" course... blah.
Right now, I'm exhausted and in pain, so I'm gonna pop some ibuprofen and get some sleep.
ciao.
Teehee.
Sounds dirty, don't it?
Today I learned to Clean and Jerk. I did it with dumb bells because I don't have a proper bar yet... but holy crap is that a fun (and powerful feeling) move.
The vid I linked to above is from the crossfit website and they have instructional videos and demonstrations of everything they use in their workouts... crossfit makes me want a bar (a real, heavy, bar) with bumper plates and gymnastic rings... mmm... ring dips...
Tomorrow is brutal...
Seriously.
Every day they post a workout (today happens to be a rest day so you're safe) and when you look at the workout you think, "What? That's it?" And then you look at the videos to figure out the moves... and you see the AMAZING shape these people are in and you thin, "Sure... why not, I'll give it a shot!" And then you start doing the work outs. Usually 20-30 minutes... no big deal, right?
And then you puke because you've never done anything so freaking challenging in your LIFE and it kicks your ass right to the floor and you think... well no wonder one of their motos is:
"Cross Fit. Your workout is our warmup!"
In the last week I've learned to do a hanging snatch, hanging power-snatch and a thruster... I'm not doing them with much weight, mind you... but I'm getting the motion down so I can safely do so later on... I've only been at this a week and my body HURTS all over and I love love love love love it.
My sister Meghan introduced me... now I'm introducing you... share the love, you know you want to!!!
I started lifting again today. Made a happy little spreadsheet to track things (I know, geek!) and did a full upper body workout. Its been too long. I have always said that I love the process by which my body transforms when I exercise frequently... what I don't love... is the realization of what I've lost when I restart. It can be incredibly un-motivating seeing where you are when you know where you've been... but at the same time it makes it VERY easy to set goals. ;)
I made a huge pot of chicken soup on Friday and we're still eating on it. I LOVE making soup, especially chicken with lots of veggies (carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms, broccoli, etc... sometimes I'll chop up some greens if they look really good at the store and throw them in to). And I'm lazy, so I just buy the boxed organic chicken stock (or broth if you prefer) in the health-food section of the grocery store and throw that in once the veggies have sauteed in a little olive oil, bring everything to a boil and then squeeze fresh lemon juice and eat. I use simple spices too, a little rubbed sage, thyme leaves, crushed red-pepper and salt/pepper. Throw that down with a fresh biscuit and some salad and you're set for a few days worth of meals.
Today is my last day of freedom before classes kick in again, but I'm thinking I'll be able to get away for at least one weekend in February to visit friends before clinical rotations start up again in March. I'm excited to do a little traveling, so wish me luck!
Since I've been back to running lately I've been using my iPod Shuffle and the little white ear-buds that came with it when I go out for a run. And while the ear-buds are perfectly fine for general use they're not the most secure things in my ears and there is the issue of being a bit cut off from environmental noise that we all know can be isolating and unsafe.
So, I was intrigued when I was asked to review a new type of ear-phone called Airdrives
If you don't want to go clicking the link (tho you should because the demos are pretty cool) I'll give you the lowdown: The premise for these particular headphones was to create a unit that would stay securely on the ear but not block the ear-canal like a typical in-ear bud so you can still be aware of environmental noises (like that delivery truck pulling up behind you to turn right as you prepare to cross the street it's heading for).
The speaker portion of the ear bud sits on your tragus (that little bump of flesh on the inner-front aspect of your ear) and projects the sound both through your mandible and back into the auricle (the big stickey-outey part of your ear... what you'd call your "ear").
Ok... the concept is cool, right? But what do I think of these new fangled devices? Well, overall I'm pretty pleased with the Airdrives. They do exactly what they say they're designed to do. They stay put comfortably with the adjustable over-ear hook, and they make me feel a lot safer when I'm road-running because I can hear everything going on around me, in addition to my music. I can even say, "good-morning" to my neighbors as we walk/jog past each other without having to wonder if I've just yelled at them. The sound quality is good on the upper and mid-range, but even with my bass-boost turned all the way up on my iPod I found the bass to be lacking. That said, I don't know that I've had a single pair of earbuds that performed adequately in the bass range... there's just not a lot you can do with a speaker that small.
Volume can be adjusted both on the music player and on the cord, which is a neat feature, but when you turn the volume way up (like when you're feelin' like Rocky and want to really jam out!) people around you will be able to hear your music much more clearly than if you did the same thing with in-ear buds. These are not necessarily the headphones you want to use at the gym (the dude squatting 450 in the cage might not want to hear your Michael Bolton), but when you're outside, if you want to be able to hear the world around you (before it runs over you) these DEFINITELY fit the bill.
I think these would make a fantastic Christmas gift for the runner in your life.
I have to work tonight. I work part time at a local nursing home and I work basically every other weekend on the night shift. I have to work tonight because everyone is required to pull a holiday shift every year and 4th of July is the holiday I pulled. The good part is that my shift is the night BEFORE the holiday, so after a few hours of sleep we'll still have the rest of the day and evening to play.
The challenge is going well. Yesterday I did Krista's beginner lower body workout which consists of Squats, Straight Leg Dead Lifts, Calf Raises and Good Mornings. I did most of the exercises unweighted (not the dead lifts) and I am still sore as hell today.
Today I ran over to the gym and did Krista's beginner upper body workout (lat pull, shoulder press, 1 arm row and bench press) and then 30 minutes on the eliptical. My legs were able to workout some of the soreness and that felt good.
I've probably mentioned that I'm not a fan of the scale... it is a useful datapoint in a lot of ways, but right now I'm just being discouraged by it... so I'm going to forgo it for as long as possible. A set weight has never been my ultimate goal so much as a level of leanness and a level of fitness and since the scale will tell me neither of those it can go jump in the lake for now.
to write a final post... to sign off for good, but I can't seem to make myself do it.
I guess that means I'm not done yet... maybe there is something more I need to say... something more I need to do with this site.
The last few months... and really the last 2 years have been a time of extreme transition and trauma and recovery for me and my family... my health and fitness has improved and declined like the changing of the tides.
Injury, physical and emotional... upheaval, revelation, just... everything imaginable and then some. I'm not going to get into it, but what I've realized as I return to myself and return to the object of my fitness... that without leaning on proper nutrition and exercise I have truly done myself a disservice.
Krista's rant in April or May was about stress and how she went thru some amazingly HUGE stresses over the last year but was able to maintain a level head and even keel primarily due to the fact that her nutrition and workouts were her coping mechanism. She poured her anxiety into her workouts and she fed her body as tho her life depended upon it (when, in reality, it did).
I have picked myself up, dusted off some of the pieces and am in the process of putting them back together and the two parts of my hopefully fast acting epoxy will be my nutrition and exercise. I WILL lift. I will eat as tho my life depends upon it. I am, for the first time in literally years, extending a challenge.
I don't know if anyone even reads here anymore, but I did get an email recently from 'Jill,' after she had been reading thru my archives. So, Hi Jill! Thank you for the push to post again and for the encouragement and the realization that I can still have an impact. Yes, I'd be happy to answer your questions, Jill... I'll respond to your email shortly.
So now for the challenge:
July: (yes, starting today)
Every day I will do some form of strenuous activity. Today it was tennis with my husband for an hour. Work will not get in the way, the summer will not get in the way. This is my opportunity and my life.
Join me. Count off 31 days with me. 31 days of purposeful, strenuous, heart-pumping activity... I don't care what you do, as long as you spend at least 30 minutes doing it. I will be biking, swimming, playing tennis, lifting weights, using the cardio equipment at the gym, etc... anything I can think of (except running because I'm still banned from that by my freakin' podiatrist)... and it will be fun.
The plan is to do Krista's Beginner Split workout Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and filling in with other activities the rest of the days of the week. Weekends will probably be mainly tennis because I can do that with my family... And there is no limit to how much activity you do... the more the better, I say.
Make it fun, make it a challenge, remember that your life depends on it. I will.
So... 14.5 lbs down from the last set on Sept 1, 2006:
I, personally, don't see much of a difference. I mean, except that I'm super pale compared to the September pics, I mean. Hair is longer, ass is still fat, arms still flabby. In any case, it is what it is, and there will be another set March 1, 2007.
To be fair: 237-167=70 total lbs. lost, which is pretty damned cool.
Got my ass out of bed at 5 this morning to meet with my Personal Fitness Coach at the Y at 5:30am. Holly is great, very motivational and will put together a quick program for me to start with to get familiar with everything they have at the Y... the facility here is HUGE. Three pools, extensive cardio and free-weights, two full nautilus type circuits, Hot-Tub and Sauna in each of the locker rooms, etc. I was impressed.
I'll be back in tomorrow, Thursday and Friday mornings. I have 3 weeks to get myself back in the morning habit before I'm back in school full time, and even if I just do 30 minutes on the eliptical it will be worth getting out of bed to reinforce the habit.
I forgot to take pics yesterday (I know... blah blah blah). It will happen tomorrow. Year end weigh in was 167... so I missed my goal by 7lbs, but I am officially 3lbs UNDER pre-pregnancy weight at 8 months post partum, having gained 67lbs with the twins.
As for my other goals, they were mostly job and moving and pregnancy oriented:
I gave birth to two very big full term baby boys on May 1st.
I quit my job on June 9th.
I moved to Wisconsin on June 10th.
I started school at UWOshkosh in September.
I got back into a fitness routine.
So I missed the weight goal by a few pounds... I think the rest of the success for the year more than makes up for that.
New goals being formulated and percolated in the brainspace for now... I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow, when I've had some decent sleep.
And today there was much rejoicing because my delicate, pretty-princess of an ass had a lovely new saddle upon which to ride (sally ride). I decided to see what random selections from my "least played faves" would give me on ye ole iPod and it worked out well.
I was VERY uncomfy on the Terry Butterfly saddle at first, so I got off, adjusted it a bit, and tried again... and lo there was much rejoicing and the girlie bits were not squooshed, and the sits bones were settled nicely into the firm (but supple) foam of the wider (for her pleasure!) sides of the butterfly flare.
35 minutes at relatively mild intervals with a low hill thrown in for 7 minutes of good measure (*squee*) Not as much drippage tonight (are you getting sick to DEATH of my sweat reports yet?) but a good workout overall.
7 days... it feels good so far... still need to pick up the dbs in addition, but for now I'm meeting my goals.
We Motherfucking Did it!!!
Thank you, America! And don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya on the way out, Mr. Rumsfeld!!!
Oh yeah... and Day 5 - I did 20 minutes on the trainer while obsessively refreshing Cspan.com and CNN.com... HR was up around 130, but nothing major.
I may have to celebrate tonight!!
53 minutes on the trainer using an "all techno" track-list. More dripage upon the mat. Hooray!
I can't wait to get into the double digits of this challenge... I think I'm not going to get on the scale until day 10, just for shits and giggles. I've been so/so with paying attention to my food tho, so its time to bring that back into alignment. Its funny really... these days my biggest indulgences are wine and bread. When I go for something "naughty" it isn't even entirely naughty... ya know? I can hardly stand chips and candy anymore (well... except for REALLY good dark chocolate) It makes me feel good to know that my eating habits are more solid, even when I'm off of a training plan.
Mike bought white-bread tho... I'm going to have to kill the boy. ;)
Off to watch MNF and hopefully see the Seahawks beat some Raider ass all over the field... tho... with the way Oakland has been... uh... "playing?" this season... it could be pretty ridiculous. I wonder if Seattle'll put in the 3rd string before the 4th... ;)
45 minutes on the trainer...
Several good climbing hills that kicked my ass... HR up and sweat dripping down on the mat (yay!)... I was able to adjust the tension on the resistance cable to provide enough pull for me to stand in the pedals to climb.
I am SO out of shape tho, I spend most of my time "pumping" my feet up and down rather than making circles, which is what I'm supposed to be doing.
Ah well... it will come.
It'll be interesting to see how my cardiovascular health improves with this regime... I am definitely liking it so far.
Speaking of which - Mike got me a new saddle. A Terry Butterfly Ti - which should arrive soon... I am excited to see if it makes a big difference on my sit-bones and girlie bits... supposedly its a HUGE deal.
Made a FABULOUS dinner tonight... dry spice rubbed NY Strip steak (one steak - it was 16 oz and we split it) and steamed broccoli (with home made cheese sauce for the kiddies) and Cheddar biscuits.
I think I'm embracing this whole "dairy land" thing. ;)
23 minutes on the trainer...
maybe I should dub this "National Brenna Cycle Month" NaBreCyMo... everyone needs a National month of Something... right? Am I right?
Come on... y'all KNOW I'm right.
;)
Ok... so maybe not.
Tomorrow I go for 60 mins... can she do it???
Of COURSE she can!
I'm having a hard time dealing with this whole "no running" thing. I know I have to do this to allow my feet to fully heal, and I know its the right thing for my overall ability to continue to be athletic in the future... but its hard. When all else failed, I could run. Until I really got into it, I'd never thought that I could be a runner... but once that click happened... the one that allowed me to just keep running on my one 10 mile day... I realized that I COULD run and that just kicked my ego up a few notches right there.
And now, I can not run. And I have "good feet for cycling." I've been kinda pissing and moaning about that for several months now... hemming and hawing about what to do... its cold, but I have a good bike... a REALLY good bike... and I live in Wisconsin, where it is literally too cold to ride for at least half the year.
So yesterday I broke down and bought a trainer. I set it up in the bedroom and mounted my beautiful bike to it... and I looked at it for a while... and finally set up some track lists on iTunes, loaded up the iPod and climbed aboard.
I spent the first song just spinning up, shifting gears and resistance levels to figure out the trainer and what I could do... and then... something clicked... (vou-ja-de?) and I started pushing... and climbing and jumping and holy crap it was like a spin-class in my bedroom.
I will say that the mag+ is kinda loud at high speed... but bump up the resistance, shift down and climb and its completely tollerable. Its a good thing I only sprint for like 20-30 seconds at a time right now.
So... I'm giving the trainer a thumbs up... for now its in the bedroom, and I'm going to set a goal...
Starting yesterday my goal is to get on the bike every day for 30 consecutive days for at least 20 minutes. Last night was a 45 minute session... I've got more song lists to create... but I'm excited to be moving forward again.
Oh yeah... scale on friday was back to 176... so at least I haven't lost ground... just time...
Still pushing for 160 by December 31.
Upper Body:
Chest Press 12x3 @ 30#
Bent Over Row 12x3 @15#
Standing Shoulder Press 12x3 @15#
Bicep 21s x3 @12.5#
Tricep Press 12x3@15#
Made Baked Monterey Chicken for my dinner. Cellery sticks on the side:
Boneless skinless chicken breast - liberally seasoned with monterey-grilled chicken spice blend and salt, baked on "convection roast" for 22 min. at 350 degrees. Place a slice of part-skim motzarella on each breast for last 7 minutes of cooking time.
Bloat is reducing, and I'm only .5 from last Friday's weigh in, so hopefully the downward trend is continuing.
I had my first exam in Human Anatomy today. 50 multiple choice questions, we had an hour to complete the exam. It took me 20 minutes (including re-checking). I didn't finish first... I finished second. ;) (out of 200 students, I thought that was pretty good). I am in the same chemistry and anatomy class with several other women and one of the women teased me for finishing so quickly.
I do think I missed one or two questions, mostly due to poor wording... but I'm not sure. We'll see.
2.4 mile run. Took 31minutes, and I ran about 1.75 of it... workin up is a good thing.
I feel REALLY good running. Its been so... perfectly autumn here. Crisp, cool, with RAGING thunderstorms in the middle of the night... we even lost power last night (*squee*)
Unfortunately my digestion has decided that school stress = shut down, so I'm retaining water and constipated... ugh. I'm restarting my daily fiber supplementation, so hopefully that will help clear things up shortly. Its a little disturbing to gain 3lbs in a weekend. If I didn't know what was up I'd be freaking out.
Feet feel good, and my legs are starting to remember the joy that is post-run twitching.
October is HELL MONTH for me at school. For three weeks I will be at school on the following schedule: Mon-3p-9p, Tues 11a-9p, Wed 8a-10a, Thu 8a-9p, Fr3p-9p, plus 6-8 hour clinicals Saturday AND Sunday. Yes... I am insane.
Sometimes I can't believe I'm doing this... I know I CAN do it... its just a matter of GETTING it done.
*sigh*
Time to shower and get back to studying. Anatomy Exam tomorrow (body organization, tissues, Integumentary system and Axial Skeleton) and Chem Exam on Thursday (atomic theory, radiation, conversions and moles).
Scale this morning indicated 176.5 which means I made my goal of 5lbs for the month of September.
I didn't get in nearly as much exercise as I could have, but its nice to think that 5 months after delivering the twins I'm only 6lbs from pre-pregnancy and 16.5 to my year end goal of 160.
According to Fit Day (and their lovely BMI calculator which is rediculously stupid) I am on the cusp between "Severe Overweight" and "Moderate Overweight." Ha! WTFever.
I'm kinda surprised at the scale this morning, especially since I started my period on Tuesday. I don't usualy lose the period bloat until the end of the week, but hey... I'll take it.
School is going. Returning to education is a challenge and I'm stumbling in chemistry. I need to shape up tho as I NEED the A for my application to the Accellerated Nursing Program.
As for my leg workout yesterday, I wanted to try somthing a little different, so I did some combo moves:
All Unweighted:
Sumo Squat + Alternating Front Kick
10 per side x 3 sets.
Side Lunge + Side Leg raise
10 per side x 3 seets.
Calf Raise (on stair) + Hamstring Squeese
10 per side x 3 sets.
Abs on the physio ball (crunches to failure)
It is a very different sensation to do things unweighted... I took shorter breaks between sets tho and had a good elevated HR for the entire workout (about 35 minutes... not very long, but I feel it today).
Hope everyone is well and meeting goals!!
Upper Body:
ChestPress/Fly SS - 10#dbsx15,12,10
Row - 10#dbsx15,15,12
Shoulder Press/Bicep Curl SS - 10#dbsx15,12,10
Tri Press - 15#dbx15,12,12
Abs and stretching
Feeling good and ontrack. Its interesting that yesterday I felt like I was eating CONSTANTLY, could not fill my stomach enough to not be hungry no matter what I ate... and yet... I feel fine today, and the scale didn't even creep up. I guess I needed to eat, eh?
So it turns out that all the BS about walking is just that... BS. Walking alone is not enough to get a person fit. It is a great way to start exercising, but if you don't get huffing and puffing for at least a portion of your workout its not gonna get you where you want to go.
Don't believe me? READ THIS
As I read the article, I realized that I had no right to get all "duh" about it because I haven't done ANYTHING to promote my own fitness in easily 3 weeks. So the shoes went on, and my ass went out the door for the first run I've been able to take in 4 months.
Oh good LORD did that feel good!!! 2.5 miles, alternating running and walking with at least 1.5 of it running. I practiced fore-foot running as much as possible, it felt kinda like tip-toeing but it was definitely easier on my heels than typical running.
While I ran I listened to little LS (My iPod) and planned the rest of the weeks workouts. I'll put them under the cut.
October is BACK ON THE WAGON month to prepare for the holidays that are looming... My goal for September was 5lbs lost (I'll check up on that on Saturday) but for October it is going to be hitting at least 4 of my 5 scheduled workouts every week.
Here's the plan:
Monday: Run or Bike at 8:30am (after dropping Val off at school)
Tuesday: Upper body at 8:30am ("")
Wednesday: Run or Bike at 11am (after Anatomy Lab)
Thursday: Lower body at 4pm (after school)
Friday: Run or Bike at 8:30am (after dropping Val off at school)
179.
Not surprising really, considering I've been Boozy McDrinksalot this week. (bad stress coping mechanism, I know... I'm done, I swear)
Back on track today and the rest of next week and we'll be seeing the continued 1-1.5 loss per week. OH! And my foot is SO MUCH BETTER after the cortizone shot (tho the flare the day after the shot SUCKED ASS). I may even try to run again before snow flies.
I've been reading articles about fore-foot running... if anyone has info to point me to on this I'd GREATLY appreciate it. I can't continue to distroy my heels with standard heel-toe running, so its time I learned somthing new.
Happy Weekend!!!
I know I promised... so here they are:
4 weeks post partum and 4 months post partum. Enjoy.
Forgot to mention:
sometimes the whole weight loss thing can be frustrating at best. Having only lost a total of 2.5 lbs this last month really pissed me off... I mean, I wasn't drinking... I followed thru on my workout-goal (3x/week lifting) and I walked and played tennis a lot too... and I don't like being pissed off, so this morning I've been trying to gain some perspective.
On May 1st of this year I weighed about 237lbs.
Today I weigh 181 lbs. So in 4 months, I have lost... 56lbs. Now I can atribute the first 40 of that to babies (6lbs 7oz and 7lbs 1oz) amniotic fluid (lets say7.5lbs) placentas (5lbs) and reduction in blood volume (we'll give that the remaining 14lbs). Which means that in 4 months I've lost at least 16lbs of non-baby weight. Now, considering it took me 2 YEARS to lose 45 lbs the first go-around... 4lbs/mo for 4mo is really not all that bad... and yes it comes in spurts. It always has... that's why doing this exercise for perspective is so important for me. True, i want to step up the action over the next 4 months so I can see 160 again by Dec 31... but that's only 20 lbs away... 5lbs a month... TOTALLY doable.
in fact...
watch me.
;)
Legs:
Reverse Lunge - 25#, 3x10
Side Lunge - 25#, 3x10
Front Lunge - 25# 2x12
Full Front Squat - 25# 3x8
Abs: 4 sets 3 way Ball Crunch (25 center, 20 left, 20 right is one set)
Feeling good... strong workout... Eating REALLY well this week... eggs and tea for breaky... cottage cheese and fruit for lunch... chicken breasts on salad for dinner... snacks of protein smoothies or beef jerkey or lite popcorn. I'm glad to be back on track after the trip to Portland and the extremely off-program weekend. I've promised progress pictures several times now, and I will be taking them tomorrow, September First. Three months from when I took the first set at the beginning of June... I'll post them all together and hopefully it will be obvious the progress that has been made... but even if it isn't... that's life.
Oh... and I made a teriyaki marinade for my chicken that rocked:
Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Fish Sauce
Brown Sugar
One clove of Garlic (crushed)
Pinch of red pepper flake
time for protein and then off to bed.
Arms/Shoulders:
I decided to go with short rest intervals for this workout... kept the rests right around 45 seconds between sets, definitely made a difference.
Shoulder Press - 20#dbs x10,8,6
Shoulder Death [tm] - 7.5#dbs x8,8,6
Bicep 21s - 3 sets @10#dbs
Tricep Kickback (bilateral) - 10#dbs x10,10,10
Tricep Overhead Press + 10 second static hold and pulse at the end of each set - 17.5# x10,10,10
Abs - Ball Crunch x50,25,25, Bicycle x20,20
Legs (yes I know that was supposed to be Wednesday... shit happens... I'll do chest/back tomorrow!)
Front Lunge - 20#x12,12,12
Side Lunge - 20#x12,12,10
Squat - 10#(bars only)x6,6,6 (triggering muscle memory and practicing form more than anything)
Calf raise - 20#x12,10,10
We're off to p-town tonight, returning "home" to the midwest on Monday morning... its supposed to be gorgeous and we've reserved a convertable for the occasion. Chest/Back WILL be done this weekend at the hotel. Be safe and sane this weekend!
ciao!
Preface:
Generally its a good idea to work the larger muscle groups first and work your way to the smaller... its also a good idea to do your compound movements first (exercises which engage more than one muscle and joint)... but tonight I decided to see what would happen if I did bicep excercises before shoulder. My shoulders were MUCH weaker tonight than they were last week, due in part to the change in order. Shoulder Death (which I did sets of 10,8,8 last week) was the most noteable - I was only able to do sets of 8,6,6 this week with the same weight. In any case... its fun to experiment - as always YMMV.
Arms/Shoulders:
Bicep Curl 21s - 10#dbs x3 (21s are 7 reps of bottom half curl, 7 reps of top half curl, 7 reps of full range of motion... no rest between, that is one set)
Hammer Curls - 10#dbs x10,10,8
Shoulder Press - 20#dbs x10,8,6
Shoulder Death (tm) - 7.5#dbs x8,6,6 (barely)
Tricep Press - 15#db x12,12,10
Went for a 2 mile walk with the neighbor, the kids (her two and my two) and the dogs (her husky, our golden). It was a good walk, with a stop for kids to play in the fountain at the park in the middle... but nothing strenuous.
I am, however, currently wearing the BEST BATHROBE EVER! Mike got it for me for my birthday and it is microfiber on the outside and terry on the inside, and heavy and warm and DE-FUCKING-LICIOUS!!! We fell in love with these robes when we stayed at a very nice historic hotel in Jackson, WY on the way out here, and Mike tracked one down for me for my birthday. I'm also sucking down a creamsickle (OJ+Vanilla Whey Protein Powder+Creatine) and it is fantastically nummy too.
Chest/Back:
Chest Press - 20#dbs x10,10,10
Fly - 17.5#dbs x10,10,8
Bent Over Row - 17.5#dbs x10,10,10
Upright Row - 15#dbs x10,10,8
Dresser Pushup - 3x10
Weighted Fly Stretchdowns - 10#dbs 30,20,20 (ow-fuckin-ch)
Abs:
100 Crunches 4x25
80 Bicycle 4x20
We also went for a long family bike ride today... I'd estimate about 3 miles total, but rather slow... just havin fun with the kids. Now that Nate is a two-wheeler (no training wheels for this 4 year old!!) he wants to go everywhere on his bike. Its pretty cool because there are lots of parks within riding distance... and today we put the bikes on the bike-rack and drove to a park that has a path across the Fox River. It used to be a train tressle, but its now a foot/bike bridge. It was good fun.
Mike asked me today how long I'd been working out since I started back up again. I told him it was about 3 weeks... his response: "I should work out for 3 weeks, cause its made a big difference in you already."
:D
The scale isn't moving (still fluctuating between 182.5 and 184), but I'm not worried... its just one tool for measurement. Another (my size 12 skirts and pants) are beginning to fit again. I REALLY should have taken better "before" pictures... but maybe I'll have the guts to do some progress pics here soon... maybe.
I start school on September 6th!! So freakin ready!!!
Legs:
Warmup - jog stairs 4x
Walking Lunge - 25#x12,12,10
Side Lunge - 20#x12,10,10
Full Squat - unweightedx5,5,5
Calf Raise - 15#x12,12,12
ABS: Short PBall Crunch x50, 4count PBall Crunch x15, Floor Crunch w/ 8# Medicine Ball x 15, Double Crunch w/8# Medicine Ball x15
Stretch
Arms Shoulders:
Shoulder Press - 17.5#x10,8,8
Shoulder Death (tm) - 7.5#x10,8,6
Bicep 21s - 10#x3
Hammer Curls - 10#x10,10,8
Tricep Press - 15#x10,8,8
Tricep Kick-back - *7.5#x12,10,10
*go heavier next time
ABS: Physio ball full crunch - 30, PB short crunch, - 30, PBw/8#MB Twist Crunch - 30.
You didn't see me post a workout last Friday... mostly because I spent 18 total hours on Thursdy and Friday doing this:
Laying 328 sq ft. of solid bamboo flooring in my bedroom
(ignore the drain-rat picture... and at the end are some random pics of some shoes and a dress I picked up for a wedding I'm going to in a couple of weeks... the important part is in the middle).
Anyway... since I could hardly move after the flooring work (and acording to caloriesperhour.com burned nearly 5000 calories) the trainer gave me a pass on the chest/back and arm/shoulder work that I missed last week. I'm not even calling it a missed week because... well... have you ever installed hard-wood flooring?? GAH!!!
Legs (plus punative, abbreviated arms/shoulders)
warmup - jog up/down stairs 3x
Walking Lunges, 3x10 carrying 20#
Side Lunges, 3x10 carrying 15#
Calf Raises, 3x10 carrying 10#
Interspersed Arms Shoulders:
Shoulder Press - 3x12, 10#dbs
Bicep curl 21s - 2x21 @ 7.5#dbs, 1x21 @ 10#dbs
Tricep Press - 2x12 @ 7.5#dbs, 1x12 @ 10#dbs
No abs yet, but I'll do 'em tonight before I crash... installin' a bamboo floor in my bedroom tomorrow... I'm STOKED!! Wish us luck.
Chest/Back:
DB Press - 17.5# 12,10,8
Bent Over Row (bilateral) - 17.5# 12,10,10
Fly - 12.5# 12,10,10
Upright Row - 12.5# - 12,10,8
Weighted Fly Stretchdown - 7.5# 3x20seconds
Medicine ball Crunch - 40
Physio ball 3way crunch - 2x30
PLUS a BONUS: 9 mile ride at an average of 14.6mph for an additional 400 calories or so. I took a gorgeous route out along Lake Winebago, but holy damn was there a headwind comming back in. I was able to keep spinning for the entire ride, less the stop at the 4.5 mile ride to drink, adjust helmet and turn around. I wasn't expecting that, I figured I'd have to coast at some point, but despite the FUCKING BURNING in my quads I kept spinning... and at a pretty good pace too... got up to 20.1mph on one slight decline with a tail-wind... that felt cool... but that was an incline with a head-wind comming back into town. Ah well, can't be perfect, eh? The really nice thing about this road is that there are NO TRAIN TRACKS to cross, its fairly level (good for starting back up) and its easy to add a mile or so each ride until I'm up to 20 or so per ride. I'm stoked. I'm SO gonna be skinny again. ;)
I am suffering from major (and I do mean MAJOR) DOMS today... legs are such fascinating pieces of machinery... and mine hurt.
Morning weigh: 183. Consistant downward trend is what I'm going for... and it seems to be happening. Having a trainer to answer to is helping a LOT. I'm not a person who can do somthing half-assed. I'm a bit of an absolutist. But when I get somthing in my head... it gets done.
For instance: Went to dinner with my inlaws last night... when we arrived at the restaurant they'd ordered margaritas for both Mike and I and they were waiting on the table. I didn't drink mine, begged off that I was too dehydrated from the pool earlier, and gave it to my Father in Law. No alcohol means no alcohol.
Mojo: lifting anything that isn't a fork counts! I'm so glad you'll be getting your tube out on Tuesday, can't wait to hear how you're doing!
M: The babies weren't mine, I was a gestational surrogate for dear friends, but thanks! My boys are 8 and 4 and love to ride their bikes along with me when I run, which hopefully I'll be able to do again next week!
Legs:
warmup - jog up/down stairs 3x
Walking Lunges, 3x10 carrying 20#
Side Lunges, 3x10 carrying 15#
Calf Raises, 3x10 carrying 10#
Abs - 3x30 crunches, 2x20 slow bicycle
STRETCH.
My legs are SO not used to this... SO. NOT. USED. TO. THIS.
;)
Yesterday was my 32nd birthday... I celebrated by vowing (after last night) not to drink any alcohol for the rest of the month. Its an important step in aiding the weight-loss as well as generally a good detox... alcohol is empty calories... tasty empty calories... but empty, none the less.
Anyone care to join me?
Second birthday vow is to get in 3 weight-lifting workouts every week for the remainder of the month. Even if I do NOTHING else... I will lift. I need it. I love it... its who I am, and thus I will feed the iron-beast.
Again... anyone? Takers? COME ON... you KNOW you wanna!!! Lets finish the summer off right! Even if I can't run... I can still get strong... and so can you!
Going a bit heavier today:
Seated Shoulder Press - 20#x10,8,6
Shoulder Death (tm) - 5#x8,6,6
Concentration Curl/Tri-Press - 17.5#x8,6,6 and 17.5#x10,8,8
Standing Curl - 12.5#x8,8,6
shoulda done another tri exercise... but completely spaced it...
Abs - slow crunch (4 count) x50, 30, 20; Bicyclex20; Physio Ball crunch (left/cen/rt) w/8lb medicine ball x20
My hands are so soft. I have no callouses any more... its gonna take some time for my hands to get used to holding the dbs again... its kinda funny really... only another sign of how soft I've gotten.
Mike expressed interest in working out with me... asked if I'd do my workouts in the evening with him, and I said I'd consider it, but that I'd rather he just got up in the morning to do them with me... we'll see where that goes... I think it would be fabulous if he did... he's got the build that it would be SO easy for him to really look good... put a little muscle on the boy and he'd be a traffic stopper. ;)
I don't know why I keep doing these on Saturday... when I'm actually doing the scale thing on Friday... I guess it just takes a while for me to percolate what I want to say each week.
This week 184... so only .5 down from last week... which actually is more than I'd hoped for. See... here's the thing... if I walk, my feet hurt; if I run, my feet hurt; if I don't walk OR run, my feet hurt... and its getting REALLY fucking old.
SO I did some small workouts thru the week... nothing to be proud of, and nothing worth posting about... but what I did do is realize that my motivation and habits are so broken right now that I really need to do some reeducation. So... its back to reading Krista every day, and reporting to a higher power (a trainer)... and remembering what it was that made me love being strong and muscular and powerful. Its helping.
I'm making better choices... not perfectly clean eating yet... but that will come... and not the greatest workouts yet... but that also will come... On Tuesday I turn 32 years old and I will begin reporting everything to my trainer... and he WILL kick my ass and remind me (daily) where I told him I want to go, and what I need to do to get there.
Also... hopefully on the 8th my feet will be fixed... cortizone shots in the heels baby!!! And I'll finally be pain free... at least for a while.
Chest/Back (all dbs, on physioball)
Superset - Press, Bent-over Row, 12.5lb 3x12
Pull Over - 15lbs 3x12
Superset - Flye, Reverse Fly, 10lbs 3x12
Abs - crunch - 50, 30, 20; Bicycle 20, 20; Plank for 10 slow breaths.
Stretch
Creatine (5mg)
Multi-vitamin
Water - 2litres so far...
No change this week... not surprising really, what with the first post-partum period showing up on Sunday and the requisite whining and eating that went along with it. BUT, I didn't gain, so theres some good in that at least... just means I have some ground to make up this week.
Speaking of this week... my birthday is August 1st and in celebration I've been given some AWESOME presents already... a bike mount for my Forerunner and a set of THESE!!!
I will admit to having coveted the B0wfl3x dumbells for a while now, but I didn't think I'd ever have 'em... oh but now I do!!! I will begin posting workouts on Monday. I wish I had a little bench, but I don't... so its the physio-ball for my presses and flys... which is really ok because it causes me to work my entire trunk to support my back while I do the exercises.
Thinking about working toward being dryer (leaner) than I've ever been... pushing for 12-16% bodyfat... just to see if I can do it... won't be for a while, obviously... and will require some training assistance... but I'd like to see myself there once... we'll see.
186 today. Can't wait to be free of the 180s... hate that I'm heavier than my husband who is 6' and wirey. It'll come tho.
Its been a good week but with very little structured exercise. Structured eating took the front of my mind. Its really nice to have a new kitchen to fill. There isn't any "junk" to get rid of as I haven't brought any in... so its mostly portion control and eating out that I have to watch for.
I still haven't found a GNC to get my whey... but hopefully this weekend I'll make it to the mall where I'm assured there is one. I miss my protein, yogurt and berry smoothies for breakfast.
Our eggs have been comming from a local woman who keeps her chickens on organic feed and no hormones or crap. She's wonderful and the eggs are awesome... but we've only been getting 1 doz a week and we're going thru them too fast. I don't know if we need 2 doz... but I may have to see if we can get more for a few weeks to see how it goes.
Knees and feet still suck. Braces for jogging is helping tho... just need to get the feet fixed and I'll be right as rain... well... except for the missing Iron... but I'm working on that as well!
Day 2 - 30 minute brisk walk at lunch. It was chilly but clear and gorgeous out.
I'm concerned a little about the minor swelling I'm having in my feet and even a little today in my hands. It seems so EARLY for swelling!!! SO I've upped my h2o intake significantly - 3 litres so far today, working on #4 as I type... and upping my protein as well. I honestly haven't been keeping a close enough eye on my protein intake the last few weeks (darned holiday and work stress) and I've been eating WAY too many processed foods (too much sodium).
The babies are doing well. We have the followup ultrasound on Baby A on Thursday, and I am hoping we'll get some answers then, but chances are we will not have anything solid until the first week of January.
Honestly I wish I could stop working now and just focus on the pregnancy and these little guys... but that's not going to happen, so I keep taking my vitamins, supplements and eating as well as I can... I keep exercising and finding way to reduce my stress and in 10 or so weeks I'll be done working for a while and I'll be able to really enjoy the end of this... my last (probably) pregnancy.
Thanks everyone for all of the support!!!
Hooray!!!
I know I've been lax in posting... and especially in posting anything fitness related, but I have committed (AS OF TODAY) to working out every week day this week and posting the efforts here. Its time again for some accountability... it's time again for some motivation... and its time again to get this fat (and ever growing fatter) ass in gear.
That said... please don't laugh at my workouts. My fitness has slipped I will admit... I'm also preggo with twins and required to keep my HR under 140 (blech!)... so like I said, NO LAUGHING!!!
Workout:
5 minute warmup walk on TM @ 3.8mph
Upper body circuit: 3 sets at 15 reps each, no rest between exercises 60 seconds between sets all with 5lb dbs.
Shoulder press
Chest Fly - on exerball
Overhead Tricep press
Bicep Curl
18 minute walk (gonna ramp this one up) at 3.5-3.8 and 2 incline.
2 minute cool down walk at 3.2mph
Day one - DONE.
Tomorrow I am going to just walk. Wednesday will be lower body and walk. Thursday I will be taking off as I have docs appts. all day long, and friday will be a repeat of today.
My goal is to get up to 45 minutes walking per workout 5 days a week (or better) and 3 days of weights.
Right now I feel very good... energized. Chicken for lunch and only 2 hours left to work... Gym-time makes the work go faster too! YAY!!!
I got up early to do my arms and shoulders work this morning... it is getting harder and harder to get up in the morning as it gets darker and darker, but I hauled my expanding ass outta bed and got to work:
Standing Shoulder Press - 10#dbsx15,12,10
Shoulder Death (tm) - 3#dbsx15,12,10
Standing Bicep Curl - 10#dbsx15,12,10
alternated with
Overhead Tricep Press - 10#dbx15,12,10
Concentration Curl - 10#dbx10,10,10
alternated with
Tricep Kickback - 10#dbx10,10,10
The whole thing takes all of 30 minutes, paired with a long walk at lunch it should keep me for a day or so.
I was chatting with Renee yesterday and she was asking about how long I'll be able to work out while pregnant and what my plan is and I decided I should just lay it all out so I have a record of it, and so y'all can call me insane or whatever, but I've already gotten my plan approved by a real live Doctor, so I should be good to go.
Expect that full update later today!
Didn't get to the workin out this morning due to extreme fatigue... so I picked it up this evening. I lurve Leg day:
Full squats - 20#x10, 15#x15, 10#x20
Pliee Squats - 30#x12, 10, 15
SLDLs - 30#x15, 15, 20
Leg Curls - 10#x15, 20, 25 - did these light cause I was figuring out the mechanics of holding a db between my feet laying on my coffee table... but it worked (pillow under the knees helped.
calf raise on stair - 20, 20, 25 (straight, toe in, toe out)
Last set - full squats just 15#x15
Legs are good and shakey and if I stretch well I shouldn't be too stiff tomorrow... oh but the DOMS will be glorious!
Walking will work things out... chest/back tomorrow.
well according to the nifty Google Pedometer (now with CALORIE COUNTER!!!)... My ride to work is closer to 7.8m!! If I were running that would be nearly 800 calories burned... but according to caloriesperhour.com its only 463 calories... *sigh* (heh... times two ways... I'll take that!)
I guess I should be writing about fitness topics and such...
did I mention that there's a wonderful guy at work (older and very sweet and very gay) who loves to call me "slim"? I love him.
This week has been going VERY well fitness wise. Tuesday I did hot-yoga, yesterday I rode my bike in to work and then back home (14+ total miles) today I did hot yoga again... but since I took my bike in last night for a service check I won't be able to ride in tomorrow, so that kinda sucks... I'll come up wtih somthing active tho. I'm planning on doing the Saturday morning hot-yoga as well... (have I mentioned how much I am LOVING hot-yoga?)
My eating this week has been rock solid as well. Lots of lean and healthy protein... fruit and veggies, and water out the yang.
I'm happy... I'm healthy... life is good.
*sigh*
Ok J.J. and Kristin (who emailed me) and anyone else who wants to know (once again, and for the record).
My weight loss plan:
eat right + exercise.
I wish I could make it more exciting, but its not... I've done all sorts of workouts... from weights intensive, to running, to bikram yoga. I've kept my protein high, my sugars and refined carbs low, and my fats healthy. I keep my calories between 1200 and 1800. Sometimes I use protein shakes or bars.
I have gotten to the point that I could do a pull-up, and run a 10k or two. I did a triathlon (and hope to do more in the future) and got sick/injured and gained some weight back... and am in the process of losing it again (yay).
I try to eat organic as much as possible (including organic meats). I feed my kids the same shit I eat day in and day out and they cope with it just fine.
Sometimes I am super motivated and on-plan and sometimes I'm not, but there is no secret... no magic bullet, no special pill (tho I've tried some weird shit in my time).
How did I find the motivation? I looked at pictures of myself at my 10 year highschool reunion. I was fucking fat and disgusted with myself... I found Krista Smash... I realized that I wanted to be strong and I quit making excuses.
I got my ass up EARLY in the morning to exercise.
I got out of bed.
I put on the shoes.
I planned what I would eat for the day and I ate it.
So there you have it... in a nutshell... or not.
So in four weeks I dropped four pounds. That's pretty fantastic to me, so I'm going to do my best to keep my motivation up and keep eating right.
My running hasn't been happening this summer, and I feel that I just need to admit that running is not blowing my skirt up anymore. Luckily I have my bike:
And riding to work from the park-n-ride is a damned good workout in the morning (a LOT of uphill)... and a lot of fun in the afternoon (down down down!). 7 miles each way means I get to cover 14 miles every time I ride. Throw in a lunch yoga class here and there and perhaps some morning lifting, now that I've found my hand weights which had been tucked away from toddler fingers and promptly forgotten about, and you have a fairly well rounded fitness regime.
This is a "Good Thing" (tm).
I feel SO MUCH BETTER when I eat clean... its not easy in the summer with kids out of school and lots of snack foods in the house. Granted they're fairly healthy snack foods... no candy or chips or soda in our larders, but goldfish and granola bars are still concentrated energy that my body doesn't need.
I thank Pioneer Organics every day for the fresh organic fruits and veggies they bring to my doorstep every week... THANK YOU PIONEER ORGANICS... THANK YOU!!!
My kids grab handfulls of cherry tomatos, sliced bell peppers and baby carrots for snacks almost as often as they grab a pre-portioned baggie of goldfish (hooray!!!). Bananas, apples, and nectarines oh my!
Now if I could just get my home in order... *sigh*
either I'm getting used to the heat or it wasn't NEARLY as hot today at Bikram as it usually is. Good class, I got the kick out on standing head to knee again (can you tell I'm proud of that?). I'm drinking a lot of water and finding it hard to actually eat... which is not normally a problem for me. ;)
Renee posted some really important, emotional stuff over at her site today. Being an online journaler, blogger, whatever can be pretty intimidating. It is very easy to stop being real and saying what you want to say for fear that people will stop reading you, or won't like you, or will say somthing mean... or whatever. I have censored myself more in the last 6 months to a year than I ever thought I would.
I'm not sure that's a good thing... especially when the reason for the self-censorship is centered in worrying about what other people might think about me.
There is a lot of emotion tied up in a blog after a while. The people who read what you write on a daily basis become like friends or even family to you... I know I think of Renee and Lee and Mojo and others as my sisters, and I applaud their successes, and try to be supportive when they slip up or are injured, or just lose focus... but the truth of the matter is that when we all started these things WE were the only ones reading what we wrote, and it didn't really matter that no one else read or cared.
Its hard not to self censor once you realize that there ARE people out there following your story, waiting for the next chapter. I, for one, feel a lot of pressure to perform in this situation, which robs from the reality and purpose of my blog.
Its not that I want y'all to go away... its just that I want to figure out how not to care what someone thinks of me or what I write... because unless I've let y'all in (and some of you I have) what you think really shouldn't affect how I live my life or blog my blog or work my plan or whatever.
This was/is supposed to be the one place where I can focus on me and me alone... where I can do what I want to do with no fear of repercussions... I need to get back to that.
Thanks Renee.
well hey howdy hey. I have muscles, and joints, and connective tissues most of which are puffy and a little bit annoyed with me today!
65 minutes running + 90 minutes Bikram = R E S T D A Y
But really, I don't feel too bad. I am EXHAUSTED... dead tired... and am trying to get the good nutrients and vitamins to rebuild after the tear-down yesterday... but overal my hammies are a bit tight, shoulders and neck are stiff, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty normal.
I'm feeling very motivated right now. Not sure why. I know that I have an opportunity to get into really good shape again before I get pregnant I guess and I'm just really wanting to take advantage of that. I've never had a "Fit Pregnancy" to speak of, and I'd really like to do that this time. I want to stay active, flexible, strong, etc... it will do me good, I am sure, thru the delivery and recovery to stay in the best shape possible. And maybe its the yoga. Its somthing new, and VERY challenging, and I'm already seeing myself get better at it which keeps the motivation alive.
Motivation is an odd duck... sometimes its nearly impossible to find, and yet it can pop up at the oddest moments. I've needed some motivation for a good long while, so I hope to chain it to my ankle for the rest of the summer and use it to propel me forward. (I'm picturing motivation as a very strong dog... St. Bernard perhaps... that just keeps pulling and never lets my feet stop moving... I'm kinda visual that way, sue me.)
In any case, it's here, I've found it... time to go for a ride.
I don't think I've been pushing myself hard enough lately. I certainly haven't been challenging my fitness levels with the on-again off-again training I've been doing. But despite that, I was reminded today that I am not in as bad a condition as I'd thought. Workout today was 60 minutes on the Treadmill. I did a 2 minute walking (3.8mph) and 10 minute running (5.5mph) cycle. And honestly my legs/body were fine. It was my brain that didn't want to cope with everything. I'm of the opinion that training your brain to believe you CAN do somthing is much harder than training your body to actually do it.
Now that I've registered for the Helvetia/Drop Top 10k I figured I'd better see if I can keep moving for an hour at a time, and shore-nuff I did! I covered 5.3 miles and burned 640 calories to boot. I feel good, I plan to go to Bikram this afternoon for another 600+ calorie burn and some DEEP stretching. I think I'll do an easy run on Thursday and take Friday off before Helvetia. (and yes, I'm hydrating... I just finished litre #3 of water and will be powering thru at least two more before yoga.)
I haven't talked much about home/kids/etc. lately but that's mostly because everything is good. We're anxious for school to get out (they're not done until June 22nd here) so we can do more fun family stuff and start swimming lessons and the like. My older son is at or above grade-level in all of his subjects which is a HUGE accomplishment considering the challenges we had at the beginning of the year. My younger son (3 yrs) can sing his ABCs and count to 20 and is recognizing about 1/2 of the alphabet. My hubby is spending a lot of time at work, but when he's not we're doing well and I'm feeling very loved and appreciated these days.
Oh... and DAMN I am loving the yard. Going to try to get the irish moss in between the rocks this weekend... its a goal, ya gotta have em, don'tchaknow.
Bikram at lunch rocks.
I feel all loose and bouncey... like I'm not wearing a bra, only I am... just bouncey.
Which is funny because this morning I was a raging hormonal Bitch (yes,with a capital B) and was literally groaning due to the cramps that ibuprofen didn't want to mess with... Damn you ibuprofen, you used to be my go-to-guy... why has thou forsaken me??? I almost skipped class.
But I didn't.
I sucked it up, freshened up (read: got a fresh vaginal blood sponge) and went to Bikram. And now I feel bouncey. I don't know if its the heat, the movement, the exertion, the sweat or just the restorative benefits of yoga, but I feel 100% better.
I made granola from scratch last night... ala Alton Brown only I didn't have any cashews, so I just doubled the sliced almonds and HOLYGODDAMNBATMAN is that stuff GOOD! CHEEP to make too!!! The only spendy items are the nuts, and if you can get those bulk you can make a whole batch for round-abouts $2.50... and skip all the nasty preservatives and crap they put in the boxed ones.
PLUS... you get the JOY, the pure absolute JOY of smelling it as it toasts for an hour and 15 minutes in the oven... plus, can I just say... warm granola right out of the oven is WORTH the tongue scalding.
;)
My sister was in town this weekend (happy birthday, sis!) with her two beautiful daughters. Our kids played outside a bunch (when it wasn't raining) and we went to the coast for a bit as well. The trade off to all of the fun is that I skipped the Starlight 5k. Ah well, such is life. I will be doing the Helvetia 10k next weekend (and cheering the half-marathoners!) as a run/walker. I am not ready to do 10k all running yet, but hey, I might surprize myself, right?
In any case, after Helvetia I will be returning to p-town to cheer the Zamboanga DB Paddlers to victory. I don't know if I mentioned but I made the decision to stop paddling with Zambo a while back. It was for several reasons... I missed a lot of practice with my trip to Alaska and subsequent illness, but more than that, I was really feeling over-scheduled and I missed my family a lot. As much as I really enjoyed padlding with Zambo, I just couldn't justify the evenings and weekends away from my hubby and kids. Mike and I get very little time together as it is with our oposite work schedules, and losing one evening and part of both weekend days to paddling sucked. It just did.
So I run, and I am going to do hot yoga at least twice a week for the next couple of months... and from there we will see what happens. I'm feeling leaner and I'm down a couple of pounds on the scale in the last week, so that feels nice and motivates me to continue what I'm doing.
Like today for example: 45 minutes on the TM, aproximately 3.8 miles and 460 calories burned.
Tomorrow is hot yoga at lunch... glee!
Denise said somthing yesterday that really hit me in the gut as being the gods-honest-truth. Its somthing I have always said to myself and to others, but in not such succint and clear terms. Denise definitely hit the nail on the head with this one:
"Yes, I'm getting stronger by the minute and I still have hope, so I know that anything's possible. I won't ever be perfect and I don't need to be, I just need to do a little better than I am right now. This I can do."
Those last three sentences are the most important... "I won't ever be perfect andI don't need to be, I just need to do a little better than I am right now. This I can do." I don't care who you are or where you are in your journey. I don't care what you've achieved or what you have left to achieve. I don't care what your goals are, whether they are strength gaining, fat loss, speed improvement or body accpetance and self esteem improvement. I don't care how old you are, how long you've been at this, how many times you've tried, slipped, tried again, gained, lost, given up or not given a damn. All you have to do is remember that you don't need to be perfect. No one is, no one ever will be, just do a little better than you are at this very moment and things WILL change, things WILL improve... and remind yourself of that... because "just a little better" is somthing ANYONE can do.
you can.
I can.
we will.
So Yoga in the Pearl has a half-length Hot-Yoga class twice a week at noon. You do one set of each pose instead of two to get thru the whole set in 45 minutes.
I went today and it was fantastic. I mean, yeah, it was still hot as hell, but my body dealt with the heat a LOT better this time than it did the first time. I never felt woozy or dizzy. I am actually excited to go again!
I am slowly peeling off the weight that I've been annoyed with for so long. Measurements are changing again, which is nice... and this weekend my folks and mike's folks are in town to help us create the backyard of our dreams... as long as we don't fry to a crisp under the (again unseasonably weird) sun.
I just ate about 20 tater tots... with ranch...
I think, perhaps... now that I have the exercise back in control... it might be time to reign in the diet as well.
;)
cheers!
Lets start with the Bikram.
Ok... holy shit. Yes I knew the room would be 105 degrees. I knew this. What I didn't know was that at 60% humidity and 105 degrees my body produces more sweat than a full body towel can absorb. I didn't make it thru every pose. I had to sit out about 3 I believe, but I tried every single one... and I didn't puke, and I didn't pass out, so I will chalk it up as a goal achieved! And... for some insane reason... I want to do it again. Honestly it was hard to be faced with the reality of my body with this extra fat on it. I didn't like that, but there was no getting around it in clingy clothes made more clingy by oodles of sweat. Reality is harsh and it was commin at me from all angles. Three hundred and sixty degrees of ouch. It was hard to stay focused because of that. Self consciousness got me several times and it was very hard to get past it. Not that anyone was looking at me other than me, because they weren't... they didn't give one damned bit of attention to the new chick in the corner... but I did. There was also a huge mental battle I had to fight with myself. "This is insane, you can't do this..." went thru my head on more than one occasion and when it got to be really loud the teacher said, "Ok... two more poses and we're done..." and I realized that yes it was probably insane, but I could make it to the end and that kept me going.
This morning found me a little sore, mostly in the lower back and quads (damn those standing poses) and I have to think that after 90 minutes in a 105 degree room doing some very intense yoga I probably burned 3-500 calories... at least I hope so. In any case, despite the soreness, I put on the shoes at 5:30 and went out for a 30 minute jog. I'm not going to call it a run because I took it VERY easy. I spent more time dodging slugs than I did really running per say as well. It was like there was some huge slug convention... a slug party, if you will, that every slug on this side of the world had to get to and so they all squirmed off across the sidewalk to get to the party on the other side. And I'm talkin ALL KINDS and ALL SIZES of slugs from the tiny baby 1" long little guys to the 5-6" long HUGE ASS banana slugs that freak me right the fuck out every time I see one crawlin up a wall or across a sidewalk. I believe I was able to avoid actually treading on any slugs, but I didn't check the bottoms of my shoes to be sure, so I'm not making any promises.
OH... and let me once again pimp PIONEER ORGANICS. They've revamped their ordering system and you can pretty much customize completely the produce you receive in your box each week... its awesome! So if you live in the greater Portland or greater Seattle areas check 'em out!!!
at 5:15 the alarm went off... I snoozed it once... and at 5:22 (before the alarm went off again) I realized that all I had to do was put my shoes on... so that's what I did... and 35 minutes later I'd completed a great out and back run for about 2.5-3 miles. I was sweaty, winded (I always sprint the last couple of blocks before walking to cool down) and happy that I'd put on the shoes. One run down, four to go.
hot yoga is planned for Sunday at Yoga in the Pearl with Alissa. Its a 90 minute class from 3-4:30pm... I'm EXCITED!!! Tho I do need to get my own mat before we go. I'm hoping to get a couple more classes in next week to use up the "3 classes for $15" pass that I'm gonna buy. Wish me luck and think good hydration thoughts for me on Sunday.
I'm feeling pretty high energy today. I attribute that primarily to going to bed at 9:15 and to getting my run on this morning. Morning exercise does amazing things for not only the metabolism but also the attitude and outlook as the day goes on.
Hey... anything else I do today exercise wise is Cake as far as I'm concerned!
*wink*
OH! Hey, BD - I know you know this, but there is nothing more intense than the birth of a child and I want you to know that my thoughts will be with you and J and T as your family grows by one. Good luck, best wishes, and since you probably won't be on again soon... welcome to the world little R!!
EDITED TO ADD: Whoops... Yoga has been moved to tomorrow at 4:30-6p!!! EEEPS. This is gonna be fun!
Running worked for mister crampy pants, so I'm feeling much better. 2.8 miles, 35 minutes, 315 calories, huzzah.
going out to dinner with the hubby tonight... for FREE!!! A good friend owns a restaurant and the last time hubby and I went the service was god-awful. I told friend about it and he asked us to be his "secret-diners" every once in a while to keep tabs on how things are going. Bad service = customers not comming back. Repeat business keeps restaurants going. In any case we agreed (well DUH!) so he's paying for our dinner and drinks tonight and all we have to do is report back on the experience in the morning.
glee!
This has been the strangest winter/spring I've experienced since moving to the pacific northwest. The winter was dry and sunny when it is usually excessively wet. In fact it was so dry that most of the ski resorts had very short seasons and everyone was talking about a severe summer drought. And then April came... along with 30+ straight days of rain. And now its May and its still raining. Drought talk has given way to "flash flood warnings" and "severe thunderstorm warnings" and for some reason the farmers and fishermen aren't at each others throats about water use yet this year.
What sucks ass for those of us web-footers who are used to lots of rain is that USUALLY in May we're peeling off the galoshes and raincoats to expose our waterloged toes and fingers to the sun. But not this year... no sir!
I am not comfortable riding my bike in traffic in the rain, so I'm not riding to work as much as I would like. I can run in the rain no problem, but thunder storms do tweak me out a little so those may cause a pass as well. The treadmill chaps my ass, but there ya have it: it is safe, sound, and dry. So, day one of training was on the treadmill. 35 minutes, 2.8 miles, most of it run at 5mph, some at 4.8mph and a few minutes walking to warm up and cool down and a 2 minute break between miles 1 and 2 at 3.8mph. 310 calories burned (yay!) and a daily trianing goal completed. I wanted to run at least 2 miles today. I ran 2.5 of the 2.8, so I am happy.
Alissa mentioned Hot Yoga to me today. She wants to take me. I want to go. Anyone care to share experiences with Hot Yoga with me? Any clues on how to find a studio near me? I am definitely intrigued.
OK... PFTs for Zamboanga start next week... what's a PFT you might ask?
Why its a personal fitness test of course! If you want to paddle on the rose-festival boat for Zamboanga you must be able to pass the PFT. The test consists of a 2-3m run, pushups and situps. I'm not sure how many of each of the last two, but the run must be completed within a set time limit, so busting ass is probably going to be a good idea from here on out.
I'll run the PFT course tonight to get an idea of my time and see what kind of improvement I need to look for. Practice may, in fact, be DRY today... but I'm not holding my breath (this is the pacific northwest afterall).
I'm finding that my bowels don't like it when I go on binge-eating weekend fests... fiber supplementation is the word of the day kiddies, maybe I'm just getting old, I don't know... but I do know that being regular is a Very Good Thing (tm) and right now I am not, and its making me angry.
Water intake = yes.
Fiber intake = yes.
Come on body... lets get rid of some toxins now, m'kay?
on the schedule for today was either running or running and upper body.
I've got nuttin.
zero.
energy tank = empty.
So I guess today is defacto rest day. I'm pleased with how my workouts have gone thus far this week. We ran 2.3 miles yesterday (non-stop) before doing our calisthenics and then being on the boat for an hour... and according to http://www.caloriesperhour.com that's between 900 and 1100 calories burned for a workout. (yippee!)
Not gettin on the scale again till next tuesday (daily fluctuations are not worthy of my energy)... I ate like CRAP yesterday tho... not enough protein, lots of carbs... TOO MUCH FAT... and yet somehow I stayed under 1600 calories.
Now, how do I find out the nutritional make up of a tuna-roll???
While the stuff I posted about below is occupieing a lot of my brain-cycles right now, I figured I should post somthing about fitness today. I guess I didn't update yesterday that the scale still hasn't budged... in fact over the weekend it looked like I'd gone up a solid 2 lbs... that is gone again, and since my menses is due any day I'm hoping that the proverbial whoosh fairy will grant me a small loss on the scale once my cycle has begun anew.
A lot of women bitch openly about their menstrual cycle, and I will admit that it is often a hassle to deal with so frequently... what other high-order mamal is fertile EVERY SINGLE MONTH of the year? None*, that's what... so yeah... just the effort it takes to prevent pregnancy every single month is a hassle... add bleeding for a week (which really wouldn't be so bad if we could take that week and go off to the spa with other menstruating women and be pampered like the goddesses we are) and you've got about 10 days every month where you're not actively dealing with one or the other. Its a hassle. I don't blame ya for bitching... I do it too.
But truly... right now I'm pretty thankful for my cycle... and the fact that I know my fertility is intact. I'm pretty lucky that way. In any case, I won't be bitching about my menses this month, just hoping its causing some delayed reactions from the scale.
*this is an anecdotal answer and I am aware that its probably wholly inaccurate, but at least among primates we are the most frequently fertile of the entire order.
Workout accomplished:
jumprope - 50 jumps
Smith Squat - 20#x 15, 20, 25 (jumprope 50 jumps between each set)
Calf Raise - 15#x 15, 20, 25 (jumprope 50 jumps between each set)
Pliee Squat - 12#x 20, 30, 40
SLDL - 24#x 20, 25, 20
Leg Exten/Walking Lunge SS - 15#x 30, 30, 20 / bodyweightx 30, 30, 20
I'd like to work up to doing jumprope between each set in order to keep my HR nice and high. I got my third set of the leg extension/walking lunge superset in today, but I cut the reps to 20... we'll see how I feel tomorrow.
I hate feeling rushed and today I feel rushed. I have lots to get done here at work before I leave an hour early to get my filling fixed at the dentist... I have to rush from there to the post office and then home so my hubby can get to work (he works a late swing four nights a week and is home with the boys during the day)... I'll have to rush to get them fed and ready for school tomorrow, rush to get the house cleaned, rush rush rush... I don't like it.
I know I'm not the greatest time manager... I'm doing better than I used to for sure... but still, is it the plague of our times that we never feel we have enough TIME? Not enough days in the week, not enough hours in the day.
I didn't even get my bath last night... *sigh* did make rice krispies treats with the boys tho, so that's somthing.
I took BD's advice and went for 3 miles today. I did not run the whole thing... I had 3 walking breaks for about 4 blocks each... I needed them, especially the first one. But not because I was out of breath, my breathing fell into the old-familiar comfortable pattern within the first 3 minutes or so. I needed the walk breaks because my legs felt like heavy ass lumps of completely worthless clay. I had to adjust the laces on my right shoe twice because my foot kept going numb, my shins were quite annoyed, my knees (suprisingly) were pretty ok... but my heavy heavy thud-thud stepping legs were just intollerable.
IN FACT - it wasn't until about 2.5 miles INTO the run that they even started to feel like I was running. Prior to that I was sort of shuffling along with a bit of a runners gait... it was probably pretty pathetic to behold. The last half-mile, however, felt pretty damned good. I didn't wear a watch so I don't know how long it took... I'm going to guess around 36-38 minutes tho because I was just that slow.
I'm looking forward to lifting tomorrow, anything other than pounding the pavement or pulling water would be a good thing (tm) at this point.
time for whey at half a turkey sammich.
cheers!
After some rest yesterday I felt much better. We actually did a short (2.25m) run just before practice on Saturday and sort of got lost in the sea of portland-fit runners on the waterfront, it was pretty neat to see THAT MANY people running together... what a trip.
Just to answer Holly's question from yesterday, we have a "tiller" who stears us thru the worst of it... his main job is to watch for other watercraft and floating debris and move us around all of that as much as possible. We didn't make it all the way to Sellwood yesterdy mostly because we kept stopping to practice race-starts... but it was still a VERY intense practice.
Today was good (back in the Kaohsiung boats) and I could FEEL my shoulders and back burning long before I thought they should have, but I kept it up and we had a VERY strong practice... some really good race-starts and some fabulous endurance stretches. What's SUPER cool is that we had 15 paddlers of whom EIGHT were women!!! GO LADIES!!! Its cool when the majority of the boat is estrogen based fit ass women.
I've decided to go ahead and run tomorrow. I need to get back my cardio-vascular endurance and the only way that will happen is if I run, run, run... so no more monday rest day for me... here's the plan for the week:
Sunday: 1.5m run and DB practice (done)
Monday: 2-3m run
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: 2m run and DB Practice
Thursday: REST
Friday: 3m run
Saturday: 2.25m run and DB Practice (2 hours)
You don't see any upper body weight training in there, but I think I have to resign myself to the fact that I'm doing DB so often that I just don't have a good place to put it... doing it on Monday after two consecutive practices would just be stupid... and I really want my leg day in there, so that leaves thursday... which I suppose I could do... but again, its right after DB practice... argh!!!
THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH DAYS IN THE WEEK!!! I think I'll write my senator.
If someone wants to give my schedule a go to fit in a day of upper body weights, I'd love to see it!
cheers!
I know I've said that paddling practice has been brutal in the past... but today... today was different... today was... Extremely brutal. Even my fingers are having a hard time functioning correctly right now. We started with a LONG LONG paddle up-river... only one break to switch sides and then we turned and started our start/sprint practice... we did our race starts and 15-60 second sprints over and over... and then we paddled and sprinted, paddled and sprinted with no breaks, only active recovery...
I'm so exhausted that no matter what I eat or do I'm nausious... I'm seeing spots every time I stand up... I'm pounding water and simple carbs and its just not getting better.
I need a nap.
Practice again tomorrow... I'll keep ya posted.
there isn't a muscle in my body that doesn't hurt right now.
even my fingers.
Practice last night was BRUTAL... but we raced another boat on the river and kicked their ass.
so that makes everything ok.
bath and ibuprofen tonight.
ugh.
First we have vague notions of what we want to get out of all of this work... ideas of an ideal weight, a proper clothing size, how we want to feel about our bodies in the mirror, in a bikini, naked, whatever... we think about how nice it would be to be able to do xxx, or go for an yyy, and we ponder and consider and pine for a time when these vague notions were closer to our reality than they are now.
And then, at some point, we decide that being affraid to fail isn't going to hold us back from trying any longer; and we decide that we are worthy of the time and effort necessary to create a reality that could be so much more satisfying than the one in which we exist right now....
And THEN... we set... GOALS...
I will be xxx on the scale, I will be able to do yyy, I will loose qqq ammount of weight and I will be happy.
We consult books, websites, diet and fitness gurus and we create a plan and we commit fully to working the plan for as long as it takes.
And we march off on our merry way thinking we're going to conquer the world, or at least our rebellious bodies... and we work for a time... and put in the effort... and we do this and that and we make progress... and then the progress slows... or even (God forbid) halts... and bad habits creep back in, or there is a trigger moment that sends us back to a binge, and we get depressed, our hinies planted firmly in the indentation of the couch cushion and we let go lamenting all the while how HARD it is and how much we tried and yet somehow, once again... we've failed... we aren't xxx on the scale, we can't do yyy and we're somehow... still. not. happy.
but why is it a "failure" any more than someone trying to quit smoking who is unable to the first 3 or 5 or 10 times they try? Why is it ok to fail at quitting and not ok to fail at getting fit? People who try to quit smoking are trying to kick an addiction that affects brain chemistry... so are those trying to loose weight and get fit. Smoking is a habit and an addiction... Over eating is a habit and an addiction... not exercising is a habit and an addiction.
I'd like to submit the theory that it doesn't matter how many times you've tried and "failed" in your journey to health... because everytime we try we learn and we get closer and we make a difference if only for a short time... every cigarette you don't smoke adds 7 minutes to your life? I wonder what watching what you eat and exercising does for you even if only for a short while.
So ya fell off the wagon... so what? This shit is hard, its scary and a lot of times we need an emotional break from it all because somehow we have to learn to deal with the world and the people in it without all the food. But the bottom line hasn't changed. We are all worthy of the work, we still deserve the time and effort it takes to reach our goals... and yes, its still scary, and yes we may fall again... the falling isn't what defines us... its what happens next.
My goals haven't gone away... my plan hasn't disapeared... I'm still here, and I'm still worth working for.
so are you.
No change on the scale and while I have to admit to some not-so-mild annoyance and not-entirely-fleeting dissappointment I spent some time this morning reminding myself that I just jumped head-long into a pretty intesnse workout schedule so it's not surprising that my scale weight hasn't changed. Internal shifts are going on, and I'd rather see my muscle return to its once glorious state than worry about the scale's movement. (I shoulda taken measurements tho).
In any case, I am still on track and my workout today was pretty damned brutal... high volume on a leg workout is... uh... lets call it intense for lack of a stronger word.
Workout Accomplished:
1.2m jog on tm to warm up
Smith Squat - 15, 20, 25 @ 10lbs
Calf Raise - 15, 20, 25 @ 15lbs
Plie Squat (imagine there is an accent on that e) 20, 30, 40 @ 12#
Dead Lift - 25, 25, 25 @ 25#
Leg extension/walking lunge - 30/30, 30/30 (ext @15#)
stretch, poke, twist... off to the showers.
low weight, high volume... I was supposed to do one more set of the leg-extension/walking lunge superset, but I just didn't have it in me, my form was already suffering on the lunges, so I will add that in next week.
I'm going to catch a short run (probably 2 miles) before dragon boat practice (1 hour) tomorrow night... hopefully my legs will be up for it... if not, I will at least walk it... I know they'll need the help to work the soreness out.
Time to update fitday and get some lunch!
ouch.
lets recap, shal we:
fri: upper body workout.
sat: 2 hour dragon boat practice
sun: 1 hour dragon boat practice
mon: I'm giving myself the day off... recovery is needed. I hope to go for a run after work, but that will depend wholly on how I'm feeling at that point.
Sleep came suddenly last night and I don't believe I moved much until I woke this morning.
*sigh*
Its the good hurt, but man... fucking hell.
Saturday's practice was different than the last couple of weeks... we warmed up for a few minutes on the water paddling upstream and then we stopped and talked about race-starts, sprints, power strokes, and lots and lots of stuff that I had absolutely NO idea what meant... but it all became clear VERY quickly as we practiced starts over and over and over and did start sprints for 15, 30, 45 and 60 seconds over and over and over again.
There was quite a lot of rest/recovery between the sprints, but it was a whole different workout and quite an eye opener. Up till yesterday our practices had been endurance focused... paddling and paddling with little rest... 7 miles per workout... we didn't cover that kind of distance yesterday, but I think the sprint intervals were very intense and a very good workout in and of themselves.
unfortunately I let my food go to hell yesterday, but I'm not worried about it and I'm back on track today... I may just have to allow for Saturdays to be thoughtful-free days, but we'll see how it goes.
First practice in the big-boats today... 1 hour... probably a lot of sprinting and starting practices again... wish me luck!
Have I mentioned that I love cottage cheese.
Now maybe I'm a freak of nature, but I could potentially live on cottage cheese and fruit for years with zero complaints. I'm having cottage cheese with strawberries for lunch... the strawberries were a little tart so I've sprinkled about 1/2 a packet of splenda on top and its like a sundae only GOOD FOR ME... YIPPEE!!
Workout today was upper body again, tho that may have been a bad idea what with two dragon boat practices on deck for this weekend:
workout accomplished:
5min w/u tm.
Assisted p-u/pushup ss - 10/8/8
incline b-p/upright row ss - 15/15/15 @8#
shoulder press/lat-raise ss - 15/15/15 @3#
ez bar curl/ez bar french press ss - 15/15/15 (just the bar)
db curl/dip ss - 15/15/15 @5#
knee up (on bench) 2@20 reps, Flutter kick (on bench) 2@20 reps.
10 minute incline walk on TM - incline 5 speed 3.8mph.
This weekend should be FANTASTIC: Dragon Boat tomorrow morning at 9:30 (2m jog beforehand) till 11:30, No knitting class, but then Dragon Boat again on Sunday (first time in the ceremonial Koshang Boats) at 4pm... so if you add it up, I will have probably burned upwards of 5k calories this week. Add to that eating healty whole foods for the whole week and I imagine we'll se some scale movement next Tuesday...
For perspective I am going to use my starting weight from last Tuesday when I finally pulled my ass outta the funk... that weight was 173... it sucks, but I don't care... it's real and its where I'm starting from. I'd like to see a solid 2lb loss this week, but even if I don't, I don't care because it WILL come eventually and what I'm doing now is so much better for me than stuffing dingdongs down my throat and drinking half a bottle of wine every night.
;)
and YES, I had one krispy kreme donut this morning, and I've logged it in Fit-day and I'm adjusting for it today. Tada... life, without excess and without deprivation. HOORAY!!! (I'm sounding awfully proud of myself today aren't I? heh.)
workout accomplished:
5min w/u tm.
Assisted p-u/pushup ss - 10/8/6
incline b-p/upright row ss - 15/15/15 @8#
shoulder press/lat-raise ss - 15/15/15 @3# (damn its humbling to be doing presses with 3# weights when I was doing 30# db presses about a year ago)
ez bar curl/ez bar french press ss - 15/15/15 (just the bar)
db curl/dip ss - 15/15/15 @5#
1 mile run on tm...
I know I can't expect perfection, but I'm done wallowing in self pitty and depression... I'm done. period.
oh... and I have a dentist appointment in 2.5 hours... yippee!!
listenin to "girls" as I sit at my computer and contemplate the weightloss potential of puking every morning before going to work... (yes, it was that bad this morning).
Dragon Boating was again cold and wet and fabulous. I still ache in my mid/low back arms, shoulders and hammies. My sit-bones are noticeably LESS sore this week than they were last week, so perhaps my butt is toughening up already (we can always hope).
The last two weeks we've been going out in the "long" boats but starting this week we'll be doing practices in the big ornate Koshang boats which will be used for the actual Rose Festival races. They sit higher in the water and are about as hydrodynamic as a washtub. It is said that paddling them is not unlike trying to paddle a bathtub full of cement... hmmm...
Starting this week we jump up to 4 practices per week as well... Saturday 9:30-11:30a, Sunday 4-5p, Monday 7-8p, and Wednesday 8-9p. I will not be able to make the Monday practices, but I will be trying to make all of the rest... That's three honest workouts (resistance AND cardio all at once... yippeee!!!) per week dictated by dragonboating... now all I have to do is get my ass running again so I can pass the Personal Fitness Test which is required before the paddling teams for the races are chosen.
Weekend was good... last knitting class for now... Mother in-law was here playing with the boys and we had a great time watching them hunt for their little plastic eggs full of goodies for Easter. It really baffles me what ideas Val is getting about "God" these days... I know his dad is religious, but man... the stuff that comes out of this kids mouth scares me... he's not questioning anything they're telling him... just blindly accepting it, and it makes it SO clear to me how easy it is to influence a childs belief systems at this age. When he asks me questions about "God" I always try to give perspective and tell him he can believe what ever he wants, but that some people believe this and others believe this, but Momma and dad don't believe in "God" at all, and that's ok too.
Last thing I need is my kid trying to save me. *sigh*
Ok... that got off of fitness for a moment... I'm going for a run today DAMNIT... I AM!
baby steps...
1. Drink my water.
2. Get my ass moving.
3. Find somthing that motivates me.
4. Get my food in line with my goals.
5. Goto 1
This week has been fairly successfull on all accounts... I have been averaging 2.5-3 litres of water per day... my ass has moved no less than 3 times this week (walking 3+ miles per session, but hey... its somthing) and dragon boat practice is tomorrow... found dragon boating to be motivating me so far and I have done a very good job (except for Wednesday night when there was much wine, and pot du creme consumed) keeping my foods clean. I haven't been worrying about portion control right now because I went back and read my rant about just eating real food and realized I needed to take my own damned advice and so that's what I'm focusing on.
Now if I could just figure out where I added two stitches in the pattern of the blanket I'm knitting all would be right with the world.
OH... and if the Terri Schaivo case teaches you NOTHING ELSE let it motivate you to create a Living Will / Advanced Directive for your Medical Care AND a Durrable Power of Attorney assigning someone who KNOWS and AGREES WITH your wishes to make decisions on your behest in the case of somthing like this. I don't care how old you are... if you don't do this, someone may have to make these decisions for you and they may not decide to do what you would have wanted them to do.
Don't let yourself be the next Terri... just don't.
I wasn't prepared for my legs to be sore.
DW, April, Marya and I walked/jogged the waterfront esplanade loop (about 2.5 miles) before practice and then met at the marina... 9:30 am, its about 40 degrees... raining... miserable.
On the boat I'm placed near the back... right in front of the team captain and coach... he's an ex-marine special forces type... very intense, but also VERY motivational.
Zamboanga is a well-respected competative Dragonboating team... they don't just do Rose-Festival... they do races up and down the west coast thru the summer. They've come close to taking the rose-festival title several times, this year they are intent on it. DW is the tiller, Marya is learning to be the caller... I just got in the boat and rowed.
and rowed.
and rowed.
and
rowed.
Alvin (captain) showed me how to sit and brace my hip on the side of the boat... how to angle my body and get the oar DEEP in the water. We rowed from the marina past the Sellwood bridge and back... according to the GPS - nearly 7 miles total. We were on the water for nearly 2 hours. I wasn't cold for a second.
Then we got off the water.
I couldn't lift my arms, my legs were sore and throbbing, but my @SS was the worst of all. Sitting on a fiberglass bench for 2 hours whilst rocking back and forth with your upper body to row and row and row can do a number on your sit-bones... and the soft tissues that surround them. YEOWCH!
Coffee, cinnimon apple french toast, a hair cut and a knitting class later I finally got home. Knitting was FANTASTIC. I've never taken a class before, but in 2 hours I learned more than I have in the last 8 months I've been knitting. The teacher was impressed that I'd only learned to knit
