I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions, probably because in the past I knew I wouldn't stick to them. So why even set myself up for failure? I'm not necessarily going to make resolutions Jan 1st this year either. I already vowed to myself months ago that I am changing my life. I will though restate what this new life and new year will mean for me, and what I am leaving behind in 2011.
2011 will be the last year:
...I was a lazy couch potatoe
...I dreaded clothes shopping, mainly because plus size clothing isn't that cute, and nothing fit right anyway.
...tying my own shoes was too hard, so I just didn't wear shoes with laces.. including tennis shoes for working out.
...I start something, and don't finish.
...I miss out on any fun adventure because my size held me back (or again, I was too lazy)
...my husband was smaller than me.
...I make excuses for everything.
What does 2012 mean to me?
-I'll be able to enjoy my children's childhood with them to the fullest.
-I'll look forward to going to the beach, and wearing a swim suit.
-I'll get off the couch/chair/bed and get MY OWN things, instead of asking my too-willing husband to do it for me.
-Wear tennis shoes more often... This I already do though, because I CAN BEND OVER and tie them without getting out of breathe, HURRAY for boot camp!
-Exercise will be more of a daily routine, it will be part of my life like it has begun to be these last few months at camp.
-Accomplish things I never thought I could.
-NEVER give up. NEVER quit. I've always been a quitter, so this year...no more of that.
So a lot of these things I've already been experiencing since I started boot camp a few months ago, but I will continue to push to be healthy and strong and ALIVE.
Last night boot camp resumed and it was awesome. The workout was so good it flared up my asthma a little! When we were done I wanted nothing more than to take a shower and go to bed. Today I get to do it again. I LOVE LOVE LOVE working out now, never thought I'd say that, but I do.
Yesterday while at camp during one of our stations it was me, Carmen and Jessica all on the same wall. It felt like we were in one of those chick flick movies where all the friends go to the gym together. It's so much fun working out with friends, like we're in this together. I feel like I have so much support from them and everyone else too. I loved hearing Carmen on the other end of the monster rope yelling at me to pick up the speed, or just to do it already. It's so encouraging and I'm just reminded that having your peers around you makes it all the better, and more fun. We laugh at each other all the time, it takes away the pain of Curtis' drills for a few seconds at a time.
Anyway... Sorry for the humungo break in my blogging. If you've been checking for updates and have been disappointed, I apologize. Now that the holidays are over I don't feel so swamped and can actually muster up enough brain power to write something.
Happy (almost) New Year... it's going to be a good one!
***I know I'm realllllly late on a blog post, a real one is coming soon, promise.***
I just saw a commercial for this toy and I had to laugh. The message it gives to kids can be a little disturbing depending on how it's interpreted, but without too much thought given.. it's pretty funny.
A few weeks it go it got really cold around here. I was so excited, I love cold weather. Then suddenly the cold vanished. I'd come to camp dressed warm for the nightly workout and it was HOT. I said before that I was tempted to take off my over shirt, but didn't. FINALLY last night, it was sort of freezing. At camp everyone huddle indoors to brace themselves from the cold wind and rain. It got a little crowded for me so I went out side. Once we got moving the chilly breeze felt so good. I needed the breeze, last night's workout was so hard!
I'm not sure if it was the forty second intervals or the new choppers we did that really got me spent. Picture Paul Bunyan, or the Brawny man chopping wood on the side of him. We weren't chopping straight down in front of us, we did it with a pivot. Basically our cores were being ripped apart, love-handles- buhbye. I'm sure I can speak for a few people that they feel the same way. I don't think I've ever worked the muscles triggered at that station. Feels pretty good!
I haven't had breakfast yet, wanted to get in my blog post before the kids woke up...which means I'd have to write 2 sentences at a time and take like 2 hours to get the whole thing done, parents-- you know what I mean right? I bought a few grapefruits, Ruby Reds-my favorites, and I saw a tip online to make them even MORE delicious. BROILED. Never thought of it. I guess you just cut them in half and pop them under the heat for a few minutes and the flavors and juices carmelize into deliciousness. That'll be next.
TRX Saturday is coming up, pretty excited since I've missed the last few TRX's sessions with Rachelle.
Speaking of Rachelle, she went to Chipotle the other day and had a pretty healthy meal. I was, I dont' know, ecstatic? I love Chipotle, LOVE. Like it's my favorite place to eat on the planet probably. I haven't had anything from there though for over 3 months, since before I started camp. I've been avoiding it like the plague. I always got a burrito, or bowl with extra rice. Yea extra rice. Didn't get any beans, the rest of the stuff was good, but not the tortilla or amount of rice lol! So Rachelle explained that of course I could go to Chipotle, just do it right. She got a steak salad, hold the rice, some black beans, veggies etc... YUM. Now that I know I can have it, I think I'll still wait and make it a treat for after the holidays, IF I beat my measurements. So it's not about cheating, I can make it a treat, a reward. I might need a friend to join me when I go though, just to keep me in check so I don't go back to my old ways of piling on the rice and sour cream. BAH! What was I thinking?!
Wow it's been SO long since I've blogged! Sorry if you've been checking only to find nothing new. It's been super busy around these parts.
After the sickness left our house I was able to finally make it back to camp (after a whole missed week) last Wednesday. It was extra special for me because my husband was there to join me. I was excited for him to see what I get the pleasure of doing 4-5 times a week. The beat downs I love and hate at the same time. I remember posting on the RSBC Facebook page for Curtis to make it an extra tough one, just to be sure Joel really had a good time. Lovely wife, aren't I? Yes. Anyway, he really liked it. He gave me props when we got home, not that he wasn't already proud of me, he was even more proud after he experience it for himself. He had AWFUL form.. Like... reallllyy bad. I had to laugh at him, just a little bit though, because I was there when I started. My first day I probably looked just as ridiculous. Maybe it's because he appears to be fit, tall, skinny.. etc. Skinny does NOT equal fit. I told him when we got home that he needed to work on his form before he hurts himself and I think he is interested in trying. At least at home with me. He was sore for days... 5 to be exact. I give him a hard time, but I was so proud of him and loved working out with him.
The next day was Thanksgiving, and the second annual RSBC Turkey morning workout. I took pictures of the event, You can see those here if you are interested. It was a huge turn out with 100+ campers and their families. Working out that morning gave campers a free pass at stuffing their faces. It was earned.
I didn't stuff my face though :) Thursday I had dinner at my in-laws house. I had a healthy portion, no seconds, and a piece of pie. Friday was dinner at my parents house. They don't cook as healthy as my husband's parents, so even though it was a holiday and I COULD'VE gone buck wild with the food, still I controlled myself. I started off with a HUGE helping of salad, like 2/3 of my plate full of salad. Ate that first, ate slowly, then proceeded to the rest of my meal. My sister made these amazing little turkey smokey things wrapped in turkey bacon and baked. I doubt they were nitrate free but omg were they good. I had a few of those. Small helpings of turkey, stuffing, potatoes. And then PIE. Yummy, delicious, creamy pie. Just a small sliver of each (3) to equal one regular size. It was sooo good.
I'm pretty proud of myself. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the food, but more importantly I love getting all my family together. It's fun and chaotic. I normally would get so full from multiple helpings of food that I felt sick. Go into a food coma on the couch afterwards, etc. This time I didn't. I think I actually left both places hungry! Imagine that. I guess I just didn't care about the consequences in the past. Now I do.
So while I did eat food I normally shouldn't (stuffing, potatoes, pie), overall I didn't do too bad.
Next was Black Friday. One year (before children obviously) my husband and I camped out over night at Best Buy. I don't even think we bought anything great, but it was an experience. Since then, we'd scout the papers, see if there is anything that's a good deal, but don't need to start waiting in line at 10pm the night before for. For the past 2 years we've gone to Babies R Us to get their baby wipes door buster. A box of wipes for $5! That's like.. 50% off. Having 2 babies in diapers, that's a big deal. You can only buy 3 boxes though. The plan was for both of us to go, each get 3. Joel had to work so I had to go by myself. With both kids. Got my 3, ran to Target.. they didn't have my frames I wanted, went to the other BRU for 3 more boxes, they were sold out, went to the other Target for frames-- sold out.. hmpf. So 3 hours of in and out of stores, each time hauling both girls in and out of their car seats, into the stroller or shopping cart. I was exhausted and only got 3 boxes of wipes out of it! Disappointing.
It was a good workout though. I was sweating when I got home.
What's next... trying to remember the whole last week... Oh then it was the weekend. We hung our Christmas lights on the house, and put up out tree :)
Monday, I had to miss camp. It seems like I always miss Mondays. They're so hard to get anything done. Especially right now. It's busy season for me, so work-wise I'm swamped.
Don't fret- just because I miss camp, doesn't mean I don't get a good burn in during the day. It's much more boring, but I still do it. I'll hop on the elliptical for 20 minutes of cardio, then pop in Jillian's 30 day shred, which is another 20 minutes. It's pretty similar to boot camp, just again, boring. I love the group atmosphere.
AND I've missed my RSBC friends!
Tonight I was back. YAY. Got to see a few people. A few of them said I was looking thinner, thank you! Carmen said I was "looking little". I laughed because the last time I was little, I was a baby. It felt good to hear though. I'm getting there.
Today's camp was intense. I loved being back. It took me like 5 minutes after we were done just to catch my breath enough to put my mat and weights back! Time to pull it together, get back on the camp train. Hopefully no one around here gets sick again. I feel like I've missed so much camp lately and it actually bothers me. So referencing my post title:
Better Late Than Never.
Curtis said it near the end of camp tonight. I don't know why but it just stuck with me and I thought right there "That's my blog post tonight". I started reflecting at that moment.
I was late to camp today by a few minutes, but I still made it. I'm late, in life, at working out. Late at being healthy. Late at being the HAPPIEST I CAN be. Late at loving myself to the fullest.
It really is better to be late than nothing at all. I can't afford 'never'. The time is now, even if I'm a little behind.
Just like John Mellencamp said. I love feeling some soreness after a good workout, reminds me that I actually DID something!
So WOW. The past few days have be ca-ray-zy! I didn't even blog about last Thursday because my mind was so occupied with my daughter's upcoming 2nd birthday party. I had SOO much prep to do. I actually don't even remember Thursday and Friday......... Wait... just came to me, Thursday at boot camp we had a special guest representing the Special Olympics in for a good motivational pep talk. I photographed that.. more on that later.
Before I get too far, a few of you have been begging me for an updated pic. I promised that since on the 12th we were taking measurements and 'before' pictures, I'd update that day.. well, as above stated, I've been so busy basically last weekend is a blur. I look absolutely freakin' HORRID in my 'before' pics that we took on Saturday, which is another reason I didn't post it. So today I was having another one of those "Skinny Days" and felt pretty good so I had the hubster snap a quick one of me before heading off to camp. Here is my progression thus far since the beginning in June, til now Week 21. I've lost 11 inches around my waist, BOOYA!
Week 21 overall, Week 10 at boot camp.
My husband decided he needed to be sitting down while taking the picture, so looking up at my chin(s) isn't very flattering. But I digress.
So that's that. Moving on.
As I said on Thursday we had a special guest come to camp and give us all a little pep talk. He spoke about teamwork and determination. After watching him complete one of the hardest sessions I've done at camp, I was so impressed and definitely motivated. He was so kind and inspiring, made me want to work so much harder. Here are a few images from that day. Dakota was such a trooper!
I know the stamp say Rock Star BC, but I can use these images, since I am the photographer :)
Friday-- blur. Crazy prepping/cleaning for the party. Nothing exciting here.
Saturday was measurements, pictures and then an INSANE, INSANE Trx session with Rachelle. OMG. I felt that workout for days, actually... I think I felt it up until yesterday. We did these TRX Saws and Pendulums that rocked my world. Rachelle said we'd do 3 cycles, 12 rounds each. Then she said to do some "practice saws/pendulums" before we started so we knew what we were doing. "WHAT THE..?!" Is what I said.. during the PRACTICE round. And she thinks we're doing three rounds of these? psssh.
I lasted 1.5 rounds. Imagine if I could've done the whole three, I'd still be in pain I'm sure!
Here are the pendulums.
The saws:
So yea.. crazy. But SOO good.
I whined like a little baby all day Saturday and Sunday while I prepped the food for the party (Sunday afternoon). I home-made my chicken marinade, it had to be cooked before hand so that was Saturday. Then I made 2 different kinds of salsa, that had to be made Sat. also so the flavors would be right for the next day. I moaned and groaned while chopping, my lats were on FIRE. I even contemplated taking some Tylenol to get through the pain so I could keeping working. I'm not big on OTC pills or medication, so I just complained through the pain instead. :) Betcha would've loved being in my house that day! My poor husband. At least I had a good reason!
Sunday winds around, still haven't rested. I've been preparing for this party for forever mentally. Physically, I prepared by working out enough last week to earn myself a treat. The cake. I planned on having a piece of cake at my daughters party no matter what. I think I deserved it. Curtis says to "earn your cheat day." I worked out 6 times last week! I earned it. I didn't use my cheat for the whole day though. I served all sorts of food, most fresh and healthy, some not like hotdogs and chips.. Proudly though, I didn't have any of that. I snacked on lots of celery and carrots, greek yogurt ranch dip, my grilled chicken, more celery.
When it was finally my turn to sit down and enjoy myself, I also enjoyed my piece of cake. yummmm. Ask Jessica if you don't believe me. It was 'moan out loud' delicious. I had a hard time concentrating on the story she was telling me because I was falling in love with the rare treat in my hands. I savored it like you wouldn't even believe. Probably because I knew it would be a long time until I had another piece. I probably wont have cake again until my Selah's (my 6 month old) birthday in May. So you can bet I was a little involved in my plate. It's a beauty, look at this thing! and No, I didn't make it.
If you're interested in your own cake, obviously doesn't have to be Strawberry Shortcake theme, let me know and I will send you contact information. The lady is a local girl and not only are her cakes GORGEOUS, they taste amazing and PERFECT for any party requiring a cake :)
Here is the birthday girl herself. She hogged all the balloons. It was her party after all :)
Monday, I took the day off. I didn't feel guilty, I needed and deserved the rest. I had major damage control to do after the hurricane of children left my house. Clean up is the worst part of any party. After clean up, I did nothing. I finished up some work on the computer, but when that was done, I just chillaxed. WHEW. FINALLY a chance to breath!
Tonight-- back to the grind again. Boot camp was awesome, got in a great sweat. Why is it so warm out? I was so hot in my long sleeve shirt, I just about had to strip down. I wouldn't do that to the other campers though, no worries!
I'm excited about the week. With the party done and over, I can focus my mind on my weight loss again. Even though the holidays are right around the corner... Story of my life, there's always something 'right around the corner'. Just the way the cookie crumbles I guess. Now I'm off to eat some veggies.
Wow am I exhausted! Last night was my 4th workout this week, today will be my 5th and that still leaves TRX on Saturday. It's more exhausting just thinking about the rest of the week too lol!
I've got a crazy weekend ahead of me, I don't even see any relaxing in my near future. My daughter's 2nd birthday party is on Sunday. A huge BBQ, lots of people, lots of little kids. I've got so much prep to do!
Last night I went to camp ready to bust a move like every other day and during warm up my tail bone started hurting when I would jump. ouch. I wondered why? I thought maybe I needed to pop something, do some twists. No that wasn't it. If I ran, shuffled, jacked.. anything with impact, my tailbone hurt. So I needed to modify basically the entire night, since it was a cardio day, I knew it would be full of high running, jumping etc. Curtis said we could hit the ropes if we ever needed to switch something up. So I started there since the first round was TRX jump squats. A whole round of ropes. 10w/10r x 10 rounds. YOWZA. Then moved on to throwing the medicine ball side ways the shuffling to get it.. I couldn't shuffle either, so I modified to side slams. The next station didn't hurt to bad, it was sprinting forward then back pedaling about 5 yards or so. As long as I wasn't pounding the cement I was okay. Next came bear crawls. I tried it, figured it's no impact so it should be okay. I was wrong. You put a lot of pressure on your back during a bear crawl and it felt like my tail bone was shattering.
Off to the ropes again.
The cycle repeated a few times. I visited the ropes a few times more. One of the rounds I decided to try the jump squats and just pop up on my toes. That wasn't too bad so I did that for the last few cycles. So I tried everything and if I needed to modify I'd go on the ropes... which was a lot.
Midway through the night, I figured out why my tailbone was hurting. Earlier yesterday I tripped over one of my daughter's toys laying on the living room floor. I was so mad especially since I had JUST cleaned up the toys and didn't expect anything to be there when I walked back out of baby girl's room. Apparently my 2 year old doesn't think toys should go in the toy room. hmphf.
Sooooo..that was that. I went home, ate some great lentil soup. I had a dream last night that I lost 14 pounds. HA. If only that were true. I'll get there eventually I guess.
Tuesdays are definitely my favorite camp days. They're also my husband's day off so I'm able to go to camp twice a day. I went this morning at 9:15am and again tonight at 6:30. Oy... the workouts were brutal, but yet again I obviously loved it since I went back for more. This morning the dumb-bells I chose were 10 lbs. They were good, but I could've done more so tonight I went for the 12 lb'ers. With the muscle fatigue I had from this morning behind me tonight, the 12's were definitely enough. I don't think I'm going back to the 10's :)
Back in the day (9 weeks ago lol) I could NOT do a mountain climber. I literally could not lift one leg forward without falling down. Today I am pleased and so proud to announce that not only can I do the full on mountain climbers, fast and for the full round without dropping, I can do them with RESISTANCE BANDS!! Can you believe it?! Remember this video?
I'm not a gloater and don't like to brag (much, teehee) but I very proud of myself. I've been strutting around the house with my nose high "I can do mountain climbers, neh ner neh ner neeehh nerr!" Who do I have at home to brag to like it's a competition? Not my 2 year old lol, and definitely not my 5 month old! I'm just happy for myself and I feel like yelling it to the world! There is absolutely no telling what the future holds :)
Hey ladies, wanna know a good way to get rid of cramps? Get your work out on. It doesn't make them feel better, but usually the rest of your body aching draws the attention away lol.
Tomorrow I'm thinking of taking the kids to the park, maybe walking around the mall for a few hours, just getting out. I love being more active, having more energy. I can actually experience my children's childhood WITH them, versus standing (or sitting) on the sidelines watching them have fun without me. My husband and I finally put dates on our vacation next year to Sea World. It's one of our favorite places ever. Just knowing that I'll have the energy to walk around the park all day long, walking up the bleacher stands, running with them on the beach... it's so motivating to keep up with what I've been doing. They're truly my inspiration.
For those asking for an updated picture, I know I'm so far behind. At camp we're doing a "before" picture and taking measurements this Saturday the 12th so I'll use that picture as my update and my new before for the fat buster program. Stay tuned for that, no excuses why I haven't put it up after that since everyone will be getting a pic!
Okay another thing, you're probably sick of me talking about this kale salad that Allison gave me the recipe for but I'm pretty much obsessed with kale now. It's my new favorite green leafy veggie and I just can NOT get enough. Can I eat too much kale? If so, someone best tell me quick because I'm like a stinkin' rabbit with it. I had to stop at the store on the way home from camp tonight to get some more. I'm making something different, but it's still with kale. I'll mix it with Romaine lettuce, the delicious dressing that came with the kale salad recipe, OH and I'm topping it with some tuna. I get the good tuna (expensive too) so I'm pretty excited about it.
I need to go clothes shopping, my pants are too big, and I've seriously never had that issue before :)
I haven't had many 'skinny days', but have far too many 'fat days'. Not just in literal size, but the feeling. Looking in the mirror and seeing myself bloated and.. just not being happy with myself. A few times over the course of 9 weeks that I've been at boot camp, I've had a few "skinny days". Today was one of them. I woke up this morning and my pants felt a little loose, I knew they were far too big when I put my cell phone in my pocket and they just about fell down to my ankles! I went and weighed myself, stupid scale. I think I'm finally going to get a new one that will give a full reading. I know it's wrong because I'll step on, it'll give me one number, then I'll get off and repeat and it's completely different number, usually about 5 lb difference. I want to measure body fat % so I think I'll get a nifty one.
Anyway, the scale is not my friend, but my pants fell down, so something is happening for sure!
Then I looked in the mirror and said "huh.." turned to the side, turned to the front again.. asked my husband, "Does my stomach actually look smaller to you? or is it just me" Being the good man that he is, of COURSE he told me I looked smaller, he's smart. But no really, my stomach felt "flatter" not bloated at all, less flabby. (am I giving you a mental image yet? LOL!) My face looked a little skinnier too, and my butt.. well, I can't tell but my husband, yet again with a smart answer, said it's getting pretty toned.. okay, Honey.
So I felt good all day. I love having to tighten the drawstrings of stretchy pants. I always thought they were stupid for being put in them. Why would you tighten pants made to stretch? I had to tighten my workout pants too at camp! Curtis got in some new t-shirts and hoodies with the camp logo on them, I've been waiting for one to represent! so I'm glad I finally got one. It's a long sleeve, just in time too. I was able to fit in a size smaller than I thought, but still ended up going with the large size so I'm comfortable while working out and have a little wiggle room.
Cardio Monday was awesome. I got those pains in my side that I haven't gotten since week one. Curtis said when that happens I should scale it back a notch. So I take it that that means I was working my tale pretty hard :)
Finished up with an amazing dinner.. the kale salad I posted about last week. I had a huge helping and added in some roasted chicken and pears. Definitely a new favorite of mine. Now it's movie time with the hubs before bed.
Lovely day! Thank you to all my friends, family and supports. Your encouragement really means a lot to me and a few words really do go a long way.
I just read an article that explained what actually is IN the infamous, limited time only McRib Sandwich from McDonald's. It's revolting, disgusting, vomitrocious....
"Reportedly the sandwich's ingredients include "a flour-bleaching agent used to make the soles of shoes... and foamed plastics like gym mats."
^^That isn't even the worst part. No thank you, I do not want to eat my gym mat. Read more about it's atrociousness here. Hopefully if you are a "McRib Follower" you will change your mind. Save yourselves people, do NOT eat this crap!
Wow, It's Friday already! I'm finally able to get some time to blog about yesterday. Busy busy busy. Last night's work out was super hard. I felt really challenged and today I'm feeling the fruits of my labor lol. We started off with the typical warm up: running in place, a few squats, body weight bent over rows which basically are lifting your arms out down and up, like a T-Y-I, push ups and of course some good old mountain climbers. Then Curtis graced us with "call it an extended warm up" and threw in a Mitochondria Push up challenge. A little clip about Mitochondria since I'm no expert, taken from this site:
"Definition Mitochondria and Their Importance to the Metabolic Rate
Mitochondria are little organelles present within all cells of the human body. Mitochondria are often referred to as the “powerhouse of the cell” because they are responsible for producing most energy from food elements. They also contain all of the enzymes associated with aerobic energy production. These organelles are an important part of the metabolism because they control fat burning that occurs at low levels of exertion. The aerobic oxidation forms a large part of our basal metabolic rate so any increase in mitochondrial mass will help raise the metabolism."
So for this we did the 4 second push up... yowza. 2 seconds down, 2 seconds up. 60seconds of WORK and 60 seconds of rest...Slowing it down REALLY forces you to concentrate on your strength. You can't just use the force of gravity to thrust yourself up or down. Can I just say that these are like...10x harder than doing regular push ups? geez.
I could barely do them, I stopped several times, almost fell on my face several times... after the second round (out of 3) I went up to a tire, still could barely do them. I think for those I need to be on a wall.
Last night was killer.. I think I said that already, but it was seriously so hard. I was grunting and making all sorts of noise... sorry to my neighbors if you had to listen to me all night while Curtis was trying to kill us!
For the main workout: ESCALATING DENSITY. What's that? Basically starting out working and resting for equal amount of time, and then escalating your work, while decreasing your rest. Our cycles were like this:
For each of those cycles we did 5 different exercises. 5x4= 20 total rounds. blech.
1. Staggered Squat Left (loaded with weights or not, I loaded with one 10 pounder)
2. Staggered Squat Right
3. Bent Over Rows <--- my shoulders are loving that one!
4. Sumo Squat with overhead press <----thighs are loving THAT one!
5. Mountain Climbers OR if you're extra feisty, at the half way point switching to Mountain Jumps... I wont even go there.
So each of those five we'd run through the 30/30, 40/20 etc. The last round, 50/10 was my most verbal round. At the end I pretty much collapsed on my mat and didn't move for a few minutes. Curtis succeeding in kicking my butt no doubt. I wouldn't have had it any other way.
After camp I had my hubby grab me a glass of my post workout drink then picked him and the kids up and headed to the grocery store. I wanted to try a Kale and Brussel Sprout salad that another camper, Allison, had mentioned before. I've never eaten either of them and was scared I'd really hate it. The first few bites I wasn't too thrilled. It wasn't BAD, just not amazing. Then I started getting a few of the toasted sunflower seeds on my fork that had been dressed in the homemade dressing I made... it slowly started getting better and better. By the end of my bowl, I think I fell in love. It was so delicious. Maybe it was an acquired taste or something, but I definitely acquired it! Thanks again Allison for the recipe, having more options means I have more chances to fuel my body correctly.
I pushed the double stroller out of the store and took off running. Elika screamed "WEEEEEE!!!!" and my husband screamed "Where are you GOING?!" He parked in the very first spot closest to the door but I took off and ran down a whole row of cars and back up to him at the car. I use to nag at him for parking so far away from the door because "look how far we have to walk now!"... LA-ZY! So last night he looked bewildered at me and said, "What has gotten IN to YOU!?!"
Rock Star has...
Then he told me to run the cart back to the well in front of the store. So I did. And that was that. I feel amazing!
Well not really a long week since it's only Wednesday, but it seems like so long because I haven't been to Rock Star Boot Camp (RSBC) since last Thursday for boot camp Friday. You already know that I had to miss TRX Saturday since I posted about that in my last blog. I also missed Monday to be with my kids, and Tuesday my dad had some truck issues or something I needed to bring him to his warehouse to sort out. I left with plenty of time to get to camp, but then got caught behind a major serious accident literally one blog away. It's like seeing it so close, but yet so far out of reach.
Monday was Halloween, obviously.. I dressed my daughter in a mermaid costume that I made myself (squee!!) and I made one for her cousin to wear as well. They were the CUTEST little mermaids that ever walked the land. My youngest baby was a little kitty. She slept the entire time we were trick-or-treating, this year wasn't much for her.
Anyway, my oldest will be 2 two weeks from today and she's never had a piece of candy. Not even one. She did have fun holding out her bucket and saying her version of "trick-or treat" which was "see-yo, see-yo". She's so cute. She loved getting treats in her bucket, even though she wanted nothing to do with them, YAY for her! It was so much fun seeing all the little kids dressed up in their cuteness, meeting new people. I didn't splurge on eating candy though like every other year. I actually don't like too much candy, I'd prefer not to have cavaties thank you! I got soooo much of it though, I think I'm going to have to give it away at Elika's birthday party in a few weeks. Actually that just reminded me that a fellow camper and friend's husband is deployed, serving in the US Army and they missed out on treats, so RSBC is putting together a big box of all the candy we SHOULDN'T be eating to ship to his unit. They'll really enjoy that I bet!
Tonight was the typical "Kill a friend Wednesday" but Curtis decided to call it "kill your partner cardio thunder band day". That basically sums it up to a TEE. We used these wonderful "teal spaghetti" tension bands:
and then proceeded with some crazy partner madness. The band was around our hips, while one person was working, the other served as our tension anchor, pulling back on us creating resistance. We weren't just doing jumping jacks, we were doing jacks while working against a force drawing us back.
30s of work, 5s of rest
5 different stations x 5 cycles.
1. Stationary Sprints
2. Jumping Jacks (killer on the calves and shins!)
3. Full body extensions, jumping if you can at the top
4. Back/Forward pedaling, 2steps back- 2 forward.
5. Side shuffles.
YOWZA!
I highly suggest NOT going a week in between HIIT sessions at RSBC. Seriously. It's such a beyotch getting back into it. My feet hurt, my back hurts, calves, knees... just about everything. BUT I will say that all this "rest" seems to have given my body time to recuperate and I "lost" a few more pounds. I say that in quotes because I've said before that my scale has mood swings. It works sometimes, then it doesn't.
Rachelle has scheduled a before and after measurement dealio to take place 11/12. We're going to take our measurements of our "before" selves and then start on the Rock Star Boot Camp Holiday Fat Buster! Sounds like fun. I can't wait to beat the crap out of my fat and NOT go all crazy with the holiday foods coming up. I'm not exactly sure when we're going to do another measurement to see our progress, but I love that I'll be able to document the changes I'm making with other campers, and see their success as well! YAY.
I'm so glad to be back at camp. Too bad it's the weekend soon.
One last tidbit:
My cucumber salad/salsa was featured in a good friends blog across the country. She's on the east coast, so we're going international :) WOOT. Jk, not that big of a deal. But check out her post here on The Half-baked Housewife. She is hilarious and has some great stuff on her site!
Whoops I totally forgot that I hadn't blogged yet about boot camp Friday, for some reason I thought I had, then NOT blogging about TRX Saturday today reminded me. So Yea, I've been slacking here, sorry!
I didn't get to go to TRX Saturday today, the hubs work schedule changed last minute and supposedly he told me (he didn't). If he did, I wouldn't have signed up for TRX, dur.
Anyway. Thursday finished up the week at Rock Star.. we went out with a bang. I think I was ready to just about collapse but I knew if I did that, I might not be able to get back up. It was such a tough workout for me. Probably because it included TRX pull ups. I hate pull ups. I can't do them. I tried and tried and tried and maybe I didn't have my footing right or something but I seriously struggled. I mean obviously pull ups are hard for anyone, but maybe having so much weight on myself makes it even harder for me. I didn't enjoy them at all. I guess I should probably ask Curtis about my form just to make sure it's a lack of strength thing.
On top of that we did some Squat Jacks. When Curtis was explaining them I swear he sounded like an infomercial lol! "It's like a Squat, plus a Jumping Jack, ALL IN ONE!!" Oh goodie. We all know any kind of Jack sucks for the girls. He also said for some people, if they're up to it, to try the knew variation that another camper came up with, which included a heal click at the top of the jack instead of just bringing your feet together. I just laughed at that option...maybe someday.
Going back to the beginning of the night, we "warmed up". Warm up usually is a run down of each exercise we'll be doing during the session.. usually like 30s to a minute each, lots of running in place.. etc. Well this warm up was much more than that. It was full of some lovely Isometric Holds. I wrote about those the first time I did them here. Then the next day we did some more of them, with pictures added here. Anyway, It went like this:
10s work, 3s (YES ONLY THREE!) of rest, 6 rounds each before moving to the next station.
1. Mountain Climbers, yes you're not really holding still, but still holding a pillar and moving your legs.
2. Side Pillar Left
3. Side Pillar Right
4. Lateral Lunges, alternating sides each round
5. Double Leg Hip extensions.
May I remind you, this was the WARM UP!
Then we really got busy.
40s work, 20s rest.. visit each station 2x
1. TRX Pull ups
2. Side-by-side w/ pivot medicine ball slams
3. Push Ups elevators.. going from push up pillar on your hands, down to your elbows, back up to your hands, lather rinse repeat.
4. Lateral Lunges
5. Squat Jacks
Oh wait, we're not even done yet. For the finisher, Curtis gave us a wonderful 2 minutes of non-stop BURPEES. I think I should name this week Burpee Week. I feel like we've done a billion burpees this week. Oh well, they're delicious.
What an amazing week. Don't eat too much candy everyone! Happy Halloween!
I'm a little late on my blog post, I usually write at night after I get my kids in bed but by the time I had a minute to sit down last night it was almost 11pm and I needed to go to sleep before delirium set in.
So last night's boot camp was FUN. We did a lot of kicking KA-CHOW! lol I did feel like a ninja a few times. We were jumping over fire (imaginary of course) to train for the Spartan Race, that I'm not doing, side kicking, front kicking, speed skating.
It kind of reminded me of Tae Bo, but way cooler. I'm definitely feeling the sore-ness in my legs. My hips were on fire last night from all the thrust kicking. Near the end I had to picture someone coming at me and I had to defend myself by kicking them away, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to finish the round!!
I've met lots of new people lately now that more people have started. I really love the group environment of Rock Star, seeing the same people every night. You make friends that support you and that is so important to be successful, at least for me. I find that surrounding myself with positive people with similar goals makes me feel more confident in my ability to succeed. Curtis always writes the best quotes and inspiration on the Rock Star Facebook page. It's usually exactly what I need to hear in the moment. One that really stuck with me is:
"Share your goals with the RIGHT people - the ones who will encourage you, motivate you, and connect you with others who will move you forward towards your goals and dreams. And constantly take action - one step (baby or giant, doesn't matter) every day closer to your goals and dreams."
More fun stuff: Curtis was going on about what food is good for you, and not good for you. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups eaten frequently are NOT going to get the fat off your booty. BEER is also not a friend to fat-loss. They're enemies, and in a battle, the beer gut will win. He gets all riled up, "NO BEER!!!" And then another camper, Elizabeth, totally called out her friend that she brought along to "Kill-a-Friend Wednesday" and had Curtis come take a look. He had on some awesome socks. What do you think Curtis thought about them?
Pretty funny. Last night I made this awesome cucumber concoction. I posted it about it on the Honey, I Shrunk My Butt Facebook page, check it out. The "recipe" is in the description. It's healthy, quick, and an amazing topper to just about anything.
Today is boot camp Friday, can't wait for tonight's session!
Ahhhh the rain felt sooo nice tonight didn't it? Too bad I couldn't enjoy too much of it since we had to move the camp indoors again. It wasn't as hot as Bikram Boot Camp, maybe a little more crowded, but still delicious.
Tuesdays of course are strength days, my favorite. They almost always result in SWS and/or TSS. Because of the lightning and rain and having to move indoors, we had a little bit of a spacial issue so we had to modify what was planned. No TRX rows, booooo I love TRX. I did a few rows since I happened to be at one of the stations but only one round since no one else was doing them, I felt awkward. We also couldn't break into groups like usual since we were all split up into two different warehouse rooms. Thankfully Rachelle, our other super cool TRX certified trainer ;) was present at camp tonight so she could lead the separated group ;)
45s of work, 15s of rest
4 cycles x 5 exercises
1. High-pulls with dumb bells (DB) (would've been the TRX rows)
2. Squats holding DB tucked in at the waist, DB under the chin (like a microphone), left hand.
3. Same as above, but DB in the right hand.
4. Push ups
5. Walking Lunges
mmmmm Delicious.
Next was the Rock Star Gun Show. I laughed a few times at Curtis doing his gun show impression, asking if we had our tickets to the show saying "UH! Look at those GUNS! Yea baby, GUN SHOW, UH!" All while flexing his arms (guns) old school style. ha ha ha.. It was hilarious. Anyways
We did some pivot curls, the "skull crusher", then stationary sprints.
The skull crusher was frightening when I read it on the white board itinerary. It's not suppose to be literal but I guess a morning camper bonked herself in the head with her DB. Basically on your back in a double leg hip extension, raise a DB over and behind your head, down and up. I felt it buuurrrnnn in my triceps and of course the hip extension works wonders on your core.We repeated that set of 3 stations 4 times for a total of 12 rounds.
Glorious day. Surprisly it's relaxing. Not during the actual session, that'd make no sense. But after we finish I feel like I've totally lightened my load of all the stresses throughout the day that pile up. I can breathe, I'm calm... it's like therapy!
Then I go back home to the madness that is the life of a mommy. Both kids demanding to be fed, held, tickled, etc. I ate probably the best cucumber I've ever had in my life dipped in some Greek yogurt. Teriyaki marinated chicken breast, steamed spinach... so good.
I love what I am doing for myself and my family. They need me to be healthy so I can play with them, run with them on the beach on vacation, swim with them in the summer and not sit out because I'm too fat to get into a suit, jump on a trampoline with them without catapulting them into space, you know.. the good stuff.
TGIM! I guess a bajillion people must've signed up to start camp today because it was PACKED. I couldn't even get into the parking lot without waiting in line and I thought I'd end up being late so I parked out front and jogged around. It's amazing to see so many people interested in what Rock Star is all about.
Today's session was called "Game Day Cardio." I grunted right away since I don't like football lol. There was a lot of writing on the white board so I just waited for Curtis to do the good ole warmup run-down. It was juicy. The menu for tonight was all types of stuffs:
Station 1-- 30 seconds work/ 30 seconds rest -side shuffles holding a jelly-rolled up fire hose.
Station 2-- 30 seconds work/ 20 seconds rest -false start sprints Station 3-- 30 seconds work/ 15 seconds rest -3pt touches with a medicine ball
Each station was 8-10 rounds.
There were 3 different groups doing the rotations so MY Stations 1,2 &3 are different from others. My rotations are what's listed above, the order will be different for others.
First note: Fire hoses should always be accompanied by hot firemen. It makes them more appealing :) Curtis had us bear hug these monstrosities while we did the side shuffles. I stole one from Jessica and said "it's not even heavy!" Yeah well I should've done some shuffles with it before I said that. After 2 back and forths with the bear hugged hose I put it down. I went for another round of shuffles and OF COURSE, like ALWAYS, Curtis looked over and asked why I didn't have one. But I just DID have one! "Too bad, pick it back up." It's like a beeper goes off every single time I take it down a level. I really actually love this. I didn't think I'd be able to continue my rotation holding that rope. I didn't dare put it down again, not even during the rests! I held the dang thing the entire rotation.
I'll have to thank the fireman camper in person next time I see him for bringing these in. AND thanks, again, to Curtis for pushing me to do my best.
Took this pic from Rock Star's page:
After that loveliness came BURPEE HELL!!RAWWRRRR. Not sure why I needed to rawr on that one, but it was pretty intense.
These were done in a ladder format.
1 burpee, run 10yards and back
2 burpees, repeat^^
3 burpees, repeat^^
etc, etc, etc... for 5 minutes. How kind of Curtis, huh?
You know what really makes burpee hell, sprints, spartan screamers and so on all the better? He plays awesome music during them. Basically all the music from the Rocky sound track is probably on his playlist and you feel like such a badass while performing. It's hard to get through it so I just picture Sylvester getting back in the ring time and time again until the end of the match where he wins.
Everyone can do this, just like Rocky Balboa, just get back in the ring, take a few more punches and come out victorious.
That's what I feel after tonight. VICTORIOUS! Perfect cardio Monday and the perfect way to start off week 7 at Rock Star Boot Camp. Come get some!
Not too much longer that I can call Thursdays boot camp Friday since starting November 4th there actually will be a REAL boot camp Friday session!
This week was awesome. I wont lie, I'm so ready for a relaxing day to recuperate before TRX Saturday. I'm absolutely addicted to Rock Star. What Curtis had planned for us was the perfect way to end the week off right.
During warm-up as we were getting a little taste of what the rest of the session entailed, I started to think that Curtis chose all of the hardest exercises and put them all into one.
Today we experienced the real Mad Minute.
60 seconds of work, 60 seconds of rest. Each minute of work was broken into 3, 20 second intervals. So 20/20/20, then rest for 60. I shouldn't say "rest" actually because we were doing more of an "active recovery". Jogging in place or down the alley, tire step ups, walking lunges etc. Then we'd move on to the next group of 3. The groups were:
1. Walk outs/ T-ups/ Push-ups
2. Sumo Squats/ Sumo low pulses (basically bobbing up and down in the sumo squat position) / Sumo Jumps
3. Pivot Lunges left/ Pivot Lunges right/ Burpees
4. Bent over rows/ Dead Lifts/ bent over rows
5. Arnold press right/ Arnold press left/ Arnold press -both arms
2 cycles of that....dude. That's not even the end. First I'll explain a few things. Walk outs are bending over, walking forward and backward on your hands, feet planted. T-Ups are one of my new favorite moves. A total abdominal cruncher. In a push-up plank, you raise one arm up to the sky, at the top you're in the upper body part of a side pillar, and your body looks like a 'T'. Then you alternate hands. During warm-up I thought there was no way in hell I'd be able to do those, I can't do push-ups yet without being on my knees so I tried these on my knees and it hurt so bad and was super hard. Once we started the actual rotation I decided to give it a try after walking out on my hands and surprisingly enough I was able to do them! On all fours, the way they should be done!! Not only that, the version on my knees was actually a lot more painful, and not in a good way. So there is an example of a modification that did NOT work in my favor. YAY. Lastly, since the rest are pretty self-explanatory, are the Arnold Presses. I guess that term is something the governator coined as a signature move way back in the day when he was pumping iron for a living.
It goes like this:
So like I said before, those sets were not the whole regime. There was more....
We partnered up and geared up for some side pillar with tension band rows. Holy Heck.. While in a side pillar position with the tension band in your hand, your partner is pulling away from you, hence to create tension, while you are rowing it into your side. They are moving all over the place, holding the band high, low, hard, harder, shuffling sideways, up, down.. you get the picture. We switched sides and places I think 4 times for a total of 8 rounds.
I'm seriously going to have some major ab muscles if this type of workout continues..I'm not complaining though! With Curtis' lower body routines that'll give anyone that Kim K booty, upper body strengthening, and just some total body CORE WARS, I'm on the road to a hot bod. It's pretty serious.
Again, awesome boot camp week. I have TRX to look forward to on Saturday, and then we'll start all over again.
Holy cow, today was awesome. I haven't sweat so much since Bikram Boot Camp! Yesterday's camp sessions left me with a serious case of TSS (toilet seat syndrome-- hurt so bad you can't sit down on the toilet or chair without gravity taking over and making you fall = no leg control) so I was a little nervous that I might totally collapse tonight (I didn't, phew). Here is the break down:
Battle rope slams
Sled dragging
Medicine ball shot putting
Mountain climbers, inclined mountain climbers or tire climbers.
Repeat those rotations for a few cycles.
First-- I LOVE the battle ropes. Maybe I just feel like such a bad-ass when I'm doing them, IDK but they're fun to me. Killer, but fun. The ones I happened to grab when it was my turn at that station ended up being gigantor. Curtis called them python anaconda monster snake ropes. Uh huh, I got me some of that. Definitely a BAMF! We weren't just whipping the ropes around either, we're picking them up and slamming them down as hard as possible. It was pretty intense.
Second-- Tire Climbers: um.. not for me, yet. So basically in the traditional mountain climber (MS) position, you're in a push-up stance, inclined you can raise your upper body on a tire or wall... Tire Climbers is just the opposite. Instead of inclining your upper body, you raise your lower body. So your feet are now planked to a tire, and continue the MCs as usual. Definitely an advanced move, the rush of blood to the brain probably doesn't feel that great lol!.
I chose to use the tire for my MCs, inclined of course but instead of doing the regular knee to chest, I did the criss-cross version. I posted about those a long time ago here. I doubt I could do these on the ground but I think that inclined really made it more possible for me to get the full benefit of the exercise. On the ground I could only go so far before dropping down to my knees.
I ate amazingly today, and by the way, the yogurt ranch dip I made last night was delish. I highly recommend it. I can't believe tomorrow is already boot camp Friday. At least we have TRX on Saturday, WOOT!
What a day! It's almost 10pm and this is the first chance I've had a chance to sit down and "relax."
I missed camp last night. My daughters are both sick and one decided that she needed some extra beauty sleep (4 hour nap!) and refused to wake up so I can go to camp. You would think it shouldn't be so hard to get a 2 year old out of her crib but she went totally limp noodle on me and then scooted to the far corner where I couldn't reach her. Even if I went around to the other side, she'd scoot over again and refuse to cooperate. I thought I'd give her a minute and check back on her... she fell back asleep. So yea.. she didn't even wake up until 6:45!
To make up for missing another day I thought I'd double up on today's sessions. Tuesdays are usually my favorites anyway since I prefer strength over cardio so I knew it was going to be a good one. This morning I went to the 9:15 session for my first time and got to me a new friend, Stephanie. I've seen her a bunch on Rock Star's Facebook page so it was nice to finally meet her in person.
We did a bunch of different things today. It'll probably be easiest if I just list them:
3 minutes of work, 1 minute of rest
6 different exercises per cycle, no transition rest
-single leg dead lifts {1&2}
-seal jacks (like a jumping jack, but clapping your hands in front of you (like a seal lol) instead of overhead){3}
-staggered squats {4}
-split stance alternating dumbell overhead presses {5&6}
repeat 5x
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So that was about 20 minutes down. That was followed by (after a generous minute of transition rest) not one but TWO screamers. Those were:
8 seconds of work, 25 seconds of rest
Screamer 1
-dead lifts to a row/pull with a DB (or body weight)
-walking lunges (LOVE!)
repeat 4x
Screamer 2
-Sprints
repeat 10x
DELICIOUS. And tiring since I did it twice today. This type of HIIT will DEFINITELY shrink my butt, no doubt.
A few notes about today:
-The first time I ever did single leg dead lifts I had NO balance, was falling all over the place. Today I was able to actually lift my leg probably 99% of the time and do the routine fully. YAY! I'm not sure if these were suppose to, but my butt muscles got a work out!
-Seal Jacks + boobs = .............Ladies, do I even HAVE to say? I know you know what I'm thinking.
On to some more deliciousness, literally. I saw this awesome idea online somewhere and I knew I had just had to try it. I've been eating more veggies lately and want to eat more raw veggies. I can eat the shiznit out of a broccoli head... if I had some ranch. I know, I know... it totally defeats the purpose of eating healthy if you're going to drown it mayo fat sauce. So when I saw this recipe online, you can say I was a little (a lot) excited. I ran it by Curtis and got the thumbs-up.
(Whole Foods has an organic ranch dip herb mix that I would've preferred, but I couldn't get up there, so this was next best.)
Mix 8oz together with the package, refrigerate for a few minutes (30) and then you'll have this:
Obviously the green onions were added, the onion fairy didn't visit while it was in the fridge.
Chop up a variety of yummy veggies:
And you end up with an awesome veggie & protein snack (this is for me for tomorrow, but being prepared is half of the work for eating healthy) to munch on. Now don't go an eat the whole bowl of dip, unless you're sharing with your greedy husband... I think the serving size is a half a cup, I'd need to double check on that.
Again, this is for tomorrow, although I did have to eat the cucumber pictured above. Total party foul if I didn't, so I packed it all away and have an awesome prepared snack. No excuses for not having time to eat. Even walking in and out of the kitchen, I can grab a spear of bell pepper, give it a dunk and continue to chase the kiddos.
For dinner:
Salad with Romaine, bell pepper, green onion, tomato, slow cooked left over chicken and a sun dried tomato balsamic vinegrette dressing. YUMMO.
Today I participated in the 5K Run to Fight Children's Cancer. It was a huge turnout, I'm assuming. I've never been to one before but there were well over a thousand people.
My only goal for today was to finish the race. And I couldn't :( Here is what happened today.
The race started at about 7:40. A few of my friends, Carmen and Jessica, were also there with me. They promised no matter how long it took me, they'd be waiting for me at the end, just get through it. I started off running. Btw, I HATE running. It's not my thing. It bores me to no end, and I don't even have an mp3 player to keep me company. I ran all the way to the 1k marker. I was pretty proud of myself. It wasn't a fast run but nonetheless I was running. I took it town a notch probably to a slow job/trot all the way to the 2k marker. By that point I had been noticing my right foot tingling for quite some time. Weird... It was as if I was sitting on my leg on the couch and my foot fell asleep and was waking up. It was very bizarre. So at that point I started a fast walk. I slowed way way down when my foot basically had NO feeling. A lady passing by stopped to make sure I was okay since I'd stopped to shake my foot a little, probably looked like a dog lol. She wondered if my shoe was too tight, they're not.. They're actually slightly looser than they should, I like some wiggle room. Then she said I might've pinched a nerve or something. Then she said I might have arch support problems. All good ideas, and I honestly have no clue what the right answer is. I'm puzzled. When sitting on thecouch or a chair and my foot falls asleep, I moved it around to get the blood flow going and feeling back in my foot. But I WAS moving, and the blood WAS flowing, so nothing makes sense.
I made it to the 3k marker when I decided to take a break and decide what to do. Do I keep going with no feeling in my foot? I was practically limping, looked injured, but wasn't in pain (besides the burning shins and calves but that's normal). Lots of people kept asking me if I was alright, which was really nice. After I'd rested for a few minutes the feeling returned to my foot. Ahh good, I can keep going. After about 20-30 yards it started getting tingly and then once again had no feeling. I could wiggle my toes but not feel a thing.
Cue another break, at this point I'm just so confused. Feeling comes back again and then around another 20 yards, it's gone. Again. At this rate I wasn't going to get anywhere.
I started getting a little freaked out. I probably could've kept going and finished by 6pm tonight. I was pretty worried though about why I would be losing feeling in my foot. I cut through the parking lot through the university to where the race began and ended.
In total I went about 4K. I'll be honest... it wasn't very fun. I was kind of bored and in the end pretty disappointed that I didn't finish. It was way more than I would've done a month ago though before boot camp. I'm doing another 5k November 6th with a friend because I promised. I plan on just walking that one with her. I think I'll stick to exercising at Rock Star Boot Camp though.
Curtis gave me the name of a sports shop that will help me get the right shoe for my stride. I'm going to check them out, maybe they can tell me what the H is wrong with me. It's never happened before, never during boot camp.. I've never been much of a runner, obviously, and when we sprint at camp it's for short periods of time. So maybe it's an endurance thing. Who knows.
So I didn't reach my goal, but I tried. Here we are before the race.
Last night I brought my baby sister with me to Rock Star Boot Camp for "Kill--I mean Bring a friend Wednesday." I was excited for her to see what it is I really do when I talk about working out. A few minutes in, actually it was still during the WARM UP, she said "You do this every day!!!??" Well, Monday through Thursday yes. I felt a little pride rising inside me... little background on my sister:
Every woman in my entire family is overweight. My little sister was the only one that was healthy, fit and exercised regularly. At one point she was maybe too skinny, but still she was always the small one. Once she got pregnant with my niece, she gained a bunch of weight and joined the rest of the family. She's trying to get motivated to lose her baby weight though. Last night while working out, I have to say I felt pretty awesome that I was doing this boot camp, like I have been for the past 5 weeks, and she thought it was hard at first. I did too in the beginning, it still IS hard, but the little competitive bone in my body was doing a little happy dance. A few quotes from her:
"I think I'm going to pass out"
"I can't believe you do this every day"
"We have to do that AGAIN?"
"Wait....and AGAIN?!!"
--end of round--[Curtis--"That's not all, don't worry you'll be doing sprints for the next 10 minutes.. actually make that shuffle sprints"]
her response: "That can't be good"
There was quite a bit more complaining lol but I drowned most of it out ha ha! At the very end after she finally got into it, she said "That's it? It's over?"
On to the good stuff.
I'm not sure on the time intervals, I missed it in the demonstration, but my neighbor said she thought we were doing 30-60-90 seconds of work for the 3 different exercises. So that would be dead lifts--overhand stationary sprints-- burpees. The hardest by FAR was the running in place with our arms in the air. That really got me winded. We did a few rounds of those then moved on to the shuffle sprints. There we'd side shuffle 10 or so yards, then pivot and sprint back.12 rounds x2 cycles!!!! My shins were en fuego.
The next exercise in our high intensity interval training was using the Tabata Method. Here we did 2 different exercises, 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds (4 minutes). First we did some speed skating jumps:
The second move was squat jumping forward and back... I was able to jump for like 2.5 rounds, then I did more of a skip/jump/step..
It was pretty intense, like always. When I got home I had to put whatever frozen veggies on my shins to stop them from falling apart. I gotta say I'm so looking forward to having a day off tomorrow. This sickness is getting worse and I just want to rest. It didn't help that last night my daughters decided to alternate when they would randomly wake up. Yea both of my girls, that sleep through the night, were in cahoots to drive me bonkers. Elika woke up at 4 am and slept for probably 20 minutes in my bed before startling awake and kicking me in the face. Lovely.
I need to get better before the 5K on Saturday.. I could really use some coffee. I think I'll end this post before I really start complaining.
